Findingviews
Picture sales and an open notebook of thoughts from Orginal Robart
I’m starting a process of updating and renewing Findingviews. My aim is to improve both the content and the how easy it is to use Findingviews. The first phase has been to fully integrate my art shop on Red Bubble so that you can seamlessly both view and buy my photography and artwork. Over the next few weeks you will see layout changes that will allow you to learn more about myself and mywork. Once that is done I have new work to introduce to the store.
I hope you like these changes. I think that by the time I am finished that Findingviews will be a much more useful resource for you
I recently took delivery of a Nikon Coolpix S3100 and thought it might be a good idea to share my reasons behind buying this camera.
I’ve decided that I want to take more photographs of everyday things I see around me and although I love my SLR, I cannot have it on me all the time. I wanted a camera small enough to easily carry around on a daily basis, and not so exepnsive that I would be too upset should I smash or lose it. Eventually a combination of size, features, cost led me to the Nikon. Also helps that I’ve had a thing for Nikons for years
The only odd thing is that as a lot of people are moving to smartphones for their camera in their pocket – I’m moving in the opposite direction from this. I’m not against smartphone cameras- I just don’t want convergence for its own sake and for me there is still a place for the pocket camera
It glows, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
Most weeks I take part in @satscenes on Twitter. It’s a game that asks participants to post a photo taken on a Saturday. I almost always use my phones camera for this – simply because its the camera I’m most likely to have on me.
This week I was a litltle unsure of what to take, then I noticed a tree covered in lights. In the low light with a camera that is not perfect in poor lighting a got a shot that worked with my imagination. When I look at the image I now see a snarling, lumbering, and heavyset monster making its way forwards.
I probably would not have got that pic with a really good camera.
Just shows never to be intimidated by not using the best kit. Sometimes something lesser works wonders
Having a Beaker moment, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
Also known as playing with dolls.
I needed a picture for the @satscenes photography game on Twitter and remembered and old Beaker doll I had recently found in a box.
I put him up against a wall and got a fun shot.
It was a good reminder that taking something out of context and just shooting it can lead to a something that is fun or interesting.
Sometimes you don’t need a great model or vista to create something interesting, Sometimes you just need a simple toy. Never forget the power of props!
Remains of a 1950s fountain, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
The flowers are kept fresh, but the fountain hasn’t worked in years. I was trying the capture the vibrancy of its original colours, the beauty of fresh flowers whilst still seeing the passage of time and decay of something that is less that what it was.
I think I’ve ended up with something still, and peaceful.
The aim was to work with colours and contrast to build a stylised image.
The result removes the context of the fountains location – a busy shopping centre and allows us to see the passage of time.
The Grand Water Cascade, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
its true that I love to play with close-ups, angles and perspective there are times when only a big, fat, wide and deep picture will due.
This is one of those occasions. This Grand Water Cascade is one of the first sights seen by all visitors to the gardens of Alnwick castle. It’s large, beautiful and deserving of being properly seen.
That means scale. Fortunately on a Summers day there are always plenty of people around it. I was blessed with a warm sunny day and meant lots of people walking and playing around the cascade. People are good things to use when you want to capture the size and scale of a thing. We all know how big a person (of any age) is and we can easily visualize how large something is when its compared to a human scale.
The Gym, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
There are times when you come up with some that has details, dark areas, shadows and a sense of place. Its a photo that has that sense of feeling real.
At the same time working with light and focus are always good. There’s a part of this photo that I think is over bright, but then it creates near silhouettes and sharp edges that think work well with the metal of bodybuilding.
Sometimes things come together in way that feels personally pleasing. Maybe not technically perfect, but without a doubt pleasing
Bluebells on Bokeh, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
When I took this picture I knew that I wanted 2 things. Lots of blue and lots of blur. My plan was that the other bluebells would become a cluster of blue and green. A good back drop to this particular flower.
I was quite pleased with the result. Parts of the foreground flower stem and stamens could perhaps be sharper, but the overall effect I was looking for was there.
What I did notice thought was the play of light on the flowers and the variations in blue and purple. It seemed as is what I lost in clinical definition I had made up for in illumination
To me this is a good looking image that is worth talking about.
The next stage in working on this one is perhaps taking the light play a step further and making it look more like a painting
Meeting a gargoyle, originally uploaded by originalrobart.
AKA Portrait of a a gargoyle
I found this gargoyle and had to get a picture of its face. It took more than one go to this one as I needed a few goes to line the picture up – simply because the sun was shining on the phones screen.
Sun shine is a problem for a lot of cameras, regardless of whether the camera is a phone or not.
The best ways I’ve found to deal with this and these are to
1) Be prepared to take several shots, each one a revision or alternate go of the previous shot
2) Line up on the subject using the side or top of the camera. This can be a reasonable substitute of a view finder.
Reasons Not To Steal Software
I was recently talking to someone who has to constantly reinstall Windows on his PC. After a bit of chatting it emerged that the root cause of his problems was the downloading of pirated copies of state of the art music production software. Something he wanted to learn but could not afford. The pirates had done the pirate thing and used the software installs to place their own nasties on his PC. The result was a system so unstable he wasn’t really getting any where with it.
I’m not going to talk about the fact that software piracy is wrong (it blatantly is) – but rather on the problem that comes with the perceived need that only the biggest and best software is worth having. That if you are going to be digitally creative you have to have to top of line software in order to succeed.
Here are the problems.
If you steal software you run the risk of your computer being attacked – stopping creativity.
If you go straight to the super pro software you run the risk of not learning the fundamentals and also – and this is the real kicker – you learn the risk of not learning how to creatively push software to get something really cool out of it. You see the power of top end software is not just the gee whiz features. It is the way in which you can combine functions to create something truly original. If you only use the features as are and do not learn how to push the software – what you create will be limited. Ultimately what you make will not be of the high standard needed to truly stand out.
So the message is – start by pushing consumer or open source software. Do great work, get it noticed and then upgrade and upgrade and upgrade. Each time you upgrade you do better work and you succeed.
So don’t pirate. Learn instead to be original.