Tony Howell

Based in Somerset, Tony Howell is one of the most well known landscape photographers in the UK. He chooses a simple and uncluttered style to create a sense of peace and stillness in his imagery.

He has been published in numerous books and magazines and regularly works for the National Geographic, The BBC, The Tate, The Forestry Commission and more.....


Unlike many other well known photographers, he has no formal training and no degree. Rather, he has been essentially self taught, learning his craft by trial and error. It is his sheer dogged determination and his love of all things natural that has driven him to succeed.

I have been particularly looking at his pictures of flowers and it is interesting to note that his floral photography only really took off when he purchased his Macro lens. The range of colours and the textures that close up photography opened up, changed his view. This element really opened up his mind to the smaller things in life and since then he has been a prolific taker of macro images.

This is a delicate image with two small flowers surrounded by a bed of green. You cannot help but be drawn to the flowers as they are the real contrast in the image.

 I love the colour in this image, which is a riot of many shades of purple.

The clarity with which he has taken this crocus really makes it stand out from the background, even though it is very much within a complimentary colour range.

Gold on gold - this daffodil almost bleeds into the background. Yet again though, a very well set aperture completely blurs out the background, leaving the detail in the areas of specific interest.

How close can you get?

I believe that the interest point of this image is the yellow part of the petal. It is however, not the section that is in focus. The actual focal point seems to be just to the edge of the yellow on the right third segment of the image.

You are drawn to focus on this and then, with the lines in the flower exaggerating the effect, you are drawn to the yellow centre of the petal.

I absolutely love the way that this flower looks like it has been 'stick' on a backdrop!

Simlar to the above image, this flower is so clear compared to the background, that it almost looks like it has bee superimposed onto the backdrop!

Rich, red, and luscious.

This picture has everything going for it. It could almost be a berry falling into a bowl of 'not set' red jelly or something.

The harshness of the stamens is in complete contrast to the softness that he has managed to achieve with the petals.

A more simple image, this photograph works  because of the contrast between the bright red flower and the pale greens in the background.

The colours in the back of this pitcure is what makes this work so well. Just a simple, delicate, yellow flower against a mess of purplues and blues. Had the background been green, as with the previous photograph, then this would definitely not have worked anywhere near as well.

Yet again, perfect clarity in the flower vs a blurred out background, creates a superb contrast.

The way that this flower droops from left to right allows your eye to flow thoughout the image.

It is not especially bright and there are no massive shadows in the image, but this has enable him nto to 'blow out' the white in the petals.

With just two colours he has created a great image that keeps you looking.

Charles Binns

Born in 1965 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. Charles is a landscape photographic artist now based in Hertfordshire. With a Spanish mother he spent much of his holidays in Spain and got into photography to record his travels.

He draws a lot of inspiration from the early English landscape artists of the 18th and 19th Century. In those days, artists documented the changing landscape and he likes to think that he is doing the same with his photogrpahy, for future generations. In addition however, he is interested in Macro-photography as he is drawn to the textures and the shapes that can be seen when looking at things close up.

Whilst not averse to digital cameras, he likes to use a Holga camera. This is a simple Camera that relies heavily on the choice of film and the framing of the subject to create the image. With only one shutter speed and one aperture, it surely must be a challenge to use.

Holga cameras are, apparently, prone to create quite a lot of vignetting, blur and 'light leaks' and this can clearly be seen in a couple of the macro images indicated hereafter.

 The grainy quality of this image works really well as it adds to a the blur effect. Looking at the edges you can clearly see the vignetting of the image too.  Hence one woudl assume thatthis was taken with a Holga.

The focal point sits right on the stamen of the flower and the soft lite draws you this too.

The image is 'dark' and velvetty, rich and warm.

Centre stage, two bright red berries, contrasting heavily against the green leaves.

I love this picture, which I haard a guess was also taken with a Holga camera as it has many of the qualities of the red flower at the top.

A soft texture is created by the blur and yet again there is vignetting of the image, drawing our eye away from the edges and into the middle of the image.

 The contrasting yellow leaves and the brown background in this image give a simple look.

I am not sure what lense was used to take thisimage, but it must have been taken with a very wide aperture. the tip of the rose is in focus, but the remainder is out of focus.

With the light background the dark red/black rose really stands out.

Compare and Contrast - Bill Atkinson

Having reviewd Bills work, this is exactly the kind of images that I was trying to recreate with my 'Autumn ' series, as previously posted and I have inserted one of them below to compare and contrast.
my vision was to take brightly coloured leaves against copper sulphate blue skies, to exaggerate and highlight the colours in those leaves.

