Today we hear Kodak have filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. It just illustrates how the industry has changed in the last 15 years!

Photech

Val receives  a £30 voucher to spend on any of our digital, canvas or traditional printing services. Congratulations Val!

Equipment and technique

”We always make our own Christmas cards and I love taking photos that make people smile, so this image fitted the bill for our card this year. Following heavy snowfalls last winter I was out and about during all daylight hours taking photos in the Lake District. I spent one day taking landscapes around the lake at Grasmere and noticed an unusual number of robins, and decided to return the next day to concentrate instead on photographing them. Filling my pockets with bird seed, I was able to keep the robins interested and got a great collection of those classic robin-on-snowy-twig images. However, this was my favourite.

Needless to say, my Nikon D3 was hand held for this photo! I had it set – as pretty much always – in its aperture priority mode and for spot metering. The lens was a Nikon 105mm, using a wide aperture (f4), with the resulting shutter speed of 1/160th sec. I subsequently warmed the image up with Photoshop Elements.” – Val Corbett

Val Corbett Biography

Val Corbett is a freelance photographer, based in the Lowther Valley on the eastern fringes of the Lake District. Over the past twenty-five years she has built up an extensive photographic library of the Lake District and Cumbria (www.valcorbettphotography.com) from which prints can be ordered.

She is well known for her garden photography, which is frequently published in magazines such as Country Life. ‘Gardens of the Lake District’ (Frances Lincoln), written by Tim Longville and photographed by Val, won the ‘Lakeland Book of the Year’ award. During the summer she can be found photographing gardens around the British Isles; otherwise she concentrates on her landscape photography, special commissions and working for authors. Three books of her Lake District landscapes have been published by Myriad Press and two, ‘A Year in the Life of the Eden Valley’ and ‘Winter in the Lake District’, by Frances Lincoln. A third Frances Lincoln book, ‘Rainy Days in the Lake District’ will be published early in 2012.

More of Vals work can be seen at http://www.valcorbettphotography.com/

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £30 voucher!

Mike receives  a £30 voucher to spend on any of our digital, canvas or traditional printing services. Congratulations Mike!

Equipment and technique

The image was taken using a Canon 7D with a 500mm f4 lens. Taken on “Aperture priority” the aperture was f8 with a shutter speed of 1/320s and a ISO setting of 400.

Although 95% of my Wildlife and Landscape Photography is taken within the western Isles of Scotland I do actually get to capture some images on the mainland. I have always held a fascination for Barn Owls and photographing this bird closer to home I was just lucky enough to be present when this subject decided to stretch its wing and present an excellent photo opportunity.

Mike Jones Biography

Mike is primarily a Wildlife photographer with a growing interest in Landscape work. Mike was born in Chester in 1959 and has held a passion for Photographu since his late teens. After eventually admitting defeat for using film for Wildlife work, Mike has immersed himself in the digital world and has utilised his love for Scotland’s wildest places and his knowledge of the great outdoors to pursue his passion for Wildlife and Landscape photography on the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. With a single minded approach and a determination to stick it out whatever the weather of time of day, Mike will never be happy until he has taken the illusive perfect picture.

More of Mike’s work can be seen at www.mikejones-wildlife.com

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £30 voucher!

Recently at Photech we have produced our largest canvas prints to date.

The images were taken by Pierino Algieri, a good customer of ours for many years.

Image of the Month for March 2011 is awarded to Subhi Alghussain for his inspiring photograph of St. Tropez Harbour on the South Coast of France.

Equipment & Technique: 

The image was taken using a Fuji GX 617 Panoramic Camera, with transparency film Velvia ISO 50. Lens used 90mm, filter 81B to remove blue colour and to give the photo some warm colour. F-22 shutter around 5 seconds. Time taken was 2 hours before sunset around May 9th 2009. It was an overcast day with some sun trying to come out. Subhi explains, “St. Tropez was very busy on the day I took the photo, people from all over the world go there. I took some great photos from this place, I took this particular photo from a floating platform. I was unhappy about the platform movement as it would shake the camera, so I took four shots from this position, two were shaky and two were good, this is one of them.“

Subhi Alghussain Biography:

Subhi Hafiz Alghussain was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1956. He studied science and art at Bryant University, RI, USA. Subhi today practices photography as a landscape photographer around the world to promote wildlife conservation and the protection of wildlife and endangered species.

Subhi is currently preparing for his first exhibition in Jordan. Upcoming projects include photography books on Petra, Jordan, Qattar and Saudi Arabia.

“The photographs of Subhi Alghussain reflect the committed, passionate and energetic character of the man himself. His range of subjects is huge and his travels appear never-ending. Many recent images have been made with the traditional 6×17cm film panoramic camera, and he has used this format to express a dynamic and embracing approach to his subject.” Testimonial by Joe Cornish

Immerse yourself in Subhi’s portfolio at www.lightofdarkness.uk.com

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £30 voucher!

