charlwood photography

Moving home!

2010-02-11T09:41:00.003Z

Charlwood Photography's blog is on the move.

It can now be found at...

http://charlwoodphotography.wordpress.com/

Please update your readers accordingly.

First things to do with a new camera..

2010-02-10T09:58:00.001Z

(image of NIkon D5000 courtesy of DPReview.com)

It is probably true to say that boys do not grow up, their toys just get more expensive. Cameras are toys really - albeit fairly expensive ones that you can end up playing with everyday and calling it 'work'. Unpacking a new toy is still exciting, perhaps I have changed little from the six year old who eagerly opened and began assembling lego on his birthday. A new camera requires a few things done to it first, before it will work. The first is charging the battery, something that usually takes several hours, and adds to the anticipation. The keen can look inside at the camera at the mirror and shutter to keep themselves occupied. Then, when the battery is charged, comes the moment of truth...

The first thing I do with any new camera is go into the menu and turn off two things: the focus 'beep' and the autofocus assist light. The focus light is meant to help the camera find focus in the dark. In practice I find them a waste of time as all they do is let your subject know you're there, and the speed of focus depends so much on your lens that it hardly matters. I turn the beep off for similar reasons. As the photographer you would eventually not notice it, but everyone else will. In the veiwfinder is a light that confirms focus anyway. Only after that do I put the camera to my eye and take a photo, and it's usually of myself in a mirror taking a picture of me taking a picture...

Spring

2010-02-09T10:05:00.000Z

Yes, it's early, I know! However, Friday was wonderfully sunny and I quite enjoyed standing waiting for a train. Looking forward to Spring made me dig out one of my favourite photos.

This shot was taken at a Christian retreat centre in Sussex. My family know some of the people who run it, and for much of my childhood our one holiday of the year was spent in the stunning grounds of the old house at Ashburnham place. Here's a photo that always reminds me of the tranquility of that place, and of Spring...

Taking time out...

2010-02-08T10:34:00.001Z

I frequently work for a local franchise that does music and movement with young children aged a few months to four years. I work a bit differently to the average nursery photographer as I use solely natural light and work around whatever the kids are up to. It's great fun, and I usually get adopted by one or two who are fascinated by the camera. Due to preserving client's privacy I can't share many photos, but here's one of my favourites...

Product shots

2010-02-06T10:30:00.004Z

Taking product shots is all about light and photoshop. It's not my skill set, I love photography that is fast paced. However, one saturday I was bored and starting experimenting taking pictures of my own mobile phone.

With product shots the light is always directional. It captures the shape and form of the image and adds a sharpness makes the eye catch the detail. Here's my haphazard effort...

A reflective surface adds to the shot - so often on billboards and adverts there will be a slight reflection of the object itself. At home you can do that with a mirror...

If you've got an off camera light source shots like this can be done very easily. The best part? You don't even need a good camera. All the shots above were taken on my Canon G11 compact. The G11 is only expensive because of the build quality, any compact camera could produce the results above if the light was right. Any of my readers do product shots?

(photo courtesy of DPreview.com)

Portraits 6

2010-02-05T11:25:00.000Z

Here's a photo of my little niece. She's a lot bigger now, but still has the capacity to make most people want to take her home with them...

Embarrassing moments...

2010-02-04T10:10:00.003Z

Every photographer has probably got some embarrassing moments, they normally just choose not to remember them! I was photographing a wedding with a friend last summer and we'd taken five minutes out, having been on our feet for about 7 hours. We put the cameras away in the bags, got out the chocolate and chatted for a bit.

Someone ran out to tell us that the speeches were going to be starting early and they'd thought we'd like to know. We quickly put out kit away, grabbed our cameras and headed inside again. As we went in, we both put our cameras to our eyes and realised the same thing: we'd both not taken our lens caps off. Any embarrassing photography moments readers?

(image courtesy of http://diglloyd.com)

Street Photography

2010-02-03T09:49:00.001Z

'Street photography' is documentary photography in public places. Some of the so-called founding fathers of photography made their name by just taking pictures of everyday life and people. In the 21st Century street photography is more difficult - you can no longer take a picture of most people without them wanting to know exactly when it will be on facebook and how they 'un-tag' themselves.

