Unveiling Jen, a Trip to the Airport, and more Phoenixing

A couple of entries back, I teased a couple of shots from the recent shoots with my friend, model and fellow photographer Jen Latham.  Since then I have been gradually releasing more and more shots from the two shoots that we did, one under constant light and one under flash heads, and I am very pleased with not only the results but how the shots have been received.

The first shoot was done under constant light, with a smoke machine, and focussed around us exploring some themes that Jen and I had developed together.  The shoot was initially set up as a test shoot for concepts that we were planning to use in a shoot at a later date (and probably still will), and centred on two characters, 'Innocence' and 'Justice':

We'd done a lot of research before the shoot into the kind of looks that we wanted to achieve, and we also spent some considerable time researching the right props to use as well, and how best to handle them.  Jen is pretty fearless when it comes to modelling (in fact she's pretty fearless full stop) and so I knew that she would be able to deliver on the concepts, and deliver she did!

We also shots some more conventional portraits in the first shoot as well:

But we also did some 'component shots' for a photoshop idea that I'd had, which resulted in a shot called 'Self Control':

It's my first attempt at a photoshop job on this scale, and although it's not perfect by any standard, I'm pretty pleased with it!

As mentioned in a previous blog entry, the second shoot with Jen was more of an impromptu one, taking advantage of an opportunity.  My fellow Phoenix photographer Lauren Freeman had generously lent me her flash heads, and so the evening before Jen jetted off to Zimbabwe to film a documentary we found ourselves with a couple of hours to shoot in.  Jen was going to kickboxing that evening, and so a sporting shoot was on the cards!

We also found time to do some more experimentation with our concepts from the first shoot, this time using a black cloth:

The full set of photos from the two shoots can be seen on Flickr here: Shoots with Jen

Back at the start of the month I found myself in Manchester on business, and after business was concluded I checked the SatNav to find that I was a mere 0.8 miles away from the airport viewing area.  So naturally, with the sun starting to set, I headed over to the Runway Visitors Centre and got my long lens out!

I always find shooting at the airport to be very relaxing, a nice way to unwind and forget the world for a few moments.

The full set from the visit can be seen on Flickr here:  Airport at Sunset

As per usual, I've been shooting the Phoenix home games throughout the hockey season so far, and some of the shots I've been able to get have been very pleasing.  This is the first season where I've shot with a Nikon D90 in my hands, and the difference in quality is quite marked:

It's still an enjoyable activity, experiencing the highs and lows of supporting my team and watching every game through the lens, and even with the D90 it's still a challenge that I relish!

Thanks for reading!

Experimenting at the Camera Club, and the New Season Continues with a Visit from Totty!

A couple of months back, I joined a camera club here in Stoke in order to meet some fellow snappers and to learn a new trick or three.  So far it's been quite educational, and a couple of weeks back we had an evening of experimentation, an evening where we could try our hand at several different types of photography.  In one room there was a multi-head lighting set-up and in the other there were several 'stations' where snappers could try macro photography, shooting water droplets, and various other subjects.

Evenings such as this one give everyone a chance to try their hand at new things without the sense of pressure that can sometimes come from an organised shoot.  Especially when shooting inanimate objects.  They don't judge you when you take ages to get the shot just right!

One of the things that we had a go at was capturing water droplets.  To do this properly, you need a tripod and a flash gun, and at this particular evening I had neither!  But I still had a crack at it, using a high ISO.  The grain was an issue, but for a first attempt...

Better luck next time, methinks!

Many of the items that were 'photographable' were brought along by members of the club, including a rather nice Blue John Stone geode:

This particular shot was achieved with the aid of a torch and a piece of paper, and a fair bit of balance!

The studio set-up in the other room was a rather nice construction, with a full paper roll backdrop being interchanged with a lightable soft-box backdrop.  The model for the evening was Heather, the sister of one of our photographers, and she did an admirable job of keeping her pose and composure whilst being repeatedly flashed at by lots of strange men and a couple of strange women...

The downside to having lighting set up for multiple photographers at the same time is that the lighting is set up for multiple photographers at the same time.  Basically what I mean is that when you have one photographer, the lighting can be set for the one lens, everything is geared towards that one shooting position, but when you have more than one snapper the lighting can be uneven.  However, this in turn gave me a chance to do some more experimentation with HDR:

More shots from the evening can be seen here:  Willfield Camera Club experimental shots

The Manchester Phoenix season has been continuing, we're now several games in, and the shooting is still fun and varied.  The action is also a bit varied, ranging from masses of action to the occasional bout of 'nothing going our way', but at all times the view through the lens is always an exciting challenge.

