This is just a reminder that you can purchase my work on redbubble.com as well as my own site. www.davidrothwellphotography.co.uk If your looking for a photographer for a particular thematic shoot, just contact myself via the link.
Sunday, 30 September 2012
"Food For Fuel" Framed Prints by stonemonki | Redbubble
"Food For Fuel" Framed Prints by stonemonki | Redbubble: This is just a reminder that you can purchase my work on redbubble.com as well as my own site.
www.davidrothwellphotography.co.uk If your looking for a photographer for a particular thematic shoot, just contact myself via the link.
This is just a reminder that you can purchase my work on redbubble.com as well as my own site. www.davidrothwellphotography.co.uk If your looking for a photographer for a particular thematic shoot, just contact myself via the link.
Le site Web a lancé. ..finally
So it has finally arrived! Yes after months of hard work, I have finally launched my website. About time too, this means you can view my images more intimately. You can look at the varying styles I have so far to my repertoire.
I will keeping my online blog going as well, I like it here its a place where I can let off steam, and also find myself again.
I've noticed people are reading my blog but no one comments, I would like feed back or interaction with another blogger perhaps?
This week I also managed to get in the darkroom, and develop some prints, great at least when the other students were not present, I could just get down to the nitty gritty.
I love the darkroom, I have now realised its importance in photography, I know they're are digital toggers out there who have probably never laid their hands on an analogue SLR, let alone a negative. Well let me tell you it is a different world, and one that admittedly I find very intriguing and also so very satisfying, viewing your finished print. You get a realisation, that you have now immersed yourself in a world of past photographers, great names like Edward Steichen; Fox Talbot and the like who performed that very process themselves to produce an image!
I can only say wow, it is a fantastic feeling, you should try it!
The website mentioned has a few images of my film work, I have shot in Kodak colour 200, but mostly shooting in good old black and white.
A black and white image for me reproduces the photographers emotive feeling at the time very well, I find it transcends into the work simultaneously. The thing with shooting in monochrome is this, no colour distraction to confuse the message unless of course, colour is needed to sell the message or to tell the story, then you must shoot in black and white, it simplifies what you are saying...Diane Arbus was famously quoted saying "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."
This statement for me has certainly some truth to it, if viewing a photograph you certainly want to know more about it, about the photographer; about the scene captured and the message it is conveying. A little while ago I spoke of metaphors in photography, and how they can sell an image, particularly in the advertising or commercial photography industry but how about those who photograph purely for the sake of art? They're a lot of photographers who do just that, even documentary photographers try an alternative thought process.
Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
This exceptional insight into America during the Great Depression shows how early thought provoking images were being taken and documented, this image says we are poor, we are hungry, we are stressed, we are worried, the children turn in towards the mother for support, and she is captured showing her vulnerable side and very open too.
It means so much more than words here, try putting yourself in that woman's shoes, and you will find great hardship but the not only that, you will found a woman who is strong.
The mother does look worried but am sure, she was very loving to those children, she loved them and she was strong for them.
I would love to capture images like this, the closest I have come is the odd homeless person on the streets of Manchester, Liverpool or London. The one thing I have learnt is this, they're beggars out there who; actually have a roof over their head. Yes it is appalling to know that..I found out that some of them are actually practising their art of acting too!
Anyways I digress, the one thing I was meant to be talking about and sharing with you is my website please take a look and if you can give constructive feedback please do so.
I will keeping my online blog going as well, I like it here its a place where I can let off steam, and also find myself again.
I've noticed people are reading my blog but no one comments, I would like feed back or interaction with another blogger perhaps?
This week I also managed to get in the darkroom, and develop some prints, great at least when the other students were not present, I could just get down to the nitty gritty.
I love the darkroom, I have now realised its importance in photography, I know they're are digital toggers out there who have probably never laid their hands on an analogue SLR, let alone a negative. Well let me tell you it is a different world, and one that admittedly I find very intriguing and also so very satisfying, viewing your finished print. You get a realisation, that you have now immersed yourself in a world of past photographers, great names like Edward Steichen; Fox Talbot and the like who performed that very process themselves to produce an image!
I can only say wow, it is a fantastic feeling, you should try it!
The website mentioned has a few images of my film work, I have shot in Kodak colour 200, but mostly shooting in good old black and white.
