The Grittier Side of Life: What Snow Can Do for Citizen Engagement

User Generated Content in full effect

As someone who is passionate about social media and its power to give citizens and communities a voice I was pleased when a tweet I sent last week about Birmingham City Council's efforts to grit the roads and pavements of England's second city was picked up by the BBC News. While it is easy to be sniffy and dismiss stories about snow and gritting as nothing more than banal 'local interest' I believe my experience offers some useful insights into how social media can support citizen engagement.

Bag is Beautiful: What Makes a Bag for Life Great?

Bag is Beautiful: which is your favourite?

As some of you may know, I've got something of a soft spot for supermarkets. No matter how much I am told about their role in perpetuating everything that's bad in society, from environmental destruction to in-work poverty, all of this ill-feeling melts away underneath the reassuring glow of the fluorescent lighting. If for some strange reason you don't share my misplaced love of big retail I suggest you come back next week, when I'll hopefully be looking at something more interesting.

Green Shoots of Growth 

Up Close and Personal with Morrisons' Bag for Life

Still with me? Okay, then allow me to begin. Today I want to give a shout out to Morrisons for their inspiring range of fruit-themed bags for life. That's time, the humble bag for life. It may not hold the answers to how Britain can avoid a triple-dip recession (clue: it's not about an in/out EU referendum) but for it's definitely providing me with some much-needed  green shoots of growth this January?

What's so special about Morrisons' bag for life, I hear you ask? Like all the best things in life, it's something of a mystery. If pushed, I'd have to say it's the supremely bright and breezy colour scheme. The bag pictured centre stage makes great use of green. As students of colour theory will know, green is the colour of nature ans is said to symbolise growth, harmony  freshness and fertility. Could this be the reason I feel so positively predisposed to Morrisions' offering?

The Bauhaus of Supermarket Design

Own Label: Groundbreaking design work from Sainsbury's 

I suspect there's more to my love of Morrisions' bags for life than their colour scheme. Looking at their representations of fruit I'm reminded me of a great book I got for my birthday last year. Own Label tells the story of Sainsbury's groundbreaking Design Studio between the years 1962 and 1977. Flicking through the images contained in the book, I can see parallels between Morrisions style. Sainsbury's designs are arguably more coolly modernist than Morrisions' cartoony illustrations but they both display a willingness to deviate from the pursuit of photorealism. Is my enjoyment of Morrisons' bag simply a bad case of nostalgia?

Whatever the underlying reasons for my fondness of Morrisions' Bags for Life, I'm just glad to know they're out there in the world, doing their thing.

Share Your Views on Bags for Life

What's your take on the current state of the Bag for Life scene? Do you think I'm wrong to lavish so much praise on Morrisons offerings? Maybe I should be focused on a Bag for Life from an up and coming retail outlet instead. Or perhaps I simply need need to get out more. As ever, your thoughts are appreciated.

Generations Apart: Finding Work

The ultimate baby boomer: but how will today's younger generation fare?

So far this month my head has been filled with all sorts of plans for self-improvement, not to mention preparing to get married this April. Thanks are due then to BBC Radio 4's recent Generations Apart programme for helping me get outside of my own head and helping me think about how we as a society can respond to the the challenges today's generation of young people are facing.

Filling the Frame: Continuing Adventures in DSLR

Down by the Canal (well, River)

Last Thursday I wrote about my first real efforts to get out there and make real my New Year's Resolutions on photography. I'm pleased to say, nearly a week later, I've managed to keep hold my resolve, despite the inevitable dip that comes from re-joining the ranks of the so-called strivers in January.

So what have I been up to, I hear you ask? A couple of things, mainly. Firstly, I've brushed off the metaphorical dust from my Canon DSLR user manual and got re-acquainted with its many, many features. I now realise I've only using a fraction of what the camera has to offer. I now realise I definitely need to put away the flights of fancy I have every now and again about upgrading my camera until I can actually get the most from the equipment I've already got.

Importantly for me, I've also been making a conscious effort not to over-think my photography and instead put that time into practising taking shots. Hardly radical thinking but it's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the detail and lose sight of why you actually wanted to take photographs in the first place.

Indoor Photography Master-class

It was with this thought in mind that I started taking some shots inside my flat last Friday afternoon, just as the sun was beginning to set.

The first few shots I took were simply of an assembled Ikea chair, with a reggae poster on the wall and, rested up against the wall, a still to be assembled chair in a box lurking in the background.

Shooting on Manual, I chose a very shallow depth of field (f1.8) and focused on the chair before re-composing so that the subject would not be slap-bang in the middle of the frame. After reading the manual, I had a clearer idea of how the controls worked and was to adjust the shutter speed in order to ensure the shot came out properly exposed.

Portrait of an Ikea chair

After getting a nice result with this shot I then had another play at re-arranging the scene to bring one of the frames on the wall into focus. Again, I chose to work at f1.8 and then re-compose. While I'm pleased with the shot I got I am not entirely clear whether 1.8 was a 'good' option. Over the coming year I hope to get a better idea of when to choose a very shallow depth of field and when I would be better off selecting a smaller aperture.

Roots of Reggae in fine focus? Possibly not

Down by the River*

As fascinating as the Ikea chair was, I knew that if I am to actually develop my photography this year I would have to step outside of my flat. This startling revelation led me to bring my camera to work on Tuesday and take some photographs down on the canal close to the convention centre.

As luck would have it, Tuesday wasn't the most photogenic of days. That didn't stop me getting a few nice of narrow boats while on my lunch break. After seeing the boats lined up in a row I saw an opportunity to test out different depths of field and shifting the focal point to get a different look.

f 2.8 with a focus on the purple narrow boat

f22 this time, again focusing on the purple boat

Back to f2.8 but with a focus on the furthest away boat

* technically a canal.

Next Steps

Overall, I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far in taking my photography more seriously. Through the shots I've taken over the past week I've proven to myself that I can take shots on Manual mode and, with a bit of perseverance, get them to come out looking quite respectable.

Next up, my challenge is to get more comfortable adjusting the camera settings and to start to get a better idea of how I decide which settings work best in particular scenarios. I hope to get the opportunity to take some photos this weekend as currently my calendar is looking less than crowded. I will let you know how I get on.

As ever, comments and suggestions are most welcome. A big thanks to Karen Strunks last week for the encouragement and tips. If you've not come across Karen's work in photography and social media you can check out her website at:: http://www.karenstrunks.com/

Dial M for Manual: Adventures in DSLR

I read on Twitter this afternoon that if you stick to something for more than 13 weeks it's likely to be a long term habit. This really made me think I've got to work at making photography my habit if I'm to have any chance of realising my New Year's resolutions in this area. Spurred on by this unsettling thought, I set out this evening after work on my quest to become Birmingham's answer to Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Photographing 2013: My New Year's Resolutions

The Big Wheel at Birmingham's Christmas Market: my photographic highlight of 2012

Like half the country, the arrival of 2013 yesterday found me writing down New Year's Resolutions and earnestly committing myself to personal wellbeing and self-improvement. I'm still working on the whole social sharing thing so I'll spare you the serious stuff. Instead I'd like to use my first blog post of 2013 to set out the challenge I've set myself in the area of photography.

As ever, I'd love to know your thoughts on my what I've written. As I am still very much developing as a photographer I would particularly welcome any hints or tips you might have in this area.