Stortford Music Festival

14 May 2013 in Events, Stage Photography | Permalink

I cover a number of music festivals during the season but most are around the middle or end of Summer, so it was great to be able to cover the Stortford Music Festival over the Mayday bank holiday this year.

The two-day event took place on St.Mary’s School field in Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford and featured three stages, a beer tent, children’s entertainment and the usual selection of festival stalls selling vintage clothes, jewellery, sunglasses, airbrushed tattoos, hair braiding, face painting and more.

As with all festivals I make a point of photographing not only the performers, but the fans, traders, stewards and everyone and everything that makes a successful festival what it is.

Events like these are of course great places to meet people and I always make sure I have an adequate supply of business cards (I come away with as many as I give away).

I always post my festival photos on Facebook and it’s always gratifying to see how much people appreciate my pictures. I also often post my photos on the artists and traders’ own Facebook pages. Links to the Facebook galleries are below.

Stortford Music Festival Day 1
Stortford Music Festival Day 2

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Fitted Kitchens

27 April 2013 in Interiors | Permalink

Photographing interiors is something I’ve always enjoyed so I was delighted to be asked to photograph a fitted kitchen for local company Clover Kitchens. The business is a family-run concern that installs quality kitchens and my brief was to photograph a recent installation, with the images being used on the web and in promotional materials to illustrate the quality of fittings and workmanship that the business provides.

It goes without saying that interiors need to be presented at their best, so the location has to be clean, tidy and free from domestic debris before the session begins. I often use a checklist and walk around the location to make sure that surfaces are clean, doors and windows are closed where necessary and the scene is generally uncluttered. I pay particular attention to reflective surfaces – smears  and marks on reflective surfaces can will show up in photographs and whilst these can often be fixed in post-productions it’s better to get the shot right in the camera to start with.

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Dial M For Manual

16 April 2013 in Features | Permalink

I learned the basics of photography as a teenager, when I bought my first proper camera – a Zenith E. This was a solid and popular no-nonsense 35mm SLR from Russia. There are no fancy settings or buttons on the Zenith, just a light meter, a dial for selecting the shutter speed and a ring on the lens to select aperture. In the viewfinder was a little needle that indicated if there was too much or too little light for the current exposure settings.  The idea was to adjust either the shutter speed or aperture to achieve the correct exposure. It was an excellent beginners’ camera that provided the perfect platform for understanding exposure and the relationship between aperture and shutter speed.

Despite the fact the modern cameras come with a wealth of automatic settings and modes, I still often prefer to shoot in manual, allowing me to select not only the aperture and shutter speeds but also the ISO (light sensitivity) and white balance. This means that I can choose the best configuration for the particular scene that I’m shooting, rather than letting the camera make a decision based on a programmed formula.

Cameras of course can’t see. They can only make judgements based on the light entering the camera through the lens. They have no idea if the image is a portrait, a sports action shot or a landscape. Certainly they can feature modes that give some indication to the camera’s software of the type of shot being taken, but they’re still generic conditions and therefore predetermined settings. They still don’t take full account of the particular scene or the specific requirements of the photographer.

By way of an example, the image above was taken at an aperture of f2.8 to give a shallow depth of field, with a shutter speed of 1/50th sec at ISO200. The light source was a fluorescent tube. If the camera had been set to automatic it would have chosen a smaller aperture and underexposed the image due to the brightness of the white background. As well as manually controlling the exposure I also set the focus point myself, rather than letting the camera’s autofocus system decide which part of the image should be sharpest. This allowed me to guide the viewers eye to the mode dial on the subject camera.

If you’re interested in finding out more about SLR photography, there’s a good series of starter guides on the Digital SLR Photography website.

Website Photography

8 April 2013 in Product Photography | Permalink

In addition to product photography I also provide service related images for websites and other marketing materials. This is similar to stock photography but specifically tailored to a client’s needs.

The image on the right was produced for a client who specialises in cookery classes and was looking for an image to use on her website. She knew what she wanted but was unable to easily source a stock image. I was able to produce an image to her specification at an affordable price that will be unique to her business and which she’ll be able to us in a variety of ways, without having to worry about restrictive licensing conditions.

As well as providing images that relate to specific business functions, I can also provide photos of premises, staff and other business related imagery that can be used in promotional materials.

If you’re interested in sourcing photographs for your website, why not contact me for a competitive quotation.

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The Library

31 March 2013 in Features | Permalink

This is a selection of photography books that I’ve accumulated over time. I use them mostly for browsing or reference, although I have read the odd one or two cover-to-cover. I’d recommend any one of them to anyone interested in photography.

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Photoshop CS6: The Missing Manual  Published by O’Reilly, The Missing Manuals series is a highly regarded collection covering a wide variety of software products (and increasingly hardware and wider technical issues and practices, offering a smarter alternative to The Dummies… Guides). This 800 page volume covers everything from The Basics to advanced photoediting and image creation for the web. It’s a great reference work that’s well laid out and simple to understand.

PhotoIdeaIndex:Things  I picked this up at a secondhand bookshop in Letchworth. It’s a collection of mostly abstract images of everyday scenes. It’s a great book for ideas and how to train the eye to see things in a different way. Each chapter covers a different theme, concept or approach to photographing objects or landscapes.

50 Photo Icons  This book takes a historical look at the background to 50 iconic images, starting with Niépce’s 1827 View From The Study Window, the earliest known surviving photograph. The weighty tome goes on to discuss a further 49 images up to the September 11th attack on The Twin Towers. This is a book about images and their context, and how they relate to the period they were taken.

