Looking ahead to 2011

So, it's that time again - where I put down a few thoughts about what lies ahead in the next twelve months and, more importantly, what I would like to achieve. But before I do, I want to recap on what I said around this time last year...

A quick glance at my 2010 to-do list is rather pleasing; with the exception of one or two points, I made real progress on all of my intentions - and those which you might describe as 'could try harder' are, relatively speaking, quite low on the list of priorities.

Last year, I talked about how the economy was presenting a real challenge for a lot of people, and how many turned to social media for reaching out to potential business contacts. Google Wave was the big thing, but the internet is a fickle mistress... and we all know what happened there!

It's true to say, though, that my online activities have come on leaps and bounds this year. The most rewarding and promising of developments have undoubtedly been the creation of my Facebook page - for which I won an award - and the launch of my podcast, which has its home at TheActivePhotographer.com. I must be doing something right, as both channels are creating contacts and opportunities which I'm sure I would never have encountered otherwise, and the feedback has been fantastic.

As for taking time out for myself, photographically-speaking... Well, I am glad to say last year's project - Fountain Jam - has been really well received, and I can't wait to finally put together the layout together over the next couple of months and see the book printed!

So then, what's on the list for the next twelve months?

Well...

• Write a blog post at least once per week.
• Interact more with others' blogs, via comments and forums.
• Create more behind-the-scenes videos.
• Extend my podcasting activities/further develop TheActivePhotographer.com.
  
• Continue my self-driven yearly projects, including another book for 2011.
• Conduct more product tests/reviews.
• Extend my use of wireless speedlights - regular lighting tests for own benefit.
  
• Work more with the outdoor market - if this is you, let me know!
• Build on the GBP:Workshop tutorials which were set in motion last year..
  
• And yes, keep on top of that Wired magazine subscription!
  

Once again, this little lot should keep me going for a while...

What about you? What are your aims and ambitions for 2011? Whatever you've got in mind, have a great one!

Knittage simply lit

When Inny needed some snazzy new shots of her knitted wares recently, for use on her blog and online shop, we used the absolute bare-basics approach of 'one camera, one lens, one light'. The location/studio arrangement was also just about as simple as you can get - a living room coffee table table.

What you see in the picture here is the lighting set-up... A single SB-800 with Pocket Wizard (for wireless connection to the camera); attached to the front is a diffuser panel (for nice, soft, even light). A Magic Arm was used to support the rig just off to camera right, positionable back and forth, left to right, as required.

The camera, incidentally, was hand-held.

You'll notice daylight striking the 'set' from the front - this was taken out of the equation not by closing the curtains, but my letting the flash be the sole light source (and adjusting settings accordingly). Flash light is perfect for close-up detail work, as it is very clean and crisp.

As many of you know, I don't believe in relying on post-production in order to 'save' poor technique - clearly, it makes far more sense to get things looking the way you want them at the time of capture. Case in point - the image you see up top is essentially unaltered.

The most Photoshop work that was applied here was to the image which ended up as Inny's banner - a simple case of choosing the crop and superimposing her logo, to end up with this:


Photo shoots are expensive, time consuming, stressful affairs, right? Nope. This little lot took all of about 10 minutes from setting up to taking everything apart, including time to arrange the object (a Spring Greens scarf, no less!), discuss framing options and, of course, sip a nice cuppa.

Indoors, up-country

With the weather getting better (well, I am an optimist!), it would be nice to think that all our assignments will be set outdoors from now on. Being realistic, of course, this won't be the case - by default, some projects dictate an indoor set-up. Think product and food photography, room sets and medical sector - that sort of thing.

April saw a trip up-country to Cumbria, to undertake a follow-on shoot for a hotel set in the glorious Lake District. I love the outdoors and this area of the country always holds great appeal, so the long drive up there didn't seem half as bad when faced with such a backdrop.

The task at hand was to photograph a number of recently-refurbished bedrooms and some of the finer details contained therein. For this, I used one of my favourite setups - one tripod-mounted camera, two lenses (wideangle for overviews, standard for closer details), and one/two mains-powered lights, each bounced off the ceiling.

Now, the joy of lighting any subject is that there exists a great deal of flexibility - and therefore potential visual results - in the equipment we can use. On location outdoors, for example, regular readers will know I am a great fan of using small, lightweight flash guns, making the most of wireless technology.

However, when photographing room sets, I nearly always turn to the use of 'continuous' lamps, specifically a set of 1000-watt halogens. These are great, and typify the essence of lighting. Simple and 'no-frills', they produce a very natural light, enabling me to see immediately how the subject is looking, where shadows are falling and where any unwanted highlights might appear, even before I take the first test picture.

Having spent many thousands of pounds on the refit, it made sense for our client to again make use of strong imagery in the marketing of their hotel. And as GBP produced the previous set of pictures, it also made sense to have us back so as to keep a continuity.