One of the negatives of professional SLRs is that they are large, and quite visible, so it's only on a very rare occasion that I find myself doing any street photography. The following image was shot whilst I was in the middle of a engagement couple-shoot at Somerset House in London.

NIkon D5000 review

2010-02-02T09:24:00.002Z

Yes, it happened! Jessops - a high street camera shop for my American readers - got themselves sorted and finally got my camera from head office. Having promised a review a long time ago I decided it would be nice to let you have my impressions.

(photo courtesy of dpreview.com)

It is a pretty little thing. Small by DSLR standards, it's not too small to handle as its buttons are placed sensibly far enough apart from each other. So what do I think? Well, I'm going to divide this mini-review into two parts: handing and image quality.

Handling

For a camera costing less than £500 it handles very well. Build quality is good. The plastic doesn't feel cheap and there is a thoughtfully placed rubber grip for your thumb on the back panel. My only immediate handling complaint would be that my thumb - I have long fingers - sits very close to the Live View button, and I've accidentally pressed it when shooting with gloves. Other than that it has a familiar feel, much like a smaller version of my D700. Interestingly Nikon has only included one scrolling wheel, at the rear of the body. On my D700 there is one at the rear, nicely placed for your thumb, but another on the front of the body, just above the red stripe. As that is the primary control wheel set up on my D700 it took a few moments to get used to the difference.

The flip out screen is theoretically a nice feature, but it flips out below the camera. This makes it impossible to use with a tripod. You can't use it to take pictures of yourself and friends for example, which is, in my opinion, quite an oversight. There is a noticable loss of resolution with the smaller screen, although I never felt that I couldn't tell if a photo was sharp enough. A flip out screen is great if you shoot in live view mode, however the contrast autofocus is very slow, un-usably so in my opinion. In practice then the flip out screen is a gimmick to attract people from compact cameras to DSLRs. Its one saving grace is that the screen can be flipped inwards to protect itself.

The fact that the D5000 is aimed at compact camera converts with a bit more cash to burn also shows in its controls. It only has one customisable button, every other menu option has to be accessed via the info screen on the back of the camera. The camera doesn't have a mini-screen next to the shutter, which I thought would bother me, but actually I tend to check my camera settings through the viewfinder, so it's not much of a problem. There are two options for the info screen, the default is actually quite pretty. It displays all the information you need, as well as a useful aperture graphic that shows what the inside of the lens is doing at different f-stops. Not necessary, but a really nice feature for explaining how that part of photography works. On the top of the body the primary control wheel is jammed with different scene modes. Useful for the amateur, but if I was training someone I would prefer that they learnt how and what makes a good portrait photo, rather than how to select the portrait scene mode. Other than the single customisable button, the D5000 does well for handling generally. I haven't felt frustrated that I haven't been able to get to my settings fast enough when shooting.

It should be mentioned that the D5000 doesn't have an in-built autofocus motor. To get autofocus you have to use Nikon AF-S lenses, that have their own motors. It's not the end of the world, as I'm happy to use manual focus, and all but one of my lenses are AF-S. However if Canon can fit motors into camera bodies equally as small there seems no reason for Nikon not to include one.

Image quality

This is the reason I purchased the D5000 as a professional back up. It has the same image sensor as the Nikon D90, which matches the low light performance of the D300 (A camera costing £1200). I will properly review its low light performance at a later date, but the D5000 should punch well above its weight.

In reviewing image quality its only fair to include a few shots. These are not designed for you to judge the camera - they are all too processed for that - but hopefully they give you an idea of how easy it is to take good pictures with the D5000. I challenge anyone to tell low ISO results apart from my D700 images.

For a £500 camera to produce these results is stunning, and shows how far DSLRs have come in the last few years. I'm incredibly impressed with the D5000, having shot with it a little. The real test will be my next wedding when it will get pushed to 3200 ISO, then it will fall short of the magnificent D700. However, for its size, portability and price tag the D5000 is an excellent little camera.

