Leonardo de Vinci is sometimes credited with saying, 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication', but whether he did actually say this or not is debated. Even if he didn’t say these words, the sentiment is a good one – whatever it is, keep it simple! My study of photography is about trying to become proficient in the art of photography, trying to learn as much as I can so that I will be pleased with the photos I take and be motivated to continue. This blog, on the other hand, is more about what photography is teaching me – the lessons I am learning about photography and about life through the pursuit of photography. In that sense the blog is not strictly photography, but yet I can credit photography for bringing me many new insights. I have referred to some of the life lessons offered by photography in earlier blogs, but a main goal that keeps cropping up in life, and in photography, is to ‘keep it simple’. According to American poet Walt Whitman, “Simplicity is the glory of expression”. As a life skill, keeping it simple is a very positive, life enhancing skill. It urges us to stay in the moment, to appreciate the little things but also not to sweat the small (irrelevant) stuff! It encourages us not to over complicate life or create unnecessary drama and to have gratitude for what we have. In art too, simple can be best, but it is not always easy, nor always successful. To quote Steve Jobs, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains”. Minimalism in photography In everyday life the term minimalism has become popular in recent years. Minimalism is really the act of cherishing what is of most value to us, and discarding the rest. Many people nowadays are embracing minimalism in their lives, whether in de-cluttering, simplifying daily routines or trying to reduce consumption of material things for environmental reasons. The mantra ‘less is more’ has become a popular one in many sections of society. If minimalism in general is about cherishing what we value and leaving the rest, minimalist photography is about composing images that focus on a simple subject, leaving out all other distractions. This style of photography is popular on platforms like Instagram, particularly as it works on small screens. In my photography practice my preferred style is simplicity in images. While it is sometimes good to take a sweeping landscape (assuming you have the right equipment for that) I find that I tend to prefer shooting small parts of a scene, finding something unusual or something that might normally be missed. Having looked back over my image collection of the last year I realise that I have a lot of images that are simple in composition and, although I don’t think I would like to shoot entirely in this way, I have found myself embracing minimalist photography techniques on many occasions. However, taking a minimalist approach has to be a creative choice otherwise we simply end up with a boring photograph with too much empty space, as I have done on a few occasions! To this end, how we compose our images is very important in minimalist photography and the challenge is in choosing a strong subject and deciding what to leave out of the frame. I try to make this decision while I am shooting rather than cropping unwanted parts of the image afterwards. I like to try and think in a minimalist way when doing this type of photography. Using a shallow depth of field can help in isolating a subject from the background. It is important in all types of photography to know what it is we want to say through our images; to be clear as to the message that we would like to convey to the viewer. I love to watch birds in flight, to admire their grace and the freedom that their flight conveys. In this image I focused on capturing just the bird in flight, nothing else was of value to the image. Composition In employing a minimalist style in art or photography the subject in an image is kept simple, but simple should not mean boring. As already said, the subject choice is important as it will be the strongest element of the shot, even though it does not take up most space in the shot. The ‘negative space’ itself will also be significant; this can have blurred colours through the use of a wide aperture or have a background colour that accentuates the subject (e.gs) At times, shooting against a blue sky provides a good contrast to the subject. Colour and Texture Colour can provide a focus for our photography and can give us a way of keeping images simple while providing a sense of mood. Concentrating on one colour helps concentrate our minds as to how that colour speaks to us. Strong colours, complimentary colours and contrasting colours are all useful tools in minimalist photography Texture too often provides a good subject for minimalist photography. I often like to capture the textures on walls and door handles, rather than always capturing entire buildings. Angle and Perspective Finding the right angle from which to shoot is important from a minimalist standpoint – do I shoot straight on or do I shoot high or low? Each of these choices will have a different impact on the final image. I often find that shooting high and capturing the highest part of a building makes an interesting minimalist shot. A minimalist approach can be employed to good effect in nature photography. It is relatively easy to isolate a good subject in nature – flower, leaf, twig – and again, angle of shot and depth of field will make a difference. There could be a tendency to assume that any subject in nature will be a good one and this is not necessarily always going to be the case. As in every area of photography, a subject in nature must be a strong visual image, particularly in minimalist photography where it needs to ‘speak’ to the viewer. Visual Storytelling Minimalist photography can be used in visual storytelling in that a simple image can speak to the viewer’s emotions. When there is not a lot of clutter in the frame the viewer has the space to think about what is happening in the image – the story! These three beach images, although simple in content, each has its story to tell. Sometimes a leading line can be the entire image, and this is full of suggestion as to where it is leading. Minimalist photography can be a very subjective form of photography, and what may appeal to one person may not be appreciated by another, but for those who enjoy this type of photography it can be very rewarding and can lead to some very interesting shooting. Below is a link to 50+ examples of minimalist photography, many of which I admire greatly. When I compare my efforts to these images I realise that my own are lacking in similar visual appeal, but these examples do set a bar for me to aim towards. https://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/less-is-more-50-examples-of-minimalist-photography--photo-3914 Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. Charles Mingus

