We’re coming close to the end of the Photo Project now with just a few things to cover about processing and further learning. But, before we go let’s concentrate on the joy of taking photographs.

The key to taking your photography further is experiment. There are great photographs all around us. For example, even if you are keen on landscape photographs, and you live in the city, there is much you can do on your own doorstep.

I love going out and just taking photographs. Maybe I might visit a local event. I’ll take my camera to family events as well — weddings, birthdays and the such. But one of my great pleasures is to just take the camera out into the city. I take a lot of frames, of all kinds of things — whatever catches my imagination. Over the years I’ve found that I’ve learned to see places differently and to focus on detail that would otherwise have gone un-noticed. I’m constantly amazed at some of the things I’ve shot. I keep the shots, often finding that — at some later date — that I can see something new in a photo that I’d previously written off. And, as you get better at processing, you’ll also see how new techniques in Photoshop (and the others) can help bring a particular shot alive.

Shoot in Raw

I always shoot in RAW these days. True, these files are big but dud shots can always be deleted. But RAW is where the quality is and your best shots should be of the best quality.

Here are just a few things that I’ve photographed along the way.

Texture

I love focussing on texture, sometimes in shots that are almost abstract. Here are some examples:

A brick wall in Deptford.

A canal wall in Walsall

Moseley Bog in Birmingham, once home to Tolkein.

History in the Making

Even taking casual, aimless strolls, you can find yourself keeping a record of times past. These shots are from Spitalfields before the recent developments kicked off. Some of these places will survive, others will not.

Traditional Spitalfields house

Dino’s Café — now gone I believe

Urban Decay and Form

There is a popular Flickr group on Urban Decay, and to easy to see why!

Salford Central Station, once the mainline to Liverpool.

Scrap art installation, Digbeth, Birmingham.

Little Germany, Bradford.

Detail

Finally, look for details and select your frame for drama. Here are a couple of shots from Brasilia.

A Church wall.

This detail is from a roof. Cutting out everything else has created a dramatic image.

Fishing Nets, Mallaig.

So, go for a walk …

I like to find time to go for a walk with my camera wherever I am. I’ve thousands of photos like this. Many of them — especially the abstract and those with detail — are great when printed into smallish prints.

I’m sure you can do better than me. Get out and take those photographs!