Art & Still Life OnlineOnline Issue 8

Michael Hall Pimp my Pic Shooting a long-term documentary project Glenn Edwards Johnathan Journalism Report Thompson Food Styling

Image of the Blast From Month The Past Jonny Seymour Bryn Create Stunning Black Griffiths and White Portraits Contrived Spontaneity Michelle

Whitmore Instagram Featured Photographer WALL PRODUCTS CONTENTS

BASICS WITH BRIAN 4 - 10 UNDERSTANDING THE HISTOGRAM

IMAGE OF THE MONTH 12 - 14

BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS 16 - 21 JONNY SEYMOUR

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER 24 - 36 MICHELLE WHITMORE

WELCOME TO THE BIG PHOTO ACADEMY LIVE CRIT TOP TEN 38 - 50 E-ZINE THE PHOTOGRAPHER ACADEMY

This month we’ve decided to let our arty side PIMP MY PIC 52 - 53

out and contemplate the world of Still life and THE SYSTEM 54 - 73 Art . Photographer Academy Master Michelle Whitmore lets us in on what drives her to keep experimenting, and Michael SHOOTING A LONG-TERM 74 - 90 DOCUMENTARY PROJECT Hall shares his passion and techniques that MICHAEL HALL have been the core of his long-term climate 92 - 93 change project. We also have the usual great BLAST FROM THE PAST selection of hints, tips and insights to help you POSING THE BRIDE

take your photography to that next level. WHY YOU SHOULD PRINT YOUR 96 - 100 The Big Photo is, as ever, designed as a LISA BEANEY celebration of photography, so expect the usual array of great images and useful tips ANTICIPATION OF COMPOSITION 102 - 103 on how you can improve you own images MARK SEYMOUR across a range of photographic subjects. CONTRIVED SPONTANEITY 104 - 108 And if you’re looking for something we BRYN GRIFFTHS Razor-sharp focus on your photography haven’t covered here, don’t forget that The Photographer Academy has a huge FEATURED STUDIO 110 - 121 Create high resolution wall art with metal or acrylic catalogue of covering all sorts of CHRYSALIS photography. So, look for the links to click and make your photography the centre of attention. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING through to The Photographer Academy 122 - 131 JONATHAN THOMPSON and our partners, for more great content. Remember we also want The Big Photo E-zine IT LOOKS OK, BUT 132 - 133 • Choice of print finishes to be what you want it to be, so feel free to VICTOR ABERDEEN let us know what content you’d like to see THE STORY IN THE IMAGE 134 - 137 • Sizes 8x8” to 60x40” covered and feel free to share each issue with GLENN EDWARDS • Clusters and Splits available all your photo friends. INSTAGRAM GALLERY 138 -139 • Creative framed options So, what are you waiting for, get out there and

get shooting. TETHER TIPS • Produced in five working days 140 - 141 TOM PITTS Sam & The Photographer Academy Team

Discover more...Visit loxleycolour.com or call 0123 686 2720 WHATS COMING UP 142 - 145

ss sio sio ion ofe ion fes na fes na ess al P Pr al ro l A ro l F f r The information within this publication is for information purposes only. PhotoTraining4u Ltd assumes no liability or responsibility t L P l P r ro o s a b a P d t t m e b s u s t u m c for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. The information contained B e e e s t B e B s

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A A A A BEST PhotoTraining4u Ltd. Therefore, PhotoTraining4u Ltd. carries no responsibility for the opinion expressed therein. PROCESSING LAB Any form of reproduction of any content in this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. All images reproduced with permission of copyright holders who retain all original rights. © 2017 PhotoTraining4u Ltd. All rights reserved. BASICS WITH BRIAN UNDERSTANDING THE HISTOGRAM BRIAN WORLEY

A histogram is a graphical representation of the balance of tones from dark to light in an image. Histograms are powerful ways to help you understand after the image is captured and in some instances, before too. The darkest tones are on the left of the chart, the brightest on the right, in the centre are the mid-tones, about 18% grey. For most kinds of pictures the aim is to get a picture where there is no significant overexposure – histogram pushed to the right, and no underexposure – histogram pushed to the left.

The bell-shaped curve is sometimes shown as an example of a correct histogram. The histogram shape depends entirely on the picture content. Pictures of polar bears in the snow will have a histogram biased to the right, and black cats in coal cellars will be biased to the left.

