Gemma Aguilar with Guitar

This is another shot from my shoot with Gemma for her website. I needed to drop to f/13 to underexpose the sky enough as I dare not increase the shutter speed to over 1/200 to ensure syncing with the Lencarta Safari Flash head. Lighting was sun to camera left, flash with standard reflector to camera right. I used the Canon 35mm f/1.4 L and went in close-ish as I wanted Gemma to have an imposing presence in the shot.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/13 @ 35 mm, 1/200, ISO 100

Kezia - a rare smile!

Kezia doesn't normally smile for photos, so this is a shot of some rarity!

Lighting for this shot was a ringflash on camera and a second light to camera right.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/50, ISO 200

Ashby St Ledgers Church

#hdr - All sorts of tricks were used on this shot! Firstly it is a blend of three exposures on 1DIII, 12-24mm @ 15mm, f/8. I then used the distortion correction tool in Photoshop Elements to stop some of the converging verticals. Finally I converted to sepia, increased the blacks, added a few grad filters and deliberately pushed the sharpening!!

Church tower at Ashby St Ledger

This is a composite (HDR) of three images. Camera was tripod-mounted and pointing skyward. I liked the imposing feel from the combination of B&W and the ultra wide lens.

EXIF Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/8 @ 12 mm, 1/3, ISO 100

Kezia and the dual carriageway

@KeziaRaiSuicide: Kezia on a bridge over a dual carriageway. Designed to be 'edgier' in feel to the shots on the blog two days ago.

Kez was lit with a beauty dish and relatively long exposure of 1 second lit the background and gave some gentle light trails from passing cars. You can tell from slight blurring of her arms that the 1 second exposure allowed some subject movement but she kept her face very still and therefore this was rendered pin sharp.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/4.5 @ 95 mm, 1s, ISO 400

Gemma Aguilar

I was delighted to photograph the talented singer songwriter @gemma_aguilar last month for her new website and forthcoming EP & single. Today Gemma opened for Blue at 'Armed Forces Day'.

This shot was used for the cover of her new EP, to be released 3rd July.

For this shot I used the Canon 1DMKIII with the 35mm f/1.4 L. I shot at f/13 to darken the background and lit Gemma with a combination of the sun camera right, and Lencarta Safari camera left.

EXIF Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/13 @ 35 mm, 1/160, ISO 100

Please check out her website and music in the link above.

Kezia in a field!

#Portrait: In this first shot Kezia was lit with a ring flash on camera and then a gridded beauty dish from the right to add a highlight to the hair. The sky was quite dark and I wanted a rich blue colour so I had the camera on a tripod and used a slow shutter speed. As there was little natural light on Kez the slow shutter speed didn't add blur.

EXIF: Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/3.5 @ 70 mm, 1/5, ISO 200

For shot two I opted for a gridded beauty dish high and to camera left. This gives a controlled beam of light and gives a dramatic fall off as if Kez is in a spotlight.

EXIF: Canon EOS-1D Mark III, f/5 @ 80 mm, 1/125, ISO 200

LEDs in the steps

I liked the blue LEDs in the steps here, but exposure was a nightmare as the steps were so dark, but the LEDs were so light. Solution was too hugely underexpose, lighten in Lightroom all of the shot except the LEDs.

I used a thin depth of field to try and draw the eye into the shot & the simple / abstract composition is potentially helped with the LEDs making a triangle.

Nicki

This is a portrait of Nicki - taken on a Canon 1DsII + Canon 35mm f/1.4 L @ f/3.2 to keep all of Nicki in focus whilst blurring the background. Exposure was ISO50, 1/8000s which underexposed the background nicely whilst Nicki was lit with a 580EXII.

If I'm being critical, the sun was behind me and this has caused Nicki to close her eyes a fraction, but the view the other way was poor, so I went for this angle knowing the risks!

BMX Stunt Cycling

Four shots today of some amazing young cyclists in Swansea - thanks guys! All on Sigma 85mm, 1DsII @ ISO 800 + 580EXII.

Graveyard scene

Shooting 3 shots wide open on the 35mm f/1.4 on a full frame body creates a thin depth of field and allows an HDR.

I was trying to add depth to the shot by focussing on the central gravestone. A minor irritation is the tree in the background lining up with the grave, but this is less of a distraction when the shot is viewed full-screen.

Trackless Sleepers

Close up of some trackless sleepers on a local railway line - I used a telephoto lens (135mm) at a wide aperture (f/2.0) to focus attention on one section of the photo.

Photographing the photographer

A candid taken at a fete today. 1DsII + 70-200 f/2.8 @ f/2.8 (to isolate the camera and blur the rest). 1/640s, ISO100

South Shields Sunset

Sunset at South Shields caught on an 85mm lens @ f/2.8. Set of 3 exposures blended in Photomatix.

It's a fairly straightforward shot, but I liked the lighting on the buildings in the distance.

Conversation Piece aka "The Weebles of South Shields"



These are affectionately know as 'The Weebles' - despite going in close with a wide angle for a hopefully dramatic perspective, unfortunately the resulting shot was a little dull. Fortunately I'd anticipated this (the light was a bit flat at this point) so I bracketed a few exposures and created an HDR which (to my eyes) brings the scene alive.

1D3, 12-24 @ 12mm, f/5.6.