iJourneys

John Gough Photography

Northumberland Photo Locations

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Northumberland

Tynemouth Outdoor Swimming Pool / John Gough / Sony a6500

I went to the Northumberland coast a couple of weeks ago. I was looking forward to taking dramatic images of troublesome seas, clouds skating across weary skies, and seahorses breaking across windswept beaches. Instead what I got was an insidious sea mist, and continuous low cloud for as far as the eye could see. Don’t, however, let that put you off. There are beautiful locations for photography in Northumberland.

I just had to make do, which meant looking in different directions, which leads me on to the Tynemouth outdoor swimming pool above. I used to swim there as a boy, we thought it was warm when the temperature of the seawater that used to fill it reached, 47 Fahrenheit. The structure has obviously deteriorated since then. However, the seawater is not any warmer.

Research on the Northumberland Coast

To research the Northumberland coast I used this Photographers Guide, Northumberland. The places I visited and would go back to again were:

Not in the book but probably not an omission is Tynemouth Outdoor Swimming Pool opened in 1925 and highlighted above. There are some evocative images to be had as the concrete discolours and degrades.

Northumberland

Time Was / John Gough / Sony a6300

My favourite location, however, was the Rendezvous Cafe on the Promenade at Whitley Bay. No change since the 1950’s?

Northumberland

Ices / John Gough / Sony a6300

The Traditional Northumberland Landscape

For a view of traditional Northumberland landscape, try the locations in this book by veteran landscape photographer  Joe Cornish.

 

The Lake District

See my Lake District locations using this book:

 

Where I Buy

I buy my equipment from Wex because I have found they offer great advice and customer service.

This Image was Taken on a Sony

 
 

Photo London

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Photo London 2018 / John Gough / Sony a6300

I can understand if you are a photographer, you might consider Photo London which is currently at Somerset House in London, as being more for art connoisseurs, and photograph collectors. There are around 100 galleries from smart destinations from around the world, selling photographic artwork that is priced in the ‘I Saw You Coming’ bracket. However, any cynicism is blown away once you get inside, and witness the quality of the photography on show, and realise that photography that commands prices of many tens of thousands of pounds has to be stunning.

The conundrum that the exhibition poses is why when there are tens of millions of photographs taken every day (40 million are uploaded to Instagram each day) how is it that some command such value.

Many of the images are iconic from famous photographers. Who would not want a Terry O’Neill photograph of Jagger, Bowie or Micheal Caine?  Who would not want a Martin Schoeller portrait?

However, there is also work from artists that we don’t all know. I was blown away by the abstract work of German photographer Andreas Gefeller especially his collection The Backside of Light [I don’t know whether something has been lost in translation here!] and if I had £14,500 to spare I could be tempted to buy one. NB limited edition of eight.

There is no denying that photography does not yet command the prices of some traditional art, and probably never will. However, the extent to which Photo London has grown in terms of the number of exhibitors, and standing in the art world, in the four years it has been in existence is amazing. There is now a real buzz around collecting photography which is hard to ignore.

If you want to get into the world of collecting photographs then the British Journal of Photography has put together an e-guide, The Beginners Guide to Collecting Photography which can be obtained here. 

Photo London is on for just one more day.

 

Don McCullin in Syria

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“Now I’m in an old man’s body with a young man’s eyes,” says 82-year-old veteran war photographer Don McCullin as he struggles to the top of a shelled building in the Syrian city of Homs. He and architectural historian Dan Cruickshank take a road trip from government-controlled Damascus to Palmyra. The Unesco-listed ancient Syrian desert city of temples and columns ravaged by IS during the war that preceded the other wars that are desecrating this country.

BBC Documentary: The Road to Palmyra

McCullin and Cruikshank, who we assume are old friends have a close association with the city. In the programme, The Road to Palmyra they travel through this war torn land to return and understand the havoc wreaked there.

The documentary is an opportunity to see McCullin at work, “My mind says, ‘We’re going up there,’ my body says, ‘Hang on, are you sure?’ If my legs shake a bit, it’s not because I’m afraid, it’s my body refusing my youthful mind.” He has lost none of his ability to observe, empathise and document. However, it is the emotional input to his photography that is paramount, as it has been throughout his long career.

 

“Photography for me is not looking its feeling. If you can’t feel what you are looking at. Then you’re not going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures”

Don McCullin

 

The documentary will be available on iPlayer for a few weeks.

 

The Camera Sensor. Does Size Matter?

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Thanks to Photoseek.com for this graphic

 

I have tried to make sense of sensors, and address the question, Is a bigger camera sensor better?

What is a Camera Sensor?

It is the digital equivalent of film. It captures light and converts what you see through a viewfinder, EVF, or LCD screen into an image.

How does a Camera Sensor Work?

