mytimephotography

2011-04-05T22:26:00.006+01:00

Hi thanks for visiting mytimephotography's blog however from Tuesday 5th April 2011 this blog is no longer in use, but will remain and contains quite alot of my personal work and some commissions.But hey! its not all bad because we are extremely proud to present the new blog http://www.mytimephotography.co.uk/blog/

Hope you will come and join us and thank you for your support!

Travelodge v Premier Inn: Why cheap rates shouldn't mean bad business

2011-01-15T01:00:00.000Z

Travelodge v Premier Inn: Why cheap rates shouldn't mean bad business

Frost...

2010-12-15T16:39:00.001Z

Here is a series of images I took last week in Somerset's cold snap.It now looks as though we will have another heading our way this weekend.Brace yourselves Somerset for another icy blast of Arctic weather! great for getting out with the camera, sledge and snowboard at some point hopefully!

Your first DSLR

2010-11-22T22:44:00.005Z

A few people and friends have asked recently what camera I would recommend for getting started in digital photography.Generally the first thing to consider at this level is price.Have a figure as a budget.Much better value can be found on-line rather than the high street, auction sites such as e.bay can turn up some great bargains, especially if you are prepared to keep an eye out over the course of a few weeks.I find this also gives you a good idea of a second hand value and helps you to get the kit that represents the best value.Many are imports from Hong Kong, although generally cheaper I would recommend a UK model, foreign models can vary in spec. voltage etc.Make sure you are buying a UK market camera.

I use Pro Spec.Canon EOS equipment myself the much cheaper non- pro range of bodies and lenses are of course significantly cheaper but I find Canon hard to beat so this is what I will focus on here.Of course Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony are also in the running, although Nikon & Canon have been at the forefront for many, many years and also have huge ranges of compatible equipment.

Also remember to include in your budget cash essentials like memory cards and editing software-Adobe Photo-shop Elements is a powerful programme and is around £69 and contains 'elements of the full program.The full version is around £600.You will need a camera bag and also things like a flash and a tripod are desirable as your skills improve.These of course can be purchased later on.Of course you will need a PC, laptop or Mac with a fairly decent processor of 1 or preferably 2 GB RAM plus and preferably though not essential a decent size hard drive around 100GB plus would be ideal or an external hard disc.

CONSIDERATIONS WHEN RESEARCHING YOUR FIRST DSLR

image to follow

Resolution The all important Mega Pixel count of the camera-usually between 10 and 16 Mega Pixel (mp) at this level is important as it will give a good print size before the image breaks up or 'pixelates'.It is important to have a good pixel count but It can be more important how the camera 'processes' a digital file that has an impact on image quality.The higher the quality 'engine' the better the image quality.
Glass At this range it is safe to say the lens supplied with any new DSLR is usually a wide angle to portrait 18- to 55mm in focal range and a bit of a 'bottle bottom' of a lens.The glass and plastics are usually cheaply manufactured.Now comes a bit of advice that may be worth consideration-if you could find a 'body only deal' and find yourself a fixed focal length lens of say a 50mm f 1.8 you will get far superior images especially if you are mostly taking portraits.Of course the fixed lenses are not as versatile as a zoom and would not really be much use for things like landscapes etc-it all depends on what you will be concentrating on.
more to follow...
Sensor An important consideration on purchasing your new DSLR will be what kind of sensor the camera has.Sensors are the bit of technology that replace traditional film.The sensor sits in the same place roughly as the film would have been but instead of light travelling down the lens and hitting film-it now hits a sensor which is made up of tiny light receptors.These receptors would normally only be able to record monochrome images but have colour filters placed over them which allows penetration of only a particular colour of light.At your initial purchase stage you will need to be aware of 'crop factors' your camera body sensor will apply.This comes down to the actual size or format of your brands sensor.Some are the same size exactly as a piece of 35mm film or 'full frame' but most in the entry level/mid range will have a smaller sensor than full frame.This will affect the focal length of your lens.A crop factor of say 1.5 would make a 100mm lens become the equivalent of a longer 150mm lens on a 35mm camera.The image at the back of the lens does not change-just the amount of the image that is recorded.It is important to be aware of this when buying your camera and lenses.From an amateur point of view it is not all bad news as with a telephoto lens you will have more 'pulling power' which can be useful for wildlife or more candid portraits.It may not be so beneficial if you want to work more at the other end of the focal range for say wide angle shots.14mm would become 21mm at 1.5x.more here http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/crop-factor.htm.
Shutter speed,ISO & Aperture.The three elements of an exposure, these three combinations produce an exposure, exposure is controlled in the camera or manually by the cameras light meter.Shutter speed is how quickly the shutter is opened and closed and can vary from minutes or even hours open to many thousandths of a second.ISO is what used to be called film speed and has a bearing on your exposure, low film speeds would be 50ISO and gives little grain or 'noise' and High1600ISO and above would allow use in lower light situations but at the cost of image clarity with added grain or 'noise' as it is called digitally.Check the ISO range when considering your purchase (some are also expandable),the more extreme the range the more flexible the camera.A new feature on some models is Auto ISO.The more you spend on your equipment the better performance you will get in these areas, allowing you more photographic freedom.Aperture is how far open or closed the iris of the lens is when the shutter button is pressed.This has an effect on exposure as well as 'depth of field' or the amount of space that is in focus or out of focus in an image.Aperture can be used creatively to highlight a subject in sharp focus while throwing all around out of focus, or can be pin sharp right through an image.Their is a lot to learn and it is an infinite subject to learn, however Practise is the key.Good luck and enjoy your Photography.

