Our favourite photograph this month comes from our team member Don Tiffney and is entitled Safe Haven. Despite a very early morning start in the summer and a tricky combination of light sources Don has expertly worked his magic to make such a great image. A three minute exposure meant a steady tripod was required to keep the photograph nice and sharp!

He tells us “A flat calm North Sea reflects the beam from the Flamborough Head lighthouse & the sodium lights cast a comforting glow over the weathered stonework on the harbour wall. This was photographed at 2am but it’s not always as quiet as this!”.

Camera Model: Fuji S5 Pro
Lens: Sigma 18-50EX
Focal Length: 18mm
Shutter Speed: 3 Mins. 9secs.
Aperture: f14
ISO: 100

This stunning and original image can be purchased in a range of sizes and finishes such as our quality canvas wall art, the sleek acrylic prints or as an art poster ready to frame. The image can be found in our Fine Art Prints section. It works wonders as a three part triptych canvas but there are many choices to suit your room and decor.

Great work Don

Over at Digital ProTalk David Ziser posted a very complimentary article about our Art Prints on his highly respected photo blog. The title of the article reads:

“Please place one hand, palm up, under jaw before viewing”

David shows a picture of Graham Cormie’s ‘Hopeman Dawn’ photograph and says he particularly likes the Seascape Art Collection. “It showcases some outstanding images and is worth the visit just for the viewing of so many inspiring images…tons of inspiration available.”

Thanks to David for rating our collection so highly. His blog is well worth a daily read. David Ziser is an internationally renowned portrait and wedding photographer. Studio Photograph magazine has extolled…”Award winning photographer, David Ziser, is showing the world how to take wedding pictures.” His ‘Digital WakeUp Call’ tour was acclaimed as one of the “best ever” seminars on digital photography.

We are pleased to announce the newest member of the Fotoviva Team, Howard Goff. With a collection of stunning seascape images Howard is a great addition to the contributors and a thoroughly nice guy!

Howard told us “I am delighted to be joining the Fotoviva contributor team. As a long time admirer of the photography of Jacky Parker, Don Tiffney and Tim Wallace, I am immensely pleased my images will now be complimenting their fine work on the Fotoviva website. I have always viewed Fotoviva as a reliable, trustworthy and ethical company with high levels of customer satisfaction. Their current business strategy offers the perfect distribution channel for my needs. I look forward to forging a strong and successful partnership with the company.”

Howard says his interest in photography started in April 2006 when he purchased a Canon 30D. Initially the aim was to capture images of the beautiful places he visited on his boat, namely along the south coast of England, the Channel Islands and the north coast of France. His philosophy in life is that ‘Belief is 90% of achievement’. He also says that “My aim is to bring a smile to someone’s face each and every day.”

“I have always been attracted to water. 90% of the images I take are of it or something associated with this intriguing element. I am seldom happier than when I am by water or on it. Strange considering I swim like a brick!!!”

“For the coastal shots, I always use a tripod and remote release. The camera settings used are manual exposure, spot metering, ISO 100, Raw and the picture style is set to Neutral (no sharpening or saturation). To balance the sky and foreground I use a set of ND Grads. I always check the histogram after each shot and retake if necessary.”

“I have taught myself to use Camera Raw and Photoshop. For me the post-processing is just as enjoyable as the field work. I love it!! As my skills with the camera increase unfortunately there is less to do in Photoshop. I spend 6-8 minutes on most images in a set workflow.”

Howard was interviewed and had a feature about his photography in a recent issue of Digital Camera magazine. This included a couple of spreads of his images showing how far he has come in only a few years as a photographer.

“Before taking up photography I had really only heard of David Bailey and wouldn’t recognise one of his images if it fell on me. Most of my inspiration has come from DCM and its website. I have learnt much from Don Tiffney whose technique is flawless but in truth Colin Russell’s gallery has inspired me the most.”

‘Aim to get an image that’s never been taken before and will never be taken again’.
That is my ambition.

We look forward seeing more of Howard’s work in the near future, but in the meantime visit the Fotoviva site to see what he has to offer right now in acrylic, poster or canvas print. Here is a brief glimpse of Howard’s lovely photographic artwork…

Pedro Bento is the latest recruit we would like to welcome to the Fotoviva photography team. Pedro is from Portugal and we are happy to have some of his great work available which includes some truly stunning landscape and seascape photography. He loves to take photographs in the extremes of the day, at dawn and dusk, when the ‘golden light’ appears for brief moments and shows the true beauty of a place. Pedro uses professional equipment by the likes of Canon and Manfrotto but always has in mind that cameras and lenses are simple tools and it isn’t the top gear equipment that captures the spirit of a place, but your knowledge and dedication.

Pedro says “I have been in love with nature since I was a kid, and I started taking photographs simply as records of my outdoor adventures. However, when a friend introduced me to some books of American Landscape Photographers I felt awed by the way they played with light in their images. After that day I decided, my images would never be just registers of places rather than registers of those places souls.”

We have a nice selection of Pedro’s work available on the Fotoviva store and all are available in a range of sizes as either canvas art pictures or poster prints. You can also visit his own website at www.pedrobento.com for more information.

Our Photo of the Month is a new feature where we aim to showcase photographs of outstanding quality and beauty. For October we are presenting an incredible image by Tim Wallace called ‘Northern Tide‘. This is such a dramatic photograph with wonderfully vivid colours. Tim says “Northern Tide is part of a set of images that I’m working on to produce contemporary photography using an old weathered chair, basically in places that you would not expect to find a chair.”

“This shot was taken just next to the pier at Saltburn on the North East coast at the very early hours of 4:50am as the sun was rising. The chair was placed in approx 3 inches of water as the tide started to wash in as I wanted a soft flow of water coming through the chair towards the viewer. It’s one of my favourite shots in the series and I think its quite peaceful overall with a gentle feeling of space.”

You can purchase this photographic art piece on canvas, acrylic or as a poster from the Fotoviva Art Prints online store at www.fotoviva.co.uk. We also have more of Tim’s contemporary, automotive and landscape prints available and you can check out his new photoblog here.