Social, Exhibition & Friday Night Drinks - Please Join Us!
The Photographers’ Gallery is currently showing the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. On March 12th at 6:30pm we will have an expert, introductory talk to the exhibition and gallery.

We’ll have a few drinks after looking round the exhibition, giving us a chance to meet other photo-hobbyists. I encourage you to bring and share your own significant photos and photo-stories; just 1 or 2 prints will do!

Contact me (details at the top of the page) if you’d like to join us for the evening.

What’s On
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, who has made the most significant contribution, in exhibition or publication format, to the medium of photography over the previous year. The four shortlisted artists for this year’s Prize are:

- Anna Fox (b.1961, UK) - part of the new wave of British colour documentary photographers that emerged in the 1980s, Fox creates a compelling study of the mundane and bizarre in British life
- Zoe Leonard (b.1961, USA) - a chronicler of the overlooked, for the last 30 years Leonard has recorded urban landscapes, creating an eclectic and personal inventory of our material world
- Sophie Ristelhueber (b.1949, France) - investigates the impact of human conflict on architecture and landscapes and records the resulting aftermath in places such as Bosnia, France, Iraq, Lebanon
- Donovan Wylie (b.1971, UK) - systematically documented the fabric and physical structure of the eponymous Northern Ireland Maze Prison and its subsequent demolition

Location & Meeting Point
We’ll meet inside the Photographers’ Gallery at the reception desk. I’ll be wearing a badge saying The Photo School. The talk starts promptly at 6:30pm. This get together will probably be 3 hours in total (first 1h30 at the exhibition and the second half having drinks). If work keeps you late, you’re welcome to join us later, but please do text/phone to let me know.

Please note the Photographers’ Gallery is now at 16 - 18 Ramillies Street behind Oxford Street.

Just found these London before and after photos on the BBC website.

Truly amazing, there are nearly 140 years between the photos of how London was then (shot by Henry Dixon - 1870s) and how our capital looks now (shot this year by Rob Ainsley).

Mostly photos of the city, we are privy to see the changes that have happened with buildings that either were bombed or spaces that would change as society changed.

View the photos on the BBC website.

Look closely, you can see extensions, renovations, or in the case of a couple, our food and drinking needs have wiped away the whole building.

An excellent slideshow of 12 photos courtesy of the British Library.

And a great warm up for the Points of View exhibition being hosted by the British Library that The Photo School is going to this Sunday.

Buy someone a photography experience this year.

At £30, these photography workshop gift vouchers are an ideal present for someone keen on learning how to become snap happy!

You can treat your loved one to a composition workshop, camera settings, people photography or switch to manual. Each costs £30 or buy two workshops for £50.

If you’re getting a camera for Christmas, the workshops are ideal for giving you the basics and confidence to really know how to go out and create that shot.

If you have time to read your camera manual over the holidays, then the composition workshop would be ideal. In this we will teach you ‘how to look and how to see’ to help you snap something unique; this you won’t find in the manual!

If like most of us, you won’t be getting round to reading your manual, then join others for some fun and learn all about your settings in a lively and practical group workshop.

Contact Natalie to buy your photography voucher today!

Photos from Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

Back in August, the Photo School spent a sunny summer’s day at Kew for our Garden Photography Masterclass. So it was nice to have a reminder yesterday of the fun we had by seeing some more stunning photography shot at Kew.

This time is was by professional photographer Heather Angel.

Heather spent a year capturing the plants and animals that inhabit west London. I love the commentary that she gives in her slideshow. See her pics from Kew on the BBC website and our beginner shots from August on the Photo School’s events page.

Looking forward to seeing more wildlife photos at the National History Museum later this month.

Join us if you can!

Happy photographing! Natalie

What better to do on a summer Sunday than to have a day at Kew Gardens learning how to improve your garden photography.

This practical photography event coincides with The International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition.

There will be the chance to view the best images taken from gardens across the world whilst exploring Kew and improving your garden and plant portraiture photography.

The event runs from 10:30am til 4pm and costs £35. This includes:

• Kew entrance costing £13
• Tuition by acclaimed landscape and portrait photographer, Jon Mortimer
• Hands-on photography at Kew’s Houses, Conservatories and Walkways
• Chance to view and be inspired by the Garden POTY exhibition
• Beginner garden photography handouts

Please pay via Paypal to natalie@photolate.com to confirm your place. Min 8 people. Max 15 people. This practical is aimed at enthusiastic beginner photographers. Lunch not included.

Theme
Jon Mortimer, an acclaimed landscape and portrait photographer will lead the group. The topics to be discussed and taught during the day will include:

• How to select the angles in a garden
• Framing and composition in relation to garden and plant portrait photography
• Using a variety of lenses for different elements of garden photography
• Learning how time of day and weather affect garden photography
• Using natural light and small camera top flash
• Switching to indoor plant photography
• Choosing the best equipment for a desired theme

Itinerary
The event will comprise of the following parts:

1) Warm-up: be inspired by others’ garden photographs at the POTY exhibition

2) Introduction: Jon will discuss the main elements of garden photography

3) Hands on tuition: we will be travelling around the gardens stopping at Kew’s key attractions. For each attraction, the tutor will talk through the main areas of this field of photography and then we will spend some time practicing what we have learnt, with Jon always close by to help and advise

4) Late lunch: stopping at one of the cafes we will take the chance to discuss and share our own experiences, each sharing our best photo so far

5) More key attractions and teaching: attractions may include Xstrata Treetop Walkway, Palm House, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Waterlily House

6) Evaluation: we will discuss our experiences and evaluate our images

Exhibition
The International Garden POTY exhibition is in its 2nd year and receives over 19,000 images from amateur and professional photographers alike.