Black & White

2010-02-01T10:52:00.002Z

Last blog I talked a bit about black and white photographs. I thought I'd elaborate on it a bit, and explain how I 'see' in black and white. For a black and white shot to be good, it must have contrast and form. All the results of light. Shot number one is of the Sage in Newcastle, it's a good example of a photograph that is made by the form of the subject...

The architectural design, and the way the curves have caught the light makes this shot.

Shot number two is a classic black and white portrait, and one of my personal favourites. The photo is made by the light that catches the jazz player's features, combined with the contrast of the painted wall and the paintings of famous artists above. It is a photograph of great character and wonderfully tells a story.

Finally I wanted to include an image that is, quite literally, 'painting' with light. The powerful sunlight behind the jet skier silhouettes him against the sea. The result is contrast and a sense of atmosphere.

Black and white for me is about capturing light itself. In that sense it is the purest form of photography. Colour cannot distract, the image must be created by the use of light and good composition.

Purple!

2010-01-30T10:42:00.001Z

I generally avoid colour tinting photographs. It can often look like the photographer has recently discovered that 'you can do this' in Photoshop, rather than adding to the image. The one exception to the rule is tinting snow blue, when the photo is black and white. Normally you tint a black and white image with a slight sepia tone to make it look warmer, but with snow, you want the viewer to feel the cold. A blue tint on snow looks like this...

I've only got one tinted portrait, which I thought I'd share with you. The following shot is my other half's sister, looking very chic last summer.

Any tinted shots my readers would like to share?

Colour or Black & White?

2010-01-29T10:33:00.004Z

It's always an interesting conundrum when editing. Some images are a very obviously one or the other. If there is vibrant colour that makes the image then I'll leave it that way. If the image is all about composition and form, and has good contrast, I'll often turn it black&white. I think the following shot looks good in both.

In the colour version it is the vibrancy of the green that grabs your attention, draws you to the subject, and then you notice the purple buds on the stem of the flower. In the b&w the form of the flower, and the contrast of the subject against the soft background gives a very different atmosphere to the same photograph. Which do you prefer?

Fixed lenses and creativity.

2010-01-28T09:59:00.001Z

I learnt photography from my Dad. 'Back in the day' that was fixed lenses, usually a 50mm. The advantage of a fixed lens is they normally let more light in, meaning you can shoot in less light, and blur backgrounds away. The disadvantage is that you often can't fit everything you want in the photo, or you can't get close enough to your subject. The result of that is that you either have to move your feet and find somewhere else to shoot from, or be creative with your framing.

I've seen some pros tell aspiring photographers that they should get a fixed lens as it would 'make them more creative' - that's not true, you can't force creativity. It's either there or it's not. I would much rather pros advised aspiring photographers to watch light, the way it falls, how it effects images and to just work with the kit they have. I fear the ability to use light is not as common as it once was, but that is another blog for another day.

In the meantime I thought I'd share a couple of photos which, as my 94 year old Grandma says, "aren't straight"...

First shots...

2010-01-27T08:03:00.000Z

It's always an exciting moment to unpack a new lens. I then usually spend half a day thoroughly testing it. The test for my telephoto involved a walk to the park, and after 40 minutes I managed to find the deer.
My favourite photo from the afternoon is one of a doe jumping across a stream, with her fawn watching on. The fawn then got up the courage to follow its mother.

My second favourite shot was of two stags. I'd been creeping along by a stream, hidden by the trees, but finally got spotted...

I'm not a wildlife photographer in any way - as my miserable attempts at photographing birds in flight showed - much practice needed there I think! However, I do love nature, and it's a joy to be able to remember the moments.

Photography and freedom

2010-01-26T10:51:00.003Z

(January 22, 2010 - Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images Europe)

Over the weekend there was a demonstration in Trafalgar Square at the the use of stop and search powers under the terrorism act. I briefly blogged about the problem a few weeks ago, when looking at the power of the still image. Hopefully public pressure will result in a more sensible use of the powers the police have at their disposal, which were never intended to stop people taking photos.

Since my last blog the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act (the relevant bit of legislation) is illegal, as it is indiscriminate. The government is appealing. Obviously.

