In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Photoshoot
So last week I was asked to do a photo shoot for my boss’s shop.
It’s a Boutique in Bradford selling asian fashion. and to be honest, I was nervous. I’ve not done any studio type shoots before, it’s certainly not my favourite branch of photography, but I agreed to do it non the less.
So I got my backdrop stands, reflectors, flash heads and everything else sorted and set up the makeshift studio. It was a little difficult as I had to set up right in front of a full length window. Luckily the sun was on the other side of the building so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The models took ages to get ready. I mean they took a long time. Initially I thought it was a makeup and hair delay. But the Sari’s took some getting into for them, and the amount of changes they had to do all contributed to long waits between shots.
A couple of the models where great, one was quite nervous, and didn’t want anyone watching. The other was obviously a seasoned professional as she had obviously dont this before. She was at great ease in front of the camera, and no prompts from me, she just got into differing positions, and knew how to work that camera.
The editing of the images however was just a major pain in the arse. All the images had to be cut off the background, and put on a plain white. Luckily Photoshop “Refine Edge” command helped massively with this. It made the selections around hair and the finer details on the dresses perfectly. I flew through 12Gb of images that I had selected as the better of the take. I didn’t bother with colour corrections or minor edits. These images are destined for the website so I had a margin to play with.
The make up girls where constantly coming over asking if I can remove the brown streaks from the extensions they had put in the model’s hair, and change the eye makeup. Honestly, just go do your thing and leave me to do mine. I could have changed the various colours, but truth be told, I thought they all looked quite good as they where.
It was just annoying to have them constantly blithering at me in the early stages. But eventually they got the message and stayed down the bottom of the shop doing their thing.
Looking back at the day, I can certainly see things I would have done different, and I can see the many mistakes I made. But it will all go to making me a better photographer at the end of the day.
Things I learnt that day
- Always double-check your kit. You can’t always leave the set and go get something you forgot to bring
- Trust the models. The have done this all before, and seen it all before. Let them be what they want to be
- Dont be afraid to adjust the models, or give instructions if needed.
- Watch your camera. It’s too easy just to constantly click
- Take loads of images, put the camera on burst mode. It really does help.
- Watch your shadows and lighting Adjust if required through the shoot.
What is Street Photography?
Well, I think Kai sums it up pretty well in his video
Nothing at all
I’ve done absolutly nothing this weekend. nada, zilch diddly squat. So I thought I’d just post one of my favourite images. Theres nothing special about this image, but its one I really like so I thought I might as well post it.
What do you think is the most destructive force to mankind?
Subject is the question, and the simple answer is:
Mankind.
Favourite September Image
It has to be this image of PurpleMan taken in York. Interacting with his audience.
It may very well be one of the last images I take of PurpleMan, as he will shortly cease being on Stonegate, and no longer perform in york, according to his official website.
At least it is my favourite “Uploaded” image 
DNG or NEF?
Well that’s a question.
Just had a conversation on google+ about the RAW vs DNG file formats. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, DNG is Adobes effort to standardise the RAW file format.
Camera makers at the moment have their own file formats, which can change between camera models. As you can imagine, supporting all these formats is nothing short of a nightmare, enter DNG to sort this out. I shall not dwell on this, but for further information check out Adobes DNG page.
Anyway, my buddy is a staunch supporter of keeping all his RAW data as it came out of the camera. I exclusively use DNG files. Converting all the camera output on import to light room. Why do I use DNG files? Well
- Smaller file size
- Better future guarantees
- No sidecar files
- DNG is an open file format.
As I’ve gotten a couple of emails asking what settings I use when out on the street, I thought it may be a good idea to make a post.
I use a D7000, so some of these settings may be different for your camera.
- Focus / AF
- 9 Point Dynamic
- Auto-Focus
- Continuous Focus (AF-C)
- Camera in A
- Matrix Metering
- Playback Menu:
- Image review: Off
- Shooting Menu:
- Image Quality: RAW
- Colour space: Adobe RGB
- Active D-Lighting: Off (Auto)
- Log exp. NR: On
- High ISO NR: Norm (Off)
- ISO: ISO 100
- Custom Settings Menu:
- a5 Focus point wrap around: On
- a7 Built-in AF-assist illumination: Off
- c1 Shutter Release Exposure Locking: Off (default)
- c2 Meter Off Delay: 8s
- d3 ISO Display: ISO
- f9 Reverse indicators: -0+ (Becaue +0- Just makes no sense.)
- 9 Point Dynamic
- Matrix Metering
- Image review: Off
- ISO: ISO 100
- a5 Focus point wrap around: On
- a7 Built-in AF-assist illumination: Off
- f9 Reverse indicators: -0+ (Becaue +0- Just makes no sense.)
test
quick test
Sorry!
Not sure why, but alot of the links in my Blog to my photo site appear to of changed, with the result of alot of missing photos.
Flickr will always change the URL if you change a photo, but to the best of my knowledge, Zenfolio does not. I’ve started to use a piece of software in Lightroom to manage the gallery, so I’m thinking thats to blame.
My apologies, and I’m working through the posts to get this fixed.
