Venice at Carnevale : There’s still time!
Posted: February 7, 2012 Filed under: news, workshops | Tags: 2012, Andy Craggs, Carnavale, Italy, Venice, workshop Leave a comment »
Just preparing our workshop for Venice in 2 week’s time. I hear it’s absolutely freezing so we’ll be prepared for cold weather photography. Plenty of hot chocolate and pasta. There’s still time to get flights if anyone’s keen on joining! Bring a sleeping bag if accommodation is scarce. It’ll be a fantastic trip, the last time I was in the canal city was in 2006 so it’s about time we made another trip. The Bellini is calling.
1-Day Practical Photography Workshop
Posted: January 10, 2012 Filed under: workshops | Tags: 2012, London, workshop Leave a comment »INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 1-DAY PRACTICAL WORKSHOP : LONDON
January 21st, Saturday 2012 £125 pp : 10:00 am – 5:00 pm : Meet Trafalgar Square
Free hugs, Piccadilly Circus, 2011 © S Lee
Andy and I will be running this 1-Day practical photography workshop in Central London on Saturday the 21st January.
This popular full day ‘hands-on’ workshop will benefit those who are interested in understanding the processes behind basic digital photography, camera handling, shooting in different Modes, learning to get the most out of their digital cameras. Will also be suited to those wanting to polish their photography techniques in composition, photographing people in the streets and candid images. We will demonstrate using lenses to achieve different depth-of-field effects, exposure control, selective focusing and daylight flash techniques.
Based in Central London, we will ‘walk and shoot’ and return for a review of the day’s efforts.
Do get in touch with us if you have any queries : Andy Craggs andy_craggs@hotmail.com or Steven Lee svllee@gmail.com
Global Classroom Workshop with LimKokWing students
Posted: October 1, 2011 Filed under: news, workshops | Tags: 2011, Limkokwing, London, workshop Leave a comment »
In May this year Andy and I ran a half-day Camera Clinic for some students from the Limkokwing Global Classroom in their London campus. Once again, last Thursday, 29th, I led another similar workshop, in sweltering 28C temperatures here in sunny London. This time, there was supposed to be 30+ students, but only about half materialised from the Indian Summer weather we have been enjoying in early Autumn. Nevertheless, we had a Go! and I sent all of them out in groups of 4 or 5, onto the streets on an assignment for a ‘make-believe’ inflight magazine article, requesting images of ‘Summer in London.’
With students in various disciplines, from Business Studies, Accountancy to Graphic Design and Games Software, it was difficult to run a technical photography class. Hence, I resorted to good old creativity, imagination and Lady Luck which I believe every one of us possess in some form or another. Thanks to Linda Noor for organising this session.
I am awaiting results from the challenge.
Fruit of the Vine
Posted: September 19, 2011 Filed under: workshops | Tags: 2011, Bordeaux, St Emilion, wine tour Leave a comment »
The St.Emilion region produces some of Bordeaux’s most famous red wines from the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. A group of us arrived here to spend a few days touring some chateaus, taste some fine wines, and sample the local cuisine. Photography was an option on this trip, nevertheless, all of us brought our cameras and attempt some picture taking at the ‘degustations’. For me, a total novice in wine tasting, it presented a great experience to understanding the complexities and methodology that went into the making of this red nectar so famous across the globe. I learned that the average root depth penetration is 11 to 17 metres deep for vines, that can be productive for over 50 years. Density of plant, soil structure, rainfall aren’t the only variables that go into the taste. Post harvest, there’s the masceration techniques, fermentation, and aging that will produce the ‘bouquets’, structure and body of the wine. Many chateaus are secretive about their recipes, and even the kind of oak barrels used too age the wines will produce different aromas.
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The St Emilion rolling hills filled with patchwork of vineyards differs greatly with the Left Bank area north of Bordeaux city, where the land is unimaginatively flat and unpicturesque. Nevertheless, this Medoc region produces some of the world’s most well-known fine wines from Chateaus Lafitte, La Tour and Rothschild, amongst others. The chateaus are themselves works of art, and so much history goes before these vintages.
Who’s up for a whisky tour of Scotland next?
SLOW in IOW 2
Posted: August 22, 2011 Filed under: workshops | Tags: 2011, Andy Craggs, IOW, SLOW, workshop 2 Comments »
The weather had been kind to us last weekend. The SLOW photography group drove south in two cars to Lymington and sailed across The Solent to Yarmouth, on the north west of the island. We spent the night in the 1930s style Shanklin Hotel. It was after all August, the height of the British summer, but the beaches in Shanklin and Ventnor weren’t even crowded. The local deckchair attendant on Shanklin beach was rather perplexed and told me that usually, by mid-August, the weekends are overcrowded with beachgoers, and he would have rented out all his chairs. Today, he spent time playing by the shore with his daughter and grandchild, a cute little blond.
The group spent over 2 hours walking along a stretch of seafront about 500m long, lined with tea shops, amusement arcades, gifts shops, cafes, and those that sell ‘swimming paraphernalia’, like blow up crocs, rubber rings, lilos, flippers, and colourful beach-balls.
I brought my trusty Rolleiflex along to shoot a couple of rolls of 120 film and since it was a SLOW approach, a lot of time was taken up with observing the crowd, chatting to some, and making contact with potential portrait sitters. Andy chatted to Joe, the friendly pedalo-minder, and we got some portraits of him posing in front of his hire sign. Katalin shot a series of Joe kicking a beachball.