This year the exhibition includes a special category ‘World Botanic Gardens’ to celebrate Kew’s 250th birthday. Other categories include garden views, plant portraits, wildlife in the garden, trees, people in the garden & the edible garden. It is likely to be a great inspirational start to the day!

Things To Bring
Please bring your camera and a tripod if possible. It’s always advisable to carry spare batteries and memory cards just in case. If you wish, please bring printed samples of your own garden photographs.

We will be stopping at one of the cafés for a late lunch.
Feel free to bring a packed lunch if you prefer.

Location
We will meet promptly at 10:30am at Kew Gardens, Victoria Gate.

This is the largest entrance and nearest to Kew Gardens station (District line and London Overground services), about 3 minutes walk from the station.

This gate is on Kew Road, situated in the middle of the Gardens, and the 65 bus stops outside. The Victoria Gate visitor centre provides retail, coffee shop, toilets, information and Friends desk.

Find Out More
http://www.kew.org/vi…
http://www.tfl.gov.uk…
Call Natalie on 07773 819053

Digital Cameras Are Everywhere These Days

A quality camera at a reasonable price is not hard to find today because every electronics manufacturer has their own range and the competition is fierce.

Unlike traditional cameras which used light sensitive film to capture images, digital cameras use its own set of light sensing technology to convert the world we see into a digital file at the touch of a button. This file is then stored to the camera’s internal memory or more often than not to a memory card that you will have to purchase in order to expand the camera’s picture storing capabilities.

The Cost of Storage Is Cheaper Than Ever Before

Most manufacturers give measly little built-in memory with their cameras because they want to keep the costs of their camera as low as possible so as to ward off the competition, and in the past memory cards with decent storage capacities were expensive.

Thankfully the price of memory cards for digital cameras has come down drastically.

You can now get 1GB or more for under a tenner, which is enough for at least a few 100 photos.

With a memory card installed you can usually just remove the card from your camera and insert it into your PC or laptop if it comes with a memory card reader, or as is more usually the case you can use the supplied USB cable to plug your camera straight into your computer to transfer images.

However, the one thing that you should be aware of in relation to memory cards in digital photography is that there is not one standard format of memory card that will work in all cameras.

Some manufacturers differ in their preference, so before you buy a camera it’s essential that you find out what type of memory card it requires.

Different Types of Memory Card

The most commonly used memory card format is the SD card, used by Samsung, Kodak, Panasonic, Pentax and many others. This means that it’s fairly easy to find cheap SD memory cards with good storage capacities either online or in an electronics store that will work instantly with your digital camera.

But beware…there has been a recent development in SD technology which has produced SDHC cards, with storage sizes of 4GB right up to 32GB. Most older cameras which take SD cards won’t be able to take advantage of these increased capacity SDHC cards, so check a new camera before you buy to see if it is compatible.

Sony cameras require a Sony Memory Stick, which is of course Sony’s own memory card format, and Olympus use XD cards which differ in size and shape from SD cards.

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Mum Says, Have Fun With Your Food

This year I came across Carl Warner’s fotographics: a set of photos where the scenescapes have all been made by vegetables or other food stuff!

The pictures are a real innovative take on the normal photo.

Photography Game: Spot The Vegetable

They are just amazing to look at! The more you study them, the more vegetables you find have been used to make up the picture. I’m not sure how long they take Carl to put together but I’m guessing a few days. I can spend a few days just looking at them!

You can view more of his foodscapes on Carl’s website. Just click ‘website’ and then ‘fotoscapes’.

Alternatively if you are looking for a photo gift for a food lover or something to keep you inspired in your kitchen, then you can buy prints over at Lens Wall.

Garlicshire is my favourite photo. What’s yours?

Please leave a comment.

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An Ideal Secret Santa Present

At £8, this mini digital photo frame could make an ideal secret santa present or stocking filler for someone that loves their photos. It can hold up to 107 photos for quick and fun viewing.

Read more about the TeckNet 1.5 Inch USB Mini Digital Photo Frame Keychain over at Amazon.

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Find Photo Ideas To Keep Inspired

I love photography and taking photos, but there’s some days where I just can’t be bothered to lug all my equipment around or indeed find the energy to seek out an interesting composition.

On such days I used to get out my old photography magazines.

However, now that I spend so much time at my computer and have grown increasingly lazy on my low energy days, I like to use the internet to be inspired by photos that others have taken.

Flickr Interestingness

Using the comments of users and the photos mostly added to favourites, Flickr’s Interestingness is an ideal place to seek inspiration.

Where do you get your inspiration from to go out and take photos?

Please leave a comment.

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Personalised Photo Cards - I Love ‘Em!

Last month my two nieces were being christened so I decided to invest in some nice greeting cards. Having seen the ads on the TV I decided to give Moonpig a go.

It wasn’t until I logged on that I realised you can upload photos to personalise your cards. I ended up choosing two cute ‘Me To You’ cards and uploaded a photo of each niece and their parents.

After finding a definition of each of my niece’s names through Google I was set. The cards arrived the day after and I couldn’t help but think what a neat service.

My sister later told me that my photo card was the only christening card that she has kept out!

Prepare Your Images First

If you are going to upload photos to make personalised photo cards, I’d recommend you:

• Upload the highest resolution possible (although I did experience an error uploading a 3mb photo and had to try again)
• Remember to remove any red eye from the photo first (it really spoils any photo, nevermind a posh card)
• Crop the photo so that the face is close up (you don’t want to print unnecessary detail)
• Make sure your photo is bright enough (again you don’t want a poor photo spoiling a nice card and more often than not they print darker than what they appear on screen)

Is anyone using Moonpig for their Xmas cards?

Please leave a comment.

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