Autumn Colours

The trees are really showing off at the moment, so much colour on the leaves as the sun beats down, turning them a fiery orange and red. I had a wander around my local wood yesterday and it was truly magical. Quite cold but not a breath of wind so everything was still and quiet. I took with me my Fuji X100 and a little film SLR which is going to be the subject of my next '12 months of film' blog post. I love shooting with the Fuji as it's so unobtrusive and it really encourages me to snap away. It's once you get the images back home though and start to browse through them that you realise what an amazing sensor it uses. Images are fantastic, sharp, clean and full of detail. I quite often shoot up to ISO 3200 and have no issues with noise from the captured files. Dynamic range is also top notch. Just check the fifth image in this sequence. Shot straight towards the sun with much of the image in shade, I was easily able to recover the blown highlights and lift the shadow areas of the raw file without any degradation of the image. If I'm carrying all my kit I normally set up a camera on tripod and bracket a set of 5 or more images with values anywhere from -3 E.V. to +3 E.V. and then merge them in Photoshop. But being able to capture pretty much the entire dynamic range of the image in just the one photograph is a real bonus. It means I can travel light and still not worry about missing a shot because of tricky lighting conditions.                                                                                                                              

Fiery Orange leaves and a low sun make for beautiful contrasty images.

Roughton Moor Woods full of colour

Beautiful golden patterns

Burning bright against a cold blue sky

Great dynamic range from the Fuji X100 sensor

Fuji X100

The X100 is now rocking the latest version 2.0 firmware which was released from Fuji about 6 weeks ago. It's made a classic camera even better and although stocks are now extremely low as it's been superseded by the X100s, there are still a few available if you have a search on the internet. And for about half the price of the newer model it's an absolute bargain.

The Old Wreck

On the North Norfolk Coast, not that far from Hunstanton, lies a small hamlet by the name of Thornham. Most of the delightful little places dotted along the coast have a small track or road that leads down towards a bay and colourful boat sheds and Thornham is no exception. What makes this tiny place more interesting than most though is the landscape, decorated with old mooring platforms and decomposing wooden structures that are scattered as far as the eye can see. The jewel in the crown is arguably an old abandoned fishing trawler left high and dry by a long forgotten Winter's storm, slowly succumbing to the harsh coastal conditions which pound it on an almost daily basis. It has been photographed many times by both amateur and professional photographers alike and anyone visiting the area will almost certainly wish to capture their own image of this fragile, decaying wreck.

Old Fishing Boat, with storm moving in.

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

Valerie Teresa

A seascape image from the beautiful North Norfolk Coast, this time taken when the temperature was decidedly less chilly.

It was late September and we were having a bit of an Indian Summer, temperatures in the high teens and lovely blue skies ending with glorious fiery orange sunsets. The tide was out and everything was still, hardly a breath of wind. The lovely warm glow reflecting off the side of the boat 'Valerie Teresa', a perfect reflection in the pool of water below. I'm drawn to large, open, peaceful places especially now that we are living in a World so congested, one that always appears to be moving at breakneck speed.

Valerie Teresa at Sunset

Autumn Storm Over The Bay

I went out for a stroll along the quay at Wells-Next-The-sea a couple of weeks ago with the intention of capturing a nice shot of the boats and surrounding sand banks as the tide was out. The weather had looked promising as I prepared my camera gear but leaving the house, I noticed the clouds rolling in. Arriving at the quay the camera was attached to a tripod, composition set. And so I waited... and waited. The light which had looked so promising not half and hour before was now dark and flat, a huge cloud obscuring the low sun. At this time of year with the sun being pretty much at its lowest, it's all about the timing. The sun was disappearing fast behind the buildings on the quay and this large cloud didn't look as though it was going to budge. I was toasty and warm, wearing a thick jacket, but Emma wasn't so lucky and was starting to get cold. ( I did offer her my jacket and have since left it with her before you ask ) I was aware that if we didn't capture an image within the next 10 minutes or so it would be all too late as the light would be gone and Emma would be just too cold to continue. The sun finally disappeared behind one of the buildings and all seemed lost until I noticed a large bank of clouds moving in behind the scene I was trying to photograph. I could see that the sun, while not lighting the quay and boats directly was bouncing light off the large cloud bank back towards the scene just like a giant reflector. As it moved into position behind the boats the wind suddenly whipped up forcing me to up the ISO to increase shutter speed. I could see through the viewfinder that there was slight camera shake caused by the wind even though I was using a trusty and solid old Manfrotto tripod. I needed to make sure any vibration was negated by upping the shutter speed in the camera. Luckily ISO 800 is a walk in the park for the Nikon D4, the image is super clean with a huge dynamic range still possible. ( I only normally choose low ISO's simply because it's good practice and ultimately will result in the cleanest of images with the highest dynamic range ) The sky was turning a lovely yellow orange colour and this light was reflecting off the boats, the water and the sand. I took about six images across a period of 30 seconds before the cloud had moved out of frame and the moment gone.