Late afternoon, we headed out to the south cliffs of Compton Bay, and waited for the glorious sunset. Fernando, the conquistador of the sweeping long-exposure ‘guru’ demonstrated how to shoot a dramatic sunset, with graduated filters, bubble-levels, a sturdy tripod, and most of all, vision and patience. Vasuki made sure she had her 2X and 4X ND filters also, and managed to smooth out rippling waves in rock pools with her 5D Mark 2, and made friends with a huge dog.
The next day, we decided to pay a visit to Dimbola Lodge, in Freshwater on the south-western coast of the island. This is the childhood home of Julia Margaret Cameron, the celebrated Victorian portrait photographer. There is a permanent museum there and a revolving exhibition. On the way we stopped by Ventnor esplanade. The beach was still quiet at 10:30am.
An elegant and handsome retiree with wavy silver hair sat enjoying his coffee in a beach front cafe in Ventnor, obliged to have his portrait taken by the group. A hip surfer dad and his kids hung out in a fully restored red VW camper van also allowed us to photograph the interior of his ‘pride and joy’.
From Freshwater, we proceeded to hike towards The Needles, the most visited spot on the island. These are craggy sharp stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea on the southwestern most point of the Isle of Wight, used by sailors and shipping as a reference point. The view is breathtaking.
The IOW has a certain unspoilt charm about it. We found the locals friendly, the food to be of a very good standard, and the scenery simply outstanding. The weekend went by too quickly, and being an exercise for restraint, thoughtful photography, we found ourselves challenging our observation and compositional skills often.
Who’s up for Blackpool next?
SLOW in IOW
Posted: August 17, 2011 Filed under: workshops | Tags: 2011, IOW, landscapes, SLOW, workshop Leave a comment »
© Steven Lee 2011
We will be visiting and photographing the seaside towns and coastal areas of the Isle of Wight this coming weekend in what I term as SLOW Photography. Bringing back the skill of observation, composition and pre-visualisation techniques back into our practice, instead of the ‘click, chimp, and delete’ style we are so used to nowadays in digital photography. Its August, the peak of the British Summer, so expect lots of bright and colourful beach images and dramatic landscapes.
We hope to pay a visit to Dimbola Lodge, the home and museum of one of Britain’s celebrated Vitorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron in Freshwater.
More later.
CUBA : The Book is out now!
Posted: July 21, 2011 Filed under: news, workshops | Tags: 2011, Blurb, Cuba, Havana, Malecon, workshop Leave a comment »CUBA series : Yank Tanks
Posted: July 1, 2011 Filed under: Personal, workshops | Tags: 2011, Cuba, Havana, workshop, Yank Tanks 2 Comments »
No photography trip to Cuba would be complete unless there are some photographs of old American cars, one of the main attractions of Havana. Chevys, Fords, Lincolns, Cadillacs and various other forms still continue to roam the streets despite some of these machines having gone way past their sell-by dates. We came across some fully restored fine examples of these 50′s glories, and also some really clapped out ones. Most, if not all have had their innards replaced by more modern Japanese or Chinese truck engines and their attraction aren’t to be missed. Mainly used as taxis to ferry locals, some carry tourists for sight seeing trips around Havana. Kinda cliché to photograph, but not unlike visitors grabbing shots of black cabs and red phone boxes in London. Here are some casual snaps of these Yank Tanks. I just love their bright colours amongst a back drop of crumbling earthy buildings.
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Yank Tanks by Steven Lee, 2011
CUBA series : Cubanos by Andy Craggs
Posted: June 28, 2011 Filed under: workshops | Tags: 2011, Andy Craggs, Cuba, Havana, portraits, workshop 1 Comment »
At the dancehall, Cienfuegos, Cuba © Andy Craggs, 2011
Andy decided to tint a series of portraits in selenium to create a moody and enigmatic feel for his ‘Cubanos’ subjects to avoid being derivative. He photographed mainly with a 80mm F1.2 Nikkor AI manual lens on his D3 body, providing incredible small depth of field, which is his signature style. These intimate portraits were made on the streets and alleys of Havana, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos.
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Cubanos by Andy Craggs, 2011
I had my portrait taken…by a 111 year old box camera!
Posted: June 25, 2011 Filed under: Personal, workshops | Tags: 2011, Cuba, Havana, workshop 2 Comments »
On the last Sunday before our group left Havana, I met Pepe on the steps of Capitolio, the state building in Central Havana. I was intrigued by the contraption of a camera he was fiddling with, basically, a large box, covered by pieces of paper torn from magazines, on a wooden tripod. A quick smile and a “Ola, and we chatted in English. I discovered he was operating his grandfather’s 111 year old camera obscura, or box camera, ..and…he can take a photo with it, and produce a pretty instant print for me in less than 5 minutes..slightly wet print, mind you, but a REAL silver gelatin print and not a Polaroid! He went on to show me how he can process the paper inside the box after he had exposed the paper by opening the ‘shutter’, a plastic bottle cap for 1 second from the cheap scratched lens at the front. You see, there are two small shallow trays inside the box, which processes and washes the print, then he slides open the tray from the back of the camera, and continues to fix it in another tray! Finally he dunks the print (still a negative image) into a bucket of water to rinse it.
Watch the birdie!
That’s not all! Because the first image is a negative print, he then proceeds to re-photograph this print by placing it onto a bracket in front of the lens. Suddenly, his portrait lens converts into a macro-focusing one. Pepe then adds some ‘old trickery’ to the print by sticking a fake Capitolio dome above the portrait, sticks some reversed “Cuba” and “Havana” letters and voila! (He calls this Photoshop) A perfect portrait of me sitting in front of the Capitolio is completed.
Another few minutes pass by, and he is busy processing the final ‘positive’ print inside the camera and hands it to me still wet. All the show for 2 CUCs!
Simply amazing stuff. I got Pepe to do our group photo after that.
