Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive

Sunday Round Up

Ok, straight to business as United v Liverpool kicks off in a little over half an hour and that’s going to be a beating for Liverpool that’s not to be missed!

Things for myself have been a bit busy over the past week with the final touches being added to the main site and also the beginning of a new project i’m working on and what I intend will be, ‘the nicest guide to Belgrade you can lay hands on’. I might even make that the title! More about it as it progesses but i’m planning a mid-late 2011 release date and it’s being designed more as a coffee table book exploring the past and present beauty of Belgrade than a pocket book with useful tips and phrases. There are enough of those about and enough books too, that throw as much info at you as they can cram onto a page. Very few travel books feel like they approach their subject with a loving eye and I think that’s something that we as photographers can help to put right. Enough with the cold hard facts and lists and prices. It’s a book! It should have some passion in it!

Until then, if you’re interested in seeing some of the ‘real’ Belgrade there are two places I highly recommend. The first is Belgrade Raw which is the work of a group of Belgrade photographers highlighting ‘the real people and places’ in Belgrade. Their blog is weekly and a perect fit for your rss toolbar. Serbia’s Ambassador To The World is a site run by Karl Haudborg which, as with Belgrade Raw, shows you Belgrade as it really is before the media gets to work with its virtual tipp-ex. If you’re planning a trip and want to know what to expect, or if you just want to see more of this beautiful city, pop across and subscribe to the rss stream.

Talking of travelling, Tim Humble from the IGVP has a really useful blog post up today about how to back-up your travel documents. It’s one of those things you always forget about until something goes wrong so have a read through now and avoid the problems before they happen.

In my blog post a few days ago I mentioned panning and linked you to a great article written by Gavin Gough explaing the technique. Well, Gavin’s living in Thailand these days and that puts him in a perfect position to bring you the best photos you’ll find anywhere of the current Red Shirts protests. Forget your usual sources and get right in amongst what’s happening here.

I’ll finish off this week with a useful tip and piece of equipment for cleaning your tripod. a little random of me I know but, strange are the things that pop into my head on a sunday morning As a kid growing up, my father used to take me out shooting at weekends. It’s not something I do any more, but the local gunsmiths is still just around the corner from me and they stock this wonderful tool that’s not only good for shotgun barrels, it’s also very useful for tripod legs. You might want to be careful with the wire brush attachment, but the mop and duster are excellent. You can also make your own or even use a rag tied in the middle of a long piece of string. The principle’s the same and it does a great job of getitng rid of bits of sand or just drying the insides out after you’ve been wading into lakes.