I love the final image. It will always remind me of a beautiful fleeting moment of a lovely little seaside resort... I just hope Emma agrees.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

        

The Old Trawler

With the sun remaining pretty low throughout the winter months, you can pretty much shoot at any time of the day as the light will usually appear warm and not overly harsh. This image captured with an old Praktica BX20 film camera shows the warmth of the low sun as it hits the side of a fishing trawler not long after returning from its latest voyage out into the North Sea. The warm low light hitting the side of the boat highlights the detail of wear and decay, bouncing off the window frames and turning the cabin a fiery orange. The paint peeling from the cabin and roof, a stark reminder of the harsh conditions both man and trawler must face each and every time they travel into the bitter and sometimes wild North Sea.  

Praktica BX20 with Agfa Vista 200

Mervyn and the Starbeats

Last month I was asked to photograph a band called Mervyn and the Starbeats who have been touring around Norfolk for a number of years. A couple of the founding members have been playing as part of the group since the sixties and the band play a selection of classics from that era as well as songs from the seventies. I was tasked with taking a simple group shot but wanted to make it more contemporary and less like the images that had been taken of them in the past.

One of the previous band photos

I decided to go for an image that was slightly more gritty, and showed them the sort of thing I had in mind. We ( my girlfriend Emma was helping with setup and reflector duties ) only had about 20 minutes to create the shot as the band was rehearsing straight after. A background close to their studio was found and away we went. The type of flint wall that forms the background in the shot is something that is very common to the Norfolk area. Both Emma and I felt it was appropriate as this is the County the group most often play in. This particular wall was chosen as it was shaded from the sun and a reflector was used to bounce light back towards the four of them. I asked the group to just relax into a pose that felt natural and said I didn't mind if they looked at the camera or not. I wanted the finished image to look like a candid shot.   Trouble was, as we were setting up, the sun disappeared and the reflector just wasn't as powerful as it could have been. It still bounced just enough light back towards the band members to add subtle catch lights to their eyes though, so it still managed to serve its purpose. I took a few different images of the band posing with and without instruments and once happy we had the shots we were after, packed up and travelled back to the house and downloaded the Raw files into Photoshop. I selected four that I really liked and edited them by upping the contrast and trying to give the images a slightly grungy look, something that was  prevalent on album covers from the Seventies onwards and still persists to this day. It's a stark contrast to the album covers from the previous decades, the 50's and 60's which have a far cleaner cut look. Once completed, I left the four images with the band and was thrilled when they got back to me a week later saying they loved them and that they would be used for promotional material in the future, starting with their new blog. Click on the link to check it out, http://mervynandthestarbeats.wordpress.com/       ( it's still in its infancy ) for future gig dates. If you happen to be in Norfolk, U.K. on one of the dates, why not go and see them, they're well worth a listen.  

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8

Details

When I first starting taking pictures of the rings at wedding shoots, I invariably took the standard shot of a best man holding them either in the palm of his hands or in their boxes. Nothing particularly wrong with it, just not that inspiring. I had a look around the internet to see if I could come up with a few new ideas and to generally find a bit of inspiration. I noticed that a lot of other photographers would take the rings and place them in a setting that would mean something to the bride and groom. That could be any number of things really, it just depends on the individual couple. I had noticed at a wedding I was shooting at in August that the bride had gone to a lot of trouble producing the many table decorations and mini flower displays that were dotted around the reception room. One particular bouquet took my eye, it was fairly simple, beautiful and fitted my needs exactly. I asked if I could borrow the two rings for a few minutes and placed them within the centre of one of the flowers in the bouquet. I think that with these type of shot, it's important not to include any clutter. It wants to be a simple image, making sure the rings are the main focus. The image was taken into Photoshop where levels were tweaked and a subtle texture added. I think the power of the image lies in it's simplicity and I now frequently use this technique on the couple's big day.

