Tuesday 27 September 2011

How to produce great images using your Olympus E-PL1.

If you are moving into DSLR photography, it is not easy to know which camera to buy. Personally, I recommend the Olympus E-PL1 because it is lighter, sleeker and a lot less bulky than other DSLR cameras. I can testify that they are just as light as an ordinary compact camera. 

Bulky cameras aren't a very good purchase if you like to travel light and want to take a lot of photographs. With the Olympus E-PL1, you can do both.

Like learning a language, good photography comes with practice, practice, practice. Taking some photographs every day will help you improve and your confidence will grow. Here are some images I took using the iAuto mode on my Olympus E-PL1. This is where the camera chooses the shutter speed, the aperture, the lighting, the colour saturation--this approach will help beginner photographers build their confidence. When you start out, it's important to get a feel for the camera, and you can easily do that with the Olympus E-PL1. It's very user-friendly.

I would give the Olympus E-PL1 five stars on its ease of use. It certainly delivers and does what it says on the tin. Buy one.





Practice makes perfect.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

How to Write with Heart (a pictorial one, anyway...)


Continuing our theme of using images to trigger ideas, I found a photograph I took over the summer on a beach, using an Olympus EP-1 Digital Camera, of a heart-shaped sea-weed.





Unique, isn't it? I thought it would be a good story prompt. Hearts usually signify love and romance and hand-holding. Many stories have been written about the genre; and it is a very popular one.

Romance is a tricky devil to write about. You need a good story, believable characters, character development, plot and a slant. Your story can be a take on a murder mystery. For example, you could write your version of Murder on The Orient Express...but with a bit of romance.

If you are interested in writing romance, by all means, do have a go. I encourage you to do so.

Meanwhile, I have digressed slightly, from the seaweed heart.

Officials in Graceland note that Elvis Presley still receives around one hundred Valentines each year.



If you are looking for a short story to write, why not write about a Valentine card you received from a mystery admirer?

In your short story, maybe you could write down your thoughts from the minute you received your card, opening it, reading the unsigned message in the card...and maybe finding out who sent it. How did you feel about all this?






Monday 19 September 2011




I like these photographs because you can use images to tell a story. Do we have before us, the story of an argument? A falling out? (photograph one) Loneliness? Regret (photograph two)? If I am doing some creative writing and happen to be stuck for a story, I turn to photographs to give me a story prompt, which is an idea that gets your creative juices flowing. A good story starts in the middle of the action.

When you write a story, starting in the middle of the action quickens the pace of the story. Everything is easier to unfold--the plot, the narrative and dialogue fall into place quite nicely, and you should have your story. It will give you something to work on.

If I were given the opportunity to write the story, I think I would like to write it in the first person because the significant character seems to be the bird on the left. In photograph one, the bird looks down into the ground. Is this unhappiness or the beginning of something that made him unhappy? You can gather a lot of material from negative feelings. Much more than you would if there were positive feelings.

These negative feelings create good drama. We like to see an antagonist at odds with himself. We like to see someone having a worse day than we are--this reminds us that our lives are not so bad, after all. Then again, perhaps we can empathise with the bird that has been wronged. Let's suppose both birds fell out over a woman or over an extra-marital affair. Maybe the story begins like this...

"I'm leaving you, Jonathan and I'm taking the worms with me..."

This is your story prompt. Bird number one leaves Bird number two....

Maybe I've lost the plot altogether? Obviously, you can always replace the birds with human beings.

Thursday 8 September 2011



I love this little mosaic Pac Man ghoul. It reminds me of my misspent youth in the amusement arcades with a pile of 10p coins to play Pac Man. Fabulous!




Doesn't this remind you of visits to the cinema? Why do people stand up when the film shows the best bits? This little bug-bear of mine inspired me to create this image, using two images merged into one--the first image is the seaside and the second one is a shadow of me on the sand. I used a photoshop application on my iphone to merge them together.

When I want to be creative, I write down a list of things that irritate me. Other times, I write down the best things life offers you. It is always important to carry a notebook and pen, a small sketchpad and pen. Inspiration hits you when you least expect it.

Draw a picture of whatever's in front of you when you have some time. Draw everything. This can be a picture of a mug, flowers, or a building. Or take photographs. It is very relaxing. You will learn about composition and placement, both of which are important in art. I will cover these at a later date. Stay tuned.