Sigma 10-20mm Landscapes

I had been looking in to the Sigma 10-20mm Lens for a long time. I still had yet to get an ultra wide angle lens and the Sigma seemed very fitting. 10mm provides a huge angle of view on my 40D, and some very interesting results. One of the main reasons I purchased the lens was to improve my landscape photography. So I have posted some landscapes taken over the last couple of days. The Sigma really has produced great high quality images that I am really pleased with. Check em out below!

This one is my clear favourite! Such a beautiful sunset over the river wey.

The angle of view is truly amazing and you can really fit loads into the frame. So far I have seen really good image quality and rich colours with the landscapes. I'll be testing it tomorrow at an event and I'll post some thoughts with the photos link.

Battles 25th Wedding Anniversary

I had the pleasure of shooting a 25th Wedding Anniversary of David and Catherine Battle. It was a great fun night and very enjoyable all round. I have posted just a few images of the evening.

Their three boys attended and had a great time entertaining guests...!

A lot of drink was to be consumed so a large amount of glasses were needed it seemed!

A lot of their old friends turned up for a few drinks and reminiscing about old times.

Password protected gallery link here : http://www.pbase.com/richardchapman/battles_25th

Jigsaw4u AGM article

A recent article about the event I shot in the House of Commons, is now online on the jigsaw4u website. http://www.jigsaw4u.org.uk/files/news_articles/2009-09-16-agm-review-annual-reports-08-09.html

The article includes a full summary of the event and my photos, enjoy.

View the rest of my photos here: http://www.pbase.com/richardchapman/jigsaw4u_agm

Nature Portfolio Update

I have updated my 'Birds and Wildlife' Portfolio heavily with some recent images. The gallery is now very varied with lots of British wildlife as well as nature from abroad.

Below are some of the images from my portfolio, enjoy..!

To view my portfolio please visit this link: http://www.pbase.com/richardchapman/birds_and_wildlife

I need some help identifying some of these animals so email me if your sure!

Jigsaw4u AGM

I was asked recently to photograph charity Jigsaw4u's AGM in Portcullis House, House of Commons, London. I was overly happy to be asked and stoked to shoot at the House of Commons. After going through security and collecting my pass I was told I entered at the wrong entrance..! So I had to be transported across from Westminster Hall to .. I then was quickly briefed and ready to shoot. It was a fun afternoon and I really enjoyed covering it.

As per always I have posted some photos of the day.

A full attention was recieved from everyone!

Many different people from different Media were present, jotting away.

Anne Davies, Chief Executive of Jigsaw4u gave a series of speeches on their work in the UK and abroad.

A series of awards were presented for strong participants in jigsaw4u's work and message.

Different people from all over the UK and abroad were present and got to mingle during a coffee break..!

A series of speakers spoke about their work with jigsaw4u with powerful messages.

It was a genuine fun event to shoot and I had a brilliant time doing so. Jigsaw4u are a charity that specialise in helping bereaved and troubled children and have a very strong message to spread and do excellent work. Please visit their website for more info, www.jigsaw4u.org.uk

To view the rest of my photos please visit this gallery link, http://www.pbase.com/richardchapman/jigsaw4u_agm

White Balance - Thoughts and Ideas

I thought that I would write up some thoughts for today about 'White Balance'. I believe white balance to be very underestimated by many photographers. This is because many photographers just leave their white balance on 'auto white balance'. I believe some photographer's do this purely based around the effort of changing it and believing it has little effect when it is changed.

However I play with white balance a lot and believe it is a great tool to improving your photography. I change the white balance based on the conditions and lighting of my surroundings. If it is a very bright sunny day I will shoot with the white balance set to sunny, and if I use flash I will set the white balance to flash etc. I follow the lighting as best as I can. White balance is very easy to change on a DSLR, with my Canon 40D I simply hold a button and spin a dial quickly, its very easy and effective when I do so.

One of my most favourite examples of how white balance can affect your images is shown below.

I was out shooting in a forest when I saw this lovely green moss on the base of a tree. I was shooting with 'auto' white balance to see what results I could pick up. This was the initial shot I produced. (Note, both of these images are taken straight out of camera with no post processing or photoshop techniques applied.)

As you can see the image looks very 'muddy' and would require a lot of post-processing or photoshopping work to make it look more natural to its full potential. The colours look false and dim and I did not like the effect the image produced.

So next I decided to change the white balance from 'auto' to 'cloudy'. It was a very overcast day and this white balance suited the lighting conditions nicely. This next photo was taken moments after the first shot with 'auto' white balance, with the same camera, lens, shutter speed and aperture value. The only thing I changed was the white balance to the 'cloudy' setting.

From this photo you can see a huge difference. The 'auto' settings got the white balance completely wrong. From turning a wheel on the camera quickly you can see the dramatic difference that has occurred. The photo has improved drastically. The colours and warmth of the photo are correct even without post processing or photoshopping.

I highly recommend changing white balance settings in camera as they really help improve your images. My example shows this well and I could not believe how amazing the difference was when I changed it initially. White balance may seen as something you can correct easily when photoshopping or post-processing, but I believe doing it in camera creates more natural photographic results and saves a lot of time too.

For more thoughts on white balance and more detailed explanations please visit this link by Sean McHugh http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm . It is a really fab article and has very detailed yet simple explanations and examples.

Flickr

I finally got round to getting a flickr account recently, so I thought I would share it with y'all.

I have decided that I will use it primarily for art photography and experimentations, hopefully recieving helpful feedback on how to improve. I feel I am improving all the time as a photographer so this could help me even further.

If you have a flickr account feel free to add me as a friend.

View my account here : www.flickr.com/richardchapman

Me

People have been moaning they dont see enough pictures of me so I thought I would stick a load of new ones up. These fab portraits of me were done by Barney Webster. He is a great photographer and friend of mine so please check him out.

So onto the photos...!

Its rare I like photos of myself, but I think Barney did a great job for this portrait , I hope you agree..Here I am with my biggest piece of glass. What a beaut she is optically and physically.
Here I am playing with the Joby Gorillapod. These things are great when your out as you dont have to lug around a tripod. They are easily usable and can balance on almost anything, as you can see from this shot.Here I am again with my 70-200, this time in monochrome ;) .

I don't think I could have ended this blog post without a shot of Barney. Please do check his work out here: www.flickr.com/bwebsterphotos