Congratulations have to go to Oli Scarff, from Getty, for the photo above. In a square mile more densely packed with cameras and photographers than probably anywhere in history, it was his shot that made it to the front pages!

Cold Weather

2010-01-25T12:34:00.001Z

Cold weather usually equals fun photographs. Sometimes the cold can prove less fun though. Last year I returned to my house after having Christmas with my parents to find it flooded, and four inches deep in water downstairs. After wading through the mess to extract my stuff, and pack it into a car to move home to my other half's sofa, I just couldn't leave without getting my camera out. In the midst of the arrival of my landlady, whilst my house was ankle deep in water, I was busy taking photographs.

The water that had literally flowed out of the windows of the upstairs had run down over the garden plants. In the cold temperatures it had frozen. This hydrangea was literally suspended in ice...

Squared²

2010-01-23T14:37:00.002Z

Having a compact camera has brought me a lot of joy. It would be too melodramatic to say I've 'rediscovered photography', but it is a great pleasure to be able to take photos of those little things that catch my eye.

Compact cameras don't have anything like the quality of an SLR, but they've always been able to take good close-up ("macro") shots. The photos from my Canon G11 do require a bit more editing than shots from my top pro. kit, but I quite enjoy the extra work, it means I think about each image more. In the process I've found that I quite like cropping images to a square. The following are two squared² photos.

Portraits 5

2010-01-22T10:12:00.000Z

This is a photo of my bro about to go off to a wedding as an usher. Yes, he really should have shaved...
He is, however, modeling the family hair well.

Filling up the camera bag again...

2010-01-21T21:21:00.002Z

I'm currently in the strange position of having only one lens in my camera bag. My 50mm is being returned in the hope that I'll get a better focusing second copy, and all my Canon kit has gone off to be sold. Feeling obviously insecure, the natural solution is to lens hunt.

One advantage of starting over with camera equipment is that you really know what you want in the bag. I've gone for a fixed wide angle lens and one fixed 50mm lens. The fixed 50mm on my back up camera is equivalent to an 80mm and with those two lenses I'll happily photograph any wedding. The one area I've always been lacking is a long lens for wildlife photos. Years ago I had a 70-200, but that's not really long enough. So yesterday, after much hunting, I ordered the third lens for my camera bag, a Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6.

(thanks to DPReview for the image)

It will be lovely to have a long focal length lens back again. I've always enjoyed watching wildlife, and now I'll hopefully be able to get some images too! To round off this blog I've included one of the first decent photos I ever took. These two swans were total posers, and it was when I showed this shot to my parents that they perhaps got an inkling of what I might end up doing to earn a living.

Rule breaking...

2010-01-20T23:28:00.000Z

(photo courtesy of Guardian.co.uk)

The 2009 Veolia Wildlife Photographer Of The Year award was given for the above photograph back at the end of 2009. This week however the photographer who took the image was stripped of his award, and the £10,000 prize that went with it. The reason? His photo is said to have broken the rules. The wolf jumping over the fence is, it now appears, a tame one, who was encouraged to jump to trigger the remote camera and flash. Using tame animals or 'models' is against the rules of the category and so the Spanish photographer lost the title.

When I first saw the photo last year I was struck by the 'so perfect' capture of the moment, in what appeared to be studio like conditions. The claim was that infrared beams were set up, along with the camera and flash, meat was left out and one day it all just happened. I wasn't impressed. To me a wireless flash set up is not wildlife photography. Wildlife photography is about carrying an insanely heavy lens on your back and having the exceptional patience and technical ability to hit the shutter at the perfect moment to capture wildlife at its most glorious or intimate.

What do you think makes a good wildlife image, have you got a favourite?

The power of the still image.

2010-01-19T15:08:00.001Z

Photographers are facing tougher working conditions. For example there are several spots in London - unmarked on maps - where police have the power to remove cameras from members of the public, merely because they are using them near somewhere deemed at risk from a terror attack. (It is interesting to note that neither the 9/11 attackers, or the 7/7 London tube bombers photographed their targets prior to the attacks.) The integrity of work is also under threat. The phrase 'photoshopped' has now come to mean something artificial or fake in common parlance.