A black and white image for me reproduces the photographers emotive feeling at the time very well, I find it transcends into the work simultaneously. The thing with shooting in monochrome is this, no colour distraction to confuse the message unless of course, colour is needed to sell the message or to tell the story, then you must shoot in black and white, it simplifies what you are saying...Diane Arbus was famously quoted saying "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."
This statement for me has certainly some truth to it, if viewing a photograph you certainly want to know more about it, about the photographer; about the scene captured and the message it is conveying. A little while ago I spoke of metaphors in photography, and how they can sell an image, particularly in the advertising or commercial photography industry but how about those who photograph purely for the sake of art? They're a lot of photographers who do just that, even documentary photographers try an alternative thought process.
One photographer who epitomises this style of photography known as Photojournalism is American photographer Dorothea Lange.
Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
This exceptional insight into America during the Great Depression shows how early thought provoking images were being taken and documented, this image says we are poor, we are hungry, we are stressed, we are worried, the children turn in towards the mother for support, and she is captured showing her vulnerable side and very open too.
It means so much more than words here, try putting yourself in that woman's shoes, and you will find great hardship but the not only that, you will found a woman who is strong.
The mother does look worried but am sure, she was very loving to those children, she loved them and she was strong for them.
I would love to capture images like this, the closest I have come is the odd homeless person on the streets of Manchester, Liverpool or London. The one thing I have learnt is this, they're beggars out there who; actually have a roof over their head. Yes it is appalling to know that..I found out that some of them are actually practising their art of acting too!
Anyways I digress, the one thing I was meant to be talking about and sharing with you is my website please take a look and if you can give constructive feedback please do so.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Street Photography
The very term conjures up images, some of the very streets them selves some of the people who habitually own them. We see many people who are drunk, drugged and or homeless. Today though whilst out in a Northern city centre, actually Manchester I happened to meet a very talented artist whose name is Akieh, I have his work from today and am very pleased with his interpretation of a portrait of myself!
I was ecstatic with the result seen below, his style was quite 'lively' as my brother Colin put it (himself an artist). I found it very encouraging and inspiring too, okay I purchased the image for £20 but to me, it was priceless. He has encapsulated what I am all about in this charcoal style portraiture.
I had to change my roll of film too, which was slightly annoying but he raised a smile as I took his picture, I will develop the negs and post them on here of the artist. I liked his style, he had so many images of his day finished in pastel. They're were exceptional images, I wish I could of spent more time with him, but a woman came up to me begging, and I really didn't want to offend, so I moved on.
The day had been very good, during my day I had also taken a shot of a cake seller, he offered a variety of cup cakes, temptation drew on my mind and I parted with some more cash, for these lovely artistic delicious looking coffee time snacks.
I have them in my fridge, they look so inviting but alas I will wait. I listened to Elton John's Rocket Man, whilst snapping away, from the album Best Of British an outstanding album, and personally something of which am going to put my neck out and say, we really are a talented bunch!
I get inspired and into the mood whem am listening to music, I love listening to music when am shooting. Just adds another dimension to my thought process, very enlightening.
I was ecstatic with the result seen below, his style was quite 'lively' as my brother Colin put it (himself an artist). I found it very encouraging and inspiring too, okay I purchased the image for £20 but to me, it was priceless. He has encapsulated what I am all about in this charcoal style portraiture.
I had to change my roll of film too, which was slightly annoying but he raised a smile as I took his picture, I will develop the negs and post them on here of the artist. I liked his style, he had so many images of his day finished in pastel. They're were exceptional images, I wish I could of spent more time with him, but a woman came up to me begging, and I really didn't want to offend, so I moved on. The day had been very good, during my day I had also taken a shot of a cake seller, he offered a variety of cup cakes, temptation drew on my mind and I parted with some more cash, for these lovely artistic delicious looking coffee time snacks.
I have them in my fridge, they look so inviting but alas I will wait. I listened to Elton John's Rocket Man, whilst snapping away, from the album Best Of British an outstanding album, and personally something of which am going to put my neck out and say, we really are a talented bunch!
I get inspired and into the mood whem am listening to music, I love listening to music when am shooting. Just adds another dimension to my thought process, very enlightening.
Friday, 21 September 2012
Assignment
Well, it's been a while since I posted anything that warrants your attention! I have an assignment to work on in a reportage style, I have a whole host of ideas to which are written down, scrawled on postits' or noted on my iPhone 4S. Yes mine is the 4S but news on the grapevine is that 4G iPhone 5, is looming rather large on many an iPhone user Christmas wish list perhaps?
