February 2023

This journal records my actual 10,000 hours deliberate practice fine art photography study.

Hours 7,282 to 7,387

(March 2023)

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28^th February

Hours 7,383 to 7,387

(½h) updating this journal with notes from the last couple of days.

(½h) shooting at Stoke Common

(1h) processing the above images

(1h) recce and prep for tomorrow’s shoot with the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire at the Memorial Gardens.

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – 3 Nations competition against Westville in South Africa and Queensland in Australia.

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27^th February

Hours 7,379 to 7,382

(1h) reviewing the lens test shots. Also looking at the chromatic aberration which is easy to see numerically when looking at the spot RGB values in Capture One over areas where there is a sharp black/ white edge. Results:

• the a-mount Zeiss 24-70mm zoom showed a similar flat sharpness profile to the e-mount 70-200, with a sweet spot at f/5.6; but generally good throughout
• a little bit of yellow fringing at the sides.

(1h) creating the following Magritte inspired image:

The above used the “NightFromDay” Look Up Table in the ColourLookUp adjustment layer in photoshop to tone the foreground, and a separate starry night replacement for a daytime sky. Background, Stoke Common; foreground figures shot in my kitchen.

(2h) Amersham Photographic Society – PDI competition:

Image	…..	Comment
		“Appreciating Gerhardt Richter (The World’s Greatest Living Artist)” 16 Judge didn’t know who Gerhard Richter is and thought the part painting on the left, which balances the image, was superfluous.
		“Magritte at Lambourne” Held back – 18 and Commended However, the judge stated that he just didn’t know how to assess the image. He awarded the 18 for bravery.

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26^th February

Hours 7,377 to 7,378

(1h) reviewing the lens test shots with the following, perhaps slightly surprising, conclusions:

• the 70-200 GM II is sharpest at f/5.6 over the entire zoom lens with the possible exception of the extreme 200mm end were f/4 might be slightly better. In general good from f/2.8 out with a slight drop off at f/22
• the 35mm prime is noticeably sharper than the above zoom at f/1.4, is sharpest at f/2 and slightly and very gradually falls away as the aperture narrows

(½h) YouTube:

• The Photographic Eye: “The Tragic Story of Photographer Bob Carlos Clark” iconic photographer of the 1990’s who took his own life in 2006
• The Canvas: “Art for Art’s Sake | Does Art need a Purpose“
• Sean Tucker: “The Courage to be Disliked (a thought for makers)” – review of the book of the same name.

(½h) updating this journal.

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25^th February

Hours 7,375 to 7,376

(2h) mainly shooting (with a little bit of transferring to computer) lens test images.

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24^th February

Hours 7,371 to 7,374

(1h) creating a 10^th version of my “Magritte at Lambourne” series

Key changes to the above include:

• Gradual darkening of the left side of the image to keep the viewer in
• Removal of the overly light area of cloud, just above the man’s head on the left edge of the image
• Adjustment to the colour balance of the above area of sky to stop it looking too yellow.

(½h) preparing and submitting images for next Monday’s Amersham competition; the above and my “Admiring Gerhard Richter (The World’s Greatest Living Artist)” image. Neither of these are the typical “safe” competition entry – let’s see.

(½h) updating this journal

(2h) Shooting lens calibration shots.

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23^rd February

Hours 7,369 to 7,370

(½h) updating this journal

(1h) creating the Version IX of my “Magritte at Lambourne” series

(½h) finding another image for Monday’s PDI competition at Amersham and sending that together with the above and the revised first version (below) to Laurie Turner for comment.

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22^nd February

Hours 7,364 to 7,368

(1h) creating new version of Images 1 & 8 of my Magritte at Lambourne set based on Laurie’s comments

Revised Image	…..	Previous Image

(1h) updating this journal including all the notes from yesterday(2h) Amersham Colour Group

(1h) creating the following:

(2h) Amersham Colour Group – My Magritte at Lambourne images presented. General consensus was that the final image, VIII, contained too many, men that were in general too large.

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21^st February

Hours 7,359 to 7,363

(1h) creating the following update before sending to Laurie Turner for comment.

(1h) long conversation with Laurie Turner about the Golconda inspired images I had sent him:

Image	…..	Comments from Laurie
		“Magritte at Lambourne I” Arrangement of figures, very good. Perhaps darken the clubhouse. I prefer this to the Magritte original
		“Magritte at Lambourne II” Arrangement of figures – just wrong.
		“Magritte at Lambourne III” Better – simpler, than version II anyway.
		“Magritte at Lambourne IV” Extra content distracts from the main message.
		“Magritte at Lambourne V” Prefer the aspect ratio – and closer to the Magritte original.

