Bugle Blog - maxblackphotos.

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1/15/2014

Well I think I need to go on an online training video but I seem to have got the hang of the basics of sharing. Okay I've had a 'presence' on there for a while but that was all to do with the Photowalk stuff from the last 2 years and as we are into a new year I thought I'd see what happens with this aspect of photo sharing social media. So I joined a lot of photography groups yesterday and made a beginners mistake by leaving the group notifications on, if you like a full inbox then do that, so quickly reversed the notification thing and have stumbled through the next phase of learning which is the 'sharing' thing...I know I'm on the cusp of old dufferdom but it really isn't intuitive, I'll go and look at some training videos with a strong cup of coffee and try to absorb some of the finer points...surely it must be simple...if not I'll just sit there until something sticks.
On other news I updated to Windows 8.1...colours a bit brighter and snappier icons but I'm struggling to see what the difference is, probably due to my imminent dufferdom and lack of intrest in the whole thing.
Sent off another file of book cover photos ( photos used in the loosest sense) and let the caffeine and creativity wander off into areas anew...have a look at this one...mildly barking I've got to admit but as ever, most of these are dotted along the learning curve so if they get rejected, well at least I've learnt something new in Photoshop....
Oh you'll find me here https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DavidJohnsonphotography/posts

Load of Cock

Honey.... I'm home.

10/24/2013

..well for a short while and then it's off to France for a long week, get through Christmas and then off into the hills of Spain.. there is a purpose to all this which hopefully will become clear to me and then you by March next year, it's all very exciting, well for me anyway but first trip out of the way so time to check in and report about some snaps I was taking. Light was great whilst I was there, stayed in Gibraltar but wandered across the border into Spain and the edible delights that La Linea had to offer..got stopped at the border, I know, my dodgy looks gave me away but all they found were lumps of well abused camera gear..er did Almeihda gardens, walked the Med steps which really did almost kill me but had great views from the top of Morroco and the vast tonnage of boats waiting for some business...er Wide angle panoramas, some more famous animal pictures, and lots of odd bits of 'The Rock'..could I live there..no, so claustrophobic and even worse when the Med cruise liners dumped their contents into town. So lots of lens swapping so I'm making a guess that I've got dollops of dust on the later images but that's what your PP software really is there for.
So for me a few day's of smacking these images into shape with the bonus of some images being accepted for book cover publication whilst I was off on my jolly, now to find where I filed the original layered fles... well gives me something to do. here is a selection of things that hopefully will be appearing in a Waterstones near you soon (truth be told all my book cover stuff is for overseas publication so I've yet to walk in to a Waterstones and go all misty eyed at the sight of my images being mashed together with some text)... so here are a few new ones to look at.

It's that Friday feeling..

10/11/2013

Well where did that week go..ah ..processing and uploading...the office chair needs a rest I think .....and I have some ideas for something completely different..... I've got 600mm of Nikkor to put through it's paces...yes 600mm...it looks as battered as I do but the glass, besides a few dust flecks is clear and shiny... I will be out and about with it... also some barking Portrait/studio/person stuff that I have lodged away in my head needs to be brought to life especially as my tortoises are looking at hibernating...(yes tortoises).... besides that I have a lot of macro stuff to do and if I can make this work..telephoto panoramas.......I'll run out of ideas one day...ideas are good, putting them into practice is always the tricky part....

Judgement day beckons on the Worldwide Photowalk images..some good ones on there already and I'm looking forward to the rest appearing soon..yes that would be very, very soon guys...the 14th is looming, you can't win a prize unless you buy a ticket!!
Right I have some book cover images to smack into shape, oh some of my images that are appearing on Audio books appear to have that bit liceneced already so even though I've found them in geographical areas that they shouldn't appear in...well they have...hmmmmm , can't say I'm convinced totally but Mr Amazon in all your .com, .co.uk, .it.de.fr variations...I am watching you..oh yes...

Some stuff off to the publishers for a Yay or nay.

Photowalk is almost upon us...

