As an infrared photographer in Scotland, I am always looking for new subjects to photograph and as we all know outdoor infrared photography in Scotland needs sunshine, so the majority of photos will be taken in the summer, when we have more light.  Not good if you are in Scotland I hear you say.  Not necessarily so, the light at this time of year can be intense midday.  Also there are less people walking around when it’s cold, which will give you more opportunity for a remote atmospheric shot, apart from the occasional walker and their dog (the enemy of the outdoor landscape photography).  The misconception about infrared is that you need trees and flowers in full bloom and you can only take photos in the summer.

I won’t go into too much detail at this stage (more detail to follow at a later date) why the following subjects are good to photograph in infrared, suffice, it’s not all about trees and the following subjects worked for me, so here we go:

Anything with green foliage, ie that goes for grass, trees etc

Tree branches out of season

Reflections on water, particularly trees

Metal objects, although watch out for the direction of the sun and its effect on the metal surface

Buildings with glass, again, its their reflective properties which make the shot

Clouds mixed with blue skies

People, particularly performers

Cars and planes, their metallic properties make them ideal for infrared photography

If you can mix a few of the above subjects into one image, even better.  Anyway, happy shooting,

Until next time.

Colin

Colin Wright Photography

Hi All

Back into the swing of things for the New Year.  I have started to do a few articles on my blog, which are linked into my Linkedin account, some are on event and corporate photography in Scotland and some on the subject of infrared photography in East Lothian and Scotland.  I have an equine photoshoot coming up in March, looking forward to that and a conference photography event in Edinburgh soon, in addition to some newspaper photography work in Midlothian and Edinburgh.  I was on my first newspaper PR photography commission of the New Year in Midlothian at the weekend.  All the sport was cancelled due to the weather, boo hoo, but I still attended a couple of events for the Midlothian Advertiser, one of these was a Family Fun charity event at Newbattle Church in Newtongrange.  The photo I will eave you with is from the Newtongrange Silver Band.  Well done guys great sound, hope I wasnt too disruptive when I took your photo.

Just looking out the window, the sun is coming out, as an infrared photographer in Scotland, I can feel a photo or two coming on.

Until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin

Colin Wright Photography

Commissioning Controlled or Uncontrolled Environment Photographers and why it is Important

As an event photographer in Scotland, I am largely commissioned to photograph outdoor events, such as football, rugby, bungee jumping, motor sports etc.  I also love doing fine art, landscape, street photography and photographing my kids playing outdoors.  In addition, I photograph conferences and weddings indoors, but even then I prefer situations where I have no control over the environment.  Whilst photographers tend to do commissioned work for both, it’s fair to say that most of us concentrate and prefer either a controlled or uncontrolled environment.

So what are the characteristics of these two types of photographers and how are they different.  Generally, the vast majority of outdoor shots are unplanned and not pre-determined before the event.  The photographer also in this uncontrolled environment usually has no influence over what will happen next and they thrive on this type of photoshoot, whereas the studio photo photographer prefers an environment where he or she can control the lighting, background, facial expression etc.  Although largely an outdoor photographer, my favourite type of indoor photography is conferences, as they are mainly uncontrolled environment events, which involves photographing the speakers/workshop participants etc.  This leads me on to different personality types, with some people preferring the unexpected and unplanned, while others prefer complete control.  Some commissioned work can be a mixture of the two, ie newspaper photography and weddings, but even then, the photographer’s preference for one or the other will usually be shine through.

Why is all this important to a business, because you should be looking to commission a photographer, who closely matches your requirements.  How can you do this, by looking for controlled or uncontrolled environment images in their portfolios.  The last thing you want is an uncomfortable photographer outside his or her comfort zone.  You don’t have to ask the question outright, as the images should demonstrate the skills of the photographer.  Anyway, good luck, I will leave you with a classic uncontrolled environment image.

Colin

Colin Wright Photography