Photography Archives

Pete Souza: The Way I See It

The Way I See It, is a documentary about former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza. Recording his personal journey as an image maker, with top secret clearance and total access to President Obama.

As a photographer, the film is interesting because it shows the way Pete Souza worked. It is accompanied by hundreds of examples of his work, which are wonderfully clear and compassionate.

Shade

On another level, the documentary is a comparison of the Obama presidency with that of his successor Donald Trump. Souza was apolitical and photographed four presidents including both the Reagans and the Obamas. What changed was what he saw as Trump’s total disregard for the Office of President.

His book Shade documents why he considered Trump unfit for office.

Pete Souza Photography

It is his however his photography that I find spellbinding. The photographs are more than just a record of the Presidency. OK, the Obama’s are undoubtedly photogenic, but the intimacy he has been allowed to capture shows a trusting and valued relationship between President and photographer.

His range is impressive, from formal group portraits with a medium format camera and studio lights. To press photography with flash and long and wide lenses. To intimate portraits indoors using just available light.

You can view his work in his book, Obama an Intimate Portrait, which contains over 300 pages of his Obama photographs

Precious historical documents . . . vividly human and often funny . . . these images tell the true story of a presidency that words have failed’ Jonathan Jones, Guardian

The Way I See It: Video

Watch, The Way I see It on Prime Video either rent for £1.99 or buy.

Post on Instagram from a PC

by John Gough

How can I post on Instagram from a PC? I like to share my work on social media, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On Facebook and Twitter, I can log into my account on a PC and upload my photographs. That is not possible on Instagram. So how can I post my images to Instagram from a laptop or a desktop?

Instagram started as primarily a social network for mobile users. However, it is now an important platform for business, influencers, artists, writers, bloggers, and vloggers. For many of these users, it is a tedious process to upload content to Instagram from a PC. It is especially tortuous for photographers who will have images stored on computer hard drives, external drives and in the cloud. For them, it is a lengthy workflow to download images from these drives, upload to a cell phone and then post to Instagram.

Fortunately, the solution is simple, whether you use a Chrome browser or Microsoft Edge. You can easily transfer photographs from a PC directly to Instagram. No additional software is required.

If you use a Chrome browser this is how to post on Instagram from a PC in a few easy steps.

How to Upload Pictures to Instagram from a Laptop or PC Using a Chrome Browser

1 Profile …..(re How to share to Instagram from a PC)

Log into Instagram by signing in, and go to Profile (see Illustration 1)

Illustration 1 How to post to Instagram from a PC

2 Inspect …..(re How to transfer content to Instagram from a PC)

Right click the mouse anywhere on the page, and a drop down menu will appear. On the drop down menu go to Inspect. Mouse left click to reveal the HTML code for that page. (See Illustration 2)

Illustration 2 How to post to Instagram from a PC

3 Toggle …..(re How to transfer photographs to Instagram from a PC)

On the top left in the header area of the code are icons for desktop and mobile. Toggle from desktop to mobile which is the second one in. Click on Mobile. (See Illustration 2). The page will now reproduce how your mobile device shows Instagram. Do not click off the HTML code using X

Illustration 3 How to Post on Instagram from a PC

4 Refresh …..(re How to post images from a PC to Instagram)

Refresh the page. Either by clicking the Refresh icon. See illustration 4 or pressing F5. The page will now reproduce exactly how your mobile device shows Instagram with the + icon displayed.

Illustration 4 How to Post on Instagram from a PC

5 Post ……(re How to upload content from a desktop or laptop to Instagram)

Use the + to upload your photographs to Instagram just as you would on your mobile. See Illustration 5

Illustration 5 How to post on Instagram from a PC

How to Upload Pictures to Instagram from a Laptop or PC Using Microsoft Edge / Explorer

In Microsoft Edge / Explorer the process of loading content from a PC to Instagram is exactly the same as in Chrome.

Open Profile
Mouse click right to open Inspect

Illustration 6 How to post on Instagram from a PC using Microsoft Edge

Toggle & Click the mobile icon.
Refresh the page
Post the picture

This workaround has saved me so much time. I can now easily interact with 1 billion Instagram users.

December Image of the Month

by John Gough

Lockdown at Trinity College / John Gough / Canon EOS R

I took this image in Cambridge mid December. It all seems to have got a lot worse since then. It sums up 2020. What with Brexit and Covid it has not been a good year for the UK.

Misty Autumn Photography

by John Gough

One of my big obsessions with photography is to try to photograph how the mind interprets what we see rather than what the camera is pointing at. Misty Autumn photography is about looking at Autumn leaves, trees and landscapes through an ethereal, golden, opaque lens.

