New BBC photography show: early lessons to be learned

Did you know there is an interesting new photography challenge show on BBC Four and iPlayer?

The show is called The Great British Photography Challenge and runs over four weeks – the first one aired on May 24th.

It’s hosted by Rankin, a well-known celebrity and portrait photographer who first shot to fame in the 1990s as co-founder of the iconic Dazed and Confused magazine.

He’s gone on to be a highly successful portrait and fashion photographer in his own right, having shot a very varied range of celebrities and top models, including the Queen.

Six amateur photographers from across the country are taking part. They are set challenges by Rankin and other top photographers, including Chris Packham, before getting detailed feedback.

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Every episode begins with a smartphone camera challenge to test the contestant's visual imagination, before moving on to using more conventional cameras. Although an overall winner will be announced at the end of the show, none of the contestants will be eliminated (one of Rankin’s conditions for getting involved, apparently).

He added: “there isn’t a show out there like this that champions emerging talent without it being cutthroat. You get to see these six individuals grow exponentially, and I’m grateful to the BBC for making it happen.”

Only two episodes have been aired so far, but here are some takeaway messages that can benefit all photographers.

It’s not about the gear

Part of the thinking behind the initial smartphone challenge is to show that a skilled photographer can take interesting images whatever gear they are using. It’s much more about having a creative eye and working a brief (or idea) to a satisfactory conclusion.

This is worth remembering that next time you are suffering from GAD – gear acquisition syndrome. It’s too easy to blame your short lens or small camera sensor for mediocre photos, when the problem could be more to do with your general approach and composition, for example.

One is reminded of Robert Capa’s wise words: “If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”

Think outside the box

In the first show, Rankin criticised the contestants for not being more creative with the smartphone challenge brief, which was to shoot Brighton beach.

They all pretty much stayed on the beach, with predictable shots of boulders and piers. “Why didn’t you shoot the arcades, or even the town and beach looking back from the sea,” he lamented. In other words, to get stand-out shots you have to think creatively and try different things, rather than just doing the obvious thing.

Watch the background

While many of these themes were echoed in the next challenge, a nature shoot in the New Forest with Chris Packham, something else that came through strongly was the importance of clean, mindful composition.

Several of the contestants shot interesting subjects but then failed to notice other distractions in the background, which they could have easily avoided – twigs, plants, etc. Remember to scan all four corners of the frame before pressing the shutter button and don’t get frozen to the spot – if you need to move or crouch down to get a cleaner composition, do so!

Use the crop tool wisely

If you can’t avoid distractions, or notice them after the shot has been taken, don’t be afraid to use the crop tool to do a bit of ‘gardening.’ The Lasso tool in Photoshop is also a great way to clone out small distractions (right mouse click on the area you have drawn around, and select Fill/Contents Aware).

Engage with your subject

The toughest challenge on the first show, however, was a time-limited studio shoot with top actress Anna Friel. While Rankin’s assistants were on hand to help with the complicated studio lighting, the contestants had to engage with Anna and come up with a range of interesting poses themselves.

One of the contestants asked her to sit out in the auditorium, which yielded some interesting results, and is another example of creative thinking.

Another, Paul Williams, was gently but firmly reminded by Anna that he didn’t need to make banal small talk about her hometown to put her at ease… so don’t go over the top with the chat, and focus on the job in hand.

Another, Chelsea Nawanga, cut off Anna’s feet, so never forget the basics of good composition, whatever pressure you are under to bag a shot. This kind of rookie error with portrait composition can be a problem in street and travel portraiture, too – take your time and go for quality, rather than quantity.

As the Great British Photography Challenge unfolds, more of more of these lessons will filter through, so we strongly recommend that readers check the show out. While you won’t hear much about camera advice or the exposure triangle, there is a lot of emphasis on the real fundamentals of original and creative photography – so we can all learn something from it.