Really short notice I know…and even shorter notice, I won’t have this shoot confirmed until first thing in the morning!

But if it happens, I might need an assistant tomorrow in London. The assistant should know a little bit about using and setting up studio lights.

You would need to be in Berners Street, London at 12.00pm.  It would be around 4 hours work, setting up two studio lights, adjusting the power on the lights, moving lights, packing up lights etc.

I have a budget of £100 for you.

Let me know if anyone might be interested.

Cheers.

Andy

If you are looking for online tutorials to improve your photography you may want to check out Kelby Training.  There seem to be some really interesting tutorials from Joe McNally that could be worth watching, as well some on Photoshop by Scott Kelby himself. It’s not free however, but could be worth the monthly fee. If anyone has an account and uses it, let us know your thoughts.

I recently received a copy of Derelict London by Paul Talling and I’ve been captivated by the various fantastically neglected places he has photographed. As someone who loves all things decayed, in disrepair and yes, derelict, this book got me rather excited about some potential places to photograph. Talling has some great photos along with some interesting tidbits about each place, and he’s inspired me to try to see some of these places myself. Here are a few places that caught my eye:

• Ferrier Estate, Kidbrooke SE3
• Smithfield Market, Farringdon EC1
• Millennium Mills, Royal Docks E16
• Battersea Power Station, Battersea SW11 (I have this on my other list of places to go where we need permission)
• Chisendale Works, Bow E3
• Marshall Street Baths, Soho W1
• T-34 Tank, Bermondsey SE1 (an old Russian tank)
• Royal Garrison Church of St George, Woolwich SE18

And these are just a few of the spots (of course some of these may already be redeveloped into apartments that most people can’t afford). Talling does a great job of giving the reader a real glimpse into the “other side” of London.

See more at his website: DerelictLondon.com (I do wish the website were better though, or at least easier to reference certain shots).

Anyone interested in maybe checking out a derelict spot or two as a future meet up?

This is such a great idea and would be really interesting to see.

“A circular photo gallery on London’s Southbank is capturing images every five seconds for three days. “

It seems a little fine-tuning is still required, but this could be really fun to check out. A little more here.

I’ve just had this article from the BBC pop up.

Frankly, this sort of despicable behaviour from security personnel is on the increase and will soon lead to real problems for urban photographers. It follows this campaign blogged by Lor and pretty much highlights the paranoia creeping into this society.

I know several people, including Billy, who have been questioned and/or stopped from photographing public buildings in the capital and it’s getting to the point where one feels pretty conspicuous carrying a big old Crumpler around town.

Andy (Shotage) and myself are organising a studio day on Sunday 27th April in Egham, Surrey (where I work). We will be recruiting a couple of models and a make-up artist for the day and will guide you through a few lighting set-ups before letting everyone have a go taking some shots. We will have several studio flashes and a colorama backdrop or two to play with.

Numbers have to be limited, so we are looking for 5 people who can commit to that date. As we will be getting experienced models and a MUA in, we would like to give them some money for their time, so we are asking that everyone that signs up pays £20 towards that. We will provide snacks and drink.

One requirement is that your camera will be able to fire the flashes. I have radio triggers, so as long as your camera has a working hotshoe, we should be fine.

If you are interested, please leave a comment and I will get back to you to confirm and give you further details.

Photographer and photoblogger Liz Kuball has interviewed Michael David Murphy; famous for his street photography and his photoblog ‘2point8’ a site I like to read now and then.
The interview also includes a video podcast of Joel Meyerowitz in action on the streets of San Francisco.

“Street photography is sport. Not like duck hunting or archery, more like soccer, or basketball, or even boxing. At its root for me, it’s a physical exploration. I may not run all over the place bobbing and weaving, but the success of street photographs has everything to do with getting your body in the right place at the right time ……” who said street photography is not good for you? And I would also say a good justification for a Starbucks at the end of a meet-up.

Enjoy!

I must admit I am a huge fan of the look of HDR photos although I yet to try it myself.  I think I may need to make some time to play around with it soon though. There are a lot of tutorials out there on how to create HDR photos including this one from abduzeedo.com. Of course there are always ways to “cheat” the effect as well. Have you dabbled with HDR photos? Any tips?

Typically on a lazy Sunday I like to visit the nearby Borders, grab a coffee, and browse the books and magazines.  Yes, I really do have the rockstar lifestyle;) I must admit though, I’m not often enticed to buy anything.  The only two magazines I tend to find myself buying is Professional Photographer and Black & White Magazine. Professional Photographer typically has some really good articles and I always enjoy the interviews and other industry news. Black & White is all about me drooling over the great photos.

That being said though, perhaps I am missing out on some great magazines out there? What photography magazines do you read, whether religiously or only occasionally? What recommendations do you have?

As a follow-up to my post the other day on Save Polaroid, here is a great article from Photojojo: Polaroid-a-palooza: Ten Ways to Love Polaroid Before The Film Runs Out. If, like me you don’t have a Polaroid, you can always cheat with the Polaroid-o-nizer.

As a side note, if you bookmark just one site this week, make it Photojojo (a fantastic site).