The histogram for the car photo is predominantly central, but the bright sky, and its reflection in the car windscreen, creates the tall peak on the extreme right side. A histogram displayed with the image. Most can display histograms BASICS WITH BRIAN

HISTOGRAMS IN PHOTOSHOP AND LIGHTROOM

A histogram display from Lightroom with separate colour channels and the luminosity displayed

This image contains many areas with dark tones, this gives the peak on the left side of the histogram. There is also a spread of lighter tones, that creates the flat wide section of the histogram on the right. The picture is not under or overexposed.

A histogram that looks like a comb is your visual clue A histogram display from Photoshop with the that the image has been overworked luminosity/brightness displayed

Most common photo editing programs be clear bands in the print. include a histogram display, there may be Ideally your histogram should be contained several options for colour and different within the range that your can channels to be displayed. Right click on the capture, if there is a big peak at the left histogram, or look in the software settings side then your shadows are too dark, and to change the histogram display. if there is a peak at the right side then the When editing images in Photoshop it is highlights are blown out. When shooting good to keep a watch on the histogram, if it with a mirrorless camera, or using Live starts to look like a comb, then you have an View on a DSLR you can usually display a image with gaps in the tonality, a good sign live histogram. This can be helpful to guide that the image has been worked too much. your exposure settings. For DSLR cameras, Images with such discontinuous tones are check the histogram after you have taken a not suited to printing since there will likely test picture.

Shot on a white background these bottles of colourful liqueur have a good range of tones from shadows to highlights BASICS WITH BRIAN

EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT & HIGH

By combining three separate pictures, the range of tones in this image is greater than the camera sensor can capture. It is still possible to be within the range displayed on the histogram. Exposing to the right has pushed the histogram almost completely to the right-hand edge, but not over it.

Often you will find heated detail and tone. It works for many online debate on the topic of, images. how to optimise your exposure For some images the range of by reviewing the histogram. bright and dark tones exceeds the One common approach that capabilities of the . is discussed is “expose to the At this point you may need to right”. Expose to the right means use exposure bracketing to take changing your camera exposure a series of images at different settings so that the histogram exposure values and then combine has highlights pushed close to them in post processing to make the extreme right side, but not a image. touching it. This approach uses Many cameras have a built in HDR the knowledge that cameras have capability, though you can often a greater number of steps in the achieve better results doing the highlight section of images than processing on a computer. in the shadows. You can reduce the exposure and bring back

The histogram shows the distribution of light and dark tones in an image. This photo has a mixture of bright sky on the left, giving the peak on the right of the histogram. There are many dark areas on the right of the picture that give the peak on the left of the histogram, there are comparatively few mid-tones. BRIAN WORLEY WWW.P4PICTURES.COM FUTHER LEARNING

1. Shoot a scene with a high 2. Shoot a range of scenes and 3. Keep the histogram on your contrast range, such as a black compare the histograms. Are display the next few times you object on a white background. they all very similar or is there go out shooting, does having Does the histogram look a lot of variance depending on it as a reference help you to balanced even when the the content of the image? gauge your exposure. Are image is correctly exposed? there any particular scenarios where it is most useful?

Brian currently has a wide range of workshops and talks coming up, both independently, and with EOS training. For more information or to book go to www.p4pictures.com/photo-workshops Check out Brian’s to accompany this article: Part of his Back to Basics series on The Photographer Academy now!

We arrange cover for: Professional - Photographers / Videographers / Processing Labs / Studios / Picture Libraries / Media Agencies. Semi-professionals - to be best suited to this policy, you must have an alternative occupation unconnected to any of those detailed under the professional scheme above. Amateur policy - dependable cover for keen enthusuasts that can be extended to cover you worldwide.

