New Year in February

New Years Eve is always a positive time of great expectations for the coming year. When January kicks in nothing really changes and the cold and the dark eat away at my time and energy and my body seems to shut down existing in only 'survival mode' for the month. But now, well into February, the bird song announces the new year proper, the days are noticeably longer and I'm full of enthusiasm, ideas and ready to take up the challenge of another year.

Suddenly I find myself with a string of speaking engagements: Crediton Camera Club 'Constructed Photographs', Filleigh WI 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' and Society of Bookbinders Western Region 'Taking Effective Photographs of Bindings and Artwork'. I'm also exhibiting my work at the Wharf in Tavistock, with artists, Bert Bruins, Janis Glover and Duncan Hopkins (thanks for poster design), and a large version of Combe Martin Silver Mine, on aluminium, has been accepted for the Devon Artists Network DAN group show at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery RAMM in Exeter for the whole of this summer.

Combe Martin Silver Mine

January didn't bring the exciting storms that we got in 2014 but this month, March and April bring the promise of extreme tides which should provide me with both access to remote beaches and the excitement of a high spring tide.

As always I have a series of Photographic Workshops lined up including a new one for people wanting to make more of their iPhone's camera:

Photographic Workshops in Devon, Winter 2014/15

Introduction to digital photography - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Course Description pdf
Tuesday 24th February in Tavistock, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Friday 13th March in Barnstaple, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Sunday 15th March in Exeter, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Course Description pdf
Wednesday 11th March in Bideford, (10am-1pm) Click to Book

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Thursday 12th March in Barnstaple, (9.30am-12.30pm) Click to Book
iPhone Camera Workshop: Tuesday 7th April in Bideford, (10am-1pm) Click to Book

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Course Description pdf
Sunday 22th February in Bude, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Monday 6th April in Bude, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality. This workshop is 3x hours taught time and 2x hours photographing/lunch/free time
Thursday 2nd April in Bideford (10am-3pm) Click to reserve a place

Painting with Light -(Light Graffiti) - £25 per photographer*
Celebrate the start of the dark winter nights. You'll will be provided with coloured light torches, flash lights and a tripod if you don't have one. The workshop will start with a round the table chat and introduction to night photographers and techniques in a quiet local pub. If you have particular images or techniques you’d like to duplicate please bring them along. Most digital cameras are able to make a long exposure nowadays, please email below if you're not sure if your camera is suitable.
*please bring a torch swinging friend at no extra cost!
Course Description pdf
Saturday 28th March at Westward Ho! (6.30pm-9.30pm) Click to reserve a place
Photographing your own Artwork - £70 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 4) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £125
Course Description pdf
Monday 23rd February in Bideford (10am-5pm) Click to reserve a place
Thursday 9th April in Bideford (11am-5pm) Click to reserve a place

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
TBA Click to express your interest

Workshop gift vouchers are always available for that special present for those people with new cameras so that they'll get to know them better!
Buy a £25 gift certificate
Buy a £50 gift certificate

Newton Abbot Camera Club

I was made very welcome at the Newton Abbot Camera Club. A good crowd of 45 members turned up on a stormy night for my presentation of my 'constructive' working practice. Fairly quiet at first they listened quite patiently, perhaps not too sure of what to make of these 'landscapes' which were far removed from their usual experience. However I'm always happy with questions and once one had been asked the audience became far more vocal. They were very pleased to see so many images from the wild North Devon coast, less than 1.5 hours drive from Newton Abbot but so often off their radar. So pleased in fact that they're already planning a photo-trip up here!

The venue in Newton Abbot has a wonderfully big, ceiling mounted, projection screen which made my images look their best. I was kitted out with a neck mic as the hall was so large, but I must have been speaking for so long that it's battery died so you see me here with a huge wireless mic.

Greetings Cards

A new, small, shop front has opened in Green Gallery. You can buy a limited number of Fine-art Giclee Prints, sets of high quality Greetings Cards made by 'Moo' and Workshop Vouchers which make great Christmas presents. The last batch of greetings cards were available in August 2014 and all sold out within 10 days so please don't delay if you hope to buy!

