Two weeks old and oh-so sweet

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

After a busy couple of weeks I finally managed to get to see my new baby niece, Niamh Emma. She absolutely gorgeous, an expert at sleeping, (she must take after her Dad for that one). Brought into this world with the help of a surgeons knife, she is happy, and fitting fit, and keeping her parents, and Grandparents, busy. Mom is also doing fine, with strict instructions to keep still, I arrived to find her power-washing the patio(Mom that is, not Niamh), a bit sore but active as ever.

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Niamh is the families’ first daughter; the two older brothers are very protective of her, even though they themselves are only 4 and 2 years old. I can see her being very well looked after, God help her first boyfriend.

The boys were busy helping their Dad build a new playhouse in the garden, as soon as the roof was on; they disappeared, only to reappear hauling their bedding into the garden. Apparently they wanted to spend the night in the new playhouse.

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 50 mm

Helping Dad whack a few nails in....

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Look at those eyes

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Climbing a ladder, with help from Nana

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 24 mm

New windows

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Must be a bigger hammer in here somewhere

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 24 mm

Out comes the bedding

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 50 mm

Time for bed, probably not.

Big Skies

Canon 1D MKIIN 24-70mmf2.8 set to 24mm

Using colour to enhance your composition can be a useful tool to improve your images. One of the most effective ways of using colour is to use a single blanket of one hue to cover the majority of your frame, and then accent that colour with another.

Skies can produce some wonderful blues, depending on the direction of the sun, and the time of day they can be soft pale pastels or super saturated sheets of solid colour.

Canon 1D MKIIN 24-70mmf2.8 set to 70mm

I originally saw this image a simple black and white image, but when I downloaded the file from my 1DMKIIN, the blue just jumped out at me, a simple vignette and the image was complete.

A Few Days Off...

This Year I deliberately made the effort to spent Easter with my family, something that was almost always an impossibility, but this year I managed it.

Alison and I decided to get off our backsides and get away from home and go walking. We have always enjoyed walking and climbing but the last couple of years have been difficult to fit the time in. As we have done anything particul;arily difficult for quite a while we decided to stay fairly local and visit the Dark Peak area of the Derbyshire Peak District. Great hills, with loads of fantastic pubs, perfect.

Considering I used to be a volunteer member of a Mountain Rescue Team, and I was extremely fit, I really puffed up the first hill, Alison lead the way for quite a distance, but I soon found my pace and we managed a stroll along quite nicely. Our main summit was Mam Tor, the site of an ancient Bronze Age fort, which can be easily reached from the road, but we decided to attack the hill from the far side, which is much steeper and much more satisfying.

Lucy and I at the summit of Mam Tor.

On the summit were a large group of Parapenting enthusiasts, enjoying the thermals, one landed very close to use which upset Lucy,my Labrador, and set her off barking madly, but no harm was done.

The walk was over in a few hours, much shorter than we had planned, but this gave us plenty of time to enjoy the food in a local pub and enjoy a pleasant drive exploring the area.

Lucy recovering from her walk

We hope to continue walking this summer, when work allows, there is something special about the hills.

Lincoln Wedding and Event Show




Just a short post to thank all those who came to visit my stand at the Lincoln Wedding and Event Show at the weekend. I had a great day, met loads of new couples and a even a few who have contacted me previously.


My stand was postioned between a Fetish Corset manufacturer and a Teddy Bear stand. A change from the usual exhibitor at Wedding fairs, but at least we had a great time. I met up with several other photographers, and exchanged ideas and discussed the future of the business. Some of us are considering an evening out on the town, something I am really looking forward to.


Thanks again everyone, hope to see you all soon.

Faye and Matthew

Another crazy weekend with a fantastic couple. I met Faye and Matthew at the National Wedding Fair last October, when they booked me to photograph their wedding later this year. They are a great, fun-loving, couple that have made me laugh every time I have met them.

I made a special journey down to Cardiff to photograph them for their engagement session. It was a trip worth making, the weather was lovely, the traffic almost non-existant, and the locations were fantastic.

We started of in Cardiff Bay, were we took advantage of the architecture and stonework of the harbour. The crowds started to gather to watch us, while I was photographing Faye, Matthew was asked if she was famous!

We then made a short trip to a local beach, where we had a splash in a few rock pools, clambered over the rocks and finished witha stroll along the beach.

I had a great time, and I am really happy with the images, I just hope Faye and Matthew like them too. Look out for the wedding photos in a later post.

Jacqui and Martin

What a shoot, probably one of the shortest engagements shoots in history. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Jacqui and Martin for the first time, and shooting a few images for their engagement session.

