Thursday, 12 February 2015

Be Still 52...

KIM KLASSEN dot COM

I'm so enjoying this year-long exploration of still-life with Kim Klassen, it's so relaxing to just 'play' with pretty things and my camera!  This week it's all about side light.  I shot these on the kitchen work surface with light from the window, and used some large black card on the opposite side to darken the shadows further and create more contrast.  A bit different to the light and airy shots I normally go for - still-life from the dark side. :-)



… and one more.  I couldn't resist these heart-shaped crumpets in ASDA, they just made me laugh.  The crumpets of lurve!


Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Texture Tuesday...


Kim Klassen dot com


Still being influenced by the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi: the art of imperfection.




Tuesday, 3 February 2015

A Quick How To...

So how do you use the numbers on the back of your camera to get a good exposure?

A quick run-down of what the back of your camera is telling you:
M = Manual Mode
1/1600 = Shutter speed is 1/1600 of a second
F1.4 = The F Stop or Aperture. The lower the number the wider the aperture is open. F1.4 is the widest aperture on the 35mm lens I was using.  I wanted a shallow depth of field (i.e. all of the background out of focus).
ISO400 = This is the sensitivity of you sensor to light.  The higher the number the more sensitive to available light your sensor is.
That row of numbers from -3 to +3 is your exposure. What you're aiming for is to get the little moving arrow in approximately the centre (this is a little simplistic but it's what we'll go with for now).


Like this:  Here I've changed the ISO to 200, the shutter speed to 1/200 and the aperture stays at f1.4. 


A quick change of settings: Aperture stays the same but the ISO is 400 and the shutter speed is 1/320. Note how the arrow is slightly to the right.  I've slightly over exposed this because I didn't think the whites were bright enough. 


Monday, 2 February 2015

Inspire me Monday...

This week I've mainly be inspired by still-life photography (with the odd cat photo-bombing its way in). I'm really enjoying Kim Klassen's Be-Still 52 class and am finding all sorts of bits and pieces are making their way into my photos because of it.





 Spot the odd one out…
(I was actually trying to take
a photo of some garlic!)




Thursday, 15 January 2015

Be Still 52

KIM KLASSEN dot COM


This is just for me, a moment of calm each week amidst all the craziness...



Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Wordless Wednesday...

After the weekend's crazy photo shoot and then being back at work yesterday, this morning it was just nice to go for a meditative photo walk through Ambion Woods.  

All taken with Canon 6D and Canon 135mm f2 lens.








Monday, 15 December 2014

Creative Shoot with Kitty LeCreme...

At last time to draw breath! More of what I've been up to over the last few weeks in the next few days, I just really wanted to post some pics from a crazy, fun, creative shoot I did on Saturday with burlesque artist Kitty LeCreme.  There were three shots I knew I wanted to get with her, one involved fake snow, another was dark with rim lighting,  and the last was inspired by a Rankin portrait and involved a feather boa.  Kitty also wanted some shots of some amazing headdresses she had so we had a busy afternoon, helped by some gorgeous make-up by Scarlet Holton (who doesn't like cats but is still a nice person - and besides she was quite taken with Mrs P). 

So here's the snow shot.
I gelled a flash with blue cellophane to hit the background and turn it blue, 
(you can see it highlighting her hair on the right of the shot),
and we used two static lights with diffusers on either side just in front of her.
I wanted the whole thing bright and zinging with colour.
85mm lens at f8

I love this shot so much!
Again the two front lights were used.
135mm lens at f10

Here the lights were put slightly behind
Kitty.  I gave the whole thing a Cyanotype tint
in Lightroom.
85mm lens at 85mm

One of Kitty's amazing costumes.
I wanted to keep it quite dark, so
just used one light feathered to front left.
Texture added in Elements to give it a matt
painterly feel.
85mm lens at f2

Apart from the last shot which had where very specific editing was needed, there was only basic edits done to the other shots.  It really helps to learn as much as you can about lighting, because get that right and you're 90% there.  Plus it's great fun to play about with different light and see what you can do (and no these weren't taken in a studio but in my living room). Enjoy!

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