I’ve been on a few workshops in the past and sometimes I learn very little – in trying to cater for everyone, the tutors end up aiming low and going through the basics. It’s always good to refresh your knowledge of the basics sometimes, but I like to learn new techniques when I’m doing something that someone (especially me) has paid for! Fortunately the tutors on this workshop (there were two of them) split the group into two; a group of beginners and a group who felt that they knew the basics. I put myself in the latter.

After meeting near Waterloo Station and splitting up into our two groups, we made our way to Waterloo Bridge near the Hayward Gallery and set up our tripods (you can hire a tripod from the tutor if you don’t have one). I think people passing by wondered what we were all doing, twenty or so photographers all facing the same way fervently taking pictures of the London Eye. I was tempted to tell people that we were expecting Madonna to appear!

My tutor was Andy, and he asked us to frame our shot, set the camera to aperture priority and set the f-stop to f16 to get the maximum depth of field without causing any issues by over extending the lens. We took a few shots and reviewed our images with Andy, and then switched to manual mode. By setting the aperture to f16, and by playing around with different shutter speeds we were able to view the effects of different settings. Andy also asked us to experiment with the white balance settings in the camera. After taking a few images and receiving some advice from Andy on things we could improve, we headed to the bar in the Southbank Centre to review how Andy would edit the typical photographs that we took on the workshop.

In conclusion I’d recommend the workshops that Andy offers, I think they’re best suited to someone who is familiar with their camera, but wants to get out of the automatic settings and start playing around with aperture priority and manual settings. But if you’re a bit more advanced, you’d still benefit from the workshop, and it would be good incentive to get your camera out during the week!

Just before Christmas my family and I visited the Landscape Photographer of the Year (LPOTY) exhibition at Southbank in London. The winning images really were inspirational, I especially liked the winning image by Robert Fulton – sometimes breaking the rules results in an amazing photograph. The winning Young Landscape Photographer of the Year image (by Oscar Stewart-Packe) was also interesting, this just shows that a beautiful photograph can be found even when surrounded by decay and destruction.

Click here to see more of the Landscape Photographer of the Year Winners.

I suspect that many budding photographers have the same struggle, finding time and also finding the inspiration to make your photography challenging and unique. For me, the answer is to find and absorb sources of inspiration, whether that’s books, magazine publications or visiting exhibitions. And write about them on my blog. I was also lucky enough to receive a new photography book by one of my favourite authors for Christmas (thanks Santa Wife); Michael Freeman, ‘Perfect Exposure’. Hopefully this will have a positive impact on my photography too, once I’ve read it I’ll add a review to my blog so that you can benefit from it too.

I also received a subscription to Professional Photographer magazine, and the first edition has given me a few ideas already. In a couple of years I hope to be featured in the magazine myself. I’ll definitely be posting about that!

I guess the point of this post is to state that the trick to being inspired, is surrounding yourself with sources of inspiration. It’s no good moaning that you don’t feel inspired to take photographs, if you haven’t consciously looked for inspiration in the first place. To get you started follow the LPOTY link above, and if I find something interesting I’ll be sure to share it here, and hopefully I’ll be able to inspire you with some of my own photography.

Happy New Year, and all the best with your photography in 2012!

I recently visited the London Wetlands Centre to get some autumnal images to submit towards the autumn heat of their current competition. Unfortunately the light was relatively flat and I was struggling to get a photograph of any wildlife that I was happy with. Instead I switched to my macro lens and took some shots of the flora and fauna scattered throughout the centre. I managed to get a few photographs I was happy with, so it wasn’t a wasted trip!

Some images from my ‘Flora & Fauna’ Flickr Gallery…

As a photographer I’m constantly looking for a different view or a unusual interpretation of something that might have been photographed thousands, if not millions of times. On a recent visit to Italy, my Wife and I accompanied my Father around various medieval towns in Tuscany. On a number of occasions, we’d walk around a corner to be presented with an impressive view, only to stand shoulder to shoulder with other tourists taking a lasting memory with our cameras. During our day trips I tried to look for the alternative view, a different interpretation of a common landmark, or looking at some unnoticed detail down a side street. This gave me the opportunity to really think about my photography, to look for details in my surroundings and to look beyond the cathedrals and statues.