Our home game against the Wildcats just over a week ago gave a rare treat to the people of Manchester, and to Yol and I in particular - the referee was Joy Tottman, one of our travelling buddies from our trip to Maine in 2010!  Joy has been an ice hockey referee for a number of years, but is normally based 'darn sarf' and seldom gets selected to referee Phoenix games, so to see her take to the ice at the Altrincham Ice Dome was a pleasant surprise!

Cheers for reading!

Legally Uploaded, and a Nerd Moment in Manchester

A few entries back I mentioned that I'd done a portrait shoot at the offices of Central Chambers, a law firm based in the centre of Manchester, at the behest of my friend Ben Knight.  Ben is one of the barristers who practices out of the Chambers, and he's also the man behind the Manchester Phoenix Podcast, so we often cross paths in buildings where big sweaty men grind against each other and attempt to score.  Thankfully I'm talking about the ice hockey here...

Anyway, the shots that I did for Central Chambers have now gone live!  Here's the shot that I did of Ben, to show the kind of portraits that I was providing:

The shots have been converted into black and white for upload, and I'm very pleased to be able to show you them in all their glory!  Here's a screengrab of Ben's profile page:

Seeing my shots being used on a corporate site is actually quite a nice feeling!  The staff at Central Chambers were very welcoming to me, and took it in their stride when it was their turns in front of the camera.   The results of the shoot can be seen on the Central Chambers website, by clicking the links on the Members drop-down menu: Central Chambers website

Today I was back up in Manchester again, this time in a different part of the city.  Myself and a colleague were at MediaCity in Salford Quays to visit the post-production facilities at Salford University, on a fact-finding mission.  Despite not having my main Nikon cameras with me, my old philosophy of always carrying a camera of some kind with me paid off, when we popped into the BBC's studio reception area and spotted these little beauties!:

You've just got to take your nerd moments where you find them!

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!

Sledge Hockey at the Rink, Garden Make-Over Time, and the Knight's Chambers

This past Sunday, I found myself back at the Atrincham Ice Dome shooting for the Manchester Phoenix. This time it was to document the home debut of the Manchester Phoenix Sledge Hockey team, taking part in a three team tournament against the Kingston Kestrels and a team made up of representatives from Peterborough Phantoms and the Battle Back Bison, a team of injured servicemen.

I've never photographed Sledge Hockey before, in fact I've never seen it in the flesh before, so shooting it was going to be a new challenge - would it be like shooting ice hockey, or would it involve different tactics to get the shots I wanted?...

Other than the action taking place lower to the ice than regular hockey, shooting it turned out to pretty much abide by the same principles as a Phoenix EPL team:  follow the action, shoot the players, and try to get the shots that tell the story.   One of the bonuses of shooting Sledge is that the players don't utilise the team benches, so there's plenty of room to get up close to the action and to the breaks in play:

The action on the ice was surprisingly quick, and surprisingly brutal at times, with some impressive skills and even more impressive collisions on display.  Shooting it was a joy, it was a whole new experience for me, and the results are something I'm pretty chuffed with!

The full set of photos from the tournament can be seen on Flickr here: Manchester Phoenix Sledge Hockey tournament.

Things have been busy on the domestic front too, with our back garden being landscaped and given a new lease of life!  Anyone who's ever been to our house will know that the back garden has been something of a ski-slope, and that previous attempts to turn it into something resembling an actual garden have not been as successful as we'd have liked.  Yol contacted a lovely small company featuring some of the hardest working people I've ever met, and in the space of one week they overhauled the place so much that you wouldn't recognise it!

As well as having a deck and a patio, which I've wanted for some time now, we've also got a couple of lovely features that really mark the garden as being ours, courtesy of the design genius of Yol!:

Our climbing plants will have something truly stylish to reach for the sky on!


Today I took a trip into Manchester to shoot some portraits for Central Chambers, a legal practice that is the professional base of Ben Knight, the gentleman behind the Phoenix Podcast.  Ben's company needed some new portraits for their website, and I was happy to oblige!  Whilst there, Ben asked if I could shoot a couple of shots for his other Podcast, NorthPod Law, which is a legal podcast hosted by Ben himself along with Kirstin Beswick.  Ben and Kirstin set the office up as if recording a podcast, I set up the lights, and away we went!

I will post links to the Central Chambers and Northpod Law sites once the pictures have gone live.

Cheers all!