Blog Archives

The Guardian and the pelicans

27/3/2014

Yes, it's easy to pick the Guardian - after all, it gives the centre pages to a picture every day. Well, good for the Guardian. It is open to every editor to decide how to distribute space between competing departments. This photograph has no news value. It is just a group of pelicans squabbling over a fish. The caption tells us that they are on a man-made lake in northern Greece that has become a haven for migratory birds.
That's nice to know. But really this is about pausing between the worries about Ukraine and the mysteries of the Malaysian airliner to take in a moment in nature. Photographer and subjects had been waiting for that moment as fishermen hauled in their catch from Lake Kerkini. The pelicans scooped up any fish that managed to wriggle through the nets or was thrown back as too small. Georgi Kocakov, sitting on a pontoon, scooped up the scene with his camera and caught this oil painting of a photograph. (Picture credit: Solent News)

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Local paper sees the light and puts Times in the shade

22/3/2014

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Saturday 22 March, 2014

This picture is called Unexpected Sun and is a finalist in the Velux Lovers of Light photographic competition. The Times tells us that it was taken by the British photographer Luke Oyston and that there were 15,000 entries from amateurs and professionals.

That's not bad for a single line of caption - but if you're going to invest half a page to what is essentially a bit of eye candy, why not make the space for a bit more information?

SubScribe couldn't find the picture on the Times website, but there is a slideshow of all ten finalists in the iPad edition. Unfortunately, each has the name of the photographer across the picture, and there is still no further information.Turn to yesterday's Western Morning News and we find almost everything we might want to know. The News chose a different main picture - one of Bridport, taken by a local photographer, Stephen Banks.

The paper talks to Banks and to Tom Dyckhoff, who is one of the judges.

The remit of the competition, sponsored by the skylight company Velux, is to produce a landscape that captured and celebrated daylight. Entries have been come in from all over the world, although most of the ten finalists have a British connection. The prize is five nights in Norway when daylight lasts for 24 hours.

The News runs all ten finalists on its website, along with details of the scene and the photographer. You can see also see them below.

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Under the shade of the old oak tree

22/3/2014

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Thursday 20 March
This picture lurking on page 25 of the Mail turns a gash page into something worth looking at. Maybe the flatplan changed at the last moment or too much allowance had been made for Budget material. The Mail is not afraid to give over a page to a picture, but this doesn't have the meticulous planning that is the paper's hallmark. The layout, with a pair of doubles under the photograph, is ok but without any Mail panache. The same goes for the intrusive text box on the picture and the 'local paper' head complete with screamer. A better, clean, shot can be seen at Mail Online.
The storm in question was last month, so David Parker's picture has probably been sitting around for a while. That doesn't make it any less worth contemplating. At first glance it's just a fallen tree, you hardly notice the 6ft 2in National Trust ranger Raef Johnson. Then when you look across at the yellow arrow, the scale of the tree becomes apparent.
It's not news, but it's a welcome relief from all those pictures of George Osborne.

Health warning A horticulturalist friend shivered when she saw the photograph, saying you should never stand in such a position as the wind can whip trees back into a standing position, with you underneath. This was obviously never going to happen here with such a mighty oak, but it's worth knowing.

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Playing ball with the Moon

20/3/2014

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Wednesday 19 March, 2014
If you understand perspective, proportion and have an eye you can create things of simple beauty, like this set of photographs on page three of the Mirror today. The pictures were taken by 22-year-old Kosovan Adrian Limani and the figure playing with the Moon is his younger brother. Limani says: "All I need is my imagination, my brother and, of course, my camera." You can see a much sharper version on screen here.
The Times also used the "football" shot on page 23, just before the comment section. But as a stand-alone double column sandwiched between a murder charge and monkey sex, it doesn't have the same magic. What a shame the set wasn't given the space made available for the half-page puff for the Phoenix Dance Theatre on the previous right-hander.
On a personal note, this set particularly appeals to me because it reminds me of my much-missed former colleague, Rick Beeston, who posted a joyous set of photographs on Facebook after a holiday in Egypt just two months before he died last year. I hope his wonderful wife, Natasha Fairweather, won't mind me publishing one here just to remind us all what a great bloke he was.

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The Mail's Clooney-Andrew spread

19/3/2014

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March 13, 2014

It's utterly trivial, but great heavens, it's spectacularly good. Hats off to
Clare Cisotti for the picture research that made Tuesday's Mail spread
comparing George Clooney and Prince Andrew something to treasure.

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The look

This page is for jottings about use of pictures, spreads and general design. The emphasis here is on the appearance rather than the content, although they often cannot be separated.
The narrative here is even more of a personal opinion than on the rest of the site. Your thoughts and contributions are invited. Thank you.
(Titlepiece photograph:
cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com)