A camera sensor uses millions of tiny light cavities or “photosites” to record an image. When the shutter is pressed photosites collect photons and store these as an electrical signal.  (Photons are particles which transmit light i.e. light is carried through space by photons. That is all we need to know!) The more photons that are collected by the photosites the stronger the electrical signal. The different signal strengths across the millions of photosites are then converted into digital values. This is capable of being converted into a greyscale image, however not a colour image because photosites are unable to distinguish how much of each primary colour they have recorded.

What is the Difference between a Photosite and a Pixel?

Pixels and photosites describe the same light cavity on a camera sensor. However, pixels have also come to describe the smallest element of an LED screen. Which is the display side of the sensor rather than the light capture element. So pixels describe both and this can cause confusion.  Camera manufacturers refer to sensor size in terms of megapixels (i.e. one million pixels). For example, a 21.1 megapixel sensor is 5616 photosites wide by 3744 photosites high.

How does a Camera Sensor Capture Colour?

Each photosite is in effect colour blind, only recording the total intensity of the light that strikes its surface. To capture colour images, a beam splitter is placed over each photosite. to filter the light so that only one primary colour is allowed through. The other colours are discarded. This colour filter array was invented by Dr Bryce E. Bayer, a scientist working for Kodak. He invented the particular red, green and blue arrangement of colour filters to capture colour information.

Camera Sensor

Bayer Filter Array

The red filters, for example, will only allow red light photons to pass into the pixel below it. Each line on the array has only two of the primary colours either red/green or blue/green. The camera then uses an algorithm to work out the colour of each pixel. In fact, it combines a 2×2 square of four photosites together to predict the colour and its intensity. 

How Big is the Camera Sensor in Your Smartphone or Camera?

The graphic above is from PhotoSeek.com and compares different sensor sizes.

Smart Phones Sensor Size

Smartphones utilise very small sensors. As an example, the sensor size on an Apple iPhone 7 is 1/3inch, 12megapixels, pixel size 1.22 microns. Diagonal measurement 6.0mm, area 17.3 square mm. A full frame sensor is 55 times bigger.

Compact Cameras Sensor Size

A Canon Powershot has a sensor size 1/1.7inch, 12megapixels, pixel size 1.9 microns. Diagonal measurement 9.3mm, area 41.51 square mm. A full frame sensor is 21 times bigger.

Micro Four Thirds

This is a sensor size widely used on Olympus and Panasonic cameras that was introduced in 2008 to create smaller camera bodies and lenses. For example, the Olympus PEN F has a micro four thirds sensor, 20 megapixels, pixel size 3.3 microns. Diagonal measurement 21.6mm, area 225 square mm. A full frame sensor is 3.8 times bigger.

APS-C

Widely used in SLR cameras. For example, the Fujifilm X-Pro 2 has an APS-C sensor, 24 megapixels, pixel size 3.9 microns.  Diagonal measurement 28.2mm, area 370 square mm. A full frame sensor is 1.54 times bigger.

Full Frame

Used on digital SLRs and mirrorless camera. For example, the Nikon D600 has a full frame sensor, 24 megapixels, pixel size 6.0 microns.  Diagonal measurement 43.2mm, area 860 square mm.

So Does the Camera Sensor Size Matter?

A bigger sensor is better for two reasons. Firstly the bigger sensor can capture more light, which means more detail, better colour rendition a sharper image and more depth of field. Smartphones can take great images, but the sensor on a full frame camera is 55 times bigger, and that is a lot more light. Secondly, the size of the photosites/pixels does matter. On full frame cameras, the increase in pixel size means that manufacturers can offer amazing ISO performance, which means better low light performance and more dynamic range.

It is therefore important to make a decision on which camera to buy, not based just on the sensor size measured by the number of megapixels. It is also the size of those pixels that count. A smartphone may be 12 megapixels, but the pixels are small about 1.55 microns compared with 5.2 microns on a similar size APS-C sensor.

Camera manufacturers are a bit vague on pixel size. This may be because there is a trade off, between the area of the sensor and the size and number of pixels that it can contain. As full frame sensors gradually creep towards 30 megapixels and beyond, this may be close to the maximum based on current technology. For photographers and camera manufacturers, yes, it is all about size!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition

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Sony World Photography Awards

Sony World Photography Awards / John Gough / Sony a6300

 

We consume so much of our photography online, that to go and see a magnificent photographic print is just a rare treat. For that reason, there is no bigger treat than the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, which is on at Somerset House until May 6th. I just loved being immersed in such stunning photography room after room. I wanted some osmosis to occur where some of the talent that had gone to make up these pictures would just rub off on me.

We are fed the line as photographers that we should be able to make a photograph from any view, vista or situation. This is not always true. I would love to be able to get to the places in the world where some of these photographers had been, stand in their shoes, and look down my viewfinder and see what they saw. So the learning I took away was……….get yourself there.

