The Leaping Groom

When I get a Bride and Groom that are confident, and will at least listen to creative ideas without shuddering, I tend to get very excited and all those ideas and visions I've had for some time start to bubble forth.
So, on Saturday I had just such a couple, and the fact the Groom was arrested an hour before the service and frog marched to the Church by three Imperial Storm Troopers and an Imperial guard, gave me the green light on a few projects I'd been saving for the right couple.
This particular image I've had in mind for over twelve months, and if I were to be honest, I don't feel it's fully worked to the best advantage here. The ceiling was too low, and the foot of the bed had a wooden board that was likely to catch the Groom's feet if he wasn't careful (and who wants to be responsible for taking the Groom to hospital on his wedding night?).
Well, we have to work with what we have, and this is what I got. I'm quite happy using the Nikon Creative Light System, which takes care of a lot of the exposure etc automatically, and it's damned good too. And I'm also perfectly at home using a fully manual set up, dialling in the required amounts of power to each strobe, taking full command.
Here, I chose to go with a fully manual setup, as I knew if I were to use the CLS option, the white dress and white walls would likely confuse the hell out of the CLS system , and I'd have to dial up some exposure compensation anyway. Now, being a lazy photographer, I couldn't face setting it all up automatically, and then having to dial it up bit by bit, so I set it all up manually to begin with.
First SB-800 camera left at six feet with a stofen on, at 1/16th power. Second SB-800 camera right at six feet with a stofen on, again at 1/16th power. Why two? To eliminate shadow and give a more voyeuristic look to the image, along with the final post processing I had in mind.
Nikon D3 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 at f5.6 1/125th sec 200ISO.
Took two shots to get the light levels right, and then three shots to get the keeper. Post processing? Not a lot really, convert to black and white, add ""film grain" for authenticity, along with a healthy vignette for the same reason.
What would I change? A bed without the foot board, a higher ceiling and a longer run up so the groom can get more height and straighten out.
Well, it made me laugh.

Graduation

In the middle of working on the previous wedding photographs, I get a frantic call from a mother who wants her son photographed before the hired gown goes back the following day. Hmmm, ok I say and chuck my gear together and head out west. Well, across the valley, anyway.
Rameez has just gained his degree in Law, and his family are justifiably proud of him.
So, I set up as per usual. Two brollied SB-800s and another at the back on a short stand and gel'd.
All this is set to use Nikon's CLS via an SU-800 and it all goes nicely up until the lighting test shot.
Rameez's skin tones, coupled with the black of the gown, is throwing the metering way off and badly underexposing him (almost two stops, would you believe). I also didn't have enough distance between Rameez and the background to isolate it completely.
Now, I'm basically lazy. If I have to faff and generally fart about, I get bored. If I get bored, I get into mischief and that's a whole new story for another day!
So, rather than just start faffing shaving a third of an EV off the light here, raise two thirds there. I dropped the lot to manual and dialed in my guesstimate and bingo! On the button first pop.
D3 24-70mm at 50mm 1/200th sec f5.6 200ISO
Main light camera right = SB-800 1/8th power & shoot through brollie slightly above Rameez's eye level
Fill light camera left = SB-800 1/16th power & shoot through brollie just below Rameez's chin height to lift his chin and eyebrow shadows.
Back light behind Rameez (on the floor) = SB-800 1/32nd power, Stofen'd and pointing almost upright.

Scott and Leanne

Saturday proved to be one of the more relaxing weddings I've photographed. No rush, no holdups and no complications. Leanne and Scott are both Organised people, and it showed on the day. It was a nice sized wedding with close family and friends invited, who were all very warm people.
Leanne's father, Paul, is a retired wedding photographer, and it was Paul who did the research regarding photographers for his daughter's wedding. I was honoured I'd been chosen, but it did increase the pressure somewhat.
This is the first wedding party that has insisted we join them for the reception meal, and I'll put money on Paul having something to do with that!
The ceremony was held at the registry office, and we made use of a nearby park area for some quick group photos, and then moved on to the reception venue, which didn't offer an awful lot regarding scenic backdrops etc.
The image at the top of this post was taken immediately after the meal with me precariously balanced on the wall of one side of the fountain, shooting across the fountain to get the image.
Possibly not the best, but you utilise what you have available. There was a car park to my eft and behind me, with the hotel (in standard brick) to my right. Hmmmm, not a lot of choice then.
D3 24-70 at 70mm f5.6 1/100th sec 400ISO fill flash at -0.7EV to lift the eyes and add a touch of highlight.
This second image was one of those you just see take place, and snap instinctively, not really appreciating it till you get back to the office. Taken as Scott and Leanne made ready before going outside for the image at the top of this post, it was a nice relaxed moment that just grabbed my attention, with waiting photographer in the background. (not me, obviously! my wife, Anne)
D3 24-70 at 27mm f4 1/30th sec 3200ISO

Regatta revived?