(1h) creating the following new image, correcting the vanishing point on the foreground building:

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Society – Print Competition – set subject “Night” my images below:

Image	…..	Comments
		“El Mercat” Andorra 20 Great detail in the shop Eye follows the line of street lamps down the road. All good.
		“Surreal Dream – Night and Day” 17 Good, well balanced shot, would work well for an Estate Agent. [Judge did not understand what was going on.]
		“The Sandcastle of Lourdata” 17 Very good detail on the rock. Strangely, the lighting in the background doesn’t match the rock. Maybe it’s a composite [said without irony.]
		“Outside Claridges” 14 Sky blown out. Needed a neutral density filter to darken the sky. [Entirely missing the point]

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20^th February

Hours 7,354 to 7,358

(1h) updating this journal along with the associated Flickr site.

(2h) creating the following, with the inclusion of the foreground building and squishing the background building and floating men sideways to make them thinner, is closer to Magritte’s 1953 Golconda original:

(2h) Amersham Photographic Society – inspirational talk by Vanda Ralevska; awsome minimalist landscapes and a lot more.

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19^th February

Hours 7,349 to 7,353

(2h) FIAP entry: Tilted Rays in India – has a Child category so provided the opportunity for 2 new images.

(3h) creating further cut out men and the following versions of the “Golconda” image.

It was suggested that the bowler hat gave the impression that the men had their backs to the viewer, whereas the shoes implied that they were facing us. [Perhaps this is not a bad thing!]. However, this inspired the following:

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18^th February

Hours 7,344 to 7,348

Notes from Hilary Bailey’s presentation to the Amersham Photographic Society on 4^th April 2022 on creating custom brushes is updated below:

1. create a mono image less than 3,000 pixels in all dimensions. As simple as possible, remembering that black means “paint” and white means “transparent”
2. the image does not need to be hard B&W as grey means “paint with reduced opacity”
3. Edit – Define Brush Preset
4. Name brush something sensible – it’s now both selected and in the library
5. Go to the brush setting window and select and required dynamics such as angle or size jitter.

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17^th February

Hours 7,341 to 7,343

(½h) updating this journal

(2h) processing and cutting out self-portraits with bowler hat

(½h) YouTube: Theresa Jackson “How to find, install and use Kyle Webster Photoshop brushes“

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16^th February

Hours 7,338 to 7,340

(½h) update on my potential A Panel from Chris Palmer:

“I have a real problem with images 12 & 14, which give the impression of mirrored / very similar shots.  They are merely factual documentary pictures. Your statement concludes “This panel reflects my appreciation for the new role of the trees on the common: their collective elegance, strength and resilience.”  Hence they have no relevance to the statement either.”

Chris Palmer FRPS and head of the Visual Arts Distinctions Panel.

(½h) YouTube:

• Sotheby’s: “In The Gallery: Mary McCartney on the Modern and Contemporary“

(2h) Amersham PIC Group

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15^th February

Hours 7,334 to 7,337

(1h) Amersham coffee club

(1h)YouTube:

• zczfilms: “Leonora Carrington at Tate Liverpool“
• Sean Tucker: “Making Candid Portraits in Street Photography (feat. Dawn Eagleton)“
• TheCanvas: “Basquiat and The Paradox of Black Law Enforcement“
• Sotheby’s:
  • “Expert Voices: Emma Baker on Richter’s Abstraktes Bild“
  • “Gerhard Richter’s Monumental Masterpiece“
• The Garlish Grackle: “Albrecht Dürer- The Apocalypse Woodcut Series One ‘The Martyrdom of Saint John‘”
• Contemporary Art Issue: “Top 10 Self-Taught Artists of the Contemporary Era“

(2h) preping PDIs and prints for the Boka Print FIAP Salon.

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14^th February

Hours 7,330 to 7,333

(½h) updating this journal

(1h) shooting at Stoke Common

(½h) preparing prints and PDIs for next weeks SPPC competition.

(1h) YouTube: “Leonora Carrington. 1992 documentary based around a visit to the artist in her home in Mexico City“

(1h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – One Image challenge. Many interesting techniques employed including:

• Flood plug-in photoshop filter – to create realistic reflections.

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13^th February

Hours 7,327 to 7,329

(1h) working on the “One Image Curve” composite below, including automated sky substitution which works rather well including changing the colour tone of the foreground.

(2h) Amersham Photographic Society – Print Competition, my entries below:

Image	…..	Comments
		“Pink Balloon” 16 Generally I don’t like colour-popped images, but this works rather well and the colour is important to the structure of the overall picture and ties it all together. The composition, with three differently sized images arranged on a common horizon, works well. The hint of cityscape and clouds is pleasing. Nothing could be done to improve it; it’s score reflects the quality of the competition. [I think the grey background, rather than making the individual images jump forward as intended, in a print format with white mount, just made the overall image look a bit drab.]
		“Long Shadow of Mayfair” 20 – third place The main subject perfectly mirrors the silhouetted character in the Peaky Blinders poster and is well positioned in the frame. The fact that the sky is blown out doesn’t matter at all/

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12^th February

Hours 7,324 to 7,326

(½h) updating this journal

(½h) shooting the following, for the “Night” competition at the Stoke Poges Photographic Club next week:

(1h) processing the above which is a composite with a daytime sky I shot a while ago.