Jacqui and Martin were the lucky couple to have won the free wedding photos competition I ran last year at the National Exhibition Centre. The competition was run in conjunction with British Forces Radio, and was actually won by Jacqui's future Sister-in-Law, who then donated the prize the couple.

We met at the wedding venue in Hartlepool, which gave me the opportunity to check the place out for the wedding, and the couple looked through a selection of albums and chose the style they would like to have for their images.

The weather had looked a little grim for a few days, but we chose to give it a go anyway as there was a gap in the worst of the storm. All looked Ok as we strolled along the seafront, but as I raised the camera for the first shots the wind picked up and all hell broke loose. I managed to expose about 30 frames before we made a run for it back to our cars. In a matter of seconds we were all totally drenched.

I would like to thank Jacqui and Martin for their time yesterday, I hope the weather did not dampen the mood, and I hope you got home safely, if a little damp.

Crufts 2007

Being dog owners, Alison and I always look forward to watching Crufts on the Tv every year, but this year we decided to actually go and see it for ourselves.
It was incredible, thousands of people crammed into the immense halls at the National Exhibition Centre, all wanting to meet the dogs, watch the demonstrations and buy stuff for their pets. We couldn't believe it, at one point we were trapped in a queue for a pet toy stall, that we didn't even intend to visit, fortunately we managed to get out of the melee, and make our way to the main arena.

We arrived in time to watch an excellent demonstration by the RAF Dog Display team. The dogs demonstrated all sorts of agility demonstrations, climbing over high walls, along parrallel bars and even jumping over a guy reading the paper. I was a little disappointed they did not show the attack dogs bringing down an intruder, but I suppose in an enclosed space with 6,000 guests, might have proved a little dangerous. I also spotted the RAF Photographer, but I didn't recognise her.

After a little lunch, we had a look around the dogs waiting to be judged, it was great to see the owners preening the little Terriers ready for the judges. Most of the owners were extremely friendly, and let us meet the dogs, but one lady was obviously a little stressed by the whole situation, needless to say we did not hang around to be abused.

The whole day flew by, we both enjoyed it, especially the Discover Dogs area, which had over a hundred different breeds of dogs for the public to meet. Everything from the giant Mastiff breeds to the tiny toy section, they even had some very rare breeds like the Otterhound.
We finished the day collecting free samples from the food suppliers, I think Lucy will be fed for free for a week.

I am not sure we will both be going next year, but I will definately put in a bid to get a proper press pass, I feel a little project coming on

ABSOLUTE CHAOS

On occasion I get asked to photograph people on a time for prints basis (TFP), these are usually young models or aspiring musicians wanting a leg up in the business. Unfortunatly I have not got the time to complete all of these requests, after all I have a business to run and free pictures cost me money, but inspite of this I consider each request on its merits and when I can I will shoot for free.

A request came in from Chantelle, an aspiring model from Newark, who wanted some pictures with her brothers band, Cause of Chaos. After she explained her position I agreed, and we arranged to do a location shoot near to where they live.

The shoot was an absolute scream, the guys dressed in Pseudo Punk come Gothic outfits, and I got to use my signature lighting technique again, I loved it. I shot alot more images than I would normally for a TFP shoot, we had loads of images to choose from.

Cheers guys, I had a great time.

Hope you all like them

Paul

Wonderful Wide Angles


I love to use wide angle lenses, they allow the veiwer to see so much more, and give the illusion of space and freedom.

I have recently been involved in a project for a design company who were putting together a brochure for a property development company. The brief was to photograph an apartment, near Nottingham, that was part of an exclusive development. I have photographed this type of building on many occasions, and was aware that on the most part, they tend to be small and pokey.

This apartment was very pleasant, much bigger than I was expecting, but still not exactly spacious, I was going to have my work cut out if I was to make this place look as appealing as the market value led you to believe it was.

I had packed a couple of wide angle lenses, a 17-35 f2.8, a real work horse of a lens, and my 12-24 f4-5.6, a superb piece of glass that I am using more and more.

I initially tried the 17-35, but I knew that optically it is rather poor at the edges, and it just wasn't quite wide enough anyway, so out came the 12-24.

Suddenly this small cosy flat becomes a much more spacious luxury apartment. The problem is that wide angle lenses tend to bend straight lines, but with careful use you can minimise distortion by keeping the camera as level as possible and not having articles too close to the lens. These problems were overcome by using the spirit level built into my tripod to ensure the head was level, and by some careful furniture arrangement.

The living room and bedrooms were not so much of a problem, but the bathrooms, especially the en-suite, were fairly tight for space.