A few weeks ago a French rugby player was convicted of eye-gouging an opponent, a nasty practice that still goes on. He appealed on the basis that the video evidence did not conclusively show the incident and questioned the authenticity of one photograph that did, as it was taken by a photographer working for the other team.

(photo courtesy of BBC Sport)

A panel of experts reviewed the photograph to see if it had been edited or manipulated and concluded that it had not. The player's ban was upheld and the photographer's reputation intact. As a photographer I found it re-assuring that that, sometimes, it is still true to say 'the camera doesn't lie'.

Nikon D700

2010-01-18T11:08:00.004Z

(image courtesy of Digital Photography Review)

Having decided to switch to Nikon I set about planning it. Since I've had a Canon 5D I've grown to love the image quality and low noise of full-frame digital cameras, so the D700 was the model that caught my attention. With world beating lowlight performance, in a more compact and cheaper body than the Nikon D3 it was an obvious choice. I found an excellent deal online and now have an as new D700 in my camera bag! Here's a shot to show off its low light performance.

This is a centre crop of a shot at 6400 ISO. Very impressive! I'll keep you updated how my change over goes over the next few weeks. In the meantime the D700 is coming to work for the first time today.

How pop-up flash can create great light!

2010-01-17T10:11:00.000Z

Using pop-up flash should only ever be a last resort. It creates nasty light that ruins photos and wastes a decent camera and lens. I've been showing friends how to bounce their on camera flash using a business card for years, but finally someone has made a product that does it a lot better. Bouncing your flash off a ceiling or wall softens it, and will turn that nasty pop-up flash into a useful tool that can create better pictures.

Check out www.lightscoop.com for some more info!

(photo courtesy of lightscoop.com)

Portraits 4

2010-01-16T09:06:00.000Z

A photo taken at my favourite focal length - 85mm. Shot on my old Canon 40D.

Nerves and wedding photography.

2010-01-15T10:44:00.000Z

One of the most common questions I get asked as a wedding photographer is whether I get nervous. A wedding is full of one-off moments: the first kiss, cutting of the cake, first dance, the groom seeing his wife to be for the first time. People often want to know if the pressure to capture all of these gets to me. I honestly have to say no. I absolutely love being a wedding photographer, and don't ever feel pressured. I just enjoy it. The only time I get nervous is when I have 500 images on my memory cards not backed up yet - I'll only sleep easy when they're on my laptop and external hard-drive.

There aren't many photos of me at work, but I've included the two I have. The first was taken by my second shooter at my last wedding, the second by my Dad at the wedding of a close family friend as I helped the bride and groom get in the wedding car, before going to the beach for the couple shoot. I seem to be enjoying myself!

Compassion or indifference to Haiti?

2010-01-15T00:21:00.004Z

It appears that hundreds of thousands are, or may become victims of the Haiti earthquake. It's very hard to turn numbers into people, but hopefully if we dare to expose ourselves to a tragedy that could as easily be each one of us - if birth had placed us elsewhere - we will at least find compassion rather than indifference.

(Source: The following are my own edits of photographs from the Telegraph Online.)

You can give here...

https://www.redcross.org.uk/emergencysite/campaign.aspx?id=88917

Portraits 3

2010-01-14T09:25:00.000Z

I normally try and use natural light for most of my work, but this shot is flash lit. It's moody, dark and brooding - good thing my brother isn't actually like that!

Why I've come to the conclusion that Nikon are better than Canon.

2010-01-13T10:31:00.002Z

First off, let me state that this is a very specific blog. I am not claiming that Nikon are better than Canon full stop, merely that for certain applications Nikon have the edge over Canon. I'll do my best to avoid too much techno-speak in the next few paragraphs, and aim for my mum to be able to understand the difference...

I photograph weddings in low light and mostly without flash, because of this I need the best low light performance I can get. Coupled with this I need good focus in low light. The low light performance of Nikon is better than Canon.

Nikon and Canon approach the problem of noise - the nasty grains you get on digital camera images taken in low light - very differently. There are two types of noise: small, fine grains (luminance) and colour smudges (chromatic). A picture illustrates it best...

