DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS FROM ePHOTOzine

 

Signs aren't the most difficult subject in the world to photograph but there are a few things you can do to ensure your shots are perfect.

 

1. Why Photograph Signs?

Signs can be interesting and/or funny in their own right and they can give the person who's viewing your work more information about the areas you visited too. Older parts of towns will have signs that look a little more battered while newer signs which look less worn and more modern will suggest you spent quite a lot of time in newer areas of town. They also suggest if you've ventured beyond the tourist areas as signs tend to just have the language of the country you're visiting once you're over the edges of the tourist trap. These, in particular, are the signs that can be funny too due to the different language or images used to illustrate what the signs telling people. You may also find people have added their own diagrams to the signs which can often bring to odd grin or two.

 

2. Give Your Collection Direction

As well as having them as photos that sit among your collection you can use signs to organise your galleries, albums and portfolios. They make great headings that will help the viewer understand they're moving into a new collection of images.

 

 

 

3. To Zoom Or Not?

If the sign is particularly interesting or tells a story on its own without its surroundings you'll want to fill the frame with it, making use of your zoom if you can't physically get close to the sign. If you're using the sign within its surroundings you'll probably want to use a small aperture to ensure front to back sharpness. Double-check you can still see what's on the sign too as, after all, it's still our focus. Where possible, try shooting straight on to the sign too so it's easier to read.

  4. Reflections

Modern signs are more likely to have a reflective surface and when you're working with bright sunshine or flash, glare can bounce back off the sign spoiling the shot. As a result, it's usually best to turn the flash off or if you're using a flashgun leave it in the bag. If sunlight is your problem then try a different position to see if the glare goes away or return later or come back early the next day when the sun's moved positions.

  5. Shop Signs

If you come across an interesting shop sign chances are it'll be high up and shooting from the ground, looking up won't look right in the final shot so if you can, find something to stand on to give you more height or stand further back if that's not possible.

 

 

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Historical ruins such as churches, castles and abbeys decorate our countryside and seaside towns but you'll also find a few smaller, but still impressive ruins closer to home. Walls, arches and columns are still dotted around a few towns and villages which are still photogenic even if there's not much of the structure left to photograph. If you're off on your travels, have a look online and at local tourism centres to find out what ruins are near to where you're staying.

 

1. What Gear Do I Need? 

For general shots of the building and the surroundings you'll need a wide-angle lens but take your longer zoom along too for getting in close to interesting architectural detail. A tripod's handy but if you want to travel light, try taking something smaller such as a tabletop tripod and use a wall to help you steady your shot. If there are any windows left in your building of choice a polarizer will reduce reflections and the blue of the sky will be enhanced giving your image more contrast.

 

2. Do Your Homework

Many of our abbeys and other ruins are now looked after by the National Trust or English Heritage so you could be charged to walk around them, they'll have specific opening times and there may be restrictions if you want to use your images commercially so it's worth a quick look on the internet or a chat on the phone to find out everything you need to know. That way you won't waste your petrol money.

 

 

3. Take A Walk

The first thing you should do when you arrive is stretch your legs on a walk around the ruin. This will give you the chance to scout for interesting detail and look for the best angle. Don't just stand and photograph the first pile of rubble you see as this won't give your viewer any clue into what the building is or what it was used for. Look for areas that have a more definite shape and if you can, parts where nature hasn't completely taken over. Of course, some walls look great with roots growing through them and it can really emphasise how ruined the building is, so keep that in mind.

 

4. Look Closer

Look for unique parts that make the building stand out from any other and if the outside isn't very interesting you could always take a peek inside to see if the hidden details give more of an idea of what the function of the building was. If the building still has an inside watch your exposures and check your histogram before you move on to make sure it's OK. Try shooting inside out through a broken window or use a long corridor to lead the viewer's eye through the image.

Signs are a direct way to explain more about the building you're photographing and they can often be quite interesting in their own right with features such as peeling paint and rusty bolts worthy of a quick photograph.

 

5. Tall And Wide

If you're working with a particularly tall building converging verticals may be a problem but by shooting from a height this can easily be rectified. Steps, hills or shooting from another building are all ways you can correct the distortion or you could try stepping further back which gives you the opportunity to use the surroundings to give the building context.

If the grounds really do add to your image try shooting a panorama. Some cameras come with this function built-in but if yours doesn't just shoot several images moving from right to left or left to right and stitch them together with specifically designed software when you get back to your computer.
 