A little seasonal treat....

2010-11-07T01:43:00.004Z

...And also the start of a new 'night time' practise project, these projects help greatly when under pressure to get things right for clients and keep my skills sharp.

2010-11-05T12:17:00.003Z

Alot of work going on at the mo with re-shaping the website.Image sizes for the slide show are causing a few concerns with sizing and loading.Also going to be adding in gallery's, portfolio and a client password protected area to view, 'proof' & order images very shortly after a wedding.

If your reading this Please please please, come ...on-get hitting that facebook like 'button'!! on the mytime facebook page so you appear in the page 'like' box.it will really help, thanks.Also you will be among the first to see how the new site is shaping up, keep up to date with the business and promotional offers-( High end new-born and infant photo portrait service is planned for the new year and friends of this page will be getting preferential treatment, not to mention beautiful images of the highest quality.

2010-08-26T01:25:00.001+01:00

A beautiful light moment and a rare feel of summer this August!

And some nature from a very recent hike up on Exmoor.

2010-08-26T01:00:00.004+01:00

.A little photo shoot at the local park-with some good light and some great models-I love heading out on these little photo shoots with kids, they grow up so quickly-Its lovely to freeze time.These could be photos of your kids-I am always happy to get out with you and take some lovely portrait- shots of your little cherubs, I will make sure we will bag you some great shots just like these!

(PHOTO TIP) The shot top left and right are the same image.The image right is colour balanced, post processed & properly presented.

Professional photographer's use a format called RAW to shoot in-this captures the best tonal range and is the most flexible format of modern day DSLR photography.If you pay professional prices for your photography-your photographer will have the time to make the changes and properly process your images-an amateur or low quality pro.will bypass this process to save time & hence money.'The You get what you pay for' adage is more relevant to this medium than any

2010-08-10T20:01:00.001+01:00

for the squeamish, don't look.Oh too late.It's just a harmless' little' spider.Well actually this ones nearer the nine inch mark! Its from India and is called Poecilotheria striata.This is a stock photo for image banks.I have been practising a bit recently with my small items photography-the idea is that these can be used for advertising images.So expect to see a few more small items.no more spiders though.Promise.

2010-08-08T19:25:00.006+01:00

I picked up these tomatoes in the week for a nice salad, I thought they just looked too good to eat, just yet, so had a little photo shoot with them.I used a wide open aperture of f.2.8 and my canon 24-70 f2.8 L lens, L series canon glass for hair splitting sharpness.The wide open aperture has lent well to the 'creative'shallow depth of field I was after.

Devon Tour,Clovely.

