The French inventor Nicéphore Niépce (1765 – 1833) created the picture and is credited as one of the inventors of photography, and one of its early pioneeers.

It was made using a camera obscura, the ‘darkened room’ or box used by artists to project an image of a scene, over which they would trace a drawing.

The difference here is that the inventor had developed a method of capturing and then fixing the image. Instead of the artist as intermediary, the actual light reflected by the scene was used to make the picture.

Originally he suggested calling the effect ‘heliography’ or ‘sun writing’ but the term photograph or ‘light writing’ became established.

Considering this is the oldest surviving photograph in history, it is remarkably clear and quite detailed. I find it very pleasing as a work of art.

Already we can see the so-called ‘rule of thirds’. The photographer has placed the horizon in the upper third of the frame. Of course, the ‘rule of thirds’ along with many other compositional guidelines had already been used in painting for centuries. That’s why I recommend photographers to go to art galleries and gain inspiration.

But here, the inventor took the decisive step away from an image crafted by human hand and instead allowed the light to make the image itself.

The architectural details are striking – two towers to the left and the right with pitched roofs that echo each other. The sloping roof in the centre adds an air of dynamism. We can just see the indistinct form of buildings beyond it, and in the distance, we are looking across the countryside of France towards the horizon.

We are looking literally through a window into the France of the 1820s? Only recently had the country seen the turmoil of the French Revolution. There were still no railways. The Impressionists had not yet been born.

I find this photograph fascinating, from many different points of view, aesthetic, historic and also technical. We have to admire the vision and ingenuity of the man who developed the process. Did he have any idea of the revolution that would follow in the wake of his invention?

Niépce had experimented with various ways to record light and eventually used bitumen to produce this photograph. The exposure time was eight hours!

More on Wikipedia

Advanced photographers have always taken lots of photos, but then they carefully single out the images they think are worth using and put them all together.

It’s all a question of attitude. If you have a positive approach, you will improve.

Someone who says ‘Nine out of ten of my photos are rubbish. I must be a bad photographer’ has a negative approach and won’t improve.

Someone who says ‘One in ten of the photos I have taken is good enough to publish. That’s a good ratio, I am doing well’ has a positive approach.

And remember, a lot of the time, the photos don’t turn out as expected because of the camera’s shortcomings, not yours! Today’s cameras are far from perfect. Don’t blame yourself when you should be blaming the imperfections of the camera!

The camera may be behaving in an unexpected way, maybe it can’t focus properly or it’s getting the exposure wrong. By learning more about the principles of photography and how a camera works, you should be able overcome the problem.

Many photographs simply cannot be taken successfully. For instance when you are trying to take a photograph of a facade, but the sun is behind the building and shining into the camera. Any photo you take will be rubbish – unless it there is some special effect with the light or other unexpected aspect.

Unlike playing the violin (which I tried once – I was rubbish!), photography is a truly ‘democratic’ medium of expression. Every person has the capability to take good, successful, meaningful and pleasing photographs. That’s why it’s the most popular hobby, and also the most widespread visual medium.

Creative Photography Task: Look through a set of up to fifty photos on your digital camera or on your computer and select the five best ones. Write down in note form why you think they are the best!

Whatever level you are at, you want to move up to the next level. For instance, a beginner with no experience would want to move up to the level of post beginner, by starting to make sense of the camera and taking the first steps in learning the basic principles of photography.

A post-beginner, still using a compact camera, may wish to move on up to the next level by purchasing an SLR camera as well as one or two lenses, and starting to make use of the higher quality and flexibility it offers.

A photographer at intermediate level may aspire to having his or her work published, or perhaps to do paid commissions, with a view to becoming semi-professional.

For an accomplished photographer who has had exhibitions in his or her local area the next step up the ladder might be to be featured in an exhibition at a national or even an international level.

Wherever you are on the scale of achievement, whatever level you’ve reached so far, you will want to move up to the next one.

It’s also possible to fall down a level or two, maybe if you stop doing photography for a while or perhaps you might have lost your inspiration somewhere along the line. (I have some advice on that which I will offer in another post.).

But you can also ‘move on up’ to a higher level by achieving something new and exciting in a different area to the one you are accustomed to, one you have not succeeded in before. For instance, I felt a wonderful sense of achievement at taking this stereo 3D photo of my daughter and her friend walking through Birchfields Rd Manchester. It may not be so remarkable to other people, but for me, it caught the moment and it’s quite different from the type of photography I usually do.

At Photography Training Manchester we love music. Karen McBride has achieved great things in music photography, and I have also done quite a bit of music photography, and I have to say, music is a great inspiration in my photography, art and film projects.

One of my favourite songs is the 1971 hit “Move On Up” by Curtis Mayfield. It reminds me very strongly of New York, where in 1981 I took first my first steps in photography. It also conjures up a picture of my mother and me walking along Marple Hall Drive in 1971 to visit my dad at the convalescent home. Luckily he made a good recovery and ever since then, I associate that song with looking to the future, overcoming problems and trying to achieve the best you can.