I wrote about photographing the Autumn colours before the season began. I was looking forward to the season and trying to get an impression of Autumn perhaps through multiple exposures. Due to the lockdowns, we are having here in the UK, I think we are seeing the seasons so much more vividly. Walking through nature has certainly maintained my sanity during these worrying months.

Glenys Garnett

My mentor through this time has been Glenys Garnett. I recently watched an RPS talk she gave about her photography. She talked about how she will frequently photograph the same patch of woodland behind her house in the pursuit of wonderful dreamy images.

As she says, working in a familiar space will force your creativity. Encouraging you to make images about how you feel, and embracing abstraction. She suggests looking at the muted colours of work by American painter, Andrew Wyeth.

Looking for soft light and a subdued palette has led me to the work of Jo Stephen.

Jo Stephen

I am drawn to using creative photographic techniques as they enable me to explore my connection to nature in a way that representational photography does not always allow. … Jo Stephen

I agree, that statement sums up so simply my view that seeing is believing but believing is what we see.

These are some of her Autumn images and some of her woodland images.

Processing Misty Autumn Photography

With thanks to Jo Stephen, this is a simple technique to get that wonderful soft lighting.

Lightroom

Expose as you would normally, bringing down the highlights and increasing shadows etc
Decrease the vibrance, clarity and saturation especially green and cyan.
Increase the saturation of key colours e.g. reds and oranges in Autumn
Add a slight vignette
Transfer to Photoshop: Photo>Edit in>Photoshop

Photoshop

Open in PS
Make a duplicate layer: Ctrl J
Add Gaussian blur to the duplicate layer: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Move slider about half way. Apply.
Add a curves adjustment layer and just lift and tweak the top of the graph.
Add a clipping mask. Rt click the adjustment layer and select clipping mask
Move the opacity slider to around 15-30%
File>Save

Lightroom

Open in LR
Adjust to suit your style. you may want to try a profile

This is one I tried earlier………….

This is a beautiful effect which I am also going to experiment using with my Pep Ventosa and multiple exposure images.

The Man in Black

by John Gough

This is my October 2020 image of the month. I have been developing my Pep Ventosa style, by adding some static items to the swirl of confusion created by the multiple images.

I am fascinated by the way the technique creates a view closer to how we see. Or at least how I think we see!

Yellow Lily

by John Gough

This is my image of the month for September 2020. A message in a bottle. I am currently experimenting with a bolder oil painting style to try and achieve an image which is an oil and light hybrid.

Rankin’s 2020: Sky Arts

by John Gough

Rankin has a new show on Sky Arts, which reviews the results of a photography challenge launched in the summer to document life in 2020. In the programme, (Rankin’s 2020) Rankin demonstrates how he would tackle each assignment and with two guests reviews his images and their images.

Sky Arts is now a free-to-air channel on Freeview Channel 11.

There are six parts to the series. Each episode will focus on a different category – family, fun, self, beauty, empathy and nature.

Rankin is a renowned portrait photographer, who has now diversified into fashion, advertising and film. He is best known for working with models Kate Moss and Heidi Klum as well as photographing celebrities like Madonna, David Bowie and the Queen.

Rankin describes this project:

“Photography is my life and passion and I truly believe it has the power to reveal and connect. Now we all have cameras in our pockets, I think it’s time to use them. Rankin’s 2020 is an open call to anybody who thinks they can take a great picture. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve never taken a photograph before or you’re a professional, I want to see your view of our world. Together we can document this crazy year and make something positive out of it.”

There are now two photography based programmes on Sky Arts. I have reviewed Master of Photography, and I have watched the first episode of Rankin’s 2020. I enjoyed Rankin’s interpretation of empathy and seeing how he worked. The images submitted were also refreshing, in that they did not look like traditional photography competition entries. Many had been captured on a smartphone. They were alive, immediate and compelling.

Master of Photography: Sky Arts

by John Gough

Fantastic news. Sky Arts, the Sky channel, is now available on Freeview, Channel 11. The channel started broadcasting this week, which means that we can all now get to see one of their most popular programmes: Master of Photography. A photography competition, in which contestants compete with one another to gain the coveted title and 150,000 euros.

I watched the first episode this week, on Friday at 2pm. This was a repeat from the first series broadcast in 2016. I imagine the series is shown across the schedule. However, you will need to trawl through endless repeats of Tales of the Unexpected to find it.

The format is similar to The Apprentice, Masterchef and Bake Off. Twelve contestants battle it out each week, until one is eliminated. The judges are eminent photographers and there is a guest photographer to give advice. The series has been running for four seasons, and hopefully, they will all be repeated for Freeview viewers.