I know one thing am certainly impressed with apple, I remember not being a fan of the earlier editions. However, that was then and this is now, after my run-in with samsung (you may remember my post about their lack of customer service), I cannot say that I would rush to purchase anything from them in a hurry.
I will be staying with apple and in particular iPhone, the latest addition is the iPhone 5 Wi-Fi is faster too, yay! That is all I need especially when your on the move, downloading the latest news to your iphone or uploading some key notes for a webinar...going forward with Apple is certainly a step in the right direction.
The greatest aspect for me is I can download the British Journal of Photography, and keep up to date with new releases such as Canon's new digital full frame EOS 6D 20.2 megapixel DSLR boasting an expandable ISO range to 102,400 that is incredible!
Though let's be honest why you need that high a range is beyond me, so let's delve deeper and find out why it's a great crossover to a bigger CMOS full frame. The 6D is able to produce multiple exposure on a single frame, this is great for those who have creative genius, I use layers in Photoshop to create special effects and am intrigued to find out what new software will be released by Canon for such a camera, will it rival Photoshop for tethered in-studio shooting techniques?
I have to say my mouth is salivating at the prospect, 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting. Powerful DiG!c 5+ processing, my, my that is 17 X faster than DiG!c 4.
I know one thing am certainly impressed with apple, I remember not being a fan of the earlier editions. However, that was then and this is now, after my run-in with samsung (you may remember my post about their lack of customer service), I cannot say that I would rush to purchase anything from them in a hurry.
I will be staying with apple and in particular iPhone, the latest addition is the iPhone 5 Wi-Fi is faster too, yay! That is all I need especially when your on the move, downloading the latest news to your iphone or uploading some key notes for a webinar...going forward with Apple is certainly a step in the right direction.
The greatest aspect for me is I can download the British Journal of Photography, and keep up to date with new releases such as Canon's new digital full frame EOS 6D 20.2 megapixel DSLR boasting an expandable ISO range to 102,400 that is incredible!
Though let's be honest why you need that high a range is beyond me, so let's delve deeper and find out why it's a great crossover to a bigger CMOS full frame. The 6D is able to produce multiple exposure on a single frame, this is great for those who have creative genius, I use layers in Photoshop to create special effects and am intrigued to find out what new software will be released by Canon for such a camera, will it rival Photoshop for tethered in-studio shooting techniques?
I have to say my mouth is salivating at the prospect, 4.5 frames per second continuous shooting. Powerful DiG!c 5+ processing, my, my that is 17 X faster than DiG!c 4.
Canon EOS Remote
At the heart of the 6D. Together these deliver images that are packed with detail and clarity. Colours are reproduced accurately whilst tonal gradation is subtle and natural. I recently upgraded to an EOS 1D And so far so good, I will be posting some images soon. Which is what this post was meant to be the focal point of discussion, today am going out armed with a couple of rolls of film for this current assignment.
Fast and responsive, the EOS 1D is ideal for professional field photography
So watch this space.
| |
|
|
Monday, 17 September 2012
History
During our
first lecture we discussed a number of photographers to focus – Fox Talbot; Eugène
Atget; George Brassaï and those born in the 20Th
century such as August Sander; Henri Cartier-Bresson; (A personal favourite and influence) and Robert
Doisneau are of course those photographers who
were a new breed of artist who documented the lives of those people who
inhabited America, Britain, France and areas of interest, particularly those
who were in a current state of conflict or undergoing radical change.
Certainly in the early part of
the nineteenth century, the whole known world was experiencing a revolution of
some sorts, indeed the ‘Paris Commune’ as it is known or Fourth French
Revolution was considered to be an early important form of Photojournalism.
of the Vendôme
Column. Braquehais was born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, in 1823. Deaf
from a young age, he attended the Institut royal des sourds et muets (Royal Institute of
the Deaf and Mute) in Paris. He worked as a lithographer
in Caen
until 1850, when he met photographer Alexis Gouin (ca. 1790s–1855), and moved
to Paris to work in Gouin's studio. Gouin specialized in colored daguerreotypes
(French:
daguerréotype) was the first
commercially successful photographic process. (They were
colored by his stepdaughter, Laure) and stereoscopic plates.
