Serendipity
Ok, well a lot to get through with this blog entry, with May being crazy busy, and even dare I say it warm. This has meant I have had the chance to get out and photograph a variety of places and basically very much enjoy myself. There has been weddings, BBQ's in the sun, a road trip to the cotswold's, a shoot in a gorge, fun in some fields, some new lighting techniques, a royal wedding to critique, and even a new family member to meet. So lets crack on then, starting with Cheddar Gorge.
Cheddar Gorge - Stitched panoramic (5 images) - 24-70mm at 24mm
Couple at the top of the gorge 24-70mm at 24mm
After Hiking to the top of the Gorge in the heat of the day, we were met with amazing views of the surrounding countryside, the issue I found was finding a subject to photograph within this environment. The views were beautiful don't get me wrong, but on a hot hazy day, there just wasn't anything much to focus on that really caught my attention. I managed to take a few images, such as the panoramic above, and the wild sheep and climber below, but in all I just couldn't find inspiration/composition that I was happy with in the environment I was in.
semi wild sheep found throughout the gorge. (400mm lens)
Rock climber shot with 400mm
No Bluebells this year for me, but I did finally get an opportunity to (very quickly) photograph a large field of rapeseed. I shot all the images on my 24-70mm lens, and was able to try out several compositions before having to leave the farmers field. I did also play around very briefly with the F stop, settling in the end for around F 14 or above for most of the images, to get all before me in focus. I would love the opportunity one day to have more time in fields like this and shoot with some sort of subject. It would be great for a portrait, or finding a field with some form of foreground interest such as a tree to give some perspective and dynamism to the image.
using the macro feature of the lens at 70mm
As well as landscapes, my camera was out again across the bank holiday weekend to capture some of my Bristol friends enjoying the sun. The BBQ images below were all shot on my 70-200mm lens.
A few of the guys also took a trip to the Cotswolds which was crazy busy very warm, and as it turned out very noisy... I of course took my camera, paired with my trusty 35mm lens. I spent a lot of the time In the river itself at Bourton-On-The-Water, which runs through the centre of the village, and is only about a foot deep so great to wade down on a hot day and take some candid pictures.
The Image above shows me pushing my luck, putting the camera as close to the water as possible to get a slightly different view of this beautiful river on a hot bank holiday weekend.
Back in the studio, I have been looking at different lighting techniques, and playing around with different colours using colour gels. I also finally got my hands on a cheap light metre reader which should make getting the correct exposure a lot easier in a studio environment. Sadly this was all interrupted when one of my flash guns stopped working, so will have to save for a new, and better flash than the Yongnuo flash I already had, which has been temperamental since day one. My trusty Canon has never let me down but are triple the price, so its one colour gel images for a while.
Sekonic L308-S Light Meter in my studio
Flash Colour Gels
I did however use both of these new acquisitions for a series of Images based on spring flowers. Using a black background, the single flash, coloured gels, and some blossom.
by changing the gel, I was able to create a series of images that are identical except in colour. Printed out they look amazing as a series or individually.
Spring series for my MOFFINK collection
There was also a royal wedding, which meant there was some wedding photos to check out, and in this case get very annoyed at. The official images were taken by Alexi Lubomirski, who had also shot the couples engagement pictures so was called into action once again. Sadly however for a set of images that shows the height of a professional photographers power, I was very much unimpressed and disappointed in such a historic moment being captured so poorly.
By Alexi Lubomirski©
By Alexi Lubomirski©
Starting with first two images (above), I would like to point out a couple of issues I have. First of all the composition, its just not that great, the angle toward the door, the slightly off balance slope everyone is on, and the overly obtrusive light in the centre of the image all make me wonder why? surely he would have had time to pick his composition well before the guests arrived, surely he could have not got the backs of peoples heads in the mirror, (see first image) and surely he could have not cropped off the flower girl's at the edges of the image dresses. The second image (above), even has one of the page boys leaning in like he just ran in and wanted to get in the shot at the last minute. Surely he could have posed them better and at least got him to stand up properly. Again we have one of the flower girls not looking, and even looking disinterested as if something out of shot is going on that is far more important.
Harry & Megan - Alexi Lubomirski©
This brings me onto the next image of Harry and Megan. Where do I start with this picture, its just awful. First of all cutting off his arm is crazy, why this has been done I do not know, it looks sloppy and jarring. Secondly she is way too over exposed, and there is no contrast In his face either. As well as this it seems like just as the flower-girl was before, its now Megan who looks to be more interested in something going on off camera and not on the photo at hand. I literally think I could have taken this image with my Iphone thats how bad I think this image is, and to think this guy got paid literally thousands for these 6 images really pisses me off. The issue I have now is that people are so used to seeing crap photos like this, that they can't even distinguish when a photo is good or bad.
The Images below, of Queen Elizabeth II on her own and with the youngest of the Royals, was taken by another famous Photographer, Annie Leibovitz. Just look at the difference, if your going to pay top $$ she would have made a far better choice, she knows how to pose someone and her use of light and framing is far more impressive, complex and thoughtful. The first image was taken in the same room as Harry's wedding photos, and yet the difference is stark. You can read so much more into her images, for example the mirror in the first image below does not show backs of heads, instead it shows the idea of infinity, with the clock perfectly placed at the centre of the image, maybe representing the passage of time. This Image was commissioned for the queens 90th birthday and sees her surrounded by the future of the monarchy, so I read into this as a touching symbol of the passage of time, and the continuation of the Royal Family. The use of colour is also much more thought out, with the green of the room not overpowering the image due to the subjects wearing anything but green. If you know or have an inkling the Queen is going to wear green, maybe don't use a room that is green for the official portraits, believe me there are far more rooms they could use in the castle. But then i'm sure Mr Lubomirski was far too busy attending the wedding to think about such things...
Queen Elizabeth II with grand and great grandchildren - Annie leibovitz©
Queen Elizabeth II Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz©
Finally, ending this blog it was time to meet the newest member of the family, and soon to be most photographed dog on Earth....
Looking grumpy
Hetty is a Dalmatian puppy who at this point in time loves to sleep, play and sleep again in quick succession. I tried various techniques with her over the course of a few days to capture her as she started to get used to life in what must be an overwhelming change for her. The issue I immediately found was with her eyes. The majority of the time she decided opening them fully was far too much trouble, leaving a large amount of images leaving her looking either very tired, grumpy looking or stoned.
Once she is allowed out of the house in a few weeks, I will be able to take her out in the country or onto the beaches. It will also be nice to see the progression of her growing up too and hopefully more images of her with her eyes fully open, here's hoping....
FIN