I recently passed the year mark in my blogging ‘career’. Although it’s no big deal to anyone else, I congratulated myself on the fact that I have kept going, even when I thought I was only talking to myself, and that I still enjoy posting my blogs. At this juncture I realise that the success of my blog is not measured by the number of people who ‘like’, read or comment on my blog, although those are always lovely bonuses. Rather, I measure success by the fact that I enjoy blogging and that it helps me to order both my thoughts and my photography. Without the blog I would have hundreds of random images without any apparent structure, but the demands of producing a blog post every 2-3 weeks means that I need to arrange my photographs into relevant themes, and even reorder them when necessary for another blog topic. Blogging provides a sense of purpose to my photography and gives me the encouragement to keep improving. During the year I have enjoyed being part of the blogging community and have discovered some amazingly passionate bloggers whose blogs I enjoy immensely. I have joined some social media photography communities which has given me an idea of what is going on in the world of photography, although some of these groups are better than others. I tend to know immediately if I like the ‘feel' of a group and that decides whether I stay or not. The last thing I need is to compare myself unfavourably to others or to become disheartened because my efforts are criticized harshly (it has happened!). On the other hand there are some very supportive groups, and these have often provided valuable and useful information and links to follow. Finding my ’niche’ One question that I have been asked numerous times by those who know I have rekindled my interest in photography, and one to which I do not appear to have a satisfactory answer, is, ‘what type of photography do you like best?’ In addition, many online discussions often talk about finding our style in photography. It is a question I have pondered for myself and I have often wondered: How do I find my style? There are numerous genres in photography – landscape, street, travel, nature, (including macro as a sub genre), portrait, architectural. We have all heard photographers described according to a particular specialism, for example, wedding photographer, street photographer, landscape photographer, portrait photographer, even black and white photographer. As a learner in photography I was determined not to confine myself to one or two genres and made a decision to give each genre a fair chance before deciding which I preferred. Changing the emphasis of my photography helps to keep me motivated, and when I get tired of shooting in one genre, or feel that I have exhausted the possibilities, I can change to another genre to shake things up a bit! No matter which genre I am exploring, there are always lots of variations from which to shoot – different angles and perspectives, different focus, different composition of images. Sometimes, though, I don’t worry about the genre, I feel drawn to take a photograph just because… Not having a preferred photography genre or genres can be liberating in a way, leaving you with the freedom to shoot in any genre that takes your fancy, but it may also be true that an endless choice of subjects, in lots of different genres, can be overwhelming, leaving you without a clear focus or creative direction and prey to the old saying, ‘jack of all trades and master of none’. However, what I have discovered is that, whatever the genre, the reason I take photographs is to experience and celebrate life in all its diverse forms. Showcasing the diversity of place is obviously achieved through shooting landscapes; nature photography can document the natural environment of a place in all its rich uniqueness. Diversity can also be revealed through street photography, where candid photography will celebrate the rich dimensions of diversity contained within an area, its people and its culture, while showcasing diversity of culture and landscape is the very bread and butter of travel photography. Architectural photography, in turn, can reveal the many and varied types of built environment. The choices we make regarding composition, use of light or adding impact to our images, and our decisions about whether to shoot in colour or black and white, whether to shoot wide angle or macro, are all ways to try to enhance the final images in our chosen genre. By examining my work from time to time, and looking for patterns in the type of images that appeal to me when I shoot, I realise that all the photographs I take are attempts to capture and celebrate diversity. I have discovered a theme that runs through my photography, which can encompass all genres and which motivates and inspires my photography in all situations, a theme that can evolve as my photography evolves. So, in response to the question, what type of photography do you like best? I can honestly reply that the genre itself is not as important to me as how the image speaks to me, how it fits into the overall theme of my photography, that of celebrating diversity and documenting unique moments, places and interactions as best as I can. Below is a random set of images that don’t fit neatly into a particular category, but I believe each of them reveals a sense of the diversity of life…people going about their daily business, an object left in a particular place, a built feature on the landscape created by humans for humans, and water, wherever I might find it! I love to capture images with reflections Creativity is an endless well and you can always pull from it – Anthony Epes

https://www.dlrcoco.ie/en/parks-outdoors/parks/marlay-park I live near Marlay Park in the Rathfarnham area of South Dublin, at the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, and this is where I have done a lot of my photography practice. To many people this park is synonymous with the Longitude festival and Marlay Park concerts during the summer, but for those living in close proximity to the park it is alternatively a year round oasis of calm in the middle of the city, a hive of sports and culinary activity, and a venue for a host of special events throughout the year. To me, this park is an inspirational location for my photo shoots as it offers almost every photography opportunity that I require. It works for shooting landscape, wildlife, nature and people. It provides opportunities to shoot in aperture priority, shutter priority and to do macro photography. It yields different results depending on the time of day, the season or the weather. It has all of life within its expansive grounds and gives me no excuse not to improve my photography. I am confident that I could shoot an image there every day for a year if required. Here are some of the images which I have made in these beautiful surroundings. Capturing and freezing motion Marlay's numerous waterfalls provide great opportunities to experiment with shutter speed Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. -Albert Einstein

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” – Anonymous Wherever we might travel to, whether it is near or far, we are enriched by experiencing new cultures, meeting new people and discovering a way of life that is different from our own. Travelling offers many opportunities for photography also and it allows us to encompass numerous different aspects of photography – landscape, street, urban, portrait – while documenting a place, its people, its culture and traditions, as well as capturing captivating sights. Travel photography takes place in many different locations, from the viewpoints of magnificent landscapes to the busy streets, alleyways, cafes and markets which are home to local people. For each of us, travelling offers a chance to produce unique images. It can allow us to capture the beauty and character of a place; the ‘feel’ of the surroundings. It can provide us with a record of precious moments as well as the capture of well-known landmarks and landscapes from unusual or interesting perspectives. Travel photography can document a people in their natural environment and can also capture emotions and interactions as they happen. Photographing well known landmarks Famous tourist