New Website on Squarespace

I finally made the leap and moved my website (davedickson.photography) to Squarespace. I’m no coding genius but I was quite pleased with my efforts using Dreamweaver to construct my own photography website two years ago. But, having made the change, I’ve come to the realisation that I was not being very effective in the use of my time. In designing the new website, I’ve made changes in minutes that would have taken me hours in Dreamweaver, mainly because I wasn’t sufficiently skilled or knowledgeable.

Making the decision to concentrate on photography and not on web design was one I should have taken some time ago. The new site has images, projects I’m working on and my photo development blog. Please have a look around the site and come back and see how it develops. Comments are always welcome too.

Meeting some heroes !

Last weekend was a bit special. On Friday I collected Adam Gibbs from Gatwick and on Saturday we journeyed north to the Lake District to the Northern Photography Show. I got to see Tom Heaton and spent an evening with Simon Baxter and even met the famous Meg. Adam and I also spent an evening photographing at Lodore Falls with Paul Thomson, a local photographer and YouTuber.

Adam and I concentrated on the Borrowdale area of the Lakes, the weather was (untypically for Cumbria) too glorious but I think he had a good time. He managed to make a v-log and you can see the results by clicking on the link.

Having spent some quality time with an experienced and talented photographer, there are two things I find worthy of comment. Firstly, is how he struggles like the rest of us to find an image, but secondly how he sees a composition in all the clutter of a landscape. It was an object lesson to me in how hard you have to work to get good images and how training your eye to ‘see’ a composition is such a vital skill.

I hope to meet up with Adam again in the future because he was excellent company but in the meantime there are skills to practice and things to reflect upon.

Cornwall Workshop

It's been some time since I discussed my plans for my photographic development and, truth be told, I'm still finding that working for a living is taking up most of my time. I came to the conclusion that part of any strategy should include some formal learning opportunities and that I also needed to set aside time just to concentrate on photography. 

While I learn something new every time I go out with my camera, the learning curve really accelerates when in a workshop or undertaking a course or similar. Workshops tend to be expensive but you must weigh up the cost against the opportunity to learn quickly from experienced professionals. 

My first workshop last week was almost life-changing. 

I fortuously chose to spend a week with Available Light Images in the shape of Alister Benn and his wife Juanli, a photography double-act par excellence based on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

My week with them in Cornwall has set me on my way with some clear goals in terms of equipment, techniques and, most importantly, the right mental approach and thought processes when trying to capture an image.

I can see clearly now that this is something that I want to work at and improve. I came away from my time with Alister and Juanli with a much clearer idea of just what I need to do in terms of:

• Improving my equipment, so that I will be technically capable of taking great quality images in the worst of conditions.
• Developing my eye and brain to be able to see and understand the elements of good composition and to be able to find a composition in a scene.
• Widening my toolbox of techniques and skills, both in-camera and on the computer, so that I can absolutely maximise the creative options offered by a good composition.

I had a great time, not just learning about the art and skills of taking images (and we spent time each day working on post processing skills) but also in the food, wine, conversation and good company.

I can recommend Alister and Juanli wholeheartedly.  Suffice to say that I have now booked another week with these guys in Scotland in 2018 ..... all part of my development strategy.

Alister & Juanli (Available Light Images)