Fast forward
and nothing much has changed certainly the images of the tyrannical Saddam
Hussein statue being toppled in April 2003 echo those events in
revolutionary France. Throughout human history we have had a fascination of
documenting our lives in some form or other, the earliest being the cave paintings
of prehistoric origin in El Castillo cave in Cantabria,
Spain.
August Sander
Sander was born in Herdorf, the son of a carpenter working in the mining industry. While working at a local mine, Sander first learned about photography by assisting a photographer who was working for a mining company. With financial support from his uncle, he bought photographic equipment and set up his own darkroom.
Sander has been described as the most important German portrait photographer of the early twentieth century; his first book “Face of our Time” (Antlitz der Zeit)was published in 1929. It contained a selection of sixty portraits from his series People of the 20Th Century.
Unfortunately for Sander under the Nazi regime, his work and personal life were greatly constrained. Sander's book Face of our Time was seized in 1936 and the photographic plates destroyed. Around 1942, during World War II, he left Cologne and moved to a rural area, allowing him to save most of his negatives. His studio was destroyed in a 1944 bombing raid. Sander died in Cologne in 1964.
His work includes landscape, nature, architecture, and street photography, but he is best known for his portraits, as exemplified by his series People of the 20th Century. In this series, he aims to show a cross-section of society during the Weimar Republic. The series is divided into seven sections: The Farmer, The Skilled Tradesman, Woman, Classes and Professions, The Artists, The City, and The Last People (homeless persons, veterans, etc.). By 1945, Sander's archive included over 40,000 images.
In 2002, the August Sander Archive and scholar Susanne Lange published a seven-volume collection comprising some 650 of Sander's photographs, August Sander: People of the 20th Century. In 2008, the Mercury crater Sander was named after him
In 2002, the August Sander Archive and scholar Susanne Lange published a seven-volume collection comprising some 650 of Sander's photographs, August Sander: People of the 20th Century. In 2008, the Mercury crater Sander was named after him
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Good things do come in small packages...
Hi all well it has been an interesting week again, got a telephone call confirming they want me to photograph the English Half Marathon in Warrington this Sunday. So am obviously thrilled at the opportunity to photograph this event.
From being given this opportunity, I can only say wow what an opportunity this is going to be! This year has been full of surprises all good too. My brother is a painter and decided he wanted to purchase his first DSLR
He decided on Nikon and the Nikon D5100 it's a creative versatile camera, packed full of interesting features one that will certainly please those, who may not necessarily have a creative editing software to produce the results like selective colour or toy camera or a monochromatic effect.
Overall it is an impressive camera, so happy he has decided to go down this path of creativity. Long may it continue...
Oh yes, the other highlight to my week...before embarking on my portraiture for my second year at college. I needed a prime lens, as you know my lenses are primarily for creative landscape and range from a wide 18mm to a very telescopic long range 300mm...although the maximum is a cool 2 million dollar 1600mm Leica APO lens
Don't think my budget will stretch that far yet...but you never know! Anyways I digress...I was fortunate to get hold of a wide aperture prime lens from Canon a very nice 50mm f/1.8 MK II lens indeed, it is small but as the title suggests...
I was out testing the lens today, I was nicely surprised too, it fits my old analogue Canon EOS 5000 SLR. Yes I am a happy man...so I will be purchasing some low ISO Ilford PAN F 50 film to do just that portraiture.
The other highlight is I now have a enough material to start my book, at long last! So watch this space.
From being given this opportunity, I can only say wow what an opportunity this is going to be! This year has been full of surprises all good too. My brother is a painter and decided he wanted to purchase his first DSLR
He decided on Nikon and the Nikon D5100 it's a creative versatile camera, packed full of interesting features one that will certainly please those, who may not necessarily have a creative editing software to produce the results like selective colour or toy camera or a monochromatic effect.
Overall it is an impressive camera, so happy he has decided to go down this path of creativity. Long may it continue...
Oh yes, the other highlight to my week...before embarking on my portraiture for my second year at college. I needed a prime lens, as you know my lenses are primarily for creative landscape and range from a wide 18mm to a very telescopic long range 300mm...although the maximum is a cool 2 million dollar 1600mm Leica APO lens
Don't think my budget will stretch that far yet...but you never know! Anyways I digress...I was fortunate to get hold of a wide aperture prime lens from Canon a very nice 50mm f/1.8 MK II lens indeed, it is small but as the title suggests...
