College Fashion Show 2013

I was given the opportunity to photograph Burton and South Derbyshire college's end of the year/term exhibition and fashion show this year at Burton Town Hall

Shown here are just a small selection of fashion show images that I have produced on the night. I was commissioned to shoot the images for the college's archives which will be used for future reference to be viewed by student's staff and interested party's

All of the images were produced using a Canon 5D3 camera with no flash just using ambient light at an ISO of 4000

It's just amazing what these cameras can achieve now and the results can be exceptional without the slightest hint of noise in your photographs

Evening ambient light shoot with Studio lights on location

I was asked by a local model to produce a set of images of herself modelling different clothes which she wants to use to help her to promote her business and modelling career

This was a dual purpose shoot with the model which encompassed combining fashion and product photography in one evening's work

She particularly wanted some really good promo images taking of the red dress she was wearing for use in marketing campaigns to push her business and gain awareness

These will be the last images shot on this course as I will be concentrating more on finishing off all my blogs which will include labeling,adding more content and  adding additional images I have already shot

Shown here are my latest images from the evening shoot shot locally with my model helen. This was a TFP shoot where we both benefited from the photography 

The images were shot with my new Lencarta Safari portable studio light system that I took out on location with me. This was an evening shoot and I had specifically planed this shoot at this time to capture the ambiance of the summer evening skies

The setup cost a me over a £1000 at the time and I thought am I doing the right thing spending this amount of money on a portable lighting setup. But yes I think I can safely justify the costs as I am starting to achieve some really good results which can be seen from some of the images below

The setup allows me to shoot up to 600 watts out on location and even at 200 watts the unit delivers over 2300 pops from a single charge,amazing. Having this amount of power enabled me to shoot even with bright sunny skies as I was able to counter balance the light intensity from the sun and overpower the daylight with my studio heads

I had to consider the health and safety of my model at all times. We had blankets on hand for my model to use between shots when posing as the eveing was getting a little chilly
My model was also using a step ladder in certain shots but I had a collegeue and lighting man on hand during the whole shoot who helped getting my model up and down the steps

I wanted to mix ambient light with a studio quality light out on location and this system allows me to achieve this. I shot and metered the images for the ambient light available then introduced power from the flash heads in increments until the desired effect was achieved. i wanted to use a second flash head as a rim light to light the models hair and side physique. I found I didn't need the second head as the sun did an excellent job for me which can be seen from the top image below 


I had planned this shoot for a long time and had to wait for the right day with the right weather and cloud formations to achieve the desired results. I used photoshop and Bridge to manipulate an embellish my final images chosen from about 200 shots.

The images are now being used in E-commerce and marketed on various websites,social media websites and also used in publicity materials for advertising and promotions
Shown here are some of the images from the shoot

I have slightly sharpened the images in photoshop and cloned out unwanted articles such as telegraph poles and pylons which were a distraction in the images

Shown below is an screen shot of an advert of my model Helen advertising her services on the modelling agency website Purpleport using my images

I will be using a lot of the images produced on this shoot for my own continuing marketing plan which I use to sell my services and products. These will be included on  my website,blogs and printed media to push and advertise my business to greater levels

Shown below are some of the images I used for research and ideas which were copied fron the Internet

Jordan Model shoot

 (Jordan) Male Model Shoot

Under construction

I was commissioned by a work colleague to photograph a relation of her family who has the potential and ambition and to become a male model. Jordan a 13 year old teenager shown here in the college studio is a trendy 13 year old guy with the good looks and the confidence to possibly make some money out of a modelling career.

I used the college Photography studio to produce the images and I worked to a brief which was to produce a set of images which would be good enough to send to model agencies and catalogue companies that require male models on their books

I was given a brief to photograph Jordan in a variety of different outfits ranging from football kits to casual wear in a variety of different poses 

I researched a variety of different model poses which I new would suit a 13 year old teenager,some of these are shown here below:

I used a variety of different lenses for the assignment but the main ones were a Canon 24-105 F4  L series and a Canon 50mm 1.4 usm

Jordan was very nervous at the beginning of the shoot and he found it hard to achieve certain poses which were required in the brief. I new I had to bond with him to form a repour and gain his confidence which would enable him to relax and feel at ease. I find chatting and joking with my subjects helps them to relax and feel at ease. After 20 mins or so behind the camera Jordan started to come out of his shell and I and eventually got the shots I was looking for. 