As you can see from the picture of the bathroom , the basin is a little distorted, but as my camera is fairly level it is not unpleasant.

I must admit, I really enjoyed this project, some archtectural jobs can be incredibly tedious, but the quality of the apartment, and the challenge, really made this for me. Best of all the designers loved the images.

Essential gear















Without doubt, if anything is going to go wrong, it will go wrong while on that really important job, the one that you have spent the last two months sweating if your tender was successfull or not.

No matter how many times you test your gear, sometimes it goes tits-up at the most inopertune moment. generally its not the big items, such as cameras or flash units that go wrong, its the smaller items, like cables that break.

Recently I had exactly that happen to me, not a problem I thought," I have a spare" which I did. All was well for about 15 minutes, then just as I was about to wrap up, the spare went 'US', thats unserviceable to those none ex-military types. I only had one final shot to get, but I needed a working cable, and quickly.

Luckily I always carry a back-up to the back-up, not neccesarily the exact item I require, but some way of achieving the aim, usually I have to bastardise a piece of gear to get it to work, but I have not been beat yet.

On this occasion I had to chop up two different cables and connect them using electrical tape, it worked a treat and let me finish the job on time and to the brief.

So here it is, my most useful piece of gear, the venerable Gerber Multi-tool. I have owned numerous brands of multi-tool, including Leathermans and Swiss Army knives, but I have always returned to Gerber.

My current one is nearly ten years old and has been around the world with me, I always carry it.

Other important bits and bobs I carry include gaffer tape, elastoplast, paracetamol, power bars, and an LED flashlight.

So going to Scouts as a kid really was useful, it taught me to be prepared for every eventually.

Off-Camera Flash


















On occasion I am going to post little snippets of information about my photography and the techniques I use. I have never intended that this blog becomes a how-to site but since so many people ask me how I work, I thought I might as well share a little of what I have learned over the years.

If there is one photographic technique I really love to use, this is it, off-camera flash. By removing the flashgun from the camera and placing it on a stand to the side of the subject, it is possible to create a little more drama in the image.

The portrait above was lit with a Lumedyne Signature Series flash unit, but a similar effect can be achieved using a conventional flashgun. The flashgun needs to be triggered someway, the simplist method is to use an off-camera cord, these come in various lengths, and can either be dedicated to your specific camera, or made from a simple cable.

I have several cables, but I normally use a Pocket Wizard to trigger my flash units. Pocket Wizards are incredibly reliable radio triggers with a range of over 1000 feet, and because you are not tied to the flash with a cable you can move about freely without any restrictions.

In the portrait above I used the flash bare, in other words I did not use any form of modifier to change the effect of the light, but by using a flash off-camera I could quite easily have used an umbrella or softbox to soften the light.

Hope you found this useful

Paul

Been Busy......




I have been incredably busy the last few days working for the paper, pulling double shifts and weekends can really wear you out, so I am taking the oppurtunity to sit down and take five to recompose.

Enough of that, rest is for wimps, get a grip, what else would you be doing between the hours of three and five in the morning...taking photos....

Anyway, my jobs ranged from police raids on illegal traders to 100th Birthdays and cute puppies(ahh), pretty none stop but loads of fun.

One of the best jobs was photographing a Rap contest, held in a local community hall, it was great fun, I met loads of great kids, all trying to be the next big thing. There were also some great vocal artists and instrumentalists, there is a great deal of talent in the Midlands, it not all in London.

Anyway, here are few of my favourites from the shoot.

Thanks everyone

I would just like to a big thank you to all of you that came and saw me at Kelham yesterday. It was great to meet everyone, especially at such a wonderful location.

My stand was in the Dome, which as its name suggests, is a huge hall with a domed ceiling, the light inside was amazing and the atmosphere was wonderful.

I hope that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did, and I hope to see you again soon.

Paul

See me at Kelham hall

Just a short post this time, letting you all know that I will have a stand at the Wedding Fair on Sunday at Kelham Hall.

This is my first time at Kelham Hall, and I am really looking forward to it. Speaking to some of last years exhibitors, I got the impression that it is going to be a great show. The hall is used by the district council for its head office, but you would never guess. The magnificent hall is set in 42 acres of beatiful gardens and is worth a visit even if you do want to see the wedding fair. Lets hope the weather stays fine.

If you are not sure how to get there, just follow the Southwell/Mansfield road from Newark, after about 2 miles you will cross the River Trent (watch the turn as you approach the bridge, its a bit tight), continue through Kelham village and as you leave the village you will see the entrance to the Hall on the left. Easy.

See you there,

Paul

Note to Self: Must stop eating...




















