Tuesday 29 April 2008

Another photo of Martin ...

Here's another shot of Martin that I took today. The photo was taken in an alleyway with one SB800 flashlight behind and another to the front of Martin, left of camera and fitted with a home made speed grid to focus the light on his upper body. Both flashes were fired using my trusty pocket wizards ... not cheap pieces of kit, but well worth it when it comes to using off camera flash.

Trying out some more HDR ...

Here's a photograph that I took of a friend of mine, Martin Nobbs that I simply couldn't resist processing using the HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique. To get this effect, I've actually processed it a couple of times and then tweeked it a little in photoshop to give this grungy, artistic look.

Monday 28 April 2008

Saturday's Portrait Shoot

Hi All,

Well to be honest this weekend I've spent quite a bit of time infront of the computer finishing some editing that needed doing. Over the coming days I'm photographing a Wedding on Friday, Portraits on Sunday and then a model shoot on Monday and it's nice to go into new jobs knowing that previous ones have all been edited and there's no 'back - log'.

The weekend just gone, I was down in Kent taking portraits and had a great time eating loads and drinking the odd glass of vino :o) I've attached a few photos from the shoot - all taken using off camera flash, shot through a 34" lastolite umbrella.


I'll catch up with you later in the week, so have a good 'un and we'll speak soon :o)

Tuesday 22 April 2008

Testing out a lighting technique ...

Hi All,

Not wanting to waste any time, I grabbed some of the Heathrow ARV (Armed Response Vehicle) guys today for a quick photo shoot. Like I mentioned on a previous post, I'm looking at trying out a few lighting techniques .. one in particular I feel gives quite a powerful, heroic look to the subjects being photographed. There's still quite a bit of work I think needed to perfect the look I'm after, but again, the photograph attached will give you a feel for where I'm heading.


I would have chosen a better backdrop for the guys but today was quite a bright sunny day and I was already at the highest sync speed for the flashes to darken down the ambient light ... plus this was the only shaded area available for the short time we had.

Sunday 20 April 2008

Couldn't resist adding another ...

Well as the title says, I just couldn't resist adding another photo from today's Pre Wedding Shoot with Mark & Lisa. The light at this particular location is so incredibly soft ... perfect for female portraits, as this shot of Lisa shows.

Enjoy :o)

Mark & Lisa's Pre Wedding Shoot ...

Well that's it .. weekend is coming to an end, but what a great few days. Firstly, out on Friday with Jim & Catherine taking photos of them as part of their pre wedding shoot, then Saturday out trying a new lighting technique at the Karate Club and then finally today out taking photos with the soon to be Mr & Mrs Mitchell, Mark & Lisa.



Mark & Lisa are to be married on the 2nd May this year at the wonderful Highfield Park in Hampshire, and having chatted about the venue and what they have planned, it promises to be a wonderful day.

Both were a little anxious at first when we met up about having their photographs taken, which is completely understandable, but they soon relaxed and got into it and we managed to get some really beautiful, natural looking shots - despite me dragging them at one point into an industrial area (honest guys, it's the light .. it's all about the light :o) LOL

Saturday 19 April 2008

A quick (and I mean quick) shoot ...

When I'm not on an official photo shoot, I'm always looking for projects that I can work on. At the moment, I'm working on a particular lighting and post production technique so to give it a try I went out this morning to photograph the ELKAI, Ealing Higashi Karate Club. I was only going to be there for a short time, so whilst they were going through training, I set up my lighting and took a few test shots. Once they'd finished training, I had literally under 2 minutes (if that) to take some shots as they needed to clear the gym ready for some people to set up the Badmington Courts.


The image I've attached is one of the 6 that I took and have edited. I'm not 100% at the point where I want to be with this technique yet but this feels like a good start and gives you an idea for what I'm working on. I'd like to have a go at this lighting technique outdoors, so fingers crossed the weather holds off and I can get out over the next few days.

Bye for now :o)

A couple more shots of James & Catherine ...

Thought I'd post a couple more shots from yesterday's shoot with James & Catherine ....

Enjoy :o)


James & Catherine's Pre Wedding Shoot

Yesterday I was out with the future Mr & Mrs Simpkin, James & Catherine. Having had a coffee and chat in Brown's, Windsor we headed off around the town centre to take some photos of the two of them together. I guess we spent over an hour shooting and as expected we had quite a laugh in the process. Thankfully the weather behaved itself, so despite there being a chill in the air, it didn't rain ... which is always a bonus :o)



James and Catherine's Wedding is on the 31st May this year and promises to be something rather special; I can't wait :o)

Sunday 13 April 2008

Sarah & Leon's Wedding

Well, wedding over and Sarah & Leon are now officially Mr & Mrs Wheatley :o)

Here's a few photographs from yesterday that I've quickly edited so that I can post something here for you to see. Because of their being two weddings on the same day, at the same time, at the same venue, there were quite a few challenges as I'm sure you can imagine but hey .. where there's a will, there's a way (excuse my wise moment) and we managed to get some great shots.




Sarah & Leon fly off to Naples for a week from tomorrow so I've got a week now to go through and edit the keepers, before we get together for a viewing.

Right ... must dash ... bye for now :o)




ps> Forgot to say, when I say 'we', I'm referring to my able assistant for the day, Kathryn, who is the daughter of good friends of mine, Kevin and Fiona. Kathryn ... you were a great help .. thanks :o)

Friday 11 April 2008

Relaxing before tomorrow's Wedding Shoot ...

Well after a busy couple of days catching up on some editing and necessary admin I'm now sat with a glass of vino for company, relaxing before tomorrow's wedding shoot. I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow's wedding, when Sarah & Leon who I photographed a few weeks ago finally tie the knot. I've checked the weather forecast online and if I'm to believe what I read then it's not looking good, but then hey .. it is April and this is the UK so no surprises there :o)

Anyway, before I turn in for the night I thought I'd post up a couple more images from the Gibraltar photo shoot last week.

Enjoy :o)

> I'll be sure to post a few images from tomorrow's shoot here on the blog so be sure to check back soon :o)


Photographing ... "Things"

Every event I photograph, be it a Wedding or like the recent Bar Mitzvah I always like to take photographs of what can only be described as 'things'. Now a 'thing' can be anything ... glasses, flowers, table decorations and so on, basically anything that is 'there' and some thought has gone into choosing it.

Here's a few photographs of such 'things' that I took during the weekend of Joe Sharpe's Bar Mitzvah and tweeked in post production. The first two were shot using natural light and the bottom photo was shot using an off camera Speedlight.



Tuesday 8 April 2008

Back from the Gibraltar Photo Shoot ...

Hi All,

Just thought I'd add a quick note to let you know that I'm now back from the Robinson Family photo shoot in Gibraltar where we all had a fantastic time and got some cracking shots.

I'll post a more detailed entry later today once I've had chance to catch up on some sleep otherwise my speeling will be awful :o) ... living the life of a 'Jet-Setter' is quite tiring you know :o)

Thursday 3 April 2008

What a day :o)

Geez what a day !!! I've managed to get a load of editing done today which I'm really pleased about and few other little jobs that needed doing cos I want to be clear of any unfinished work before the photo job in Gibraltar this coming weekend. Gotta say, I'm really looking forward to it cos of all the ideas for shots I've been thinking about ... so that combined with the great group of people that I'll be photographing, it promises to be a fun packed few days.

Anyway, I've now rewarded myself with a glass of vino whilst I go through some more photos from the band shoot the other night.





For the photos attached, I used 2 speedlights ... one high up to the right to give the impression of a stage light and one camera left to add a little rim light.

Cheers :o)

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