One Day Photography Workshop

The Old Sun Inn is an ideal photographic subject

Today found us enjoying the warmest day of the year so far, and what a day to be out and about in Saffron Walden with my clients, on a one day beginners and improvers photography workshop. Only ever taking a maximum of four people, I like to keep the workshops small so that each person can have the attention they require. Sadly today one client was unable to make it at the last minute, and one place had remained unfilled, which meant my time was divided between these two lovely people. One had been given a gift voucher as a birthday present, the other had been promising themselves a workshop day for a long time. Both, however, had the same aim -  to understand more about their camera and to feel happy about moving off auto.

After spending a while in the classroom getting to know the desires and needs of each of the attendees, then looking into the basics about the exposure triangle, it was time to get onto the real practical nitty-gritty.

First, it was about getting to grips with handling the camera - here, a Sony Alpha 200 which had been put to one side in favour of a point and shoot which "appears to give me just as good results, with less mucking around" but was given a second chance for the workshop.

Here a reflection of the landmark golden bunch of grapes which hang in the market square, was spotted high up in a window and was lined up for a photo on a Fuji M-X1. The strong sunlight caused a slight issue with this otherwise great little camera as it lacks a view finder.

Woaaahh!! Don't lean back any more!!!

As well as trying out camera settings, which today was mostly concentrating on understanding aperture, there were also opportunities to look at different aspects of seeing a picture and the beginnings of the art of composition.

...The art of looking, and simplifying an image.

...The art of looking where perhaps you wouldn't normally look for a picture

...The art of creeping up on the subject.

OK this one wasn't going to go anywhere but gave an ideal opportunity to spend time looking for the best angle to view, and the place which would give the best lighting, given the powerful sunlight creating great contrast.

By following the Town Trail, it provided the opportunity for the local to see and learn new things about Saffron Walden, and the visitor, who was new to the town, to discover what a photogenic place our north Essex town is.

Finishing up at the impressive St Mary's Church, with the clock saying it was time to return home for lunch, this left time to spend the rest of the afternoon reviewing the images from the day, learning from the successes, and valuable lessons from the failures too.

In the words of Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins:

"Study and theory is useful but you learn most by doing. Take photographs, lots of them, be depressed by them, take more, hone your skills and get out there in the world and interact."

The reactions at the end of the afternoon were greatly encouraging...

"Well I think I know which camera I'm going to use from now on. Just a shame I'm working tomorrow and won't be able to take my camera - I'm itching to get going with it now!"

"I shall take my camera out on my dog walk tomorrow and try out all I have learnt today."

Thank you both for being such lovely company - I'm just delighted I can pass on a measure of enthusiasm for the art of photography which I have enjoyed for so long.

And what of these sugary confections?
I actually use them as a teaching aid and clearing up at the end of the day, discovered this lady who was enjoying them so much that she didn't want to fly away home!

If you missed this workshop (and want to find out how the Skittles get brought into the teaching!) there will be further opportunities throughout the year to join another one day workshop. Just keep an eye on my website, Facebook or Twitter.

West Cork Photography Breaks - Young success

For many children, these past couple of weeks have been the school half-term holidays, with many kids either complaining of boredom or spending their whole time glued to assorted gaming or video screens. It was during a half-term last week, that I ran a special and early West Cork Photography Breaks workshop. No boredom encountered here and indeed, one student had reason to be extra happy. Why would that be? After only four days of beginning to learn the art of photography, this young lad became a published photographer!

At just 7 and three-quarters years old (yes, that three-quarters is important at his age although his birthday isn't far off) Sam was my youngest and most inexperienced photographer to come along and take in the new (to him) sights of West Cork. Indeed, so new was it, it was his first time to travel on a ferry, his first time to Ireland, his first time being able to visit beaches AND his first time to pick up a camera. To date, he had snapped a few selfies on his tablet he used to play games on but to start to understand what makes a picture began the day he arrived at WCPB HQ.

Without too much thought, he was snapping away on his tablet, taking pictures of those around him, until a passing suggestion was made.
"Do you focus on the eyes?"
He happened to be left to his own devices for a while and when I returned I was greeted with,
"Look! I have taken a picture of Bullseye* I set him up on the table and focused on his eyes"
(*Bullseye is his 15" tall soft toy of the horse from Toy Story, which currently travels everywhere with him)
Wow! this kid was quick and I had just the perfect camera I could offer him to use in his little hands, in the form of an Olympus E-M10 + 14-42mm pancake lens. He didn't take too much persuading, and with the camera set to auto, as it was his first experience, we set off to the beach in search of new things.

