John Alexander Photography -Theatre Photography

Atlas Theatre wanted some shots for their new website and I was only too happy to be the man for the job. I have photographed two of their previous plays which I absolutely loved. Its a real challenge but a really fun one at that!

When light levels are this low, motion blur (the blur of the subject moving during the exposure) and image shake (the shaking of your body during the exposure causing blur) are the biggest issues. Hovering around the 1/50 @ f1.2 ISO 3200 some images weren't sharp enough but those that slipped through the net I'm really happy with!

Their new production: The Last Fairytale

 They are off to the Edinburgh festival today! Good luck guys!

To see more visit their brand new website: http://www.atlastheatre.info/

John

How to Improve your Travel Photographs Part 2 - John Alexander Photography Workshops

PANNING

Panning is the action of 'panning' or following your subject together with a slow shutter-speed to emphasise movement or speed.

The trick is while the shutter is open to track your subject at exactly the speed it is travelling to keep it sharp while the stationary background becomes a streak of blur.

Step 1:

Turn your camera to Shutter-Priority (Tv) and set it to around 1/30sec.

The shutter-speed will change depending on how fast your subject is moving.  A man walking might be 1/10sec whereas a Formula 1 Racing Car may be 1/125sec. Play with the shutter-speed until you have enough blur. Too slow and it will be toooooo abstract, too little and you will not have enough movement in the shot. 1/30 is a good start.

Step 2:

Turn on Continual Focus: Al Servo - this continually focuses on your subject as you half-press your shutter button.

Step 3:

Motion: Like any golfer or tennis player, it must be a fluid action.  Any jittering mid exposure and you will see it in your photograph.

Step 4:

Composition: Give the subject room to move into. I allow a little room on either side so I can crop in post-production. If the subject is moving right to left, leave more room on the left and vice versa (see photos above).

Step 5:

Practice: It is difficult at first, but keep trying and the results will be awesome!


Try it and, if you get any good ones, post them on my Facebook page.


If you want to improve your photography why not book an individual John Alexander Photography Workshop


Good luck!

John

How to Tell a Story - John Alexander Photography

I have mentioned the use of storytelling in recent blogposts, but I thought I would make a blogpost exclusively on how I tell a story in a series of photographs of a place, person or situation.

I had the chance to photograph two local stonemasons. I approached them and asked whether I could photograph them later in the day and, with the promise of some tea and biscuits on arrival, they agreed.

When photographing people you haven't met before try to get to know them a bit before you rattle off 100 shots. It is important to be interested in your subject- this always makes better photographs, as your subjects  feel more comfortable in front of the camera.

This is something we cover in my workshops - whether it is an old fishing boat in the English Channel or a street portrait, often 3-4 photographs at different angles is better than trying to fit in all the information in on one cluttered photograph.

1. An Individual portrait (in action or posed):

2: A Close-up or Detail:

3. A Different Perspective: Often I use a foreground subject with the subjects rendered out-of-focus in the background (they must be recognisable though)!  

4. Then, a wide-angle shot to give it a sense of place. 

Photography aside, I am now a dab hand at stone masonry and really enjoyed getting to know Dave and Mike.

If you would like to improve your photography, take a look at my individual workshops 

John

Keep it simple, stupid.

The majority of holiday-makers, whether skiing or on a tropical island, would not grimace at the sight of an unblemished blu sky stretching far off into the horizon as they open their curtains to let the morning light stream into their hotel suite. Few would have wished for possibly a little more wind, maybe a few more clouds and hoping it to be slightly damper. I do just that. Photographers are wired up a bit differently, we are fussy, we asses 'light', how much do you not want someone to talk at you about the intricacies of light?

I woke up to my last day in Spain and hoped for the onslaught of dark, angry clouds being forced up onto the mountains from the Mediterranean coast. What greeted me was a perfectly blue sky without even a wisp of drama - just a fantastic sight to have...if you were not a photographer.

However, being the last morning I clambered out of bed and down the village street with my tripod and camera gear, waiting for the first light to hit this beautiful blossoming tree.