Shown on this blog are a few images from the shoot which I am quite pleased with. I used the combination of 4 Bowens studio heads with a combination of various soft boxes and beauty dishes to manipulate my lighting setups

I was trying to achieve a type of Butterfly/Paramount lighting which eliminates any shadows on the models face

I used a main modelling light with a soft defuser and a secondary soft box light under construction

Shown here is my studio setup.

The eyes of any portrait are the heart of the image and these have to be pin sharp. If you can include catchlights all the better. I deliberately included catchlights in Jordans eyes when I shot my images, adding catchlights to a subjects eyes gives them a sparkle which makes them stand out from the rest of the image


I used 1 single Af point through my camera view finder,this allowed me to position my focal point on the most critical point of the the image the eye

It's important to form a good rep

our with your subject and to gain their confidence
,showing the recorded images juring playback to my model helps to booste their confidence

Portrait Textures

Shown here are some of my portrait textures which show what can be achieved using various blending, filter and layer techniques using the image manipulation software "Photoshop"

Shown here are a sample of my textures that I have photographed when I'm out at different locations around the country. I find stately homes,castles and old woods etc have provided me with an endless supply of textures

Autumn is a great time of the year to collect textures,there are so many colours, shapes and interesting objects to add to a collection

I have a large collection now of my own textures which I have amassed over the years. Shown here are  are just some of the ones I have incorporated into my textured work

I have captured the screen grabs shown here in the software "bridge" which show some of my catalogues of various textures

Candid Photography

I have been the second photographer at quite a few weddings over the past year now and have been commissioned to provide candid images from these wedding by a colleague of mine

So what is candid photography? candid photography is photography that focuses on spontaneity rather than a technique, which focus on events rather than focusing on setting up a staged situation or pre prepaired  camera setup.

Candid photography is best described as un-posed and unplanned. This is in contrast to classic photography, which includes aspects such as carefully staged portrait photography, landscape photography or still life etc. Candid photography catches moments of life as they happen usually of people when the subject is unaware that a photograph is being taken


The images recorded are often private, they involve people in close relation to something they do, or they involve people's relation to each other. Candids are the kinds of pictures taken at children's birthday parties and on Christmas morning, opening the presents or pictures or what a wedding photographer takes at the reception, of people dancing, eating, and socializing with other. I have included some candid images here.These were taken at some of my most recent  weddings over the last couple of months

The shots above were taken from a local wedding which was planned with a fifties style theme. I find shooting this kind of image has to be taken at the "decisive moment" this is the moment when I feel the shot will have the most amount of impact which can be very rewarding. I find the best shots are always taken when your subject is totally unaware that the shot is being taken. These moments tend to be when the subject is just carrying on with their everyday activities and are just acting naturally. Most of my images tend to be taken from a distance where I am not intrusive to my subject. Posed or preplanned images do not possess any of characteristics that a candid image produces and cannot show the spontaneity, humour,fun etc

Henri Cartier Bresson the famous French photographer might be considered as the master in the art of candid photography, capturing the "decisive moment" in everyday life which he recorded in a unique moment in time.I have tried to capture this "unique moment" in my photography shown above at another wedding I photographed recently

Bec's Yorkshire Wedding

I was asked by Rebecca, a close friend of mine and photographer to be the second photographer for the day at one of her friend's wedding up in Selby, North Yorkshire

I was hired for the day for the shoot  and was paid a nice fee up front for my services

I consider myself to be a good organiser, so had arranged with Rebecca to check out the venues earlier in the day. I pre planned lighting, positioning, weather conditions and checked out all equipment ready for the shooting at 1pm. These checks and precautions are all paramount as to avoid any complications later at the actual wedding.

