Swaledale – Yorkshires Treasure

I have been up in North Yorkshire this weekend with a great friend Philip Silverman. Phil is an outstanding landscape photographer and he took me round some of his favourite places…

Andrew Miller looking for the next shot

Swaledale valley

Swaledale looking into Wenslydale

Swaledale looking into Wenslydale

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

Swaledale waterfall

…and here is one of me taken by Phil!

Andrew Miller looking for the next shot

The weather couldn’t have been better. In Leeds it was rainy and foggy – in the Dales it was magical!!  If you want a photographer that knows what he is about, especially in and around the Dales get in touch with Phil – I am sure he would love to take you out on a days training shoot!

Andrew Miller

‘Fun’ Event Photography at St.Pierre Hotel, Chepstow

I’m just catching up with all the stuff Idid over the weekend – and the final thing on Sunday (after the wedding fayre at the Cwrt Bleddyn) was to nip home, unpack the fayre stuff pack the car with the photography kit, get changed into black tie kit and head over to St. Pierre Marriott in Chepstow for a fun event shoot for the hotel staff.

The event was organised by the GM as part of the associate ‘thankyou’ and awards do. Loads of people – about 165 I think he told me complete with disco a couple of Oscar’s, stage, red carpet etc.

I had a really good laugh and was really interested to see the fun and team spirt going on in the room.

Some pics below!

Richard, GM, giving his opening speech

The room decked out for the party!

Oscars Night at The St Pierre, Chepstow

"Kitchen" - Department of the year!

Wedding Fayre at the Cwrt Bleddyn

The first big wedding fayre of the year is now over and done with – and boy am I glad. It was great to meet all those brides and grooms though – I sometimes think I get as excited as they do!!

The staff at the Cwrt Bleddyn are great and provided tea, coffee and sandwhiches which as a welcome for me!

Weather was damned cold though, must have been about -1 all day though it didnt stop the brides coming along.

I got some great leads and have spent today chasing them up.

The Apple iPad – A great tool for photographers?

Apple iPad

Wow – did you see Steve Jobs launch the new Apple iPad??!! No, I didn’t either – I was on a photo shoot!!

As is typical of the hype when Apple launches new gadgets there was lots of media cover etc etc. What I want to know is how come Apple manage to keep things like this under wraps for soooo long without anyone getting an idea of what the details are??!! Please, can we have Apple security division running Mi5 or Mi6 ??!!

Anyway, to the gist of the post. The iPad – any good for photographers?

I’ve not read loads on the new machine, not much on the way of tech specs etc but the first thing that springs to mind is being able to use it as a storage facility when your out and about. (Ok, not sure how were gonna get the images from the camera into the iPad without some other gadget…) At 65Gb it is a pretty hefty drive size, much better than the usual 30Gb on the portable viewers that are about.

Apple iPad - any good for photographers?

It would also give you the option of getting a dammed decent look at the images so you can do basic deleting, sorry editing! (Come on Adobe – how about a PS4 Lite for the iPad??!!!)

Next thing that springs to mind is being able to use it to show clients your images – the ultimate hand held portfolio. A device like this just brings the convergence of digital art closer.

Next on my think list is to use it as a photo-viewer at wedding fayres, wedding shoots and the like. Lets face it, is is gonna be a lot cheaper than the standard stuff you can get from Currys or Dixons – a bigger screen and it can do much more as well. All we need is a stand….

Next for me would be to catch up on the old CPD – Continuous Professional Development. I can read photography books, watch short film clips (I do like the Digital Photography Connection stuff) and surf the web via the in built WiFi. (Im not sure about paying another £81 for 3G though!!! and I’d have to have contract on top of that as I can’t see O2 giving me a dual sim!!)

Next up for me would be as a tool for updating my website via an iPad version of iWeb (if there is one? If not COME ON APPLE!!!!). I can shoot a wedding and whilst having a break get some images uploaded almost straight away!!

Given it’s size it looks good, the demos look good so it just remains to be seen what it is like in real life…

Apple iPad - any good for photographers?

Thanks for reading..

Andrew Miller

www.andrew-miller.co.uk

65th Anniversary of Auschwitz

It is amazing to think that it is only 65 years since the camp was liberated and the world saw and heard for the first time the true horrors that went on.

I have put some picture, found on the web below – credits where I could find them.

SS oficers relaxing at Auschwitz

Sleeping space in Auschwitz

Seeing these pictures reminds me of several conversations I have had in the past about photography and war photography in particular.

How can a photographer just take pictures and not help the people in the images? How can a photographer not be affected by the images he or she takes?

I know that when I am photographing a wedding I feel really privileged to be part of the service and feel just as moved when you see the commitment two people are making to each other. I also know that when I was taking pictures in the Army either professionally or personally it was very hard to distance yourself from the reality of what you were seeing.