In these tough economic times, there is a tendency for businesses to hold back on their advertising/marketing activities and, unfortunately, one of the first casualties of this action is frequently professional photography. Out of this, two observations can be made:

• Firstly - 'in-house', 'DIY' photography often has a negative effect on your business. For example, you might have a nice website and a great product, but many is the time we have seen poor 'snap-shot' imagery not just completely undermine the efforts of a web paid designer, but also make a company's product/staff/service look second-rate and amateurish when compared to those of their competitors.
  

• Secondly - any marketing company will tell you that when times are tough, the last thing you should do is cut your marketing spend. Rather, you should invest (within your budget, of course) in keeping your product/service in the minds of existing and potential clients. When things calm down, you will then be ahead of those competitors who have held back - clearly an advantage.
  

A final note about these last points, in something of an ironic twist - It doesn't have to cost as much as you think to employ such professional services, but not heeding these warnings can/will have a profound effect on your business, to the point where it is very difficult to recover from such a 'cutting corners' approach.

It doesn't cost anything to ask for advice or opinion, so feel free to get in touch or speak up in the comments section of this post!

Another late night, sleep deprivation and a long drive

The end of February was a hectic time - with all manner of, shall we say, 'challenges' to overcome before heading upcountry for various commitments, including Focus On Imaging. Not least of these 'challenges' was my ongoing love/hate relationship (currently mostly hate, it has to be said) with PC computers; they were giving grief right up until an hour or so before I jumped in the car.

All appeared to be well upon departure but, would you believe it, I find out the laptop is still unwilling to co-operate, despite a full clean-out, and hence this post comes to you thanks to Manda's MacBook. So that'll be another tick in the 'switch-to-Mac' box, then.

On the Saturday night of the weekend I was due to head northwards, I was commissioned to document events as they unfolded at a private 30th Birthday party. A nice job (as you know, I particularly love event photography) and thankfully very local, as timings ran from 6:30pm to 10:30pm. It was the usual sort of thing - guests smiling and chatting and generally having a good time. Add to this the 'overview' room pictures and 'detail' shots which gel the series of pictures together (bowls of sweets, chocolate fountain, goodie-bags etc), and I came away with a nice set of images which told the story of the evening.

Once back at base, there was just enough time for a quick bite to eat before heading straight to the office to begin the process of editing and uploading all images to the GBP website via our Client Area. Whilst the latter was being completed under its own automated steam, I took care of the client's labelled DVD and all corresponding paperwork, ready for posting at a more reasonable hour.

All said and done, with other matters also taken care of, my head finally hit the pillow just as the birds began their morning sing-song. Now, late nights are not unusual for me, but one has to question the sensibility of driving four and a half hours on just three hours sleep! Ah well... all part of the service, as they say!

As part of the 'package', we also prepared in advance a set of 'event slips', each slip containing the online album access details. Every goodie-bag contained one of these, and once logged in, visitors would then be able to view and order photographic prints in various sizes and finishes (eg gloss or matte) directly through the website.

Incidentally, one day a couple of weeks ago saw a shoot in conjunction once again with Matt; typical marketing material sort of stuff, created using all the benefits of our wireless technology. A video of that day will be following in due course, but I've not even had the chance to look at the raw video footage we shot yet.

In spite of the rain...

Whilst up in Manchester, Manda and I decided to take a trip out into the countryside of Bowland - a lovely area of rivers, sheep and rolling hills crossing rural Lancashire and North Yorkshire in the North West of England. I'm sure there's probably more to the place than that, but these were just my initial observations!

Having been treated in Blackpool, the day before, to a relatively mild afternoon with dry weather and a fantastic sunset, we were all fired up to have another day out walking around and taking pictures 'just because we can'. As I said in a previous post, creating more personal work is very much on my 'to do regularly' list this year.

In theory then, the idea of another day out was a good one... Seeing that the light was pretty good and conditions were almost rain-free, we packed the car with everything we'd need to create simple lighting on location - 2 flash guns (Nikon SB-800s), 2 lightweight stands and a set of Pocket Wizard remotes (for reliable wireless flash triggering). Between us, we were using both Nikon and Canon camera/lens kit. Oh, and just for a bit of comfort, a flask of coffee came along too (pity we forgot the milk!).

I say the idea was a good one 'in theory', because nature had other plans for us.

With every mile we drove, the wet stuff got worse. Specks of rain turned into a fine drizzle, before passing through a state of what can at best be described as 'lazy droplets', before threatening to become a downpour. Add to this the increasing cold and we were getting further and further away from what would be considered 'favorable' conditions.

But of course, in true British spirit (that is to say a stubborn and determined fashion), we refused to be beaten by this. I always carry a bunch of clear freezer and zip-lock bags with me, to keep all the electronic stuff dry in such scenarios - and thankfully, as ever, this simple, cost-effective solution proved perfect for the job.

