Almería Field Trip

Almería, Spain - Geography Field Trip

Last week I went on a field trip to Almería with my University. These are just a few of the photographs I took whilst there. Usually the best thing about going to places like this is the photographic opportunities. However, it was a great time to get to know people on my course a little better! A big thank-you to them for making the week so fun. 

Anyways, back to the the photography. Almería has a huge range of landscapes, with it's most famous being its Badlands. A number of films have been shot in the Badlands, including Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade (one of my all time favourites!). The area also offers photo opportunities in cave systems, urban architecture as well as Spanish culture. 

Our field work for the trip included water quality, sedimentary logging, topographic transecting and much more (like drinking!). We had an excellent guide for the trip, a local who spoke brilliant English and knew the area excellently. You can find  his contact info on his facebook page; linked in here. 

During the last field day we stumbled across this little guy; A Wolf Spider.

On the last day, we also bumped into something a little less frightening than a Wolf Spider.

 DISCLAIMER: EXTREME LEVELS OF CUTENESS.

The group decided to call him Kevin! The little guy followed us everywhere, even when we were leaving on the bus, the little guy almost got ran over! 

Anyway, to wrap up this long post, I had a pretty awesome week and have major Almería blues. The area is great for getting a range in different types of photographs, whether it be architecture, landscapes or Spanish Culture. Thank you to all the staff that ran the trip and to Jésus and my class mates.

@LewisAlanJones

I thought this photograph was like Spain's version of the traditional Windows XP background!

Liverpool Photo Hunt

Liverpool Photo Hunt

What a weekend! Saturday morning I left for Liverpool with a few members from the University of Hull's Photography Society (Beka, Connor and Christina). We were all pretty psyched for the trip, especially as the university union were covering a lot of the costs! 

The photo hunt in Liverpool was called the NorthHunt, and rightly so. The event is organised by the National University Photography Society (NUPS). They usually put the event on once a year in London, but they decided they would run two this year, which worked well for us Northerners! 

The hunt involved splitting into groups and going around the city and photographing certain themes. On top of this, participants had to find certain objects and infrastructures to shoot. The event is ran like a competition and points are awarded for completing each theme/FIND based on certain criteria (Imagination/technically good, etc). 

After the NorthHunt had finished, we rendezvoused at the social location, 'Camp & Furnace', it was a pretty unique place. It was a converted warehouse made into a bar; best of all, after spending hours in the cold, it had an open fire! kind of wish there was a similar place in Hull!

After an hour or so at the social event, we decided to go drop our cameras off at the hotel so we could head into Liverpool and start drinking. Liverpool has a pretty good night life and, I think I speak for all of us when I say we had an awesome night! 

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

Credit: Connor Pritchett

#WEAREHULL

Street Life Museum

Street Life Museum

Today, I popped down to the Street Life Museum in Hull to take a few portraits. The museum is laid out like a 60's street with shop displays and vehicles.  The perfect place for a vintage shoot. The museum is free, so if you are ever in the area take a swing by.

I used my Nikon D80 (old faithful!) for these photographs with my Nikkor 50mm Lens. The lighting conditions were not great, so I had to push my ISO up to 800. However, I think this only adds to the creation of an atmosphere suited for a 60's shoot.

Yesterday, I spent the evening taking photographs at my friend's 21st birthday party. Note to self invest in a bigger flash, and a diffuser which doesn't resemble a shower-cap so much. It made a nice change to be earning money at a party, rather than blowing it on alcohol!  

I hope you liked the photographs, and don't forget to follow me on twitter @LewisAlanJones.