I can still remember some of the images I took in Bosnia. They reminded me of seeing similar images see above.

So, how about the images below? Where do you think this was taken? And when?

Man in Doorway

Man smoking

Man walking

Group sitting in the sun

Guessed yet? They were all taken 10 years in Romania. 2010. I was out there just after I had left the Army as part of a local charity (North Nibley Romania Team  -NNRT). We looked after a school and a ‘hospital’ out there in a small village near to Brasov.

Makes you think doesn’t it…?

Andrew Miller

www.andrew-miller.co.uk

Playing with some kit!

Playing with Canon Cameras and Manfrotto Tripods & Heads

I have a little project going on (and on and on…!). I want to take a photograph in the same place at least once per week of the same subject. I intend to put a photobook together for the local church to sell as part of it’s fundraising later this year.

My subject? Wentood Forest And seeing it is just up the road from my cottage in Llanvair Discoed it is an ideal spot.   It is also one of my favourite places to walk with my two dogs and wife. We can be there in 5 minutes and the place is so large we never have to see any human again all day!   Needless to say the dogs just love the idea!!

I’m using the same lens as well as the same camera body – Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 24-70mm f2.8 L USM. Along with this I am also using a Manfrotto tripod and joystick head.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Manfrotto tripod and joystick head

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Manfrotto tripod and joystick head

As you can see the tripod legs really extend out and I can raise the centre column and move it to 90′ to the legs. This allows me to get really low down (I could get lower with this set-up) and provides loads of stability for a 10 second timed shot.

View back towards the main car park at the top of Wentwood

View back towards the main car park at the top of Wentwood

As usual comments always welcome!!

Andrew Miller

www.andrew-miller.co.uk

Couple marry with 23 bridesmaids…

I picked this story up from the BBC – click here for the full BBC story.

Wow! is what I thought when I first saw that headline! I thought I was doing well with 5 bridesmaids at one of my recent weddings.  What I liked about the story was that the new bride (Mrs Armstrong) couldn’t make her mind up with people she worked with during her time working with kids at a local charity. Even nicer was the point that as long as they all wore red then that would be fine – they could choose their own dresses.

Isn’t it refreshing to think some people are just nice?

I did like the idea of a chip van and bouncy castle – I don’t think I would have liked to photograph the wedding mind… I’d be too busy eating my bag of chips with salt n vinegar!!

Andrew

…so does this Twitter linking thing work…?

Twitter Feed working?

I know your all sitting there waiting on my words (yeah right!) however this is just a quick post to actually see if the Twitter feed from this blog works!!

Cheers

Andrew Miller

Tree Surgeon – the next job??

Andrew Miller – Tree Surgeon

Remember all that snow we had a while back? I do – the village I live in South Wales (Llanvair Discoed) was nearly cut off but thanks to the great efforts of Monmouthshire County Council and their gritters and snow ploughs we were ok.

Anyway, we have a few trees in the garden. In fact we have taken about 15 trees out in the past 20 years and still have loads more.

Thing is one of the trees in particular had grown way tooo close to the main power line coming into the house and with the weight of snow the only option was to get up there and chop it back…. guess who got the job? Ma, my wife or one of the two dogs? Yeah Me!

Shot showing where the power line and tree come into contact

View from the cottage at the tree

finished tree cutting with the snow still around and in fact still snowing…

finished tree cutting with the snow still around and in fact still snowing…

finished tree cutting with the snow still around

finished tree cutting after the snow had gone

finished tree cutting after the snow had gone

Shot showing where the power line and tree come into contact

Nicola & Matthew -Cwrt Bleddyn, near Usk

Nicola & Matthew with Andrew Miller Photography

Cwrt Bledyyn, Usk

My first wedding of the year went smoothly with Nicola and Matthew getting married at a great venue, the Cwrt Bleddyn near Usk.

I was asked at the last minute to step as the couple were going to get good friend and photographer to shoot the wedding, but due to snow and the general weather conditions they asked if I could do just in case! As it turned out their friend splipped on snow and hurt himself – lets hope he gets better soon!

It was a small wedding, about 40 guests and the room at the Cwrt Bleddyn was decked out in a gorgeous manner. Nicola & Matt got married and had a great evening partying on.

The only downer was the weather – overcast, foggy and still with snow on the ground so outdoor photos were out of the question. I had to make do with one large group shot in the main room using the curtains as  backdrop.

3 days later Nicola had her lipstick back (I always offer to carry the brides makeup in my pockets – lets face it, designers don’t design wedding dresses to hold things!!) and a CD with the images as proofs from the wedding, and all the images upload onto a secure website for viewing by friends and family.

Andrew

Nicola & Matt Wedding – Cwrt Bleddyn

Nicola & Matt Wedding – Cwrt Bleddyn

Nicola & Matt Wedding – Cwrt Bleddyn

Andrew Miller

www.andrew-miller.co.uk