Funny, isn't it? You get told everything's off. There's no water, no lake, no boats, no people and no fun!
Until you speak to one of the guys in charge. "Yes, the water will be low, and we can't say for sure how low. Cancel? not yet!"
So, I still have a regatta in September. Plus, I got to have a play and see what the place was like. Lots of water! Well, a bit less than the week before, but still a lot of water. The folks were very friendly, and seeing as I was making use of the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 and a 1.4x teleconvertor. I knew I'd have to put up with the usual "My, that's a big'un!" I told myself to smile, they think it's the first time I'd heard it.
Actually, don't knock it. It makes a useful conversation starter, and it's surprising where the conversations go. Whilst talking to Dave, I mentioned I was basically there to do a reccy because of the doubt over the September regatta. It was at this point he mentioned a second regatta the following September weekend which was a national event organised by the Royal Yachting Association (The first to be hosted there) which I am now also going to shoot for them and the Association. Result!
The above image was taken on the back of a rather bumpy safety boat with a very wet seat! Nikon D3 70-200mm f2.8 VR shutter priority 1/1250th sec f7 400ISO
This second image is of a lady who has only been sailing a month or so, and it was her first competition. She was overtaken by a few of the competitors, but she was thrilled to bits and chuffed she finished. Nikon D3 70-200mm f2.8 VR shutter priority 1/1250th sec f6.3 400ISO
The folks were extremely nice and I have to say, I can't wait to get back. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Regatta is sunk

Just been informed that a regatta I was to cover in September near Denbigh, Wales has been cancelled. Apparently the organisers were informed by email within the last day or so. The waterboard are draining the lake to allow maintenance to be carried out on a wall. The lake will be out of use throughout the yacht club's busiest time, and re-filling isn't scheduled to begin until early September, around the date of the much publicised and anticipated regatta.
However, this weekend I'm across at my sister's for her 40th birthday (all say ahhhh!), and Sunday there is a boat meeting at the s ame lake before the drainage gets into full swing. So, I'm taking my gear anyway for the birthday bash, and I guess I'll tag along for the last hurrah.
The image above was from a weekend at Port Patrick, may 2008 with a very large party of very good friends. That's simon with the face of terror. Nikon D2Hs Sigma 120-300mm with 1.4x
Hopefully, I'll have pictures and news after the weekend

Edinburgh Trip

The above was the culmination of several attempts to get this image, each attempt accompanied by cursing and limping. However, I would consider the aggravation and discomfort to be worth it in the end. It was taken at the river mouth at Crammond, on the Firth of Forth.
Why the interesting colours? Well, the shot was taken on a manual setting of 1/250th sec at f6.3 200 ISO which basically underexposed the shot by just over two stops, as the correct exposure was 1/60th sec at f5 200 ISO. This helps saturate what little colour was there, and believe me, there wasn't much!
So, that's the basic exposure, so what about the colours? That's the easy bit, as I just set the white balance to fluorescent which gave the the colours a nice mauve colour cast.
Post processing? Using Nikon's Capture NX (Yes, it's slow, but it does a damned fine job) I accentuated the white balance further, to increase the mauve cast, and then increased the vibrancy a little too. In the end, a nice little holiday snap.
The second shot was taken a few evenings later, and again made use of the fluorescent white balance to add the mauve colouring to the base of the clouds. Again using a manual setting of 1/1600th sec and f8 at 200 ISO to underexpose by at least three stops (I didn't take a standard exposure for reference this time, sorry) which heavily saturated the blue of the sky and the orange of the sunset (which, incidentally, was barely visible). Again tweaked in Capture NX to up the vibrancy a touch, although this required very little post processing to be honest (well, a little noise control).
So, simple holiday snaps to something a little more perhaps, with no real effort other than a little forethought.
ok, so it looks like a busman's holiday, but these were for my enjoyment, and not some editor or other, which suits me fine. (Even though I'm still using crutches at the moment, the editor of Off Road Rider magazine still asks if I'll be out at the track side for the weekend. Sheesh, these guys are all heart)

Finally.....................

OK, so it's taken a while. Quite a while. Or as Catherine or Stuart will no doubt point out, a very long while.
A while for what?
Well, I've said, time and time again, I'll set up a blog and this is finally it. And how long is a while? Oh, about three years.

With the ever increasing workload, and ever decreasing free time, it's just been one of those things I was to do tomorrow, and tomorrow seems to have finally arrived.

So, what have I been doing recently, that's going to remotely interest you. Well, I've had a spanner in the works recently and been off my feet (more accurately: on a pair of crutches) after an old knee injury flared up. About four years ago, whilst photographing MotoX for Off Road Rider Magazine, I caught my foot in long grass and twisted my knee. Four years drift by with a stiff, painful knee every morning that frees up after a few hours. Until a week ago, when it doesn't free up, and gets worse throughout the day, and then much, much worse overnight.
Turns out I ripped the medial cruciate ligament off completely four years ago, and pretty much shredded the medial meniscus at the same time. Whoopy doo

Anyway, it seems to be settling down gradually. So, what's been of note, lately?
Well, it was my parents Golden wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago, over in Wales. Along with the invite came the usual "are you bringing your camera?".
I had less than an hour to clear some space in their living room, set up a couple of stands, brollies and SB-800s, and a third SB-800 on a footstand for the background, gel'd for blue.
Due to time restraints, I went with CLS and fired off a test shot first, re-dialled the strobes via the SU-800 and then shot the keepers. Set up, 98 shots and take down, all in under an hour.
This was the second shot (first keeper) using the two brollies one above the other in a shoot through clam shell type setup. Upper SB-800 at metered, lower SB-800 at -0.7 (2/3rd of stop lower) and the back lighting SB-800 is around a 1/3rd stop under.

Actually, pop ain't bad at all for 71






We then moved on to mother, with a similar setup, although shifted the distance between the two brollies so they were no longer vertically in line. Same settings, more or less. When it comes to your parents, you cannot flatter them enough with soft light, believe me!

Enough brownie points were earned doing this one small session, to keep me going for some time.