24/10/2008 by jim.

It was slow getting off the ground trying to arrange appointments throughout the “Summer” month(s), however the project is now taking shape with some 30 portraits in the can.
I have put them on a web site here.
There are loads more subjects in the pipeline so this project looks like it will be growing rather larger than expected.
I will now have to give some serious thought about presentation. This will be my first solo exhibition so it will be a steep learning curve.

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11/10/2008 by jim.

For years I have been trying to find Hadrians Wall, usually while coming back from somewhere else, but I always seemed to miss it. A very elusive wall!
This year we made a determined effort to find it and set off to Northumberland for a few days holiday in October. I went with a view of getting one shot of the wall that I had in my mind and, to that end, I am quite pleased.
As a photographer I am never sure whether I have had a good holiday until I get to look at the photographs - how sad.

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24/09/2008 by jim.

Sometimes you just get lucky.
There was a lot to think about to get this shot.
I knew roughly where the fireworks were going to be before they went of but not exactly so camera positioning was a but of a guesstimate. I tried three different camera positions but did not have a tripod with me just my beanbag for a 2 second exposure.
I was shooting in the dark trying to get a good exposure balance between the illuminated fountains and the fireworks in the background. Focusing was turned to manual. Exposure also manual at 2″@f5.6. I needed a low viewpoint to get reflections in the water so the beanbag was on the grass. I got a pretty decent set of photos but one in particular stood out.
I would love to say that I had asked a newly engaged couple to stand where they stood on the bridge and have a little smooch but that was the lucky bit. My thanks to them for making this shot a special one.

This is a straight shot with no Photoshop manipulation to balance fireworks and fountains.

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13/07/2008 by jim.

“People of Spalding” - Arts project. (Current working title)

I am hoping to start a new photographic project that involves taking portraits of people who play a positive role in Spalding life. These individuals may not necessarily be well known public figures but they must have one unifying quality – their positive attitude towards local life.

The aim is to show the people of Spalding who have and communicate a positive social commitment in their working or everyday life. Initially I am hoping to hold an exhibition of these photographs at the Geest Gallery in Ayscoughfee Hall and future uses could include further exhibitions, an E-Book or, hopefully, published as a printed book.

The exclusivity of these photographs for use in this project and this project alone is very important. Although I am probably best known in Spalding as a newspaper photographer you can be assured that photographs generated for this project will never appear in any other context than this intended use. Both sitter and myself will sign a model release form from that restricts the use of the portraits for this purpose and none other.

This is not a political, commercial or cultural project and although many subjects will have interests in these fields, my aim is to show individual members of a vibrant society in a positive light. I will want to photograph these people in their relevant environment but the pictorial emphasis is very much on the individual rather than the place setting. There will be a unifying pictorial style that will entail a high professional approach to each portrait sitting. No priority will be given to any individual, inclusions are anticipated to be in alphabetical order not social status.

Initially at least all costs for this project will covered by myself and there will never be any sitting fees charged. If the project grows to such an extent that it requires financial support I may apply for any Arts grants that may be available but commercial funding will not be an option. This must remain a totally independent project free from political or commercial pressures. The only funding that will be accepted will be from companies involved in the actual production process such as exhibition venues, printing and framing services etc.

Whilst the choice of individuals will include some obvious high profile examples, many may not be in the public eye. I hope that as this project gathers momentum more sitters will be suggested to me. I do not wish these people to be seen as my personal list of preferences nor as a Who’s Who of Spalding.

If you think that somebody who deserves to feature in this project please get in touch with me.

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10/07/2008 by jim.

This modest young lady has won 107 sporting medals plus a Squadron sword and I needed a shot that was a bit special for the story. We went out onto the track but that was a bit shabby so we found the best spot that we could and laid the medals out.
In order to hide the condition of the track I underexposed the ambient by 1.5 stops and selected Tungsten colour balance on the camera. This would make the track dark and blue making it recede (hopefully).
I then used a full CTO on the main flash (Canon 580ex) to the left of camera. As it was windy I used a bare flash rather than a shoot through brolly.
I then placed a second flash (Canon 430ex) on the ground, behind the young lady, zoomed in to 105mm.
These were sync’d with Elinchrom Sky ports.
This lighting managed to hide the shabby track and make our subject look like the hero she really is.

Posted in Strobist, General photography | No Comments »

24/06/2008 by jim.