Nikon D3s with Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8

 I try to use natural light with these still life images where I can. I feel that it gives them a somewhat soft quality with pastel colouring, an almost delicate feel. Why not give it a try on your next shoot.

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

Off Camera Flash Portrait In Flat Lighting

One of the things I'm faced with as a wedding and portrait photographer on a regular basis is flat, lifeless and boring light. Sometimes it can be impossible to do anything about it, especially if I'm shooting a wedding ceremony where I may not be allowed to use flash or it's just not convenient to do so. When this is the case, it's important that I concentrate on technique and try to capture 'the moment', the image can always be tweaked in Photoshop afterwards. On other occasions I may have time to add supplementary light by rigging up an off camera flash setup. A good example would be during the bride's preparation in the morning or possibly an intimate shot of the bride and groom after the ceremony has finished. I will generally have more time with them during these moments and it's really worth the extra effort setting up a shot and introducing some extra light if needed. It can really give punch and a certain wow factor to the finished image. During the summer months I try to use natural light with the aid of a reflector but during the darker months of Autumn and Winter I may need to introduce a flash because the light levels can be low and somewhat flat. I use a Nikon SB-700 with a Pixel King transmitter and receiver set. The combination works really well for me, the King's offering TTL metering and a flash sync speed of 1/8000 sec if needed.

The two images below show the differences that can be achieved by using a burst of flash and a bit of imagination and also show how easy it is to manipulate the light to create dramatic portraits, especially when a decent backdrop isn't available. The first image was taken of Emma in a garden with a Nikon D4 and Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8. I love this lens, it's stunningly sharp and I like using it for both full length and head and shoulder portraits. Depth of field is controlled really well and isolating a subject is easy. The longer focal length of this lens can also help put a nervous subject at ease as they don't have a camera and photographer up close and in their face, I find that it offers breathing space. As you can see, the first image below, while okay, is flat due to the overcast grey sky, looks quite cold and even though the background is out of focus, you can just make out a fence behind which is slightly distracting.


Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

The settings selected were IS0 800, F8 @ 1/125 sec and a focal length of 200mm. Admittedly I could have used a wider aperture to throw the background out of focus even more but it would've still been visible and slightly distracting. Overall, there just isn't much definition on the face and it just lacks punch and looks a bit cold. It would be fine if it were a candid shot but we can do much better than this with a little thought, time and effort, and the introduction of flash.

Now that I had Emma where I wanted her I took another image, this time with the intention of completely underexposing it. To do this I experimented with aperture and ISO settings until I was happy the captured photograph was entirely black, no detail showing whatsoever. This in effect, makes up my black background. The settings used to do this were ISO 50, F8 @ 1/250sec, too fast for the sensor to record any light. I set a shutter speed of 1/250sec to match the Nikon's fastest flash sync speed. I know I mentioned earlier that the Pixel Kings would sync up to 1/8000sec and I have done this on numerous occasions, but to do this the camera has to cheat a bit ultimately leading to a slightly lower power output from the flash. As it was bright outside, shooting early afternoon, I wanted to utilise all of the SB700's available power so chose the maximum normal sync speed of 1/250sec. At this point it's worth mentioning that for this technique to work with a speedlight you probably won't want to try photographing during midday as the ambient light may be just too bright for the flash to overpower it. Seeking shade or waiting for the light levels to drop slightly may help considerably. Now it was time to introduce the flash. With the above settings dialled into the camera, ( ISO 50, F8 @ 1/250sec) the flash was placed on a tripod which was then fully extended to approximately seven feet in height. It's important to make sure the subject isn't close to a wall or some other object. Light from the flash can inadvertently spill onto it causing ugly distractions and spoiling the black background effect. I used a Lastolite Ezybox to help soften the light from the speedlight and the whole unit was placed to the left of Emma, about four feet away. Angling the flash down allowed more light to spill across the frame, helping to illuminate the right hand side of the face. (Emma's left) Even at this close distance, the SB-700 had to be fired at full power to achieve an exposure of my liking, hence the reason why I suggest shooting in shade or early morning/late afternoon light. The flash simply may not be powerful enough to illuminate the subject while you are trying to achieve an underexposed black background. It's then really a case of experimentation. I was happy with the exposure settings on the camera, (making sure I shot in manual mode to achieve this) so it was simply a case of moving and angling the flash slightly and changing the power settings until I achieve the desired effect. The beauty of adding flash to this image is that it really helped warm Emma's skin tone and also added beautiful catch lights in Emma's eyes. The finished image on the back of the camera's LCD screen looked great so I imported it into Photoshop where the raw file was converted to tiff and just tidied up, a touch of sharpening, levels and curves.


Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

This is a great technique to use if you want to capture a 'powerful portrait' and don't have a particularly nice background or backdrop. It's pretty straight forward to set up and really is worth the effort. By converting the finished image to black and white afterwards in a software program the overall effect achieved can be even more powerful.

Plan of the setup

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

The look of film

I've been shooting digital since 2004 and can quite honestly say it has literally transformed the way in which I work as a photographer. I feel as though I've improved tremendously and I continue to learn something new on a daily basis. If there's one thing I've noticed with digital cameras though, is that they can sometimes be just too damn good, almost clinical in their execution. For the vast majority of my work this is exactly what I require, but just occasionally I may seek something that little bit different and that's where film comes into it's own. It's little surprise to me when I read about the resurgence of film cameras on blogs and other social media sites, especially with the many apps developers design for phones and tablets that can mimic film stock, light leaks and scratches. It makes people curious about the real thing, me included. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the film simulation apps, they do a great job, and sometimes I use them myself. But you can kinda tell when it's a photoshopped image, it can still look somewhat clinical, almost forced, especially if the editing technique is poor. An image captured by film can sometimes have an emotional quality, not something that you can readily put your finger on, but something that is most definitely there. The image below is a case in point. I happened to stumble across a narrow path leading towards a seaside cottage, the sign quite typical to those found on the many lanes and dwellings in the little villages populated on the North Norfolk Coast. I was using the Fujica STX-1 which I have just written about -  http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fujica-stx-1.html with a Fujinon 50mm F1.9 lens. Shooting wide open I focused on the sign and recomposed the shot so as to include the path. I wanted the path to appear blurred in the captured image and so hopefully ask the question of the viewer, 'what lies at the base of the lane, and would you like to wander down it?'. The sun just out of shot to the top left of frame causes a beautiful reddish light leak to spill across the image and the scratches were all present on the scanned negative. In my opinion this all adds to the charm and emotion of the photograph, something that would've been almost impossible to capture on a digital camera.  

Oystercatchers - Fujica STX-1 with Fujinon 50mm F1.9

   

Fujica STX-1

The second camera in the project, 12 months of film http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/12-months-of-film.htm is the Fujica STX-1. It was manufactured by Fuji during the late 1970's and early 1980's and is a fully manual SLR. I purchased mine from eBay for £35.00 including postage. It's in amazing condition, with only minimal scratching to the sides and bottom, and it feels really good in the hand, being well built with an all metal construction and dials that feel nice and solid to the touch. It has a maximum shutter speed of 1/750 sec and a low shutter speed of 1/2 sec with a bulb mode also present. The camera does require a battery but only to run the exposure meter which is an old fashioned needle type. Mine came with a Fujinon 50mm F1.9 which seems to be a reasonably sharp prime lens. The viewfinder is nice and bright and looking through it and focusing before taking a shot is easy and a bit of a joy. The shutter release itself is quite loud and not particularly well damped but it does the job and the overall shooting experience is somewhat pleasant. That was until it developed a fault where the advance lever went loose after cocking the shutter thus rendering the camera useless. I managed to rectify the problem by unscrewing the bottom plate of the body and somehow manually releasing the shutter. ( don't ask me how )  It seems fine now so I'll probably run another film through it soon and see if the problem rears it's ugly head again.  Like the Praktica I used a cheap Agfa Vista 200 ISO film but seeing as the light levels have generally dropped now that we're in the Autumnal months, I was able to utilise the camera's fast prime lens to produce some lovely shallow depth of field images.

