I'm really chuffed about this. I've swapped blogs with David duChemin briefly and we've each written an article entitled "Standing on the shoulders of giants" where we discuss other photographers who have inspired us.

You can read my article on David's excellent pixelatedimage blog and if you're not already a regular reader then I recommend that you subscribe to his RSS feed or bookmark the blog home page whilst you're there.

David's a Humanitarian Photographer and boasts a rare talent. Take a look at his portfolio and especially his work for World Vision to see what I mean. He also runs photo tours to Kashmir with Matt Brandon and I see from the Lumen Dei web site that there's only one place remaining on this year's expedition so if you fancy it, and why on earth wouldn't you, I'd book your place pretty smartish. You'll regret it if you don't.

As if all that weren't enough to make him a very welcome guest writer, David's also a thoroughly decent bloke. Yes, I know, makes you sick doesn't it.

I'm delighted to introduce you to David and know that you'll get along famously.

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Standing on the shoulders of giants

Sir Isaac Newton once wrote. "if I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of giants." For photographers this means the influence of other photographers - artists who've created images that so strongly resonate with us that they've determined not only our career paths but also what we shoot and how.

For me these giants have been Steve McCurry, Yousuf Karsh and Freeman Patterson - three men who couldn't be more  divergent in their styles if they tried. But as a teenager I poured over their books, their photographs. I soaked up their images, and where I could find them, their words.

Steve McCurry needs no introduction to most of us. I'd wager a great many of the photographers reading this were also influenced in some way by him. His stark portrait of the afghan refugee girl was pinned to my wall for years, staring holes in me. It was her unguardedness, the revelation of her soul through her eyes that drew me, made me want to photograph in a way that was compelling, revealing. His focus on texture and soft light were also influences on me, and I think it shows. The passion it stirred in me for the homeless and the excluded remains undiluted to this day.

Yousef Karsh was a master portraitist, in residence at the Chateaux Laurier in Ottawa where I was a teenager, for years. His work was formal, black and white, but it shared with McCurry a focus on photographs that revealed the character of the subject and exquisite texture. Monochrome images have a way of focussing us on fewer elements, they allow texture, light, gesture to play more powerfully for the absence of colour. I often wonder why I stopped shooting black and white, but I've never tired of photographing people.

Freeman Patterson drew me too. I'm not sure you'd ever know it to look at my portfolio. I rarely shoot the natural world anymore. Probably too many hours sitting in swamps with big lenses photographing mallards. What Patterson gave me was an eye for detail, a love for bringing the chaos into order through the discipline of the frame. He gave me my love for colour, natural light, and the play of lines.
 
Other influences, probably equally important, continue to make me the photographer I am. Tom Stoddart, Ami Vitale, Olivier Follmi, among them. I'm standing on the shoulders of a great many giants. But at a certain point, if one is to be a giant oneself we need to get off these shoulders and forge a direction of our own. This isn't at all to imply we become "better than" just "other than." We develop our own voice about the things that we are passionate about. Giants can take us a long way there, and I'm not sure there is ever a point in our growth as artists that there are no longer giants on whose shoulders we stand. But if we're really lucky, all this standing and learning to see from such heights makes us tall enough that others coming after us will gain their footing on our shoulders, and give us a chance to give back to the craft that's given us so much.

Find some giants and don't be afraid to enjoy the view, soak it up as long as you can balance there, but eventually you need to climb down and take your place among them.

David duChemin
May 2008

Tags: guest post, david duchemin

One of the first things I became aware of when I started working for myself is that losing the daily contact with work colleagues brought with it a risk of becoming isolated. There's obviously a big difference between going to an office each day where you are surrounded by work colleagues, many of whom become friends, and working for yourself, by yourself.

Going to work at my last "proper" job was something that I usually looked forward to because it was like going to a social club with good mates. We got the job done but we also enjoyed the friendly banter, the lunch-time drinks and the after-work parties. When my world changed I was suddenly very much on my own. I tried to encourage friendly banter with myself but it wasn't quite the same, I could often predict with uncanny accuracy what I would say next! I even scheduled meetings in my diary with a view to setting time aside to consider certain aspects of my new business but meetings with one person tend to be a bit one-sided - although I did get all the best biscuits.

It's obvious that maintaining some kind of human interaction, other than just with clients and suppliers, was going to be vital and I took a number of steps to ensure that happened. One of which was that I looked around for a local camera club to join. A camera club might not sound like the most dynamic organisation in the world but I'd say don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

A quick bit of Googling revealed that Winchester has a camera club, although being Winchester it's not called a camera club it's called a "Photographic Society". Clearly these were serious people.

Jumping forward three years and I've just finished my third full year at the club, sorry, society and I have to tell you that it's been a great success. I'm moving away next week (more of which later, watch this space!) so went for a farewell curry last night with some members of the club who have become good friends. Reflecting on those three years, I have a pile of certificates awarded for photographs which have done well at club competitions and exhibition judging, I have a newspaper cutting showing me meeting the mayor of Winchester, I have photos and fond memories of expeditions to Dungeness and London, I have a series of images that I would never have taken without the prompt of themed contests and I've had the pleasure of occasionally coming home with a trophy or two, which is a great ego boost.

