Second Ioncell shoot

_DSC8080a, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

For the second Ioncell shoot I had a model called Gemma, Here is one of the shots from the day some of the rest can be seen on flickr or my facebook page!!

Same model , very diferent results

 This image was lit using a soft box up high above the model and a reflector placed under her to reduce the shadow under her chin with a kicker light off to the left and down low.
As you can see this produces a beautiful light and is great for giving a very even and soft result. I've never photographed a woman and she didn't like this type of shot as it is very flattering and makes almost anyone beautiful. 

 This shot is taken using just one light a Lowel ID video light shot on a Nikon 85mm prime at F1.8, and a reflector. You can see its the same model but by just changing the light you change the whole mood and look of the shot almost changing the whole face. The light is harder and set directly in front of the model and raised up until you get the butterfly shadow under the models nose.
This type of light simulates the hay days of Hollywood and actresses such as Garbo and Audrey Hepburn. It creates a very classic look which can give you very stunning and very timeless looks.  

For this final shot it is good old 45 degree with a big soft box , This again shows you how you can adjust and sculpt and create very different results for the same face.


I'm sure you will agree that although its the same model the 3 portraits are very different in feel and mood. With a good looking model you will get away with lighting with any of these methods. However as I'm sure a few of you have noticed not all people you are asked to photograph will be as easy.
Just remember,  that everyone can take a good pic its up to you as the photographer to find that persons inner light and use the correct lighting to illuminate it.

B&W beauty

_DSC8005, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

A shot from last weeks ioncell shoot. I got a little side tracked fromt eh product shoot and decided to try a differnet approach on lighitng and got this very sensual B&W shot and fell in love with it .
I love the way the figure slides in and out of the light. The way the light sculpts her body .
Even in the middle of a job I think it can be important to just take an image just for the sheer pleasure , As long as the job is in the bag that is!

Ioncell Model

_DSC7840a, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

This is a shot from last weeks model shoot for www.ioncell.com project . Her name Is Lucia Bobkova a part time zumba instuctor and also a law student .
She was just the type of person I was looking for , absolutely perfect physique for this whole type of fitness shoot.

As usual I shot using green screen and went for a more dramatic type of lighting to show off her very toned physique.
The shoot its self was very satisfying as the model herslef was very east to work with and a great sport up for anything.

There are more shots from the shoot on my flickr page and also on my facebook page.
The shots themselves are the ones that convey the feeling of energy and strength , in keeping with the properties of the product

Nikon 85mm f1.8

Ray Kinsey, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

Some of you will know I bought a new nikon 85mm f1.8 prime recently and alot of people worry that its not sharp at f1.8 .

All i've got to say about that is , tacksharp aslong as your technique is good . I will repeat that for the hard of hearing YOUR TECHNIQUE.
Get your focus and recompose skills wired in and the results speak for them self. The eyes are pin sharp the ears and nose beautifully OOF.
Have I fell in love with the lens? That would be an understatement. The more I use Nikon primes, the more I fall for them and the more my bank balance suffers.
Alot of you will know I swear by my Sigma 24-70 f2.8 and yes its a great lens, I would say as good as the nikon version. However primes just have a feel , a tactile creaminess to the image that no zoom has ever given me.

I shot this image using green screen software from fxhome , Photokey4 and my bowens 500c kit but just using the modelling lamps on large softbox and one kicker for the hair.
The camera was my D700 this time as the d300 was to tight using the prime.

It was all processed in aperture and then photokey4. With a slight bleach bypass for the colour.

It is close to that leica look I've been hunting for !

I can see this lens being in my bag for many years to come. If anyone is looking at this lens and wondering please dont hesitate its a cracker.

Wedding dress

Wedding dress, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

Just a fave pic of mine that was taken at the Braidshill hotel in sept 2011 . I just love the light and the mood of this shot.
Its all natural light and then processed in aperture and silver efex 2.

Ion Cell Balance band

Ion Cell Balance band, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

A simple pack shot for my latest project , shooting the pack shot first for www.ioncell.co.uk .
These bands work on the principle that negative ionic energy will improve your balance and strength.
This shot is a composite of 4 different images to create the perfect balance.
The reason for the composite, is that when shot as one image you get really bad shadows along the edges of the window and the hologram comes up almost blank if not shot at an angle.
The next part of the project is shooting a model wearing the bands and providing a dynamic sporting look to help sell the product.
So we have our muscle bound model already booked and we are in the process of booking a pretty girl to wear the female bands .
All in all i think the final images will trully help drive sales of this product.
So boring pack shot out of the way , now for the far more interesting model shoots!!

