Closing the gap: iPhone v DSLR
A few quick thoughts...
I will probably do a more longwinded version of this at some point but I just wanted to quickly talk about the main differences between using a camera (DSLR) and a phone (iPhone 6s) for picture taking. Spoiler alert - the camera wins. However, the camera does not win when it is packed up at home and you are missing some glorious scene without a camera in sight.
However, the vast majority of us now carry smartphones with a very decent camera attached. The old saying 'the best camera you have is the one you have with you at the time' could not have really been more applicable. As a photographer, I am always a little bit obsessed with the quality of the image and I would always choose a DSLR over a phone if it was a commission or if it is a shoot that I have 'planned' for.
Life doesn't always let you 'plan' though so knowing that I have a camera in my pocket at all times comes as quite a relief. Even better than that, knowing that the little camera can take a very decent picture is a bit of a game changer. Upon to recently, I carried a small Ricoh GR (compact camera) but it has unfortunately passed away (motor in the lens has broken - nightmare!) and in my search for a replacement, i.e. a high quality, pocket sized camera, I suddenly had a bit of an epiphany "Just get a better camera phone".
There are a few clear contenders but two that really grab my attention are the iPhone 7+ and the Google Pixel. Being a bit of an Apple fan, I am already siding on the 7+ as my phone/camera of choice - but looking at the 'test' results of some of the images taken by these phones, they are simply staggering. This, this is the point! Phones are now a serious option to replace lower end DSLR's and are so convenient that it's almost a no-brainer! And things are only going to get better.
As I say, I will do a more comprehensive write up soon but I am seriously enjoying shooting with a camera phone at the moment and to be honest, it feels liberating!
Fancy grabbing yourself a bargain?
UPDATE - Sorry folks, they have now all sold. If you are still interested though, I am ordering a few extra prints so please email me at admin@rossjukesphoto.com - thank you all so much for your support ;)
So, a lot of you will have seen that I recently had an exhibition at Bullring Birmingham.It was a great experience and I was incredibly fortunate to sell the majority of my images (plus a quite a few reprints etc). However, I still have 3 left over and because they are huge (A1 framed) I have nowhere to store them!
So I am selling them at £100 each rather than the standard £150 - that's a massive 33.3333% off (or something like that!). The images are printed on Kodak Endure paper (really good quality if I do say so myself) and are framed in A1 frames (no border). The frames are black plastic poly-core with perspex rather than glass, this is due to the health & safety regs at Bullring.
The three images below are what I have left and unfortunately, I cannot offer delivery (as they are huge!) but I am happy to meet you somewhere in Birmingham to exchange. I am happy to accept payment via BACS or PayPal. If you are interested in purchasing, please email me at admin@rossjukesphoto.com - and let me know which image(s) you are interested in. Thanks for stopping by!
Christmas comes early with these Top Ten Tips
I am not much of a writer, I'd far rather take a few pictures and leave the hard work to somebody else. However, when asked by FQ Magazine to write a 'Top Ten Tips' on photography, I couldn't turn down the opportunity.
I would far rather have written about landscape or automotive photography but seeing as it will soon be the season to be jolly, I was asked to write about taking pictures at Christmas. The tips are a range of the obvious through to some 'insider' knowledge but all with a light-hearted twist.
So why not take a few moments and have a quick look and see if you can pick up a few tips to make your festive photography something to remember - Read the tips HERE
An Evening with IgersBirmingham on a very tall building!
I love trying to find new angles of the city that I have never shot before. SO when I was very kindly asked by the guys at IgersBirmingham if I'd like to come and take some photographs from a very tall building, I jumped at the chance!
I love taking long exposures so I asked if we could go around sunset, knowing that I would use the Aston Expressway, one of the major roads flowing through the middle of the city as my prime subject. We all met up, everyone was in a good mood and a lot of fun was had trying to get long exposures in (what felt like) gale force winds!
However, I did also start to grab some short clips of video with the intent of starting to create weekly video logs, or as they are called on the street, vlogs! Now I'm no looker and I really, really don't like being in front of a camera. However, it does add a really useful view on what I do and how I do it (apart from the fact that on this occasion, it was just too windy to talk about settings etc.)
So here is a very quick video from the evening, look out for more of these n the future! And before anybody says anything about quality, it was all shot on an iPhone - which to be honest, blows my mind! Thanks once again to IgersBirmingham and Aston University.
Street Photography in Birmingham... Kind of...
By now, I think you will have guessed that I have a tendency for the dramatic, sunrise/sunset shots with a lot of editing! Even though that is what I love to do, I still enjoy trying new things and pushing myself a little.