10/2/2013

...and a big thanks to Diane Seddon at Oaktree as we now have a great model to photograph https://www.facebook.com/mrslauranorrey?fref=ts had a nice chat with her last night and we look set for a great day at the venue...inside as well so this cacky autumnal weather will be held at bay.. I've just had a cancellation so one place has opened up on the walk just go to the worldwide photowalk page and register....servers are down as I speak but be patient. should be a good day for one and all. Great mix of folk coming and levels of experience.
So I have yet another busy day getting the final prep together for the walk, last Photographic club talk of the season at Frodsham where I will be looking at the Urban landscape and from my point of view it's many iterations, so lots of camera technique and the thought behind some recent projects...should be a good night....
I'm all set for a play with the sparkly 105 F2.8 Micro that has been in customs for the past 2 weeks but now released back into captivity..I really have got my eye on some 300mm F2,8's that are on ebay...even with the carriage and customs charges it does work out cheaper than a Europen sourced one...seriously If you are thinking of buying something non EU then here is the checker I used to work out import duty... http://www.dutycalculator.com/
Right back to all those 'sleepers' that are dozing on one of my old (old means about 2009) Freecom hardrives that is stuffed with shots yet to be seen by the public at large..... 2009 and I'm on the Welsh coast in the sunshine.... but oh my the D700 was pretty new then but all those oil specks on the sensor..praise be to content aware spotting.....

Oil and Gas industry on the North Wales coast.

I was asked by..

10/1/2013

..one of the image libraries that sells my images to keep an eye out on sites such as amazon and it's various iterations .de .it .fr and so on to see if publishers are using images licenced for one territory in an area where they havn't coughed up for the fee... so as I was meandering around the web last night and for want of something better to do I started searching..and well I found one of my images in places that, have yet to be officially authorised...or have I? Could be that my agents have ...er...not been quick in informing me that they have been actively selling or it could be something in the licence I'm not aware of...either way missive sent off to my agent for a bit of 'clarification' could be nothing but fingers crossed it's fee paying, trips to Spain, France and Gibralatar coming up over the next couple of months and I've run out of children to sell... Here's a link to one of my book cover images... amazon

Busy working through lots of 'hard drive sleepers'...those images that have been filed (okay I'm using filed in it's loosest sense) so 2009 and 2010 being given a work over by Adobe's finest and slowly but surely uploaded. I'm really keeping the PP to a very basic minimum, clean, straighten and lens corrections is about the sum total as I nudge things past the QC bots that live on image library sites...for me it's the greatest restraint I've shown in image post processing ever.....ever... lordy they could almost be film..... until the next time....

On the coast at Point of Ayre and it's leaning lighthouse.

Photowalk and stuff....

7/29/2013

Well time really does seem to be flying.. I just got an email from Scott Kelby inviting me to run another Worldwide Photowalk.. http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ now then....
It really took a huge amount of effort to just get folks organised last time and there were grumblings that not everyone got on a mini tutorial...and I was completely knackered after the last one...that last mini toot...I was speaking utter garbage by then....sorry..... So I'm not sure..... I'd have to rethink and maybe limit numbers or something...meh...I'll think about it today......
Well looks like I will have to send the Nokia 925 back now...I've had the email asking for it...but it's so nice and a great 'in your pocket' snap camera...I avoided 'pont and shoot' as most camera's we carry around with us actually are that, irrespective of how much dosh you've lavished on one. One last burst of snapping with it today and then get Mr DHL to come and take it away....I'm filling up already....mind you I'm looking forward to that 41 mpix 1020 Nokia dropping through the letter box at some point http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/phones/phone/lumia1020/?cid=ncomprod-fw-src-na-uklfdevicerangelumia1020-na-google-gb-en-1todtmx1cb164
Might have a different slant on the Photowalk already...you'll be the first to know of course.

Check out my Behance site for this new 'Fins' project.

Framed Pictures

2/26/2013

Yep, been working hard to develop a range of framed images that are now looking good, well I think so and my fiercest critic but finest champion , Mrs Max that'll be, quite likes them too. Start retailing at the beginning of April in Manchester, exciting times I can tell you, it's like stepping back 30 years to when I had my first stall at Styal Mill, where basically, I had no idea about anything but bags of enthusiasm...other way round now... Still I've so many images I can make up so many different styles of taste, just got to work out how to display them best...head scratchy time....
So not taking many shots at the moment but delving into my badly organised archives and pulling out stuff from days gone by...well 4 years ago and then there's all the stuff from 2007 to 2009 that had far too much Photoshop on it....ah well we all learn and grow... and the talking at Photographic clubs season starts again soon, blimey I may even put some courses back up on the website...

The banks of the Tyne.

No I've not been hibernating...