landmarks are well documented by photographers, amateur and professional alike. It is highly unlikely that I will take a better image than those who have gone before me, so for my own photography I like to look for a different or unusual viewpoint that creates an image that is original to me. These are all aspects of the same landmark castle, in Sirmione, Italy, taken at different times. One of the great advantages of travel photography is the opportunity it gives to capture images that are uniquely ours. Travelling with others Unlike other photography shoots, travelling usually involves other people (unless we happen to be highly paid travel photographers on assignment!!) Previously many of my photos taken when travelling were simply the making of memories, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but travel photography as a specific genre of photography has to have an added dimension. Family and travelling companions like to be included in travel pictures so, rather than taking over the image as in a ‘holiday snapshot’, or alternatively becoming nothing more than a distant dot when a landscape has occupied all the focus in the shot, they can often provide a focal point to enhance a composition. Treating our travelling companions or people we meet on our travels as focal points in our images can enhance these images and give them added dimension. Capturing the spirit of a place The principles of street photography – photography taken of people in public places, often termed ‘candid photography’ – can give an added value to our images, in particular to what might be otherwise dull landscape images. Similarly, capturing people when they are not posing for photographs (below) can relay emotions and add a story element to our photography. Engaging with the subject One of the difficulties with travel photography can be not engaging with the subject. It can be daunting to approach someone in a ‘foreign’ place and ask to take their photograph. On a visit to Lake Garda I had been watching with interest the number of dogs being wheeled in buggies. I took a few shots but none of them were at a good angle. I then gestured to this dog’s owner my desire to take a photograph. She was delighted and did everything possible to help me get a good shot! I spotted this man early one morning feeding the ducks on the lake. I took his photograph from a distance (a poor attempt!) but then decided to approach him and ask if it was okay to take his picture. We ended up having a chat and established a connection that taught me a valuable lesson – it is well worth taking a risk and approaching a person to end up with a better image than a distant shot will provide. He ended up asking me to take some photos of himself and his partner with his camera, which I was happy to do. Some of us collect souvenirs to serve as reminders of the places we visit. Others take photographs, collecting beautiful images of where we have been. Setting out on each day of our travels with a camera in our bag can ensure that we become more observant, that we capture the essence of the place we are visiting and that we don't miss those unexpected moments or magical spots that we come across. “Don’t pack up your camera until you’ve left the location” – Joe McNally

My 6 tips for making better close up photos Following from my last blog I have tried to pay more attention to the little things around me that often go unnoticed and to try and discover what makes a better close up photograph. Here are my 6 tips for achieving better close up photography: 1. Choosing where to focus Too often I forget to decide where I want my focus to be and end up with a different image to the one I intended to get. When photographing close up I need to ask myself a few questions about focusing – Do I focus on the closest part of the subject or place my focus somewhere else? Should I focus on the background and leave the foreground blurry or have a blurry background with an in-focus subject in the foreground? Do I want to have the whole subject or just part of the subject in focus? Do I want to include other elements of the scene or just focus on my subject? In making decisions such as these we are each forced to consider all aspects of the scene and to notice all the elements that might often go unseen. 2. Light Paying attention to how light is falling on the subject helps us to become more observant. Sometimes it is a good idea to focus on light rather than on a subject. That will encourage us to look all around for the best light or come back another time if the light is not good. Good light can make the world of difference to a subject and when we are photographing close ups we become more aware of what light is doing and how we want to capture it. In these images of a butterfly I am not sure whether I prefer the close up - which gives a good view of the beautiful butterfly - or the image that makes the most of the light and includes the butterfly's shadow 3. Background What do we want to have as a background? Are we shooting part of a plant against the sky? Do we want a background of colour provided by surrounding plants or maybe a dark background to emphasize our subject? At times we may want to fill the frame with our subject so background is not necessary. I like to make different background choices at different times. 4. Angle Shooting from different angles is a good idea in all types of photography and it is a particularly good technique for close up photography. Shooting upwards will give us a different image from shooting downwards. Sometimes I try to get as low as possible and shoot plants from the ground up, which gives an unusual perspective that is not always seen. Crouching down with my phone camera gives the impression that these flowers are very tall. 5. Look around the scene When taking close up photographs it can be a good idea to include lots of the elements that surround our chosen subject. Sometimes the subject that we think will make the best image is actually not the best and if we have several images from a scene we can choose the best shot later. I often shoot flowers and when I don’t try to pick the best image at the scene but take lots of images to pick from later I often discover something that I don't even remember taking! 6. Look out for something unusual Many plants grow in abundance and are hardly noticed, yet when singled out they provide an unusual and unique subject matter. I find that when I take my camera into an ordinary hedgerow I invariably discover something that I have never noticed before, and this, for me, is one of the joys of close up photography. It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Learning to see, or learning to see in a deeper way, is the journey that every photographer should be on - Anthony Epes Sometimes it is not easy to see the wonder of our own country. We often have difficulty in seeing a view in a different way as we feel we have seen that view so many times before. But the reality is that we only ever see a fraction of what is around us so it is always worth challenging ourselves to become better at observing our world and finding something interesting wherever we are, even if that place is so familiar that we think it has nothing new to offer. Taking on board this challenge during summer 2019 I looked for different views in familiar places, tried to capture well known scenes in different light or from a different vantage point, and tried to notice something different in a place that is so familiar that I think there is nothing new to notice. These are some of my memories of summer 2019. Goodbye Summer 2019!