Modern pro kit is pretty resilient these days - it has to be - but even so, it makes sense to give it a helping hand from time to time.

We managed to get a good few pictures in the can between us before the decision was made to head off to a different location further up the road. In the event, the weather really set in and so 'Plan B' came into force - head for the nearest pub on the way back and have a late lunch before settling down to a warm evening and review our day's efforts.

All in all, we had a great time in Bowland. And despite the weather, the experience only served to fuel what drives us as photographers, and what it's all about - a passion for photography, and a desire to make images. Pure and simple. And with the thought of long summer evenings on the not-so-distant horizon, we can't wait to get out and about and do more of the same!

Happy Birthday, Grandad!

Yesterday was a very special day for our family - my Grandad turned 97 (though you wouldn't have thought it to look at him!). So, naturally, out came the camera and lights to mark the occasion.

The backdrop for the pictures was the rear garden of his house - with a bit of privacy and so many happy memories there, it was the ideal setting.

Past experience has shown that taking a 'posed' picture of my Grandad is akin to photographing a young puppy - I find myself with a maximum of just a few short minutes before he decides it's time to move off to get on with other more 'exciting' activities (thankfully, I have also learnt not to take this reaction personally!). So, with this in mind, I set up the lights in advance, making full use once again of the wireless capabilities of the Nikon Speedlight system. For more examples of this system in use, see the content label list on the right; if you have any questions, please post them via the comments link below.

The diagram here shows the basic arrangement, viewed from above. As you can can see, the main light was fired through a translucent umbrella; I often use this approach as it provides a clean and flattering diffused illumination which softens the skin nicely.

Behind the subjects were placed 2 other (undiffused, SB-800) flash units - one either side, each at approximately 30 degrees, creating a nice rim light and giving clear separation from the background. This would have been accentuated even further had the subjects' clothing been darker.

For any keen photographers who are reading - yes, you're quite right, the the main light is in fact a Metz, not a Nikon. Simply put, the Nikons were set to fire off the Metz, thanks to the SU-4 hack. Want to know more? You should definitely check out this page over at Strobist, where David Hobby gives a great run-down of this excellent slave function.

But getting back to the point... and the whole reason we create pictures in the first place. Regardless of subject matter, every image is designed to be memorable, meaningful, impactful in some way. Of course this process is subjective to varying degrees - the photographer's beliefs, his/her stylistic preferences, even one's state of mind at the time of capturing the image - all can influence how the picture turns out. And every picture has a purpose, it's own story to tell.

On this occasion, I simply wanted to document the fact that my Grandad has reached such a great age. The caption would read nothing more than "Grandad in the garden on his 97th Birthday". In years to come, I will be able to look back on these photographs and remember the happy memories of that day and of the years that led up to it; the times we spent together in that place, the fun we had.

And therein lies photography's greatest strength - the ability to capture moments in time, no matter what content fills the frame. It is there to preserve those moments for the benefit of future generations. Technology is wonderful - but it is merely a tool which allows us to realise our visions.

When nature and technology meet

If you went down to my local woodland this last weekend, you would have seen me putting some equipment through its paces in this outdoor environment - specifically, I was playing around with wireless lighting. As many will know, I am a big fan of the countryside and when I get to combine this with photography and call it 'work', then all the better!

It's often nice to travel light, taking the minimum amount of equipment to a shoot, and modern technology really supports this approach. The picture above (view larger) was shot with a very simple set-up - one camera and two portable flash guns.

Thanks to nature lending a hand, only one lighting stand was required as I used what's known as a Super Clamp to attach the second flash unit to a branch. These things really are so versatile and I always keep them in my portable lighting kit; they will attach to virtually any surface, so long as there is some form of lip jutting out or an object which they can wrap around.

This kind of 2-light arrangement is a great way to add depth to pictures, and is ideal for profile and feature portraits in all manner of areas from corporate websites through to magazine features. And because there are no wires involved, there is much more freedom and versatility to be had in any given space. In fact, we are now able to remotely trigger our lights and cameras at ranges up to 1600 feet!

My somewhat basic diagram here should give you an idea of the setup as seen from above. As you can see, Flash 1 is the main light source (combined with the natural light) and Flash 2 creates a nice rim-light down the subject's left side (as viewed), which helps to distinguish him from the surroundings.

Using a complimentary or meaningful background adds colour and interest to pictures, at the same time holding the viewer's attention longer than if a dull backdrop or flat lighting were used. The whole idea of creating photographs is most often to show the subject in an exciting, compelling or distinct way - no matter whether it is a member of the family, your latest whizz-bang product or even a day-to-day object that you wouldn't ordinarily give a second glance to.

Photography - and photo shoots - should be fun. And by keeping on our toes with such matters as new technology and lighting techniques, we can ensure this is the case.