With another Photography Weekend Break coming up in a couple of weeks time, I thought I’d share an image I captured during a previous weekend.

All the photographers enjoy a walkabout to the harbour and through the street of Kirkcudbright. It’s a very friendly town and the locals are endlessly patient and obliging about having their photographs taken. Even the dogs and cats don’t seem much perturbed when they are the centre of attention for a group of photographers.

A photograph captured during one of our Photography Weekend Breaks in Kirkcudbright, SW Scotland. Photograph by Philip Dunn

I took this shot during one of these walks with a group of photographers.

I like the way the cat is utterly unmoved by the attentions of the dog – which, if you look very closely you will see is at the end of its tether on a long lead. The dog’s owner is holding it back and the cat seems to know that the yapping little dog can get no nearer.

It’s just one of those moments you must be prepared for – and this is one of the techniques I teach during these Photography Weekends.

There are still a couple of places available if you would like to join us. You’ll have a great time in a lovely hotel here in Kirkcudbright – the Selkirk Arms Hotel has a wonderful reputation for its fine food and has never disappointed us.

The entire weekend with full tuition from me, two nights accommodation, all your food, coffees and welcome drink is included in the price of £399 – a real bargain.

You will have great time, so come and join us – and celebrate the arrival of Spring! You can bring your partner – non-participants are welcome.

PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND BREAKS

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I’ve finally cut the last of my ties with the age of film photography – well almost.

Enthusiastic owner wanted - my old Durst 670 photo enlarger sits in a charity shop window next to the old pots and toys

The last of my darkroom enlargers now sits in the Charity Shop window – it’s there now and a bargain if you want to buy it.

That little Durst 670 photographic enlarger, along with it’s Durst BW counterpart must have produced thousands of prints whose next stop was the picture desks of the many newspapers and magazines who once needed real paper bromide prints.

I can no longer see the point of having an old photo enlarger cluttering up what is now a spare room and what was once my darkroom. I don’t intend to use film again – I can’t see the point in it any more.

So I’ve had a clear out and I’ve even dumped the last of my – very out-of-date – colour and black and white film stock.

Useful for Photography Courses
The only items I have kept from the era of film are a couple of Nikon F3 camera bodies. They are well-worn and battered, probably worthless. I now use them during my Photography Courses and Workshops to explain what goes on inside a camera when the shutter is pressed. You can open up the back of a film camera – remember that? Very useful when lecturing about exposure, shutter speeds and apertures.

Anyway, my old enlarger now sits waiting for a new enthusiastic owner with a desire to produce bromide photographic prints. It’s there in the window next to the blue and white pots, the surplus cruets and fluffy toys. It has all the instruction books, timers and meter – there’s even a baseboard, printing frame and a couple of film developing tanks to go with it.

You’ll find it at the Summer Festivities Charity Shop in Kirkcudbright and they will be happy to accepts £40 for the lot.

If you buy it – just think of the many photographs that have appeared in newspapers all over the world – they were printed on that very enlarger.

But please don’t come to me for instruction on how to use a film enlarger and darkroom – I’m a digital photographer now, through and through. I’m happy to teach you how to take great photographs with film, but I can no longer show you how to develop them.

There are still a few places available for the Photography Weekend Break at the end of this month

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This is one of the simple photographs I took on my recent visit to NW England.

It shows a construction worker helping to put up a new ride at the Southport Pleasure Park fairground.

You can learn how to capture pictures like this on my Photography Weekend Break coming up at the end of this month. Photograph by Philip Dunn

The most difficult part of capturing this silhouette image was finding the right angle for the shot before the man finished what he was doing and shifted his position. Sometimes you have to be quick on your feet when you spot a picture possibility.

Exposing for silhouettes is a not difficult – just expose for the sky or bright background and let the subject itself  go dark – silhouetted.

There is one golden rule if you want to create impact with your silhouettes – keep the background clean.

I’ll be talking about how you can achieve this sort of effect during the Photography Weekend Break coming up at the end of this month. There are still a few places available for the weekend, so don’t miss your chance of a great weekend in a lovely hotel – and lots of photography tuition and picture taking.

Find out more about the Photography Weekend Break

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The date for the Street Photography Walk with me in Stockport has been changed.