And so, applying the song to your path of improvement in photography, remember “your dream is the only scheme so keep on pushing!” and even if there are “complications” along the road, you will eventually “pass the test”.

Click on the link to listen to the song and listen carefully to the words. And if you would like to “have your say” add a comment below!

Curtis Mayfield, Move On Up, on YouTube

Manchester Mega-Photo at Urbis, Thursday 4 July, 2008

In 2008 I created the largest ever photo collage of Manchester. I called it the Manchester Mega-Photo, and it was a megapixel print that was displayed in the foyer of the Urbis museum from July 2008 to April 2009.

It was a gigantic megapixel photocollage that consisted of over 300 poster size prints. I took the photos from the top of the Beetham/Hilton Tower in 2006 when it was under construction.

For some time I had had the idea of taking a gigantic photocollage made up of image that overlap not just from left to right, but from top to bottom as well, and turning it into a huge megapixel print with an astonishingly high resolution.

In February 2006 I had the opportunity of going up the Hilton tower, then a construction site, and taking photos and so I decided to try out my idea. I wasn’t sure whether I would use the tripod or not. I brought it along with me, but in the end I just used the camera hand-held.

Standing on a flimsy aluminium surface with a 500 foot drop beyond the safety barrier, I raised my camera and prepared to capture the magnificent view below me. I started in the upper left aiming at the hills near Bury taking overlapping shots from top to bottom. I moved the camera back to the top, aimed it a little to the right, and carried on in the same way until I had covered most of the cityscape. In all I took over 900 photographs. For reference I took a few normal wide angle shots too.

Print version of the Manchester Mega-Photo with white border and jagged edges

As soon as I got home and started to view photos on my computer the question was: “What am I going to do with them?”. I tried ‘stitching them’ into larger digital images but as soon as I had merged five or six the computer couldn’t handle it any more.

I decided to let the project rest and concentrate on other things. And then many months later, after much thought in the back of my mind, I came up with a novel solution: I decided I was not going to merge or alter the photos digitally. I instead, I would just print them out and stick them on the flat display surface. An easy solution, and I asked myself why I hadn’t thought of it before!

But where could I find a display surface large enough, and how would I pay to for the large number of prints to be made. I began to think about galleries, but what gallery or museum would have the space and the vision to support an idea like this?

One gallery sprung immediately to mind. It was one I’d had some connections with already. It was Urbis, Manchester’s museum of the city (now sadly closed).

Around April 2008, I sent an email to the head of programming, Pollyanna Clayton-Stamm, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a positive response. A meeting was arranged and it was decided the project would go ahead. The date would be some time in July.

I selected approximately 300 prints to display. This was due to the shape of the display surface. Urbis converted a very large existing artwork called the City Wall. A carpenter covered it wood, and painted it white. The display surface was around 15 feet high and 30 feet wide, that’s 5 metres by 10 metres.

Two gallery assistants were brought in to put up the prints. On Monday 1st July I came into Urbis, and with a pencil, marked a cross roughly in the middle of the display surface where the assistants were to start putting up the poster prints.

They stuck them up with double sided tape gradually working from the centre outwards. There were many imperfections and edges that didn’t line up quite right, but that was the nature of the artwork. There was even a small bit of the cityscape that I missed, but it was concealed by pushing the prints together.

It took the two assistants the best part of 4 working days to stick all 300+ prints onto the display service. I went to see how it looked on the Wednesday afternoon, I was flabbergasted at the sight of my artwork. The sheer size and detail of the image were overwhelming and once it went on display the next day, I’m happy to say that visitors took to the Manchester Mega-Photo very well indeed.

They would often spend a long time standing or sitting in front of the collage pointing at various parts, and picking out familiar and unfamiliar details. People often thought that the RBS building in the lower left was Urbis. In fact the Urbis building is hidden behind the Manchester Wheel in the upper centre of the picture.

Manchester Evening News double page spread

I was very proud of my work and felt that I had really achieved something unique. I could have opted to receive a fee from Urbis but instead, I decided to try and seek sponsorship. Unfortunately the summer of 2008 was not a good time to be looking for sponsorship! I tried a number of different possibilities including RBS. What few responses I received were not favourable.

Only Cityco, Manchester’s city centre management company, an arm of Manchester City Council, decided to offer sponsorship.

My satisfaction would not be in monetary terms, but in realising my vision and seeing the artwork there in front of me and having scores and scores of visitors go into the museum and appreciate it. I got a double page spread in the Manchester Evening News, quite an achievement. The Mega-Photo was also the backdrop for a music event, which I attended. That made me a sense of quiet satisfaction.

Music event at Urbis with Mega-Photo as backdrop 7 Aug 2008

At the end of the display period, April 2009, Urbis decided they would like to retain right-hand section showing some of Manchester city centres most famous buildings. This part was carefully taken down and transferred into the shop, and put up behind the counter. I was able to retrieve the left-hand section.

When the Urbis museum closed in 2011 to be replaced by the National Football Museum, the construction workers carrying out the conversion of the building kindly offered me the remaining section of my photo.

