Peter Northall Photography Blog

Too busy to blog??

2010-08-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

So sorry, I know, it's been ages (1 month). A fascinating time photographically speaking. My submission for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize went in yesterday. Three photos, but I think I should wait until the judging is finished before I display them online. Then there's Dan & Lia's wedding in Wales, on the Gower peninsula. Great fun, fantastic celebration and photos, the album can be seen here...Dan & Lia. Must go work again now...

Busy busy busy...

2010-07-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

Summer weddings...(especially Daniel & Lia's in Wales), portraiture...(especially Peter Spencer's photo on the beach in Cornwall), results from the lens tests and the lab tests... news shoots for Sky News on their News Bike... commercial work for FIT Creative (nice people to do business with), Blimey, I feel I haven't stopped for months. It has really been quite manic, but lots of fun.

So, Dan & Lia's wedding... great! The weather was almost perfect for photography. Light cloud breaking up the warm sunshine. All day (two days actually) to make as many pics as I wanted, and they were totally into the idea of the true photojournalist wedding album. That doesn't mean I don't shoot some set ups too; with fields and trees, old castles and perfect light for contre jour I was somewhat spoilt for choice. Can't post any pics yet as they haven't seen them, but as soon as they have...

Must work now... more later...

I know, but I've been soo busy!...

2010-06-25T03:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I should first update the 5x4 issue. I bought a new (old) lens from ebay. I've used it quite recently, both as a comparative test lens and in anger. I'd love to tell you that the results are great but I haven't got them back from the lab yet. I'm trying out another lab in order to check their results against Dunns Imaging in Birmingham. Dunns did an ok job of dev'ing and scanning and are the best price for 5x4 negative scanning that I've come across, so I just want to see why the other labs are much more expensive. I'll let you know, yeah sooner this time, I promise.

5x4 update

2010-06-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hmm... well it seems that my 150 mm lens is quite soft. The pin sharp results I was expecting are far from that. I think I'll have the negs scanned at a second lab too, just to eliminate scanning as the source of the problem.

MPP & the first 4 frames.

2010-05-26T01:39:00.001-07:00

So, remembering back to my photography student days I successfully (I think) loaded the darkslides with Kodak Porta 160 (colour neg). Then it was off for a picnic in the local park with my young daughter and her friends and my MPP. On such a lovely sunny day I was expecting great things of myself and the camera... so what did I learn?
I had forgotten how difficult it can be to compose through the camera (difficult to see and upside down), with most of the composing work having to be done at concept. And working with kids and a 5x4??!!! OMG, it takes far too long to hold their attention for the duration. So preparation is everything, don't even try to rush it, at least not until I've streamlined my system a little.
I did manage 2 shots of the kids, followed by two test shots of colour charts for calibration purposes. The negs are now in the hands of the Royal Mail en-route to my lab (Dunns Imaging in the Midlands). The lab are new to me too, as I haven't processed any 5x4 for many years. So I'll see in a few days how the experiment went, watch this space...

new client, tough brief (smile!)

2010-05-21T08:53:00.001-07:00

I've just acquired another new commercial client which always brings a smile to my face, but - phew - a tough first brief.
The client is a mature creative company (I love working with creative people, it makes discussing ideas so enjoyable) and they've set me what I think is a bit of a test.
I must create a classic, flattering and positive portrait of a dark skinned woman of Nigerian descent. So what's the difficulty you might ask? well... the location is a small, poorly lit, cluttered industrial food production unit on a trading estate.
Thank God that I love a challenge! :)
You'll see the pic here...

A thought to ponder...

2010-05-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

This excellent comment, which is from an article by Sean O'Hagan in The Guardian (18/04/10), sums up the many issues currently causing such concern in photo/media circles....

"Today, photography...is a contested sphere in which all our collective anxieties converge: terrorism, paedophilia, intrusion, surveillance.
We insist on the right to privacy and, simultaneously, snap anything and everyone we see and everything we do - in public and in private - on mobile phones and digital cameras."

It also speaks perfectly of the content of one of my submissions to the National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing prize this year, watch this space, you'll see it here first.

I'm a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!

2010-05-14T00:46:00.001-07:00

Not again, surely! In December the architectural photographer, Grant Smith, was 'stopped' (two police cars, one police van, blue lights, hands restrained behind his back - basically he was treated like a suspected dangerous criminal) and searched while photographing Sir Christopher Wren's Christ Church in The City of London. This week he was stopped again while photographing the City skyline.

Numerous official bodies representing both professional and amateur photographers, plus unions, media groups and newspapers, have had extensive discussions with the Met Police during which earnest assurances have been given regarding respect for citizens rights, all to no avail. It seems that sections of the police (beat bobbies) will resort to mis-using section 44 of the terrorism act as a lazy alternative to intelligent policing (may it rest in peace).

The misuse of section 44 has been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights yet this seems to have had no impact on those who are expected to uphold the law in the UK.

With a new government now in place promising to rein in the power of the state I think now is a good time to make representations to our (new?) MP's and local police forces to maintain a strong public profile for this important issue of civil liberties.

At stake is not only the ability to take a simple photo of something you might find pleasing, but at the other end of the scale is the fundamental freedom of the press to report what they deem needs reporting - this is the foundation of democracy. It must be defended. Get out your pen and paper - or laptop - today. Together we CAN make a difference.

Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize

2010-05-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

An appropriate subject for my first blog with google... At last after an absence of 25 years I have a 5x4 camera again. For those of you who don't know, this is a camera with a film (yes, film) format of 5" x 4", resulting in extremely high quality images - the scanned negative usually produces a file of around 80 mb!

The camera is an MPP Mk Vll, with a 150mm schneider glass. I intend using it primarily for portraiture. Although I have been pleased and surprised by the quality of image I can achieve with my Canon 5D mk ll, nothing digital (particularly in my price range) comes even close to the quality that can be achieved by a 5x4 camera.

Although the MPP has a reasonable set of movements, I don't imagine using them much in the portraiture, at least not with my current project. The project?.. I'm preparing for my first submission to the National Portrait Gallery's 'Taylor Wessing' portrait prize. I have one photo ready for printing, shot with the 5D. Several more are in the planning stage, 2 on 35mm and 3 on 5x4. I'll keep you informed of progress.

You can see a variety of my pics, including some for the prize, on my Facebook page 'Peter Northall Photography'. If you like what you see there please click the 'Like' button on top of that page.