The Myrke...

As part of my Project 52 last year, I was hoping to photograph Barrie; he is a musician and husband to a colleague of mine; Sandra. I thought a guitarist would make a good portrait. At the time I had never photographed a musician. But sadly, between one thing and another, it never happened.

Then one Friday afternoon I got a phone call; Barrie's band, called The Myrke,  were rehearsing tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, could I come along and take some photographs? I love these last minute impromptu shoots; nothing like a bit of pressure. And, oh, yeah, they wanted to be photographed around a tree. Okay, I said, looking out at grey winter skies and the promise of rain. I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

That night I started my research. Moodboard, an iPad app, came into its own. I sourced some pictures that I thought would start the ball rolling and sent an email of it to Barrie. A fantastic little app that I use again and again. They set the mood and we hadsomething to talk about and throw a few ideas around.

Barrie lives near Eton where there are lots of playing fields. So next day I headed off to Eton, met the band and after hearing them play; fantastic music guys! off we went in search of a suitable tree. Their sound is a latin soul jazz kind of sound and it is very good. (where is my CD guys...?)

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The Myrke

Having found it, it was a matter of setting up the band as quick as I could; it was a freezing cold afternoon. At this point a big thank you to Sandra. She was an invaluable assistant and softbox holder for the afternoon. I used a single Ezybox with an SB800 triggered by wireless. Simple set up; it had to be it was just too cold for shooting outside.
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Sandra and softbox

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We then retired back to the warmth of Barrie's house and I set up some individual headshots.

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Phil

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Sukh

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Simon

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Barrie

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Be sure to check out The Myrke on their Myspace page, here, a great band.

This is the 'Moodboard' that I

compiled for the shoot.

A Very Big Congratulations ...

... to Jane and Patrick. They returned from the International Triathlon in Abu Dhabi with great success; Jane came sixth in her age group! And both Jane and Patrick finished well up the field.
Well done guys! An amazing achievement!

Patrick

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Jane

Well done lads, what a team!

Duke of Edinburgh Awards : Photography

All the photographs on this blog were taken by me; there is the one exception; when Katy does a shoot she gets to post here. And I might show a set up shot with me in it taking the photo, obviously someone else took that. But that being said, I take the shots.
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But this time all the photographs in this post are by someone else; Rosie. Let me explain, about a month ago I was asked by a good friend of mine, Chris, if I would be interested in mentoring his daughter Rosie while she is doing her Duke of Edinburgh Awards in Photography Well, I was delighted to say yes and honoured to have been asked in the first place. Rosie is starting off in her photographic career, as it were, and at this time it is vital to get a good grounding in the technicalities but also the vision to see the bigger picture.
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The photographs that Rosie has taken show a great understanding of this. The photographs here have drama, movement, depth and beauty. This is what you get when look and really see.

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Again, all these photogtaphs were taken by Rosie, and I think she has done exceptionally well, seeing pictures where others might not. I for one am looking forward to seeing the next shoot. Well done Rosie!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day: La Feile Padraig

I hope you all have a great Saint Patrick's Day, wherever you are, and if you are lucky enough to be in Ireland, La feile Padraig...

Ironman and Ironwoman : part one

Firstly, let me say a big good luck to Jane and Patrick who are competing in the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon 2011 this weekend. Good luck lads, we will be thinking of you! You can follow the action here.
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But, to explain, towards the end of last year I discovered that Jane, the mother of one of my karate students was a triathlete. Not only that, but her husband Patrick is also a triathlete. You know the type; hyper fit, whether it is on the bike, swimming or running, just amazing really.

I wanted to do a series of shots of Jane and her bike, and running and swimming. So I approached her one Saturday morning and asked if she would be my model and to my delight she said yes! At the same time, I was already thinking of how I would cajole Patrick to be part of this; I mean how often do you come across a husband and wife triathlete duo? Not very often. So expect a few more shots as the year progresses.

These are a few of the shots we did in the studio.

Patrtick and Jane

Jane

I shall be posting more from the shoot in the next few weeks, but I just wanted to say a big good luck to both Jane and Patrick; good luck and watch out for the blisters...!

Looking up to Heaven...

How often do you look up?

Last weekend we took a trip to the Cathedral City of Canterbury. A wonderful city. The cathedral dates back to the 6th century, but is most famous for the murder of Thomas Beckett in 1170.

Canterbury #1

I really enjoy visiting these amazing buildings; walking among the great stone columns you get a sense of wonder and spirituality that is fantastic. And you cannot help but look up. The ceilings are magnificent; works of wonder with elegant vaulting and bosses you can’t help but wonder how they did it back then with no health and safety executive! It was all done for the glory of God, and looking up was like looking up to Heaven. At lease as close as you could get on Earth.

Canterbury #2

Canterbury #3

Canterbury #4

Canterbury #5

There are always so many tourists there taking photographs of the vastness of the space, with only a small flash to illuminate it; its never going to happen. A tripod is out – I think you have to pay a stipend to use one and I hadn’t brought one anyway. So I did the next best thing; I set the camera to self timer in aperture priority mode, set the aperture to f16 and placed the camera on the floor, tripped the shutter, stepped back and let it take the shot. There was a bit of trial and error to get the framing correct, or at least until I was happy with what I got, and I drew a few stares. One lovely lady, a volunteer guide was intrigued and impressed when I showed her the results.

Canterbury #6

Canterbury #7

The delicate vaulting and the intricate tracing is almost beyond belief, especially when you realise it was all hand carved 800 years ago.

Canterbury #8

Next time, look up... and think of the hands that put these wonderful buildings together.

And this is what happens

when you don't step back far enough...!!!