I am often asked, in the context of my travel photography, how I get my subjects looking relaxed and happy in front of my camera lens. The simple answer is to follow the golden rule which is to always respect somebody else's space and privacy. If you do that and ask permission before sticking your lens into someone's face then you exponentially increase your chances of getting the shot you are looking for. Sensitivity is key and clearly you need to make sure permission is granted first before pointing the lens. That's not always easy when there's language barriers to consider and cultural mores on top of that. However, in many countries around the world people are more than happy to have their photograph taken. In others – generally, richer, western societies – not so much. I have another rule regarding subjects surrounding the perennial issue of whether to pay people for their trouble. My view is simply this; a little baksheesh – tip – for the elderly and candies for younger people always helps. Also, share your shots! One of the greatest joys of digital photography is the ability we all now have to instantly share what we've just created. The reactions I get when I show people my snaps of them are almost uniformly ones of delight, amazement and very often surprise. You may sometimes be in a situation where people have never actually seen themselves in a mirror simply because mirrors don't exist; rare but possible. Generally though, if you follow this rule you will succeed in getting great portraiture on your travels! Happy snapping. 

Most digital cameras these days – certainly Canons and Nikons – give you the option of shooting 4 or 5 different 'modes'. "P", "S", "A" & "M" and "Auto" mode (which doesn't, in fact, exist on my Nikon D300 but will be there on most DSLRs and every Digital compact). A quick rundown on what the different modes are designed for and then I'll give you my view which is nothing more (but nothing less) than that!

P stands for Program and allows your camera to select the basic exposure settings, but you can still override the camera's choices to fine-tune your image while maintaining metered exposure. S or Shutter priority is useful when you want to use a particular shutter speed to stop action or produce creative blur effects. Choose your preferred shutter speed and the camera will then automatically select the appropriate f/stop for you. A or Aperture priority lets you choose when you want to use a particular lens opening, especially to control sharpness or how much of your image is in focus. Specify the f/stop you want and the camera will select the appropriate shutter speed for you. M or Manual mode gives you full control over the shutter speed and lens opening, either for creative effects or because you are using a studio flash or other flash unit with your camera's automatic flash metering. 

For some reason best known to myself I spent most of my first two years as a photographer shooting in S mode. I suppose I felt most comfortable with and I'm not a camera techie by any means! An encounter 6 months ago with my friend Paul Pacey in his studio revealed that he shot in Manual mode almost all the time. I was convinced by Paul's explanation as to why and started doing the same. Essentially it boils down to control. In Manual mode you control everything so as long as you have the time to fiddle around with the controls then there's no other way to go really; you fix the aperture setting and then you fix the shutter speed. The only occasions in which you might want to consider going into a different mode are if you are shooting high-pressured photojournalism – riots, car bombings, earthquakes that type of thing – and you simply don't have time to fiddle with the settings. On those occasions you might either shoot in Auto or P mode. Otherwise, working with moving subjects you might naturally move into S mode. This link has a good explanation of that. When you are looking for a strong Depth of Field (DOF) then Aperture mode might be for you but why not achieve precisely the same results – or better – in M?

It seems complicated but its really not. For 90% of your subjects – people, landscapes, buildings etc – 90% of the time you won't need to look beyond Manual mode.

Cameras come in dozens of different sizes, shapes and formats these days. From the humblest mobile cameraphone to a large format Tachihara 4×5" which can only be used with a tripod. In my life I have used multiple Canons, a Minolta, a Ricoh (euuughhh) and now I shoot with Nikon. Ultimately it doesn't matter what you shoot with so long as you are shooting. If you are out taking photographs then most likely you are improving & honing your skills. I continually find that interesting things are happening on the streets around me in Prague or wherever else I may happen to be.

