The White Dress...

I was very fortunate to be invited to attend one of Glyn Dewis' 'taster workshops' last Saturday in High Wycombe and Amersham. He is developing a series of workshops to teach his unique way of portrait photography, check out his website www.glyndewis.com . We started off the morning in the studio, spent a few hours going over the versatility of only using one light and one modifier; in this case an SB800 and an umbrella. We then took that knowledge and brought it outside and shot Catherine in a white dress in Amersham on a very cold afternoon, did I say cold?, I meant absolutely freezing...
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Catherine, White Dress #1

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Catherine, White Dress #2

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I made sure Catherine had a coat to hand between the shots when Glyn was teaching, and also I should say a big thanks to Katy our invaluable VAL (voice activated lightstand) who on more than one occassion saved the SB800 from certain death! And did I mention the cold...?

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Catherine, White Dress #2

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The set up for these shots is surprisingly simple; a single shoot through umbrella with an SB800 on a lightstand to camera right at about 45 degrees to Catherine. An exposure is first taken for the sky, underexpose by about a stop or so until you like the look, then add in the flash at about half or quarter power. And there you have it. Set the camera on manual and keep shooting.

The day was a great success and a big thanks to Glyn for giving his time, knowledge and experience to the group, to Catherine for posing and bearing the cold and Katy... and I am told there was a rather good portrait taken of an older gentleman... I prefer the ones of Catherine myself!

Project 52 .. 49... Part 2

Meet Christine .. again.

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Project 52; Christine

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When I first photographed Christine in Lily Hill Park, she told me her other favourite place is in the kitchen. So we arranged another day to shoot her there.

In the shot above Christine is enjoying a healthy dose of Marks and Engels, not always the kind of books you expect in a kitchen, but very apt for Christine (she is something of an expert on Engels...) The shoot was great fun and very quick to set up; one SB800 shot into a reflecting umbrella, half closed.. (for more info on this little terchnique see my good friend Glyn Dewis' blog - http://glyndewisblog.com/ ).

But sometimes the set up shot is a keeper...
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Christine

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This was the test shot, taken almost from the hip. I obviously had a slower shutter speed as I can remember the shutter lagging during the shot. But the flash, going off at a really high speed, has frozen Christine where it has fallen on her and the dragging of the shutter created a sort of painterly effect which I really like.

Christine has been one of the easiest people to photograph; she was a great sport. Thanks again Christine.

My Rose of Tralee

My Rose of Tralee is Catherine... if I say red shoes, you know who I mean... Catherine was born in Tralee and left it to follow her dream and mine...
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Catherine #1

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This is a shot of Catherine lit with two lights; an SB 800 to camera right in a silver reflector umbrella and a Vivitar 285 behind her to give the hairlight. The shot as you see it is almost exactly as it was out of the camera.

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Catherine #2, straight out of the camera

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I changed the photograph from colour to black and white and darkened the background just a tad. This is a simple technique that gives a very stylized effect. I first set the camera onto its max sync speed of 1/250th, chose an f-stop of 5.6 at ISO 100 and took a shot of the room. It was almost pitch black. I knew then that I could 'paint' back in the light I wanted to give me the low key, dramatic film noir effect. I set the SB 800 to shoot into a half closed silver umbrella. With the umbrella closed down I was able, more or less, to control the spillage of light into the room.

But I wasn't pleased with that alone, so I added a Vivitar 285 with a gridspot on it directly behind Catherine to highlight her hair. Both flashes were set to about 1/2 or 1/4 power and tweaked to get the result. I always try to keep the flash at a low power as the recycle times are quicker. And I have the added disadvantage of the Vivitar, being an older (and original) model; it's recycle time is slower yet.

There is a second technique to the final photograph here; the extended black background.

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the same shot with the canvas extended

The first thing I did was increase the canvas width to equal the image height. In Photoshop, I did this on a separate layer. It is then a simple matter to use the eyedropper tool to sample a piece of the colour immediately adjacent to the edge of the photograph and then dump that colour into the blank canvas area.

My good friend, Glyn, explains this technique excellently here... in a cool video, check out his amazing new blog while you are there...

Here are a few more shots from the shoot...

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Catherine #3

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Catherine #4

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Catherine #5

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A big thanks to Catherine, the perfect model.

Ben and Faye

This is Ben and Faye, a wonderful (and very good looking) model partnership to work with.
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Ben + Faye #1

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Taken at the fantastic Ashton Court Mansion in Bristol, these two shots were with a simple set-up that gives good results every time.
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In the first shot I used my favourite linear set-up; an SB800 in a shoot-through umbrella top camera left and a Vivitar 285, gridded to camera right. Firstly, I all but killed the ambient light. Then I added in the SB800 which 'became' the ambient. Next I added the 285 which gave the rim light to Ben, because it was gridded, its effect had diminished by the time it reached Faye, because I didn't want a hard rim light on her softer features.

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Ben + Faye #2

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The second shot was even easier; one SB800 in a shoot through umbrella to camera right. Here I did want the ambient light to be evident; to show part of the grounds outside. The umbrella was positioned to give just enough bounce back to fill in the shadows on Ben and Fayes to the left side. The ornate stonework to the window and the beautiful timber joinery frame a wonderful couple.