It will now be in the morning of Saturday June 16th 2012

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There is some new information and another page has been added to the e-brochure about my Photography Holidays and Courses.

The response to these e-brochures has been really encouraging since I introduced them last year. They are a simple and quick way to get more information to you to help you decide about the sort of Photography Holiday or Photography course that would suit you best.I do try to get the e-brochures sent to you within 24 hours, but most people understand that this is not always possible as I am am often away and not able to get to a computer.

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The latest page is about the Street Photography Walks I have arrange for June. It’s really just a page (above) to show you the sort of interesting images that can be achieved when you know how to set about Street Photography in a professional manner – exactly the sort of techniques I will be passing on during these photo walks.

As I am still trying to fix new venues for these Street Photography Walks, so there will be no dates on the e-brochures, instead there will be a link to pages on the PhotoActive website where dates and prices can be found.

Booking are looking good for the walks so far – so do get your name down and get your booking form off to me as soon as you can if you would like to come.

There is a date change for the Street Photography Walk in Stockport – it will now be on the morning of SATURDAY 16th June.

I hope to see you there

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It’s lovely to get so much positive feedback from the photographers who come on my Photography Courses.

I posted recently about Richard and Jenny who shared a one-to-one photography course last wek.

The day was arranged by Richard’s wife Sam for him and their friend Jenny.

Jenny Baptiste enjoying her photography course on the beautiful Galloway coast of Scotland

Sam wrote to me this morning:

Dear Philip

Just a little note to say thank you. Both Rich and Jen were high as a kite when they came home and sat for hours looking at their work. You made the day simply perfect for them and they enjoyed their lovely lunch courtesy of your wife so please extend much thanks to her too. I am so pleased they both took the time before the course and now after to really try and examine and learn about their camera and just play! In busy lives this time does not often present itself so thank you once again.

We adore your neighbourhood, you are so lucky. Please say hi to the twinkling sea when you next see her!

Best wishes and hope to meet you one day.
Sam

Ps your book is awesome!!

Richard also contacted me when he got back to his home in Switzerland:

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you for a fantastic day, both Jenny and learnt so much in the morning, but then had the most amazing time on the beach putting all the theory into practice.

The weather was great, your tuition was superb and we had a lot of fun, which always makes it all the more enjoyable.

Thanks again, and don’t be surprised to see us up in beautiful Kirkcudbright again soon.

Now that really does make everything worthwhile.  The pleasure really was all ours. Read more FEEDBACK

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Don’t forget – you can join Philip Dunn on one of his Street Photography Walk in June – it may be near where you live

I’ve just had a great day with two smashing people sharing a one-to-one photography course here in Bonnie Galloway.

Jenny Baptiste from Hertfordshire and Richard Wright from Switzerland shared a day of one-to-one photography tuition after their respective partners bought them Photography Course Gift Vouchers

Jenny Baptiste and Richard Wright were both enjoying the day after their respective partners bought them Photography Gift Vouchers for their birthdays.

The two families have been good friends for some years and Richard and Jennifer share a keen interest in photography.

Richard and his wife came over from their home in Switzerland to join Jennifer and her husband for a week’s holiday here in Scotland. The photography tuition was part of the holiday.

The weather today has been glorious and after a session of photography in Kirkcudbright, we decided to go down to the coast after lunch and explore one of the pristine beaches at low water.

I think this is always the best time to see the beaches along this beautiful coastline because so many hidden rocks and features are uncovered when the tide is out.

Richard Wright among the rocks at low tide on the Galloway coast during his Photography Course today

In common with many of the photographers who come to me for tuition, both Jenny and Richard were keen to get to grips with the Manual settings on their cameras.

I think they went away feeling much more confident – from what I saw on their cameras, they have certainly taken some great photographs.

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You can share the cost of this photography tuition if you book with a friend

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I’m working my way though the photographs taken during my trip to the north west of England last week.

LIVERPOOL DOCKS
I was, frankly, astonished to see that the old docks of Liverpool are still largely intact. I don’t mean the tarted up area of Albert Dock, which is all very nice, I mean the vast areas of docks and warehouses further down the River Mersey. These have been left just as they were when the last cargo ship set sail, and the effect of eye-watering.

