Some Recent Work

Kayleigh

 I’ve not been posting much lately what with moving back to university and such, but recently I had the chance of a quick shoot with an old workmate of mine.

Everybody, meet Kayleigh!

Shot with the 135L at f2.2 on the front of my 5D Mark II, 1/400th of a second exposure at ISO 250. Solely natural light for this one.

Dan & Amy

I also took the chance, while on a walk around the woods where I’m living, to take a few shots of my flatmate and his girlfriend. It’s not often that you have a great location, willing participants and your flash gear!

This was also taken with the 135L on my 5DmkII, this time wide open at f2. 1/100th of a second exposure was used at an ISO of 320. Flash fired at around 1/64th power into an umbrella – it was an interesting challenge to balance flash with ambient light in this way, and something I definitely want to experiment more with.

In my mind, the aim is to flash a picture and yet have it look as though it’s natural light.

Now that things are settling down again I’ll make sure to organise some more substantial projects!

Watch this space.

(…And also my Flickr.)

New Camera!

Thumbs up!

A bit of a less serious post today! I’ve finally upgraded my camera to one of Canon’s beautiful 5D Mark II’s, and I must say I adore it already.

This is one of the first images taken with it, at least the first image that I had any intention of keeping! A product of staying over at a friend’s house and having a few beers.

Something tells me I’m going to love this camera!

Taken at f4.5, ISO 100, 1/200th of a second exposure and with the wonderful 50mm f1.8. Lighting was from my new Canon 550ex flash at around 1/32 power, into a softbox stood around two feet from him.

Soft Self Portrait

Softbox Test - Self Portrait

The softbox that I ordered came today, so I hastily opened it only to find that it didn’t fit onto my flash head and there was no way for me to directly attach it to my flash stand! A quick trip to B&Q for some threaded metal and some bungee cords, along with a few hours and lots of anger, and I finally have a working flash stand worthy softbox! Unfortunately, as soon as I got back I went to test my flash and it melted its insides and went up in smoke, so for this shot I had to use an old film flash while I buy a new – time to upgrade.

This was shot in a small bedroom at f5.6 on the 50mm, 1/200th of a second to minimise any ambient light; ISO 100 for least noise and highest quality. Lit by an old Olympus film flash (unadjustable) into my softbox 35-40 degrees to my left (camera-right), around two feet away from me. The strong specular highlight on my left cheek is most likely due to the softbox being too close – this could have been avoided had my usual flash not melted as it has adjustable power settings.

Walton Hall Photoshoot

Laura

Today brought another photoshoot with Laura, this time at the ever beautiful Walton Hall.

I found my results today to be a little hit and miss, which is a shame as she even dug out an old bridesmaid’s dress for the shoot! Still, even a single ‘keeper’ makes it worthwhile, and I’m rather fond of this one.

Shot with the 50mm at f1.8, 1/80th of a second at ISO 400. No flash, but my LED panel diffused through an umbrella camera-right. Even with the enormous window facing her and a fast lens I struggled for light on this one, a rethink of strategy may be needed!

As always, see more from this shoot on my Flickr.

Amie – Another Night Shoot

Amie

Yesterday night I got the chance to have another shoot with Amie; this time she wanted to show off the more ‘metal’ side of her life so I decided to stick with the same studio-style contrasty shots as before – luckily we had the use of an empty community centre so this was made far easier.

The shot was taken at 50mm, an aperture of f5.6 using ISO 100 and 1/200th of a second exposure.

The flash was about level with her torso and as far as I remember set in the region of full to a quarter power, shot into an open shoot through umbrella with a reflector camera-left. As usual, see the rest on my Flickr Page.

A Windy Portrait Day

Laura

Another photoshoot today; this time at the scenic Sandal Castle with Laura – and it’s obvious she’s done this before – changes of clothes and the lot!

This shot is my favourite of the set, taken with the Canon 135L at f2.5, 1/400 exposure at ISO 100. Completely natural light and a heck of a lot of wind! See the rest of the shoot on my Flickr.

Nighttime Experimental Photoshoot

- Amie

Last night I had my second ever photoshoot – this time with the lovely Amie. We were both a little busy so decided to wait until dark and try some more experimental stuff; this was one of the results.

Taken with the 50mm f1.8 at f9, 1/200th exposure and an ISO of 320. Flash was fired from just above her head height to the right.

I’m actually very impressed with how the results turned out – it was only my second photoshoot and I was relying entirely on my strobist knowledge which is still incredibly limited unfortunately, but slowly improving. My aim wasn’t to get pictures with such contrast but sometimes the best things are unexpected.

See the rest of the set on my Flickr!