I checked out the venue of the church well before I arrived in Yorkshire on "Google Maps" on the internet which gave me a good view of the church. From this information I was able to work out certain lighting conditions  and the position of the sun at 1pm on this particular day. I also used  the"street view" in Google which enables you to view and travel along streets and roads which enabled me to build up a picture of the wedding venue

Shown here above is one of my first mistakes, "a one legged best man", even though I was quite pleased with the majority of the results these are just some of the errors that sometimes you don't see in your images. This error was pointed out to me by another photographer, I think it's always best to let another photographer view your work to eliviate these mistakes before print or publication

I was given a brief and shooting list by Rebecca of her requirements for the day which are 

shown detailed below:

Steve to photograph:

The groom and best man:

Getting ready at home

With the wedding car

Arriving at the church

The Church:

Church interior and exterior

Friends arriving at church

The bride and bridesmaids arriving at church

The bride and groom exiting the church

Flowers in the church

The wedding reception venue:

Bride and groom arriving in the wedding car

Groups seated at there tables

Flowers and decorated tables

Cutting of the cake

The first dance

Candid shots of all wedding guests throughout the day

Rebecca to photograph:

Rebecca was to take all of the formal shots of the wedding where the majority  were taken at the  reception venue.The reception had some immaculate gardens which  was the ideal location for the photography

This was my first wedding and what a challenge it was. A red hot day (26C) in brilliant sunshine.One minute full sun a few seconds later full cloud the meter was up and down like a yoyo. We were shooting from 10 in the morning until 9 at night

I used 2 camera's on the day a Canon 7D with a F2.8-17-55 wide angle zoom for most of the shots and a Canon 5D with a F4-70-200 zoom for the close ups. It is absolutely vital that you have at least 2 cameras prepared and ready to shoot on the day

Most of the shots were taken flash using ETTL,adjusting Flash Exposure Compensation to banish the those nasty shadows.

I made a whole lot of mistakes on the day but found this to be a great learning curve. On my next wedding I will be well aware of all the mistakes I made and hopefully produce some much better photography and rectify the things I got wrong

Techniques

Detailed below are some of the techniques that I used on the day to produce the photography

Fillin Flash

The shots above were all taken using fill in flash as the sun was at it's highest point of the day when the wedding started. The harsh sun light above created very harsh shadows underneath people's faces. To rectify this problem I added a small amount of fill in flash to the photo's to take away the shadows from the faces, I used only a small amount of flash, any more would have started to "wash out" the images

I metered first for the ambient light hitting the camera, then slightly underexposed for the shot. Adding a small amount of flash to the under exposed images balances up the light to produce the correct type of exposure

Available Light

The shot below was taken using available light that was streaming through the church windows

I was positioned on a rear balcony at the back of the church. I used a Canod 5D mk11 with a 70-200 L series F4 lens to record the shot. The camera was mounted on a sturdy tripod and I used the largest aperture on the lens which enabled me to let in the maximum amount of light available and to use quite a fast shutter speed to prevent any blurring of the image. Shown below is some of the meta data of the shot captured in photoshop.    

I decided to add another dimension to some of my images by adding a photography technique called  "Coulour Popping", this is a technique that I use regularly in Photoshop. The technique involves making a stack of various layers which are then masked to reveal various colours which are exposed from the underlying layers by removing parts of the mask and letting the colour "pop" through

Another technique that I added to some of the images was "Vignetting", an occurrence that is evident on some photo's which produce a dark encroachment on the edges of an image. This is produced as the light of the image falls off towards hedge of the photo

This is normally attributed to using cheap lenes or tele photo zoom lenses that obstruct the field of view which produce the dark edges unsightly edges on images

However, this type of obstruction on the image can be used creatively to produce a dark atmospheric ambience, when used wisely this produces an added dimension to various images. I have applied a small amount of vignetting to the image above together with some dodging and burning

Taken with ambient light F8 1/125 sec 800 ISO

Shown here are some of the other images of the day. The wedding couple requested a selection of various candid shots of the wedding which would depict the happiness and ambience of their special day