(thanks to cambridgeincolour.com for the images made into the diagram)

Canon squash all the pixels to make the noise less visible, and do a very good job. Nikon instead focus mostly on chromatic noise. The result is that Nikon images are clear of chromatic noise even at very high ISO settings - shooting in very low light. At the same settings Canon images will have more visible chromatic noise than Nikon ones. (There is some variance between cameras it should be noted.) Secondly, Canon prefer having more megapixels in their cameras - the opposing Canon and Nikon 'wedding' cameras have 24MP and 12MP respectively. More megapixels = more noise. So in short Nikon come out quite visibly on top for low light shooting.

Secondly Nikon have a more advanced auto-focus system in their cameras than Canon - the top end sports photography models aside. A Canon 5D MkII has 9 autofocus points, a Nikon D700 has 51, more complex ones. That means that Nikon will focus faster and more accurately. The difference depends on the lens, and won't be noticable until you dim the lights, but it's then that you really need good autofocus.

For the above two reasons I have decided to switch from Canon to Nikon. Generally considered a very expensive thing to do, it's not at all bad for me as a large proportion of my kit is second hand and holds its value. So I'll be switching. I'll aim to get a Nikon D700, will let you know how it goes.

(photos courtesy of Digital Photographer Review)

Portraits 2

2010-01-12T09:32:00.000Z

Here's possibly my favourite portrait. Taken at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in 2007, this is an Arctic Convoy's veteran. My Grandfather sailed the Arctic Convoy route to Russia, and was mentioned in dispatches for his actions on one voyage. A poignant image - I would love to find out this man's story...

Re: Putting money where your mouth is...

2010-01-11T18:24:00.000Z

Having blogged at some length on the advantages of a Nikon D5000 I found myself in Jessops in the snow at the weekend, handing over my credit card. It's not as spontaneous as it sounds, I intend to switch to Nikon in the next year or so. The reasons for my change of allegiance will form a blog in the near future.

My other half summed the D5000 up well... "Oooh, it's prettier than your Canon." Sale made :)

(photos courtesy of slashgear.com)

Portraits 1

2010-01-10T22:58:00.000Z

Having only started blogging in the last year I thought it would be nice to share some of my favourite portraits. This was the very first photoshoot I ever did, back in 2007. Emily was making a Christmas calendar for her boyfriend and asked for a few shots, so I happily volunteered.

snow from space

2010-01-09T23:33:00.000Z

Here's a stunning satellite image of the UK under snow. Certainly worth sharing!

A snow day...

2010-01-07T17:48:00.000Z

Snow days don't have quite the same allure for the self employed as those who get paid for a day in front of the fire, but they do make for some nice photo opportunities! Here's a shot from the first really cold day last week.

Myth busting: Why today's cheap DSLRs are brilliant.

2010-01-05T16:38:00.000Z

(image courtesy of dpreview.com)
I will need to upgrade my aging Canon 40D at some point in 2010. Its image quality doesn't match that of my other camera, a Canon 5D, and its poor LCD screen and colour rendition are frustrating.

I'm increasingly tending toward buying an 'entry-level' DSLR, instead of spending £700 or more on a back up camera.

What I'm looking for:
- A camera which offers image quality better than my Canon 40D
- A better resolution LCD screen
- Good low light performance that is passable at 1600 ISO

What are my options?

Well, Canon replaced the 40D with the 50D. This has a better screen and more megapixels. However the best UK price I can find is £715. My first choice full-frame 5D only cost me £800, and I could pick up another for that price! The 50D is overpriced then.

Canon's new flagship 7D is the talk of the town at the moment. It has an impressive list of features, but at an equally impressive price of £1200. (For those that care, it is Canon's attempt to rival the Nikon D300s.) The 7D has one massive flaw in my opinion - it produces almost as much 'noise' at 1600 ISO as the Canon 50D. As a wedding photographer who consistently needs low light performance I'd rather spend an extra £500 and get the Canon 5D MkII that is full frame and much better in the dark.