Many of the pictures from the exhibition are here.

Some background…………

David Hurn: A Life in Pictures

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David Hurn Exhibition

There was an under trailed programme on BBC television about David Hurn, a photographer who started in the 60’s with fashion then moved on to celebrity photographs notably Jane Fonda in Barbarella and Sean Connery in the Bond movies. The programme is a delight and you may still be able to find on BBC iPlayer.

It is charming because at the age of 83 Hurn is still as enthusiastic about photography as he has been all his life.

Before photography became art and pictures sold for thousands, Hurn would swap his pictures with other photographers. As a result, he has a vast and valuable photograph collection with images from all the great photographers of the 20th Century. Last year he exhibited at Photo London. The exhibition which was co-curated with Martin Parr marked the 70th anniversary of  Magnum Photos and included work that Hurn had swapped with Bill Brandt, Bruce Davidson, Sergio Larrain and Diana Markosian.

In the programme, he explains his rationale for donating his collection to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. There was an exhibition of the collection which has now finished, and there are no plans I understand for a further exhibition at present.

David Hurn, however, is primarily a documentary photographer:

and I have collected some of his work here.

 

Vision Nine Contemporary Photography

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Vision 9

Today I viewed the Vision 9 contemporary photography exhibition at the OXO Tower on the South Bank. Nine leading outdoor photographers are displayed showing seascapes, landscapes and abstract images.

Why go? My rationale is that it demonstrates the gap between the work I do and truly remarkable photography. If I have a personal mission, it is to close that gap.

The photographers exhibiting are:

Valda Bailey     Doug Chinnery   Cheryl Hamer  Marianthi Lainas  Astrid McGechan    Beata Moore   Paul Sanders  

 Richard Talibart  Linda Wevill

The exhibition is on until the 15th April. Admission is free.

Philip Lepper Trophy

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Philip Lepper Trophy

Trees Reflected / John Gough / Canon 6D

Delighted to receive the Philip Lepper Trophy at Bedford Camera Club this week, for my image Trees Reflected.

It was taken a year or so ago at Buttermere. I parked the car in Buttermere village then walked back along the B5289 towards Gatesgarth. I then walked back to Buttermere on the path between the lake and the road. The picture was taken looking back at the trees on the southern shoreline, using a big 100-400mm lens.

All the photography gods were aligned that day.

Lake District Photography Locations

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Lake District Photography Locations

Pooley Bridge Pier / John Gough / Canon 6D

I have been in the Lake District for a few days, and instead of darting from one location to the next, I did what many landscape photographers recommend which is to work the location. Usually, I don’t have the time for this, trying to pack in as much as I can. However, I have accumulated hundreds of pictures of the Lakes over the past few years, so I decided to follow their advice.

Lake District Photography: Wastwater

I started in Wastwater and worked the view looking towards Wasdale Head and Skafell Pike.

The landscape experts tell you to make the most of the weather you have been given. Well, at least it was not that insipid clear blue sky, you see on postcards of Lakeland scenes. The sky instead was overcast, the rain was spitting, and the breeze created a slight swell on the water. All in all, this created quite a moody scene.

Lakedistrict Photography

Wastwater in March / John Gough / Canon 6D

 

 

Lake District Photography: Buttermere

The next day I went in search of a photography icon, the lone tree on the shoreline of Buttermere Lake. Hundreds of photographers have got there before me. Indeed there was one there as I arrived, self consciously moving a tripod around while his wife looked on impatiently. Fortunately, I had neither encumbrance.

Head for the Fish Inn CA13 9XA. There is a public carpark. Walk past the pub and onto the path around the lake. When you reach the banks of the lake turn left and follow the path.

Lake District Photography

The Lone Tree / John Gough / Canon 6D

It is a misnomer the tree is not on its own, there are other trees along the bank. However, none have captured the imagination of artists and photographers quite like this one.

 Lake District Photography: Ullswater


I went to Pooley Bridge on Ullswater to find another iconic location, the Duke of Portland Boathouse. The best vantage point is from the wall just past the junction of the A592 and the B5320. It was, however, overcast, pouring with rain, and the lake was a murky grey. The boathouse is really only worth shooting as the sun comes up and illuminates it from the front.

I walked back to the pier for Ullswater steamers, by now it was raining hard, but as pier pictures seem very much in vogue, I captured the image at the top of the page. I took several but the rest were ruined by rain spots. By now I was cold and wet, so I decided it was time for a bacon butty.

 

 

I have added links to the books I use to find locations. These are affiliate links so I do get a very small payment if you purchase.

 

I used my Canon 6D on this trip with the magic 16-135 lens ideal for landscapes. I buy my gear from Wex because I have experienced their fantastic customer service personally.