Diary of a Sussex Photographer

Something I've been planning to do for some time now is a set of nude silhouettes and bodyscapes. Everything came together last night and I got the opportunity for some practice when a friend of mine came round. I already had lights and backdrops set up as I was helping a fellow photog with some baby photography (having a spare baby so to speak), so we decided to have a little play afterwards.

I couldn't resist reaching for the OM-1 again and shot half of the session with that instead of my digital camera! I can't wait to see how they've turned out but I still have half a roll of film to go before getting it developed. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go and take some more pictures .

What an amazing few days! After the snow last Wednesday I was stranded at home, I tried, for over an hour, to dig my car out of the eight inches we'd had but couldn't shift it to get to work. There was nothing else for it, I was just going to have to stay at home and take pictures...

I started by going for a walk up to Patching (about 2 miles away). Up on top of the hills the snow was actually up to my knees, almost unheard of around here, so with wet feet and ice in my beard I took my first winter pictures of the year.

Remembering a piece of advice that I had been given at an RPS workshop a while ago ("Shoot your patch", especially with landscape photography it's important to know the area where you're trying to take photographs) I went for a 'short walk' around the village and took the OM-1 with me...

Three hours later, after exploring some footpaths leading across to some local farmland I arrived home having used half a roll of black & white film in the Olympus, not to mention what I had taken with my Canon . With the bright sunshine heating the snow most of the day, as the sun started to go down and the temperature dropped, an eerie mist came up to meet the sunset which turned out to be one of the most beautiful of the year!

Well, I had a couple of quiet weeks but have just finished a shoot for a young family in Sompting. It just so happened that the day we had agreed to shoot co-incided with the first snowfall! We scrapped our original plan of shooting on the beach and headed up onto the downs instead for some snowball fun.

After we had all got cold enough we headed back to their house for some more natural indoor pictures (and hot drinks!) to round off the morning.

Today my father gave me his prized 1973 Olympus OM-1, an old mechanical SLR camera which predates all of the electronic wizardry which helps us 'modern' photographers take better pictures. With the price of film and processing spiralling upwards since digital became king it has lain dormant at the back of a cupboard for many years - but in full working order.

I haven't used a 35mm SLR for about six years but that was a modern one (at the time!) with a lot of electronic assistance so I can't wait to try using the OM-1 myself, it should be a real challenge - watch this space for the results!

I did a shoot for a young couple who wanted some newborn pictures of their 8 day old baby girl. There's never a better time to photograph babies than in the first two weeks so I jumped at the chance (I must admit to being a bit of a sucker for babies having been surrounded by them for the last five and a half years...)

After the consultation we agreed to Sunday night when her other two girls would be asleep, as would all of mine, so I loaded my car up with gear and props and went over.

Now I still think of my three month old as a baby, all little and helpless, but he's an elephant compared to the tiny cherub that greeted me! She was so small and squidgy!

Like the old adage says "never work with children or animals" - well, I work with children quite a bit so I know why; they haven't read the posing books or the behavioural manuals! The little monkey wouldn't sleep (baby photos are best when the baby's asleep) and objected to being put down for more than a few minutes. But after a couple of hours (some baby shoots can take four hours or more! You can't rush a baby ) we had a set of lovely pictures that I'm sure the parents will enjoy.

© Photo Copyright FilmPhoto Academy 2010.

My wife's best friend from college currently lives in Gloucester. Actually, she only lives 5 minutes from the filmphoto academy in Cheltenham. So, in an entirely selfless gesture, I arranged for us all go up for a visit. It just so happened that there was a two day Royal Photographic Society workshop the weekend that I had arranged to stay and as we were already going up, it would have been a wasted opportunity not to go to it!

So, my wife and her friend (and four very over excited children) got to spend a lovely weekend together while I slaved away in a very well equipped studio... oh, the sacrifices I make...

The effect of four children cooped up in the house all weekend is a bit like throwing four bouncy balls at the wall of a room at the same time. It was a weekend like that, the kids were bouncing off the walls.

