CALVENDO self-publishers in conversation: Dave Knowles

He loves wildlife, in particular owls and birds of prey, and has a lifelong infatuation with photography: Dave Knowles tell us how his photographic life has evolved over the years and why trust and patience are key when taking pictures of animals.

Dave and his Great Grey Owl 'Midnight'

Dave and his Great Grey Owl ‘Midnight’

Dave, can you talk a bit about your background as a photographer and how and when you took up photography?

I’m a lifelong photography fan, starting with a foldout 120 camera given to me at the age of seven, through to a 21/4 square Rolliflex, followed by 35 mm cameras starting with a Zenith B, then Practica, then onto Canon – all in film then slide and then digital as they evolved. I’ve also had my fun with Polaroid and the initial embryonic digital cameras. I’ve had my own darkrooms in various makeshift locations such as the bathroom, developing and printing my own prints. I was also a member of the school camera club and joined the local camera club.

I’ve been using Canon since my first ‘L’ series lens (100-400) initially with an EOS 100 film camera. After coming back from a safari in Africa in 2000 with 40 rolls of film, I decided to buy a Canon EOS 300 digital SLR and now via a range of EOS bodies (20D, 5D, 5Dmk11) evolved to an EOS 1DX. I also have a wide range of ‘L’ series lenses and other equipment to match. Prior to my retirement from the NHS where I was an Intensive Care Charge Nurse, I started a small business which continues in a small way, and I sell images from various websites. I’ve given talks for various groups on wildlife photography, which is my main photographic love, and I’ve also led introduction to photography classes. I edit all of my images on a Mac and primarily use Lightroom since it has been introduced and occasionally also Photoshop for all processing.

I’m continuously improving and honing my techniques in wildlife and other aspects of photography. I attend many study days and subscribe to various websites and photographic forums. I also frequently meet up with like-minded photographer friends, and we use day trips to practice new ideas or processing techniques to build experience and portfolios.

'Just Flamingos' calendar

Just Flamingos‘ calendar

How would you describe your style and approach as a photographer? Continue reading

Calendar publishing platform all set for growth

Hooray, just wanted to share some good news with you: Less than a year after its UK launch, the Calvendo publishing platform has reached the 1000 registered user mark. It’s great to see that so many English-language photographers and artists are already creating and publishing calendars with us: “We see a similarly successful development as when we initially launched in Germany in 2012 and are excited about our platform’s development for the upcoming calendar season,” says Calvendo Managing Director Hans-Joachim Jauch.

Calvendo’s UK division now has almost 1100 registered users and a good 4500 calendars with UK ISBNs in its list. And we’re always looking for good content, be it from individual or corporate users, and happy to consider a wide range of topics for our calendar programme. Here’s some more info on calendar themes. Take a look and let us see how creative you are!

 

 

Calendar themes? There’s loads!

Cats and dogs are all very well but at some point another cute animal calendar simply won’t do anymore. On the other hand, there are many topics and motives that are still underrepresented in our UK calendar programme, so here are a few ideas for all you calendar makers out there. And obviously, it’s not only photography we’re after. Any of the following could work as illustrations or paintings, too!

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Sports, hobbies & activities – think British!

When people are looking for gifts related to a person’s hobby or favourite sport, calendars are popular options. If you have good images featuring typical British sports and activities, such as Cricket, Polo or Rugby, let us see them. Likewise, dog and horse racing or show jumping are interests shared by many that could be catered for with a corresponding calendar.

In general, calendars featuring sports and activities perform well with buyers and there’s a wide range of possible topics for you to consider – surfing, motorbiking, cycling, golf, dancing, ballet, skateboarding, skiing, yoga. Just to name a few.

British classic cars, historical (steam) trains and military planes, anything that falls under the heading history, nostalgia and heritage are also popular topics for the UK market.

Landscapes – there’s more than Cornwall!

Landscape photography is extremely popular and a lot of great work is submitted to us. However, please don’t forget that there’s more in the UK than popular places such as Cornwall, Scotland and the Lake District. We’re currently missing rural sceneries beyond these classic UK destinations and would like to see more from all the other counties, too.

Just use the search field in our product gallery to check which terms don’t produce any or only few results yet. For example, we haven’t got a lot of calendars in our programme featuring scenes from the North/North East and East. Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire, just to name a few, are full of beautiful scenery and picturesque villages. Maybe you’ve captured them! And while dramatic coastlines are great to look at, so are the famous English rolling hills, moors or country lanes.

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Towns & cities – beyond London, please!

When it comes to British towns and cities, let us see what you have beyond London. Historic as well as contemporary images of British towns and cities, industrial sights and architectural structures can work just as well for a calendar as beautiful landscapes.

If you’re thinking of doing a London calendar, think outside the box and the classic sights or, if you want to feature the most popular attractions, come up with ideas how to present those in different ways. Street photography, urban scenes and graffiti are perfect calendar material, too. Individual elements of London, such as the city’s parks, streets or markets, could work very well, too.

Food & drink – yes, definitely!

We’re interested in more material for the many foodies out there! Again, take a look at our product gallery and do your research to see what’s there and what’s missing. What kind of food trends are there currently in the UK? What are people particularly fond of?

We haven’t got anything on street food yet, for example. Or cupcakes. Speaking of which, with this year’s Great British Bake Off in full swing, we’re also reminded of the great British love for cakes and sweets. Why not come up with an original calendar idea that would make a good present for keen bakers (or cake eaters)?

When producing a food calendar, you could also integrate recipes. However, you’d need to be familiar with picture editing programmes then in order to design your jpgs accordingly before uploading them.

Less of the following

This one is in particular for all our German users producing work for the UK market: Very local and regional German themes are difficult to promote in the UK, simply because people are not familiar with geographic regions that are well known to Germans but not internationally.

It’s (unfortunately) safer to stick with the stereotypes, such as Bavaria/Alpine topics, major cities such as Munich (Oktoberfest), Hamburg or Berlin, Black Forest or the Rhine Valley/castles that British buyers associate with Germany and would be searching for online.