Overexposed

A little while ago I mentioned that I intended to get a little more serious about photography – creating a design from scratch using only raw materials that you collect or make yourself seems much more appealing than using stock images. If I have a particular idea for a brief then I wanted to be able to go and wander around London and find a cardful of suitable images to incorporate in the design.

To support this I picked up a Canon 350D, which is my first SLR (grown-up camera with a big nose). I felt a little cheeky for a while, like I was borrowing a camera without permission, but it’s finally starting to sink in that it belongs to me.

The best way to get into the habit seems to be actually wandering around with the camera out, around your neck. I still feel a little conscious about doing this (for fear or either mugging or getting accused of being a tourist), but I’m starting to get beyond this now. In particular I wanted to get a load of texture shots that can be used to add depth, but for more abstract work. It’s particularly fun taking a close up shot of a wall or pavement with people wandering by.

You’ll notice I’ve added a little flickr plugin to this site that will display the most recent photos I’ve uploaded. I haven’t quite decided on how much of myself to expose (no jokes please). I’m used to the idea of blogging to the world, but as yet undecided on whether to add a full visual commentary too.