Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

selfie

Vote! Yea! Selfie? Nay!

For anyone who's not yet made it to a polling station to cast their ballot in today's European elections, please do go and vote, but please don't take any photographs in the process. Although photography in polling stations isn't against the law itself, if you were to accidentally compromise another voter's right to secret ballot or divulge the unique identification number on a ballot paper, you would be breaking the law. If convicted, you could face a £5,000 fine or up to six months in prison.

Given that the law isn't clear cut, it's best to stay on the safe side and refrain from wielding photo-enabled equipped around a polling station. We'll probably have a clearer picture in the autumn, when the Law Commission publishes its proposals regarding electoral reform, which includes rules regarding secrecy and photography.

(Headsup to the BBC)

Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year? Selfie

'Selfie?' I've been taking them for yeeeaaars, dahling! The word isn't exactly new, we've been using it since 2002. And the concept definitely isn't new, seeing as the first one was taken in 1839 by one Robert Cornelius. But a staggering 17,000% increase in its use over the past year has meant that 'selfie' has taken the crown as Oxford Dictionaries' 'Word of the Year' for 2013.

Could I possibly have written about selfies without including one? Well yes... but no.

It had stiff competition from the likes of 'twerk' and 'binge-watch', but fought them off with unselfconscious vigour and now joins the likes of 'credit crunch' (2008) and 'omnishambles' (2012) in the pantheon of neologisms. Its next task is to gain respectability from an entry into the Oxford English Dictionary. A place in the Oxford Dictionaries Online, awarded in August this year, isn't quite sufficient.

For some, selfie is an indictment of the self-obsessed instant-gratification generation. Those of us in the know, however, aren't at all concerned by the self-portraiture arrivistes with their smartphones and duckfaces. And you can always keep one step ahead of the game with a little help from Haje's book!

Ooh! Ilex has some copies of Haje's Shooting Yourself to give away in honour of this momentous day! All the details are here!