It’s almost a year since I started out on my photography journey and my first dilemma at that time was which camera to buy. I did a lot of research and opted for an entry level Nikon DSLR, mainly because of the generally good reviews and because it seemed best suited to my needs. During the year I have supplemented the kit lens with a zoom lens, a prime lens and a more general type lens, which turned out to be very heavy! These have served me well and, in addition to my smartphone camera, have managed to do all I have needed to do. I know we don’t improve as photographers simply by investing in better cameras, and I have no illusions on that score. However, it is also true that the best camera is the one we have with us, so a DSLR with its heavy lenses is not a portable solution for making the most of daily photo opportunities. For this reason I have started to think about getting a camera that I could carry everywhere with me but would still give me acceptable images. In other words, I wanted something that could match the image quality of the larger sensor DSLR but without the bulk, and something that would give more creative choice than the smartphone camera, which is OK to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity for a shot but doesn’t give much in terms of creativity and improving at photography. So I went back into research mode to look for the ’perfect’ travel camera. I should say first off – the perfect camera doesn’t exist, or at least not at my price point! However, I did narrow down my choice by making a list of my requirements: 1. Portability If I was going to take a second camera with me it needed to be lightweight and portable, otherwise it would have no advantage over the DSLR 2. Viewfinder One of the disadvantages of the phone camera is the difficulty in seeing the screen in bright sunlight. I didn’t want to invest in a camera only to be faced with the same problem, and since it is primarily intended to be a travel camera a viewfinder was a must! 3. Price As I am still essentially a novice photographer, and certainly not making any money from my craft, I was reluctant to spend a lot of money on a very advanced compact camera, despite all the bells and whistles they claim to offer! My main aim is to improve in the art of photography and to become more creative, rather than investing in a camera that will take most of the creative control away from me 4. Image quality Although I don’t print at large sizes I do still like to capture a fairly good photograph that can be enlarged without becoming pixelated. I have encountered this problem with phone camera images and wanted a camera that would produce at least something better than my phone camera can produce, otherwise why bother getting an extra camera to carry around? 5. Ability to shoot in RAW One of the aspects of photography that I have particularly enjoyed recently is post-production, therefore I have started shooting in RAW and working on my images in Photoshop or Lightroom to bring out the very best image. While smartphone camera images can be edited to some degree, the editing that can be done is very limited so on my wish list was a camera that can shoot in RAW, which, I discovered, only tends to be a feature of more advanced compact cameras. Research and outcome By doing this research I received some unexpected bonuses in terms of photography development. I learned a lot about the significance of sensor size, about the value of in-camera stabilization on a travel camera (since I won't be carrying a tripod!) and about the various features offered by different camera types. I also learned about matching camera features to particular photography styles. For example, while I admire the amazing zoom feature offered by many bridge cameras this is not what I generally look for in a camera so the large zoom does not compensate for the smaller sensor in these cameras, in my opinion. Similarly, the regular point and shoot cameras with small sensors did not appear to offer any real advantage over my phone camera. My research then led me to advanced compact cameras. These generally have a one inch sensor which will most likely produce better images than the phone camera but there tend to be trade-offs in terms of features in the lower price range. To find a camera with the features that I was looking for, particularly a viewfinder, was bringing me beyond my budget. I was drawn back several times to the Panasonic Lumix LX100, which seems to meet many of my requirements and has generally good reviews. One drawback, however, is that reviews repeatedly refer to the fact that this camera is now quite old and has been superseded by the Lumix LX100 Mark 2, which is quite a lot more advanced but with a correspondingly high price tag. Eventually my search took me to Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras where I found some fairly feature-rich compact cameras with interchangeable lenses which are still quite portable. The main attraction with these cameras was the possibility of adding lenses in the future while still having a competent portable device for daily photography, one which also gives creative possibilities rather than simply being a point and shoot. The compromise made for now is that the kit lenses are not the greatest lenses but I can live with that. After much deliberation I came down to two camera makes, Olympus and Panasonic. Since they share lenses I reckoned either would be a good choice. The Panasonics offered more in the way of features – 'nice to haves' rather than 'must haves' – but tended to be more expensive as well. In the end I opted for a July offer on an Olympus OM-D EM-10 Mark 2 with two lenses. Hopefully it will meet my needs and become my travel camera of choice well into the future. Time will tell! Images from Cuilcagh Mountain Trail, Co. Fermanagh, taken with Samsung Galaxy S9+ I look forward to having an everyday camera to take with me on mountain walks, although I have been glad of my phone camera when a DSLR would have been too heavy to carry. #personal #lifestyle #photography #creators

One of the best aspects of photography is capturing interesting and unique images while away from home, whether these are candid photographs of people which give a glimpse of a different culture or unusual views of landmarks and scenery. It is essential to have the best tool for the job that we can have, yet carrying a bulky DSLR camera around at all times can spoil the enjoyment of a relaxing trip, not to mention contribute to back strain! So, we use the camera that is always at our disposal – the smartphone camera. But is it up to the task? Or will we end up with images that are not quite satisfying because we couldn’t see what we were doing in bright sunlight or because we zoomed too far to get that closer view and ended up with a grainy image? It is true that smartphone cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated all the time, and with every new phone launch there is greater and greater emphasis on the camera part of the phone. All of the high end models take good, sharp images that rival those of many dedicated cameras. They have all but replaced the lower end point and shoot camera, with an added bonus being that they are always with us, ready to snap that unexpected moment. Undoubtedly, they are the camera of choice for many people as they are the ultimate in convenience, but the danger is that we will end up just taking snapshots, allowing the camera software to make all the choices, or, if we are more serious about photography, we will bemoan the fact that we missed a super photo opportunity by ‘just’ having our phone camera with us. However, with a little bit of creative thinking smartphone cameras can in fact become an effective tool for the serious photographer. Making the most of the camera that is always with us. Unless I am unique in this area, which I very much doubt, there are many out there who, like me, are not making the most of their phone cameras. I am not even talking about adding extra filters or lenses because, while there are undoubtedly options to add filters and lenses to phone cameras, they are first and foremost phones and most people don’t tend to carry extra paraphernalia with them on a daily basis. Indeed, most camera phones are really kept on auto mode to capture those unexpected moments, and that’s really where their strength lies. That is not to say, however, that there is not a lot we can do with our phone cameras other than taking snaps on auto mode. In fact, most of us only realise a fraction of the potential offered by our phone cameras. I have been doing some research into the technology behind the latest phone cameras (although it is hard to stay bang up to date, things change so quickly in this world!), and in this blog I will share some of the tips and tricks I have discovered that will make phone photography more creative and interesting and that will allow those of us who are serious about photography to feel that we have a good alternative to our dedicated camera always on hand, rather than just seeing it as a poor substitute simply used to grab an image when we have no other camera available. Composition One of the main ways in which we can become more creative with our phone cameras is in paying attention to composition. Whether we take our photos with a camera or