As they never seem as bad when they're outdoors I made the excellent suggestion of going to Brighton beach for the afternoon (with absolutely no ulterior motives ). Somehow my camera bag and tripod managed to find their way into the car and I suppose it would have been foolishness not to take them onto the beach...

I set up my camera under the suspicious gaze of my wonderful and understanding wife (who reads this...) and took advantage of the amazing coincidence of another Sussex sunset.

As the leaves are fast falling from the trees I took my oldest son (all of 4 years old and dressed in a Spiderman costume!) for a walk in the Angmering park estate woods while I tried to get some autumnal landscapes.

After assuring him that there were no dragons in the forest and that most of the animals we might see would, in fact, be afraid of him, we set off in search of monsters (or some nice pictures, which ever came first).

We had headed 'deep into the jungle' before Paddy found his first monster (a little yorkie that was out for a walk...), apparently they were all hiding from him because he was so scary.

A few 'monsters' later and he found a large stick, which he insisted on bringing home for Mummy (it's a long story, the kids think she likes sticks...) which he used as a gun to shoot trees (and only trees 'because shooting animals is mean... unless you eat them, then it's food'...)

We made it home without disaster and I even managed to get a couple of pictures into the bargain.

Having been the dutiful son-in-law this afternoon and taken her parents to Heathrow, I figured that a half hour diversion could easily be blamed on traffic. As I was driving through Shoreham when 'golden hour' began I decided that the Napoleonic fort at Shoreham beach would make a nice vantage point for another Sussex seaside sunset.

It was a lot colder than it looked outside and as I had been in the car most of the day I hadn't brought a coat! Putting aside my personal discomfort in the name of art, I stood and captured the dying rays of another Autumn sun.

When the display was finally over I made my way back to the car and de-frosted on my way back home. My 'quick detour' had actually taken over an hour and a half so I arrived to a cold dinner ... You know, I think she's warming to the idea

I was fortunate enough to be invited by Canon to attend a seminar at Park Cameras in Burgess Hill last Thursday on better use of their cameras and speedlight system (the big, expensive flash guns) and, in the interests of furthering my technical knowledge, I left work early and headed there.

It was a great opportunity to play with all of the latest camera bodies, lenses and printers (and to come up with a very expensive Christmas wish list!!) but most importantly it was an opportunity to get an explanation of some of the more unusual camera settings straight from the horses mouth!

Continuing my Sussex seaside sunsets theme I was visiting the outlaws (in-laws, don't ask...), who live close to Worthing seafront, when I noticed the sunlight take on that telling golden glow that precedes a good sunset. Excusing myself, I grabbed my gear (which is never far away!) and headed to the beach.

I set up just outside the water's edge and waited for the sun to reach the right position. I was rewarded with a set of quite lovely images.

This gave me an idea, so as part of my project I am also going to shoot Brighton and Eastbourne piers (I would have included Hastings too but I guess I'm a bit late for that now...).

I was approached by a young couple from Worthing who wanted some pictures taken but hated the 'traditional' photography that they'd seen about. They wanted something a bit 'different'. He is a guitarist in a band named 'Work in Progress' so, deciding on a more urban theme to go with their 'look', I asked him to bring his guitar as a prop, which he was more than happy to do (props can really make a big difference).

We set up and shot in a well known park in Worthing and all the while he played an acoustic accompaniment. As it was too early for most people to be around it felt like we had the park to ourselves so I thought I'd try a few 'film strip' sets just for fun.

Again, this couple were kind enough to let me use their gallery so that other people can see what I can do.

From time to time I enter photo competitions, not to win prizes, but to measure my progress as a photographer. I came across the Sussex photography project and decided to enter their 'my Sussex competition' at the last minute. I entered one of my poppy pictures which I took in Falmer this summer just to see how it would do.