Some images from my ‘Details’ Flickr Gallery…

Look for the Unusual

Tuscany (and most of Italy) has a lot of interesting doors… I know that sounds boring but the sun weathered wooden doors on many buildings looked like they had been there for hundreds of years. You could spend days wondering around Assisi for example just taking photographs of doors. This is something that other tourists might not necessarily notice, and you’ll come away from your holiday or trip with something that other people haven’t got. Even the detail in the door can be interesting – a handle or letter box, or even a rusty hinge can make a good photograph if you’re looking for it.

Focus on the Details

As I mentioned in my introduction, many common tourist landmarks have been photographed any number of times, and you’ll find yourself stood next to your fellow travellers taking the same image. But if you look for details and the features of the landmark itself you might be able to find something that other people have missed. For example, when looking at the Fountain of Neptune in Florence you could step back and take a image that includes the entire fountain, or you could step closer and look for the little details. These landmarks are so detailed, you could spend a great deal of time looking for something interesting, a little bit of research before you leave home will give you something to look for. The Fountain of Neptune includes a statue of Giambologna’s satyr; perhaps this is something I could have looked for had I known about it (I discovered its existence while researching for this blog post!).

We are not Alone!

Much to my Wife’s annoyance I used to spend ages standing in front of a scene I wanted to photograph, waiting for all the other pesky people to get out of my shot. I still do sometimes if the human element is detracting from the image I’m trying to create, but now I also try to incorporate people into my photography. People and how they interact with their surroundings can be an interesting thing to look out for. In Italy the crowds of people sometimes hindered me, but sometimes I noticed that I could incorporate my fellow tourists into my photography. This is a concept that I’ve been interested in since viewing an exhibition of the finalists of the Landscape Photographer of the Year. One finalist had taken a photograph of a steam train crossing a viaduct, but rather than find a view without people in it, they had included two other photographers in the shot. The human element adds ‘something’ to a photograph, this could be a sense of scale or an emotion, but it gives you something else to look for when wondering around with your camera.

Where’s Graham?

I spent a lot of our holiday to Italy following ten or fifteen feet behind my Wife and my Father and I managed to find a few of the little details in Italy. Sometimes it didn’t really make a good photograph once I got home, but that’s the beauty of digital photography, you can snap away and experiment a bit. Take a look through the images in this post, or go straight to my gallery at Flickr and let me know what you think. And next time you’re out with your camera, why don’t you spend a little time looking for the details instead of standing in line with the other tourists!

For those of you who have never visited my site before, welcome, but for those that have been here before you may notice that things have changed somewhat. The layout is similar, but the old posts are gone and the font is cleaner…don’t worry the photography will return, I’ve just decided to start again. A fresh start. This is phase one of the relaunch; over the next few weeks I will be creating ‘myWorldinFocus Mk3′! Keep coming back, and I hope you’ll see some interesting developments.

Photography is more than a hobby for me. When I capture a photograph that I particularly like, I can’t wait to show it to someone, usually my wife is my first critic…I appreciate her honesty! But I want to share my photography with a wider audience, and this blog is the medium. I intend to post regularly on various topics relating to photography, and perhaps web design (I dabble now and then – this site is all my own work). I’ll also be sharing the results of photography trips, and also the results of any projects I complete or am involved in. You never know, I might share some hints and tips that you’ll be able to incorporate into your own photography!

If you enjoy my photography, or just want to give me some suggestions for future projects, please feel free to leave a comment. If you see a photograph that you think will look perfect hanging on your wall in your home, don’t hesitate to contact me as all images are available under license. I’m also available for private or commercial photography assignments, and can accommodate any kind of project or challenge. To discuss your project with me, please contact me.

Oh…and thanks for dropping by…I hope you enjoy my photography as much as I enjoyed capturing the images!