On Friday I spoke to Sarah Clarke-Wareham. She has written Book of 24 different poems, and it is called Common Ground Anyone? Rhyme Time for SW Mums.
The following is one of the poems about Northcote Road, and for many who are familiar with the area it will make you smile.

On Northcote Road we dote

Armies have their HQ, while gangs feel safe on their turf
Sports teams have home grounds, or home breaks if you like to surf
Old men have their locals, city men have their clubs
Cool men have Shoreditch; our men have Youngs pubs
So it’s not surprising that SW Mums have somewhere to call their own
A place that we can be confident is filled with just our clones
Sanctity when we’re feeling down, a comforting, familiar abode
I couldn’t write this book without mentioning the glorious Northcote Rd

As a gaggle of mums we head to Crumpet, vying for buggy space
Oli is back on the road somehow, but Becky has given chase
Tommy has spied the fairy cakes; Molly is stuck on the loo
Amelia is Queen of the castle, Harry needs a poo
Ruby is eating sugar cubes, Marley is under the table
Josh has built a tower with blocks, although it’s not looking too stable
But it doesn’t matter you smile to each other, because you’re behind Crumpet doors
So you drink your coffee, have a chat, and pretend that they’re not yours

Another day and you’re there with just your kids; it’s time for a haircut
Sally’s booked up for the next 3 weeks, can’t even fit you in when you tut
So you head to Trotters, but struggle to drag them away from driving that car
Unfortunately the fish tank doesn’t do the trick, so you bribe them with a chocolate bar
While you’re there you can’t help having a little mooch around
Which is why husband says “How could 2 haircuts cost one hundred and twenty pounds?!”

Finally you have a morning to yourself, so you head to Questionnaire
You sail through Whistles, and Sweaty Betty, by Kew you just don’t care
By White Stuff you’re 25, by Fat Face you’re in your teens
A mixture of Neal’s Yard and Space NK gives you the necessary means
You stop for a Starbucks takeout latte, treat yourself to a blueberry muffin
A friend tells you she can’t find a thing, but you’re sure she must be bluffing
You walk past Jigsaw, Fat Face Kids, Jo-Jo’s and Petit Bateau
Today is me-time you tell yourself, only one place to spend your doe
But then you have a glass of wine or two (well, All Bar One is just so handy)
And you can’t keep away from those cute little dresses: to the baby, like candy

Saturday morning with nothing to do, there’s no better place to head
Don’t know why Boiled Egg & Soldiers closed down, but I think they probably fled
Toddlers throwing tantrums in the street, babies scream for food
Clapham Junction singles stay at home, they don’t dare intrude
Organic fruit and veg looks amazing, and is only twice the price
Fresh bread, muffins, pastries and pies means the bread stall is sure to entice
You spend a fortune on Mark Anderson photos; does London ever look that good?
If Northcote Rd committee took over City Hall, well, perhaps it would

You’ve shopped for your children and yourself, there’s only one place left to dress
But of course Northcote Rd knows you well, and so caters with equal finesse
There’s Cath Kidson for kitchenware or Rosie’s pink bedroom theme
Oliver Bonas for funky extras or Cuisinere for utensils that gleam
There’s Doves for your Sunday roasts, Salumeria Napoli for your Italian night
Fara for kids toys, Pretty Pregnant if you get that fright
One Small Step or Trotters means your children will always have shoes
And if you’re looking to sell your house? Well, there are a few estate agents to choose

But what is this? The sun is setting and suddenly things start to change
The haven of SW family life is looking a little strange
Buggies replaced with scooter man, lattes replaced with beer
Crying tantrums replaced with pumping music, and then that thing we fear
The thing that ensures we scurry home, why did we leave it so late?
The arrival en masse of twenty-somethings, with freedom in their gait

