Pinterest…..an invaluable site for inspiration

A little late to the party I admit, but I have now joined the millions of users of the 'bookmarking site' Pinterest….and what a valuable site it is. For those of you who have yet to discover the strengths of Pinterest, you start by opening an account and from there you can select images from the web and 'Pin it' to your page or a board you have created about a particular photographer, artist or subject. You can add a description to the 'pin' so as well as seeing the thumbnail of the image you have some information to refer to which relates to the image.  Click on any of these thumbnails and it will take you to the site where you discovered the link in the first place. Your account, or a board itself, can be followed by other users and conversely if you discover an account or board which is of interest to you then you can also 'follow' and will receive email notifications when new 'pins' are added to that account or board.

Like all things that work well, Pinterest is incredibly simple, but very powerful and I have already made up a number of boards for photographers and artists I admire, including Michael Kenna, Norman Ackroyd, Chris Friel, Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Chris Tancock and so the list goes on. I shall be adding the wildlife photographer Nick Brandt and Ansel Adams in the coming days. In a short space of time I will have a single reference point on the web for all the photographs and works of art that inspire me. Given time I will also be adding boards for my own photographs as well.

If like me you want to build what in effect is a library of favourite or inspiring images then rather than bookmark the page, which just gets lost with the multitude of bookmarks already created, simply 'Pin it'. As I said at the outset a highly useful site and one which I will refer to on a regular basis.

If you want to sign up and create a Pinterest account then click here.

My own Pinterest account is alanrfrost and can be found here.

I will also add the 'PinIt' button to my own photography website, as there might be one or two people out there who would like to 'pin' one of my images to their account. Much to my surprise I discovered by chance that one or two already have!

Happy Pinning!!

Exhibition success

Solitary Shell
Taken on the Isle of Eigg looking out towards the Isle of Rum on the West Coast of Scotland

My local camera club is currently staging it's annual open photography exhibition, which closes this coming Sunday. I entered a number of images some weeks ago and two of the eight I submitted are on display.

'Solitary Shell' - was given a Judges Award in the Members Section whilst 'Too Young to Smoke' was selected for the National Category. There are a number of these event staged around the country during the course of the year but as this was the first time I had entered a National Exhibition, I was very pleased to have had one of my photographs accepted.

Here is one of the images on display.

and finally here is the image which was accepted for the 'Open' section.

Too Young to Smoke
Taken at the Goodwood Revival Meeting in 2012

 

100 miles along the South Downs Way and the 100th Blog Entry!

Firle Beacon, The South Downs

When I typed the words for my last entry 'Less is more' I realised two things. Firstly that it was time to conclude this series of entires about my walk along the South Downs Way and secondly that whatever the subject of the next entry, it would be the 100th post since I started this blog back in June 2012.

So it is rather fitting that this post should mark the conclusion of a 100 mile long distance walk alongside the fact that this is the 100th entry. When I started the walk I had a definite goal in sight. Quite simply to complete the walk in the planned period of time. The same cannot be said for this blog. What started as a whim, has turned into a regular and most enjoyable hobby. On average I post about five times a month, mainly at weekends, simply because this is when I can find the time to sit down, write the words and select the appropriate photographs having processed them beforehand.

This blog has proved to be a journal of my photography. The places or events I have been to and the images I have taken. Sometimes I will express my thoughts or write about the cameras, lenses and equipment I have used. But one thing is for sure - nothing is planned too far in advance. All the posts are a spontaneous reaction to an event, a particular photograph or series of images, or thoughts that have entered my mind which I have wanted to record and share with others - Sharing does of course assume that there are other readers, not just my wife and close family!

So back to the main reason for this 100th post. A photographic conclusion to a great experience. I shall never forget walking with my nephew Ian down the steep slope from Beachy Head and into Eastbourne, to be greeted by my family and his father. This varied selection of images were all taken on the walk and will always remind me of wonderful time enjoying the beauty of the South Downs.

Gates and Posts

Gathering Storm. Near Birling Gap

Downland Mist. Near Cocking

Towards east Meon

Windswept Tree. Near Ditchling Beacon

The Seven Sisters. Looking west from above Birling Gap

The finishing post after 100 miles.
Ian on the right and me on the left.

The other entries about our walk along the South Downs Way are as follows:-

Last leg first.

Windmills on the Way.

Less is more.

And so to the future - Another long distance walk perhaps? That I don't know, but I will be starting work on my 101st entry very soon.