I know panoramas look rubbish in 650px but here goes:

Details: Alfaix, Andalucia, Spain

1/20 sec @ f13

Regardless of the cloudless sky that you will struggle to find in my landscape portfolio, I like this image. It works for me as it is a 'mini landscape'. A grand vista with a cloudless sky filling the top half of an image would not have worked as clouds are essential to give drama, colour and detail to the image. However as the tree dissects through the image and covers most of the sky, the cloudlessness-ness has not had a detrimental effect. The simple but bold colours also make the image work. The previous attempt the night before the swirling clouds passing behind the tree cluttered the strong, dominating shape of the tree.

 I am always learning in my photography and I am glad I took this image, as I would never have attempted it due to my strict 'no cloud' philosophy. 

Keep trying new techniques with your photography. Break the rules and break your rules...dude

John

10,000 pounds worth of damage saved and Gorge-ous Turre, Spain in the late afternoon sun.

Perched on a rock peaking over the edge of a gorge just outside the town of Turre, Andulucia - the usual regime of setting-up the camera seemed to be well rehearsed: Tripod level, composition set, switch focus to manual, position graduated filter, check focus and mirror lock-up. All set and ready for that instantaneous moment when the sun, clouds and landscape all come together to create the perfect scene.

All this preparation may have taken 5 minutes, I had already scouted the exact position I wanted to shoot from the previous day (that takes a lot longer) and was sitting on the edge of the gorge waiting for that 'decisive moment' to press the shutter. All of a sudden, I saw a blinding glint of sunshine reflecting off from the metallic paintwork of a silver VW Golf creeping towards me. I literally did a double take and realised that it was in fact MY silver VW golf. It glided towards me like Herbie from the Disney film "The Love bug". Silently rolling backwards, as if suicidal, it rapidly gathered speed as it neared my position. I ran, like Forrest himself, towards the car and pushed it from behind, hoping to counteract the physical and mental gravity of the situation. I soon realised that, despite the gym session I had done 3 weeks prior, my "sinewy" frame and knock-off loafers from Shenzhen were no match for over a tonne of German engineering and the Spanish gravel roads. As it clumsily rolled on to the side of the road, the terrain became a thick, tangled mess of various species of grass, here I managed to dig in my Gucci Loafers into the ground enough to stop the car to a slow halt and prevent it from a rather lengthy drop to a certain death. I just thought, what if I couldn't stop it, I would have been run-over wouldn't I? 

Once my hands stopped shaking and I had put the car in gear, as well as the proved useless hand-brake, I returned to my camera. I waited for just under an hour until finally a small gap in the clouds allowed a burst of sun to add that golden glow to the local sandstone.

Turre, Andalucia, Spain

Details: 5 seconds @ f22 with 0.9 hard Graduated Filter

How to Improve your Travel Portraits - John Alexander Travel Photography

How to Improve your Travel Portraits - John Alexander Travel Photography

I have recently returned from Hong Kong and Bali. On this 3 week trip I hoped to bask in the glory of the Asian sunshine in

 utmost smugness while my desk-bound friends in the UK commute to their workplace with a grim, scrunched up face, squinting, not from the sunshine, but to avoid the driving rain penetrating into their eyes... This didn't happen. 

While I was away, sunshine bathed the UK giving "the second warmest winter since records began". I was stuck in fog in Hong Kong and the relentless monsoon rains or "fat raaain", as Forest Gump described it, in Bali.

However, rain or not, I was in beautiful Asia - Landscapes may not be on the list on this trip, so I turned my attention to street portraiture. 

Due to the lack of sun, the constant grey sky provided great, subtle lighting for portraiture so I walked along the streets of Sanur on the south coast of Bali and these shots are some of my efforts.

Tips on How to Improve your Travel Portraits:

Look for interesting faces and situations. Before this trip I found photographing people terrifying, however due to the pressure of to get some successful shots of my trip, I willed myself to do just that.  However, if you ask permission and smile A LOT, I quickly learnt that usually the answer will be yes.