After what seems to have been the wettest November on record the cold weather is set to arrive this week. After banging on recently about autumn being my favourite season for photography, Winter comes a close second.
Winter photography can be extremely rewarding as long as you follow a few simple guidelines to keep your equipment working, and modify your techniques to compliment the change in outdoor conditions. While photography in winter is different than other times of the year, a bit of understanding can make your efforts produce more dramatic and in many ways more memorable photos than the typical summer shots. Here are just a few tips to remember:

1. Carry fresh or freshly charged batteries – Cold climates are rough on batteries. The first thing to do is make sure your batteries are fresh or freshly charged, and if possible, carry spares. Your camera and especially the camera’s batteries will not work as well as in the milder months of the year. Remember that winter photography means dealing with an outdoor environment that’s cold and harsh. If your camera is small, of the point and shoot variety, consider carrying it in an inside pocket if you’re going to be outside for any length of time. If the camera is a larger, SLR type camera, think about carrying the batteries in an inside pocket until needed. For either type of camera, if you’re shooting consistently, rotate spare batteries in and out of your inside pocket to keep them warm.

2. Take advantage of the sun’s lower angle in the winter – Most fine art photographers will tell you that they prefer to shoot either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. There are two reasons for this preference. First, the colors are more “dramatic”. What they mean is that the colors are more toward the yellow end of the spectrum, which is considered “warmer”. Second – and this is the relevance to winter photography – when pictures are shot early and late in the day, the sun is lower, which creates more dramatic shadows. In winter, shadows are more pronounced for longer periods of the day. Even when the sun is higher in the sky and the colors appear to be more normal, the shadow angles will be larger, producing more dramatic effects. Try to make your shots with the sun situated across the subject rather than in front of or behind. This will increase the detail, especially in snow or ice scenes, and will lend depth to the picture.

3. Use fill flash when shooting people – Rather than place the subject in total front or back light, use a fill flash. While ‘cross lighting’ I mentioned above is a great technique for scenes, it’s not particularly flattering for people. Some cross lighting is flattering of course, but using it as the principal light is not the way to get compliments from your subjects. Almost all point and shoot cameras have a small flash built-in, and they’re great for exactly this kind of situation. Instead of the fully automatic camera mode, most of these little digital wonders have a mode that forces the flash to operate. If you use a SLR, put your flash on the camera and use it. The exposure should still be primarily from available light, but use the fill to just remove the harsh shadows caused by the natural cross lighting.

4. Keep your portrait subjects moving – If it’s cold your subjects will not be as patient standing still waiting for their photographs to be taken as they would be be on a nice warm summers day. Either capture them while they’re moving using a fast shutter speed (over 100th of a second) with a large aperture (f5.6 or below), or work out your camera and flash settings before lining them up for their picture. If your subjects are cold and bored no amount of post production in photoshop will make them look any different.

5. Compensate your exposure for snow and ice in a scene - If your camera has the ability to set the exposure, set it to OVEREXPOSE by one stop (which means one “f” stop) when a scene is primarily snow, ice, or otherwise white. Camera exposure meters try to make things 18% grey. This means is that every exposure by a camera’s meter tries to set the scene at what the industry has determined to be the color gray, at a reflectance of 18%. For most normal photography, this works quite well, but for snow and ice – where the scene is predominately white – the scenes tend to be a bit underexposed. The snow looks a little “dirty”. This will allow the camera to make the white features brighter than the usual 18% gray reflectance, and produce more white in the image.

6. In Winter, shoot a scene as soon as you see it - When you discover a shot, don’t try to come back later because there’s a good chance that it will have changed. Shoot it now. Winter scenes are dynamic. What exists now may not be there when you come back later. An overnight ice storm can bring unimaginable beauty in the morning, but be gone and muddy by noon.

7. Don’t unnecessarily stress the wildlife - When you stop along the road to photograph an animal and that animal gives you more than a passing glance, you’re probably too close for comfort. When winter comes the food source for most animals gets more scarce, don’t add more aggravation to what is already a stressful life.

