I have spent most of my life seeing the world through a viewfinder either as a Cameraman or Photographer. Making Pictures is my profession, my passion and quite possibly an obsession.

 

Since 1987 I have earned my living through working in television and photography. Even with over twenty years experience I am still finding new avenues to explore and new challenges to enjoy.

- Kevin Thomas

 

NEWS

DECEMBER 2009 - I find the last month of the year a time when I start to contemplate both the year that is drawing to a close and to begin planning for the year that is approaching. This year has been a very good year especially with regards to extending my technical knowledge and experimenting with new techniques and equipment. Part of this is down to the introduction of new technology especially in digital cinematography but I also decided to extend my experience in traditional film cinematography as well.

 

NOVEMBER 2009 - I am biased but I would recommend you take the time to view and listen to the promo I have made for Offshore Drift. It contains a mix of all four tracks from the recently released EP with a link to their web site where you can purchase the cd.

With the increase in connection speeds web based video is another way to add content to web sites. However the cost of producing video content can be expensive.

As a solution Viewfinder Multimedia offers an alternative that combines still photographs with audio to produce videos that are ideally suited to be viewed on the web. This format is already used on such sites as BBC News.

To further extend their use these videos can be used for venue display and the still photographs are also supplied at 300 dpi enabling them to be used for print material. The versatility of these media packages makes them an attractive cost effective marketing tool.

The Magic of Photography

Amazingly Photography has been around for nearly 200 years, at least it amazes me because for myself it always has a feeling of newness about it.

Part of this freshness is due to the endless variations open to the Photographer to decide the where, how and when of making an image. For me part of the attraction of Photography is the freedom it offers each Photographer to find their own way.

The practice of Photography has few conventions and pretty much everything is open to interpretation; as the Photographer Michael Patterson said, "There's only one rule in photography - never develop colour film in chicken noodle soup."

One of the few certainties in Photography is that there is no direct correlation between the work put into making an image and the reception it receives. The making of a photograph has often appeared deceptively simple ever since the arrival of the first point and shoot camera.

In fact Photography really only becomes complicated when the Photographer seeks to master the process in order to produce the image they want. When the camera is being used more to make and not take a photograph.

It is even a two way street, where some photographers seek to capture a scene and produce it as a photograph while others start with a vision of the final image in mind and use photography to create it.

The set of three photographs (left) are an example of an ongoing project using a homemade lens with a digital DSLR. Apart from resizing these test shots there is no computer enhancement or manipulation involved – this is exactly as they came out of the camera. I still have the habit of wanting to get the image ‘right’ in the camera from years of shooting reversal film. I  also believe that the computer should be a tool to extend possibilities not something to rectify shortcomings with the taking of the image unless absolutely necessary.

I am still experimenting with the lens and shooting tests; being home made it has, say we say, a degree of unexplored potential. Adding an unknown factor into my usual photographic formula is another way to keep myself open to the magic of Photography and it’s ability to be new.