The flashguns were set at 1/2 and 1/4 power and the aperture tweaked as I needed to. my camera, a D200, was set to 1/250, the max sync speed. I usually start at 1/250 at f5.6, ISO 100 and go from there.

A big thanks to Ben and Faye for being fantastic models and good luck in the future.

Working the Land

It's great to get out there and work on your own projects, but it is even greater to share them with friends. Last Sunday afternoon I went to an allotment with my good friend Glyn to shoot Vince working the land. It was a perfect afternoon; not too sunny but not too cold either.
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Vince #1

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Here is the set up shot...

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Vince #1 set up

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As you can see the day was bright, so the first thing we did was kill the ambient, at least take it down to where we wanted it. Vince was then iluminated by a single SB800 shooting through a white umbnrella, the umbrella is there in the photo but has burnt out against the sky. This technique is easier to see in the following shot...

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Vince #2

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We then moved into the shed (that Vince and Glyn built) and took this shot. The first thing to do was set the ambient light level. I knew I wanted the sky to show through the window. I set the D200 to 1/250 at f5.6 at ISO 100 (this is generally my starting point).

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                                           Vince #2 (window ambient only)                                             

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I then tweak the camera setting to get the picture I want, this shot is to get the sky right. We then have to illuminate Vince. We added a single SB800 outside the shed firing through the window, set at about half power or so. The settings aren't too important; just start off at your highest camera / flash sync speed, the flash at 1/2 power and tweak from there. The single light was great on Vince's face, but the lower part of the shed needed a small burst, so we added in another SB800 to just give a little separation to the bottom of the picture and balance it up.

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Vince #2 set up

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Here is the set up shot; that's me outside the shed and the SB800 on a stand with a shoot through umbrella and triggered by pocket wizards; quick, easy, fun.

A great Sunday afternoon shoot; a big thanks to 'Vince the Hat' and Glyn too, for taking the set up shots, because I can't hold two cameras at once and take two shots from different places...quite.. You can see his pictures of the shoot here. We then retired to the warmth of a local pub for a swift pint... here's to the next shoot... 

Project 52 ... 46

Say hello to Paul, a neighbour, father, husband and all around good laddie!

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D200, Tamron 17 - 50 f2.8, SB 800 shoot thro' camera left,

Vivitar 285 gridspot, camera right.

Apart from the fact that both of our daughters go to Brownies, (when you become a parent that's where all your new friends come from - school, Brownies, clubs...you are no longer an individual; now you become part of the greater collective known as 'parents') But Paul and I share something else; a fine appreciation of Jack Vettriano paintings. Paul is lucky enough to have a few, and here he is pictured in front of two of them. And I should say he is a Scot too...

For this shot I wanted to portray a hard edged Vettriano type picture as a photograph; film noir and gritty. This is the kind of photograph I like, and the low angle I shot at gives a very hard edge effect to the picture, I like the shadow falling on the wall over the two pictures, it makes you think about them...

Thank you Paul for being such a good sport, oh, and, er,...are you doing the Brownies collection this week...?

See the set up shot here...

Project 52 ... 45

This is Paul...
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D200, Tamron 17 - 50 f2.8, SB800 from camera right...

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Paul is my Brother-in-Law. A great dad and a good husband; a nicer man you could not meet. We shared a house many years ago when we were first starting out in work. Good memories, the best of which ;

'I've fallen and I can't get up... but I'm alright now...'.

You had to be there!

I took Paul a bit by surpirse with this portrait. The flash was on-camera (I know, cheat, I hear you say...!). I am not a fan of on-camera flash; people end up looking flat and washed out. Paul doesn't. The reason is I bounced the flash off an adjacent wall, that in itself would have made solme difference, but some of the flash light would have gone straight onto Paul, which I didn't want. So I placed a gobo, a black piece foam, velcroed to the flash that directed all the light where I wanted it to go. It had the added benefit of not blinding Paul when I took the shot. Great for parties, it looks like directional light... which it is. So much better than on-camera flash.

Thanks Paul for a great photo.

Project 52 ... 44

And in goals ... Chris
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D200, Tamron 17 - 50 f2.8, SB800 bare head to camera right at half power

camera in manual at 1/200th

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Chris has saved the day many a time in our Catenian Circle, here in Bracknell; always a man to depend on and a very good Master of Ceremonies. I have only known him for a short time, and recently found out he is an Aresnal fanatic, he even has a season ticket. That's dedication, no, really... it is.

Here Chris is sporting The Gunners jersey. And this is no ordinary jersey...

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A photograph of two sides...

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On the reverse is the name Diaby and the number 2, very rare shirt, apparently. I'm just saying... That's football for you.When my brother Paul, I shot him here, were growing up we followed Aston Villa and Chelsea. Because, and this is where it gets interesting, because our Uncle Tommy brought us both mugs when he visited one summer, and yes one was Aston Villa and one was Chelsea. Paul got the Villa one and I ended up supporting Chelsea. Simple as that. Back then Irish football was not what it is today.

The shots of Chris were taken in a local park with the Sun, at about full power - it was Autumn - giving the rim light on Chris' right and the SB800, having to work a bit, zoomed and at half power to his left.

I apologised I couldn't lay on the Emirates to take the shot, to which Chris replied, 'I'll see what I can do...' Well, that shut me up... A great fun shot, thanks Chris.