As it turns out, it did quite well! Not quite making the top 3, but placing well in the final 15. These will all be exhibited in the Crowbrough arts festival from tomorrow until 02/10/10 and on line here.

I went to the preview of the exhibition last night (and the announcement of the final winners) and spent most of the evening talking to the eventual winner, Phil Bird.

On Friday I got a message from a young lady who had heard about my Sussex seaside sunset project and asked if she could commission one of Bosham, near Chichester, for her mother's birthday the following Thursday. They had often watched the sun set there while she was growing up and the place held special memories for them. I was more than happy to agree and promised that it would be ready in time.

On Saturday afternoon I took the family to the seaside at Bosham. As luck would have it the sky began to turn orange as the sun sank to the horizon so while they sat eating their picnic dinner I snuck away with my camera bag and tripod.

An hour later, with wet feet, I rejoined the family we drove home. After putting the children to bed I set to processing the shots that I had captured, selecting the best 12 to show to my client.

As there wasn't enough time to upload a gallery and await her selection before the big day I offered to meet up and show her the images on my laptop so that she could make a decision then and there. She gratefully accepted, made her decision, and got her print (fully framed and mounted!) in time for her mother's birthday.

I had a shoot with a young mother and her son today. She first contacted me a couple of weeks ago after some pictures of her 7 year old little boy, which quickly turned into some of him and some of them together.

It all went swimmingly. After I got the lights set up at their house we tried a few shots and just let him do his thing for a while, taking pictures all the time. Then, for a change of scene, we went outside into the garden where there was a hammock for them to sit and lay in.

Unfortunately, the young lady did ask that I not use any of the pictures of her son for the website due to some concerns about the world in which we live. I assured her that it wouldn't be a problem, which of course it isn't.

This weekend saw another opportunity for me to meet with fellow members of the Royal Photographic Society and share views and experience as well as a few gems of wisdom - some of these people are truly astounding photographers and I try to learn everything I can from them.

This was a workshop for RPS accredited distinctions, something which I am currently working towards to gain international recognition as a photographer.

I met a very interesting retired army engineer who had actually been there (and photographed) when the first H-bomb was built in England in the 1940's!

I love sunsets and I'm fortunate enough to live close enough to the sea to get to the beach when it looks like a good one. Last night looked like a good one so I grabbed my bag and headed for Littlehampton.

I got to the beach just as the sun started to dip and managed to get set in time and, after explaining what I was doing to a couple of people walking their dogs, I began to shoot as the sun went down.

As I arrived home (to a cold dinner and a less than impressed wife... ) I decided that it might be a nice idea to do a series of Sussex sunsets during the autumn so watch this space..

Had a great shoot with a young couple from Horsham this weekend, they've just set up home together and wanted some portraits to celebrate (well, she did and like a good chap he did as he was told ).

After talking a few things through with them, they decided that they wanted some natural, outdoor pictures in meadows and woodland etc. So I took them to a favourite location of mine near where they live and started shooting, they soon forgot all about me and my camera and just started to enjoy a walk in the countryside together.

After we'd got enough shots we decided to try a slightly more edgy, urban look, so a quick location change and a few more clicks and we were finished.

They were kind enough to allow me to use their finished set for my portfolio so others can get glimpse of what I do.

© Photo Copyright Catherine Bulling 2010.

So, as this the first entry into my 'photo-blog' I suppose I should introduce myself.

My name is David, but most people (unsurprisingly) call me Dave. Although an engineer by trade I have had a passion for photography for almost as long as I can remember, but have only been taking it seriously (well, as seriously as I ever take anything) for about 4 years now. I have been married (to the same woman!) for about 6 years and have 4 children who insist on taking up the few hours of free time that I'm not taking photographs.

My photographic approach is slightly different from a lot of peoples'. I like to create images with visual impact; surreal, almost impressionist landscapes with vivid colour and a sense of movement rather than capturing 'nature in all it's glory'. This desire spills over into my portrait work, which allows me to be much more creative in the images I capture, as I hope you will see.