Ultimate Mum 2010
With Mother’s Day fast approaching (14th March) we’ve got loads of great gift ideas and we’re giving you the chance to spoil your mum rotten with our 2010 Ultimate Mum Competition. Just tell us what makes your mum so amazing and we’ll pick one mum to win a luxury spa break, £100 worth of shopping vouchers, flowers, chocolates, bubbly and a photo book. If you’re lucky she might even take you with her! Competition closes 11th March.
Charity partnership
We’ve just teamed up with the charity Breast Cancer Campaign to bring you a new Personalised Photo Mug. This Pink Photo Mug is a great Mother's Day gift idea and £2.15 of every mug sold (25% of the selling price) goes to Breast Cancer Campaign, whose mission is to beat breast cancer through innovative research. A great gift for a really worthy cause and something your mum will enjoy using every day.
Celebrity Gala Night tickets
As sponsors of the Renaissance Exhibition we’re looking forward to the Celebrity gala night being held in London on 21st April from 6.30pm. Come and join us and you’ll not only be able to spot some celebrities but you’ll also see the winning entries we’ve printed. Tickets cost £60 and all proceeds go to the Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care to help young people suffering from breast cancer. Take a look at their website to apply for tickets and do your bit for charity.
Here are a few of our favourite things!
© Simon Roberts, Bolton Abbey, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Photographer Simon Roberts is famous for finding beauty in the mundane. Through his quintessentially English upbringing he has developed an obsession with photographing things he associates with being English. His exhibition at Bradford’s National Media Museum from 12th March until 5th September is entitled We English and focuses on typical English locations and pastimes. The museum has also specially commissioned Simon to take photos of the local area for inclusion in the exhibition.
© Don McCullin, Shell Shocked Soldier, Hue, 1968
For over 50 years Don McCullin has specialised in photographing images of war and is widely regarded as one of the greatest war photographers of all time. It’s therefore appropriate that he now has an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester entitled Shaped by War. It’s the largest ever UK exhibition of his work to celebrate his 75th birthday. The exhibition runs until 13th June and includes over 200 thought provoking photos.
© Damien Lovegrove
Damien Lovegrove’s latest DVD Speedlight Mastery takes a clear and comprehensive look at both the Nikon and Canon flash systems. In it Damien gives you the knowledge to confidently control flash lighting, especially when lighting portraits on location. His advice and inspiring images will really help to improve your pictures and help you cope with difficult light conditions.
© Ivan Massar, Different Worlds
The Proud Gallery Chelsea is currently showing Paris Je t’aime a wonderfully atmospheric look at Parisian life in 1949. The black & white photographs are all taken by photojournalist Ivan Massar and showcase the city and its people including some famous landmarks along the way. All in all it’s a real gem of an exhibition and is well worth a look.
Events and exhibitions you won't want to miss
Love not war
Hotshot photographer Rankin is best known for his high profile pictures of the Queen and a whole host of celebrities. However, last year he went to the war torn Congo on a mission to photograph not the troubles that the people are facing but love. From Congo with Love takes a fresh look at a part of the world suffering a great deal and proves that love can still shine through. There are also photos taken by the people he met who had never even seen a camera before. This heart-warming exhibition is on display outside London’s National Theatre until 11th April. If you get the chance, go!
Architectural photography can be challenging to say the least. You can't just move a building, so getting a different perspective can prove tricky. Then there's the test of getting a big bulky subject to fit neatly in a single shot. What's a photographer to do?
Before you even think about getting your camera out, step back from your subject and soak up your surroundings. Then look at different ways of including the location in your framing to enhance the overall impact of the image.
Read more photography features
Issue 1: Featured photographer – Annabel Williams
Issue 2: Featured photographer – Clive Nichols
Issue 3: Featured photographer – Karen Parker
Issue 4: Featured photographer – Helena Smith
Issue 5: Featured photographer – Brett Harkness
Issue 6: Featured photographer – Jason de Caires Taylor
Issue 7: Featured photographer – Sarah Wright
Issue 8: Featured photographer – Neil Bygrave
Issue 9: Featured photographer – Adam Lawrence
Issue 10: Featured photographer – Barry Wakelin
Issue 11: Featured photographer – Brian Harte
Issue 12: Featured photographer – Michael Molloy
Issue 13: Featured photographer – Jason Hawkes
Issue 14: Featured photographer – Gavin Gough
Issue 15: Featured photographer – James Cant
Issue 16: Featured photographer – Rachel Whiting
Issue 17: Featured photographer – Julia Conway
Issue 18: Featured photographer – Nick Clark
Issue 19: Featured photographer – Eric Richmond
Light ideas
Experiment with different light sources such as candlelight, firelight and tungsten to give a different feel to your photos.
Celebrity stance
A great trick favoured by celebrities is angling one shoulder slightly towards the camera, this gives an instantly more elegant and slender look.
Low light
When photographing in low light, if you don’t want to use flash, try bumping up your ISO setting to 800 or 1600.
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Pete Bresser
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Laura Ellen Brennan
I give PhotoBox five stars
Anneka Temmink
I love PhotoBox!
Dan Miller
PhotoBox offers a range of services, such as calendars and photo books.
The Official Magazine Windows
The main advantage of PhotoBox is the quick turnaround. If you upload and order prints before 4pm, it promises to dispatch them within 24 hours.
What Laptop & Handheld PC
If you like to show off real albums (the tangible sort you can put on your shelves), try creating a photo book from a service such as PhotoBox.
BBC Focus Magazine