From the platform of Grand Central looking through the frosted glass in the Concourse
So when I got my little Ricoh GR back from the head-honcho of the excellent IgersBirmingham after a short loan, I immediately wanted to get acquainted with my old friend. Now for those that may not be aware, my 'normal' camera is the Canon 5D Mkiii with a bunch of lenses, filters and a massive tripod, all of which weighs about as much as a small house! Whereas the little Ricoh, slides into my jacket pocket with ease and is stealth like when used in the street (if you are a trained ninja like me!)
He never saw me coming!
So armed with my little friend, a couple of spare hours and good light, I took to the streets of Birmingham with no idea what to shoot! The only thing I wanted to do was to practise my settings (photographers are always learning!) and have a crack at 'Street Photography' the subtle art of taking pictures of, well, things that are happening in the streets! And Birmingham never seems to let you down on that front.
I set about the streets, just capturing whatever took my fancy. Sometimes there was a little waiting around for something to happen, other times a shot just presented itself! I never set out to do true 'Street Photography' which generally involves people in the scene, I normally try to avoid people in my images, but I just took a bit of a carefree approach and grabbed images of whatever I found interesting.
Landscape or Street Photography? Who cares...
I have to admit, it was the most pleasing couple of hours photography I have had in a long while, no pressure, no need to get up at a ridiculous time or pray that the weather is just right (though it was!) and if I came home with nothing? So be it. It may not of escaped your attention that all images were shot in Black & White as well, which was an additional little treat! Simply paying attention to the light, tones and shades and no trying to second guess how I would edit the images in post, just me, the scene and the light!
Always expect the unexpected in Birmingham!
As I made my way home, I crossed the Queensway bridge and was met by a guy just making his way up the handrail, as you do. We did not say a word to each other, I didn't even raise the camera to my eye, I just hit the focus button on the back of my camera and shot 'from the hip'. I had a rough idea that the shot was framed correctly and the settings were where they need to be. As I made my way down the steps, I checked the back of the camera and was so pleased I had got the image, my favourite shot of the day! Real street photography and a scene completely out of the ordinary.
There were so many little pleasures to be had by simply walking the streets and discretely taking in my surroundings. The Ricoh GR is an absolutely amazing camera (I will do a full review at some point). It was a joy to shoot without any pressure and highly enjoyable to do something selfish and only shoot for me. Birmingham seems a more than fitting stage for Street Photography and I am sure I will treat myself to another little trip out again soon. In the meantime, I would strongly suggest a flick through Instagram and in particular, checking out the work of local Street Supremo Kris Askey (@krisaskey) who always seems to find the understated beauty of everyday scenes.
Here are all of the shots (well most, the ones I am happy to share) from my little mooch around.
Long Exposure Photography using the LEE Filter System
It probably won't come as much of a surprise that us Photographers love anything that makes our life easier and improves the final result. Well the LEE Filter system is a prime example of a tool that every photographer should have in their kit bag.
This short video gives a brief insight into how the LEE Filter system works and as you can see form the image below, the results are pretty cool, even if I do say so myself. Be sure to check out the LEE website HERE to take a look at some of their great products. Look out for more videos coming soon and don't forget to Subscribe to my Youtube channel.
IgersBirmingham & Ikon Gallery - Mendelsohn Instameet: Balsall Heath
I had the pleasure of joining the amazing people from IgersBirmingham and the Ikon Gallery for a Janet Mendelsohn inspired meet in Balsall Heath. With the aim of showing Balsall Heath today and how things have changed in the near 50 years since Mendelsohn's original 'photo-essay' of the area, the day would see us explore some of the highlights of Balsall Heath.
Starting at the endlessly interesting Old Print Works, we had an inspiring introduction to Mendelsohn's works and a brief insight into Balsall Heath's past. Groups of around twenty took turns to explore the Moseley Road Swimming Baths - a beautiful Victorian building kept mainly in it's original splendor with a rare opportunity to explore many areas that would normally be closed off to the public.
After exploring the baths, we had an interesting route to follow around Ballsall Heath taking in the area and a chance explore the rich mixture of cultures living side-by-side. This was where I had promised to challenge myself and to delve head first into the world of 'Street Photography'. The challenge would be to approach interesting subjects and witness everyday life in the area to immerse myself in the culture of Balsall Heath.
This is certainly different to my normal style of photography, I was well and truly outside of my comfort zone. However, very much like the area I was exploring, my initial reservations were soon replaced by the sheer excitement of exploring new areas and challenges. It is fair to say that I barely scratched the surface of Balsall Heath . However, I think Mendelsohn would be pleasantly surprised by the modern day area and it's inhabitants.
