Photo of the week 4

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get my hands on a press pass to Hit the Deck, held in Bristol. I spent my day photographing and watching lots of amazing bands, eating burritos, chilling in the sun and meeting some of the bands for interviews and photos. Anyway, here is my favourite photo from the day (and from the week). You may recognise the man in the photo to be the lead singer of Don Broco, they were amazing live and a great way to end the day.

It was extra hard to pick my favourite photo when I have hundreds of all different bands in different venues to choose from. However, this one stood out to me. I love the way the smoke (as much as music photographers hate smoke machines) adds to the effect. It creates a nice textured background which would otherwise be a plain black space. He is nicely lit (also usually a bit of a struggle) with highlights on his face, arms and microphone. this draws your eye to the key features of the image. His expression is as if he's lost in the music, It feels full of emotion and feels as if he is connecting directly to the audience by reaching out his hand to them. Overall I think it sums up their set pretty well.

Here are some more photos from the day. The first one was a close contentder for 'photo of the week' but he's a bit blurry and it wasn't quite as sharp as I would have liked. the other band in order are Attention Theives, Canterbury and Malory Knox.

What to wear as a wedding photographer

A big question I had before photographing my first wedding, was 'What do I wear". I know this may sound like a silly thing to be worrying about but I had no idea what wedding photographers wore and I didn't want to be under-dressed and look sloppy and too casual, but I also didnt want to look too smart as if I was one of the quests. So I have devised a little list for you of some key points I like to stick to and what I have found out through research from other photographers. This style is practical and makes me feel compfortable that I look like i'm in the right place and to be respected as a photographer.

- My main point would be to stick with Navy, blue, grey and Black. Even though black is practical on a photographic level, too much of it can be a bit depressing for a wedding so dont be afriad to add a bt of colour.

- A blazer or smart jacket is a must. As you will be indoors, then outside, then indoors again.... It can get pretty chilly but you don't want a big bulky coat.

- Any plain, smart top will do aslong as it is in a neutral colour. Obviously you dont want to be in a bright pink, low-cut number, when you are stood next to the happy couple at the front of a church. 

- I prefer to wear smart trousers instead of dresses or skirts as I want to be able to kneel on the floor, then stand on a chair, without the worry of flashing my bum to the quests.

- Flat shoes are also very inportant. Heels might look great but I promise you will regret it. I wear plain black pumps as they are smart but also really comfy. 

- As for jewellery, I dont leave the house without it so I'm not going to start for weddings. I find a few pearls is enough to make your otherwise plain outfit look set for the special occassion while staying classy and professional.

- Most importantly.... don't try too hard. The bride will not like it if you outshine her on her big day. Therefore, simple hair and make-up is needed. 

I hope these tips will help you to portray yourself in the best way possible as you dont know how many potential future clients are attending the wedding. I'm sorry I dont have any advice for male photographers but I simply don't know what they should wear. I suppose some of the tips apply to them too, such as colours and sensible shoes.

Photo of the week 3

Here is my choice for this week. The portrait is of my boyfriend (so i'm a little bias) while we were out on a picnic. However, without this knowledge, it feels as though the photo has a deep and dark story behind it. Like he is waiting for something or some-one that makes him feel anxious or depressed. The photo has a tense atmosphere, this feeling is created by the expression and posture of the model, the location, and the tone of colours. I crushed the blacks and decreased the saturation to increase the sinister nature of the photo. I love the lines and colours in the image and think that the composition works really well. I'm very happy with this photo, especially as it was a spontanious shot and not from a planned shoot. I'd love to know what you think and what you might think a good back story to accompany this photo would be.

Night Photography.

As you are probably aware, night photography is basically painting with light onto a black background. The trick to it is to leave your shutter open and let it pick up any light to create an image.
Here are some photos I took a few years ago as part of a University project. It was my first play with night photography. They were taken with a really lightweight tripod and a compact digital camera (hence the blur and grain in the photos) however I was very proud of them at the time and have learnt alot since then. I shall share some of this knowledge with you.

Firstly you need a strong and sturdy tripod paired with a remote. I use a wired remote, this is beacuse of times when you are out as a group, your remote could fire off the wrong camera. The use of the remote means you dont wobble the camera and it gives you the freedom to leave the shutter open for aslong as you want without having to pre-set a time. Here are some photos I took more recently with a photographer who specialises in night photography. There were many techniques used to create these images and I can't go into all of them. However a few things you could try yourslef are 'popping' and 'trails'. Popping is simply using your camera flash to quickly light the subject at the same time as your shutter, This is the technique used for the first photo, however done with a flash box, held higher than my head. Trails are drawing with light, this can be using a torch to illuminate a subject, using sparklers or flames etc to draw/ write something or to leave your shutter open to capture things such as car headlights down a road. The best thing I can say is to experiment, once your head around the fact that anything you dont directly light will not show in the photo then the more control you will have over the final outcome of the image.

Yes, that stunning model in the photos is me :P for some I opened the shutter using the remote, ran off to play with the light then came back to close it, for others I got a friend to do the honours for me. It is always best when doing night photogarphy to go as a small group, not only becasue of the obvious safety reasons of being out at night alone, but also so you can help each other by controlling their shutters or handing out light equipement. I think the next night photography thing I will try is using sparklers and glow sticks, I've seen some amazing things done with a simple sparkler so I think I will have to come up with some ideas and give it a go myself. I will let you know how It goes. I will leave you with some cute little mounts which I bought at a stunning little exhibition in Old Portsmouth. The photos are from www.longexposures.co.uk. The way he presented the photos (wire and magnets on hard boards) became inspiration for how I displayed my final project in my photography unit at University which I did pretty well for. So i'm grateful not only for the cute photos hung in my room, but for also inspiring me to not just print out my photos on flat paper, like everyone else. I recommend you check out the website, their photos are so interesting and inspiring.

Photo of the week 2

This week it's Daffodils!!! I decided to get out the macro extension tubes and give macro photography another go. I think i'm getting the hang of it now. I had bought some daffodils as it is supposed to be spring, although i'm struggling to believe that it is. So I took some bright colourful photos to hopefully encourage some sunshine. Here is my photo of the week.

I chose this photo because I love that if feels like an abstract representation of a daffodil, rather than a realistic photograph. It follows the basic shapes and colours of the flower but is also mostly blurred and the only part in sharp focus is the ruffled edge of the funnel. I used natural sunlight from the window to light it as it made it feel real and brought out the vibrant yellow. I love the detail in the crinkled edge in comparison with the blurred petals. The funnel of the plant adds some mystery as it is unclear what is lurking inside, this also helps to draw the eye into the centre of the photo. Overall I think it is a lovely photo to sum-up spring and the warm weather which will hopefully grace us with its presence soon. Below are some of the other photos I took. Some are a more classic example of macro photography as they pick up lots of detail in the flower, but I still cant help being drawn to the one above as my favourite. I know I was only supposed to pick one photo, but I think these all deserve to be shown too :) 

A little visual treat!

I apologise for the lack of a 'photo of the week' (I know its only the second week aswell!) I have been a bit poorly this week so been getting on with behind the scenes photography things rather than actually taking many photos. Therefore I dont have any from the week to analyse. So instead I will give you a little treat for you eyes. This video is the opening of the television show I made as part of my final year project at University. I commisioned this video to be made by a second year student, I gave her my photos, a story board and a visual description and she produced this stunning piece of digital art. I will post the whole show some time if you would be interested in seeing it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little visual feast and I will post a photo of the week soon, now that i'm feeling better :)