8. Use the rule of two thirds- Try and divide your frame into thirds. If you’re shooting in landscape try and fill the frame with one third sky and two thirds subject rather than half sky and half subject. The same applies when shooting on portrait. Once you’ve mastered that, try and use the vertical thirds across the frame as well as the horizontal.

It’s difficult enough buying presents for people you know well, let alone entire families and people whose tastes you haven’t yet pinned down or don’t share in their taste in art or photography.

At my stall in Northcote Road we see the agonising over ‘what to get you know who’ first hand. It might have been decided that a framed or mounted photograph is the ideal present for ‘you know who’ but will ‘you know who’ like the image you’ve chosen.
The relief is palpable sometimes when a gift voucher may be the answer. OK, its not the ideal solution as you would much prefer to give ‘you know who’ something to unwrap rather than a voucher but ultimately ‘you know who’ will get exactly what they want rather than a near miss.

We can send you your gift voucher through the mail or by email. You can see the selection by going to the following page;
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/vouchers.php

You can use the voucher to purchase or put towards any of the framed and mounted prints we have on offer as well as any of the services we offer.
Below is a list of links to the relevant pages. To buy a voucher just go back to the voucher link above.

Portrait photography;
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/porgallery.php

Event photography;
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/eapgallery.php

Wedding photography;
http://www.weddingphotographerslondon.uk.com/portfolio/

London photographs, Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

London Photographs, Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

London Panoramic photographs
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

New York photographs Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

New York photographs Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Paris Photographs Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Paris photographs Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Prague Photographs Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Prague photographs Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Sydney Photographs Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

Sydney photographs Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

New Zealand Photographs Colour
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

New Zealand Photographs Black & White
http://www.photoarte.co.uk/galleries_index.php

My favourite time for taking photographs is autumn. I think I’ve said this a number of times in this blog. One of my clients said to me on Saturday at my stall “If Autumn is your favourite time for taking photographs where are the new photographs then?”

Here they are, There are eight new photographs. I’ll have these at my stall this weekend to view. They can also be viewed and purchased by going to my London Panoramic Gallery.

During the summer I decided to bring out a small set of Autumn Panoramic photographs and I also decided to use my old medium format camera with Fuji Velvia 50 film which produces beautiful rich, saturated, smooth colours. Ideal for Autumn. I spent the morning last Sunday on Wandsworth Common, and on the river in Putney in the afternoon waiting for sets of rowers to pass and to my amazement a group of sailing boats perfectly spaced out sailed along in front of me. Today I took the View from Richmond Hill, Clapham Common, Key Green and Hammersmith Bridge.

Beyond October in the run up to Christmas we get so busy with autumn photography, photographing parties, and stocking the stall, so this will be the final competition this year.

And because it’s the last competition of the year the prize is a BIG ONE!!!!

A big welmome to The Nappy Valley team and their members, we’re going to present the prize on the 21st November with the Nappy Valley Team at our stall on Northcote Road. More about that in November.

Can you guess where the following photograph was taken? I need city and country. The prize is a pair of framed 700mm x 570mm photographs worth £370.00.

You have until the 15th November 2009 to enter. All you need to do is reply to this post or if you don’t want others to see your answer email me with your answer ma@photoarte.co.uk.

You’ll find this image somewhere in the buy and rent prints gallery.

Good luck and I hope to hear from you soon.

Autumn is by far my favourite time of the year for taking photographs. One of the things that I noticed most in my first year in the UK after my arrival from New Zealand was the change in seasons. We did (still do) have seasons in Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand, but the South East of England regardless of how awful or good the summer has been always seems to enjoy a period of settled weather around this time of year and you can tell that the autumn colours will be with us soon.

Some of the best outdoor photographs I think I’ve taken of families outdoors have been in the autumn using the colours and leaves as props, and I also think some of my best selling gallery photographs have been taken in various cities in autumn.

