On Friday 18th BNDCC joined with Ards camera club for a husband and wife presentation which they aptly named “Double Act 2” as Guy does the first half and Paula does the second half. Both photographers keen on photographing architecture and landscapes but in their own individual ways.
Guy began the presentation with a selection of his photographs. Guy likes photographing landscapes, especially in low or dramatic light. Some of his photos had beams of light shining through dark stormy clouds and mist hanging around the valley and you could really feel the atmosphere in the photo, as if you were indeed standing there yourself. Guy also takes photos of things that amuse him, such as funny signs in shop windows which hold a literal meaning. He also enjoys taking photos whilst also playing with perspective. One example would be to make the viewer think a statue, for example, is taller than a building. More perspective distortions would be to intentionally turn the camera at a deliberate angle, you get a much more interesting picture and getting more detail in at the same time.
Guy then revealed to us a photo of a building covered with angled reflective glass, which was just mesmerizing to stare at with all the reflections caught in each panel. Next in sequence, Guy showed us an image of two illuminated blocks within a building and two men sitting on them, hypnotized by their phones instead of engaging in conversation with each other. He also told us he likes photographing staircases and showed us a variety of images relating to this interest. He explains that he uses a diversity of camera lens to get the effect he is looking for and, at times, has had to lie on his back to get the photograph angle he is after. He showed us how one staircase can be taken at different positions and yet look completely different with the way the light hits it.
Guy then went on to speak about how he and his wife did an all-night shoot and got some fantastic monochrome images in London. He finished his presentation with some architecture images of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain which also had reflective panels and is a very popular building for photographers to capture.
The second half of the evening was presented by Paula who started off with a quote which she was inspired by because she believes it sums up her photography.
“I have no interest in making images that look like what I saw, I am more interested in creating images that convey what I felt or saw in my imagination. I don’t want to be restrained by what others think I should do but rather create what will make my heart sing. “ by John Barclay
Paula describes herself as a “butterfly photographer” because she will flit from subject to subject taking a photograph of anything that attracts her, and admits she gets bored quickly with what she is doing. She told us there were some quirky photographs in her collection but she started off with a “straight shot”, as she called it, of a cyclist in Valencia which she turned into monochrome because there was no real colour in it anyway.
She also showed us her photos of the Guggenheim Museum at night and how the light reflected beautifully, “like gold”. Paula showed us her photos of the all night photography workshop in London too. Paula also made the images monochrome. It shows that although two photographers can be in the same place yet see completely different things.
One of Paula’s favourite things is to look for details in her surroundings and in particular, to look for landscapes within manmade objects for the abstract side of photography. An example would be flaky paint and she would challenge herself to see if she could spot a landscape in it or spiders web, etc. Paula went on to show us some of her “photosplit” images where she takes a couple of photographs of different subjects or patterns and combines them into one image. She explained she also did a project which involved taking a photo every day which she found challenging when she wasn’t going out and was stuck inside, however she managed to get her photos taken using items and patterns within the house.
Another type of photograph Paula showed us was twirly images that could be a flower in the garden and then she manipulated it in a way that made it look twirly and abstract. Flowers were also a subject that Paula photographed with textures added from photoshop. She also used a light pad to set the flowers on so the light shone up through the petals. Paula finished her presentation with a few serendipity images which contained humour.
There was a great variety of photographic styles and techniques in Guy and Paula’s presentations. It was interesting to see two photographers in the same area taking photographs, yet can have such different views and approaches in their final images. Bangor and North Down camera club would like to thank Guy and Paula for their influential talk and would also like to thank Ards Camera Club for inviting us along.
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