Happy New Year & The Best of 2015
I wanted to leave my 'Happy New Year' post until a week or so after New Year. I don't know about you but my inbox was full of offers, promotions, discounts and all sorts of other things that just added to the noise immediately after New Years. Everyone wants you to visit their site and buy their product. I felt that If I were to release this post just after Christmas, or on the 1st of January that I too would be adding your inboxes that are likely (like mine was) busting with things I just wasn't interested in.
Now that most of us are returning to some sort of normality and a sense of routine I thought it would be a good time to share with you, what I think, was some of my best work from 2015 and take a look back on those 12 months.
So, firstly I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you spoiled yourself with some lovely new photography-related goodies. Personally I think photography books are the best Christmas present. As great as new gear is photography books give you so much and can help you grow. If you get a new book at the beginning of a year it can really inspire and inform you for the year ahead. Whether it's business or technical, or even just a photo book filled with amazing photographs to inspire, photography books are fantastic. If you've received Amazon or book vouchers, one book I would recommend is Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits. Wow!
Best Street Photographs of 2015
I found this to be harder than I thought this year. Usually I would just pick out 10 images and post them right here, but this year I thought instead I'd select a few more and put them in to a slide show. Some of these images are seeing the light-of-day for the first time, which surprises even me. As I looked back through my library in Adobe Lightroom there were a few images that jumped out at me - images that I had previously overlooked as good enough to share with the world. So, here are my favourite Street Photographs from 2015:
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Best Of the Rest
As much as I consider myself primarily a street photographer, the truth is that I photograph everything. 2015 saw me travel to Dubai, Venice, France (for the Le Mans 24hr) and Turkey. I moved to a new area here in the UK and of course I'm actually a wedding photographer 'by day' and so this year has seen me make some photographs that I just haven't made in previous years that I'm particularly proud of. I would add though that one massive change to my photography has been the move to the Olympus system. I'm not suggesting that without the Olympus I wouldn't have made any of these photographs however, there were times when I was undecided as to whether I'd take a camera with me because of the extra thing to carry. More often than not I took the camera but I do feel that If I were still shooting Canon and had to lug a DSLR body and a selection of not-so-small lenses, it would have been the other way round and I'd have been consigned to using my iPhone for moments that really called for a quality camera. Ben Nevis is a perfect example of this.
This was perhaps my favourite photograph from my trip to Scotland. This is not from Ben Nevis at all but was actually a photograph I took as I pulled over the car on the way home to jump out an make a final few photographs before leaving these beautiful landscape behind me. I was most pleased with the colours, the stream in the foreground, the rolling clouds - everything seem to come together to give me exactly what I was looking for!
Ben Nevis & Glencoe
Here are a few more from that same trip:
Macro Dandelions
Another surprise in my library of favourites were these images of Dandelions that I made using the superb Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens. Before this lens I had only used a Canon Macro lens on hire on a few occasions for weddings. My need and desire for a Macro lens never warranted me owning one, however when making my switch to Olympus and making a sizable investment in new kit I decided that a Macro will be part of that. Before my first wedding of 2015 I took it to the lake near my house to see what i could find to photograph with it - and this was the result:
From that very same trip here are a few more Macro's of Dandelions. I find the close-up detail fascinating!
Motor Sports
If you've been following me for some time you may be aware that each June I make my way to Le Mans in France to watch / photograph the legendary 24 hour race. Although this photograph isn't from the Le Mans 24 Hour Race (it's from the 6 hours of Silverstone here in the UK (another date on the same race calendar) this was the first time I had put the Olympus OM-D E-M1 through it's paces and shot motorsport with it. It was on this day, with photographs like this, that the E-M1 proved to me that it was able to do what my Canon DSLR could and that my switch to Olympus was a justified move. I wouldn't have been overly upset had the E-M1 not been able to produce the goods, but knowing that my new favourite camera was a match for the system I had just moved from, it made me very happy indeed. The post I wrote about the E-M1 and motorsports was also one of my most popular posts in 2015 as well. This was also the first time I really got to put the astounding Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO through it's paces.