Entries for Open Exhibition - will any be selected?

In about six weeks time my local camera club will be staging its 43rd annual exhibition and in seven days time I will know which of my entries have been selected for display. In essence there are two sections. Firstly one for members only and second an open section for anyone outside of the club who wishes to enter.

I would hope that there would be a reasonable chance that some of my submissions for the members only category will be on show come the 23rd of November when the exhibition is opened to the public. The open section is more of a lottery as I will up against some very capable and experienced photographers.  I have chosen four images for each section and my fate is in the hands of the judges who will consider all the entries next Saturday the 19th October. Last year I went along to witness the judging process and I plan to be there again next weekend.

It's nerve wracking when your own photograph is displayed and rarely do the judges take long to mark the picture out of five. With three judges the maximum mark is fifteen. Twelve or more marks are likely to be needed to secure an entry.

The four images I selected for the open section are:-

.....and the four images for the members section are:-

Trying to decide which photograph went in to which category was quite a challenge in itself but having made up my mind and completed the entry form, I now have to see which ones are selected. With a little good fortune I would like to think that I might get one in the open section, but the standard is very high and whilst my work does well in club competitions I simply do not know how well it will do when competing against some the best images in the country. Well we shall see. Not long to wait now!

All of these images are on my own website - www.alanfrostphotography.co.uk

Designing a new home page for my website.

When I first designed my website - alanfrostphotography.co.uk I was very happy with most of the pages but the home page itself didn't inspire me. I felt it needed a more contemporary look, and something which would more closely depict my black and white approach to photography. I also wanted it to be easier to navigate, so that anyone visiting the site could quickly get to a particular page.

So this past weekend I set about a re-design and here is the result.

It still retains the traditional menu at the top but now each of the titled boxes link directly to the relevant page of the site. The original home page only showed one image unless you waited for the carousel to kick in, but by then my guess is that any visitors had either moved on to another page or left my site altogether, which is much worse!

I am pleased with the result and if offers scope to update the home page when I add new pages to the site itself.

A 100 mile walk along the South Downs Way

For the past few months I been exploring the South Downs countryside near our home for two principal reasons. Firstly for my photography and secondly because in a few days time I will be starting on a challenge to walk the South Downs Way from Winchester to Eastbourne; a total of 100 miles.

Boots made for walking

The walk is in memory of my sister who died from cancer at Easter at the age of 59 and I am raising funds for a community project to build a new church hall near to where we live - The St Peter Project. My companion and fellow walker will be my sister's son Ian.

Ian and I

Donations have already exceeded all expectations and today have reached the landmark total of just over £4,000 including Gift Aid. I am truly grateful to everyone who has generously sponsored me and offered so much support.  For more information please see my Virgin Giving Money page.

Although I am a keen walker I have never done anything like this before, so hopefully I will complete the challenge without too many blisters! It will be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend more time with Ian, and to visit and photograph parts of Sussex I have not been to previously. It should provide me with plenty of material for this blog and my website alanfrostphotography.co.uk.

Inevitably though this blog will go a little quiet for the next two or three weeks but it's all for a good cause, and I am already looking forward to sharing with you many more images from this particular adventure.

Entries now closed for Landscape Photographer of The Year

The annual Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, or LPOTY for short, is now in it's 7th year and this year I decided to enter a selection of my images in the various categories which include, Classic View, Urban View, Living the View and Your View. The last category allows a little more digital manipulation of the original image. I did enter one image in 2012 but the chances of it being shortlisted, let alone published in the book, were very slim indeed. This year it was time for a more concerted effort and after some head scratching I selected fifteen photographs to enter. Fourteen are black and white there is just the one colour shot. The maximum number of entries per person is 25.

Here are just two of the photographs I have entered. The first is a shot I took quite recently in Lavant in West Sussex. It's a study of a field of barley with an overhanging branch of a beech tree. This has been entered in the 'Your View' category, although conceivably it could have been entered in 'Classic View'. I was not prepared to risk the latter category, so 'Your View' it was.

The second image is the only colour photograph and it's also the only one which I have entered in the 'Urban View' category. It hardly needs a title as it's a much taken view of St Paul's Cathedral across the River Thames. I can only hope that the wonderful late afternoon light together with the 'iconic' London Bus, sets it apart from some of the other entries. Somehow I don't think it's a strong enough image but who knows?

