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Mgsblade

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So I finally completed my website! and my book is on track to be launched later this summer. I spent a month and a half going over my favourite pictures of the last ten years and re-editing them with my current knowledge of Photoshop, what you see in the site is my result! 

please take a look through it and tell me what you think

Www.mapandlens.com

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Hello friends old and new, please drop a quick comment so I know your still alive and what you've been up to!

So My Book is finally complete, I submitted all the content to a UK based publisher by the name of Gilgamesh Publishing  and the Launch date is set for next May! 

The book is going to be a large 250 page full colour journey through Ten thousand years of history via Text, graphics and most importantly Photography.

I'm now finally free to spend time both here and on the little Facebook page that I set-up (and ignored) last year.

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Hello Friends and Visitors.

Over the last year I have been working on a major personal project; To photograph and research all of Jordan's Archaeological and Religious Locations. 

The intention is to create a well rounded body of work, for use with a Photo exhibition and Coffee table book.

At the end of 2013 I had visited and documented over 160 locations around the kingdom, and exhibited 69 of the locations in a gallery in Amman.

Now after all that time I'm ready to share my work with you, starting today I will be sharing everything I photographed and researched, DA will get the best of the best shots while the Facebook group will be getting more info and additional photographs. 

So please follow chat and enjoy.
BT

Jordan Photography Project by Mgsblade


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Since my subscription finishes today, and I don't intend to renew it any time soon, I think Ill post a new journal and tell you what I've been up to over the last few months

On the 25th of january 2013 I decided to start a new project to pass the crappy winter months. as you all know (and some dont) I live in Jordan and currently the options for regional travel is severely limited, So I decided to re-shoot Jordan's entire cultural and religious heritage. of course I wasn't alone, a close friend decided to participate and encourage the project!

I started researching with one very well written guide book(but old) and quickly expanded to 6 books, and also received support from a royal think tank and an international archaeologist.

So far I have around 130 historical and religious locations mapped out and over the last 16 weeks we have finished 98 locations (that's 75%).
We have taken tens of thousands of pictures crossed thousands of kilometres in distance(on and off road),  met all kinds of interesting people, and gotten one speeding ticket.

I don't really know what I want to do with all this work, perhaps nothing at all  perhaps a gallery website or book, it all depends on how its received by people.

Im not really sure how I'm going to share all the shots with DA since I've already accumulated around 600 presentable pictures and it will probably take me a year or two to upload them completely!

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Hello! after last weeks posting I though I'd write up my own version, tell me what you think and ask any questions! if you want to share some of your own tips tell me and ill add them too!


•Better camera doesn't always mean better photos, it comes down to you and how much effort you are willing to put into perfecting your interest. some famous photographers still use non SLR's

•Understand framing, look up the rule of thirds and practice it, but don't follow it blindly(possibly add a picture to show what the rule of thirds is)

•Don't be afraid of P mode or auto, but do be aware of automatic flash.

•Experiment with  settings, keep trying out your settings spend hours and days playing with them. You don't need to use manual to be an expert but you should know what settings to use when you want a certain effect.

•Understand ISO, ISO is possibly the easiest concept to understand when it comes to photography, learning to use it in the right conditions could change everything.

•Take lots and lots and lots of shots, when your starting out there is a general rule that you will inevitably get a good shot so take lots of them so that number will increase, the better you become the less shots you will need to get that "perfect shot"

•Zoom! Sometimes you're just not close enough, if your unhappy with a shot then get as close as you can.

•Create concepts, this doesn't mean just plan out a shot before hand(even though it does) but it also means that you should challenge yourself with different styles of photography, pick a day where you only shoot buildings, another day shoot in black and white, another people, another animals.
It also means that you should challenge yourself with projects, two that come to mind are take a picture everyday for a year, another is the alphabet challenge; take each letter of the alphabet and  find an object or concept that starts with that letter.

•The Golden Hour, is the first and last sunlight of the day are absolutely perfect for photography.

•Keep the sun to your back, if you're out in the midday sun always try to keep it behind you, your subject will be well lit and also the skies will be bluer and better defined.

•Tripods at night! Shooting at night can be an awesome adventure but always remember to take a tripod and shoot with a low ISO without a flash! For those who have a small camera, a platform will do or even carry a small bean bag around with you.

•Save and organise all your shots on your computer, the good and the bad, you never know when you might learn something new and you might want to go back and try it out, also a bad shot might not be so bad on a less critical day.---->It also makes for a beautiful visual diary of your life as time passes on.

•Gain a basic understanding of post processing, there are many programs(some are free some are not) out there that help you make basic fixes to your pictures, saturation, cropping, clarity contrast.

• Join an artistic social network.  this is so important if you are serious about improving your skills, social networks connect you with people who can help and critique your work and help you improve, it also helps you see others at varied levels of skill, you will start to see clichéd images and start to know when to avoid them.

•Understand clichéd images, sunsets, flowers clouds pets children, learn when to use them and when to avoid them.

•Learn from the masters,  find out who your favourite photographers are and study their methods, try to copy some of their work as well, no one starts out completely original and once you learn how to do what they did you can go beyond.

•Shoot for yourself and no one else. Take pictures as if no one will ever seen them except for you, think of yourself as an audience of one. Sometimes people will react to shots that you hated and ignore the ones you loved you can only make yourself happy.

•Don't hate, share. If you are confident in your own abilities then you should never hate other people and share as much as possible!



Enjoy and please share your tips! below!

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Featured

Website Launched by Mgsblade, journal

An Update and Hello by Mgsblade, journal

A Map and a Lens by Mgsblade, journal

What I've been up to by Mgsblade, journal

My Photography Tips by Mgsblade, journal