Wow, I haven’t blogged all year. OK, so it’s only February, but it still counts. Activity here has been really sparse, huh? I should do something about that. Courtesy of WordPressDash I should, hopefully, blog more often. Of course, having the means doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll have the time or the ideas of what to write. Watch this space, I guess.
I’ve been shooting a fair amount of portraits recently. I’ve done several photo shoots with Laura Britten: an upcoming star in the modelling world (find her at True Model Media). My work with Laura has covered fashion, Trash the Dress (more on that soon), swimwear and lingerie. Every shoot has been a real pleasure with Laura being professional to the core. I should also give a warm mention to Kirsti, who modelled with Laura on the swimwear & lingerie shoot. Kirsti was beautiful and as professional and fun-loving as Laura. Working with the two of them really was a treat. Here are some photos from that shoot:
One thing that is important when working with a model is knowing how to illicit certain responses from them. With Laura I was aiming for sultry, temptress looks and so I needed to find out what makes her tick. For any other photographers reading this who want to work with Laura, I’m about to let you in on a trade secret:
Laura reacts best to “pizza” and “kebab”.
No, really!
OK, so I’m doing Laura a dis-service there, because the truth is that, as I’ve already said, she’s a professional to the core. However this shocking food-based revelation came out during a recent shoot with her, so I promised her that it would make the blog :-)
More recently I’ve shot a more alternative session with Tanya. She stepped up to the plate when I mentioned that I was after someone to do a more alternative shoot, and she certainly delivered. The photos are quite dark and moody, but very sexy all the same (and why, pray tell, does it always sound dodgy when a guy refers to a photo shoot as “sexy”? Also, suggestions for better words in a comment please). The photos from Tanya’s shoot are still going through post-processing, so you’ll have to wait to see the best of those, but here’s a sneak preview:
Before Christmas I took pictures of the local Toy Run. For those who don’t know this is a gathering of local bikers who congregate at one of the village pubs before riding to the local children’s wards, each carrying a toy for Christmas. I was asked to do this for the local newsletter: Village Voice. Little did I know how big this event would be! Hundreds of motorbikes turned out and, given the amount of time I had, I certainly had a tough job on my hands capturing as much as I could before they all rode off. Hopefully Village Voice will ask me back again this year. If so I already have some ideas in mind for some great photos. Now that I know what to expect I’d be working a lot closer with the organisers to arrange some spectacular photos which really give an impression of the size of the event. In the mean time, here’s a couple of shots from the day.
More can be found on my flickr stream.
Of course, shooting portraits and charity events just isn’t enough for me! Noooo, I’ve been out shooting landscapes too. Last November I headed out for bonfire night to capture the local fireworks. The technique for this is relatively simple, but requires a few attempts to get the best results. Essentially you simply put your camera on a tripod, open the shutter using the bulb setting and then hold a piece of card in front of the lens for the periods when the fireworks aren’t happening. You whip the card away for the fireworks and, basically, rinse & repeat. Here’s an example from last November:
Also it would be wrong of me to not make the most of being outside with my camera. I really enjoy playing with low light/night time photography. The results can be quite atmospheric:
More can be found on my flickr stream.
My most recent landscapes were taken just the other week, when I rushed out of the door to catch the last of the day’s light. Sunset photos can be truly lovely, with the rich, warm colours of the evening sky as the sun goes on its way to the other side of the globe. Luckily I managed to get set up in time to capture the last of the light, as you can see here:
As ever, more can be found on my flickr stream.
Finally, no blog post about photography is complete without mentioning the kids. Well, OK, it is, as I’ve proved several times over on this blog so far, but shush :-)
Bethan is now 2 years old, which is pretty amazing stuff. She is getting to know the back of daddy’s camera almost as well as the front of it. It makes life slightly trickier when I want to take a photo of her these days because rather than giving me a big grin and saying “cheeeeeese” she now looks at me and says “want to push the button”. *sigh*. Still, occasionally I get lucky, and I get some gems like this one below:
Harri is now almost 7 months old and is just starting to sit up on his own. He’s a very smily, happy baby who is almost always willing to grin for the camera. I say almost always because he’s not quite as used to the camera as Bethan, so sometimes he gets a little unsure about it and has a bit of a whinge. Bless. Still, he remains a photogenic little man:
More of Bethan and Harri can, naturally, be found on my flickr stream.
Well, I think that’s your lot for now. Don’t forget that if you want hints and tips on improving your own photography you should head over to the Digital Photography School, where I’m about to go to see if there’s another article-writing opportunity. Watch this space!
Ta-ra.