If you can find the time to shoot something every day all the better. But how can you go about doing that in your busy every day life? The best tip I know is simply this; always carry a camera with you! Never leave home without it as those American Express ads used to say. Of course 95% of the time it may just be that if you are carrying a mobile phone it has a camera and so you are set – especially if your phone is one of those iPhone 4s with some superb camera technology packed under the hood. I have a less sophisticated cameraphone but I am still incredibly proud of the picture I took of two late night tram passengers here in Prague who happened to be on the same carriage as me. It is a picture that demands attention and whilst it has severe technical deficiencies – light, harsh reflections, over-exposure etc – it is storytelling through photography which has to be our loftiest ambition as photographers… amateur or professional. We look at this shot and wonder to ourselves; who are these people? Why is he on top of her when surely it would be more chivalrous to be the other way around? Are they drunk or just tired … or both? What about the box of chocolates? Did he give it to her earlier in the evening? Will the chocs even make it home or will they spill onto the floor without them even noticing? One thing seems for sure; this is a young couple in love and they've just had a great evening out. If I hadn't had my cameraphone with me that night then the moment would have been lost to the world.

One of my favourite aphorisms is that 'a lot of photography is just being there'. Its a twist on that old "right place, right time" idea. I was fascinated reading legendary sports photographer Neil Leifer's comments about his iconic shot of Muhammad Ali standing over defeated rival Sonny Liston from their 1965 Lewiston, Maine bout. Leifer said of that shot; 'Part of being a great photographer is being lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time like I was, but a more important part is not missing when you're in that spot. I got very lucky at the Ali-Liston fight, but what I'm proudest of is that I didn't miss'. Now clearly a professional sports photographer isn't ever going to show up to a gig without his kit but the bigger point is this; if you don't have a camera with you, you won't even have the opportunity to miss. So try to make sure that, even if its just a cameraphone, you're always packing! 

My training in photography started in 1987. I was 15 years old and at school. No cameras were involved. I had just walked into my first art history class with a wonderfully wizened tutor called William "Whippy" Winter. He didn't carry a whip around with him, (although there were rumours) but he did carry a small stick that he used to prod us with when he felt we were getting lazy, not paying attention or getting off topic. How times change! He'd be suspended these days for that kind of behaviour. I spent much of the next 7 years studying the great old masters of painting, sculpture and architecture. I started with my A level (that's "A" for advanced) and moved onto university where I completed my Masters in Art History in the summer of 1994. In those 7 years I had spent thousands of hours in classes, writing essays, reading catalogue raisonnes or tramping round the great galleries of Britain & Europe – from the National Gallery in London to the Uffizzi in Florence to the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna. When I left University I thought all this culture might prove to be next to useless to me in my upcoming career. I had to wait 14 years to realise how wrong I was! For, as it turned out, this study of the old masters turned out to be a brilliant training ground for me; the best way to gain an understanding of light, composition, perspective & colour. It is often the reason why I believe that the art of photography has come so naturally to me and why I have never felt the need to attend a photography course. When I am shooting in a church I think of Masaccio. When I am looking at a sunset I think of Turner. When I am contemplating someone's face for a portrait session I often come back to Rembrandt, and if I am trying to construct a landscape I'll get inspired by Claude. In short, if you want to understand how to compose great photos try to ensure you spend as much time looking at the Old masters of PAINTING as you do of PHOTOGRAPHY! I'll leave the last word to Ken Rockwell: "That's why you go to art school, and why most of the world's best photographers have arts degrees, like Cartier-Bresson, Jay Maisel, Ansel Adams, and the list goes on and on. The best class you can take to improve your photography is to take a local adult-ed or community college class in drawing, painting or composition." 

I can sum it up in one word; AWESOME!

The team at Tego – Brian Avery and Alfred deRose – have been simply brilliant and incredibly patient with me. I'll be sure to post more news on the App very soon, as in the coming days you will be able to download it from the Apple apps store and check it out for yourself 

It is unusual for a photographer to have their own app for mobile devices and I am convinced that it's going to be a great way for me to grow my business. If you are looking for a partner to work with you developing a mobile app for your photography business then Tego Interactive are the people to get into bed with. Kudos. 

