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Confessions of a Couch Photographer

johnbotton_camera-aotearoa-artist10 WAYS TO GET YOUR FOJO WORKING

By John Botton

As I staggered to the summit of North Ridge on my daily dog walk (OK, it was a hill that felt really steep) dragging two puffing bullmastiffs behind me, I fixated on the stunning cumulus clouds billowing upward into the heavens above the Auckland skyline to the South, the late afternoon light describing the subtle curves and nuances of every shade of white.

In my minds eye I could visualise the framing and exposure settings of my photograph. I could even imagine the final print hanging on the entrance wall being admired by visitors. Alas, I had no camera with me and the truth be known, I was in a photographic slump. It was the equivalent of writers block or a bad case of stage fright. I had lost my Foto-Mojo or Fojo for short. This got me thinking about ways to get my camera out and re-discover all the things that motivated me when I bought my first digital camera. Here are a few ideas that I hope will re-ignite your photographic fuse.

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Before you push the button

PRINTING BETTER LANDSCAPE IMAGES

Many photographers I print for often ask for tips on how best to prepare their landscape images for printing. In reality, good prints start before you even hit the shutter button. A solid landscape capture workflow is essential but, unlike the simplicity of good old film process, digital photography comprises a myriad of interdependent systems and settings to achieve the desired output.

Let’s begin with the origination - your digital camera (this may also apply to smart phone cameras in the future), go into the menu settings for the camera and find the reference to ‘colour space’. You should have at least two options here, sRGB and Adobe RGB. Make sure you have Adobe RGB selected. 

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Ross Anderson

ross-anderson-aotearoa-artistPHOTOGRAPHIC SURREALISM

Ross Anderson, a 17 year old photographer born in Northern Ireland, raised in the Northern Rivers of Australia and attended ACG Senior College in Auckland for the last two years, just completed his high school studies with a cracking 92% for his photographic art. This is his story.

I opted for photography due to lack of other options as despite being a high scoring student, my almost illegible hand writing caused me to achieve less than favourable scores in classical studies.

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Camera Obscura

CAMERA OBSCURA

Artists using photographic references have long been accused of laziness, or even worse, excelling in technical capability while lacking in creativity. Others feel that it is a legitimate method of reference. We investigated.

While there are those who say nothing can substitute experiencing a subject in real life: being able to touch it, smell it, walk around it, inspect it, and all the rest of it, almost all artists will photo-reference at some point; not in their daily work but as part of their training to improve their artistic eye.

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Bruce Mortimer

Bruce-Mortimer-aotearoa-artistGRAPHIC DETAIL

A life-long artist with no formal art training, graphite photo-realist, Bruce Mortimer, whose work has been sold all over the world, describes himself as a ‘self-learner’. He takes his art very seriously, committing himself to learning with a passion and working to a plan. This applies equally from his art and photography, to learning languages or sport. In this article he writes at length about his life as an artist and his quest to find peace and a sense of value in an increasingly frenetic global village.

My interest in art began at school, and I have practiced it in one form or another ever since. Although I enjoyed art at school and was competent even at that stage with pencil drawing, I developed a genuine love of photography in my early teens that I still have. Even then I approached my photography as an artist, in that I photographed subject matter in my own way and which had meaning for me.

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Composition in Perspective

CONTROLLING YOUR COMPOSITION

It is extremely frustrating pouring hours of time and effort into a project only to find it wanting. As artists it is our very nature to break the rules and push the boundaries of perception ever further but it makes a lot of sense to keep the accepted conventions of composition in mind when you start a new project.

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