A late blog from me this evening as I have just got back from shooting a panto – Babes in the Wood – at my local theatre. I thought I would share how I shoot these productions, I’ve probably shot about 100 shows now including drama, musicals and dance shows. The main thing to remember is you can’t use flash, the theatres don’t like it and it...
Learn MoreA really quick tip today as I am engrossed in Lightroom 4 beta and putting together a full blog post for next week on it’s improvements over Lightroom 3. If you are shooting classic formal shots then it is a good idea to get some safe shots in the can (well the digital version of the can!) before trying any dynamic angles. Here are the 3 guides, and remember these...
Learn MoreCurrently on my Kindle – the iPad app and not the reader – among many other photography books is one by David Duchemin; Refining your vision in Adobe Lightroom. This is not another Lightroom instruction manual, and David makes it clear in his introduction that it doesn’t mater if you use Lightroom, Aperture or some other RAw converter what he is...
Learn MoreIf you are anything like me you’ll end up with messages from models from several different websites plus email all about one shoot. You start on Purestorm, then you get a message on Facebook and eventually you swap to email. Add to that photos and details of locations, discussions with MUAs and stylists and it becomes a nightmare! It’s made worse when you are...
Learn MoreThere are several plugins that I use regularly and Nik Color Efex is one of them. The latest version is a leap forward as you can now stack filters within the application and then save them as recipes. I know that you can probably create the same effects with curves and layers in Photoshop but Color Efex is much quicker. The danger with any plugin is that the looks...
Learn MoreOK, I am going to completely contradict my blog from earlier this week and recommend you shoot less! Now I am not saying you should do this on a full-time basis but I suggest you try this once this week. Set your camera to a pre defined ISO based on what you are going to shoot, just like you did when you made the choice of film you were going to load. Switch off or tape...
Learn MoreI picked this up from working with actors and now use it on a lot of shoots, especially upper body and close head shots. Before you start ask your model, or if you are a model to try to get the photographer to join you, in a few basic face exercises. If you have an MUA etc get them to join in as it not only relaxes your subjects face but can get everyone relaxed. 1....
Learn MoreJust finalised the dates for all the workshops at Village Studios this year. There are still a few to add as I am developing some new workflow and post processing ones. I thought I would get a list up here as a few people have asked me when and what will be happening. The online booking forms for all the courses should be up in the next few days but feel free to email me...
Learn MoreThis is the ideal workshop for everyone that got a shiny new DSLR for Christmas! The aim of this one day workshop is to get you away from all the program modes and start thinking about exposure and how to control it. The day starts with a classroom based session when we explore camera controls and cover some basics of composition, exposure etc. We then go out on location...
Learn MoreBack in the days of film we all worked to the number of frames on a roll, I always had the cost of film and processing in my mind each time I pressed the shutter. Now with digital, pixels are almost free so it makes sense to shoot as much as you can. Henri Cartier-Bresson, the godfather of Street Photography, once said: “Your first 10,000 photographs are your...
Learn MoreI’ve been using this for a while now and it is really handy way of pulling interesting blogs and websites into one easy to manage front end. With Zite you create your own magazine but rather than me try and explain have a look at their video: And it’s FREE!
Learn MoreI’ve decided to start taking more photos with my iPhone this year, I am even attempting a photo a day which I’ll upload to both my Facebook and Google+ profiles. Currently I have the iPhone 4 but having been rather impressed with the 4s camera quality, I feel one of those might be on it’s way. But that is not my tip for today. Whilst trawling around the...
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