Blog - Colleen Slater Photography

Kew Gardens

There’s so much photographic subject matter at Kew Gardens that my visit lasting just one day left me feeling frustrated that I couldn’t stay longer. The gardens open at 9.30 am and close at 7.30 pm at weekends during Spring and Summer but the glasshouses close at 5.30pm. Travelling from Brighton, I didn’t arrive until 11.30 so I had to decide which things to see and which to leave out.

I knew that if I started at the Bugs and Butterfly house, I’d probably never leave to see the rest of the place so I walked to the Temperate House at the far end where I encountered this peacock on the way to the Treetop Walkway.

I went through the Mediterranean Garden, replaced my Canon 24-105 mm f2.8 L lens for my favourite 100 mm f2.8 macro, took off a couple of layers of clothing and entered the steamy Palm House. I’ve been keen on shooting ferns and palms lately. They’re great subjects for creating high contrast, graphic images or something abstract and more painterly.

Finally, I got to the bugs & butterflies where I didn’t see any bugs probably because the butterflies were so flamboyant that I overlooked them. I used my macro twin flash, the Canon MT-24EX to increase the light sufficiently to freeze the movement of the butterflies and set my Canon 5D Mark II to manual with an aperture of around f8 and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec to expose for the background. I hand held but with my hands resting on the top of a tripod, providing a bit of support while still allowing me some maneuverability and used Al Servo autofocus to track the eye aiming to keep it in sharp focus.

I’m used to searching for butterflies out in the fields where it’s difficult to get still conditions so it was a treat to shoot this one feeding happily on fruit and barely moving.

If Kew were nearer Brighton, I’d spend a lot of time there. I was disappointed not to have time to photograph the waterlilies in the Waterlily House so intend to return soon. The metal framework casts graphic shadows across the ponds contrasting with the soft lines and pastel colours of the flowers.

Work for sale in Harry’s restaurant, Church Road, Hove

Colleen’s ‘Underwater Flowers’ series of images will be exhibited at Harry’s English restaurant for a period of three months commencing 2nd August. Harry’s is an independently owned and run family run business which provides an alternative to the endless stream of Pasta and Indian restaurants in Hove. As far as possible, ingredients are sourced locally and on a daily basis with specials reflecting the best seasonal produce.

41 Church Road,
Hove
BN3 2BE
tel: 01273 727410

Can’t find us? Visit www.streetmap.co.uk

Down in the Meadow

I’ve neglected my blog, there’s no denying it as my posts have dwindled to almost zilch this year. I’ve been packing suitcases since February starting with a trip to Austria then the Philippines, France and Wales. I shouldn’t be too far away from the computer for the forseeable future as I trawl through the backlog of images taken during my travels.

This one, taken in a meadow last week, has been chosen as Sussex Wildlife Trusts ‘Image of the Week’.

Manila – Philippines

Recently, I stayed in Manila for one night on the way to Napantao where I was going to take part in a coral reef conservation project. I was fascinated by the ubiquitous jeepneys, a cross between a jeep and a bus, the main mode of public transport in the Philippines. The first jeepneys were modified army jeeps left behind by the Americans after WWII. They have been customized by the Filipinos with bits of chrome, religious iconography,cartoon characters from comic books, coloured headlights and adverts. They are now made locally from aluminium and steel but remain faithful to the original design. Often bursting with passengers, crammed in like sardines in a can, they are a cheap way to get around but you can’t see much through the narrow windows.

Napantao, Sogod Bay, Philippines

This is where I learned to do scientific reef checking with Coral Cay Conservation last month in an Marine Protected Area. The coral was growing close to the surface of the water, right up to the low water mark and fish were swimming around my feet as I was getting in and out of the water. Species were so varied and abundant that each time I dived, I saw something I’d never seen before.

Open House Exhibition in the ex Star of Brunswick pub

Colleen will be showing her new work together with the Underwater Flower series at this new venue.

