A shoot with Lauren, more Phoenixing, and the Rhumblerama Auditions

So far, January 2013 has been a busy time for my camera!  My shutterbuggery (it's a word) got off to an early start with a day in the studio with model and fellow photographer Lauren Freeman, where we were working on a test shoot for something a little different that we're planning to do with the Manchester Phoenix.  I can't give any details about that at the moment, so as not to spoil the surprise when it happens, but I can show some shots from the rest of the day's shooting - we shot several themes using Lauren's flash heads, including these shots of Lauren in my hockey kit:

I've shot under constant light in the studio before, and I've shot using flash heads, and there are pros and cons to both.  I guess in simplest terms, it depends on what kind of effect you're looking to get.  With these shots, it was important to me to get a substantial depth of field (or DOF), with all of the subject in focus.  To achieve this requires a mid to high f-stop (I think I was shooting around f7.1 to f8) and a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second, at ISO 200.  The flash heads weren't particularly far away, but were turned down low, so the coverage of light was nice and even - the dominant light was camera left, the fill light camera right.

In previous shoots where I've wanted a shallower DOF, sometimes the flash is too much, even with the flash heads moved further away.  The intensity of flash heads, even on a low setting, is much brighter than the constant light LEDs that I use, so sometimes constant light is the best option.  Shooting at f1.8 or f2.2 will give a shallower DOF, which gets shallower the closer you get to the subject, and this can give some great images.  But, for this shoot with Lauren, a deep DOF was needed, and so flash heads were the logical choice!

The set of photos from the shoot is still being added to, and it's viewable here: Lauren F. Shoot 2


We're just passing through the middle of the EPL ice hockey season at the moment, so the games are still coming thick and fast.   The response that Lauren, Yolanda and myself get to our photos is mostly positive (one or two trolls aside) and shooting the games is still fun.

At the last game, Lauren and myself had the opportunity to shoot the players as they come onto the ice, from a shooting position on the ice.  It's a shoot I've attempted a couple of times in the past, and the results are hit and miss, but when they hit, they hit!

As we go along, we also like to shoot some 'behind the scenes' shots - these tend to be shots not of the players, but the people around the games, as well as us setting up and working at the games.

More photos from the Phoenix matches can be seen on the Official Phoenix Flickr page here: Phoenix Flickr albums


This past Sunday, Lauren and myself were doing a different kind of portrait shooting for a good friend of mine, Andy Carson.  Andy is the director of a new independent film entitled Rhumblerama, a drama/comedy about a group of no-hopers who build a new career for themselves as professional wrestlers.  The film is at the casting stage, and so Lauren and myself were in attendance at the auditions, taking headshots and bodyshots of the auditionees to help with the selection process.

Essentially, our job was to take three shots of each auditionee.  One with them holding a clapperboard with their name written on it (for identification purposes), one headshot, and one bodyshot, which I then combined in photoshop to make one 'photosheet' per auditionee:

The whole experience was certainly an eye opening one!  We saw some incredibly talented actors and actresses giving performances that were worthy of casting.  We also saw, er, some other people....

A quick note here, if I may, to all budding actors and actresses out there:
Crying is not acting.  It's crying.
Doing an improvised monologue about one side of a relationship break up isn't acting.  It's still crying.
Yelling and shouting aren't acting.  They're yelling and shouting.
When you're auditioning for a drama-slash-comedy, doing a monologue about murder / rape / suicide / death / psychosis / torture is not really in-keeping with the theme of the film.
Acting involves adapting another personality to your own.  Being a chav and attempting to play a chav isn't acting, it's being a chav.
I hope this has been useful....

From a photography point of view, it was a relatively straightforward process.  Once we had set up and got the lights set correctly, we developed a system whereby I would photograph the taller candidates and Lauren would shoot the 'more normal heighted' auditionees.  Much of what we did that day was watching and waiting, we were sitting off to the side whilst the auditions took place, so we were in a good position not only to watch the actors but also the faces of Andy and his fellow panel members.  Watching them keep their faces straight for some of the auditions was also a good lesson in acting!

More info on Rhumblerama can be found on the official Rhumblerama facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/RhumbleRama

Thanks for reading!

Modelling with a Gas Mask and a Smoke Machine

In the last blog entry I mentioned the studio shoot that I did with Jen Latham, a film maker and photographer taking her first turn in front of the camera.  Jen's an unconventional kinda person, and so the photo shoot was somewhat unconventional too.  We'd bounced a couple of ideas around, taking the notion of traditional glamour photography and doing it with 'alternative' props and costumes.

I own a gas mask.  It's just one of those things that I bought a few years back just because I thought it would be a quirky thing to own, and so when Jen was looking for one for a photo shoot, I lent her mine.  We got talking about using it in photo shoots, and the idea began to form.

A big part of glamour imagery is the connection between the model and the viewer, or the viewer-substitute:  the camera lens.  Eye contact is a key part of this, the notion of being able to look the model in the face; this is what we wanted to play with.  Eye contact is still possible, but when the face is hidden it makes a connection harder.  Factor in props that aren't traditionally associated with glamour, such as gas masks and lab coats, and that makes for an alternative glamour shoot!

When you have a gas mask, you need to have gas.  Or more photogenically, smoke.  I borrowed a smoke machine from two local film-makers, David Gammon and Dan Barlow, and whilst it was being dropped off I got talking with Dan about the concept for the shoot.  Dan mentioned that he had some props that might be suitable and went off to fetch them before coming back with a case full of military paraphernalia.  Coupled with the outfits that Jen had brought along, we were able to put together some visually stunning combinations.