He soon learnt how to hold the camera and how to focus, and he snapped away on each new thing he saw - barnacles, limpets, seaweed...and we all encounter things for the first time at some point. At one end of the beach we came across a piece of driftwood, this flotsam covered in something I had myself, only encountered a few years before on a West Cork beach. Getting into the swing of things by now, I suggested Sam should get down to a lower viewpoint. With an air of confidence, he laid down and rattled off a couple of shots (whilst I snapped him at work!)

Returning back to the house, he was keen to look over my shoulder as I loaded the results of his snapping onto my laptop. I was impressed! Sam clearly had an eye for a picture and had captured a great shot of these strange creatures, which he identified himself by looking up and comparing pictures in a super book by Maya Plass - RSPB Handbook of the Seashore
We later used the same really comprehensive book to identify his other 'finds' too. (More of those in the next blog)

Gooseneck barnacles - Lepas anatifera (Yes, he learnt that living things also have Latin names too, even if he couldn't get his tongue around some of them!) These were what he had found, probably washed up a few days before as they were no longer alive, unlike the live examples I had found back in 2011.

As with all of my West Cork Photography Breaks workshops, I encourage the students to select a favourite image from the first two days, which, on the Monday morning, is prepared and sent to the local newspaper, The Southern Star. This is then considered for their 'Reader's Picture of the Week' slot, with the possible accolade of becoming published, and winning a canvas print too.
...Roll on to Thursday, publication day, and I dashed into the local shop to turn down the corner of the newspaper to reveal the picture on the back page.
'Fist pump'
My novice photographer had impressed the editor, and I was so delighted for him.
How many of his school friends could go back to school with such a great 'what I did in my holidays' story to tell!

West Cork Photography Breaks runs for 4 weekends in the spring** and again for four weekend in the autumn.

**Sadly due to unforseen circumstances, the spring series has had to be cancelled.
However, the autumn weekends are still going ahead as scheduled...with the autumn being peak season for whale watching (subject to weather conditions)

Selfie Obsession

I can remember someone asking me as little as a couple of years ago, "What is a selfie? But unless you have been locked away for two years in an isolated place for some reason, I will not forgive you if you are still asking that question today. But just in case you have suffered the misfortune of not becoming acquainted with the term, according to Wikipedia (...please don't ask...)
"A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or camera phone held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter."

And so it was, during my recent visit to Amsterdam, I 'was got' by a selfie obsession too - not with taking pictures of me, heaven forbid! No, I was fascinated by those people actually taking the selfies and yes, I have to admit to taking the odd one or two in the past but not very well. In fact, during the weekend I and my photographer companion lined ourselves up for a quick selfie just for the lark...but I failed completely and utterly! I just couldn't get ourselves nicely positioned in the reversed camera viewfinder and by the time I pressed the shutter button, we were both bored of the whole thing. The picture was so bad, I deleted it and we never tried again, as we both agreed we were much better suited to being the other side of the camera lens. 

As with any busy tourist spot today, it wouldn't be long before a selfie-taker would pop up so I just couldn't resist collecting a series of images of these self absorbed tourists. Dam Square truly was busy on this chilly Saturday afternoon, and it wasn't difficult to merge into the masses to take these pictures without even raising the camera to my eye. Thanks to the innovation of the swing-out viewfinders, it is much easier to go undetected whilst capturing these street shots.

You may recall I promised in my previous blog that I would dedicate
a whole blog to the phenomenon.
So sit back,
scroll down,
and enjoy!

The phones are even sophisticated enough to have a count-down facility so the cosy, collective grimace can be co-ordinated for the snap taken in front of erm, 'Some fancy building in Amsterdam, innit!'

Still lining up that perfect shot!

Yoo-hoo!! Love the hats girls!

 

Of course it is more important to check for the perfect snap rather than to turn around and admire the impressive
Royal Palace.

What seemed like fun at the time...

...has probably appeared on a timeline and become the embarrassing perpetual memory of the weekend away in Amsterdam.

...aaaand still making sure she had all angles covered.

And just to prove it isn't a female-only habit...

 Anyone can be in possession of a selfie-stick...

Shhh! I will let you into a secret, I have one!! But I have NEVER used it, nor do I intend to either.
I never bought it, I wasn't given it, it just washed up my way - literally - on a Donegal beach last summer, and I kept it as an object of curiosity.