Thanks for reading,

Lewis

Influence

Science Museum

Not strictly my usual post about photography, I know, but the Science Museum in London is amazing, along with the Natural History Museum. I think it's important for any aspiring artists, photographers and designers to visit museums, galleries, and to trawl through books/magazines to influence their work and kick-start ideas. Gledd once lent me a book which essentially accused all artists of being thieves! But on further reading, it just highlighted the fact, that no idea is original and is sourced from some area of life. Which, after consideration, many of my past shoots have been influenced from other's work, literature I have read or even the odd dream. So, in future, why not carry a note-book around with you and write down any ideas as soon as you get them. Whether it be from birds singing in the trees, to the public's facial expression after getting a bit wet by a passing bus driving through a puddle. 

The Science Museum itself is quite a day out. You can photograph stuff you would not otherwise get the chance to. The museum also offers tours, there is one known as the 'Cockroach Tour' to my discovery, along with my disturbance and... slight amusement. In the tour, you are given a kind-of cockroach fancy dress outfit to wear around the museum, whilst the charismatic guide with all his enthusiasm shows you around. It seemed a fun way of touring the museum, but not for the faint-hearted! I personally prefer to wander around on my own free-will, but that's just me. 

I would usually say here, "I hope you liked the photographs". But not this blog post! I hope instead that the images can prove to be some mojo for kick-starting those great ideas. I know they have for me, especially the Jars of Fear.

Thanks for reading, 

Lewis

P.S. Floating globes are awesome!

@LewisAlanJones

50mm Nikkor AF Lens

Nikon's Nikkor 50mm AF Lens

Well, I finally treated myself to a new lens after putting up with my faulty one for months. The Nikkor 50mm costs only £85.82 on Amazon, which is a lot better value than other retailers. Being a value lens, it goes without saying that there is better quality lenses out there. However, not everybody has the money to invest in such luxuries (me, being one of them!). You probably noticed from my blog, portraits is my preferred area of photography, and the 50mm is great for it! The only problem I have found so far is, it is very easy to focus on just one eye or just the nose and leave the eyes unfocused (depending how you're shooting). Obviously, this is not really a fault with the lens, but if you find it difficult to focus manually or are a first time prime lens user you may have some problems (solution: just increase that f/number!). The lens does have a brilliant Auto-Focus, which is great for those low light conditions, so you can steer away from manual-focus if you do struggle. 

I hope you like the photographs I have put up, they're just a few from testing out the lens. Hopefully, I'll have some more for you soon! 

Thanks,

Lewis

P.S. I'm not working on commission! But, I wish I was! 

@LewisAlanJones

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

These photographs were taken in the Amsterdam area. The trip was for my 21st birthday present (Thanks Annie!) and was a real experience. If you ever get the chance to go, I recommend you stay for more than one day as there is just too much to see! I realise it's been a while since my last post, sorry guys! I've been so busy over Christmas and New Year along with revising for exams. Hopefully I'll be able to crack on with a shoot I've got planned for after my exams. 

When taking these photographs, I think my most reoccurring thought was "What do I include and what don't I include?". For instance with the last image of the bicycle, I took around 5 photographs, first of all excluding the bicycle focusing on the cityscape. But then as I started to move back, I slowly included more and more of the bicycle and realised it looked far more effective with it present. 

I really wanted to get across the presence of bicycles in Amsterdam as they seem such an important element of society in the city. Being a Geography student, I tend to feel a slight joy that people are using non-pollutant methods of transport. That said, I did almost become road-kill several times due to those damn bicycles!

Thanks for reading, 

Lewis

Dance Show

Hull University's Dance Society (HUDS)

Last night I photographed the Dance Society's show. It was an amazing performance put on to raise money for charity. The dancers did an excellent job. 

The event was quite difficult to shoot, the lighting was always changing and it wasn't the brightest either. Nonetheless, I tried to avoid high ISO when possible and still capture the image with a reasonable shutter speed. I felt it was best to also use a small aperture (high f-number) as I would forever be re-focusing on the subjects otherwise. I didn't want to miss any opportunities; unfortunately as photographers, we always miss a few. 

Overall, I enjoyed shooting the event, hopefully, I will get the opportunity again. I hope you like the results from the night.

Lewis