The Barabbata Festival is held every year on 14 May on the shores of Lake Bolsena in the fishing village of Marta near Viterbo. The festival is a catholicised re-enaction of pagan rites of spring and consists of parading a portrait of the Virgin through the town and up to the church at the top of […]
barabbata, festival, Italy, lake Bolsena, Marta, pagan
Most people only know Orvieto in the summer and this summer was exceptionally hot and dry. And then the rains came….. This was the scene of devastation seen from Albernoz Castle on Monday 12 Nov, 2012. Scores of cars lie submerged in the station carpark. Businesses and homes are devastated – the damage is estimated […]
Etruscan city, Italy, Orvieto, Umbria
Showing off photos is a must! It always astonishes me how few photographers actually show their work. I mentioned in a previous blog how to make a photo book with Blurb now I want to suggest a few tips on getting your work out where people will see it. The most immediate way is to […]
The idea of making an illustrated book just a few years ago would have seemed absurd, but now making photo books is inexpensive and anyone can make a book for as little as €14. I use Blurb but there are others on the market: Qoop, Lulu and WeBook. For a comparison Overview. You can find out everything […]
blurb, book making, Lightroom 4, photo books
‘…..what digital camera should I buy?’ is one of the most frequent questions I’m asked before starting a photo trek. To be frank it’s a bit like asking someone ‘what car should I buy?’ or ‘how long is a piece of string?’ As a general rule I suggest that if you already have (or can borrow) […]
DSLR, hybrid cameras, pointandshoot, sensor cleaning, what digital camera
Is film dead ? No, it’s alive and well in medium format photography. If you want my opinion I think 35mm film is a waste of time, but as I used to teach film and old processes until last year I still think there’s a roll, sorry role, for film, namely medium format. I never […]
film medium format, i20 fim, Mamiya rb 67, medium format film cameras, noblex, Polaroid 665, Polaroid negative
Want to add a bit of atmosphere to your pictures? Then you could add a bit of smoke in photos. One way is to hire a smoke machine, but a more economical way is a simple bee-gun (0r bee-smoker) that bee-keepers use to get into their hives. This burns hessian rags or better still in […]
bee-gun. bee-smoker, smoke, smoke in photography
Filters in the digital age. Photo filters are still useful. Although the effects of filters can be duplicated in Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture etc there is a strong case for creating the effect during the shoot. I use the following: Soft, neutral grey gradual, polariser, neutral density. Soft focus filter. A soft focus filter will […]
cokin filters, cokin system, grad, graduated, Portait photography, Soft focus