Canon's 500D has the same sensor as the 50D, fitted into a smaller body. The 50D is better weather sealed, shoots faster, and has slightly better focusing, but has very similar internals to a camera that costs £200 less. In the hands of a good photographer the 500D will produce images just as good as the 50D. The 500D has an outstanding LCD and cleaner files at 1600 ISO than my old camera. Sorted? Not quite. Nikon went and made the D5000...

The D5000 is £80 cheaper than the 500D, and has fewer megapixels, but that equals better low light performance. Nikon has the edge over Canon in that department anyway. Nikon's D5000 files are better at 1600 ISO than Canon's 7D files. Believe it or not, a £430 ( £380 with a special Nikon discount atm) consumer aimed Nikon would take better pictures for me than £1200 of Canon professional camera! Sadly all my lenses are Canon.

It will be interesting to see how good cheap DSLRs become in 2010.
I'll let you know what eventually ends up in my camera bag.

Remembrance Sunday 2009

2010-01-04T12:10:00.000Z

As promised, here are a few shots from the service at the Cenotaph late last year. It has been a total privilege to attend the service for the last three years and record it on camera.

The last surviving veteran of the trenches on the Western Front died this year - R.I.P Harry Patch. (photo courtesy of Mailonline)

Favourite lens...

2010-01-02T18:22:00.000Z

When I first bought a DSLR I purchased two lenses. One was a telephoto zoom, the other was a 50mm f1.4. On camera it became an 85mm - the perfect portrait length. It was my shots with this lens that got me a reputation as a photographer and the encouragement from that resulted in me gradually turning professional.

Having since got a professional standard full frame camera body, the 85mm became 50mm and I lost my favourite focal length. My 50mm has finally given up the ghost, and I'm replacing it with an 85mm.

It's 2010, a new year and an opportunity to do things differently, and to look forward to things. I'm looking forward to getting my favourite lens back :)

I've included one of my favourite photos. Taken at the 100 Club - a prestigious Jazz Club in London - I caught these two dancers totally unaware and captured a wonderful moment. Here's to 2010 and many more moments! Happy New Year!

A German Christmas

2009-12-28T15:49:00.000Z

I had a really lovely time spending Christmas in Germany, a few miles outside of Cologne. Here are some shots of the snow, and the sleepy little village where I was...

You can find more photos on my Flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/charliecharlwood/

winter beach

2009-12-18T11:47:00.000Z

Christmas is a nice opportunity to go home to the South Coast and the beach.

Yesterday I was there as the sun set, and snow started to fall . I miss the beach when I'm in London!

Richard & Hannah's wedding

2009-12-14T19:03:00.000Z

I had the pleasure of being the photographer at Richard and Hannah's wedding over the weekend. It was a gloomy December day, but there was a lovely atmosphere and Windsor is a wonderful venue for a wedding!

You can see the photos here...

http://www.charlwoodphotography.com/weddings/32/

Christmas Weekend

2009-12-08T09:13:00.000Z

The very first wedding I photographed was that of some friends.

Last week had the pleasure of meeting up with them for a weekend, almost a year on, and had a lovely time. Quite a few of us had cameras, so I had the fun of sharing a few hints and tips here and there, and we all had the Christmas tree to practice on...

A new camera!

2009-12-02T14:29:00.000Z

My mum owned an Olympus XA2 when I was little. It was the first camera I remember playing with.

It's a 35mm film camera with a fixed 35mm f3.5 lens and only three focus settings, with fully automatic exposure.

I've just picked up a second hand copy off Ebay, and it will be my Mum's birthday present. Not being tech. savvy, she's always wanted another since hers broke.

Looking forward to running some film though it.

Keep your eyes open for a few of the shots over the next month.

thanks to KenRockwell.com for the image

Music Photography

2009-11-25T21:23:00.001Z

Had great fun shooting album covers for Hope Generation Band - here's my favourite shot of the group...

Published!

2009-11-18T15:16:00.000Z

It's slightly ironic that until recently, despite being a professional photographer, I never had a camera on me when not working.

I decided to buy a Canon G11 and have had several hours of great fun with it, and am remembering the joy of carrying a little camera in my pocket. The shot on the left was taken with it, and will shortly be published in a book' Canon Powershot G10/G11: From Snapshots to Great Shots'. On shelves around the new year.

