Roland Herrera

Creative & Portrait Photography

Bristol, UK

Roland Herrera : Studied Painting & Art formally with English Sculptor William Dady, receiving a thorough grounding in composition, form, balance, colour and all the structural elements that make up a good picture. Owned first camera, a Kodak Rangefinder at the age of 12, and shot first assignment in Venice. Since then has owned many Cameras, from a Contax SLR, a Nikon SR1 to a Minolta X500 and into digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) through Olympus and Nikon. Works on a Semi-Professional level, including random assignments, Weddings and mainly Female Models often on a TFP (Time for Prints) basis. Currently accepting assignments and work with a view to expanding to a fully Professional level.

    Roland's inspiration does have its roots in the Classic Photographers, such as Cartier-Bresson, André Kertész and Willy Ronis, but his own unique, persuasive style shows a coming together of many technical & artistic elements, to produce "real" pictures of a natural character, full of atmosphere. Black & White is his preferred method of expression.

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." ~Henri Cartier-Bresson
 

View Portrait Photography

View Creative Photography

Recent feedback from Nikonians Forum : "Just looked at your web site. Clearly you don't need advice from me on shooting portraits. Those are some of the best I've seen lately. What strikes me first is the obvious rapport you have with your subjects--they're comfortable and unposed, which lets them reveal their character. In the end, the ability to put a subject at ease and coax a natural presentation is far more important than the sharpness of your lens choice. I'd hire you to shoot my family." Mr. Bruce Jones.

Shooting philosophy : Firstly, I like to shoot people, and even if I shoot a landscape, I still like it populated ! I like people in their environment. People are interesting to look at, especially when they are doing something, maybe just going about their everyday affairs, and perhaps not even aware of a nearby camera. That's the sort of picture that would fall into my "Creative" category.  However, I like a formal portrait showing a beautiful or interesting face looking directly into the camera. And so my two main categories, Portrait & Creative Photography, really only contain one distinction ; a) the subject is looking at the camera b) the subject is not looking at the camera ! They compliment each other well, and I find it refreshing to go from one mode to the other, sometimes even in the same shooting session. When I take portraits, I find a Photographer has to take charge, and direct the situation with calmness and confidence. It's not enough to pull the trigger.. a real effort in putting my subjects at ease is my first concern.

    I like a well composed picture. I strive to make my photos true works of Art. Colour is not so important to me ; I am more interested in light, tone, form, chiaroscuro, texture and above all balance & composition. Black and White therefore gives me the raw ingredients with which to create an image of high artistic value. One also hopes the picture can be exposed and composed with artist taste and finished of in the post shooting / printing process. However, aside any technical merit a picture may have, if it does not "speak" I cannot accept it ; expression, mood, the exact moment captured, the precise coming together of a multitude of events are what gives a photo a dynamic and live quality. I hope you enjoy looking at my pictures, as much as I do making them.

Here are some recent photos

My Kit :

I use a Nikon D200 with a range of Nikkor Zooms and Primes (Some DX and some Full Frame format). For starting out I'd recommend Nikon Prosumer / Professional DSLRs... there's an awful lot you can do with one of these! I used to use a very crisp D70, the only major shortcoming of which is a small, unimpressive viewfinder, but that's all been changed and vastly improved in the new D80 & D200. A word of warning for anyone getting a Digital SLR; be aware of dust getting on the sensor, and the fact that the filter covering it needs cleaning. Don't let that stop you from changing lenses, but just be aware about dust & wind. Better still, fit the lens for the job before hand, at home. Use a blower if you need to but don't go beyond that unless you know what you are doing. I use a very good repair shop called Black on White ; they clean a sensor in 2 hours and charge about £25. I would suggest cleaning once a year or every 6 months or more often depending on use. It's a good idea to find sites, reviews and users who have your same camera, so currently I discuss digital photography (mainly technical aspects) on a forum hosted by Nikonians. Another thing you can do if you are a keen Nikon user is to subscribe to the magazine Nikon World. If you want a site that is great for reviews, news and archived articles of Digital Cameras (not just Nikon), Try the Digital Photography Review DPReview.com  site. Do you want a good site (and it's free) to upload and share your pictures to ? Well try photobucket, it's what I use.. it provides free video and photo sharing. A good UK site is Photographers.co.uk where you can find a local photographer and enter forums and help pages with loads of good advice on varied topics such as becoming a model, or on studio lighting.

I am starting my own "D200 Tips n Tricks" page on the Nikon D200 Digital SLR. Please check this page out if you have this Camera or are into any of the Nikon Digital Cameras. General and Portrait photographers using Digital SLR s will also find it useful.

Send mail to Roland at wps@blueyonder.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2009 Westbury Park Strings
Last modified: October 06, 2009 00:11