Rick’s News

Hi – I have gone back to ’school’ and signed up for the DSLR Skills course run by Practical Photography magazine.  As part of the course we are encouraged to find ‘Study Buddy’s’, fellow students on whom we can rely on for support, feedback and friendship.

Our first get-together was at Leeds Castle on Thursday 11th March.  It was a cold day – and there were only 3 of us present, myself, Trevor and Cath.  So I took a couple of portrait shots to start off with:

Trevor

Cath

After introductions over an over priced coffee at the Castle Entrance we set off to see what we could shoot…

Talking Photography

Stopping by the bridge – Trevor and Cath immediately get into  deep technical discussions (I think…)!

The first wildlife soon appeared:

A peacock struts its stuff

No fear from this particular bird – but insisted on moving making it difficult to get a great shot.

Peahen in all her glory

This peahen however, seemed to like posing and was much more co-operative… animal lovers may correct me if it isn’t a peahen, as might be an albino peacock!!

Fantail

From a different angle…

Still Showing Off

Nothing inspirational here – but I like messing about with tones.

Cool Tone

Trevor and Cath

Trevor eyeing me suspiciously as Cath tries to find an angle.

Close-up (uncertain vegetation).

For the next series of shots I decided to practice some close-up shot and try and capture some textures…

B&W Close-up

B&W can save the day when t he light is dull…

B&W Tree in Silhouette

A silhouette type shot and a high contrast shot of a tree trunk.

Stark Tree

Of course we couldn’t forget the Snowdrops:

Snowdrops

Snowdrops

Photography is about uncomfortable positions

Reflection with cool tone

More messing about with tones and Lightroom presets….

Female Bust (Sepia tone)

A shot of the statuary.

Black Swan

Finished up with a shot of a Black Swan who obligingly approached us as we headed towards the exit after another cup of over priced coffee at the cafe in the Courtyard.

All-in-all, a thoroughly enjoyable day despite the cold and often dull light.  Thanks to Cath and Trevor for an enjoyable pint in The George just up the road from the castle.  I am definitely looking forward to more study buddy sessions.

That’s all folks – more soon…

Rick

Hi – when I started out as a photographer, I quickly realised I had to get to grips with photoshop!  Photoshop is an awesome image editing programme with the ability to create amazing images.  I am still learning what it can do every day.  I imagine there are a lot of people out there who are at a different stage of this journey – and some of you might find it useful if I write a series of photoshop hints and tips – which will include links to other resources and further reading.  I am sure I will learn from you too!

This is just an introduction – so let’s start at the beginning

Here is a link to my photoshop bible:  

The Photoshop CS4 Book. Scott Kelby (latest edition).

The link will take you to Scott’s own site but try Amazon for second hand copies.

I still use the CS2 version of this book every day despite the fact that I now use CS3 (and CS4 is already out there).  There is everything you need to know – from setting photoshop up properly to working with RAW files.   If you don’t know what RAW files are and why you should – buy this book!

I hope this series of tips will build into a useful resource – but I really need feedback and comments to make it better.  Together with my Digital Photography Tips category of posts – I want this to be a sound starting point for people who want to learn more about their camera and the software needed to manipulate images.

Although I will concentrate on Photoshop – there is a stripped down version called Elements that many of you will have as it normally comes supplied with your digital camera.  Many of the Photoshop techniques described here can be achieved in elements – but usually in a slightly different way which I will cover where applicable.

Click here if you wish to purchase the latest version of Photoshop (CS4).

More soon…