Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

nine designs

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Snapped! One night only at the NPG

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Late shift Call me a romantic if you will, but there’s something that I find especially appealing about late night museum openings (maybe it’s reading too much Umberto Eco?), and I’m particularly looking forward to the Late Shift at the National Portrait Gallery on Friday 11 February. Nine portraits by Rankin of nine models who challenge the typical image of a fashion model in nine designs by fashion luminaries such as Dame Vivienne Westwood.

It’s called Snapped and it’s on for one night only at the NPG. You get to wander around the NPG and gaze upon these pictures beside the more traditional portraits of, say, Elizabeth I or Mary Wollstonecraft. It’s been curated by All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, a group trying to make everyone, from those who work in the fashion industry to those who follow fashion, think about models, and the idea of beauty, differently.

If you want, you can take that debate further by attending the panel discussion ‘Has Fashion Imagery become the lens by which we evaluate identity?’ It’ll be chaired by Caryn Franklin and its speakers include Erin O’Connor, Lorraine Candy who edits ELLE Magazine, Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister of Equalities and co-founder of Body Campaign, as well as psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos. Given my opinions on all of this, you can imagine I might have a question or two…

There will be a room of models from All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, too, just in case you fancy turning your hand to fashion photography.

It’ll be one way to spend a Friday night, anyway.

Snapped shows on Friday 11 February 2011 from 18:00 to 22:00 at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.