Sweet 16 fashion shoot

Skye B&W, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

This shot was taken as part of a set to make a book for Skye's 16th birthday.
It was all shot on location with a bowens kit plus battery, Along with my usual Nikon gear.
I shot this whole project in an abandoned building in central Edinburgh.
I began this whole shoot thinking god this is outside my usual comfort zone , but eneded up having alot of fun.

In the space of 2 hours, the shoot was done and I was tired but loooking forward to getting the shots onto the mac and seeing what I'd got . From my point of view the shoot was a total success and I learned alot about my bowens kit. Yes its a heavy bit of kit but the light control is simply superb.
I ended up with abt 25 shots for her book and just loved this shot in particular.
But the best thing I learned never dismiss any style of shooting as you can enjoy it and get paid .

capuchin

capuchin_1, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

I've been a bit lazy with my blog recently so here is a fav ppic I took last year to get it all restarted new post to follow tommorow !!

Charity calendar / photokey 4 pro

Aneta, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

Over the last 4 weeks I've been shooting 12 shots for a charity calendar.
The charity calendar is in aid of the ASDA charity tickled pink.
Whilst shooting this calendar we have been experimenting with the use of greenscreen rather than multiple backgrounds.

The program we have been using is Fxhome Photokey 4 pro. All I can say about photokey 4 is , why did we never get this program sooner. Images are extracted instantly and with little tweeking perfectly.
No more hours in photoshop , now its all done in a few minutes with no green spill on the model.

Ok so it cost £185 for the pro version, but with 3 licences and batch processing this version was worth it for the business.

This image took less than 10 minutes with aperture to do the retouching , then less than 2 minutes with photokey 4 to extract and drop onto a pre prepared background.

The image was lit using a new set of bowens 500c lights and fired with the new bowens pulsar cards. The camera was the usual Nikon D700 and sigma 24-70 f2.8 at f8.
Just a thought but wihle all the gear heads aout there are waiting for the nikon d800 or whatever its going to be called, I'm happy with my D700.
Even compared to the canon 5d mark 2 , I've gota say my 12 megapix D700 is producing images that give the canon a run for its money with better ergonomics.

Charity calendar shots

Charity calendar shots, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

A friend of mine asked me to shoot some topless/ appearance of nude shots for a calendar to help raise funds for cancer research.
The guy in this shot is called Ahmet, He is of turkish/scottish stock and as you can see has great bone structure.
The shot was lit using just one light with barn doors to keep it tight with a lastolite held off to the left.
I wanted deep hard shadows to help sculpt his muscles and give him that very masculine look.
The shot was taken using my trusty Nikon D700 and then processed using aperture and silver efex.
I am honoured to be part of such a worthy cause and am pleased with how the shots have turned out !

Mats Jonnason Glass sculpture

Mats Jonnason Glass sculpture, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

This shot is of a sculpture by the swedish artist Mat Jonnason. Its a web shot for a local art dealer that I ended up buying. Its been a whie since i posted anything , I decided to down tools for a few weeks and recharge.
The recharge was needed as I've been shooting All winter on projects that pay in money terms but not in terms of soul lol.
This job is to photograph some small peices of glass and ceramic. This peice was to be left with space to the left so text could be added at a later date.
The shot its self is very simply lit. 1 light to the rear left , with a stofen to soften the light a little. The properties of the glass lent its self to this rear lighting technique. This allowed me to capture some of the texture of the peice and introduce a more 3d feel to the shot. The background is a curved peice of white card that is left unlit so as to allow it to go grey.
It was a fun peice to shoot as glass can be problematic to shoot and make look good. Its why I got the job in the 1st place to guy before made a pigs arsehole of it and gave a flat bland shot that didnt really show the peice off to its best.
My only thought on that people is if it seems to cheap then it probably is.

Portobello beach

_DSC4690, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

Today I decided to set myself a new project , to re look at places and areas I would normally disregard. Disregard either on the grounds of it's been shot to death or as a subject i found it disinteresting.

But today I thought bugger it and grabbed a tripod and my D700 and went out to the local beach in the city. Now me and a tripod is an interesting conundrum. I cant remember the last time I used one even to take a portrait, I normally find them a complete pain. Heavy to carry around, expensive(£200) and generally get in my way. I tend to shoot very photojourno, 2 cameras ,1 wide and 1 mid tele, with a double strap.

