What I know about taking photographs

The Danger of Processing

The more time I spend exploring photographic websites and competing in online contests the more I realise how much post camera processing is going on and frankly it disturbs me. What has happened to the "art" of photography, the moment of capture when the photographer works to get all the elements right, thereby creating the "perfect image".

I am the first one to admit that all of my photographs are viewed first in photoshop and occasionally I will tweek the curves or pop the saturation but apart from that I have no idea how to use 80% of what the program offers.....why should I, surely you are then no longer a photographer but rather a computer super user?

I was horrified the other day when coming across the site of a well recognised American photographer who very proudly showed the steps used to take what was quite frankly a very very average photograph and turn it into the work that she is well know for.....that is not photography and I am not surprised that the real "professionals", the "artists of photography" find it annoying that these "amatures" use the computer to achieve what they cannot in camera and then sell it as a photo rather than a piece of digital art which is in fact what it is.

Now don't get me wrong, programs such as lightbox and photoshop give the photographer the control over the elements that they would have once had in a dark room and I am all for those kinds of processing techniques BUT I do believe you need to get it right on the camera FIRST and then finish it in post processing and not totally rely on computer manipulation.

And so I continue to compete with my "straight from camera" shots and occasionally I win, but I REFUSE to get drawn into the very compelling world of airbrushing and actions to make my photos great, that is going to take time and a whole lot of work and frankly I think it is worth it.

Okay rant over :0)

Prize Winner - Panorama

12th August Challenge

The idea behind this challenge is to carry your camera with you through the day and shoot 12 shots on the 12 day of every month....nice record at the end of 12 months...so here goes.

During school holidays the mornings start very slowly - first thing I do is check how my photos are doing in the daily contests

As we were up to London for the day I needed to get my dinner cooked before we left - making Mac and Cheese the kids FAVOURITE

Meggie starting her morning with a nice cup of fruit tea, she LOVES Blackcurrant & Apple

Like mother like son, Phil also started his day checking out his laptop :0)

An Nick Nick got stuck into some drum playing

All packed in the car at Sainsburys before leaving for London - needed to buy some flowers and gifts for the new mommy

Tom Tom set and off we go - 1 hour to our destination

Traffic was manic along the way - what else is new, but lots of lovely little pubs to see in the villages, this one is just outside Chessington

Finally our destination.....only 15 minutes added on to travel time by traffic - not bad at all :0)

And the whole reason for our trip, beautiful 1 week old Daniella Christina Clayton, Andrew's baby girl

Andrew is great with kids and spent time playing with all his godchildren outside in the garden while we cuddled with baby inside

Finally home....there was a meteor shower over Europe last night and unfortunately I don't have the right lenses to catch it, but the kids had fun painting with light before the show started

Another month captured - what I LOVE about this challenge is that, for me, it isn't really about the quality of the photos, but rather archiving a day of the month for future generations :0)

Prize Winner - Other

Team Up Thursday - Week 12

Theme: Teapots

Cannot believe it has been 12 weeks already - I really enjoy going back and seeing our journey over the last 3 months - thanks to Megan and Melody for coming up with this fabulous idea and Claire for joining me in it :0)

Claire threw me again this week as I don't even own a teapot (what else is new lol) . After running various scenarios where I got laughed out of shops for wanting to "borrow" one in my head I decided it was time to GET CREATIVE lol. Below is my interpretation for this week - well it has teapots in it doesn't it, desperate times call for desperate measures ;0). Pic on the screen is made up of elements of my fav teapots found on the internet.

Such a cute teapot, understand the choice of theme now, would also want an excuse to photograph it....love the angle on this shot

Other bloggers taking up the challenge:
(I have only linked in to one participant in each partnership, you should easily be able to navigate from there)
Kirsten & Marcelle
Corey & Berta
Megan & Melody
Joanne & Rose
Cat and Shayne
Helen & Tanya
Lynette & Stefanie

Prize Winner - Seascapes

Team Up Thursday Week 11

Theme: Sunsets

There was method to my madness last week when I suggested this theme to Claire - you see I knew that by the time today rolled by I would be right into frantic, crazy summer school holidays and with 3 children, as you can imagine, that means chaos and very little time to indulge in my love.

So as I knew I already had quite a stash of sunset shots I knew I would be safe and able to actually post something this week even if I didn't get to pick up my camera. This shot was taken off Newhaven Beach last year and is one of my favourites, I love the light shining through the hole in the cloud....such a lucky moment.

Claires shot is absolutely STUNNING and EVERYTHING a sunset shot should be, capturing the sun just as it sinks below the waves....I have a feeling it was the end of a very perfect day :0)

Love the fact that the colours in our sunsets are both so different - again like with fireworks no two sunsets will EVER be the same and that is what makes them so lovely to photograph.