The Money Artist

This is the page of the author, journalist and photographer Arwyn Bailey, also known as "The Money Artist".

[arwynb]

Our latest video of one satisfied client.

Arwyn Bailey.

The Money Artist.

[arwynb]

Be Inspired…

Once in a while you attend a meeting and what is said, or presented sort of sticks. I recall being at a business awards lunch, a little while ago, and the Duke of Edinburgh was presenting the awards. He gave the obligatory speech. In was sceptical, especially with a few republican tendencies being in tow, but Prince Phillip is one of the most erudite and humorous speakers that I have ever listened too. He was far from the figure that the media portray. Yesterday I was invited to attend a breakfast and the international speaker Carole Spiers was the guest presenter. Something prompted me to attend this small gathering. I went along with my prejudice intact, as I am not enamoured by many of these stress management and motivational coaches, they are often successful in telling you how to be successful without ever having run a successful business themselves. I was struck by the down to earth, practical and hard hitting advice of Carole. What she presented was simple, easy to follow, practical steps. Carole pulled no punches, stated the proverbial obvious, but she could back up what she said with personal testimony from her own life and what she had achieved within the business environ herself. Her story gave her credibility. As a listener you were easily engaged with her words and it was not just rhetoric and theory. Here are just a few of the things that she said: "There are no failures, there is only learning and discovery." "There is nothing wrong with social networking, it is discipline alongside social networking that matters." "Fundamental marketing is getting to heart of people." "When you pick up the phone there has to be a reason behind it." "The key to what has not worked is letting it go." "Does every web page in your business have a call to action and a testimonial on it?" "Is your web page linked to your blog so that your website has new information on it on a regular basis?" "Are your competitors on your google alerts?" "Use sites such as goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com to build a web presence." "Our learned behaviour gets in the way of achievement." "Remember your excitement as a child as to what you wanted to be? Go back and rediscover that level of excitement and drop the learned self limitations of being an adult." If you get the chance to attend a seminar or event where Carole is speaking, I would highly recommend your attendance. You can learn more about Carole at: http://www.carolespiers.co.uk/ Arwyn Bailey. The Money Artist.

[arwynb]

Let There be Light!

Many people, when talking about the school photographer, or wedding photographer, are often rather derisory. The expense, folk cry! It is perfectly true that more and more people are using hand held cameras on their phones or tablets, and they believe that they can line people up, or point at a landscape and snap away, and their images will be as good, or as near as dammit, as the professional. Why pay such a lot of money for a studio session, or for a photographer at a wedding? It is often true, though, that the images taken by a decent photographer are more imaginative and creative than those who leave their cameras on auto, and just snap away. For example, and here's a little photographers secret, I often line up the group shots at a wedding, facing away from the sun. I know how to compensate for the shadows. The happy snappers shots will come out with faces in shadow. If they are facing into the sun, I know what to ask the guests to do to prevent them from squinting. But, the main aim of any photographer is to tell a story either within one picture, or in a series of images. This takes imagination and skill. It maybe that folk can copy an idea, or concept, but this does not mean that they can create an image out of their own imagination. There is also the issue of light. For example, I can shoot in a dully lit church, with no flash, and get a decent shot of the couple saying their vows. This is unobtrusive, and few know that I am doing this with a 400mm zoom lens! I shoot the majority of a wedding, in the summer, without touching the flash, except for the dancing in the evening. I believe that the light and the use of the light can make or break an image.

As most people now have a camera, there is so much that can be achieved when knowledge of the light is employed. This is why we are starting our: Let There be Light course in January. The courses are conducted over three weeks, and each session lasts an hour and a half. Keep an eye out for more details shortly.

In the meantime, keep taking those shots, and remember the light, it is always the light!

[arwynb]

Using your camera...

Most people these days have a camera in their hands. This may be a mobile, tablet, even some computers have built in cameras. The question arises, therefore, why buy a separate camera. Shouldn't you just save money and stick to one device? There are still good reasons for buying a decent camera, but why. Firstly, when thinking about a camera it needs to be something that offers more than your mobile device. Any camera that you buy may have built in flash, but is there an option for a separate flash unit? Built in flash direct a light on your subjects, and this can make your images look sharp and create harsh shadows. A flash that can be used off your camera, or mounted on top of the camera, and bounced off a ceiling or wall can be used to soften the light source and reduce harsh shadows and light creating a better image. Being able to set your aperture, ISO and shutter speed settings, on a camera, sets it apart from a mobile device. Being able to use these settings will enable you to be more flexible in your approach to photography. But, all of these features are only useful if you take your camera off full auto settings. Auto focus s one thing, but relying upon the camera to define all settings for you will create stock images. If you just need auto settings, then your mobile device am be perfectly adequate for your needs and spending our hard waned cash on a camera am be wasted. If, however, you are prepared to learn, then some cameras that are worth considering are: Canon Powershot G15; some of the Lumix (Panasonic) G range of cameras; Olympus OM-D or Pen range of cameras. The choice is numerous. Some of the digital offerings from the likes of Samsung, offer manual features through touch screen interfaces. Yo can gain great results from many compact units that offer so much more than any standard mobile device, it is important though, to a liaise yourself with your camera and use the controls to their fullest. To do anything else, is a bit of a waste of your time and money. Arwyn Bailey. aka: The Money Artist. PS: Contact us for details of our beginners photography courses. Http://gponlinephotos.com/contact.php/

