I have finally got to using my planetyawn.org website and have migrated this blog to there so for the latest information and posts please go to
http://www.planetyawn.org

How often do you use your zoom lens and not really know what it does for you. In my classes that I have taught this term I have discovered that most people do not think about how an image is drawn by their lens. I think that it is important to learn how a lens draws a scene or image.
Using the work of two photographers to see the difference between images.
Garry Winogrand predominately used the 28mm lens and his images look like these two examples.


Notice how they have depth in the image with everything being rendered sharp, though use of aperture and focal length. This then means to make dynamic images he needs to be in the action or as close as possible to it.

However, if you look at the work of Helen Levitt.

She is using a longer lens as the depth in her images is not so obvious and it was when I was looking at these images by Helen Levitt that I decided that I need to try something radical and get something between them. So I went and bought a Voightlander 40mm lens that had a contax mount and had it altered to fit a Sony DSLR camera and found that it was just the right focal length for me. For a more details decription of the delights of a 40mmfocal length of lens Mike Johnson has a lot to say about this. Now each of us has different requirements from our images and most of us if using an APS-C sensor would be happy with a 35mm f1.8 lens or even a 30mm f2.8 macro lens for something different on these cameras. This sort of lens would then approximate our normal angle of view on a APS-C DSLR camera. If however you are doing portraits then you need something longer and the way a 85mm lens draws people on a APS-C sensor for me is about right. If however you are lucky enough to have a full frame camera then my personal preference is for a 135mm lens on this sort of camera.

This is the view from the counter, while I was on stage on the Sony Stand, at the Focus On Imaging event, held at the Birmingham NEC March 2010. I am home after four hectic days, talking photography and what it is to be a fashion and beauty photographer to anyone who wanted to listen. It was a highly enjoyable event and I hope I got to inspire everyone who stopped, thanks for the taking the time to listen, I hope that you took something positive away from the presentation.

Developing your voice as a fashion photographer

As a fashion photographer you need to develop a personal style:
- This makes it easy for you to sell your work.
- Stand out from others, in a crowded market place.
- Makes it easy for you to be able to talk about what it is that you do.
- Develop the type of person (woman or man) that you want to photograph, this also becomes part of your style.
- Work on the type of fashion you want to shoot and become known for, (i.e. menswear, outdoors, high fashion, casual, etc).
A style is hard to develop, because in many ways especially when you are starting you want to be able to photograph anything and in any way. Which, is all well and good but that is experimentation, it will let you find a style and develop your photographic skills, but it will not lead you to working regularly as a fashion photographer. A client wants to book or hire someone who will deliver what is in their portfolio and not surprise them with a new “style”. This means developing new ideas and testing that is away from your style, should be something that you think carefully about. before you start putting it into a portfolio. Only put it into the portfolio when it is ready and a coherency that can add to your existing work if it conflicts then you need to work out who you want to be again and then pursue that new kind of work.

Sorry if you have been here and not found me being active. I have started a new blog at http://www.planetyawn.org and have been putting my energies into that instead however I have realised that I can post to both so I will now start doing that.

Last Night, I gave a talk and demonstration of fashion and beauty photography at Edinburgh University for Photosoc, which I have been told is the oldest photographic society in the UK (originally founded by Robert Louis Stephenson). We had an audience of around 100 people who turned up to see and hear me talk about fashion photography.
We started the evening with a talk where I talked about fashion photography how a great fashion photograph sells the idea of a lifestyle, the Who we want to be, The What we want to be and the Where we want to be.
We talked about digital workflows retouching images and the importance of developing personal style and branding. Particularly self-branding of oneself, as a photographer, because if you don’t do this then others will for you. We also talked about the changes that are happening within the photographic world.
Paul Genge, product manager for Sony UK was there to talk about the developments with digital photography and have this will affect us as photographers and that in 5 years we will be shooting video and using frame grabs to make our still images with.

It was a good evening with a really attentive crowd, who made me most welcome for my first ever trip to Scotland.

I attended my second only portfolio review yesterday at the photographers Gallery in London. I had the pleasure of meeting and having my work reviewed by Constantine Manos, Mark Power and David Alan Harvey. It was an interesting day, which will take me weeks to process and assimilate the ideas that were given to me by these remarkable photographers. It was interesting meeting the other photographers, who were there each for their own reasons, I like some other work that was shown to me and I could imagine some of the comments that the reviewers would have given to each. Everybody goes into a portfolio review to their own reasons, some to promote their work and others for feedback on work in progress. The the latter reason is why I wanted to attend. After having completed in one project and wanting some hints on future directions in how to improve my image making I felt it was time for some quality feedback. When I was at Goldsmiths we would regularly show our work and have group critique, however it was always somehow polite not wanting to upset others within the group. A portfolio review with somebody of a stature that you respect gives the comments are certain weight, it is then up to you and how you take these comments, how useful they are to your current practice.
Would I do it again, most definitely, but not until I am now ready to really market my ideas and projects. I began this journey about four years ago when I enrolled on the MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths and it has taken me time to develop into the kind of photographer that I have always wanted to be. I can remember the type of images and subjects that attracted me when I was younger (a lot younger) and before I started shooting fashion photography. Fashion photography on many levels was probably a diversion caused by main securities with what I wanted to do and why was I taking or making a particular kind of image. Fashion photography can be both difficult and easy, the difficult is developing your personal vision and style, the easy is that you have a model and by definition of having a model you have “permission” to photograph the person in front of you. Whereas, doing documentary photography you do not always have “permission” to photograph the person, which means that when you are developing your technique, style or approach (call or what you will) it is far easier if you have other’s consent.
Constantine Manos explained to me a technique or method of working that would allow a photographer to photograph anyone up close without their obvious knowledge, I’m now itching to try this out for myself.
It is interesting that each reviewer had a different reaction to the work that I was presenting, which was to be expected as each works in different ways and has different sensibilities. I chose each of these reviewers for those reasons and I felt that I got an incredible amount out of the day.

What is British?

An Exploration of …

By Michael Wayne Plant

Book Preview

Hi after the exhibition opening I have been a little busy. I now have a book created using Blurb the print on demand service. This book is great as it helps to give my work a context and flow that hanging images of a wall in a gallery does not. I now understand the power of using a book to promote ideas and show photographic art work. Please have a look at the Blurb site and my book. If you buy the book before the 15/07/2009 and use the code “whatisbritish” you will get £5-00 of the purchase price, all thanks to the support of Blurb.com

I want to thank all those who came to the opening of What is British? at Departure. It was a great night everyone enjoyed the punch and nibbles. I got a lot of really positive feedback from the work on display. My father-in-law even offered to find me a vacant shop there are a lot of them in any local High street at the moment due to the financial turmoil to sell picture frames if I did not make any money as a photographer.
So thanks to all those who came and to the people who made this possible. I could not have done the show with out the support of Epson, Sony, Blurb, OnOne, Phase One and DXO labs.

Hi everyone,
The Exhibition What is British? is hung and in the gallery, it looks fab. Yesterday Blurb delivered the books that we had printed for the opening and they also look great. So I am a happy person now. The opening is Thursday evening so if anyone wants to come, please do it will be great to meet my one fan at the event.
Michael