There are also a series of new workshops for December and January:

Introduction to digital photography & Christmas Lights* - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
*Thursday 11th December in Bideford, (11am-6pm) Click to Book
*Wednesday 17th December in Barnstaple, (11am-6pm) Click to Book
Tuesday 6th January in Bideford, (10am-5pm) Click to Book
Thursday 8th January in Ilfracombe, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Wednesday 14th January in Barnstaple, (1.30-4.30pm) Click to Book

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Thursday 15th January in Bideford, (1.30-4.30pm) Click to Book

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Thursday 22th January in Bude, (10am-5pm) Click to Book

Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality. This workshop is 3x hours taught time and 2x hours photographing/lunch/free time
Saturday 3rd January in Bideford (10am-3pm) Click to reserve a place

Painting with Light -(Light Graffiti) - £25 per photographer*
Celebrate the start of the dark winter nights. You'll will be provided with coloured light torches, flash lights and a tripod if you don't have one. The workshop will start with a round the table chat and introduction to night photographers and techniques in a quiet local pub. If you have particular images or techniques you’d like to duplicate please bring them along. Most digital cameras are able to make a long exposure nowadays, please email below if you're not sure if your camera is suitable.
*please bring a torch swinging friend at no extra cost!
Tuesday 30th December at Westward Ho! (5pm-8pm) Click to reserve a place
Photographing your own Artwork - £75
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 5) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £125
Course Description pdf
TBA Click to express your interest

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
TBA Click to express your interest

Workshop gift vouchers are always available for that special present for those people with new cameras so that they'll get to know them better!
Buy a £25 gift certificate
Buy a £50 gift certificate

The Impossible Picture

The problem with demonstrating an interest in historic buildings and good PhotoShop skills, as I did in a recent exhibition at St Annes Chapel in Barnstaple, is that interest in the work is stirred up and low and behold a commission comes along. A residents and friends group of concerned Barumites have got together to raise money in order to save the facade of the Penrose Almshouses in Litchdon Street, Barnstaple which dates back to 1627. The timber supports which sit on the granite columns are rotting and the ornate cast iron guttering has already been removed as it was in danger of falling. This grade 1 listed building needs preserving and the group needed a picture; specifically of the front elevation straight on. In almost 400 years this image has never existed as the extremely narrow street has never enabled anyone to stand far enough away to see the whole building all at one except from one end or the other.

Unknown artist photo credit:
Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

I came into the project with full support to help them raise their funds but with mixed feelings about making something look as it can never be seen. My gut feeling was to combine a series of photographs together from a fixed point to give the impression of what you would see as you turned your head through 120degrees. This is a far more truthful account of reality but only if you know the building; to anyone else the building appears very high in the middle and low at the two ends. 

Old Postcard

Combining the layers of single frames into three sections, held within vertical and horizontal guidelines in PhotoShop, I went about raising and lowering, stretching and shrinking, until the image looked somewhat like it might viewed from a distance. Puppet Warp was then used to straighten up many of the lines that had naturally curved through the original stitching process. The final image, the impossible picture, becomes believable but only until you look carefully and realise there are too many lines of perspective.

Original sketch once single frames were stitched together

77 photographs were taken and approximately 50 were stitched together in the construction of the final image. Approximately 1.5 days work.

Photographic Workshops in Devon, Autumn 2014

Introduction to digital photography - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Saturday 4th October in Barnstaple (10am - 5pm) Click to reserve a place

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
Wednesday 8th October in Bideford (1pm-4pm) Click to reserve a place

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Wednesday 29th October, Barnstaple (1pm-4pm) Click to reserve a place

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Friday 10th October starting at Bude (9.30am-4pm) Click to reserve a place
Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality. This workshop is 3x hours taught time and 2x hours photographing/lunch/free time
Tuesday 28th October in Bideford (10am-3pm) Click to reserve a place
Thursday 30th October in Barnstaple (10am-3pm) Click to reserve a place

Painting with Light -(Light Graffiti) - £25 per photographer*
Celebrate the start of the dark winter nights. You'll will be provided with coloured light torches, flash lights and a tripod if you don't have one. The workshop will start with a round the table chat and introduction to night photographers and techniques in a quiet local pub. If you have particular images or techniques you’d like to duplicate please bring them along. Most digital cameras are able to make a long exposure nowadays, please email below if you're not sure if your camera is suitable.
*please bring a torch swinging friend at no extra cost!
Thursday 30th October at Westward Ho! (6pm-9pm) Click to reserve a place
Photographing your own Artwork - £50
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 5) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £100
Course Description pdf
Monday 27th October in Bideford (11am - 6pm) Click to reserve a place

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
Friday 31st October in Bideford (11am-6pm) Click to reserve a place