For more E-M1 motorsport photographs have a look at my post 'A Day At the Races with the Olympus OM-D E-M1'
Richmond Park
This was a memorable day for me, as much for what I saw with my eyes as for what I managed to capture with the camera. This was perhaps the most golden of golden hours I have ever experienced. The light really was the colour you can see here in the photograph:
I've been to Richmond on numerous occasions to capture the stags rutting and the images I usually make are close ups of the stags with as much detail as possible. I tend to end up coming home with technically sound images; well cropped, good Depth of Field and sharpness etc. Being a park the images almost always have a dark or green feel to them as well. But this particular day I wanted to try something different than what I had before and the Golden Stag above reflects that. I was really pleased that what I had when I got home was something a little different and that, for me, was very reflective of 2015 as a whole. In part thanks to the EVF in the Olympus, more in part to my own personal development and growth as a photographer. Here are a few more from that morning in Richmond:
Summary
So my top picks for 2015 certainly differ dramatically from my look back in 2014 (which you can find here: 2014 Top 10). You'll see that back in that review I was still between systems; shooting both DSLR and Olympus (mirrorless). Whilst for many it doesn't have to be a question of one system or another, for me, I simply found that the Olympus was a very intuitive system to use and the EVF allowed me to (literally) see what it is I was about to capture. This made 2015 a year where I learnt even more about photography; with a solid technical background I found I was now able to more easily break rules and try out new things with a higher chance of success.
Throughout 2015 the only camera I have used has ben either the Olympus OM-D E-M5 or the OM-D E-M1. And I couldn't be happier.
Show me your top 10 from 2015
I'd love to see your top 10 or even just some of your favourite images from 2015. Drop a comment in the comments section below on the blog and be sure to include a link.
Free Resources & 2016 Portrait Project
I've had a bit of re-jig over at MichaelRammell.com and I have some great news and updates I wanted to share with you all.
There hasn't been a major overhaul or anything like that, but I have made it far, far easier to get to all of the great FREE resources that I offer, such as FREE hi-res wallpapers, tutorial videos and even access to older blog posts that you may find useful. I'll also be re-launching my portrait project and putting dates in the diary for 2016!
Read on to find out more:
The Portrait Project (Let's try that again!)
I launched my portrait project back in 2013 with the aim of photographing 50 portraits of fellow photographers and friends that I've met through Social Media and the Internet. I received well over 30 applications from people wanting to take part and come to meet me to have their portrait made, but I couldn't get the project off the ground with other commitments limiting the time I had available for the project (moving house again, second child on the way and changing jobs) but now life is somewhat settled again I'm keen to finally kick this off and start making photographs of those people that applied and also to fill the final 20 or so remaining spaces!
If you applied the first time round I will be reaching out to you via email in the coming days and weeks to get things moving again and hopefully to arrange a date with you to make this happen. Of course there is no obligation at all to take part if you have previously applied.
If this is news to you and you weren't aware of the portrait project from the first time round then you can head on over to the portrait project page and apply now. Your name will go into my portrait project mailing list and I'll get in touch to arrange a date with you that suits us both.
Please note that if you're local I'll meet you halfway, however those slightly further afield from Virginia Water in Surrey where I live will likely have to travel to me. But I promise tea and good fun! (and of course, I hope, a great photograph or two!). I'll be at lots of events in 2016, including The Photography Show as well. If you're going to be there, or if you're coming along to one of my Photo Walks, we could even arrange to make your portrait then.
All of the details as to why I am doing this project, what I'll do with the photographs and more are included over on the launch page for the project along with details for who to apply.
Wallpapers
As a subscriber to this blog (If you're not already a subscriber you can sign up here!) you may have seen me release a series of photographs for download as desktop wallpapers throughout 2015. It's something I plan on doing much more, especially as I travel more around the world and the UK. It's my way of saying thanks to all those who subscribe, visit the website and interact with me online (and at photo walks as well!).
You can now find all of the wallpapers I make available in one place over on the wallpapers page. I've set this page to update itself automatically, so whenever I publish a new blog post with new wallpapers they will appear over on the wallpaper page. Available wallpapers include some breathtaking photographs from the Scottish Highlands, memories from Venice and also some photographs I shot recently during quite possibly the most amazing golden hour at Richmond Park (UK).
Tutorial & How To Videos
Not many people know this - mostly because I haven't promoted or advertised that I actually produce them - I have a small but growing series of videos available for you to view for FREE online. The videos mostly refer to how to do certain things in Light Room, such as using the adjustment brush to full effect, creating effective smart collections and generally the way I edit and post-process my own photographs to create my look.
What's more if you have a question about Light Room or my post processing that you want to ask you can complete the form over on the Tutorial Videos page and I'll produce a video showing you exactly how I do it.
Access to the Blog Archives
On a regular basis I get asked questions about photography, my approach and Olympus cameras. Often, I'll write a full reply (like I have done previously for Gavin Hall) but on occassion it may be that I have already written an article on a subject or given my thoughts on a topic and so I'll link to that instead. To make older blog posts easier to find I have created a page that shows older blog posts all in one place. You can take a look at the Blog Archive right here, or of course you can scroll to the bottom of any page on my website and click the 'Blog Archive' link.
I hope that these changes and adjustments will make the content and resources I put together easier to find and easier to access.