Best of all though, I know that my photography has improved as a result of being exposed to so many different photographic styles on a regular basis. I try to feed my need for inspiration by visiting exhibitions, reading books and looking at web sites but there's often an abundant source of inspiration right on your doorstep and I'd urge you to take advantage of it.

I love my job but some days can be tiring. I've found no quicker way of recharging my enthusiasm than by sitting down in a lecture theatre for an inspiring talk by a visiting photographer followed by a chat with other photographers so full of enthusiasm that it's infectious. Many are the nights I've driven home from a club meeting filled with ideas that I would never have had sitting in front of the TV.

This photo was taken last weekend when a few club members went to a local fund-raising event and had the opportunity to take a ride in a Cherry Picker. Looking at Winchester from that perspective is probably not something I'd have had the opportunity to do without the club and is another example of how doors open when you make the effort to expand your horizons. Literally in this case.



If you're wondering how we managed to get a photograph from above the cherry picker then I'd like to point you in the direction of high-level aerial mast photographer extraordinaire, Barry Mann. Barry sets new standards when it comes to the old photographer's trick of looking at things from a different perspective.

So, here's my top tip for aspiring photographers, check out the clubs and organisations where you live. You might even find a "society" or two. I guarantee that you'll see work that will inspire and motivate you and I also guarantee that you'll be prompted to take photographs that you would never have taken otherwise. Who knows, you might even find people you can regularly go to for advice and feedback and that's so much more socially acceptable than speaking to yourself. I know!

Tags: wps

It's proving to be an exciting week with all sorts of projects and opportunities presenting themselves - more of which later. Watch this space!

In the mean time, one of the things I'm really looking forward to is taking up a guest slot on David duChemin's pixelatedimage blog later in the week. David and I will be swapping blog articles and he's already written a terrific piece on "inspiration" but you'll have to wait until Friday to read it. Consider yourself teased.

In the mean time, you can see David being interviewed by Scott Kelby on the Photoshop User TV web site this week. David has three excellent tips which don't only apply to travel photography and I heartily recommend that you take a few minutes to watch the current episode.

I hope that this blog will serve as a conduit for things that will occasionally inspire and educate you and I'm pleased to report that the number of regular readers has shot up in recent weeks (something to do with a rumour about a 5D MKII that I posted last month - oops!) so perhaps I'm starting to move towards meeting that ambition. It's with that aim in mind that I'm going to point out that this post mentions several resources which, together, offer a wealth of inspirational and educational tools. Here they are in what I like to call "Bullet Point Format".

• pixelatedimage (David duChemin's portfolio)
• pixelatedimage blog (David's blog)
• Photoshop User TV (Weekly tutorials and Photoshop news)
• Photoshop Insider (Scott Kelby's Blog)
• Photoshop Killer Tips (Matt Kloskowski)
• Lightroom Killer Tips (Also from Matt Kloskowski)

Don't forget, look back on Friday for David's article.

Tags: david duchemin, photoshop

Digital Photographer Magazine is about to launch a series of articles designed to help improve their readers' photographic skills. The articles will see one fortunate reader get a chance to spend the day with a professional and both will be interviewed for the magazine. There's also a rumour that the day will be filmed with the footage being made available on the dphotographer.co.uk web site and also on the magazine's cover disk.

I'm delighted to say that they've asked me to host a Reader's Workshop so if you're interested in spending a day with me, photographing parts of the beautiful Dorset coastline, then you just need to send an e-mail Josie Reavely together with a JPEG of your best landscape image and a few thoughts about what you'd hope to get out of the day.

I look forward to meeting the winning reader in Dorset and can promise you an entertaining, challenging and educational day.

Tags: workshops

Regular readers will know that for me to recommend something that's PC only, it would have to be pretty special.

And it is.

Jason Friend is offering a free screensaver to celebrate the upcoming launch of his book, 'Portrait of the Borders' and I think you only have to look at the cover image to know that you're in for a treat with some very special landscape photography.

From the rolling hills and rugged coastline of the east to the wild moorlands of the west, the Scottish Borders region is home to an incredible diversity of landscapes. Found alongside these natural landforms are the remnants of numerous abbeys, castles and hill forts, symbolic of a turbulent history. These natural and historical features have all helped to shape this melting pot of a county. Although perhaps somewhat unfairly overlooked by visitors heading to the highlands, the inhabitants of the region have continued to be fiercely proud of their Scottish heritage and their beloved land. 'Portrait of the Borders' (ISBN: 9781841147215, Publisher: Halsgrove Publishing) is the latest book from award winning UK photographer, Jason Friend.

Mac users don't miss out altogether though as Jason's posted a sneak preview of some of the images from the book. Enjoy!

Tags: jason friend, screensavers