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L-R: Ian McKellen, Love, London, 2023; Chappell Roan, Fashion: Chanel Haute Couture, New York City, 2025; Isaac Julien and Queen Conch Shell, London, 2023; Miriam Margolyes, Clapham Cream Teas, London, 2023 / Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery

 

The National Portrait Gallery has announced full details of Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legends, a landmark new exhibition from acclaimed British photographer Tim Walker. Running from 9 October 2026 to 7 February 2027, the show brings together 250 specially created portraits made over five years, capturing Queer activists, storytellers, performers and icons including Ian McKellen, Chappell Roan, Isaac Julien and Miriam Margolyes. Curated by Susanna Brown, the exhibition traces over fifty years of Queer history and culture, from the campaigners of the Gay Liberation Front through to today's changemakers, before closing with a bold exploration of fashion, performance and fairy tale reimagined through a Queer lens.

 

From National Portrait Gallery:

Today the National Portrait Gallery reveals details of a major new exhibition created by renowned photographer Tim Walker, presenting a body of new work celebrating Queer culture and life. The project is the result of five years of connecting with Queer people and their allies in Britain and beyond and marks a decisive shift in Walker's artistic focus.

Walker rose to prominence in the 1990s with his unique style of fantastical photography. Since then, his fashion pictures and portraits have graced the pages of magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, Love, Another Man and i-D. He has published seven books and staged solo exhibitions at museums around the world, while his short films and projects with musicians have won international acclaim.

Curated by Susanna Brown, the exhibition engages with the historical gallery setting, presenting both unsung heroes and established giants of Queer history. Designed by Walker's longtime collaborator Shona Heath with support from the National Portrait Gallery, Walker spotlights some 250 activists, social workers, nightlife performers, musicians and superstars in a spectacular display. Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legends purposefully reclaims the word 'fairy' for Walker and his sitters, resisting homophobia and transphobia with his original blend of wit, joy and sensitivity.

The exhibition opens with portraits of trailblazers who spent the 1970s and 80s bravely advocating for the right to love. They include founding members of the Gay Liberation Front and Stonewall, among them Olivette Cole-Wilson, Andrew Lumsden, Lisa Power and Tom Robinson. Walker memorialises his own 'queeristocracy' in a style inspired by sixteenth-century portraits of Tudor aristocracy by Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard.

 

L-R: Andrew Lumsden (1941–2023) (after Nicholas Hilliard), London, 2023; Olivette Cole–Wilson and Blackbird, London, 2025; Sunil Gupta, London, 2023; Jill Nalder Holding a Photograph of Dursley McLinden (1965–95), London, 2023. / Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery

 

A further group of Queer changemakers, such as Ted Brown, Caroline Paige, Gilli Salvat and Peter Tatchell, are shown alongside storytellers who made Queerness visible in the late 20th century, including James Ivory and Sarah Waters. Walker invited each sitter to bring a meaningful object to their portrait session: author Jane Cholmeley presents the original shop sign from Silver Moon Women's Bookshop, founded in 1984; photographer Sunil Gupta holds his camera; and filmmaker Isaac Julien clasps a conch shell, a motif from his pioneering 1989 film Looking for Langston. Walker then photographed those working today for a better future, among them Liz Carr, Shon Faye, Francis Lee, Lady Phyll, E-J Scott, and Kae Tempest. Nearly all these portraits are set against deceivingly simple white backgrounds, in a style reminiscent of the work of Richard Avedon, whom Walker assisted in the 1990s.

 

L-R: Lady Phyll, London, 2024; Kae Tempest, London, 2023; Francis Lee, Ode to Edward Carpenter, London, 2023; Shon Faye, London, 2025 / Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery

 

The exhibition pays tribute to the many people who came together in solidarity and action in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Walker's photographs of nurses and healthcare professionals who developed effective treatments for the disease are displayed alongside musicians who soundtracked the era, including Marc Almond, Holly Johnson, and Jimmy Somerville. Walker explains, "The brilliance of their music boomed despite the fear of mortality and discrimination. I wanted to bring that disco to the ward, to celebrate the tireless work to spread awareness and pursue proper care and solutions."

A room at the centre of the exhibition is dedicated to large-scale portraits of post-punk collective the Rebel Dykes, inspired by Karlheinz Weinberger's photographs of 1960s biker gangs. These are accompanied by a short film in which the women reflect on the importance of community and their campaigns for nuclear disarmament, environmentalism, sex positive feminism and HIV solidarity.