A sign of the times...the selfie times.

 

Glendalough - Now and Then

Glenalough Upper Lake. January 2015

Every now and then we all do things that appear a bit harebrained and as a photographer, it seems to happen with slightly more regularity. It sounded like a good idea at the time but seeing as the previous visit to Glendalough in the Wicklow mountains, back in September had been so magical, the suggestion by my photographer friend of making a return visit for another shoot as I passed through on my way to West Cork yesterday morning, was not unwelcome. So I said yes without a second thought. Actually, the second thought was that there was an excellent establishment there providing good hearty breakfasts - so why not?! Not only that, a couple of days previous, another photographer friend had mailed me the link to a fascinating set of archive photographs taken in 1913, of places in Ireland. Unusually, these pictures were in colour and had been taken by two French women, Marguerite Mespoulet and Madeleine Mignon-Alba, and included two views of Glendalough. An ideal opportunity for a 'now and then' shot if ever there was one.

As before, I had sailed into Dublin on the 'graveyard' crossing, due to arrive into port at 6am. However,  despite the unusually mild temperature of 13 degrees, indicated on my night-time drive to the ferry it was the high winds that were of more concern. With force 9-10 forecast, I knew I was in for a bumpy ride, and with stabilisers duly deployed, the boat made a safe but slightly slower crossing of the Irish Sea. Disembarking at 6.30 am, it was still dark as I set off, the location programmed into my sat nav - yes I am finally beginning to trust these gadgets but I don't know why. Knowing that it would want to take me on an exit route from the port which has a toll, I thought I would take a slightly different route to avoid this unnecessary inconvenience, trusting that the sat-nav would recalculate the route to take me out on the east side of the city. Instead, and to my surprise, it took me out west, ultimately taking me right over the winding Wicklow mountains in the dark. Now I know why I never trusted these gadgets - give me a real map any day!

By now, the 13 degrees of the night before was reading 3 degrees with the wind still buffeting the car as I negotiated my way around the debris fallen from the trees. I was pleased when finally I emerged from the wooded area onto the open mountain road but this brought new hazards. Potential ice, maybe the odd animal and the unpredictable humps and bumps in the road surface, sending the contents of the car, up into the air. I quickly questioned the wisdom of the sat nav - Why this way? With the openness of the landscape, it was possible to see way ahead, and in the distance I could see the red glow of some tail lights - I wondered which other mad soul might be up there at this dark hour in the morning? Bit by bit, I gained on the other vehicle, until, a few miles from my final destination I had caught up, realising it was my friend - the other equally harebrained photographer. With both of us relieved to have made it to Glendalough safely, we opted to go for an early breakfast to wait for the dawn - which, unlike our previous visit, this time arrived unspectacularly without any sunshine. We made our pot of tea last, glad to be out of the biting wind but all of sudden, the sun burst though. Cue cameras!

We wrapped up against the elements, slung our kit over our shoulders and set off on a walk to the Upper Lake, where we had experienced the magical conditions back in September.

Remember this?...

Glendalough Upper Lake. September 2014

Despite our frozen fingers, we had gone to take photographs and although our results yesterday showed the winter colours, they bore no resemblance to the beauty of the colours from that still morning - but this is the joy of being a photographer, recording the 'now and then'.
On the subject of now and then, I wasn't to forget the other reason for my visit - to find the location that those two French ladies had used, back 100 years ago.

Then - Glendalough Round Tower 1913

Now - Glendalough Round Tower 2015

Finding the first spot wasn't too difficult (I was doing this from memory as I hadn't printed off a reference copy of the old photograph) Not much changed apart from a few gravestones missing and the sculpture of the greenery being slightly transformed.

The second spot, I knew was going to be a different story. I remembered there were many more trees now than there were then. I did my best but the trees obscured much of the cathedral and, due to more trees, we couldn't move any further back or up on the far bank of the river which ran between the location and the subject, and which would have provided us with the open view of this early Medieval monastic settlement.

Now - Glendalough Round Tower and Cathedral - 2015

Then - Glendalough Round Tower and Cathedral - 1913

Mission accomplished, and with the prospect of four hour drive to West Cork ahead of me, we set off on our separate ways, vowing that we would choose a nice warm summer day for the next now and then visit to Glendalough.



Thanks to my friend Neil for the link to the photographs, An t-Oileán the blogger who posted the images, and Ray, my equally harebrained photographer friend.