2/22/2013

..I'm going through a cyclical process of man flu, colds and chesticle infections that has medical science on the back foot...still here if not in some drug addled state...still managing to sit up and put coherent sentences together like
" Yes some malt whisky in the lemsip would be nice..."
Colds...what are they good for???? All stems from my trip to Spain and Gibraltar...foreign germs coming over here...
So, I'm trying to get this place sorted and more retail based, almost there. We'll be saying tata to my Photodeck site as I put more stuff up on my other Image library site, you can have a browse through all the old stuff on there and buy downloads either as RM or RF licensed...
So as I now have the Adobe creative cloud at my fingertips I thought I'd go through all the very old stuff that proved a challenge in CS3 and CS4...so they may not have seen the light of day but technically I'll consider them as new images and I'll be having a play with layering stuff again, yes I know not everyone's cup of tea but if I don't mash about and do it...who else will???? Here's one from the Black Mountains...

Looking over to Ben Nevis. Scottish Highlands.

The Grey...

1/20/2013

Fuggy flatness in the light department means a day in the workshop and on here today with Radio 6 and then 5Live for the footy.

I take groups and individuals out for training in and around Manchester and one of the things I try and impress on folk is to...slow down ..and do that thing that money can't buy..think....yep think..as a concept it's not too hard to grasp but in practice it can sometimes prove elusive..I'm talking about thinking about your Images..not photos or snaps but images... and in many ways once you've cracked the thinking about image creation rather than posting a succession of photos out on the web you suddenly find that you are developing a style..your leitmotif...the way in which other folk can see 'you' in your images and in this overdosed digital world a personal style is probably the only way your images will stand out..okay I'm no stranger to the 'Twin Imposters' so developing a personal style is not the singular way to fame and fortune, loads of great snappers out there who have an individual take on image creation and have tumbleweed blowing about in their comments boxes but here's part two of this little article...thinking and creating images is the first part the second being...are you creating images so you can accumulate reams of comments and virtual love????or are you drawing something out of yourself..stopping thinking shooting creating; creating personal satisfaction from the image itself rather than the virtual love of 'friends' ?? I'm not saying there is a right or wrong a Black or White side to this but one of the things I always question myself on is why I'm shooting something in a certain way, most times it's for the personal challenge. I like seeing things my way and more often than not the image is in my' head' before I'm out there shooting it..I know I've probably just taken a left turn towards pseuds corner but all I'm trying to put over to you in this blog piece is just to stop, think and question...then get creating the best image you've ever done..and never fear the tumbleweed..........

All the gear is here...

12/13/2012

..so now is the time to get cracking and start making all the samples up and getting prints sorted. It's all going to be in-house...so that'll be me being busy then. For the regular blog reader amongst you you may have picked up that I'm moving more towards retail and gallery stuff with my images which will be online, to galleries, at shows and through local advertising. So I've spent a bit of time getting work into coherent galleries, now all the right gear has turned up...the only thing I'm lacking is space. The equipment I've now got is on the chuffing BIG size and I reckon at some point I'm going to have to look at a workshop/studio to accommodate things...but that's the future and this new venture will have to generate it's own income to justify that....I'm already using part of the cellars but I'd have to get an industrial heater if i was to work down there on a permanent basis.
Eagle eyed ones out there will have noticed that I have a new blank gallery called 'The Picture Shop' which will start to house all the retail stuff, although of course any image on here or here is available as a print...just pop me an email maxblackphotos@gmail.com and I'll get back to you toot suite...

Sun's out..good day for ICM shots, still got a load in the can from Monday in Manchester to have a look through but may nip out again for some snapping...

Developmental

12/3/2012

I'm not the one to define where the boundaries of photographic art, photo journalism and photography blur and blend, do you tell folk that you are a 'fine art photographer' or expect that any reasonably computer and photographically enabled visitor has the ability to place their own definition on your work. In many ways the explosion of images on the internet have allowed us an uninhibited and un-blinkered look at how other folk with cameras take a view of things and start an open or closed conversation using their ability to capture a moment.
Now quite surprisingly out there in the non virtual world are people who are not savvy to the plethora of hardware and software that lies behind the creation of most of today's imagery. Not that they don't care, they don't need to, but most know what they like and certainly know what they don't. In the music industry they used to be the Old Greys, knew what they liked and ....er liked it. Now as my one or two regular readers know I've owned galleries, stood there at trade shows selling images and frames, attempting to provide what is wanted without knowing what was wanted, pre guessing, imposing on the buyer what I want them to buy...and this is where I am now, on the verge of selling to non photographic literates things that I think will have a resonance, be consumer friendly, be something worth owning.
And so the developmental definition of who I am in a photographic sense begins, fine art, experimental, mainstream, odd???? My own definition of how I think I'm perceived, well I'll keep that to myself, how the Old Greys will see me, well that is what I'm about to find out.
Well one from the experimental bin, the photographic earworm is back gnawing away and making me veer about a bit, I can already see the next phase of this type of imagery and so on this dull grey monday I give you...layered panoramas.....add salt to taste