I was out testing the lens today, I was nicely surprised too, it fits my old analogue Canon EOS 5000 SLR. Yes I am a happy man...so I will be purchasing some low ISO Ilford PAN F 50 film to do just that portraiture.
The other highlight is I now have a enough material to start my book, at long last! So watch this space.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Lost-Photons: XXXX
Lost-Photons: XXXX: Looking for places to go at high tide, in a city that bends around a river that shortly arrives at its destination, makes for a littl...
Interesting insight into Australias' sewer system another world far from our prying eyes but never the less, still there waiting to be discovered.
Interesting insight into Australias' sewer system another world far from our prying eyes but never the less, still there waiting to be discovered.
Monday, 3 September 2012
Lately i've been looking at the work of others, trying to get some inspiration and getting away from landscape photography.
Don't get me wrong I love landscape it's nice to get away from the city and get out into the country for fresh air.
Now and again I've been attending photographic exhibitions, art exhibitions, museums and the like. Another place to go to the streets not just for the creative graffiti master pieces, but for inspiration.
I love graffiti art I recently found a piece by Banksy, his 'love plane' adorned a wall in Liverpool, genius work. Simple and effective.
What I like about Graffiti is the varying styles among the artists, there is a Lispencie from Manchester, has her own boutique and her work has been photographed by myself on many occasions.
I came across a Irek Tankpetrol too, his site is here Irek Graffiti artist His work is brilliant, it is so advanced the technique of stencilling and spray paint and other mixed media.
All good stuff and you can purchase his art as you can also purchase mine. Here is a shot of some aspiring work, however it does say epic fail to me, that speech bubble was made of cloth and kept blowing in the wind as Bob Dylan once sang.
Don't get me wrong I love landscape it's nice to get away from the city and get out into the country for fresh air.
Now and again I've been attending photographic exhibitions, art exhibitions, museums and the like. Another place to go to the streets not just for the creative graffiti master pieces, but for inspiration.
I love graffiti art I recently found a piece by Banksy, his 'love plane' adorned a wall in Liverpool, genius work. Simple and effective.
What I like about Graffiti is the varying styles among the artists, there is a Lispencie from Manchester, has her own boutique and her work has been photographed by myself on many occasions.
I came across a Irek Tankpetrol too, his site is here Irek Graffiti artist His work is brilliant, it is so advanced the technique of stencilling and spray paint and other mixed media.
"Recycle" Framed Prints by stonemonki | Redbubble
"Recycle" Framed Prints by stonemonki | Redbubble: This shot was taken in a wood whilst walking the dog, amongst the 'bottle bank' tree, there was rubbish too, although it may have been bagged, there was a lot of it.
There is a campsite nearby not surprisingly people leave shit behind, because they don't live there.
The thing is I do...ask yourself how would you feel if you came home to a to living space full of human waste...all over the floor on your leather three piece corner suite?
You wouldn't would you...? So why shit on my doorstep.
Please recycle.
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Stook
Stook
These are aslo known as hay bales, and they certainly make one suffer for your art. My eyes were quite literally streaming when I was shooting this...
Alas though it is for a worthy cause - my art!
Please enjoy reading my blog and viewingh my images, I love feedback and if other photographers are reading this, maybe a collaboration in future?
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Beach People
When I'm out shooting I normally survey the lay of the land to get some sort of idea, of what I would like to shoot and what would appeal to people.
I'm always looking at the aesthetic of composition, contrasting colours, shapes, people, animals etc.
With this shot I noticed I had three or more possibilties, the textures in the shot, water versus land or sand in this case. Also the people in the shot, some fully clothed and kitted out for walking a dog on the beach, some kitted out to paddle out in some cooling sea water, or to investigate and fish for crabs and the like, these people are beach people.
Recycle
Whilst out walking one day. I came across a really nice wood and thought brilliant, the sun was bursting through and I got some amazing shots.
I came across some rubbish though, some was in bags fair enough, you have taken the trouble to put it away but not take it with you!
I looked up and found some half full bottles, some empty, some of them adorned this beautiful pine tree, these trees of course are replanted and cut down then replanted for fuel for us all to have electricity.
I gave the image a bit of rendering with a bit of iris blur, and converted to B/W.
I gave it the title of Recycle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)