Private Investigator

Firstly, apologies for my absence from blogging recently. I have been just a little occupied with my exciting new venture, of which I will blog later but for now, I have a story to tell.

When my late father-in-law passed away a number of years ago, we inherited quite a collection of his artwork, everything from his smooth ceramics to his technically detailed oils of aviation subjects and his lovely simple watercolours. Thankfully, I had already had the presence of mind to take on the task of documenting all of this work long before it finally became dispersed around friends and family. This dispersal time came at the same time as we took on our cottage in West Cork, Ireland, and so it seemed highly appropriate to pull out all of his work which had an Irish connection. One such picture was a small watercolour which had been painted 'in the field' during one of several Irish holidays, taken around 20 years ago by this regular group of four 'senior' members of the Bartlett family - two artists and their spouses. Although the location of this painting is Malin Head, right in the north of Ireland in County Donegal, it didn't seem at all wrong for it now to grace the wall of a cottage in County Cork.

Roll on six years from when we hung it on our wall, to just a few weeks back, when the final preparations for my West Cork Photography Weekends were taking place, I invited my 'second in command' Rónán to take a look at the painting, knowing he came from Malin Head himself.

"Well I never thought I would see a painting of a cottage in Malin Head on a wall in West Cork! And I'm pretty sure I know where it is too"

That got me interested and I encouraged him to seek out the cottage on his next visit home, which was during the recent mid-term break. True to his word, my private investigator tweeted the following...

"Not the same angle but I think this is it!"

Well I think that is it too - thank you Rónán!
(Forgive me for adjusting the colours a little to evoke the feel the original painting)
Now it just remains for me to pay Malin Head a visit. Something for my 2015 diary I think.

What a small world!

Photography Weekends

Well, it has been a quiet week in terms of my blog following the daily postings during my August Challenge. (Thank you for all your support there) However, I haven't posted anything here as I have been busy with not only the usual shoots for clients but preparing for and launching a show in Design Essentials for the month of September. (More on that in another post) But there is one more thing I have been busy with - preparing to open my West Cork doors for Photography Weekends.

As many of you know, I am fortunate to be able to divide my time between life in East Anglia and escaping to West Cork. I have also had many of you comment on how lovely it looks and how much you too would love to visit. Well now I'm offering you the opportunity to do just that!

For three weekends during October, I will be hosting exclusive three night photographic breaks for beginners and improvers in a home from home environment. Group sizes are limited to four and will be fully escorted and inclusive. There will be opportunities to try many different aspects of photography whilst enjoying a holiday in this beautiful part of Ireland. The highlight of the weekend will be a trip out whale watching (weather permitting) with Cork Whale Watch, just as the season for cetacean activity is approaching its peak.

The long weekends run from Saturday to Tuesday on the following dates:

SB01 Saturday 11th — Tuesday 14th October 2014

SB02 Saturday 18th — Tuesday 21st October 2014

SB03 Saturday 25th — Tuesday 28th October 2014

NOTE: weekend two is now sold out, there is availability on weekend three and limited availability on weekend one.

For more details, go to my website and look for West Cork Photography Weekends in the Photo Courses section. If you would like to book, I recommend you don't hang about as interest has been keen since I first mentioned I would be offering these breaks and there are limited places. If however you won't be able to make it at short notice, then don't worry - I'm planning to expand the selection of breaks in the Spring and run similar breaks next Autumn (although they won't be at the same special introductory price next year!)

Only £475.00 per person*

Don't delay! Book today, or share this post with anyone you think would love this special opportunity.

Look forward to hearing from you!

As you asked respectfully...

 St Patrick's Day Parade. Skibbereen 2013

VMCC Banbury Run 2013

- "You took some superb photos of the puppets made by the gaelscoil pupils for last year's St. Patricks Day parade.
I am currently updating the school's website and I would love to include a few of your photos, with your permission."

- "I was wondering if I could cheekily ask to use one of your photos of the vintage bikes on the A422 on the site. ( I will of course tag it with your name)"



As photographers, there is always the possibility of our images wanting to be used somewhere and nine times out of ten that is perfectly ok, and so I am usually more that delighted to agree on the appropriate arrangements on their usage.

So what a joy it was to be respectfully approached by two organisations recently, who wanted to use some of my images.
The first being the Gaelscoil in Skibbereen, who had spotted the post I had made following the St Patrick's Day Parade last year, and had passed comment on more than one occasion, on how much they liked the images. I have to say that in return, I was seriously impressed with their superb puppets, which in my view, stood out head and shoulders above the rest of the parade participants, in the true sense of the term!