Don't just jump in and photograph them straight away, start a rapport with them - don't even have your camera ready at this stage. Then you begin photographing the surroundings, details and wide-angles shots to get them feeling comfortable with me.

I ask questions and help out if I can. Before I took this portrait I helped to drag his boat from the water and hold some tools for him as he fixed the engine on his boat. Once you have got a connection, then you and your subject will feel more comfortable. 

Details: 50mm @f1.8

A simple, high-contrast black and white Headshot of a Balinese fisherman

Details: 1/15sec - 70mm @f16

Slow down the world

Use slow shutter-speeds to give a different feel to your images. I took this photograph at 1/15sec to blur the rain and the background as the scooter drove past me. The added bonus of the passenger's eye peaking out from her poncho really makes the shot in my opinion.

Details: 24mm @f1.4

Get in close and zoom out: 

Getting as close as you can without getting in the way gives you a much more intimate portrait, giving the viewer the feeling of being there next to your subject. 

 

Details: 24mm @f1.4

I spotted this elderly gentleman in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong - A quick point at the camera and a smile, and he gave me permission to photograph him - I showed this photograph to him and he smiled and shook my hand.

Details: 50mm @f1.4

Invest: 

Buy products - I asked this calligrapher if he could make an inscription of my brother's chinese name and my own. As he did so I asked whether I could photograph him - He nodded and he dabbed his brush and started. 

Instead of rattling the shutter button - look for a composition and wait for your subject to do something interesting - Here, as mentioned in a previous post I knew from the last inscription that after every inscription he looks at his work and retracts his brush. If I had just passed him and took a snap shot, I would never had been ready. 

Details: 24mm @f1.4 + 0.6 Graduated Filter

Push yourself and your equipment: 

As I tell the guests of my workshops, "Usually the more difficult the photograph is to take, the better it turns out". As mentioned in a previous post - I had to wade into the water with my camera over my head to get out to the surf where this man was fishing - No-one is stupid enough to do this, which is why the shot will be exciting and different from everyone else's!

Don't take all of your photographs from head-height, lie on the ground, get above your subject - These angles will dramatically improve your photography, the more awkward to photograph, the better it will be, because no-one else is going to be bothered!

20mm - 2 secs @f8 + 0.9 Graduated Filter

A portrait doesn't always need a face in the photograph - It adds a certain mystery to the picture.

I hope you enjoy the photographs!

John

Hand-made, custom frames from old doors, fences, cupboards... etc.

If you read my blog on my 'John-Made-Frames - how they are made' last year,  you may (or may not) be interested to read about the most recent and the upcoming frames to be made.

Since I posted that blog a few months back I have had a lot of interested from individuals with a spare, plain wall in their house which they would like to fill up with one of my photographs, super-sized and complimented by a custom-made, very original frame.

I have made frames out of old cupboard doors, window frames, retired fences, former gates, drift wood,  reclaimed beams from demolished houses and old door frames. Basically anything with an aperture in it, I will make a frame out of it! If you have any ideas, please send them my way!

The latest photograph and frame is a beach scene in Mexico completed with old oak beams.

Since those whom I have shown the photos and frames to didn't realise how big they are from the blog post  in December, I have regrettably decided to put myself in the photographs to illustrate their size.

The ones in the photographs have already been sold but I am able to make similar styles:

The Mexico Print - Story behind the image:

Nun's Cross Farm: The story behind the image:

Corfe Castle: The story behind the image:

I apologise for the poor photography in this post - as you can see I had no part in the process. I hope you can still get the idea.

Please email me on info@johnalexander.me.uk if you are interested - We can then design the photo/frame combination of your choice!

John

The Calligrapher, Wan Chai, Hong Kong - John Alexander Travel Photography

John Alexander Travel Photography - The Calligrapher, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

After roaming the food markets in Wan Chai for an hour or so I hadn't found anything of particular interest. It is hard to take any more than quick snapshots of the vendors in market stands as it is too fast paced and I always feel I am getting in the way of their potential customers.