Comments from the St Anne's Chapel exhibition

"Stunning work."
"Atmospheric and inspiring work."
"Imagery like no other. Excellent viewpoints and technical expertise."
"Great tour of your work days. Stunning photographs."
"I saw my great grandfather's signature and I love the pictures!"
"Very atmospheric."
"Superb! Thanks very interesting."
"Always good to see your remarkable photographs – happy memories of exploring the Exmoor coast."
"Great pictures and craft! Beautiful man, thanks."
"Just what Barnstaple needs – oasis of tranquillity and beauty."
"Been looking forward to this exhibition – expectations well met! Wonderful coastal revelations Dave, thanks for the effort."
"Looks absolutely fab Dave – your work looks amazing and suits the space very well.It also lifts the venue/gallery space. Good luck with the show!"
"Brilliant. Very skilful and imaginative. Very good eye for composition. Great texture, variety, use of light and shadow. So much to look at."
"So pleased to have the opportunity to see your fantastic body of work. Great to see lots of people also enjoying it. Well done Dave. Cards are great I do love them"

 And thanks to the support of the North Devon Journal there should be more comments to add!

Exhibition and Open Studio - Real, Live and Virtual Opening 8/8/2014

Live REAL and Virtual opening of Dave Green's exhibition and open studio at St Anne's Arts & Community Centre today 4.45pm until 9pm
Please Join us!

Live on You Tube NOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ymv7TOtuU0

Please take a look.


Interact through Google+ here:
https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/ytl/vjVQa1PpcFOOxIXAOgavhB06nH79crcCdMUPbuzK7xU=

or call me on Skype: greengallery

or text me through Facebook

Tucson

I lived in Tucson whilst doing a teaching exchange in 2003/04. This was a trip to get to spend some time with old friends, enjoy the city and the desert wilderness that surrounds it. Near the end of my trip I spent an evening addressing the Tucson Camera Club at the Jewish Community Center. This lively club were a great audience, challenged and inspired by my presentation and having many questions afterwards.

Being away from the norm was a great place to experiment with my new camera, a Pentax K-3. Having a 24.4 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, twice the size and yet the camera is smaller and lighter than my Olympus DSLR, I was drawn to the street photography I used to do last century, on film.

Photographic Workshops in Devon, Summer 2014

Introduction to digital photography - £50
A practical days workshop learning to gain control over your camera, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash etc, setting it up for optimum quality under any given lighting, and making better pictures through composition. Numbers limited to a hand-full. I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75
Wednesday 18th June in Bideford (11am - 6pm) Click to reserve a place

Half Day Intro to digital photography - £25
A 'sit around the table' workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
July date TBC Click to make an enquiry

SmartPhone Photography - £25
A practical workshop to learn how to use your Smartphone's camera to take professional looking photographs and enhance those images on the go. Suitable for anyone with a SmartPhone. You will need to install a few cheap photo apps in advance which I'll advise on when booking!
Wednesday 25th June, Bideford (1.30 - 4pm) Click to reserve a place

Sea Caves, Shipwrecks and the Rocky Shore (10am - 5pm) - £50
An introduction to Dave Green's own photography. Spend a day with Dave experiencing the secret coast, hidden at the far ends of a sandy beach, full of caves and shipwrecks. Learn how to make the best of your own camera under demanding landscape and lighting.
Monday 16th June starting at Bude (11am - 5pm) Click to reserve a place
Family Photo Workshop - get to know your camera - £30 per adult (maximum 2 accompanied children free)
A practical workshop to get to know your camera better. You'll learn about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, flash and setting your camera up for optimum quality.
July date TBC Click to make an enquiry

Photographing your own Artwork - £50
I have a wealth of knowledge and experience of photographing 2D artwork, jewellery and ceramics and I'm willing to pass this on to artists eager to improve their own image making camera skills. Although this workshop is for a small group (max 5) I also offer it on a 1:1 basis for ½ a day for £75, or I can deliver the workshop in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £100
Course Description pdf
Tuesday 17th June in Bideford (11am - 6pm) Click to reserve a place

Introduction to Photoshop (11am–6pm) - £75 with lunch, tea and coffee provided!
Opening an image file and adjusting levels, contrast, brightness and colour balance. Rotating, resizing and cropping an image. Placing an image or images into a new file. Using layers and history. Participants will need to be computer literate i.e. use a computer on regular basis and understand the basic controls. Small group (max 4). I also offer it on a 1:1 basis in your own home or studio anywhere in Devon for £175
July date TBC Click to make an enquiry