This is a very well promoted competition. As well as winning images appearing in the book, there is an exhibition of selected photographs at the National Theatre in London, as well as smaller exhibitions which tour the country. The very fact that the competition has now been running a number of years means that it widely known in photographic circles.

It also has a total prize fund of £20,000, with £10,000 going to the lucky winner of the overall competition. So it's definitely worth a go, but given the total number of entries the chances of being selected are pretty small. I will be very pleased if just one of my photographs is shortlisted. At least that will tell me whether or not I am approaching the standard the judges are expecting. Needless to say if I have any success I will be posting an appropriate entry in the weeks and months to come. Complete silence on the subject will tell you I am waiting another year!

Happy First Birthday to my Blog!

Today this Blog is one year old!

It hardly seems possible that a year has passed since my very first 'blog entry' - 'Finally happy with the design'. It was not the most inspiring of entries and didn't even include a photograph, which is a bit odd for a blog about photography......but I had to start somewhere!

In the twelve months which have followed there have been a total of 72 posts; an average of 6 posts a month. At the outset I really didn't plan or indeed think there would be this many, to the contrary a new idea often turns into a stale one after a short period of time. What has happened in practice is quite the opposite in fact. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these entries, the vast majority including some of the many photographs I have taken during the course of the year.

The past twelve months has seen a shift in my style of photography, mainly to black and white, and hopefully an improvement in the quality of my work. Looking back I know that I have learnt a great deal, both in terms of the taking but also the making of an image in post production. This now includes some of the skills and equipment required to produce a good print. The more knowledge I have acquired, the greater my realisation that there is even more to learn and that's a big plus, because there are always going to be new challenges to look forward to.

I wanted to mark this day with an image taken just a few days ago. It had been a glorious summer's day and the evening light was just beautiful, as it illuminated the trees lining the footpath and the yellow field of oil seed rape. This is now a common scene across the country, a really colourful feature of the English landscape at this time of year. In a few days time the flower heads will be gone but they are sure to return again next year.

Evening light, Idsworth

I can't be sure how many people have read this blog over the last 52 weeks, however, irrespective of the number of visits, writing a blog was always intended to be a journal about my photography, which I could look back on as I chart my photographic progress. It was never about reaching out to a wider audience. After all I have no control over who does and who doesn't visit the site anyway.

My enthusiasm for this hobby has grown and grown, so I will continue to post more entries as I learn fresh skills, try new techniques and make more images.  This way, when I celebrate it's second birthday, I will be able to review another year to see how far I have come. All I do know is that if the second year is as good as the first, it will be a lot of fun.....and that's what a good hobby should be all about!

Thanks for reading.




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Last club meeting tonight.......

It's been a good club season as far as I am concerned and I do feel my photography has improved as the year has progressed. Tonight is the last meeting of the year and it's the evening when a judge chooses the Print and Projected Image of the year. Last year I was fortunate enough to win the PI of the year. I doubt I will be so lucky tonight - but who knows?

Its been a tough choice deciding which two images to put forward in each category. As long as they were submitted for club competitions this season, then how many marks they scored is immaterial. After all one judge can give a photograph 10 out of 10 one evening, whilst another judge might give the same image 8 out of 10 the next. It's that subjective and whatever the score, I don't think I or others should be discouraged by  a poor mark, any more than we should be too elated when awarded the highest score. It's only natural that we would all prefer 10 marks and not 8 - just don't lose too much sleep over it though.

What's more important is taking or making an image which pleases you, the photographer. If it gives pleasure to others and scores well in club competitions, then all well and good. If you like the image and enjoyed all that went in to producing the finished result, then I think that is the best result of all.

So here is my selection.

Firstly the two Projected Images.

.....and secondly the two prints.

And the winner is? ....... the results will be posted in the next blog entry.

PS - Did anyone mention that of course I would like to win!!!

Now for sale on Getty Images

Just over a week ago I received a very unexpected email. It was from Getty Images via Flickr and it simply said that they had identified twenty of my images which they would like to licence for sale through their Getty Images site.

My initial reaction was one of surprise, then I felt flattered after which I started to think about the implications. I had obviously heard of Getty Images, it's world famous, but the number of images for sale must run into millions, so the chances of one of my images being selected by a buyer or publisher must be very slim.

Then the questions started. Did I want to enter into a legal agreement with Getty? What would be the benefit? How much might I earn from a single sale? Would it be worth all the bother for little or more likely, no return? Were there better photo stock libraries I should consider using before making a commitment? Would I need a model release for any of the images which included people?