2010-07-23T12:34:00.011+01:00

And the final images from my Tour of Devon!You may notice I have a couple of images here that have colour and black and white all in one.This technique is called channel mixing and means some of the colour information is retained on converting a digital image file to mono (black & white).It's not a technique I tend not to use allot and I feel it has been over-used especially by wedding photographers.It can be a bit of a cheap trick and in my opinion has little place in modern wedding photography.But there we are, some like it-for me too crass. I thought these two images were deserving & subtle enough.The boat chain just made sense as a great lead in.

Had to include a little bit of Devon here on the blog & finished off these pebble shot's.we shouldn't take pebbles I know due to coastal erosion.I did walk an awful long way before picking these up one at time from various spots along the beach.

Devon Tour,Clovely.

2010-07-17T23:09:00.009+01:00

Devon Tour,Clovely.

2010-07-17T20:36:00.009+01:00

I have just returned form a lovely little 5 day camping trip around the Somerset and Devon coast, It is a hugely underrated area-but I took in some beautiful places like Porlock and Porlock Weir, Exmoor,Linton & Lynmouth, Croyde,Woolacombe and then onto my final camping ground down near Hartland Point for some fishing,onto Plymouth to visit my cousin and back to Taunton for a business meeting.Phew. Just back (East) from Hartland point is Clovely-what a little gem this place is, I had never been there before-this place is absolutely made for photographers-with some great little still lifes all set up! it was like being on a film set-So I can wholeheartedly recommend a trip there with your camera!!!Click on the pan to see a larger version.

dandilions

2010-07-02T14:56:00.006+01:00

These are some images that I took recently, the idea was to explore re-occurring patterns which can work well.I have tried to melt these into the landscape, with some success.

The top and darkest image has quite a funky feel that I was aiming for -kind of 60's inspired... like dudes with afro's in a crowd at Woodstock!(before my time!)

Puncknowle Knoll

2009-12-17T23:11:00.002Z

I nipped down to Puncknowle Knoll, near Chesil beach/Abbottsbury today.This century's old building is shrouded in mystery.For me it is an incredibly photogenic location that I have tried to photograph a few times now.It is an immensely transient location with regards to weather conditions and is totally different every time. I have to travel around 30 miles each way to get to it. I thought today as I looked out of the window from home that the clouds were perfect for this location, however when I got there the clouds were few and far between!I got these shots but didn't get what I was after (a more, storm cloudy/moody vision!) I may have a go at getting some of these published if I can.I really enjoy landscape photography, it really is a breath of fresh air for me-out in the elements and praying for the right conditions to all come together at once for that magical shot.....I bought the dog along today, our Jack Russell-Merlin-who managed to stay out of shot.

Chilton Cantello

2009-10-06T22:04:00.002+01:00

I have been working on a bit of Autumn photography recently but would like to get and do some more,we will see what the weather brings!

I have a shoot coming up this Sunday to produce promotional images for a local hair and beauty salon, I am really looking forward to this as it should be a good challenge.Will get the images up as soon as they are ready.

2009-08-29T21:28:00.001+01:00

Grimstone near Dorchester

2009-08-29T21:15:00.002+01:00

I bagged the bale shots today from Grimstone near Dorchester in Dorset.The weather has been making these difficult for me.This is the third time that I have been out to get these-to various fields I had earmarked.These were exactly what I had in mind though and this is just how I had imagined them, so I am happy with these.I had to move a few bales around! Have a look at the video, I cant find a way to rotate it to portrait orientation as yet I am afraid.

2009-08-29T21:13:00.000+01:00

2009-08-29T20:51:00.000+01:00

2009-08-20T22:08:00.001+01:00

Visitors!! -please feel free to leave comments on any images you like or dislike.

2009-08-16T21:20:00.000+01:00

I have taken this series of some British summer sunset scenes over the weekend-the same field,same combine yet the image's have a totally different feel to one another.I am very happy with these but I had to work hard to find a working farmer on Saturday evening-I scoured the Cerne Abbass area-then headed out toward Sherborne, on to Charlton Hawthorne and on towards Wincanton where this farmer was working against the clock to get his wheat in.It occurred to me how hard they work and how time has stood still (or maybe slower) than the towns and cities.I still have the round hay bale shots to add to these.I am working toward building a 'stock' of images that I hope to be able to use commercially or for an exhibition.

