PhotoActive Photography Blog | How-to photo technique tips

Photography Tuition

Everything / Philip Dunn / Photo Shropshire / PhotoActive

It's been a busy time for me with lots of one-to-one photography tuition, and last week I did an Evening Photography Walk in the beautiful old town of Ludlow. A gentle form of photography tuition Six photographers on a Photography Walk in Ludlow, Shropshire. Photograph by Philip Dunn I take only six photographers on the photography walks and they are almost always over-subscribed, which is a great compliment. Certainly, judging by the number of repeat bookings and the responses I get, all the photographers seem to enjoy this gentle and enjoyable form of photography tuition.…

The Philip Dunn Collection

Philip Dunn / PhotoActive

The London-based Mary Evans Picture Library is to give a permanent home to The Philip Dunn Collection.

Fuji X-Pro 2 Camera

Cameras / Philip Dunn / Photo Shropshire / PhotoActive

I’ve finally taken the big step – traded in my old DSLR Nikons and bought a new camera. Well, it’s an almost new Fuji X-Pro 2. The Nikons were getting less and less use, and my super little Fuji X-Pro 1 had become my camera of choice. I was one of the first photographers to buy into this Fuji system when the X-Pro 1 was launched a few years ago. It suited me perfectly. Having carried a heavy bag full of camera gear for most of my working life, this high quality little mirrorless camera…

Photographing older people

Everything / Philip Dunn / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

Photographing older people can be a joy for many reasons. To start with, a lived-in face is usually more interesting than that of a callow youth. Also, older people are usually more generous with their time. So here are some tips of photographing older people. I life story in every portrait It’s said that a person has the face he deserves by the age of forty. Maybe these days sixty would be more appropriate. Certainly as far as photography is concerned, the older a person gets the more of their life story will be…

ISO Settings

Everything / Photo Technique

With shooting modes, apertures, ISO settings, shutter speeds and white balance, it's not surprising novice photographers get confused - even before they point the camera. So what's the first thing to set on your camera before you go out and take pictures? Which camera setting to set first? I teach a great many novice photographers. Without exception they all get confused by the sheer number of settings on their camera. Nearly all ask the same question - which should I set first? The Aperture or the Shutter Speed? ISO settings Well, before you set either of…

photographing in fog - colour saturation and shadows are drastically reduced

Photographing in fog

Everything / Photo Technique

Foggy conditions can tranform almost any setting into a beautiful, mysterious or ominous scene. Photographing in fog can be hugely rewarding if you get it just right. However, there are some adjustments needed to your photo technique if your finished pictures are to capture what you actually saw with your own eyes. Why is photographing in fog so difficult? On a foggy day, the air fills with tiny water particles. These scatter and redirect the light rays. This means that there are no hard shadows and the light appears flat. Subjects lose the '3D'…

Regular students can learn the art of street photography with Philip Dunn AND get a 10% loyalty discount

10% Discount on Photography Courses

Everything / Philip Dunn / PhotoActive

Thank you to all those regular photography students Here a great start to the New Year. I'm offering a 10% discount on photography courses and tuition if you have been on any of my one-to-one photography courses, photography workshops or holidays before. This offer is open until the end of February 2019. It applies to all students who have been to me before and is available on any of the tuition I offer. This is my way of saying thank you and rewarding some of the thousands of loyal photographers who have been to me…

Even a poor Balinese fisherman gathering supper for his family will stop to appreciate the beauty of a sunset over the sea. Don’t be afraid to point your camera straight into the light in these situations. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Photograph by Philip Dunn

Photographing sunsets

Everything / Photo Technique

There’s more to photographing sunsets than just capturing the colour. Philip Dunn reveals how you can inject more visual appeal, drama and romance into your sunset pictures. Composition and good camera craft Sunsets have always attracted photographers and artists, and so they should. But there’s more to capturing a photograph that demands attention than just pointing a camera at a colourful sky. It is unlikely that you will need to improve on the colour of a really good sunset, either with filters or in Photoshop. However, if you want to capture the romance and…

Precise timing has caught the exact moment when this beach tumbler's fingers have touch the sand. It's a photographer's skill that does not need 'continuous' shooting mode

Capturing the action

Everything / Photo Technique / PhotoActive

There’s more to capturing the action than simply freezing the movement by using a fast shutter speed and shooting at 10 frames per second. Philip Dunn explains that good action photography starts with anticipation and an understanding of your subject. It is far more important to capture the right moment than freeze the wrong one No motor-drives, or multiple-shooting modes were used when capturing the action in the picture above. It was taken on a basic Nikon F2 many years ago in the West Indies. I captured the action simply by pressing the shutter at…

William was keen to show me the sailmaker’s palm used by his grandfather and still in use today. This was the ideal opportunity to take a close-up of his strong-work-calloused hands. I preferred this in black and white. Photography by Philip Dunn

Photographing craftsmen and women

Photo Technique / PhotoActive

Photographing craftsmen and women is, for me, always a joy. Call them artisans, makers, or skilled workers, these are the capable people who can create things with their hands. Practical, dexterous and accomplished, they are almost always worth photographing, and they often work in photogenic places. The sailmaker Everything about the sailmaker’s loft was purpose-built to inspire a photographer. That included William Leitch himself. He is the sailmaker and owner. A big, gentle, bear of a man with a great bushy beard and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. William is the third generation of…