smartphone, there are well composed photographs and badly composed photographs. By paying attention to some of the ‘rules’ of composition, such as using rule of thirds, leading lines or natural framing, by looking for symmetry or reflections and by ensuring we have a clear subject, we can immediately produce images that are more pleasing to the eye, and this can be done regardless of the camera we use. Leading lines Leading lines is a familiar photography technique which can be used on a phone camera just as easily as on a dedicated camera. Keeping this technique in mind can help us make the most of these opportunities when they present themselves. I also love images that show reflections. Natural framing Again, natural framing is a technique that is easy to use with a smartphone camera and is all about being aware of the surroundings, perhaps moving position to ‘frame’ the image in a certain way. Rule of thirds This photography ‘rule’ suggests that images can be more pleasing to the eye if the subject is not dead centre but is rather placed at intersecting lines of a nine square grid. Often, when there are two subjects, placing them diagonally can be a pleasing composition. Sometimes being in the centre of the image is just the right place for the subject! Unfortunately the signpost is an unwanted element but this can be removed in Photoshop. Clear subject Landscapes can be beautiful to the eye but often don’t make good photographs. The addition of a subject such as this man looking out to sea adds a bit of interest to the image. Getting down low and shooting or 'shooting through' something can give a different perspective to our image, or we can shoot high and portray a subject in a way that it is not normally seen. This image was taken through a second floor window and gives a clear image of the interesting rooftops nearby. Using our smartphone and taking advantage of a photo opportunity can result in an image that may have otherwise been lost, but it pays to add a bit of creativity rather than just ‘snapping’ aimlessly. I was passing this lake on a foggy morning in April. I took some photos with my phone camera as well as my DSLR. The phone camera produced some decent images which captured the atmosphere. Some photographers suggest that shooting odd numbers can add more interest to an image than having an even number of subjects in an image. I like to shoot in threes and it is often possible to come across three objects unexpectedly. While being able to adjust depth of field is a significant advantage of dedicated cameras, it is possible to do this to some extent on the phone camera using portrait (iPhone) or live focus (Android) mode and we can blur backgrounds to produce a more ‘professional’ looking photograph. These images were taken with regular photo mode and live focus mode. The live focus mode does give some background blur. One technique I particularly like in the phone camera is burst mode, where we can take a quick burst to (hopefully) capture the action in a shot. I need to practice this technique some more as my image is not clear, but it is worth working on the technique. One of the things I have learned is that the quality of an image is significantly reduced when we use digital zoom on our phone cameras, so for this reason I have begun to make more use of the telephoto lens, and I find that this gives a good close up view of my subject in many cases. Maybe one of the most important advantages of learning to become more competent with our smartphones is that we can begin to pay attention to photo opportunities all around us, and in so doing develop our photographer’s eye, knowing that we can take an acceptable image with the phone in our pocket if the opportunity arises. Our images are instantly available to view and can even be enhanced using mobile photo editing apps. One of my favourites is Snapseed, which can be used to make subtle improvements to my images, particularly to colour which can at times look a little artificial straight out of camera. Photo editing can give us some creative control by fine-tuning our images to our own preferences or by using filters to experiment with different effects. The following images are examples of before and after Snapseed editing: So, what’s the verdict? My question at the start of this blog was whether the smartphone camera can rival the dedicated camera for our everyday photography needs. Obviously, because of its small sensor the phone camera won’t deliver the same high quality images as a DSLR with a much larger sensor. However, I found the image quality to be very acceptable although the colours were more artificial than those produced by my camera. A few sliders in Snapseed helped to give more realistic colours. One drawback was shooting in sunshine, where the lack of a viewfinder was a real disadvantage. I found the inability to see the screen in the glare of the sun to be very frustrating, although shooting in full sunshine is not optimal for photography in any case. Prior to taking part in what I call my ‘smartphone project’ my attitude towards my phone camera was rather dismissive and I often missed what could have been a good photo opportunity because of assuming that my phone would capture an inferior image. By changing my attitude I have opened myself up to new opportunities. I found that I did have some degree of creative control while using my phone camera and that it was possible to overcome the difficulties and use my phone camera as another photography learning tool. For my purposes the smartphone camera works. I won’t get professional standard photographs from either phone or real camera as I am not a professional photographer. What I do get is learning opportunities, a chance to experiment with composition, with framing a scene or subject properly to get the best result and a chance to improve my photography skills on a daily basis, which is my overall aim. My advice to anyone learning photography is not to rely exclusively on the smartphone camera but not to dismiss it either. Someday it might capture that image which will make you very proud! “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” — Karl Lagerfeld (German creative director and photographer) I have never regretted taking a photograph, but I have regretted the ones I didn’t take. And the only moment we have in which to take that photograph is the one right now.

"Photography has never been so popular, but it's getting destroyed. There have never been so many photographs taken, but photography is dying." These are the words of Antonio Olmos, award winning London based Mexican photographer. He is not alone in his views. There have been many newspaper articles and YouTube videos lamenting the death of photography due to the rise of smartphones. In recent times renowned German film director and photographer Wim Wenders has suggested strongly that ‘phone photography’ is killing photography as we know it. Smartphone cameras have become very sophisticated in recent years and all of the high end models take good, sharp images that rival those of many dedicated cameras. They have all but replaced the lower end point and shoot camera, with an added bonus being that they are always with us, ready to snap that unexpected moment. But convenience isn't everything, especially for those who engage in photography as an art form, those who like to make pictures rather than just take pictures and those for whom photography is more than just the equipment we use but is a creative pursuit that engages the whole person in the art of creation. Recently there have been claims that, although we are taking more photographs than ever before (it is reckoned that 1 trillion photos are taken every year!), no-one is really looking at them. It could be true that most of the photographs posted on social media are not given more than a cursory glance, but this is not to say that photography as an art form, which is a very different thing to snapshots on social media, is being destroyed. There will always be those who want to bring their photography to a further level, who will become frustrated with the creative limitations of snapshot photography and want to do more with this art form than just take pictures. Whether this is done with a phone camera or with a dedicated interchangeable lens camera may not be as relevant as the fact that many photographers want to use the best equipment that they have to hand, and at times the camera at hand might be a smartphone camera. Although there are arguments claiming that smartphones are ruining photography there is also the counter argument that because of smartphones we see a lot of people, who otherwise may not have taken pictures, capturing and sharing images. When pictures turn out well they may be printed or enlarged to be framed. All in all this interest in photography has to be good for the business of photography. In my own case I would actually credit the smartphone camera for getting me back into ‘real’ photography. I owned my first camera when I was around ten years old. It was a Kodak and was my pride and joy for many years as I took photos in all kinds of situations. From that film camera I learned about the importance of not allowing light to touch my film and of using the available light correctly when shooting to avoid over or under exposure. After all, every