 

L-R: Aphra and Jo Barwick, Siobhan Fahey and Emily Witham, East Sussex, 2024; Maartje Convens and Marin Céleste, Camfield Place, Hertfordshire, 2022; Paul O'Grady (1955–2023) and Julian Clary as the Glitter Queens, with Harry Browse, Rae and Liam Elias as the Glitter Boys, London, 2022 / Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery

 

The second half of the exhibition looks at the transformative power that fashion, makeup and performance have long held for Queer people. It features portraits of designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Michaela Stark, drag performers Paul O'Grady, David Hoyle and Midgitte Bardot, personalities Alan Carr and Sue Perkins, and actors Ncuti Gatwa, Hunter Schafer, Fiona Shaw and Ben Whishaw, among many others. International music stars and icons Björk, Lady Gaga, Boy George, Frank Ocean, and Chappell Roan are also pictured.

 

L-R: David Hoyle, Prawn Cocktailed, London, 2023; Ben Whishaw in Crystal Prism, London, 2020; Fairyland Parade, Joe Sweeney, Matthew Keller, Harry Keita, Bolly Illusion, James Corbin, Oliver-Bijan Daryoush, Jack Newman, Yos Clark and Joseph O'Rourke, London, 2023; Alex Gorey and Matías Montes (after Yannis Tsarouchis), London, 2021 / Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery

 

The exhibition climaxes with a room of staged erotic scenes which subvert fairy tales and nursery rhymes through a Queer lens. Walker contextualises these works saying, "the greatest thing I learned from the activists, storytellers and performers who make up Fairyland is how essential eroticism and humour are. It's the very heart of what we're talking about when we talk about Queerness. A place where you can desire and be desired. A place where you can be whoever you want to be."

"The Fairyland exhibition is me finally placing myself in the queer realm with confidence and greeting all the other friends who live here. Just as I learned from the queer artists who came before me, some of whom I'm lucky enough to have met and photographed here, Fairyland is me saying you are not alone. I want visitors to the exhibition to remember that your difference is your power. It is a precious and beautiful thing." 

Tim Walker, Photographer

 

"This is the most ambitious and important project of Tim Walker's career. He takes exhibition visitors on a journey that begins with protest and outrage and ends with joy. For some visitors, the content will resonate with their own lived experiences, for others it will broaden their understanding of unfamiliar subjects. It's been an honour to collaborate with him and to witness the creation of this powerful and uplifting body of work."

Susanna Brown, Exhibition curator

 

"Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legends takes us on an extraordinary journey through half a century of history. It is a vivid tapestry of Tim's many inspirations and influences and presents lavish, fantastical scenes alongside intimate and singular portraits. This timely exhibition is both deeply personal and profoundly universal and we are proud to host it at the Gallery."

Victoria Siddall, Director of the National Portrait Gallery

 

The exhibition is accompanied by a new book featuring contributions written by Travis Alabanza, Susanna Brown, Russell T Davies, Shon Faye, Lisa Power and Joelle Taylor.

For more details, please visit the National Portrait Gallery website.

 

1. Why Photograph Vertical Lines?

Lines going up and sometimes out of the frame can convey a sense of growth, strength and power as well as create interesting patterns within your images.
 

2. Shoot Portrait Or Landscape?

Switching from landscape to portrait mode lengthens the frame you're working with, emphasising the length/height of the vertical lines. Turning the camera back around to horizontal format works well when you have multiple vertical lines going through the frame as you'll be able to get more in the shot and it can help create the impression that the objects you're photographing are so tall that you can't fit them all in the frame.
 

3. Straight Lines

Make sure your vertical lines run parallel to the sides of your frame as wonky, slopping lines will mean your shot lacks impact. Keep an eye out for converging verticals too. If you find you're having a problem with them try and work from higher up to put you more in line with the object you're photographing, switch to a focal length that's not as wide or you can take the shot and adjust the photo in Photoshop or another similar piece of editing software later on.

 

 

4. Framing

Putting a vertical line in the centre of the frame will cut your image in half which does create a strong impact and maybe something you like, however most of the time it's best to position the object/shape more to the left of right of the image.
 

5. Get Repetitive

Repeating patterns and symmetry works well when you have multiple vertical lines in your shots. Just remember to have a play around with the orientation of the shot to see which way emphasises the pattern you're trying to create more.
 

6. Adds Depth

When you have lots of the same object in a line, take a line of trees along a path, for example, you can stand at the top of the path, point your lens down it and you'll see the trees, or whatever lines the edge of your shot, create depth as they vanish towards the back of your image. Just remember the items creating the vertical lines need to be of roughly the same height.

 

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition