Beginners Guide to Travel Photography

With the holiday season in full swing I though I would give you all a few hints and tips on how to take some great shots whilst on your travels.

Camera Gear

Few things you need to think about here. First, what are you going to take?
Remember most airlines have a hand luggage weight restriction of around 7kg. That may sound a lot but on my recent trip to New York my bag weighed in at a whopping 11kg! I then had the 10 min struggle of trying to persuade the check in desk to allow me to take it all on rather than sticking some of it in my main luggage.

Do you need everything? If i go away on holiday I will sometimes limit myself to just one lens. This will reduce the amount of weight you are going to have to carry around with you for the week and will also make you think more about your images.

Make sure your cameras are insured. Last year I was away on holiday and had my bag stolen, iPhone 4, iPad, wallet and cash all gone on the first day. It was only when I called the insurance that I realised that my insurance only covered me for £400 with a £150 excess. £1100 of items lost, only £350 back from the insurance.

When to shoot

Early mornings and late nights are a great time to shoot because the tourist spots will be quieter.
Its always hard to capture special landmarks in all their glory when you have 2000 people standing in front of them. If you are heading out late at night, safety should always be at the top of your list, don't head out alone, and make sure people people know where you are going.
Sometimes, tourist spots are just going to be too busy, so heading off the beaten track can often help you find quieter locations to shoot and make your photos different from every other tourist.

What to shoot

Always try and capture the culture of the country your in, this can be done by photographing local people, shops, markets etc. Try getting little detail shots, such as close ups of local flowers, colours. items that are native to that country. this will help to build up the full story of your trip.
When photographing local people, make sure that its ok, some countries you may come across people that don't want their photographs taken due to religious or cultural reasons.

Here are some of my favourites from my travels.

International Photographer James Neale shoots wedding in New York.

It was always the dream job. To be flown to New York to shoot a wedding, and that's exactly what I did a few weeks back.

Destination Weddings are always going to be top of any wedding photographers list. I shot my first one back in December over in Gibraltar. It was an amazing experience and I loved every minute of it. Then off the back of that one I got a call from a very good friend over in New York, Richard is my longest known friend, I first met him at school when we were about 5 years old and he was my Best man at my wedding. He told me that friends of his were getting married and that he had passed on my details to them. If I'm totally honest I never thought I would here anything from them, but then a few days later I received an email from them saying they had looked at my website, really liked what they had seen and would love to chat more about covering their wedding. Now I was excited!!

Fast forward around 3 months and there I was waiting to board my Virgin Atlantic Flight from Heathrow to JFK. Excited was now an understatement!
All the camera gear was packed and I was looking forward to spending a week in New York, Shooting a wedding, and catching up with Richard and his Wife Victoria.

The wedding took place on a beautifully classic styled yacht called the Manhattan.  We left Chelsea Piers and sailed out on to the Hudson river over towards Liberty Island, The anchor was then dropped and the ceremony was conducted with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

After the ceremony had finished, the yacht then took us on a 3 hour cruise to see the sights of New York from the River.

Jeff and Jay made me feel extremely welcome, and I had an amazing time sharing their wedding day with them. I wish them a very happy future together.

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the wedding, you can also see more of my pics from New York by clicking here.

If you are getting married abroad and are thinking about taking a photographer with you, why not get in touch, Europe weddings from just £1000, New York Weddings from only $2500.

www.jamesnealephotography.com


 James

Shoot with singer Bill Downs from BBC's The Voice

A few weeks ago I was very lucky to work along side fellow photographer Ferdusi Ahmed.
We had a shoot booked with Norfolk Singer song writer, and star of BBC's The Voice, Bill Downs.

Bill is an extremely talented singer, and someone that we had both known for a number of years. Bill was recently in the BBC's Music show The Voice, and made it in to Team Danny.



Ferdusi is a great organiser, she set to work working out all the logistics of the shoot and also the style that would work best for Bill.
She arranged Outfits, venue and also a car to be used in the shoot.

The venue Ferdusi chose was Sprowston Manor, which is a stunning venue based on the outskirts of Norwich. They allowed us to use the Hotel and the grounds, and even supplied us with a room to put all our equipment.

The great guys at Jonathan Trumbull were very kind and supplied the outfits for the shoot. They fitted Bill out with a great Hugo Boss suit, and also a casual outfit. Make sure you check these guys out. They have a fantastic store located on St Stephens in Norwich.

Next up to help was John from Norwich Wedding Cars. John supply us with his beautiful Bentley Flying Spur which was a great addition to the shoot. If your getting married, or need a car for a special occasion then this is the car for you.

Here are some of our favourites from the day.

Make sure you check out Bill on his YouTube page - Eastcoastsurf52 lots of great things to come from him!

If you would like to talk to one of us regarding a shoot please get in touch. :)

www.jamesnealephotography.com

Beginners Guide to Photographing Pets.

When we first start out into the world of photography, one of the first things we do is photograph our pets. I can remember my first attempt at snapping my dog, it resulted in many blurry pictures, dirty knees and a big slobber mark across the lens!

Pets are much harder to photograph than people, mainly because with people you can pose them, tell them where to stand, tell them to move slightly, and more importantly get them to stay still.

With animals the key is to be able to get to there level, shoot directly at them rather than looking down on them. The trouble with this is, as soon as you get down on your knees the animal will probably want to come and say hello.

Below are a few hints and tips that i have picked up along the way.

Tip 1 - Toys & Treats

All dogs and cats love a toy or a treat. If you give a dog a treat, chances are it will forget everything else that is going on around you and you will be able to move away from it and grab some shots.


Tip 2 -  Timing

Another great time to photograph cats and dogs is when they are sleeping. My cat will quite happily sleep for 23 hours a day, so I can get many opportunities to get some nice close up shots when its either asleep or just woken up and is pretty chilled out. Dogs are the same, wait till its asleep, take a few shots, and then give a little squeak on its toy or shout its name, you can then get a couple of shots where its very alert with its ears pricked up.

Tip 3 - Get Some Help

Having someone to occupy the dog will also really help. You can get them to make it sit, play with it, make it run around etc. This again will draw the attention away form you.

Tip 4 - Focusing

Two areas of focusing that you need to watch. Firstly you need to make sure that you are not shooting on a to shallow depth of field. Yes you may want to blur the background, but you also want to keep some detail in the animal, if you have a dog and you focus on the eyes, if you are shooting on maybe f2.8 or lower, you may find that the nose is already out of focus.
The other area of focusing that you need to watch is if you are after some action shots. change your focusing mode to 'continuous' rather than 'one shot' this will enable your camera to continuously re focus if the distance changes between you and the subject.

Tip 5 - Flash

Flash can cause many problems when dealing with pets. Just like humans, there eye colour will be effected so its always best to avoid using it where possible. the other problem of using it is of cause it will distract the animal. Much better to use natural light, and if you are experiencing slow shutter speeds then raise the ISO up until we get to a more suitable speed.

Luke + Heidi = Married | Weston Park

Back in June I was lucky enough to be asked to cover the wedding of Luke and Heidi at Weston Park Golf Club. I really like this venue, and it has some great photo opportunities.

The day started off with a few shots of the groom and grooms men whilst we waited the arrival of the bride.
The ladies all arrives in style in their vintage cars.

After the ceremony it was non stop partying! Including a pianist who got everyone having a sing, and then later in the evening the disco started and the dance floor was constantly full.

Great wedding and I feel very privileged to have been a part of it.

Wishing both of them many happy years together.


Also just want to say a big thank you to Richard Evans of Sox Photography for Helping me out on the day.

Here are some of my favourite images from the day.

 If you are getting married and would like to talk to us about covering your wedding, Please get in touch via our website www.jamesnealephotography.com