What do you do if you love to visit far-flung locations but are fed up with long haul flights and nights spent trying to sleep on a plane? You could splurge on business class to make your night more comfortable. But no amount of splurging will help with jet-lag, and however comfortable the sleeping arrangements your night will still be disturbed by noise from turbulence and your fellow passengers.
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I often feel the need to seek adventures abroad, especially in the tail-end of winter. So for most of February I have been in Sri Lanka, enjoying a mix of wildlife, culture and a bit of relaxation. This therefore will be a rather different monthly round-up from usual.
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Juxtaposition is often referred to as a literary device, placing two concepts close together to highlight their differences. But it is just as effective in visual arts, including photography. And these contrasting elements hopefully work together to elicit a response from the viewer.
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The days in January may be short, and the sun in short supply. In England we’ve had more than our fair share of rain this month, or so it seemed. But there were also some brighter, if colder, days. And at the start of the month even some snow (relatively rare these days).
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In a Northern Hemisphere winter, seeing flowers can always lift the spirits. Whether it’s a rare winter-blooming plant in a garden, a vase in the home or photos from past summer or journeys, the sight is always a welcome one.
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Our main reason for visiting Cologne last December was football, to watch Newcastle United play Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. And of course there were Christmas markets to enjoy. But we also wanted to see something of the city. The morning after the match was lovely and sunny, with a chilly wind but some warmth in the sun, so we set out on a walk by the river Rhine.
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How often have you looked at a photo and immediately rejected it? Too bland, too flat, out of focus, poor composition… It may have looked good at the time you took it, but for one reason or another it didn't turn out as you'd hoped and planned.
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In numerology the number ten represents cycles ending and new ones starting. Pythagoras called ten the ‘perfect number’ because it totals the first four numbers (1+2+3+4=10), symbolizing cosmic order and completeness. We naturally count in tens, because we have ten digits. And we mark important milestones in tens too: a perfect score in several sports, each decade a significant birthday.
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After any trip I like to explore how the photos I took might look in black and white. I never shoot in that medium, even on those occasions when I already feel it would be the best option, because it’s easy to transform from colour to monochrome but impossible to do the reverse in any realistic manner.
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There’s a tendency when we photograph something to want to fill the frame. Empty space around our subject can feel like a waste, while omitting anything may feel as if we’re not telling the whole story. But good composition is all about balance, and clutter in an image can make it hard to ‘read’.
