March 2018 | PhotoActive

Pure Street Photography - there was no contact with the subjects in this Venice street. If the children knew I was there, they ignored me - I was just another tourist with a camera. The success of this type of photograph depends entirely on the photographer's positioning, framing and timing

Street Photography – myth and fact

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

Street Photography - myth and fact How do we unravel all this Street Photography myth and fact? Well, for a start, my personal definition of Street Photography is a very loose one. Beach, market place, pub, back yard, farmyard or open street, it's all the same to me. The fact is that If I can find visually interesting people to photograph, I'm quite content. What is common to my street photography is a lack of pre-arrangement. So it follows that in almost all cases, I have never met my subjects previously. Therefore, each photograph is…

Picture B By raising the camera position a little and pointing the lens angle down slightly, the telegraph pole has gone, and so has that distracting sky

Good Picture Composition – improve your image framing

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

Good Picture Composition – improve your image framing If you want to improve your image framing there are some very simple steps you can take. The first step is to bear in mind that even small adjustments in the positioning of your camera can have a dramatic effect on the framing of your photographs. Camera angle and position The slightest re-positioning of your camera, up, down, to the left or right, forward or back can improve instantly your image framing. Consequently, it can make a tremendous difference to good picture composition and the atmosphere of…

PICTURE A Where does your eye go when you first look at this picture? There are clear triangle within this composition

Good Picture Composition

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR PICTURE COMPOSITION? How to achieve good picture composition – the first thing to realise is that good picture composition does not have to be confined to landscape photography. All pictures, whether they are photographs of people in the street, animals, portraits or still-life, will have the power to attract your viewer’s eye – and hold it within the picture - if the composition is based on sound principles. So how do you improve picture composition? Answers vary according to the subject. For this reason, hard rules, despite what some photographers…

One of Philip Dunn's earliest street photography images. A dirty, barefoot boy eats a biscuit while standing on the doorstep of his home with his mongrel dog. This picture was taken in the north of England in the 1970s with an Pentax camera - using film, of course

Street Photography 1

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

COULD YOU BE A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER? Could you master the art of street photography? Or are you self-conscious about pointing your camera at strangers? Nervous about carrying your gear around in public? Philip Dunn offers guidance on how to relax while taking pictures and build your confidence to become an effective street photographer. The most easily accessible location for photography is right outside your own front door – in the street if you happen to live in town. Out there people are coming and going about there daily lives, and the houses, buildings and surroundings…

Dog walker on Porthill Bridge - what a great spot to photograph people in Shrewsbury

Photography Courses in Shrewsbury

Everything / Photo Shropshire / PhotoActive

Photography Courses in Shrewsbury It's taken a couple of years, but, at last I'm in a position to 'get out more' and again start sharing my lifelong passion for photography. I've started by running Photography Courses in Shrewsbury. For 15 years until 2016 we ran countless photography courses, 121s and workshops in the lovely town of Kirkcudbright in SW Scotland. The people there were so delightful that it was a joy to take my students through the town taking pictures in the street. People, buildings, the harbour, churches, fishing boats, the river - anything and…

Blackbird V Fieldfare - it seems a pretty even contest - but you have to be quick to capture it on camera

Photographing Birds in the Snow

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE GARDEN SNOW Although I have always had a deep interest in the wildlife that surrounds us, I don't claim to be a nature photographer. It is a branch of photography about which I know little, and so I have great respect for those who achieve beautiful pictures of wild animals. But I still love photographing birds in the snow. PHOTO DRAMA OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN WINDOW No, my 'prey' has mostly been of the human kind - capturing people unawares in the street or in moments of drama or joy. That…

Understanding Light – its colour

Everything / Photo Technique

COLOUR TEMPERATURE The colour of the light we use has a direct effect on our photographs. But there’s no need to get bogged down with technicalities to make the most of this colour temperature. An understanding of the colour, or temperature, of light is essential if you want to get the most from every subject and all situations. Not least because when you understand what’s going on you can take steps to avoid simple mistakes. It will also open up the most wonderful opportunities for capturing and emphasising colours in situations when you might otherwise…