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It’s been a while since I blogged. This hasn’t been intentional and I haven’t put away my camera. In fact I’ve probably been taking more photographs each week than since I first got the bug. It’s all been gig photography though, and I figured that there were only so many photographs of moody acoustic musicians you could cope with.

However, I did take some family photographs on Sunday and it got me thinking about the whole “photography” thing again.

I got into photography because I wanted to take better pictures. And one of the main reasons for that was to be able to take pictures of my family. This I’ve ended up spending huge amounts of time and money on my hobby has never changed the core of that – to take better pictures.

And to be honest, you don’t need the gear and you don’t need spend large amounts of time to take good photographs. If you enjoy pressing the button and the person on the other side of the lens is enjoying the moment too, you’ll end up with something pretty special.

Tagging your photos – It’s been a frequent debate amongst my photography (and music) friends.

It’s never been something I’ve been particularly comfortable doing. I know how incredibly precious my photographs are to me, and in an effort to not get thin skinned about feedback on them I’ve adopted a casual attitude to them. Part of that casual (and nervous) approach has been to put my name in the EXIF and nowhere else. My thoughts have always been somewhere between “is my image good enough to put my name on?” and “will my name on it detract from the image?”.

If I post images here, you can bet it’s because I’m proud of them in some way or another. They might not be much compared to the average photographer, but they’re still important to me. Same goes for things on Facebook etc.

A few things happened over the last few months to make me revisit this and I’ve decided it’s time to try tagging my images. We’ll give it a go for a while anyway….

It’s been a quiet summer photographically. I’ve taken a decent number of photographs, but not the sort of things that I’d normally share here. After the frenzy of the Lagan Sessions, it was good to sit back, reflect an do other things.

But, as September approaches a new camera club season beckons and a few other things begin to creep in. All heralded by a photography weekend away in Donegal.

I believe this boat is referred to locally as Eddies Boat. You’ll probably be sick looking at it as I’ve a few shots of it I like.

There are some things that need to be in black and white. Graveyards are one of them.

Got access to Friar’s Bush Graveyard in Belfast a few weeks back. It’s the oldest graveyard in Belfast. These days it’s locked and access is typically by request only. The light was poor, but it was still a spooky place to visit.

I find it’s worth looking at these sort of places for photographs. It’s maybe a little morbid, but I guess fi you treat the place with respect and follow the simple rule of “leave no trace” then it’s not so bad. And I’m sure the ghosts enjoy a break from the monotony…

I like the ISO capabilities of the 5Dmk2. It’s great to be able to hand hold indoors without flash and still get something usable. It makes taking occasional photos in pubs possible.

I wonder if I announce I’m not happy with this, can I go back and try again. Just for the practice you understand. Not for the pints these wonderful devices generate…

I’ve sat on the other photographs of Susan for a few weeks now. Mostly I wasn’t happy with the poses and that in no way was the models fault. I’e started collecting model poses so I can get a few ideas for the next time I’m in this situation.

I took a little time tonight and think there may be a few I like.

Something about black and white that I’m really growing to love.

I’m really growing to love the sessions at The Townhouse Studio.

Between the education, the experience and the ideas it’s becoming a real go to event for me each month. Plus, the pictures I’m taking…

I took a little leap of faith with this shot tonight and introduced the background during post processing. As a colour image I felt it was out of place, but that may be because I knew it was added. In black and white, it worked a lot better to my eye. That said, I’ve slowly been making the background darker and darker so maybe I’m trying to remove it again subconsciously.

Oh, and I really need to work on my masking approach – this is not well masked when you view the 100% image.

The Mortello Tower, just outside Dungloe.

I posted on Twitter last night when I published the original photo of Jane. It’s not something I do a lot – I should really use this whole social media thing more…

Anyway, a comment from a friend about the crop of the image made me look again. I think he may have had a point….

It’s just a shame that her dress bled into the background in the shot. It’s a little to indistinct an edge for my liking.