Don’t you just love High School theatrical productions. I certainly do, especially from a photographic point of view. Loads of youngsters dressed in character and willing to strike a pose. It just makes my life so easy that I want to produce something a little bit special for them using Strobist off camera lighting techniques.
For the lighting of this shot I used a Canon 580ex speedlite through an umberella, above and to camera right, set on half power with a half CTO filter.
The background was lit with a 430ex zoomed in to tighten the beam and on 1/16th power.
The camera was on manual; 1/80th at f8 ISO 400 and sync’d with Elinchrom Skyports.

I have only recently changed over from Bowens Pulsars to Elinchrom Skyports to sync the lights and I must say that I am very pleased with them. Very light and compact and so far, very reliable. A big plus is that when I use my big Ranger RX Speed lighting gear, I also get remote control of the power output from the camera.

Posted in Strobist, Lighting 102, General photography | No Comments »

15/06/2008 by jim.

In full Sun it is difficult to avoid burnt out highlights and deep shadows so I always use fill-in flash. This can end up with a flat looking image if the flash is left on top of the camera or if you use the built in flash most cameras have.
Getting the flash off the camera and balancing it with the daylight evens out the dynamic range of the photograph and also lets you keep the shape and modeling in the subjects face.
In this shot the Sun was strong and coming from camera right. The sky was interesting so I adjusted the camera exposure to keep detail in the fluffy clouds. The easiest way to do this was to observe the exposure while the camera was set to aperture mode, then change to manual mode and decrease the exposure by 1.5 stops.
I then set up a flash (Canon 430EX) on a stand to camera left set to slave mode.
I used a second flash (Canon 530EX) set to master mode on a manfrotto bracket on the camera that enabled me to lift the flash about 12 inches above the camera. This was sync’d with a Canon shoe cord.
Using the flash ratio controls on the master flash, I set the flash to the left to be 2 stops brighter (4:1) than the flash on top of the camera.
As a result the main light for the shot is the the flash to camera left. Next is the Sun at -1.5 stops and then the camera (fill-in) flash at -2 stops. Effectively, I am using 3 lights including the Sun.
You can see that the image maintains detail in the sky and the subject has got a face with contours and shape.

In another version of the shot I used the trees in the background, underexposed by 1.5 stops again, to give me a dark back drop.
The main light was to camera left and the fill was on top of camera at -2 stops. The Sun in this shot was directly behind the subject.

I hope this gives some insight into using flash in bright Sunlight.
Have fun.

Posted in Strobist, Lighting 102, General photography | No Comments »

03/06/2008 by jim.

As most of my photography is done on location these days, the vagaries of the English weather play a large role in my life. Weather forecasts these days are very limited and you can get most of the information by looking out of your window.
I do however like to analyse weather trends and try to do my own forecasts. I decided to modernise my own weather station and put the collected data onto my web site for anyone interested in Spalding weather to view.
You can find my weather station output here;
www.weather.photoimagery.co.uk
I make no promises that it will improve the weather but at least you can tell what is going on outside my window.

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20/05/2008 by jim.

It’s great when you get one of those jobs that just calls out for a little something extra to lift it out of the ordinary.
I was covering a Romany Travellers awareness event at Gordon Boswells Museum and those wagons are so colourful you just can’t wait to pour light all over them. I decided to exercise some restraint and held back the light from various areas and then add a CTO gelled light inside the wagon.
Add to that a photogenic couple of models and I was a happy bunny.

Posted in Strobist, Lighting 102, General photography | No Comments »

13/02/2008 by jim.

In my opinion there has only been one reason to listen to a DAB radio and that certainly is not, the much hyped, Hi-Fi quality.

Most radio stations play content at quite a low bit rate comparable to low quality downloads. The only reason that stations get away with playing such lo-Fi is that most listeners tune in on a glorified tranny radio and you cannot hear the music properly.

No, it’s Planet Rock, a great station that is on most of the time in my house. Now it is up for sale and may well close down - strike one.

Strike two - The DAB standard is changing soon to DAB+ and most radios that have been sold so far will not even be able to decode the new format. Some are supposed to be capable of upgrades via a USB socket but whether the new standard will be supported is dubious.

DAB radio has been a fiasco for radio stations and the whole system is now under threat.

Posted in Rants, General photography | No Comments »