Featured 'tog Tuesday - Clare Robinson

Today's featured 'tog is Clare Robinson a photographer and sometimes model.

BLAB: Please tell us a bit about yourself

CR: I started taking photos on a small red plastic camera that I bought for £5 at a Blue Peter Bring and Buy sale held at our house many years ago! Over the last 6 years I've been taking photos with whatever camera I've been able to get my hands on- from my Canon Powershot point-and-shoot to my 400D that my other half bought me for a rather special birthday/christmas present!

I have a lot of friends who are photographers, which interested me to try amateur modelling to help them with portfolio work. Eventually I found the modelling wasn't really my bag- being a bit of a tomboy, I wasn't used to allocating time for curling my hair, painting my nails and all those kind of things! I was however, pretty interested in trying it from the other side of the camera. Thanks to many of my photographer buddies, I got to have a little experiment playing with their cameras and equipment, and found that although my technical knowledge was almost non-existant, I wasn't terrible at shooting models. Since then, I have shot a number of local models -in studios, on location and in my makeshift studio in the dining room- and am thoroughly enjoying the new challenges that it brings me! I think my experience on both sides of the camera is extremely useful when putting models at ease- but it also ensures I have realistic expectations from my model shoots. I intersperse shooting models with some self portrait work with varying degrees of success!

I'm the first to admit that if it wasn't for digital cameras, I would not be a “photographer”- though many may argue that unless you understand the processes and can shoot on film that you're not really a photographer! I still struggle with technicalities, but I enjoy creating beautiful and interesting images of people, places, things and experiences- and I am learning so much as I go along.

BLAB: In keeping with our usual style, here's a few questions we put to Clare.

What colour would your Ferrari be?
CR: I'm afraid I just wouldn't have one! I'm a bit of a hippy environmentalist type, and I can't imagine anything more ridiculous than the idea of spending £200,000 on a car! Having said that it, if I had to have one, it would be in an embarassing or ridiculous colour like lime green (do they DO green ferraris?) or orange to match my folding bike!

What's your best bit of advice for a new photographer?
CR: I think it would be just to keep taking photos, to experiment and be self critical in a constructive way. Most of my photography is self taught- with advice from friends stuck in there along the way. Inspired by a friend, I challenged myself to do a 365 photographs project- which I started with my point and shoot Canon Powershot A530. It ran over about 15 months (not the 365 days straight that I envisaged) and really made me work to find something of interest or beauty in my everyday life. It also taught me how to select my better pictures and take critique- and I would highly recommend it as a way to really start taking photos.


If you had been paid ten thousand pounds for being our 'Tuesday tog', what photo equipment would you spend it on?
CR: I'd probably just catch myself up the the level of every other photographer on the planet! I shoot with a 400D, using either the kit lens or a Tamron 28-105mm that was given to me by a friend. I like to keep things basic and to be resourceful when shooting- a lot of my self portrait work has been done balancing the camera on a tower of books, and lit using desk lamps! I have recently bought myself a few extra bits and bobs, but on the whole I don't have a lot of spare cash to spend on camera gear. I'd love a really decent macro lens- my interest often lies in the detail of an image- especially finding an obscure or perfect pattern in an unexpected place. I'd also make sure I had a great portrait lens, some flash units and a proper set of studio lights with all the accessories!


Which of your images means the most to you and why?
CR: This is a really hard question that I've been pushing myself to try to answer! Although not necessarily my “best” image, day 19 of my photography project means a lot to me! It was taken on the first foreign holiday I took with my (now) fiancee, and we went to such beautiful places across Brittany and had such a lovely time! I think it was one of the first “good” photos I took, which I thought about and planned, and used technical knowledge mixed in with a “creative vision” to come up with a satisfying outcome!

The pictures I have chosen to represent the range of my work are:

This image was taken during the snow in February 2009- and for some reason it's one that I always come back to. My “style” if I have one involves slight desaturation of colours- and this represents that and the sombre effect that it creates.


The next image is of one of the models I shot in 2008:

This was the first time that I used a model to create an idea or vision that I had about how the overall image should look and feel. The model (Lisa) was brilliant- able to take direction and bring her own style and movement to the shot. I put the three images together as a tryptich to better express the emotion and story behind the picture.

I haven't really travelled anywhere particularly exciting, but I always want to prove that you don't HAVE to travel to exotic locations to take interesting images. This was taken at Whipsnade Zoo- I couldn't believe how well lit the animals were, and how clean the glass was through to the vivariums. This is two baby Spiny Pocket Mice feeding from their mother- an absolutely captivating experience!