So needless to say I dont shoot much landscape. So I went out intending to shoot some B&W landscapes to take me away from my comfort zone. I played around with ND filters and grads, again stuff I've had for ages but never really used.

I bought most of the gear for landscapes when i went to college. All the filters/cp's all cokin P system stuff. When i took it out of the holders , dusty is being kind ! But It was fun to work in a different way than I'm used to. I was forced to slow down and look hard and got a couple of shots I quite like.

It all reminded me of what a smart man once said "life moves fast, you gota get off and look around once in a while or your going to miss it"
So my advice watch Ferris Beullers day off and then slow down and shoot something you wouldnt normally think is your kinda thing and hopefully like me be surprised and happy with what comes out.

For me It was nice to have just 1 camera the tripod and a fist full of filters. To have the time to visualize the shot and set it up , to not be whizzing in the moment and have to react like a caffinated mad man.

For those that shoot landscapes go out and shoot some street , for those that shoot the fast and furious ease down and grad your dusty tripod and slow down. Trust me even if you hate it , your mind will be grateful for the change of pace.

Simple Lighting , Dramatic results

Jennifer, originally uploaded by SCrlt_pimpernel.

When we go to photograph a person for a portrait do we ask ourselves what type of lighting suits this persons face or do we just shoe horn the face into the shot?
Do we really need 5 or 6 lights to achieve something wonderful? I've recently started going back to the 1930's and 40's for inspiration. What have I found ? Beautiful portraits done with 1 to 3 lights all tungsten lights not flash.
We are always trying to make things better and get more powerful but portable equipment. While doing this we overlook the advances in video lighting , which is portable battery powered and very very controllable.
A good bowens kit with 2 lights and a travel pack will set you back close to £1000 , were as a set of 3 video lights with a few bits and bobs abt £350. Plus the video lights are actually portable, you try taking a bowens travel pack any further than from the car to about 40 yards.
I've had the pleasure of using the bowens travel pack and yes it is pretty awesome and very flexible just not all that portable.
If I had to pick lights and had the budget it would be Lowel ID battery video lights £450 each. The Lowel is absolutley fabulous, Focusable, dimmable, built in barn doors. But most importantly portable.
I use the lowel light At weddings as my business partner Andy is lucky enough to own 1 (wish we had another 2!!) , it's less intrusive than flash and very flattering.

Will we be giving up flash? No The bowens travel 500 kit we have is amazing and great for groups and gives that professional feel to shoots thats important when youve just billed them over £1000!
For those little intimate portraits tho I do prefer tungsten.
With this shot I tried to emulate the classic Greta Garbo shot , but simplified it to just one light with a set of barn doors to keep it tight.

All lit it that classic hollywood way to give that nice butterfly shadow under the nose and shadow under the chin so as to make it more flattering. A bit of lee lux diffusing material was taped to the barn doors to soften up the light a little.

I have found that the modern dslr is crushingly unforgiving my old s2 pro used to give beautiful soft skin and was a great portrait camera. However my d700 or d300 both show up every flaw and blemish. They bring out every vain and little line even in children. I've found that since leaving my s2 behind I do more retouching just to get a nice result on the skin. I used to use portrait professional to get the result i needed but now i just use the skin softening brush in Aperture 3 , quick easy and comtrollable.

The B&W conversion is as always done using Nik softwares Silver Efex. I would catogorically say as a film nut that this software is the only way to convert to B&W. It gives that rich tonality that film printed on great fibre paper gives. It lets me add a little noise into my d700 files that looks natural and grain like and simulates the film emulsions amazingly well.

Bottom line for me is dont dismiss techniques from the past as everything they did was done in much worse conditions of technology and sizes of equipment. Dont follow Fads just shoot what you like. The high key crap that is prevalent now will be dead tommorrow, Its just a way for these massive studios to churn out the images fast as you dont need to retouch an image that has most of the detail burned out.
Yes there is a time and place for these types of shots but not everytime.

Simple , beautiful and tailord to the individual is how i prefer to shoot portraits.

iMac 27inch i7

Well I finally bit the bullet and have began my migration to mac .
So why mac , well i made the mistake of going into an apple store and trying the 27 inch bad boy and fell in love with the glorious screen.

I had a look at building a new pc and costed it at abt £1500 for a similar spec pc vs the 27 inc iMac and thought why not just bit the bullet and go mac.
I visited the apple online store and came across the refurb section and jumped at an i7 for £1399.
The main differences?
Better Screen
beautiful design and space saving
mac osx just seems to work
very very quiet compared to my core2duo desktop with 8800gt
Full review to follow in a few days.