Category: Photography

It’s that time of year again — just when you decided (again) that you’d never think of anything original to give to your gran/mum/boyfriend/postman this Christmas and were about to go out and buy brandy/chocolates/aftershave/12 red roses, here I am with a truly beautiful, original, and practical gift — a 2011 photo calendar!

These are available to mail-order in the UK through Snapfish.co.uk. Normally you’d pay £14.99 per calendar, but by sneakily entering the promotional code ‘33CAL’ at the checkout, you’ll get a whopping 33% discount.

Visit Snapfish to customise and order your calendars now. Don’t forget the discount voucher code! 

Flickr is a fantastic photo archiving solution, especially for the traveller. But the real benefit of Flickr is the community that’s shaped the network over the years since it was launched. Now, a whole Flickr culture exists, with thriving sub-communities for any subject you might imagine. Participation is encouraged, and the best shots tend to ‘bubble up’ and are promoted accordingly throughout the site.

I’ve been able to share and develop my interest in photography using Flickr in a way I would never have been able to do otherwise. Looking critically at what people are drawn to, from my photostream as well as in the site-wide ‘Explore’ section, really helps me to develop ideas about how to create an attractive, engaging image. The $30 annual subscription for unlimited storage and use of all of Flickr’s services is a steal — provided you use it, of course.

Here are the ten most ‘interesting’ photos on my Flickr account to date, as chosen by the community. My photos get relatively few views, so more would be nice! Guess I need to keep at it…

The most popular shot by a country mile is this dusk image from deep in the Sahara. It seems to prove that, as with many things, simplicity is best. But getting into this situation in the first place required quite a bit of effort! 

I’ve been experimenting again…

But the small version doesn’t do it justice. Have a look at a slightly bigger size.

The FLT gallery is a fantastic testament to the world of differences and similarities of bikes taken on tour. It’s a great page to pull up whenever I need some inspiration to get planning for my next trip, or just to get out there and ride. 

While I realise that a great deal of my readers won’t be in Yerevan this Friday the 12th of March, I feel that it’s important to put the word out about my first ever photography exhibition — or any kind of exhibition, for that matter.

Thanks to the Armenian Centre for Contemporary Experimental Art, forty of my more attractive snaps from 2009, blown up to glorious A3 size, will be adorning the walls of the Nicholas Boghossian gallery for the next three weeks. I’m hoping to raise a few pennies for the charities I support through the sale of these pieces of work. I don’t know if anyone will turn up to the opening, let alone want to buy any of them — I have never been particularly confident that my photos look good to anyone other than myself — but the gallery staff seem to like the prints, so that’s a good start!

If by some bizarre coincidence you’re reading this and you’ll be in Yerevan this Friday, please come along at 5pm to the ACCEA (aka NPAK), near the Vernissage and Republic Square, and check out the pics for free!

(Can’t make it? See the pics as a Flickr slideshow.)