failure cost me money! My second camera was a Polaroid Instamatic, and I enjoyed being able to instantly produce a photo and show it to friends. Perhaps Polaroid anticipated the ‘sharing’ culture to come! Although I always had a love for photography, unfortunately for many years, due to the demands of job and family life, I abandoned the ‘craft’ of photography and my camera of choice became the latest smartphone camera. Indeed, I invariably found myself buying a new phone on the strength of its camera capabilities. Over the years the phone camera has been readily available for family events and holidays, and as the cameras improved so too did my appreciation of the photographs they could take. I thought, why would I want anything else? Recently, however, I decided to re-kindle my dormant passion for photography, knowing that I can get so much more from this art form than just snapshots, and, after much research and deliberation, invested in a Nikon DSLR camera. From my first handling of the camera it felt like a ‘real’ camera that could produce ‘real’ photographs and through learning about the camera controls, experimenting with new techniques, investigating lenses and filters, I have discovered the potential offered by a dedicated camera. While I enjoy learning about the technical aspects of photography and experimenting with different techniques, the most important aspect of photography for me is the creativity aspect. In my view, creativity, the ability to express ourselves artistically and creatively through our images, is what makes the difference between photography as an art form and ‘taking pictures’. That is not to say that this has to involve an expensive camera system and there are certainly those who are aiming to become more creative with smartphone photography. Numerous courses are being offered to meet this demand, including online courses, and in my view this bodes well for photography as a craft. Many of these courses give information on composition, lighting and so on that apply equally to camera and smartphone. I recently had my camera with me when I unexpectedly came across a waterfall. I decided to experiment with different shutter speeds and spent some enjoyable time finding out about the effects of fast shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds, freezing motion and capturing motion, which speeds worked well, which speeds were too fast or too slow, and so on. To me this is where the strength of the dedicated camera lies, as well as the ability to interchange the lenses to suit different scenarios or requirements. However, with some experimentation it is possible to get creative effects from the phone camera also, and there is a case for using both, or using the best equipment to suit the particular situation. Creative photography is about making choices in terms of our craft, always experimenting, discovering, and trying new things. Smartphone cameras can give us some choices about how we take our shots, whether we will shoot high or low, near or far, and about subject matter and composition, and they are becoming more sophisticated all the time. However, we do eventually reach the limit of our choices with smartphones, in large part due to their small sensors, which are obviously limited in what they can achieve. I also find that they can be pretty frustrating in bright sunlight when the absence of a viewfinder is a big drawback! The dedicated camera, on the other hand, works fairly well under most conditions. It challenges us to get the right exposure and the proper focus; it gives us options such as variations in depth of field using different apertures or the ability to control speed through adjustments in shutter priority; it gives us the option of interchangeable lenses to suit different types of photography. It encourages us to take shots that other people might not normally take, or even think of taking, to keep learning and continually hone our craft. Carrying a camera and several lenses, and possibly a tripod and other equipment, deciding on our venue, waiting for the right light, the right moment in which to take our shot, is more challenging in terms of planning and effort than simply taking out our phone camera when we see something worth shooting, but it is also more rewarding in terms of creativity. In other words, it helps us to become photographers rather than merely people with cameras. So, is the smartphone destroying photography? I think not, but in my own case I’m learning about photography from a ‘real’ camera and that learning extends to using a phone camera more creatively. Recently I have taken some photographs with both smartphone camera and my Nikon DSLR and I tried to be as creative as possible with each. Foggy morning The next photo was taken with my smartphone. I was walking along by a canal when I looked behind and saw this tree and its reflection. The picture quality is not great as I used the digital zoom but I am glad I got the image. I am not a purist when it comes to camera equipment therefore I'm happy that Samsung or Apple or Google are perfecting their phone cameras. It's not what the camera can do that concerns me most but what I, the person with the camera, can do. For that reason I believe that there is a definite role for the smartphone camera in every photographer’s ‘toolbox', and as phone cameras become more sophisticated they offer more and more in terms of creativity also. I like to have my smartphone camera with me to capture those unexpected moments and because I like good photographs I do a lot of research on smartphone cameras before buying the best that I can afford. However, despite the fact that it can produce sharp images that look well when compared to many dedicated camera images, for me the smartphone will never replace the camera in terms of honing my craft, growing and developing as a photographer and in terms of ‘making’ rather than ‘taking’ photographs. Dedicated cameras are more technically superior to phone cameras but phone cameras do have a lot to offer the serious photographer and I think it would be a mistake to dismiss the phone camera as being totally inferior or to feel threatened by this type of photography. Instead, I think what photographers need to do is to embrace this technology, accept that it has a place in photography and utilize it to reveal its potential. When I take this attitude I find that my phone camera can enhance my photography experience and I begin to learn more and more about how to use these very portable devices in creative ways. I don’t think that smartphones will destroy photography as long as there are photographers who want to engage with their craft, but is up to those photographers not to become ‘lazy’ about photography, not to become satisfied with the nice image produced on auto by the smartphone camera into which they have very little input. For me, the smartphone camera is just another part of my photography equipment, and I want to learn as much about how it works as I can. Conclusion Is it easier to take a photograph with the phone camera that is already in my bag than to carry a dedicated camera and its various lenses with me for those unexpected photo opportunities? Yes it is! Do I get as much satisfaction from taking these photographs? No, unfortunately I don’t, but as my knowledge of photography as a craft improves I realise that whatever camera I may have, it is merely a tool! In the end, it really is up to the photographer to reclaim photography; it is what we achieve for ourselves, with the aid of whatever equipment we have, through all the ups and downs involved in becoming better photographers, which brings out the best in us, both as photographers and as people. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams

“Taking photos is more than just pressing a shutter…an artist is something we all are inside and photography is our journey/path in finding that inner artist.” - Anthony Epes, photographer and teacher. Most of us, even experienced photographers, rarely get a good photograph on the first try, or even the second or third try. Many of us might not get a good photograph on the fiftieth try. I have learned this the hard way. Too often I have seen something that I would like to shoot, taken my photograph and come home only to realise that the picture was rubbish. I have now realised that one of my greatest mistakes in photography is taking too few shots. I can be guilty of spotting something I want to photograph, pressing the shutter and moving on to the next thing. But invariably, these images have not been great. So I had to ask myself, what am I doing wrong? One of the most useful pieces of advice which I have picked up from my reading is the encouragement to ‘explore the scene’. That has brought the realisation that no matter where I initially stand in relation to a subject, there is always a better place to stand, a better angle from which to shoot, a better viewpoint to be found. Exploring the scene 1 When I was young I loved exploring around the scene of an old building. I loved looking at the materials from which it was built, particularly if they were crumbling, I loved finding clues as to how the building had been used, and I particularly enjoyed building a scenario in my head of the type of people who lived or worked there and what their lives might have