On the way back, feeling a little deflated about how the morning had turned out, I headed to Central for a spot of Dim Sum.

Just as I was about to hail a cab, I noticed an old man setting up a small stool and fold-away table across the street in front of an un-opened shop front. He began un-ravelling some of the red paper inscribed with chinese poetry, typically to be hung on doorways throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations for good luck.

Brushes and inks were laid out systematically and previous inscriptions were hung up on the absent shop-keepers real estate (you snooze you lose).

I approached him and asked if he would prepare some calligraphy for my brother, my girlfriend and myself and asked his permission to photograph him. He obliged.

He asked me for my chinese name and I replied "Teen Ying" which means Heavenly Eagle (of course).

My brothers: Teen Yat (first son or something similar)

CE-LI-A for Celia (She doesn't have a chinese name).

As he carefully dipped his brush into the pot of black ink and dabbed it to get rid of the excess, I took a series of photographs hoping to capture a bit of his personality as well.

This is how I prefer to take my travel portraits - It is mutually beneficial, not just to photograph him unawares like the paparazzi. We both feel more comfortable and I always take better pictures this way.

Each time he had finished an inscription he pulled his brush back and took a brief moment to admire his creation.

As the ink was drying, he told me the meaning of each inscription he had hung up and gave me a brief calligraphy lesson - he was less than impressed with my version of "The Year of the Dragon". As I have been told I write like a 6 year old dyslexic child and am unable to draw even a slight resemblance to a stick man, chinese calligraphy was hardly going to be my forte was it?

I later found out, over Dim Sum with my family, that my brother's 'Teen Yat' I had asked him to write actually turned out to mean 'Green Day' instead of "Heavenly First Born". Apparently I said 'Tsing Yat' instead of 'Teen Yat' - Hey ho, close enough.

Kung Hei Fat Choy "Happy New Year", I hope you have a prosperous Year of the Dragon.

John

John Alexander Photography

www.johnalexander.me.uk

The Balinese Fisherman - The ordeal/how I took the shot

The light surf lapped against my feet as I contemplated photographing a fisherman I could see about 1/2 mile out, casting his net into the surf from the knee-deep shallows of the warm Balinese waters.

The sunset in the distance had already begun, the oranges and reds fading into a blueish hue as the sun dipped well below the horizon. In my hand I held my Canon 5D with a wide-angle 24mm f1.4 lens attached to it.

As I waded chest high with my Camera held high over my head, I slowly drew nearer to the fisherman. The current was stronger than I first thought and I soon became increasingly aware that what I was attempting was actually quite dim. I had waded almost 100 metres out, each incoming wave splashing salt water into my face. Soon, the water became more and more shallow as the sand was replaced by a plateau of the volcanic rock.

Standing on the rock plateau next to the fisherman resembled that sharp feeling of agony when you step on a piece of LEGO by accident. It was excruciating. The fisherman, however, stood casually in the waves in bare feet, clutching his net and carried a yellow basket with an array of different creatures flapping and wriggling inside it as he moved. I asked his permission to take some photographs of him. He smiled with a hint of confusion and waited for the right time to cast his net.

I had my 24mm lens on which means I had to be around 0.5m away from the fisherman for him to fill the frame. While I hunted for a less painful shard of rock to stand on, the fisherman cast his net into the incoming surf. I missed this of course but as he pulled the net back towards him, I was presented with a more unique shot as he 'fished' his hand into the net, just below the surface, to inspect his potential catch -  I raised my camera and took the shot.

 I managed to reel off two more shots before the fisherman walked casually along the the rock plateau to another casting spot. On the verge of tears, I bravely began retreating to the beach, by which time the tide had come in, to the amusement of the on-looking beach-goers. I had to make a slight detour but managed to survive with my camera and my dignity intact.

 I finally reached the beach and began picking the fragments of rock out of my feet - As I write this in Oxfordshire, UK I still have a little piece of that Balinese, igneous rock embedded in my right sole.