First attempt at stop motion video

Composed of approx 600 images (1 taken every 30 seconds over a couple of hours) at a party on new years day.

 Quality is a bit crap due to making the size small enough to upload.

Thanks to our host Carlos Fandango : )

Darren

Best Photography Websites - 2011

In what will likely be my final posting before this blog is submitted for review as part of my course I thought I'd highlight this article by Bryan Reynolds over at LPV magazine.

As Brian point's out he probably reviews a lot more photography blogs and magazines than the average reader (meaning we don't have to, thanks Brian) and he has produced a list of his favourites for 2011.  Reviewing which should keep the rest of us busy for most of 2012.

 ©Delaney Allen

I'm not sure if I'll be back, I guess we'll have to see what the next semester holds or if I miss blogging over the holiday maybe I'll stick my head in.  If not have a great Christmas and hopefully we'll all be here in the new year.

Thanks for reading,

Darren

Prix Pictet talk at Gallery of Photography

I'd love to be able to attend the talk below but unfortunately I've taken that week off work to complete my Visual Diary for college and so wont be around town.

However, I thought it might be of interest to others and so decided to post.

Michael Benson, Director, Prix Pictet and Francis Hodgson, Photography Critic with the Financial Times, and photography adviser to the Prix Pictet, will discuss how photography can raise awareness of environmental issues.

http://www.galleryofphotography.ie/exhibitions/growth.html

Admission is free but booking is advisable, email info@galleryofphotography to book a place.

Fingers crossed - first exhibition submission

So yesterday, for the first time ever, I submitted images to a competition to have them shown at an exhibition.  It's only one for college, rather than MoMA, but as it is the first time I've ever submitted anything anywhere it is still kinda exciting for me.

The theme is Night Vision and as such they had to be shot in low light.  The three images I chose to submit are below.

All were taken with my nikon700d, the low light performance of which is simply amazing.  Take the second image for example it was shot at 3200 ISO with only a tiny bit of noise reduction applied.  I could have added more to eliminate all traces but I like the noise/grain effect.

Negative Exposure - Photography Workshop

So I had blogged a while back about attending this so I figured I should at least tell you about it and post some results. I know you've been losing sleep waiting for an update : ).

The entire day was hugely successful and useful, getting to chat to different types of photographers about their work and processes and also to the models they work with was invaluable..

Of course it wasn't all talk and we also got to shoot with some great models.  Particular thanks to Douglas Ross for leading us through the day and to Rachael Lally who appears in the images below.

National Photography Archive

Ireland's National Photography Archive is without doubt one of Dublin's hidden gems.  I tend to get to most exhibitions they put on but I know the vast majority of people don't even know about it, or at least the majority of people I mention it to don't.

The current exhibition is called Small Lives and runs until June 2012.  From their website; "The 50 photographs in this exhibition are drawn from across NLI’s collections, and range from formal studio portraits featuring children of the landed classes taken in the 1880s to more candid shots of city kids taken in the 1960s".

It is striking how many of the images include some kind of religious (i.e. cathloic) theme or event but I guess this is hardly surprising given how big a part it played in the lives of the Irish in past decades.

So whether you are a visitor to the fair city, or a Dub like myself, I highly recommend taking a look see.  It is right in Temple Bar, across the square from the Gallery of Photography who themselves often have great exhibitions.  Both are small spaces so you can get around the two in under an hour if you needed to, of course you could spend longer.

Photography Exhibitions

Is there anything more annoying than finding out about an exhibition or event you'd love to have seen or attended after it ends?  Ok so I'm being overly dramatic but you know what I mean. 

This week there are a two photography related thingies (for lack of a better/real term) that caught my eye so I thought I'd share them here so you don't curse the universe for missing them.  I'll be attending both of them at some point so let me know if you fancy going.

Shoot the Sound - An exhibition of music/concert photos by Peter Neill (probably Ireland's best known music photographer) taking place in the crypts of Christ Church Cathedral from the 2nd - 9th November.

Copyright - Peter Neil - http://shootthesound.com/portfolio/#!lightbox[music_photography]/12/ - 3/11/2011

Unused and Unloved - is a group exhibition examining concepts of neglect, desertion, abandonment or disuse.  It is put on/promoted by PrettyvacanT who, according to their website, re-purpose  "Vacant Dublin Properties as Temporary Exhibitions Spaces for Artists".  You gottta love that synergy.  Runs until the 11th of November.

Copyright - Kieran O'Donoghue - http://www.source.ie/graduate/2010/grifcollba/grifcollba_folder/grifcollba_student_folder_07_43_45_30-04-10/grifcollba_student_details_07_43_45_30-04-10.xml#topbigimage - 3/11/2011

Alone in a Darkroom - First Prints

Just in case you, like me, are just starting out in the Darkroom I thought you might find this page useful.  It is a fairly simplified guide to producing a black and white print from a correctly exposed black and white negative.  Although, I would definitely add my second bullet point below to the process.  I’d also recommend reading the relevant chapter from the go to textbook for this type of thing - Langford's Basic Photography. 

I just had my first session in the darkroom and, truth be told, while it was enjoyable I don't see myself falling in love with it (time will tell of course so stay posted).  I'm posting about it as a way of reminding myself (and you?) about the two things I really want to take from my first session;

1. Stop forgetting to remove the red filter as obviously the photographic paper wont react otherwise (duhhhhh, you'd think after 4 times in one session I wouldn't need reminding), and
2. Write details (print #, filter, exposure time(s) etc) on back of every print before it goes into the developer as even with notes it can be difficult (read impossible) to keep track.

Here are a few scans (unedited) of my first days work.  Two shot at iso100 and 1 at 3200.  Can you tell which is which?

Fine Art Nude Photography Workshop

I've just signed up for a Fine Art Nude Photography Workshop in November with the folks at Back Loft, it's quite topical for me as we are in the middle of discussing the nude in our Ways of Seeing class (methinks the class would have a field day analysing the image below).

Really looking forward to the workshop as I will get to work with two experienced photographers (Karol Liver and Douglas Ross) and three different models.  I'm even curious to just watch how they go about a shoot in general.

I had a look at the work of all those concerned and realised that I had seen some of Karol's work before.  The image below is from a previous collaboration between Karol and the model Spunky Gore (one of the models in the workshop).

Image taken from http://karol-liver.com/ppl/index.html on 17.10.2011

The workshop itself is part of an exhibition called "Negative exposure - an exploration of the body through fine art photography".

The Wonder Of Light

Y'all should check out the Irish award winning photographer Ciaran Whyte over at his site and blog; The Wonder of Light.

Here is just one of many really useful posts Ciaran has written up as part of his blog.  This one focuses on the importance of the direction of light in portrait photography (the image below was lifted from the article).

Copyright: Ciaran Whyte -  http://www.thewonderoflight.com/articles/?p=2651 - 13.10.11