(1h) processing the following for Tuesday’s “One Image” competition this week at SPPC.

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11^th February

Hours 7,322 to 7,323

(½h) preparing prints for Monday’s competition at the Amersham Photographic Society

(1½h) YouTube:

• Art History School: “Otto Dix: A Master of Expressionism“
• HENI Talks: “Rembrandt: Facing the Darkness” in particular how his portraits and self-portraits displayed the trials of time
• Photoshop Training Channel: “Recreate The “Prodigal Son” Poster in Photoshop”
  • Putting layer effects on a separate layer
  • creating vector masks using the pen tool

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10^th February

Hour 7,321

(½h) updating this journal

(½h) processing a new version of “Long Shadow of Mayfair” below, incorporating the suggestion from yesterday evening of slightly burning in the highlights at the sides of the image to concentrate the attention on the middle section.

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9^th February

Hours 7,317 to 7,320

(½h) updating this journal

(1h) painting a back plate for my Royal Academy Summer Exhibition entry.

(½h) YouTube:

• KidMillions: “Face to Face- Carl Gustav Jung” – original TV documentary
• HENI Talks: “Reflecting on Gerhard Richter“

(2h) Amersham Mono group – generally “Long Shadow of Mayfair” was considered a better competition candidate than “Outside Claridges” which was thought to be “a bit cluttered”.

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8^th February

Hours 7,315 to 7,316

(1h) Amersham Coffee club

(½h) YouTube:

• FromLight2Art: “Henri Cartier-Bresson – Street Photography Legend with a Fixed Lens“
• HENI Talks: “When Salvador Dalí met Sigmund Freud: Metamorphosis of Narcissus“

(½h) reprocessing images 11 & 15 from my potential RPS A panel; just lifting the shadows slightly to bring out more detail.

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7^th February

Hours 7,310 to 7,314

(½h) updating this journal

(1h) dealing with the print section of the Vernon Normandy FIAP Salon Entry

(1½h) YouTube:

• Samuel Streetlife: “Meet Germany’s most respected Street Photographer – Siegfried Hansen“
• Tate Shots: “Leonora Carrington – Britain’s Lost Surrealist“
• The Blind Dweller: “The Fascinating Life and Art of Sveva Caetani“

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – Rosebowl competition Round 3, which we convincingly won.

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6^th February

Hours 7,305 to 7,309

(1h) choosing images for next week’s Amersham Print Competition. In particular, I resurrected the Pink Balloon image that I made last year then discarded, but I think it will work well in print. I also rediscovered my stranger person in the sea, which I have renamed “The Sublime”, but I think this is too risky and I will go with my “Outside Claridges” monochrome, which is safer.

(2h) Vernon Normandy FIAP Salon Entry – PDI & Print

(2h) Amersham Photographic Society – Friendly Competition against Raheny CC in Ireland.

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5^th February

Hours 7,300 to 7,304

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4^th February

Hours 7,296 to 7,299

(3h) entering the 11th Greek Photographic Circuit – 12 entirely new images to try out. This is critical as I am 33 short on the number of works accepted for an EFIAP distinction.

(1h) preparing prints for next week’s Amersham Coffee and Mono group meetings.

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3^rd February

Hours 7,291 to 7,295

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2^nd February

Hours 7,286 to 7,290

(1h) updating this journal, including notes from the YouTubes below.

(1h) painting my entry for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.

(1½h) YouTube:

• The Photographic Eye: “The Unexpected Key to Great Portrait Photography“, talk, build trust, explore things that are important to them, then ask the subject to imagine either a related event happening in the future, e.g., them achieving an award, or remembering something that has happened in the past
• B&H Photo: “Lighting Portraits and Headshots on Location” – tips for handling shots in a fast moving wedding scenario:
  • Keep it Simple – use the minimum number of lights; 80% will be on camera flash
  • A.S.I.F. – set Aperture, Speed & ISO (up to 3,200 is fine) to control the lighting of the background then use the flash in TTL mode to light the subject
  • Indoors: in landscape mode shoot over your right shoulder so that the ceiling and wall behind you becomes a huge softbox

(½h) shooting my lighting modifiers.

(1h) writing the “Camera and Lenses” section of the current “my kit” page

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1^st February

Hours 7,282 to 7,285

(1h) updating this journal including new month admin and a lot of work on yesterday’s competition entries.

(2h) painting the inside of the canvas print for my entry to this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

(1h) processing the images of my photography equipment for the “My Kit” series of pages.

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(January 2023)