Strolling through Birmingham early in the morning
A good friend, Ewen, who is a professional photographer has written a great blog post “Your photography …. Finish the job”
His argument is that once you have taken a good photograph then it needs to be finished. Ewen saw one of my images on Twitter and he messaged me saying the following: –
That one tweet led me into the world of the British Tech Network and I joined their Photo League. It is led by Ewen and you submit your monthly photographs and receive constructive comments. I have submitted my first few photographs and already benefited from the professional advice on how not only to compose but finish your image. I was still intrigued about the finishing of the image and so I spent a day with Ewen at his studio. He took me through several simple processes that make your images stand out. A few simple exercises cleaned the “grey crud” from my images and then with some sharpening process I could see that my images immediately benefitted from his advice. Here are a few images which have been processed in Photoshop and they have been enhanced.
My tips from that meeting with Ewen –
- check your exposure,
- add a touch of saturation,
- look at the image and a touch of intelligent sharpening all add up to finishing your image.
Here are a few examples of checking your pictures and finishing them off.
Example 1 – this is a picture taken at Chesterton Windmill before Christmas.
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The following is my attempt at processing 
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This next one is finished by following some simple rules and a bit of creativity.
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These next two are the before and after with a touch of blur.
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……and that picture that first made me realise that there is more to just taking the photograph. Well here it is with a few added touches. 
One of the most photographic structures near me is the Windmill at Chesterton. I had visited it for the first time earlier in the year and I wished to plan another trip where I could have my tripod with me. I contacted a good friend of mine, John Bray, and we planned the visit between Christmas and the New Year. To really appreciate the Windmill you need to have good weather especially if you are looking for a memorable sunset. As luck would have it not only did we pick a good afternoon, it had snowed the night before which gave an added plus factor to the photographic outing. John and I spent an hour and half at the windmill taking photographs as the sun slowly left the sky.
The sunset was a good one and there were lots of opportunities for pictures. Even the moon got into the act. The temperature dropped and whilst it was cold there was little wind. We took lots of pictures and soon it was time to leave as the sunset was nearly finished. Just as we were walking away John turned around and said look at that view. It is the old saying always look behind you when you are walking away from the picture. John is really quick on getting his pictures out on social media and they were excellent producing much reaction. Here are my views of Chesterton windmill on a cold yet ultimately rewarding photographic session.
The new Dental School and Hospital at Pebble Mill offers many photographic opportunities. The sun rises and sets into the atrium providing various lights and shadows during the day. I have posted many of these on my Flickr site but cannot resist adding a few more.
It is just not me that likes the building as it has won an award from the West Midlands Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It came first in the category “Innovation through Design” The judging panel liked the functionality and layout of the building. They highlighted the welcoming atrium, the open clinics and the world class research laboratories.
The Birmingham Dental Hospital & School of Dentistry will now go forward to represent the West Midlands in the national RICS Grand Final on 2 November 2017, competing against other projects from across the UK.
Meanwhile enjoy the pictures.
Biking from home to Coughton Court for a photographic visit. Each time I visit the National Trust property, I always spot something new to see. The house is full of interesting rooms and the views from the Tower are wonderful. There is also recounts of the history of the Gunpowder plot. These pictures give a small insight to what I saw around the house and the beautiful gardens.
The canal system around Birmingham provides terrific photographic opportunities. If you have the combination of a nice day and the time to wander along the canal network with your camera then there are few places that can match the views that you can find. Here is an early Monday morning walk along the Canal Network. Thank you to the West Midlands Branch of the Canal and River Trust for their work in maintaining our canal network.
There are always people browsing your Flickr photographs and I was contacted by Dorling Kindersley, a London based publishing house.who are part of the Penguin Random House group. They informed me that they are creating a presentation entitled, Flora.
To illustrate the text on Leaf Skeleton, they wished to use the below image from my Flickr collection:
I agreed that DK may use the image. It is one image and I let it go forward for a PDF and an acknowledgement in the book. I was flattered that they wished to use the image but I don’t get any financial award 🙁 By letting them use the picture then they have my consent to use this image in all editions in all forms of Flora (including digital products based on Flora) in all languages throughout the world.
I can take some comfort from the accompanying text they sent me. DK is an award-winning global publisher of distinctive, highly visual products for adults and children. Founded in London in 1974, we are enormously proud to be the worlds leading illustrated reference publisher. Therefore I may not get financial compensation but a lot of people will get to see the image and it may lead to more recognition.