The New Manual of Photography  Just one of 30 books by award-winning photographer John Hedgecoe, this book covers every aspect of photography, from the construction of digital cameras, lenses, filters, exposure, composition, lighting and retouching. It’s an excellent book for both beginners and experienced photographers.

The Trees

27 March 2013 in Portraiture | Permalink

I’ve photographed plenty of live music over the years but only recently have I been asked to do promotional shoots for bands. Whilst I was covering last year’s Wilkestock I was asked to take some candid shots for Frankie The Gambler. Then a couple of months later I was approached by The Trees to produce a selection of shots for promotional use. The band already had a clear idea of what the wanted, having found a group of four trees in the middle of a field (there are four members of the band). Costume wasn’t an issue either as they knew exactly the look they wanted. It probably also helped that it was Autumn, a season often associated with trees!

Thankfully the weather was good for the day of the shoot – cloudy with sunny spells. I had already visited the site beforehand to get an idea of the lay of the land, the angle of the sun and most promising compositions.

I wanted to get shots of the band both close up and featuring each member against a tree (although that may have been their idea come to think of it!). Two of my favourite shots shown below illustrate both of these ideas.

I particularly like this shot of the band as it shows them all together but somehow all doing their own thing, with Sam staring off into the distance and David’s glance towards Rick. For me it has echoes of my Frankie The Gambler shot, both images showing the band as a group but also as individuals.

This shot shows each member of the band standing against one of the four trees. In reality the trees were actually much further apart when viewed from this angle so I had to move them closer together using Photoshop.

All of the finished shots feature a little cross-processing. I generally don’t touch the blue channel when adjusting the colours, concentrating on just the the red and green channels. I also tweaked the vibrance to bring out the orange leaves against the green grass.

I’m now looking forward to further commissions, maybe with more scope for art direction. If you’re interested in some promotional images why not get in touch.

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Are You CRB Checked?

17 March 2013 in Services | Permalink

Clients sometimes ask if I’m CRB checked. The short answer to this question is “yes”, although CRB checks were replaced with DBS checks with the establishment of the Disclosure and Barring Service in December 2012.

However, there area few myths about these checks, most often surrounding who requires them and where they’re needed.

Firstly, you can’t apply for a check yourself. This is the duty of an employer or organisation responsible for children’s welfare. This means that individuals and self employed people cannot obtain a CRB check themselves. It has to be done by the organisation employing or contracting them,.

Secondly, a CRB check is not necessary for photographing children. It is only necessary for people who are responsible for the care of vulnerable individuals or groups. Typically this means that photographers can work with children as long as they are supervised. However, any photographer working regularly with children benefits from having been checked as this provides customers with an added level of assurance.

As a self-employed person I am not able to apply for a CRB check myself. However, an educational establishment for whom I do regular work has performed an enhanced check with the Disclosure & Barring Service, which provides me with the necessary certification.

Fume Cupboards

9 March 2013 in Product Photography | Permalink

A couple of weeks ago I took some shots for a Hertford business that manufactures fume cupboards and associated accessories.

The brief was to photograph the units from the front and present them on a white background for use in literature and on the web. The work took place at the client’s factory.

A couple of challenges presented themselves with this assignment. Firstly, the cupboards have highly reflective surfaces; and secondly, they feature lots of horizontal and vertical lines.

The reflective surfaces are made up of white gloss paintwork and windows. The challenge is to place the lighting such that reflections and shadows are minimal. The cabinets are also lit internally so there is also an additional matter of balancing lighting temperatures and intensity.

The straight lines of the units mean that the camera has to be positioned to get the correct perspective and minimise geometric distortion. Unfortunately space was limited with one of the cupboards and therefore it was necessary to tweak the perspective in Photoshop.

The units where lit with a pair of 400W strobes and exposure was manual, using an aperture of around f5.6 to f8.

As well as correcting perspective and geometry in Photoshop, I also made the usual tweaks to the colour curves, before isolating the cupboards from the background.

If you’re a business and Hertfordshire or Essex and you need images of products like this then find out more by visiting my Product Photography page.

Lomo Effect

26 February 2013 in Uncategorized | Permalink

A effect commonly used in the digital darkroom is that of lomography. This is an effect that emulates the results produced by the Russian Lomo camera, which typically gives saturated cross-processed images with a vignette. Other features can include light leaks and lens flare.

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You can see the original photo by hovering your mouse over the image above.

You’ll often find Lomo filters in photo editing software, such as Picasa. It is also the basis of many Instagram images. The look is often thought of as retro.

The find our more about Lomography visit www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/what-is-lomography.

Guitar Making Classes

19 February 2013 in Music, Premises, Product Photography | Permalink

A word I often like to use to describe my photography is “observational“. This can mean photographing people, their environment, and the things they surround themselves with, either personally or professionally. Yesterday was a good example of this kind of work, when I was invited to photograph Nick Blishen at his workshop in Hertford.

Nick is an accomplished guitar maker and lectures on the subject at London Metropolitan University. I was asked to provide some promotional shots for forthcoming classes in guitar making being offered by a local music retailer.

The setting I was given was ideal – informal and relaxed, with a handful of visitors taking an interest in the various stages of the craft. I was able to photograph Nick chatting and talking about his work, as well as focusing (quite literally) on some of the tools and work in progress. The workshop was also light and airy so there was no need any artificial lighting.

The shots were delivered to the client the next day after post-production editing.

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