Thanks goes to Fraser and the team at IgersBirmingham, Emily Luxford from the Ikon Gallery, Ian Francis from Flatpack Projects and all that helped organise a very enjoyable day.
Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!
I think I say it every year but, how quick did that go! I have had some amazing adventures this year and finally feel like I'm starting to find my feet a little (even though I have along way to go!). I decided in early 2015 that if I wanted to get my photography 'out there' then I needed to get myself 'out there'. This is more of a challenge than it sounds, in particular when you're quiet a socially awkward person to begin with.
Much like the redevelopment of Birmingham itself, I feel that I have evolved and changed over the last twelve months and I have seen the heavily edited, over saturated style of my automotive photography creep, well, run in and jump up and down on my landscape shots. This is something that will change throughout 2016 as I intend being a little more subtle with my final edits. 2015 hailed many exciting changes for Birmingham, Grand Central, New Street Station, Paradise Forum all either starting or finishing their major changes. I was up for the challenge that lay ahead!
However, as life always seems to, it managed to get right in the way of any plans when we lost a very dear family member. It is always a challenge and it really drains any creativity from you but that is really insignificant when you know what other people are going through. After some time away and a little soul-searching, it provided a catalyst to push my photography on, after all, life is too short not to do what you enjoy!
2015 saw me get more involved in the local community, in particular with IgersBrimingham - which is just the most amazingly friendly bunch of people you could wish to go out take pictures with. One of the highlights of my year was holding my own 'Instameet'. I thoroughly enjoyed just talking about photography, helping people with settings and most of all, meeting some amazing people!
Towards the end of 2015 came something that I am genuinely proud of, my first exhibition! The good folk of the Old Joint Stock Theatre hosted the exhibition (which has been extended into 2016!). I'd never printed my work in bulk like this before and to see it hanging on the walls was an incredible moment. However, I have been more amazed by the people that have been to view it, offer great feedback and even buy prints! I am very grateful!
All-in-all, the year has had it's up's and down's, but more than anything, I feel like it has put me in a good place to really push myself in 2016! So what is on the cards for next year? I will be hosting more 'photowalks', offering 1-2-1 tutorials, even doing some video work so unfortunately, you will be seeing more of me! I have a couple of secret projects as well but more on those later in 2016. Probably the biggest change will be... I will be branching out of Birmingham (sorry, it's not you it's me!) I love travelling and feel it is time to combine this with my love of photography.
I just want to finish by saying a huge thank you to all of those that have supported me this year - IgersBirmingham, Independant Birmingham, BrumHour, Birmingham Updates (I swear I don't pay Luke for sharing my pictures!), Brumpic, Old Joint Stock Theatre, I Choose Birmingham, BBC Midlands Today, Birmingham Mail, What's On Birmingham and all the fantastic clients I have worked with (sorry if I have missed anyone, I have a shocking memory!). I would also like to thank all the amazing photographers out there that inspire me, (no surprises) Tim Cornbill, Verity Milligan, Tom Bird, George Daley, George Davies, David Rann, All of the IgersBirmingham folk! (you know who you are!) and many, many others on Istagram, Facebook and Twitter that inspire me on a daily basis!
The biggest 'thank you' though goes to all of those that have supported me in person or on social media. I can be quite negative and would have given up a long time ago if it wasn't for the kind words and support that I am shown on a regular basis. It really means the world to me, I can't thank you enough.
I wish you all an incredible 2016.
Ross
A belated Merry Christmas
The build up to Christmas is a busy time for everyone and unfortunately, I did not get time to post this before the 'big day'. Due to incredibly mild weather and the markets not quite having the festive feel that they have had in previous years, I decided to go with an older image yet still one of my favourites as I feel it captures the festive mood in Birmingham perfectly.
I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas. I have certainly enjoyed a few days off. However, the hard work starts again now and I can't wait for 2016! There will be a few big changes on the way but more on that soon. I hope you all have a fantastic New Year.
Competition time! Free Giveaway...
To say a big 'Thank you' for all of the support I get on social media - I am giving away a free framed A3 print of Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. The giveaway is currently running on my Facebook page and will end on Sunday 13th December! So head over and make sure you have entered!
Click HERE to visit my Facebook page and enter! Good Luck!
I do really appreciate all the support that I get and in 2016 I will be hosting a number of events for free so sign up to my newsletter (link on the right) to keep up to date with the latest news and events. If you just don't want to chance it, the print will soon be available in my shop and as ever, if you email me I can arrange for any of my images to be made available as a print.