2009-08-16T21:17:00.000+01:00

2009-08-16T21:14:00.001+01:00

2009-08-16T21:06:00.000+01:00

2009-08-06T21:57:00.000+01:00

This image has taken a bit of getting right,due mainly to computer problems-This has now been committed to print by one of the country's cutting edge photo printers- http://www.spectrumphoto.co.uk/index.php
This will be output as a digital 'C'type print using Fuji Crystal Archive photographic paper and will measure 35 x 15 inches, so I am really looking forward to seeing this on paper and hope this is something special.Lets hope its the first of many.

2009-07-29T19:10:00.000+01:00

Click on any image to view it at full size.

Battens the solicitors have commissioned me to produce some images for their website.

Their brief was 'local landmarks' so I set off to some that I hoped they did not already have! The Cerne Abbass giant took a good hour round hike in the opposite direction to get high enough to take this shot,it was a bracing stroll and when in position I used my trusty 70-200 f2.8L telephoto lens to zoom into him from afar. From the car park at the foot, the giant's face is not visible due to him needing a hair cut, hence the hike!

Above are an example of how some of the images will appear on the website.

2009-05-23T10:21:00.000+01:00

Currently I am very busy with some personal projects so have not had much chance to keep the blog updated.Here though I have posted a recent pre-wedding shoot i completed for a couple and some portraits.

2009-02-12T21:46:00.000Z

Last weekend I had an interesting commercial commission for an advertising agency, their client Provamel a major UK health foods manufacturer have designed a range of recipe cards with a photo of various health food shop managers pictures on them.Their brief was to have something healthy in the background so we went to a local friut and veg stall and took some portraits.

The advertising agency sent this e.mail when they got their images- Hi Alex, They're absolutely excellent and undoubtedly the best and most well considered of all the shots - I'm completely spoilt for choice. Thanks for all your help. I will indeed get in touch if we have any requirement for shots in this neck of the woods. Very best wishes and thanks, The Point Marketing & Communications Ltd.

2009-02-12T20:58:00.000Z

Well I haven't had chance to get out in the recent snow but took this shot back in January overlooking Beaminster in Dorset one cold evening.I just got to the ridge in time to see the sun set and the wind chill was around minus 10.My hands stopped working after an around an hour and a half.

2008-12-30T22:19:00.000Z

Here are a few of the landscapes i have been out and about photographing over the Christmas period.This cold snap has been ideal for getting some great winter scenes.It's quite often really early or evening time to get the best landscapes, I love getting to locations though to take- landscapes but it can be a very hit and miss affair, you can be up for 5am, get out to the location for 6am and then nothing happens, no great sunrise.It makes it all worthwhile though when you do bag a good one.

2008-12-06T22:19:00.000Z

This blog has been started to allow anybody who is interested in photography to come in and veiw other areas of my work.I find people photography very rewarding, challenging and interesting but I am also very interested in wildlife,landscape and fine art.It is my intension to also post up images that are not related to the business.So here are some to begin with.

recent weddings

2008-11-30T13:35:00.000Z

Here is a small selection of the kind of styles we like to produce and work with.The aim is to produce contemporary wedding day images.

As you can see fashion plays a big part in our style but without compromising the essential & more formal shots.

2008-11-30T12:22:00.000Z

This is the kind of standard you could expect from us.This is an image from Jess & Dan's wedding in sherborne.

2008-10-18T16:31:00.000+01:00

2008-10-18T16:07:00.000+01:00

mytime photography is a venture by photographer Alex Smith.We have set out to provide a service with second to none customer care, service and quality.

Commercial and portrait disciplines are also catered for along with weddings.Commissions are welcome.

We operate throughout the West Country region and are based in Yeovil Somerset. We cover weddings throughout the south west, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall but please contact us if you would like to discus your plans and location.

Our approach to weddings is a mixture of natural and set up shots, this will cover the full day and will tell the story of you, your guests and your day.

2008-10-14T21:31:00.000+01:00

Well here we are the official mytime photography blog has begun.Last weekend i was at a Sherborne wedding as a guest and photographer, this was an interesting combination but was extremely enjoyable.I hope to have some of the shots up on the site very soon.