Friday 29 October 2010

Thursday 28 October 2010

Why You NEED to EDIT your photos!

Here is a little video why anyone who buys a Dslr has to get an editing programme to work on their photos!




Thursday 21 October 2010

Photography tips Light stands and umbrellas

Ok here is about all you will ever want to know about a very boring subject in flash photography. light stands and umbrellas.

4 more videos and links after the break


video 1


Wednesday 20 October 2010

Nikon D7000 (test images)

Update: 11 Nov 2010
Just had a play with the Nikon d7000 



Check this one out! iso 6400!







Here are some more indepth details and photos after the break

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Low Key Photography Anywhere (flash tips 2)

Here is a quick video and tips on how to do a Low Key image anywhere you go.



This is easier than the high key shot you see in the blog post below

here are the details for this one
(click on more)


High Key Photography Anywhere (flash photo tips)

Here is a quick photo form the shoot I had the at the weekend. I was looking to get a nice mix of location modeling shots, product shots, high key and low key and also some messed up shots.  Here is the first video lesson on how you can make a High Key looking image no matter where you are. Make any place your studio.








more details after the break


Sunday 17 October 2010

What do you see?

Here is the location of my last shoot.

what do you see?  a horrible graffitied damp messy basement?


Or do you see a location that looks awesome, full of potential, with the right lighting you could do anything with?

I saw the latter





Thursday 14 October 2010

Big Flat property photography (gels to the resque)

Ok so today I was asked to take a photo of another flat in Edinburgh and make a shot that is better than the original shot on the Property management website, which was this shot here


And here is what I managed to turn it into

that, with just one flash.

Other shots and the breakdown of how i got to that final shot explained in the (read more button below)

Monday 11 October 2010

Photos from workshop on Saturday 9th October 2010

On Saturday I was teaching my Dslr 1 and Dslr 2 courses to a lovely couple from Livingstone.

We worked on the basics and also did some more advanced stuff such as the panoramics and HDR photography.

Unfortunately the weather was very very dull on Saturday, but fortunately it was not raining.

here are some of the photos taken on the course with a little description about what each was demonstrating

Wide angle lens and panoramic tips

Sunday 10 October 2010

4 Stories of Flash! (speedlights kick ass!)

Now how could I light this stair well all the way down to the bottom?  4 Stories down!


Well firstly, I head to the top of the stairs and shoot the scene.

Which the details will be at the Read more info part

Saturday 9 October 2010

Posh Grunge shoot (F**K You Photoshoot)

Shooting a friend Katie Birrell and her little sister Verity in the basement of a beauty salon in Edinburgh,

The shoot was just a fun shoot, practice for me and confidence building for Katie,  we sourced some extra accessories such as fascinators from http://www.mairibrunning.com/ and some other items from http://www.overtclothing.co.uk/

This shoot is what I am calling a F**k You photoshoot it is a shoot to boost the confidence and self image of the model who has maybe broken up with their partner or been given a derogatory comment from someone.






This is one of the lighting set ups









2 extra videos from this shoot are also here




here are some shots







and



Links

The salon
http://www.innercitysanctum.co.uk/InnerCitySanctum/Home.html
and the Fasinators
http://www.mairibrunning.com/

Friday 8 October 2010

Thursday 7 October 2010

Strobist Property photography part 2

This is what the camera did straight out in auto, you can see that the window at the left has messed up the metering big time and the room is totally under exposed, so how do you change it so that the room is properly exposed but you can still see out the window?


Flash is the answer.

Click the read more for .... more

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Strobist Techniques for Property Photography

Ok which photo do you like more?
A

Or B

B is ok, its not that bad, but for a property company A is what is requested.

Click the read more to see what extra is done to get the shot.


Monday 4 October 2010

Highlands photos (HDR and Long Exposure)

Here are two photos from the same location, the first is in a portrait orientation the second in a landscape orientation.  Both are HDR images taken from a selection of 5 Raw files from the Nikon D300 and shot with the Tokina lens the 11-16mm f2.8.  The photos were then edited in the HDR software called Photomatix and the bottom one was then also cropped a little in Adobe Lightroom and had its blacks and lightfill pumped up.


After the break I shall add one of the original photos that this photo was created from for you to see how the dynamic range is increased with HDR editing.

Friday 1 October 2010

Cancer Charity fashion show (strobist)

Oh how I enjoyed showing a lighting tech he was wrong!
He came up to me as I was setting up my little Nikon sb-900 flashes on stands right beside the big stage lights.
He turned on the stage lights and said "your flashes wont have much affect compared to these"
"HA I said, then took a photo at 250th of a second at f4. The place was black!
I then did the same thing again but added my flashes to the equation and Bang! the whole place was lit up!  he couldnt believe it! 2 tiny flashes Compared to his 4 Massive stage lights!
oh how the pen is mightier than the sword!



 So this fashion show event was held in Edinburgh, It was a charity gig and everyone modeling or helping out had in some way been affected by cancer. 

More details after the Break


Car crash... but HOW???


more shots after the break