All is sealed behind barbed wire and tall fencing – but there are some angles from which these wonderful areas can still be photographed effectively. I thought that the colours of the brickwork and repetitive patterns of the windows and fire-escapes on the side of the building I photographed below were just fantastic.

SIMPLE PHOTOGRAPHS
There is nothing in the least clever about either of these two pictures; the subjects were simply just there waiting to be photographed, and I suspect I was by no means the first photographer to recognise their visual merit.

The repetitive nature of this extraordinary building was emphasized by careful framing at the time of taking the picture. Photograph by Philip Dunn

I deliberately framed the picture to cut out any sky or parts of other buildings in order to emphasize the graphic patterns of this. This was done at the time of shooting. Not afterwards.

• Camera: Nikon D700
• Lens: Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
• ISO: 400
• Shutter Speed: 1/160sec
• Aperture: f/10
• Focal length 165mm

Here’s another photograph taken very nearby – so when did you last see real wooden barrels left outside to weather like this? And they are not in a museum.

The shapes and colour tones were irresistible - careful metering was essential in order not to over expose all those blacks. Photohraph by Philip Dunn

• Camera: Nikon D700
• Lens: Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
• ISO: 400
• Shutter Speed: 1/160sec
• Aperture: f/5.6
• Focal length: 82mm

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I’ve just got back from a short photo tour of the north west of England.

We’ve been revisiting some of my old haunts and, among many other places photographed, I set to work in the seaside town of Southport. Not glamorous, I know, but, for anyone who doesn’t know already, well worth photographing.

I asked this lovely young couple to co-operate with the taking of this photograph. They were happy to spare a little time with me trying to recreate a much earlier image taken for The Sunday Times. Photograph by Philip Dunn

I was last sent to Southport for The Sunday Times way back in the summer of 1990 and then I photographed a couple walking over the footbridge that crosses the Marine Lake. There’s now a new stainless steel futuristic road bridge over the lake, but the old bridge remains.

Happily, the old bridge, although now looking a little dilapidated,  is largely unaltered – and it’s a great place to photograph people and practice your Street Photography skills.

My 1990 photograph has now been published many times. I posted about it some time ago ‘Street Photography – just let it happen’

The point I made in that post was that you do not necessarily have to get involved with your subjects if you don’t want to and that candid pictures can be very revealing and effective. However, on my recent visit to Southport I decided to try and recreate a similar image but this time to actually get involved with the subjects themselves.

Henry and Erin - after our brief 'photo re-creation' session. Thank you both - please email me and I will send you a high res image of this pictures

I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

I stopped several people on that bridge and explained what I was doing – not one person objected and every one really tried to help. It was a delightful exercise and I would like to thank everyone concerned.

It is also worth mentioning that all those charming people were happy to sign a model release form when I explained what it was for.

I would like to thank them all – particularly Erin and Henry – photographed here.

I will be passing on many professional secrets about Street Photography during my forthcoming Street Photography Walks.

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I will post some more photographs from my recent strip very soon… there are some from Liverpool in particular that I was really pleased with.

I’ve had a great weekend – mostly because we’ve been with our lovely little granddaughter – but also because I’ve had chance to get out and about taking pictures of people in the street – and street photography is one of my favourite subjects.

There are some professional techniques that will enable you to capture simple street photography images like this - I'll be passing some of them on during our walk though the streets of Chester. Photograph Philip Dunn

Captured on a simple compact camera - I will be passing on many professional tricks of the trade during our street photography walk in Chester. They will enable you to take great pictures with any camera. Photograph Philip Dunn

I am arranging a series of Street Photography Walks this years, and one of those will be in the beautiful and interesting city of Chester – on the evening of Wednesday June 20th. So I thought I would do a quick check of the route I intend to take with the group. I did not have my DSLRs with me – just a little Canon Ixus compact camera.

It’s quite amazing what can be achieved on these compact cameras – provided you understand their limitations and work within them.

The two pictures on this page were taken on the Canon Ixus during my short walk through Chester. So I hope it gives you a taster of the sort of pictures you nay be able to capture for yourself during the group Street Photography Walk in June – it should ceratinly be a lot of fun and I hope you can join us.

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