Catching the right light is essential so I made sure that we had clear skies and plenty of sun, then I set off into Hopwas woods (as usual with dog running around). I took a number of images, as previously displayed and have inserted one of them below to contrast with the an image from Bill's portfolio.

ISO 100: f 9: 1/200: lens 55-200mm                     

I have not undertaken any post production work on my image, but the concept is very similar. Golden leaves against a blue sky. Clearly however, I have focused on a smaller section of the tree, largely due to the peripheral surroundings, which would not have leant themselves to taking a more 'distant' shot.

Bill Atkinson

"Photography begins not in the camera but in the mind and the eye. The real work is one of noticing and appreciating, seeing things clearly and differently, and sharing that vision with others."

Bill Atkinson has spent over 40 years in the world of photography. From an early age, he began taking clips out of magazines and appreciating the way in which images are created.

He attained an undergraduate degree from the University of San Diego (California) where he met Apple Mac developer Jeff Raskin. He continued his university studies as a Graduate at the University of Washington.

Bill was a pioneer within the digital imaging revolution having originally been a computer engineer, working for Apple between 1978 and 1990. As a member of the original Macintosh team at Apple Computer, Atkinson designed much of the initial Macintosh user interface and wrote the original QuickDraw, MacPaint and HyperCard software.

After spending years developing software to assist others in their creativity, he is now furthering his own art, increasing his control and the accuracy of his work through enhancements in digital processing.

His passion is to explore 'nature' in all it's giuses, from mountain ranges to deserts to the intimate nature of macro photography, using animals, insects and flowers. He especially likes to get the light right, to make full use of all of the colours available to him. This is especially prevalent in the selection of images I have chosen to review hereafter.


The vibrant colours in this image are amazing. Whether they have been enhanced or not is difficult to tell, but the clarity of the blue sky and the gold of the leaves creates a striking contrast.

Conversely, this image doe not need to use shockingly vibrant blue sky. Rather it uses softer tones to create a  very colourful image.

Whilst this image is taken into the sky, it is not the vibrancy of the blue sky that wins over this image. It is the use of the light through the leaves, which creates a mess of colours that all bleed into each other.
Contract this with the dark lines created by the branches and the image is subdivided into numerous segments, each of which has strengths of their own.








I am especially interested in this image as it contrast yellow, reds and blue all in one image. Yet again, the sunlight shining on certain areas exaggerates the golds in the leaves.

I am not even sure if there is a focal point in this image. It is just such a riot of colour that your eye runs riot across the image.






Finally, with this image you get the very best of all worlds. Fantastic use of light in the gold leaves, highlighted in the centre of the image.

Darker greens and blues surround the outer edges, enhancing the lightness and the sunlight. Indeed even the tree trunks draw the eye towards the centre of the image.

Mark Crawshaw

Mark Crawshaw is a semi professional photographer with a passion for all things photographic. Not specialising in any specific areas he has a range of photographs covering many areas of photography, but I was particularly interested in some of his woodland images.

I like the way the he ash used the vibrant green of this oak shoot, to contrast with the rich darkness of the earth.

Focusing on the fungus in this image, has has used a wide aperture setting to completely blur out the background. The fungus itself has a very interesting shape and texture. Once again though, he has contrasted the colours within the fungus against the green background to help to make the subject stand out.

 The use of light here really makes these leaves shout out of the image.

 I love the soft and dark nature of this image. It has an autumn feel about it and the rich golds and oranges give it that dark autumn night, almost 'Halloween' feeling.

Excellent use of  focus in this image creates a surreal image with the outer edges completely blurred. The line of the branch draws your eye into the image, which is also exaggerated by the vignetting effect around the edges.

The Rule of Thirds

This is a common rule that is applied by many photographers. It works by dividing the image into a grid using two vertical and two horizontal lines, which split the picture into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The ideal location of the subject should be where the lines intersect.
Rather than placing the horizon in the middle, you should place it on one of the horizontal lines. Placing the ubect to one side or the other, on the vertical lines, gives the viewer more oportunity to look into other areas of the image.
As with all of these rules however, they are there to be broken. The trick is to know when.

The Essential Guide to Portraits

Whilst going through yet another airport I chanced upon a magazine entitled as above. Produced by the guys at Digital SLR Photography, it is packed with some very useful hints and expert advice.
Content comprises everything from how to get the correct exposure, to the how to take great mono pictures.

Tuition is given by:
Daniel Lezano (the Editor)
Brett Harkness - one of the UK's leading portrait and social photographers
Bjorn Thomassen - an English born photographer, who specialises in the commercial and social aspects of people photography, and
Paul Ward - a Birmingham based  photographer who specialises in location and studio shoots.

It is not by chance that Bjorn and Paul feature in my blog.