The last few weeks have been a struggle and thats putting it lightly, but things are on the up and plans for what comes next have come more and more to the forefront of my mind. With this then I will start my blog today with some testing for a project I am looking to do in the near future.

Starting off for this test shoot, I set up one off camera speedlight on a tripod, and then on a separate tripod, I set up my 5D MKIII with the 35mm F/1.4 lens. I started with some standard shots, using the white wall to create a high key effect. Using myself as the subject. (see above)

Once I was happy with the set up, I began the tests. I used a remote shutter to operate the camera and started to play around with multiple exposure images. There was a lot of trial and error in this process as some images worked better than others. All final images were made in camera and not stacked in post processing.

As I got used to the process, I started to understand what worked and what didn't work. The images that seemed to work best were when using 2 or 3 separate exposures (see below). Some tests did not work quite so well, as you can see in the series of images above.

Following on from doing these tests, I have taken a lot of inspiration recently from other photographers, and have been looking a lot more into their processes, and what inspires them. One of these that I have taken particular interest in is a photographer called Luke Stephenson. He is someone that came to my attention a few months ago on a trip to Selfridges (randomly), where he has a walk through exhibition, made up of a series of images of birds (see below). This simple idea of a series of images really struck me, and got me thinking of ways I could also look at creating a series of images along these lines.

These images, and others like them gave me the lift I needed, and gave me lots of ideas that hopefully I will be able to talk about in the near future. This is just the start of the process that I hope to share with everyone soon.

Moving on from this side of my photography, I have also spent a lot of time over the past month or so away from home, taking as many photos as possible. One such place has been bushy park, where the deer have had their foals, and have hid them in the long grass. I will miss living so close to a place like this, which I have taken for granted over the past few years. I know I will return as it is a place that is close to my heart.

Even this Damselfly that got trapped in my flat, got the photography treatment so nothing has been safe from my camera. My 100mm Macro was on my camera the moment I saw it land (I did let it go after). 

I have of course also been out using my new fisheye lens as well. I have found the limitations of this lens, and at the same time seen the potential in what this lens can do. Last weekend I took a trip over to Greenwich with the boys for the day, and tried to use the fisheye as much as possible, to see where it worked, and where it did not.

You can see from the images above, just how much this lens takes in. This does make it tricky sometimes as the lens quite literally takes in too much, but when you do get it right, it produces some dramatic results.

Another Lens that I took out with me was the 70-200mm F/4. Now this is a lens that I have not used nearly enough, and have been undecided about it for a long time. Its now by far my cheapest lens and does not have either image stabilization or a Low F stop. This has meant i have not used it for weddings and if i do need a longer lens, I have taken the 135mm F/2 out instead. 

All Images above and below, taken with the 70-200mm F/4

As you can see from the portrait, landscape and mix of action shots above, in good lighting this lens is tac sharp, its versatile, and light for its size. I really should use it more, but I don't due to having the 135mm and the 100mm lenses in my bag. I have seriously considered upgrading this lens to the F/2 model with image stabilization, but that lens is £1800 new, which is a massive jump just for IS and F/2. It would work very well for weddings which does make this lens a serious contender. I could always sell the 135mm and this 70-200mm in order to finance this lens but I love the 135mm which stays on my second body for weddings pretty much all day. Its a tough one because I found myself using this lens a lot on the day due to its zoom versitility.

FIN