Master of Photography Season 1 Episode 1

The contestants chosen from the ‘thousands’ that applied. In this episode, spent six hours shooting on the streets of Rome. Not all the candidates were familiar with street photography, so it was fascinating to watch their different styles. No doubt they were good photographers to win through and get a place in the competition, but the judges were ‘underwhelmed’ with the results.

It may have been the difficulty of street photography. Alex Webb the Magnum street and travel photographer was on hand to give advice. Street photography is 99.8% disappointment he said.

The best bit of advice, however, was kept until the end.

Shoot for yourselves, not what you think the judges are looking for.

Autumn Multiple Exposures

by John Gough

Lately because of the COVID restrictions I have had less opportunity for street photography. I don’t want to travel on a train to London, and I have decided that pubs and restaurants are off limits for me at the moment.

So I have been looking for different outlets for my photography. My first love, landscape photography is restricted because long road trips and overnight stays are out. So it is difficult to visit the Lake District and Scotland.

So I am going to go a bit abstract.

An Impression of Autumn

It is just coming into Autumn. The most beautiful time of year IMHO. The next six weeks or so are going to be just so amazing. What I want to do is photograph the leaves and the trees and the sky and capture the mood. The feeling of darkening days, and ripe fruit. Hunkering in, log fires, smoky chimney pots, mellow mists and the foreboding of winter. I want to create an impression of the Autumn I see.

As Joel Meyerowitz says:

‘Once you have a camera in your hand you have a license to see.’

Abstract allows a creative control. Some would say too much. However, the end result is unique to you. It may be crass, but it is your kind of crass. A camera can give you the license to see, but abstraction gives you the freedom to feel and express emotion.

Multiple Exposures

One of the most accessible ways of going abstract is to find the multiple exposure function on your camera. With this, you can create stunning abstracts in camera.

There are numerous videos that go into the technicals of ‘how to’ like this one.

You take several different images. These multiple exposures are then stored in the camera and merged to create a final image. Sounds complicated and technical, but it is not that difficult. Just have a go and experiment. Take 2, 3 or more images stacked on top of one another. See what works and carry on.

The most difficult part is finding Multiple Exposure on your camera’s menu!

The example above was taken in my local park. There are three exposures. Lengthening shadows on a white wall, autumn leaves and pine needles.

I think I will print my Autumn Abstracts. Stick them on a wall and then the next six weeks will be with me all winter

To see what you can achieve with this technique. Look no further than the work of Valda Bailey If you really want to get into Multiple Exposures then the Bailey Chinnery workshops are well worthwhile.

Now let’s get out there and enjoy the Autumn.

Pep Ventosa Technique

by John Gough

Pep Ventosa is a Catalan photographer who is known for his technique of creating impressionistic looking photography by taking multiple images of a subject and blending them together.

His series ‘In the Round’ featured trees which have become the lynchpin of his work. His photography, however, is now more diverse and includes urban landscapes, streetcars and street lamps.

When talking about his work he describes how:

The process mimics how we actually see: the eyes are constantly focusing on the specific details and elements of what’s in front of them and the brain then processes that visual information making the reconstruction so we perceive the world around us.

I have curated a selection of his images here.

The Pep Ventosa Technique

Pep Ventosa uses hundreds of images to create an artwork. Is it art or is it photography? He purposefully blurs the boundaries. Look at his series ‘New Faces from the Past’

Trying to replicate the technique is not easy. As my attempt above illustrates. It is not just a process of walking around a tree, taking photographs and putting them into layers in Photoshop.

A good place to start is with the glorious Glenys Garnett

Tips to Creating a Masterpiece

The subject has to be interesting enough to be deconstructed
Maintain a reference point on the subject for all the images. For example, I used the tree trunk in the image above. A 3×3 grid in the camera viewfinder is useful.
A wide angle lens is best to allow you to get closer to the subject.
I took twenty images in the image above.
Take jpgs rather than RAW to make it easier to manipulate later. Or do as I did convert them to jpg in Lightroom. Create a similar look and feel for each image and then export to Photoshop.
To transfer from Lightroom to Photoshop in one step. Select the images to be transferred in Lightroom: Photo>Edit In>Open as Layers in Photoshop.
In the layer stack in Photoshop I used a Normal blending mode with an opacity of 20%. The blending modes and opacity, however, depend on the effect that YOU want to produce.
Try keeping the camera fixed and moving the subject see below.

Your Own Style

What is exciting about using the Pep Ventosa technique is that so much is down to trial and error, which means that your images will develop into your own style.