photoactive Archives | PhotoActive

Mixed light photograph of the English Bridge in Shrewsbury. A 5 sec exposure has given a pleasant silky look to the flowing water of The River Severn

Night Photography in Shrewsbury

Night Photography Shrewsbury I've been meaning to do some night photography in Shrewsbury for weeks, and last night I got my chance. I had nothing special in mind, just a gentle stroll around the town…

Ron Burton's classic press photograph of the Red Arrows. This picture had a profound influence of my press photography career

Press Photography Career

Press photography career There can be no doubt that pictures can our change lives. One photograph in particular certainly had a profound effect on me and my press photographer career. When I first saw this…

Naval officer in cape, Riva, Ca Di Dio, Venice, Italy

Street Photography Techniques

Street Photography techniques Let's take a look at two very different Street Photography techniques needed for capturing great photographs in the street. One of these methods involves a degree of premeditation and planning. The other…

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

Good Picture Composition

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,…

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

Better Street Photography 1

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…

Understanding Light – its colour

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…

High quality light has no harsh, sharp edges on the shadows. It's soft and there is detail in those shadows - yet the light can still be directional as in theis picture taken in a potter's dusty studio. Photograph by Philip Dunn

Understanding Light – its quality

THE QUALITY OF LIGHT What’s all this about the quality of light? Philip Dunn shows you how to recognise good light - and improve it when it’s not so good. When asked to define the…

So many friends from photography courses

MAKING FRIENDS IN PHOTOGRAPHY Building the new PhotoActive website over the last few days I've been delving into past files in my search for pictures of the many photography holidays, weekends and courses we organised…