The second being Ride the County an organisation in Oxfordshire who are planning a charity motorbike ride on the 17th May, around the county roads in aid of their local Air Ambulance. As regular blog readers will know, I have an indirect involvement with motorbikes, and in common with all motorcyclists, fully appreciate the work of all the Air Ambulance services. I was more than pleased for my image to be used in association with this event (albeit the website template doing an odd crop to the image!)

In both of these recent requests, the appropriate links and credits have been made, which is the minimum gesture that anyone would like to expect.
Sadly there is another face to our images being used, and that is when they are lifted straight from our websites or blogs without any form of polite request. We all know this can, and does happen and this is the risk we take when publicly 'advertising our product'. However, it is when we discover blatant usage without permissions, credits and payments, or at worst, wholly inappropriate usage, that the profession naturally becomes agitated.

The long and the short of it is, a simple bit of respect can go an awful long way.



Good luck to the Gael Scoil with your preparations for St Patrick's day this year - I'm just sorry I won't be around to see your stunning work.

Good luck to Ride the County in that you raise a splendid sum for the Air Ambulance - and thanks for asking if we would like to take part too. Sadly we have other arrangements on that day.

Things are Changing...

Just like this Southern Hawker nymph, which takes up to four years to emerge into a full blown dragonfly, it could be said that I too have been in a nymph stage for the past four years.

During those years, I have skulked around relatively unseen in the hidden depths of the creative pond but all the time I have been getting bigger, stronger and more confident.

Back in 2010 when that creative egg was laid, I was unsure whether the final metamorphosis would be as a graphic designer, (in which I graduated from Cambridge School of Art) or photographer (which has been my passion through all my life and always found its way to be incorporated into studies). I hedged my bets and began the development as both Ailec Designs and Ailec Photography.

And I'm guessing some of you are asking what is with the 'Ailec' name?
It is simple really. Just read it backwards!
Yes, ever since I was at school, Ailec was something I applied to pretty much all of my creative endeavours, so it was only natural that I stuck with it, in particular for my design work, where a 'cool' name is common place rather than just plain old Joe Bloggs. However, I began to come unstuck in relation to the photographic work, which was becoming increasingly more prevalent than the design commissions. Unlike the design world, it is generally accepted that photographers work under their own name, and whilst it was my name, of sorts, many seem to have had trouble pronouncing and spelling the name, even if it is nice and short.

After a great deal of soul searching and asking those around, the conclusion was drawn that now is the time I should stop skulking behind a name and emerge as straight and honest...

Celia Bartlett Photography

I know there will be those who already see Ailec Photography as a brand, and ask why it should change but the Ailec heritage won't disappear completely. Whilst you may already note some changes to this blog, (with a few more happening over the coming couple of weeks) not all of it will change. I am retaining my icon, albeit in a 'moving forward' direction and indeed, my twitter name will have to stay as @ailecphoto however, a smart new website WILL be coming very soon. I know it has been promised for quite a while now, but I have been going through those pre-emerging skin moults and you might be pleased to hear that I have definitely reached the last one now.

So look out! The dragonfly is about to emerge in all its glory,

Review of 2013

August

It has come to that time of the year when the photographers reviews appear - and guess what, here is mine!
Although I might have grabbed your attention with the opening image, there is still a possibility you might get bored, so you can click off now if you wish.



...still here? Well thank you!
I'm not going to write reams about each image as all the details are available in the actual blog posts - the links to each post are under the pictures. I have chosen the images (aided by my best critic and oh-so patient other half) for no other reason than I like them. There will be those of you who will like them too, and those of you who will wonder, why ever that one? - I'm ok with that.

So why did I open with the image above? Well, it is probably the one that left the most lasting impression on me in 2013, both in terms of seeing the joy of the parents with their newborn and the final image. It was just magical. There were so many other special moments and images throughout the year that it actually was quite hard to choose something (and sometimes more than one something) from each month. So here goes:

January

January 2

February

March

March 2

April

April 2

April 3

April 4

May

May 2

May 3

June

June 2

July

July 2

August

August 2

August 3

September

October

October 2

November

November 2

December

December 2

So there you have it. A real mixed bag but that is the way I like it - a challenge and some variety.

Thank you for sticking with this post, and thank you for taking time to drop into my blog during 2013 - I really do appreciate all your support. Look out for the exciting changes coming up soon.

And now, may I wish you all the very best for 2014!