Equipment & Technique: 

The image was taken with a Canon 1DMK4 camera and a Canon 70-200mm lens at 105mm. Austin explains, “to create the image I use multiple flash guns all remotely triggered to freeze the action. For every image that is “half decent” there must be 200 images that are thrown away. I spent all day trying to record this behaviour and came away with only a handful of pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras as trying to do this in the days of film would be very expensive and time consuming.” 

Bio on Austin Thomas:

Austin is primarily a Nature and Wildlife photographer, based in the North West of England. He enjoys spending time in the field during the day, recording what nature has to offer. As a consequence he then spends his evenings behind a computer screen preparing his work for presentation.

Austin has won National and International Photographic competitions and his work has been published in several newspapers and magazines. This months BBC Wildlife magazine (out 23rd January 2011) will also feature this spectacular photograph.

More of Austin’s work can be seen at www.austin-thomas.co.uk

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £30 voucher!

Location:

North Denes beach, Lowestofy, Suffolk, mid-January.

Equipment: 

Canon EOS-350D Digital Camera with a Sigman 10-20mm lens @ 16mm; ISO 100; f/13; 5 sec exposure c/w 0.6 & 0.9 ND Graduated filters fitted.

About Gary Horner:

At 39 years old, Gary is employed as an Operations Co-ordinator for a Petrochemical Company. Photography is a passion of his, especially landscape photography which he sees as a way whereby he can assist in preserving the picturesque natural beauty of the East Anglian Coastline and Broads for generations to come. Gary adds “The majority of my landscapes are taken at either dawn or dusk. The light and tones are often mesmerising with the countryside taking on that magical appearance that can not be replicated at any other time of the day.”

A selection of his work can be found at www.eastcoastimages.co.uk

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £30 voucher!

Proboscis Monkey Portrait © Frank McGowan 2011

Male Lion in Profile © Frank McGowan 2011

We would like to thank Frank McGowan for kindly agreeing to us using two of his accomplished wildlife photographs on our website. The two shots we have used (show left) feature a Lion shot in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya and a Probiscus monkey shot in Borneo. Frank told us he patiently waited for days to get this close-up shot of the shy monkey. You can see more of Frank’s fantastic wildlife and landscape work on www.frankmcgowan.me.uk

Bedruthan steps © Russell Pike 2010

Location:

Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

Gear used: 

Canon 5D - Canon 17mm-40mm @ 17mm - Aperture: f/16 Shutter speed: 30 sec ISO: 50 O.6 Lee ND grad and 0.9 Lee Proglass ND filter

Russell explains the shot:

This photograph was made with the sun at its weakest point just as it hit the horizon, allowing an exposure to be made. As usual it was a matter of timing, too soon and I would have the sun boring into my lens causing all sorts of problems like flare and burnt out highlights, too late and the impact of the photograph would be lost.

About Russell:

An amateur photographer who is keen as mustard, Russell has been taking landscape photos for a few years now. By day he works as a bench joiner in Devon. He likes things to be as pure as the moment and because of this, Russell does not use photoshop for anything more than dust-busting and level tweaks. He prefers natural light and Mother Nature.

View Russell Pike’s photo gallery and buy prints at www.russellpike.co.uk

The Image of the Month is selected from the photographic prints we run through the lab and also from the images emailed to us for consideration. Send your best image to us and win a feature on the homepage of our website for a month, archived in our picture of the month gallery, a link back to your online gallery, and most importantly, win a £20 voucher!

Andy’s original transparencies were scanned using our Imacon scanners, optimised using Photoshop, then printed onto Ilford High gloss RA4 photographic material using our Kodak L.E.D Printer!

Andy is a landscape photographer specialising in the beautiful scenery of northern England, from the windswept Northumberland coast to the gentle moorland above his home in Bolton. His photographs reflect an appreciation of light and the landscape, whether it’s a dramatic view in a national park or in the subtler beauty of the less heralded corners of England. Andy is a regular contributor to numerous magazines, including Outdoor Photography.

Andy Latham

‘Landscapes of the Ribble’ was published in Januray 2010 by Frances Lincoln. The book follows the changing landscapes of the Ribble from its infancy near Ribblehead, in the Yorkshire Dales, all the way to the wide expanse of the estuary at Lytham and represents a unique body of work. The exhibition is a selection of 30 atmospheric images from the book, all of which are available for purchase as limited edition prints.

For more information about Andy or his work please visit www.andylatham.co.uk

Exhibition Details

• 22nd June – 18th July 2010 Lytham Heritage Centre, 2 Henry Street, Lytham
• Tuesdays to Sundays 10am till 4pm. Admission free!
• See www.lythamheritage.co.uk for further information.

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• 31st July – 31st October 2010 The Museum of North Craven Life, The Folly, Settle
• Saturday, Sunday & Tuesday (plus August Bank Holiday Monday) 10:30am till 4:30pm
• Admission to museum £1.80 (includes the exhibiton and the building is worth a visit in its own right)
• See www.ncbpt.org.uk/folly/ for further information.