So how do you take photographs in autumn? My biggest tip for photography in the autumn is KEEP THE SUN BEHIND YOU.

You can break all the ‘keep the sun behind you’ rules in Spring, Summer and Winter but in autumn the direct light is much softer than it is in summer and worth using to your advantage.

For Portraits and shots of the children playing in the leaves set your DSLR to AV (aperture priority), and set the aperture to the lowest it will go to – maybe 6.4 ,5.6 or 4. The corresponding speed will be quite high and you’ll be able to capture the movement without too much blur.
You could also try this in reverse if the children (and the adults) are throwing leaves at each other. Set your camera to TV (time priority) and set the speed to 60. Take plenty of photographs, I take 50 or 60 images in a burst if there’s lots of action, the law of averages dictates that six or so will be good. take a look at my portraits page for more info.

For Landscape photographs take your time. Most lenses perform best at around f11 so set your camera to AV and the aperture around 11. If you have a tripod use it even if you can take the photograph handheld. I find that using a tripod slows the picture taking process down and I think much more carefully about the composition. If you’re standing with your back to the light the camera’s metering system will be quite accurate although you will need to take a few frames at different exposures just to make sure you get a spot on exposure. Take a look at my photograph galleries for more autumn photographs.

I’ve talked a lot about the settings you should use on SLR cameras. With compact cameras where you can’t make many manual alterations to the camera exposure don’t worry KEEP THE SUN BEHIND YOU.

You’ve got plenty of time, the colours in the last two years according to my records start to look good in mid October, and oak trees don’t start falling until mid December.

This is a subject I can ‘talk the handle off an iron pot’ about. It’s a subject I’ll revisit again and talk more about specifics.

When I first arrived on London in 1985 it was a much grimier and dirtier city than it is today. Since then all that post industrial revolution smoke has been cleaned off the brickwork of the major London landmarks, and the general gentrification of the city over the boom periods has been responsible for a much cleaner and greener city. London isn’t unique in that it’s cleaner these days, most cities are cleaner. The inhabitants of cities in general, like London’s, are more proud of their urban space these days.
When I started taking photos of London the first thing that struck me was how ‘low rise’ London was, and you can see this from the bridges and on the river. Of course this was before the Docklands was developed but cities like New York are so different to photograph as all the views are vertical. London suits the panoramic photograph and river cities often do (OK I know New York is also a river city but it’s an exception). London is a mediaeval city and much of is is bolted together with no apparent street plan, but I’m constantly surprised how symmetrical the views are and it is something I look for in my panoramic photographs. The modern architecture that’s been added more recently particularly the jubilee bridges, the London eye, and Docklands has been enormously helpful to us photographers looking for patterns and symmetry. There are two photographs that demonstrate this. the first is the image below I use as the header image at the top of my website and the second is a photograph I took of the Hungerford Bridge and the London eye. I really like the fact that I’ve managed to keep the bridge sharp and get movement in the London eye.

London is also full of quirky images, the telephone boxes in Kingston, the rows of cabs outside Harrods, and the way the London eye looks as though it’s falling over from a certain angle. I find that the quirky images people often comment on don’t sell that well but sit well alongside the images that do.

Being in the right place at the right time plays a huge part in my photography. Getting that ‘great shot’ often doesn’t happen first time, and if I go back several times at different times of the day there’s much higher chance that I’ll get a good shot and often a greater chance of shooting something completely unexpected. To illustrate this I spent one Friday morning photographing Tower Bridge which wasn’t successful as the weather wasn’t great. I met my sister for lunch at the Oxo tower (she was paying!) and I took the following shot of a storm rolling through from the balcony of the restaurant. Being in the right place at the right time counts for a lot.

Over the coming months I’ll talk more about the specifics of photographing a city, my next blog about this will be on Panoramics, how to shoot them, how to stitch them together in photoshop, and how best to print and frame them.