[arwynb]

Images from a shoot based around Angels in the book of Revelation in the Bible. On September 12th, shooting the rest. In the afternoon I would like to shoot outdoors (rain or shine), people dressed for work, school, study, with musical instruments, with the tools/instruments of their trade, in a couple of shots in Old Redding, over-looking Harrow. Can you be there, ready and dressed. The more the better! Please contact me if you can be there. (http://gponlinephotos.com/contact.php)

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

camera in repair…

[arwynb]

No matter what…

My main camera is in for repair (it happens even to the best cameras), and I find myself needing to shoot some pictures for a year long project, in low light, but I do not want to use flash as it is too harsh! Instead of panicking I grabbed my wife's nice little Lumix (really a Panasonic) GC1 camera, fitted with a standard 14x42 mm lens. It has built in flash, even a horseshoe mount, but best of all, It has some other great settings. I switch it to Aperture Priority, and as i am going to be working in low light conditions, I set the ISO to 1600.

I realise that this will create some "noise" on the images, but Adobe Lightroom will be able to cope with a bit of reduction. Furthermore, a lot of the images will end up being balck and white and some distortion will give the images a nice look and feel. The lighting is varied colours as well, so I want to capture the different ambient lights. I also set the stabilisation mode, as the shutter speed may go as low as 1/50th. Again, if I am careful, some sharpening in Adobe Lightroom may improve things. The event is a leaving party, and I want to catch something of the sombre mood, the joy of knowing the person, as well as somethign of the speeches against some stornger lighting.  Silhouetting can be dramatic, and I think that this little camera will cope. I trott of to the event, and I am pleased with the results! With very little processing in Adobe Lightroom, I have got some great images that can be added to my long term project, and they are more than adequate for printing, from the RAW images, though i will not be able to blow them up to a huge size. You can see some of the results on this blog (in lo-resolution).

This goes to show that with even a small camera, you can achieve some great results if you are brave enough to get away from the awful auto settings of most cameras. Learn the settings and look at what your camera can do.

Start to read up on ISO settings, apertures, and depth of field. Then get out, and just experiment. Your first images might be awful, at first, but, as you persevere, you will not want to go back to auto settings of your camera.

Why not get back to basics, and learn your craft! Cheers.

Arwyn Pennington Bailey

aka: The Money Artist

[arwynb]

light and no light…

I wonder how you define "good weather"? Most of us deem a "nice day" when referring to the natural elements as being a day of warmth and sunshine. But, is this really the case? We cannot live without water, and therefore we have to experience rainfall. The strength of wind, and lightning, and other extreme forms of weather can excite, intrigue and terrify us in equal measure. I would suggest that when referring to photography, we should embrace all of the elements as every natural condition can produce some quality images whether it be raining, misty, sunny, cloudy or stormy. Producing images in the wide and varied conditions of nature is sometimes challenging, but it is never impossible to get a good photograph, if you can tap into your own natural surroundings, with the right use of your camera. It may be easier to capture images on a DSLR than a smart phone or tablet, but, it is still possible no matter the device that you use. Look at the following couple of images. The first is taken at the last knockings, just as the sun starts to dip, creating long shadows. I have then left the merest tint of the green in the image, with an over arching black and white filter to give the image greater depth and drama. The second image is a view from a tall building, the very next day. The view from this tower is normally many miles, but on this particular day, even at around noon, the mist was still hanging around. But still, some great shots can be taken, by using imagination and the right settings, and a black and white effect is employed, as there was little variety in the colour of the image. I have left the merest fraction of colour n the track and some grass, drawing the eye downwards, making the viewer wonder what lies down the track and through the woods.

This final image shows how black and white can simplify images. This is personal choice. but this image, in colour, was bright, yes, but much of the detail was overwhelmed by the colours. I took it into a black and white, and suddenly you see the details on the grasses far more, and the bending of them in the wind, rather than viewing the flowers and not much else, as happens in a colour image.

I hope that you are inspired to pick p your camera, smart phone or tablet, and get out there, no matter the weather, to take some great shots int he natural light that is the best light possible. Arwyn Bailey. The Money Artist.

[arwynb]