We also found time to do some more traditional portraits during the shoot, but Jen still managed to make them quirky and interesting in her own way!

The shots are being released gradually in this online album: Jen Latham photoshoot
Keep checking back as more shots are uploaded!

Headshots, Smoke and Rudyard Lake

Last week I turned 40,  and thanks to the wonderful generosity of my better half I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D90 camera, a camera that I've been eyeing up for quite some time now.  Other models have come along, newer models, but the D90 is a cracking camera, robust and reliable, and adding one to my kit bag has made me a very happy snapper!

Even though I've only had it for just over a week now, I've been very busy with it.  The shots at the Central Chambers that I mentioned in the previous blog entry were taken with the D90, and since then I've done three other shoots - two in the studio and one on location.

The first of the studio shoots was with independent film maker Andrew Carson, who was looking for a fresh set of promo shots and headshots to use for publicity purposes:

With Andrew's background in film, the scope for experimentation with the lighting was pretty wide, and it resulted in some less conventional headshots and promo shots.  The majority of my portrait shoots are done with constant light, and this shoot gave me the opportunity to mix conventional 650w and 300w lights with LED light panels to create some different lighting effects:

The full set of shots can be seen on Flickr here: Andrew Carson promo shoot

The second of the studio shoots was definitely a more experimental one!  My model for this shoot was another film maker, Jen Latham, taking her first turn in front of the camera for a shoot that we'd both been developing.  The concept centred around conventional glamour, but in an unconventional manner, using props that included a gas mask, a smoke machine, a lab coat, and a whole range of military paraphernalia.  The shots are still being edited at the moment, but I can give you a sneak peak:

Watch this space!

The location shoot was done on Thursday evening, with a trip to Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.  The evening gave me a chance to try my hand at a variety of different shot styles, and to see what I could do with a couple of filters:

The main filter that I tried out was a Cokin P197 sunset filter, a graduated orange rectangle that sits in front of the lens, and turns even a cloudy sky into a sunset:

The combination of this, a polariser, and a little touch of HDR using Photomatix can give some excellent results!:

The full set from Rudyard Lake can be seen on Flickr here: Rudyard Lake photos

Thanks for reading!

Yol's Feathered Friends, and a Sneak Peek at the Lauren Shoot

This past Wednesday, Yol turned 40 and we celebrated in traditional style with good food, good wine, and good company!  One of the presents that Yol received was a voucher for the 'Simply Owls Experience' at Gauntlet Birds Of Prey in Knutsford - a two hour owl handling and flying experience.  Yol loves owls, so it was a natural choice for a birthday present, and it also gave me a spendid opportunity to try my hand at shooting new subjects in a new environment.

The first thing I'll say about Gauntlet is that it's an amazing experience.  The staff there are so friendly and knowledgeable, their love for the birds is plain to see, and the birds seem to be so happy!  Yol's 'Simply Owls Experience' was scheduled to start at 1pm, so we got there at 12pm, nice and early, and were treated to the spectacle of the noon flying display.

To see the birds flying in such close proximity is a truly breathtaking experience, with the flying area going over the heads of the spectators to give an all-encompassing view of these beautiful (and some not-so-beautiful) creatures!

Yol's 'Simply Owls Experience' started with an indoor lesson in basic handling of smaller owls.  Yol was with two other people doing the 'Experience', and I was there along with another spectator snapping away as Yol and her companions were issued with handling gauntlets, learned how to tie line knots, and then met three of the inhabitants:  Yoda, Julia and Humph!

After the introductions, it was time to start handling and flying the owls.  Yol took to it straight away, handling Yoda and flying Humph.  Yoda is a Little Owl, and chirruped his way through the encounter;  Humph is a White Faced Scops Owl, and was emitting a sound not too dissimilar to a coffee percolator!

Photographing the owls inside was a real challenge.  Indoors shoots of any kind mean relatively low light, which in turn means that high ISO numbers are the order of the day.  My Nikon D40 only goes up to ISO1600, so the shutter speeds had to be kept relatively low; this in turn meant that getting sharp shots of flying indoors was very difficult!  Once we went outdoors, the sunny weather meant that low ISO and higher shutter speeds made life a little easier:

However, even with the advantages of the brighter weather (which clouded over from time to time, but never for long), the big challenge was factoring in the speed at which these birds fly!    To get a sharp shot requires not only a fast shutter speed but also a quick focus.  A large depth of field would have made it easier but that would equate to a lower shutter speed, so finding the compromise point proved very tricky, even with the brighter conditions.  No matter how quick your autofocus is, it won't be able to keep up with these speedy fliers either, so that makes things even trickier!

After the Experience, we were treated to the second flying display of the day, and had the wonderful sight of eagles, storks and kites taking to the skies.  Shooting against the bright sky means that it's time to go down the 'light HDR' route when it comes to processing the shots, and this gives results such as this shot of a Kite:

The full set of photos from our trip to Gauntlet can be seen on Flickr here: Gauntlet Birds Of Prey photo set

For more information about Gauntlet, this is their website: Gauntlet Birds Of Prey Eagle And Vulture Park

In the last posting, I gave a little 'behind the scenes' look at a studio shoot I'd done with my great friend Lauren Freeman, where Lauren stepped out from behind her camera to shine in front of mine!  I am still working on the shots, as we took around 2200 on the day and covered a variety of themes, but I can give you a sneak peek on how some of the shots are coming along:

Keep watching this space!