I took that section away and it is currently in storage at a gallery in the Northern Quarter. At some stage I might like to bring back the Manchester Mega-Photo and I am currently looking at possible venues. The two salvaged sections can be joined up again, the damaged bits can be patched up, and any missing sections can simply be printed out once more

The Manchester Mega-Photo lives on in the form of a small number of prints that have been ordered as canvases sized at two and three metres wide.

I am proud to call myself the concept originator and creator of what I believe to be the largest photo-collage of Manchester ever made. It is a symbol of my desire to push back the boundaries of photography, and to extend the scope of the photographic medium into new areas.

That pioneering spirit is still with me today, as I move into other areas and develop new projects, which I hope will have as big an impact as the Manchester Mega-Photo did, if not bigger.

You don't need a PhD to learn how to use a digital camera

When reading and researching what people are saying about how to use a digital camera, I often come across words similar to these: “Once you’ve mastered all your camera’s many settings you will be able to choose the right one that will guarantee you the perfect photo every time! And eventually, when your skills reach high levels, you can try switching to manual and leave the auto settings behind. ”

This one statement contains several misconceptions about photography.  I’ll set out the myth and then the truth!

Myth number 1: You need to master all your camera’s settings including (implied) scene modes

The Truth: You don’t need to ‘master’ all the settings on the camera, you just need to understand the basic principles

Today’s digital cameras are loaded with all kinds of features and settings, but most of them are not necessary in order to make a good photograph. What is necessary is to understand the basic principles of photography!

Myth number 2: Your camera’s advanced settings will guarantee you a perfect photo

The Truth: A camera is just a machine, a tool, and it cannot guarantee perfect photos. No machine ever can because only a human with a keen and sensitive eye, and a good knowledge of the basic principles of photography, can achieve the ‘perfect photo’.

Myth number 3: Manual is difficult and requires high level skills and knowledge

The Truth: Manual is actually the easiest setting on the camera to use. It’s the setting I started out using when I bought my first camera. When learning how to use a camera you should start on Manual, then use the various types of auto. Manual is simple: Read the light meter, set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

Myth number 4: Advanced photographers use manual all the time

The Truth: You cannot use manual mode on a digital camera for day to day use as it is far too fiddly and time-consuming to adjust. Manual is very useful, if not essential for some purposes, and it’s great when you’re learning how to use a camera, but on a day to day basis, most experienced photographers will use one of the auto settings, and even full auto if they’re in a hurry.

It really is not difficult to learn how to use a digital camera. Once you know the basic principles of photography, most cameras are easy to use, though achieving the perfect photograph is probably more difficult!

If you’re interested in finding out more about these topics and hearing more of my forthright views on photography and cameras, why not come on one of my photography walks, workshops or book a one-to-one session.

Karen McBride Manchester music photographer

1. I am one of the most high profile music photographers in Manchester. I have many years experience in the industry.
2. I’ve photographed some of the most famous musicians, bands and singers. (And I continue to photograph unknown artists as well!)
3. I’ve given workshops and one to one training sessions to many satisfied individuals.
4. In your training session with me, you will be getting the benefit of 30 years of photography experience.
5. Photography for me isn’t about just technical stuff. It’s about feeling, attitude and empathy. I can help you find your true voice.
6. I can give you lots of advice on how to deal with clients, how to protect your copyright, how to avoid being sued, how to secure the best possible rates, and more.
7. I will take a personal interest in your and your photography. I love to give encouragement and positive feedback. I aim to motivate and inspire you
8. I will also give you frank and constructive criticism. You need to have this too if you are to improve. I won’t mince my words!
9. You will receive copies of worksheets and information pages, summarising the points I will be teaching you.
10. We can benefit each other by exchanging ‘follows’ on Twitter, ‘likes’ on Facebook and website links.

My rates are reasonable, when you consider my experience and achievements, so why not get in touch via the contact form, or you can phone or text me now! 07599 463450. If you prefer to call, I should be able to answer but if not, please leave a message.

Contact Karen McBride

Aidan O'Rourke teaching participants on a Manchester photo walk

1. I am friendly, informal, flexible, approachable, reliable, easy to contact: You know who you are dealing with!
2. I have experience in photography going back many years covering both digital and film photography.
3. I am a trained teacher and experienced instructor.
4. Photography training is my main activity, not a sideline. I do it because I have a teaching vocation and I love it. I gain fulfilment from helping people to learn and succeed.
5. I have a non-technical, jargon-busting approach to photography, I am good at explaining things clearly.
6. I will give you lots of positive feedback and encouragement. My philosophy is to motivate and inspire you.
7. I have a distinctive and opinionated approach to digital photography that’s informed by my interest in art and by my experience with film photography.
8. You will receive copies of my worksheets and crib cards which are available only to my face-to-face students and not anywhere else.
9. We can benefit each other by exchanging ‘follows’ on Twitter, ‘likes’ on Facebook and website links.
10. I can showcase you and your photography in my Photo-Creative Principles blog with links. If you have a business doing something interesting, I can write about you and link to your website.

My rates are reasonable and I offer regular promotional discounts, so why not get in touch with me  via the contact form, or send me a text now! 07779 290082. If you prefer to call, I should be able to answer but if not, please leave a message.