Now all the Holiday fun is drawing to an end, its time to decide what New Years resolution I am going to break first, might as well get it over with, its bound to happen.

One little promise I made to myself, that I am determined to keep, is to keep exercising. I do not meen that ridiculous running that I try to do every January for about 2 weeks, but nice gentle walks in the country, with my dog Lucy.

I always take my compact camera with me when I am out with her, just in case I get a shot of her covered in mud, or swimming in a lake. Just lately I have been testing my little Nikon P1 to see just how good it really is, and I have been pleasantly surprised. Its no where near as good as my primary cameras, but for a little over £100, not so bad at all. The shot at the top of the page was hand held, on a fairly long exposure, but I got a reasonably sharp image, even when printed to 11 x 9 inches. I have decided to frame this image and display it in my viewing room, to break up the display of portrait and wedding images.

Anyway, I've got plenty of left over pork pie to eat, and a couple of beers that need drinking before the wife realises I still have some left.

I hope you all had a happy and hearty New Year, all the best.

Paul

Fog Bound













Not sure all you international types are aware, but the UK is currently trapped in a blanket of fog that is slowly strangling the life out everything. Airports, roads and public transport is all affected. Unfortuneatly it looks like some folks will not get home for Christmas.

I decided to get out there a make use of the eary, gloomy light that this weather is producing and I have produced four sets of images that I feel really sums up the mood at the moment.





These are some of the images from my first set, shot at the local woods where I walk my dog Lucy.

I shot using my Canon 1DMKIIN fitted with my new Lensbaby 3G, a unique peice of kit that distorts images to produce a ghostly blurred effect. I finished the images by slightly desaturating them in Photoshop and dropping them into a black border.

I intend to frame the images in sets of four, each image printed only 3 inchs along it longest side. They will be in a dark oak A4 landscape frame to set them off.

Anyway, I hope you all manage to get home to your families for Christmas, have a great time and I will be back after Christmas.

Paul

Not another Nativity........

I've not ahd alot of time to publish anything for a few days as I have been so busy working for the paper again.

If you weren't already aware I regularily work shifts at the Nottingham Evening Post, a regional daily that covers most of the East Midlands. Although I am not a Staffer at the paper, just recently I might have well as set up a camp bed in the office, as I have spent alot of time there.

Unless you have been away visiting another planet, you might have noticed that Christmas is on the way, and as usual parents of all ages are looking forward to see their little ones perform on stage as Mary, Joseph, a shepherd or even a donkey.

I have had the pleasure of watching quite a few productions, of varying size and quality, over the last week or so. Along with a couple of other photogs, I have had the pleasurable task of visiting Churchs, Schools and Nurseries all over the East Midlands to photograph children portraying their take on the Holy birth.

The newspaper intends to publish a Nativity special, next Tuesday I believe, packed full of pictures of kids dressed as sheep, donkeys and shepherds. I am not sure exactly how many productions have been visited so far, but the original intention was to photograph over 100 plays, productions and carol services, so needless to say, the nativity special is going to make a thump when it comes through the door.

Anyway, if any of your little ones have performed a nativity recently, I hope you enjoyed their performance as much as I did.

Just in case you wondered......




This is Lucy, although she is a little older now, but still as cute.

Whippets are mad......

Its not often that I get asked to photograph pets, but after a chance enquiry when I took my Labrador Lucy to the vets for a check-up, I have been asked to photograph quite a few.

The most recent, and definately the most fun, were a pair of whippets called Brian and Bert. These little guys were only a few months old, and had loads of energy to burn. After greeting me by jumping all over me, we went straight outside and played in the garden. Although they were fun, I really had to get rid of some of their energy and calm them down. This didn't take long, as their little bodies simply didn't have the stamina, but to be honest I think I was more tired than they were.

We eventually went back inside, where they jumped straight onto their owners sofa, one at each end, and started to doze off.

I managed to get quite a few really nice images of them, their owners were very happy with the results, these a couple of my favourites.


Brian looking all angelic......















Bert...dozinnnnnnn....

I wish all my jobs were like this....

I would like to thank Mary and Malcolm Davenport, from Cote Hill Farm in Lincolnshire, for their hospitalty while photographing their wonderful cheese last week.

Mary and Malcolm make the most beautiful selection of cheese you can imagine, using milk pumped straight from their own cows on their farm near Market Rasen.

Mary kindly invited me to stop for lunch, which consisted of a huge platter of her favourite cheeses, homemade bread and flapjack. I really did not want to leave.

The Davenports are currently only sell their cheeses at local farmers markets, but they are currently building a website. Here are few more of the images from the shoot.