All Sold

11/26/2012

Well that was a particularly painless week of selling off lots of gear. Cash in the bank and new stuff on it's way...
So heading off in a slightly different direction, as I said last time I think the Image Library business is suffering from it's own success, in fact the whole digital image online look at me sharing showing off thing has got to a point where either an Armageddon moment or some other amalgamatory (?) conjoining expiration moment will descend upon us. Still wondering why Getty don't just scoop up flickr instead of all this 'Artist's Pick' tosh and make it work as a cheapo licensing operation, now as I've said before 'pinching' images off the net is so bloody easy these days and even tickling out the watermarks is now just a swish and a click, we've got the Digital Orphans bill rumbling along, good idea if you have a read of this stop43
So not only is there too many images on the net and people pinching them but if you fail to tag, watermark add metadata and generally chase down any referrers coming on you sites who are dodgy (yandex and baiduspider based searches) and of course disable any download options, make images 'small' and low jpeg quality and add on the appropriate licensing options then quite frankly it's just like leaving your front door open with a big Neon sign flashing 'Help Yourselves, the doors open' look after your images, make sure everyone knows they are yours and keep the front door shut and switch off that bloody Neon sign.....

Post Office profits...

11/23/2012

...are at a record high or so I remember World Service telling me at some wee small hour or other this morning...and I think I've just added to them..one lens too heavy for special delivery so sent insured parcelforce....aye caramba!!!!!!!!!!!....I'll personally take things in a taxi next time....ah well not much gear left to flog now, may get rid of the flash stands and softboxes next week but I think gumtree might be a better idea...oh TFI friday and what a cracker of a day it is...if it had some scudding clouds I'd be out and about doing some Daylight long exposures but it's not so I ain't...
More new gear turning up next week, not so much an early Christmas present as a way of shifting the focus of the business. I've come to the conclusion that the image library business is over saturated with a deluge of images going on-line by the minute and only a finite number of buyers let alone the folk who spend their time copying and nicking images from screens...now if I can remove watermarks from my images then it's not beyond the ken of mere mortals to be able to do the same...so I have stopped my subscriptions to libraries...my own online library will now be more dedicated to print sales and mounted and framed images, I'm quite excited...no really and look forward to getting to grips with all the gear that is going to be turning up over the next few weeks. I'll also be cutting back on all the 'free' stuff which is 'free training' and tutorials that I give away..I love to share things and tell people how things are done but maybe now is the time to put all my energies into trade and retail selling, Mrs Max has been telling me this for ages..I'll listen more...I will.
So for the New Year I'll be out selling my images...heck was it really 30 years ago I tried this last time...you know it was and that led on to owning galleries and framing studios...I've no idea if that will happen this time but I'll be braced and ready for it if it does.....here's one from yesterday's faffing in photoshop session...

The 39 Steps...

10/25/2012

'...biggest job I had to do Sir, did I do well...' Okay the Robert Donat version is not one for the purists but it's a film I'd gladly sit through over and over again. Tenuous connection but I think I've just taken on the biggest job and I hope I do well. Across various hard drives I reckon that I have 20,000 usable images..ones that are not personal faves but recognisable, viewable, not too hard to digestable!!!... and the trick I am about to perform is get them out to a wider market, I've already started. Templates and rough designs are already made, databases are being developed (yep very slowly though) business plans are being run up the flagpole and markets are being targeted. In fact all I'm doing is what I did 30 years ago but this time with the aid of all things digital, lets hope it involves less legwork this time but it will be taking up most of my time, clocks about to change, light becoming less; time to look through the last 6 months stuff and get tickling and faffing. Now I've relied on the internet to do the selling for me...more people are doing it and as I've mentioned before the pre crash 'Golden' days of spending really havn't returned even though 'The Recession ' is coming to an end...hmmm take a look at history first...few more years to go I think ...so less time to do other things. So time to stop spending time on non core sites, move away from social sites,unless they give me access to customers and more time on here and my library site
Nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel, pedal to the metal...it's time to put my Worzel Gummidge selling head on...I hope it looks good on me