Photojournalism

2009-11-09T20:15:00.000Z

I've loved shooting at the Cenotaph the last two years, but this time I was working for a news agency. The lucky photographers with press passes had the joy of a clear view to the Queen and the dignitaries. Despite the heads, the lines of soldiers and a tree, I managed to get some good shots. A few of the PM and some shots that captured the Cenotaph, the soldiers, the wreaths, and the occasion.

They didn't make it into today's papers, but I'm holding out hope for the 11th.

I'd upload one, but I have to wait to see if my agency sells any first.

The joy of photojournalism is the feeling of being on the cutting edge, but you have to be quick. By the time I was sending my photos there were already several online from other news agencies. Better luck next time perhaps.

Cenotaph Service

2009-11-06T14:38:00.000Z

This year I will again be photographing at the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph in London.

This time though I will be working for YNMS media agency as a freelance photojournalist. Will let you know how it goes!

Above is a photo from one of my previous years...

Out and About

2009-11-01T18:31:00.000Z

Autumn is my favourite season by a mile.

As it's the off-peak wedding season, it gives me the chance to take a little pocket camera out and about.

Here's a shot of the lake at Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey.

Jon & Emma's wedding

2009-10-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely weekend in Cardiff photographing Jon & Emma's wedding. It was the first really wet wedding I've shot, but it allowed for a bit of fun with an umbrella.

The wedding photos can be seen here:

http://www.charlwoodphotography.com/weddings

Autumn project

2009-09-26T14:39:00.000+01:00

Part of an Autumn project.

Keep up to date with Charlwood Photography on facebook by clicking here...

2009-09-14T19:58:00.001+01:00

A shot of a Ferrari. Actually it's driving past, but a bit of photoshop work has turned the image into a product shot.

Autumn is encroaching, but it happens to be this photographer's favourite season. Golden swathes of colour and falling leaves - and I love the nip in the air.

2009-09-02T11:06:00.000+01:00

Had wonderful time photographing Tom & Becky's wedding the other weekend.

This photo was one of my favourites from the day - it's the only one not in focus from the whole shoot, but it captures a lovely moment when they're both relaxing before the couple photographs.

See the selection at

http://www.charlwoodphotography.com/weddings

the joy of photography

2009-08-30T22:34:00.000+01:00

Photographing friends - how I ended up being a professional photographer. It's still lovely just to have a camera and capture the moments. Not for money, but just because.

flash photography

2009-08-01T16:52:00.000+01:00

photographing 'product shot' photos today

and some flower close-ups using off camera flash

Ben & Ally's wedding.

2009-07-29T17:06:00.000+01:00

A selection of photos from Ben & Ally's wedding in Southport.

A lovely day...

A larger selection will be up on charlwoodphotography.com soon.

New Website!

2009-07-13T16:07:00.000+01:00

Charlwood Photography now has a brand new website! check out...

www.charlwoodphotography.com

The preparation is underway for Ally & Ben's wedding this weekend. There's going to be a horse and carriage, with the couple photoshoot on the beach - should be lovely photos.

Keep an eye on this blog, and the website for the photos next week.

New online store

2009-06-16T19:06:00.000+01:00

charlwood photography, in collaboration with Photobox, has recently opened an online store offering the opportunity to purchase some of charlwood photography's landscape and nature work.

Click here to view the current gallery.

Ally & Ben's pre-wedding shoot

2009-06-06T12:24:00.000+01:00

A selection of the photographs from the rainy morning...

in a doorway

peering down

the posing pair

the bride to be

Ally remembered her umbrella

proving that photos can be fun, even in the rain!

hiding from the rain

Chris and Rachel's Wedding

2009-06-05T17:01:00.000+01:00

Selection of images from Chris and Rachel's Wedding in Lincoln
May 2009

Wedding Party assembled - The Lawn

The rings...

Bride makes her entrance...

Newlyweds...

Cutting the cake...

First dance...

Chris and Rachel's Wedding

2009-05-31T21:20:00.001+01:00

The story of the day, coming soon...