I always feel that it's a good idea to mix photography with whatever other hobbies you have. I have squillions of other hobbies, but sailing is a particularly pituresque one (sometimes!). This is the Ripple (or Patience), a beautiful restored Broads Yacht who I have had the pleasure of sailing a number of times- and on a sunny day with a strong breeze- there's nothing better!

BLAB: Thanks to Clare for being the 'tog for today on the blog. You can find more of Clare's photography in her regularly updated flickr stream, it's well worth a look.

As always if you want to be here one Tuesday then let us know via the comments.

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Featured 'tog Tuesday - Andy McDonald

This week's featured 'tog is Andy McDonald, a professional photographer just starting out in the world of professional photography with his wife Erika.

Firstly, a bit about Andy....
My first camera was bought as a present by my parents & was a Russian manual 35mm camera called a Zenith E. My first Canon camera was an Ae1 which I still have in the loft & this really allowed me to work semi automatically Av etc & get prints back from the lab which were of a reasonable quality. Although my last film body was an EOS 1N I really believe that my photography began to improve far quicker when I purchased my first digital body which was a 20d, this allowed me to try things out & understand the impact, I have learnt more in the last 5 years than I did in the previous 20…

Erika and I love photography and “McDonald Photography” is our first step towards creating a successful business which supports our goals to do something we both love for a living. The challenge of creating images that your clients adore up against tight timescales, with what can be, to the un trained I everyday surroundings really keeps me on my toes, but without Erika having a guiding hand in to the styling and final presentation of our work Im sure we’d be less successful than we are today, taking the image is just a part of the process, I know great photographers who cannot “sell” their work at the right price and sustain a business simply because they haven’t got an end game, their images are sat on a HDD rather than providing entertainment.

First up and the only one we ask to everyone:
BLAB: What colour would your Ferrari be?

Well, it would have to be Nero with cream leather. In fact any other colour than red, I know this is against all the rules, but I don’t know cars just look great in black….

BLAB: What's your best bit of advice for a new photographer?

I think that far to much energy is given to have faster newer equipment, is this really what photography was about for you as a youngster? i would guess not. So to answer your question I would have to say

1/ Get a camera that has manual controls and learn how it operates. Understand how iso, shutter speed and aperture work together to create magic.

2/ No matter what lens you have, dont let it restrict your imagination, far to often i hear people saying i need a wide angle lens to take landscapes or you need an 85mm 1.x to take a portrait, i say rubbish. Your eye sees the image. No matter what lens or camera you have go take some pictures and enjoy them, in time you will know the improvements to be gained from specialist lenses and you can then go and buy with confidence.

3/ Find your self a forum, online or face to face where you can talk & mix with other photographers, its a great way to learn and ask questions you also get to benchmark yourself you may well be surprised.

4/ I think one of the hardest things to do not only as a beginner is decide what to shoot, so it’s a good idea to give yourself a brief, for example this could be a colour, a location, like a local landmark & take 10 images all different, this will get you thinking beyond the obvious and will stretch you. Try it its not easy.

5/ Although I use Lightroom and Ps to create a look, I have always tried to get it right in the camera, I think its best practice to do this and enhance with software, not rely on it to save you bacon… well not all the time ;-)

5/ Don’t give up, good luck.

BLAB: If you had been paid ten thousand pounds for being our 'Tuesday
tog', what photo equipment would you spend it on?

Ok 10K that sounded a lot, but its not really when you start to think about it. I think I’d really like some broncolor portable lighting. I’d like some tungsten lighting. A 50mm 1.2 and a 35mm 1.4 a new Billingham bag please and a new Mac book pro.


BLAB: Natural light or flash and why?

Either, I’m happy working with both, I don’t think you can beat the excitement of the start & end of the day, maybe its because you have tight timelines to work too and the light is never the same twice. I’m currently loving working with my speed lights as I can be a creative as I like, Manchester is a great inspiration for me at the moment, the back drops are fabulous, one minute you’re shooting a derelict area the next a fabulous multi story Hilton hotel…so I think that I’ve got the best of both worlds and yes I’m just beginning to understand how fantastic finding that balance could be.

And now for some images:
A straight from camera shot as I always try to get it right in-camera:

The same shot but this time after the only editing that was done. I really try and stay away from Photoshop if possible and currently do all my editing in LightRoom 2.

A shot from a quite recent shoot with a local model

Another recent shot - I thought it best to show recent stuff rather than the selected best!

BLAB: Thanks for taking the time to come in and answer our questions Andy. Since you're quite new to this professional game (although your images and website show quite a talent), if possible we'd like to come back to you in the future and see how you're getting on? It'll be interesting to see how you and your business have progressed especially in these difficult financial times. Best of luck for the future.

If you'd like to be one of our featured 'togs, drop us a line in the comments and we'll be in touch. 

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