been like. When I came to photograph this building in my local park I did so with the same interest in looking at it from different angles to try and build a picture of the building and its purpose. In short, as I took these images as an adult with photography in mind, I decided, rather than just take one shot, to explore the scene to see what evolved. For my next set of images I took some shots through the window. In some shots the window was in focus with the people passing by on the other side of the building visible but not in focus, whereas in some shots I placed the focus on the people in the distance and blurred the foreground. These are two examples. I took some shots from different perspectives I went around to the front of the building and noticed this plaque. I discovered that it is a working craft workshop, with what is obviously a type of storeroom at the back. This is not great as an image but it is an example of how a scene can be worked from all possible perspectives and how, when we take the time to explore a scene, all sorts of photographic possibilities emerge. For my final image I moved sideways to an adjacent building and took a shot of these three windows on the side wall of that building. I like the balance here and the simplicity of the shot. Going away from the scene I felt that I had made a few discoveries about the building, its former and current uses and, indeed, its photographic potential. Exploring the scene 2 My normal position in this next scenario would have been to take a photograph from the viewpoint of a standing adult, hopefully with some people in the image. The first image below is nothing more than a snapshot of a garden decking and it is nothing special. Normally, I would most likely have walked away but on this occasion I decided to experiment and explore the scene a bit. One of the subjects that pops out at me from the image is the stone ball, so I first of all decided to do a close up photograph of that. Then I took the ball and its shadow, as I thought that might provide some interest in the photograph. The image was still not great so I took another with a blurred background. I then decided to change my position and shoot from the other side of the decking, with the decking boards providing leading lines. Later I saw that the sun was casting a stronger shadow so I tried again for a shot of the ball and its shadow. As I looked around the scene I felt that I could make more detailed images by going close up to some of the elements in the scene, particularly the plants. The lights on the decking suggested that I might get some nice shots in low light so I decided to come back later. These are some of the results. Exploring the scene 3 In former times when passing a location such as the one below I might have just taken one or two images, and invariably all would be from the same position, most likely as in the first image. Again, I decided to explore the scene a bit more than usual and I was pleased with some of the shots I got. Working a scene like this can help us develop creatively; it can urge us not to be content with what we see initially but to keep looking for something better, which to me is the essence of creativity. In every scene there is a possibility for a better image than the first one we see. If I don’t just snap and leave, but stop and look around, I might find that there is something more interesting to be found just 'over there'.

Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photographer who took portraits of displaced and migrant workers during the Great Depression. Her black and white images of men, women and children, which are full of poignancy and emotion, had a major influence on later documentary and journalistic photography. To my mind, Lange was a master observer of people. She is often quoted as saying, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera”. I feel that these words are urging us to become more observant through our pursuit of photography, always on the lookout for interesting subjects, even when we don’t have a camera available to make the most of the opportunity. Renewing my passion for photography has led me to become more observant. As I have spent more time seeking out beauty in the world around me so that I can capture it in an image, I have begun to recognise and appreciate that beauty, even when I don’t have a camera to hand. This has helped me to ‘be’ rather than always having to ‘do’. It is good to know that this is equally as important in photography as the times when I have my camera and am busy shooting. It is the reflective time, the time that helps me see what is around me in a new way. A direct by-product of becoming more observant is being able to find more photography opportunities, more ways to translate what I see into images so that others can experience the beauty that I see. The secret to this is to try to find new things to photograph, new ways of seeing, new angles from which to shoot that are not what people normally see. There are always opportunities for a photograph – we just have to recognise them. One of the biggest complaints that I have heard from people new to photography, or those just getting back into photography after a lapse, is that they have taken all the usual things and they don’t know what to photograph any more. They have exhausted their locations and don’t know where to go next to shoot the ‘perfect’ photograph. I know, because I have been there! I consider that many of my photographs are boring and not worth showing to anyone, but I have recently realised that this is often due to the fact that I mostly shoot from the viewpoint of a standing adult. Rather than give up on my photographs, I began to adjust my thinking a little and I am making an effort to shoot from different angles and perspectives. I have also taken the advice of more experienced photographers to look for opportunities to make photographs wherever I am. I listened to those who said, “Beauty is all around you – you just have to recognise it”, rather than use the excuse, “there’s nothing to photograph”. I began to look more closely, see more deeply, and move in to see small things rather than look out at the vastness of our world which cannot be captured accurately with my tiny camera sensor anyway. And what I have found is that my excuse is just that, an excuse. The prolific novelist, Jodi Picoult, is quoted as saying, You can always edit a bad page, you can’t edit a blank page. So what is this saying? To get out and take photographs – even if they are not great photographs, at least they are photographs and they might be the very photographs that will teach me something important about my craft. “It is not enough to photograph the obviously picturesque” - Dorothea Lange I came across this as I walked along a working pier. The object itself could not be described as being picturesque but it does cast a nice shadow and it represents something that I would normally just pass without even noticing it. Yet, this too has its use. Another spin off of becoming more observant is that I am becoming more confident as a photographer. I am not so focused on getting amazing landscape images anymore and am more focused on finding new angles from which to shoot my images. I am developing my own vision and becoming more accustomed to the learning involved in taking photographs; analysing the images, adjusting some elements, shooting again, analysing again, and so on. It has become an enjoyable process as I become more comfortable pursuing this art form. I have discovered that being myself in my photography – taking the photographs I like, of subjects I engage with - is more important than posting images to gain ‘likes’ on social media. I realise that, while for any of us our photographs may not be photographs that are popular with others, we are who we are, and who we are goes into the art that we make, so we need to be true to that. Our images may be of strange or unusual things, but they are the things we like to shoot, they have meaning to us, and we should be proud to show them. Photographer and writer Kent DuFault says, When you create a shot, and in looking at it you feel a glow inside, something in that image is part of your ‘art of seeing’. I read a lot of photography blogs and I appreciate those writers who urge us to get out there and see the world in our own way, to pay attention to what is around us and to make our own images rather than simply imitate the images of others. Each of us sees the world differently. Two people can stand in the same place and see very different things. When we make images of what we see, and share them, we are allowing others into our world and perhaps inspiring someone else to look beyond the obvious and to see differently too. On a foggy morning in April I was driving along a country road outside Ballinamore in Co. Leitrim when I was drawn to this lakeside. I wanted to capture the atmosphere, the silence of the morning, the feeling of the place before the sun burst through and changed everything. I took these images. Our photographs have the potential to open up the mind’s eye of our viewer. We can transform the way viewers think of people, a situation, a place. We can introduce them to the heart-breaking beauty of the world - right here on our doorstep – Anthony Epes, photographer and teacher.