The rather handsome Fujica STX-1

 

The film rewind dial

The Fujinon 50mm F1.9 prime lens

Shutter speed dial, shutter button and film advance lever 

I decided to return to a previous photographic haunt, an old abandoned chicken farm not too far from my house. You can see the previous post here - http://brettgardnerphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-old-chicken-farm.html  The weather was pretty good, nice light and some great colour. It was good to have a roam around the site again, taking in the sights of the decaying buildings, everything still and silent, a place lost in time. The Fujica was the perfect partner, something else from a previous era. I enjoyed using it, it forced me to slow down and look around, take in the atmosphere of the place. It helped transport me back to a time when the pace of life was just that little bit more sedate and i liked it. Well done Fuji.  

Guess I'm gonna ignore this

Looking down the length of one of the large chicken sheds

One of the old chicken feeders

Autumn leaves

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

Bonfire Night with the Fuji X100

It was cold but clear last night as I ventured out to the bonfire on the Buttlands at Wells-Next-The-Sea. It was a lovely traditional setup with just a fire and a few small stalls scattered around the green. Families huddled round the edges of the bonfire slowly moved away as the heat became more intense, the flames being whipped into a frenzy by the wind which had strengthened throughout the afternoon.

The fire really gets going.

It was a great time to use the Fuji X100 which is perfectly suited to these type of candid situations, being so small it's fairly unobtrusive. The only way to successfully capture the evening as the eye was seeing it was to shoot in full manual mode, something that is great fun with the X100. The dials are metal and beautifully made so fiddling and changing settings on a regular basis is something of a joy, it has a really tactile feel. The new firmware version 2.0 worked very well, the focus locking on really quickly and allowing me to capture pretty much every image I was after.

One of the small stalls selling hot drinks.

A warm glow on the faces.

Good photo opportunities.

The Fuji X100 is such a great little camera to have, simply because it takes fantastic images, has good high ISO capabilities and it's tiny in comparison to most DSLRs. Stick it in your pocket or rucksack and you're away, no big lenses or accessories to lug around with you. It's always refreshing when I decide to shoot solely with this camera and leave the bigger gear behind, I don't get backache for a start.

Sparks leap from the fire, dancing in the tree's branches. 

Fuji X100 firmware version 2.00 findings

I have had the new version 2.0 firmware upgrade for the X100 a couple of days now and I have found that it has indeed boosted the performance of the camera. Two of the updates that I have found most helpful are the ones that I use in my everyday shooting (naturally). The first one and for me the most important is the auto focus speed which has been improved. I have to admit that I didn't particularly have a problem with it before the update but now I do find it really rather speedy and great for impromptu candid shots like the one below. The camera now locks on to the intended subject pretty darn quick and it means capturing 'that' moment has just become a little bit easier. The second upgrade which I definitely find helpful is the close focus mode. Now you can get closer to your subject before having to switch to macro mode which could sometimes be fiddly, and this definitely speeds up my shooting times.

Shooting from the hip in a fish and chip shop in Wells, it's the only way. Fuji X100

So all in all a fantastic upgrade for a fantastic camera and one that I'm sure many people will be thrilled with. Hats off to Fuji.

The utterly fabulous Fuji X100 about to get an injection of pace courtesy of firmware version 2.0

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

Ghoulish cupcakes

Halloween has recently passed and with it the crazy array of displays in people's windows and shop front's, not to mention the weird and wonderful fancy dress worn by the kids trick or treating at the door. Spookily lit pumpkins hang from the porch and there's plenty of ghoulish shaped food on offer, from sickly sweets to fancy cupcakes. A local cake decorator has been hard at work producing these beautiful little treats that seem almost too good to eat. The detail is simply fantastic, from wicked witches heads to groaning skeletons. They're so mysterious and spooky though, they seem to be slowly disappearing one by one, especially when there are cups of tea around.

Nikon D90

Nikon D90

Nikon D90

Nikon D90

Nikon D90