Congratulations to the Happy Couple...

...and thanks for the day off!

Our good friends Patrick and Jane and their three neighbours organised a street party to celebrate the Royal Wedding. A fabulous barbeque, salad, and amazing dessert and great drinks was the order of the day.

I enjoy going to these parties where you don't know everyone, you make some very interesting people. There was even a raffle in aid of the Iain Rennie Hospice that raised over £500! Not bad, sadly we didn't win, but the top prize was an Xbox 360!

We ended the day with a cream tea and I even managed to arrange a photo shoot with another triathlete... watch this space. A very big thank you to Patrick and Jane and their neighbours for organizing a great day, and of course our very best wishes to the Happy Couple...

A new arrival...

Say hello to Minky, the newest arrival in the Hannan household. She has been with us for about three months now and is definitely part of the family!

A Jack Russel Terrier, she was a rescue dog. We are told she was abandoned and found wandering the streets. We think she is only about a year old, but fortunately she is house trained!
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Minky #1

Minky #2

Now if we could only get her to stop chasing pigeons...

It's a Set-Up!

If you are like me, you have difficulty remembering exactly the lighting set of each shot you do. Drawing diagrams is not for me - I can draw, but for some reason I just don't when it comes to shooting. So the next logical thing is to take a photograph of the set up. For me that is so much easier. And while I may not remember the exact setting of each light, its enough to go on should I ever need to revisit a shoot. But saying all that, the best thing is to keep it simple.

My favourite set up is two lights, one main light and a second rim light. I usually have them opposite each other and the model in between. I'll move around until I get the best position and then just shoot away.

Here are a few of my set up shots. Some are good photographs in their own right.

Patrick and Jane

studio shot with multiple lights, an unusual

set up for me as I tend to go on location

Jane

On location with one SB800, held by Katy,

we both ran beside as Jane cycled.

This was one of the out takes -

a set up shot here was hit and miss!

Paul

my two light favoured set up,

SB800, shoot through umbrella,

Vivitar 285, gridded just outside the patio door.

Jerry

Again, the two light set up, gridded Vivitar 285

SB800 in reflecting umbrella

Sherie

 again, the two light set up,

this time the second light was flagged.

Ria

two light set up...

Fr Chris

one light in a small softbox on Fr Chris,

a gridded Vivitar on the Crucifix

Katy

one Ezybox softbox with an SB800

The Myrke

one Ezybox softbox again.

The finished shots are after the jump. What do you do to remember your set up? Diagrams? Photos? or do you have some other way?

Photosmith; syncing Lightroom with the iPad... what photographers have been waiting for?

This is just a quick review. I am sure there are more features in this app than I can do justice to, but to give you a flavour... I have been beta testing the Photosmith App for the last few weeks. This app boasts of being able to be a Lightroom interface on the iPad allowing a photographers Lightroom workflow to be done, or at least started, in the field on the go.
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The main Photosmith interface screen

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Photos can be imported via the Apple camera connection kit into the iPad native photo app, and then imported into Photosmith. They can then be sorted into collections, the good and the bad sifted out, filtered as in Lightroom, colours and star ratings. This all makes it a sort of Lightroom on the go! It even looks like Lightroom.
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The editing screen

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But the best bit is; it can then be synced back to lightroom. Wirelessly. A plugin is downloaded from Photosmith, installed in Lightroom and the rest is fairly straightforward. Photos can also be inported into Lightroom in the normal manner with the iPad as a 'device', though I haven't tried this method yet.
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The editing screen zoomed in.

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Photos can be imported via the Apple camera connection kit into the iPad native photo app, and then imported into Photosmith. They can then be sorted into collections, the good and the bad sifted out, filtered as in Lightroom, colours and star ratings and we are told there will be the ability to edit photos in the final release. This all makes it a sort of Lightroom on the go!

But the best bit is; it can then be synced back to lightroom; all your edits, keywords, everything. Wirelessly. A plugin is downloaded from Photosmith, installed in Lightroom and the rest is fairly straightforward. Photos can also be inported into lightroom in the normal manner with the iPad as a 'device', though I haven't tried this method yet.

The app also can be used to post by email, and also flickr, facebook and dropbox. The dropbox addition is going to be a great help, it could be used as a backup while on the go, though I am not sure about how fast uploading lots of files would be.

For a more comprehensive guide, see the grand tour over on the Photosmith website, here. Beta programmes by their nature are released so testing in the field can happen. And, sure, a few bugs have been found, but those clever people at Photosmith are sorting them out. This app is going to save a lot of time when working in the field. I am so looking forward to the full version. They tell us the app will be available in the app store in a few weeks. I will be very surprised if it doesn't figure high in the chart positions.

Is this what photographers have been waiting for as an iPad app? I think so! The shots shown here are screenshots from an iPad 1...

What do you want from a workshop?

We all ask ourselves this question from time to time. And the answer is surprisingly simple; a set of tools that I can use, again and again. Not a manual that I might flick through once and then consign to a shelf in the study. Glyn Dewis' workshop did not fall into this category; not by along shot.

This was a tester; myself and six other photographers were 'test pilots' before Glyn takes the workshop live. These days are very important as it give the vital feedback to refine the workshop. The day was split into two; morning shooting and afternoon editing. Steve was our model, my first thought was Terminator or Captain America. Glyn ran through the lighting set-up and then we had a go. His only stipulation was for us to be honest and give constructive criticism. It was a great day, lots of laughs and great shooting.

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Steve #1

the straight from the camera shot

Steve #2

also a straight from the camera shot

And the composite shots...

Steve #2

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Steve #1

Check out Glyn's blog here for news when the workshops go live. Thanks to Glyn for a great day, Mrs Dewis for a wonderful lemon cake (out of this world!), Gareth for a fabulous studio, Steve for being a great model and larger than life! And the rest of the team for making the day great fun. Heres to the next one!