Brighton Science Festival

The Science Festival, which took place over three weeks in February, has become an annual event with a growing reputation. This is science presented in an entertaining, exciting and interesting way, which, for anyone who thinks the subject dull, difficult or just plain boring, may be surprised by how enjoyable the presentations are. I wish Richard Robinson, the festival’s director, had been my science teacher at school…then maybe, I’d have got somewhere with the subject.

Fresh from their ‘Bigger Bang! Show’, Dr Hal Sosaboski and co presented ‘The Darker Reaches of the Periodic Table’ at the Sallis Benney Theatre (University of Brighton). This was a fun-packed and exhilarating look at noisy science. Dr Hal, who is one of the foremost Exhibition Chemists in the UK, provided an explosive and instructive show.

There were talks by, among others, Ben Miller, Polly Toynbee and Michael Mosley and a demonstration of the ‘Haptic Cow”, a model of a cow’s rear end which allows trainee vets to experience what the insides of a cow feels like without having to upset a real one.

One Hundred Artists For World Aids Day

100 artists including myself, took part in this event to raise much needed funds for The Sussex Beacon. A diverse group of artists and performers contributed to this project held at Concorde 2 in Brighton.

Commencing at 4pm on a cold, wet December Sunday evening, undeterred by the appalling weather, the event was very well attended by people eager to give their support. 20% of all art sales were donated to the Sussex Beacon, a care centre for people living with HIV and Aids related illnesses. Live stage performers and DJ’s provided the entertainment.

Dolly Rocket – Event Hostess

Sam Chara – Singer

Talk by Natalie Dybisz aka Miss Aniela

Last Tuesday, I went to a talk by Miss Aniela at the Brighton and Hove camera club. I had recently discovered her Flickr site and was impressed and intrigued by her work. She states on her blog that she wanted to keep things ‘snappy’ and avoid people falling asleep during a long presentation. Well, I don’t think there was ever any danger of that!

She is as impressive a speaker as she is photographer, articulate, fascinating and sparky. Her talk was divided into two main parts, the first showing her work from the beginning – not that long ago, she is only 23! – to the present: in the second half she revealed the techniques she used to achieve surreal images such as the ones below.

I’m always impressed when someone is willing and generous enough to share technical knowledge and explain in detail how certain effects are achieved. It’s one thing to see inspiring images but it’s much more interesting to know how you could go about making a similar image or be able to apply that knowledge to some project of your own.

The consensus was that she was the best speaker the club had had for a long time.

You can visit her Flickr site by clicking here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndybisz/

Using Colorburst RIP Software and BasICColor Display

Have you wasted more time than you care to think about trying to get the colours of your prints to match the image as it appears on your computer screen, throwing numerous disappointing prints in the bin wasting expensive inks and papers as I have? I’ve spent frustrating hours tweaking levels in Photoshop trying to get the optimum settings for each and every print, cranking up my stress levels. There is a lot of info out there about colour management and profiling but a lot of it is generic and can be confusing and misleading.

By a great stoke of luck, I came across Neil Barstow when searching for Innova photo paper on the Net and after talking to him for a few minutes it became evident that I had more than a few problems that needed sorting out. One of those was that my screen was too bright even though it was on the dimmest setting possible.As he lives close by, Neil came round to my studio and to my relief, started to explain very technical things in a language that was at my level of understanding. It was immediately clear that this guy really knows his stuff – I was about to be rescued!

I was so impressed by the difference in the appearance of my screen after Neil calibrated it, that I came to the conclusion that spending money on the Colorburst RIP and the BasICColor Display calibration software would be well worth it. Neil patiently took me ( and my iMac ) through the various settings I would need to use which saved me a great deal of time reading through instruction manuals.

I can now spend more time being creative rather than on producing countless test prints as I know that the image I see on the screen will match what comes out of my Epson 3800 printer. I no longer have to pay to have custom ICC profiles ( sometimes not good enough ) made for each new paper I use. I can be confident that my prints will be the best they could be and I need to be sure of producing consistently professional quality prints for my customers.

Click here to view Neil’s website