I talked to a few people I knew and read the pros and cons on one or two forums on the internet. In the end I decided that I had nothing to lose and that I would register as a Getty Contributor and in effect 'go for it!' After all, photography is not my profession, I am simply a very enthusiastic amateur and if I receive any royalties, at least it would help fund what is turning into a rather expensive hobby. Given how much commission they pay the photographer, it will definitely not make rich.

I also established that if I wanted to publish a book of my own work in the future, that providing the numbers sold didn't exceed 500, then I could include images which were licensed to Getty. Chance would be a fine thing I thought! I could also enter a 'Getty image' into a competition,  - LPOTY for example - without it contravening the agreement.

So today I started the process of uploading the first few images of the twenty they had selected. This proved to be a quite straight forward process and now the first of my images is for sale on their site......and just to prove it, here is a screen grab of a Gardener at West Dean Gardens which I shot lost year.



I shall continue uploading some more images, and keep my eyes open for the first sale.......I will not be holding my breath though, nor giving up the day job!

I have of course been wondering how they came to notice my Photostream on Flickr. Well it has to be the 'Lone Sheep' image on the Flickr Blog which appeared a week of so ago and I wrote about in my last blog entry.



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Flickr stats on the rise.....

I have to admit that I do look at the statistics produced by Flickr for my photostream rather more often than I should, but as I have said before on this blog, there is something strangely addictive about the number of views or favourites you get on the latest upload.

Since I started to use Flickr on a regular basis I have been fortunate enough to have four properties selected for 'Explore' to date. I recognise that this is a tiny number compared to other photographers who have many more followers than I do and have been subscribers for several years.

I am all too aware that being on 'Explore' has a significant effect on the number of people who click through to view the photo. I have found that in the first 24 hours after the photo has been uploaded, one in ten views will lead to the image being marked as a favourite or a comment is made. As a consequence of this increase in traffic, the graph will peak at a much higher level than is usual on a typical day. On a typical day a total of between 100 to 150 'view counts' would be average, so when I checked the stats early one morning this week, I was rather shocked to find they were over the 500 mark and rapidly rising. I had not uploaded anything the night before which could have been selected for Explore. In fact the image which was attracting all the interest was 'Lone Sheep', which I uploaded back in February. How strange I thought. What could explain all the interest in this one photo?

By the end of the day the total view count was well over 2,500 and the same thing repeated itself the next day. I soon found out that there was a very simple reason for the huge increase in the volume of traffic to my photostream. "Lone Sheep' had been selected by Flickr to feature in their own Flickr Blog on a feature called Monochromatic Landscapes. There is only one blog entry each day and this particular entry only featured five photographs. Given the number of black and white landscapes on Flickr; there must be millions and millions; to have an image of mine selected rather felt like winning the lottery, sadly without the prize money of course! Still all publicity is good publicity, so I am definitely not complaining.

Click here for the link to the Flicker Blog Entry - Monochromatic Landscapes - which was published on the 23rd April 2013.

Below is the rather dramatic effect it had to my stats over a two day period .

2,783 per day and rising......

....and finally the image which has caused all the fuss.

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New Lake District gallery on my website

I launched my website www.alanfrostphotography.co.uk back in January of this year and I have spent some time fine tuning the design as well as creating some galleries. The home page is shown below.

Following my trip to the Lake District I thought that a selection of the images deserved a gallery in their own right, so this afternoon I updated the website to include twelve images.

Please click on either of the images which link to the relevant page.


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LRPS Certificate

I have to say I was highly delighted to achieve my LRPS Distinction earlier this month. I have now received the certificate which makes it official. By way of recognition I thought I would change the header to this blog and incorporate the Royal Photographic Society logo.

.......and here is the certificate itself.

New club season underway

Earlier this week the first club competition took place at my local camera club in Havant. After a successful season last year when I was promoted to the 'A' league for both the print and projected image (PI) competitions. I was now be up against the 'big' boys and ladies of course! Our club is in the 1st division of the Southern Photographic Federation (SPF) for both prints and PI's, so the standard is pretty high.

Much to my amazement, one of my two entries scored 10 out of 10 and is shown below. My grateful thanks to Derek Trendell ARPS, for getting the season off to a great start! The image entitled 'Ride along the prom' is shown below.

'Ride along the prom'