2009 Projects

Last year I made a monthly journal of travels with my camera; a copy of the whole journal is available on the Tutorials page. So, what then for 2009?

I've decided that I shall choose 3 specific projects this year; I usually find that if you have to look for something specific, it makes you think harder and you have to really search for it above the classic images that everyone else takes.

So, what 3 topics to choose? Whenever I travel I try to capture something about the place or something that gives a sense of the culture, etc.. So, this year I've decided to cover the following 3 projects:

You're welcome to join me in these project areas for 2009; send me a note/share your own projects and images, it'll be fun!

 Transport

I get to travel a lot and see different cultures, so I'll have to look even harder and try to capture the local culture by the transport it uses

 LandscapesI don't have much experience in landscape - to be very honest, I don't even own a polarising or ND filter (yet) - which is why I decided to choose this subject area. This will really make me work rather hard getting to know this new discipline!
 ArchitectureYou'd think it's easy to take a picture of a building, but there are many different photographic techniques that can make the same building look completely different, so I'm going to try just that

I was grateful for all the correspondence I received throughout 2008, from as far as Arizona USA to Perth Australia, so I would very much like to hear from any like-minded people across the globe. Send me an email advice@dhcphotography.co.uk .

September Update

Blimey, what a busy summer! I've been out and about and to be honest, always having the above project focus in mind has really helped me to critically think about what I want to take.

  • For Transport I've taken hundreds of pictures of bikes all around Europe - I started to take images of bikes a couple of years ago when in Sweden and saw 'The Loneliness of the Bicycle' (see Creative Gallery 2); so, everywhere I go I take images of lonely bikes! Perhaps not the most pretty of images - but very Martin Parr I think. I'm finalising the renders so will have some images by October.
  • For Architecture I visited Lyon de Floret in Normandy, France - stated as the most beautiful village in France; so, rather than take the usual images of the place I noticed that all the windows were very pretty.

   


               DHCUK0087                                 DHCUK0088                               DHCUK0089

  • For Landscapes I really tried to push the boat out and visited the Northumberland coast; I learned that you need to know the tide-times, the weather report, the position of the sun in relation to the high dunes (i.e. whilst sun-set may be 8pm, you need to get there for 6.30pm because of the huge shadow on the beach!). Lindisfarne was a very blustery but blue-sky day, but difficult to get shots that haven't been seen before. I've published a couple of panoramas (see Panorama Gallery 3) for you to see and here are a few rushes of Embleton beach & the dramatic Dunstanburgh Castle. Biggest tip - wear sandles & not wellies and try not to break your ankle on the smooth boulders! I also learned to experiment with black & white.

    • It is obviously a very popular place for clickers because I met about 6 like-minded souls both at sunrise and sunset and between. Slaves to our art eh?

    DHCUK0082 Dunstanburgh Castle BW Sky

     

    DHCUK0084 Dunstanburgh Castle Boulders

     

    DHCUK0085 Lindisfarne Herring Boat BW

     

    DHCUK0086 Embleton Beach Tranquil Boulders