I have been running a facebook group for over a year now and, with 620 members and over 300 SHOTS OF THE DAY, it has been successful as a showcase for my work. However, the time has now come to move on. Facebook groups have serious limitations for businesses and, specifically, photographers – organisation of the work, analytics, SEO etc;

Pages are the way to go. That is why I am using the occasion of the relaunch of my website as the moment to also relaunch Benjamin Arthur Photography's presence on facebook. This is why I now have a brand new facebook page which you can find here. On it you can find re-organised galleries with all the latest work. There's even an embedded flickr slideshow which I'm excited about. The posts from this Punctum blog will be linked onto there as well and I hope some robust discussions started. Please take a moment to become my fan and stay connected. If you are so inclined I'd also be happy if you could use the power of social media and invite all your friends to become my fan…incidentally facebook recently told the world that they are changing the nomenclature for pages from "becoming a fan of" x, y or z product/ service to "liking". A sensible move in my view. For the moment though, you'll have to become my fan and, just so you know, I love each and every one of you.

 When I launched benjaminarthur.com in early 2009 I was just starting to feel my way into the world of professional photography. The old site was a stake in the ground but, from a business generation point of view, no more than that. This new site is completely revamped from top to bottom. There are 4 main objectives that I set myself for the new site. First, I want it to be a place that showcases the best of my work and so would attract new clients. Secondly, I want it to be a place where people can simply and easily purchase any of my prints that are for sale. Thirdly, I want it to be an engaging, fully interactive place where people spend time and want to keep coming back to. Finally, I wanted to be in control of the content and now I am!  

With the relaunch of the site I am simultaneously launching a brand new photography blog which I call PUNCTUM.

Why the funny name? My good Czech friend, Jan Joska introduced me to the concept of punctum which was first elucidated by French cultural critic, Roland Barthes in his famous book on photography, Camera Lucida. The book investigates the impact of photography on the viewer – versus the photographer or indeed the subject itself which Barthes called the spectrum. I am hopeless at defining philosophical concepts accurately – even though I may understand them viscerally – so, with the help of that miracle of the modern age, wikipedia, I will explain the twin concepts of studium and punctum which are discussed at length in Camera Lucida. "Studium" is the cultural, linguistic and political interpretation of a photograph. "Punctum" is the highly personal touching detail which establishes a direct relationship with the object or person within it. This makes perfect sense to me. My work is all about emotional engagement. I want people to look at my photographs and feel something inside themselves… perhaps it is hidden deep and touches them to the core of their being or perhaps the feeling is negative in some way but either way I'd rather elicit something rather than the worst thing of all… indifference… a shrug of the shoulders. I learnt in my 13 years in the advertising industry that producing polarizing work which generates either strongly positive or negative responses almost always works best for a client. Now clearly my photographic work does NOT have anything in the way of shock value in it but I have had literally hundreds of people responding positively to it over the past 2 years. It is in part thanks to the encouragement of these people that I am a photographer today and hope to remain so until the day I draw my last breath.  

So what will Punctum be all about? This is something I will write about at length in another post but, very briefly it will be about the following; 1) It will be about my daily life as a snapper. 2) It will have updates on my most recent jobs including links to where to find those albums on the website. 3) I will try to initiate discussions about the world of contemporary photography; hot artists, issues facing the industry, new kit, trends that are out there and so on and 4) there will be a historical edge to it and I will write a lot about photographers from the past who move me in some way. I spent most of my life between the ages of 15 and 22 studying the history of art, architecture and sculpture. I feel qualified!

So all I would say is thank you for visiting the site! Please come back often, stay in touch with me (new email address; benjamin@benjaminarthur.com), contribute your comments to the blog posts and flag up any issues you may be having with the e-commerce functionality. I hope you enjoy all that benjaminarthur.com has to offer and look forward to garnering your feedback.

Blessings to you all, Benjie XX