Before I started to study photography I had the idea that if I found a beautiful view and took a snap of it, the result would be a beautiful photograph. If I was lucky, it was a pleasing image, but, more often than not, the result was nothing like I had imagined and I had to learn the lesson that beautiful scenes don’t automatically translate into beautiful photographs! What I wasn’t paying attention to then was composition, the fact that good photographs have to be ‘made’ by the photographer, they don’t just happen! What I had been taking were snapshots, not photographs. At an earlier stage in my photographic journey I took a look at the area of composition and began to incorporate some ideas on the topic when making my own images. Composition refers to how the elements are placed or arranged in the frame, as distinct from the subject itself. The particular way in which the image is composed will affect how the viewer sees or feels about the image, therefore we should try to arrange the visual elements in such a way that we create as dynamic an image as possible. Composition is important in smartphone photography as well as in camera photography. In fact, it is almost more important in smartphone photography as almost everything will be in focus therefore it is essential to place all the elements to the best possible advantage and to make careful choices as to what to include and what to exclude. As good composition is widely considered to be one of the key elements required in order to produce good photographs, almost every photography book or online tutorial that I read tells me how to better compose my shots, and there is general agreement as to what works in terms of composition. At the same time there are some differing opinions on the subject, with some writers suggesting that we follow rules such as the Rule of Thirds or achieving Diagonal Balance, while others will suggest intentionally breaking the rules once in a while. My fear of the latter is that in amateur hands such as mine the result will not be as intended, but nonetheless I decided to have a go at improving my composition by incorporating some of the suggestions. Each of the following photographs was taken with the aim of applying one or more of these composition techniques to my images. Some were taken with my phone camera. Having a clear focal point I think it is important to focus on a particular subject otherwise the point of the photograph will be unclear and the viewer will be unsure of what to look at. Before framing the shot we need to ask, ‘What is the focal point of the shot’? In this photograph the focus was the dog and the aim was to capture him jumping in the water. I used my phone camera on burst mode. Change the point of view Most people tend to shoot from eye level which gives a similarity to many images. When we change viewpoint we can add interest to the image by showing the subject in a way that people don’t usually see. Getting down low can provide a more unique viewpoint, as can shooting from above. This could mean sitting down, kneeling or even lying down to take the shot, or finding a higher vantage point from which to shoot. Filling the frame Filling the frame with an image is another technique recommended to give images a greater impact. This approach can focus on detail or patterns and eliminate distracting elements in the background. Including a foreground interest In this composition technique, the foreground interest leads the eye from the front to the back of the image, thereby giving a sense of depth. It can also add visual interest to the overall photograph. Framing the subject An approach that I try to use as often as possible is to ‘frame’ my subject by using objects in the foreground, for example an overhanging branch. I think this can give greater emphasis to the subject and draw the viewer into the frame. We can get creative with our frames and look around for various ways to frame our subject. A variation on this is to shoot through something. Leading lines Using leading lines is suggested as a good way of leading the eye into the image. Our eyes will usually follow a line to its end. Leading lines can be roads, railway tracks, paths, rivers, coastline, anything that leads the viewer’s eye, ideally towards the main subject. In some images there may simply be a suggestion as to where the lines are leading, for example, a railway track leading to the railway station ahead. Using symmetry, reflections, shadows to aid composition Negative space I like simplicity in images, which often results in having negative space. These images have an uncluttered feel and can give a sense of calm to the photo. A simple image from nature isolated in this way can emphasise the uniqueness of the subject in a way that seeing it in its cluttered surroundings may not convey. Follow guidelines, not rules! As we become more creative with our photography we need to pay attention to guidelines but also take risks, be bold with our shots, follow our own instincts so that we produce our own individual style of photography rather than slavishly follow the style of others. If an image is purposefully brimming with elements, chosen carefully, that too can provide interest. The image above may appear cluttered but I wanted to capture the houseboat yet lead the eye towards it using the leading line of the towpath. I could have cropped the image but felt that the other boat put it into context and provided a contrast. There is no real negative space in the image yet I like the fact that it is full of detail. The houseboat was my main focus yet I don't feel that the other elements are competing for the viewer’s attention, rather they give an overall sense of the scene. The image below is taken in the same location but the subject is pared down to reveal greater detail and less of an overview of the scene. One location can give lots of opportunities for different compositions. There are many suggestions for improving composition, and not all of them are relevant in every situation, but by experimenting with these techniques we come away with a ‘toolkit’ of ideas to try out and which will hopefully strengthen the composition of our images, leading to more pleasing photographs. #creatorsie #photography