www.TowergateCamerasure.co.uk Image of The Month Add at Least 30k To Your Business Cat Race - Image of The Month Whether you are a Pro photographer having to take your business in a new direction to generate “THIS is no ordinary sitting still! I’ll let you in on a little secret; these guys more profi t, or you are just starting out in the business, The Xperience is guaranteed to make the sunset! The evening we were actually on their lead the whole time this shot difference to you and your business! met these squishable was being taken - behold, the magic of Photoshop! We pug crosses - Jack and do this by having the pup-parent hold their fur-babies What You Get With Xperience Gloria - the sun cast on a short leash, anchoring them in position. Once I’m • 4 Online Guru Sessions glorious golden rays over confident the shot has been nailed, I lock the focus and • 8 Planning Webinars their fluffy little heads. If ask everyone to stand behind me. Then I take another • 4 Business Meetings you are from or have visited the shot from exactly the same position so I can use it in • 4 Photography Training Days North West of England, you will be well aware that we post to paint out any tell-tale signs they were being are known more for our overcast drizzly skies. As the held in situ. • Catch-Up Videos & Notes sunlight lit up Jack’s funky Mohawk, we couldn’t help • Social Media 1-2-1 My assistant Michael (as well as my partner in life & remark on how he looked like a proper little rockstar. • £500 of Wall Display Products business!) lit them side-on to create some gorgeous Looking at him you are probably guessing he is mixed • Xperience Awards shape in their faces and to lift the shadows a tad. He with a boarder terrier… guess again! Can you believe • Academy Business was also waving a treat or two around to keep their the other half of his makeup comes from a Chinese Membership little faces fixated on the light source – now you know crested?! why they look so interested in what’s going on off • Graphic Design

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“The knowledge available from the team after being in this line of business for many years is invaluable - couple this with a group of photographers that all support each other; means progress in starting and/or growing your business, is much quicker. ” -Peter

“I’ve got 31 sessions booked for April plus 2 weddings, plus another 19 serious enquiries BEFORE waiting to be booked in. My DIARY has gone from empty, to overfl owing in just a few weeks. I can’t To see more of Cats great work head over to her website believe it.” http://catsdog.co.uk/ -Nia

or follow the studio on Instagram www.Markcleghorn.com/Xperience-Group www.instagram.com/catsdogphotography If you would like to discuss the Xperience please call the o ce on 01446 730592 and one of the team will be able to answer any questions you have. SEYMOUR CREATE STUNNING Today I’m going to show you how to get started using layers and masking to bring out the best in your Black & JONNY White images. Once you learn how to manually edit an image instead of using a traditional filter style approach PORTRAITS the possibilities are endless!

This is the Raw image from camera, with a simple de saturation layer applied My first step is to clone out any bits of image I think maybe distracting. In this to create a black and white image. image, it’s the hand in the bottom corner and the line in the background. At this point I have also done a basic skin clean (which I will cover in details in a future article). SEYMOUR BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS JONNY

I now create a level of overall contrast I am happy with, as you can see in the Now using the magic wand tool, or a brushing with a quick mask, I separate screenshot I have used the curve tool. out the background, then when I create a curve whatever I do will only apply to the background layer. So, to add further contrast to this image I blow out The reason I am using a curve tool is that it is a very versatile editing tool and it’s good to get used to using them, so that when you start further this background bringing it up to a pure white. understanding colour and channels you can utilise them more. It’s also a great way to keep every aspect of your image editable, should you wish to go back to make adjustments later. At this point I’m mainly looking at the difference between the black level and the white level to give me a high contrast effect.

[Click circle icon on bottom right of screen and select curves to create layer] SEYMOUR BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS JONNY

I now use another curve to pop out the eye to bring focus in to the centre of Next using another lightening curve, the same way as I did for the eye, I brush the image. I usually just use a curve and create a black mask on it, to create in areas of the image I feel are too dark. To do this I simply use a soft brush at the black mask select the mask of the curve layer and then hit backspace, or about a 10% opacity and gradually draw in the areas I want to lighten. in the menu press edit and then fill. I then simply use a brush at a low opacity I’ve focused on the female models face as this is where I would like the and brush in areas to lighten the eye. Be careful not to go too far as this can viewers eye to go and this will draw in their attention. create a very cheesy portrait very quickly. SEYMOUR BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS JONNY

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To see more of Jonnys’ work, visit http://www.retoucher.co.uk/ TPA2017 Also, checkout his webinar live now on The Photographer Academy www.photovalue.com Michelle Whitmore

How did you get your start in the world of photography? I used to use my Dad’s film point and shoot was an ideal camera when we went on way to record, and later identify, holiday or school trips and the many insects, flowers and eventually got one for myself grasses, rock formations and when the kids were growing fossils we found. I guess it was up, mainly using it on birthdays the fascination of getting so and Christmas etc. My first close up with these things which steps into the digital world came instinctively lead me down when I was studying for my the path in Environmental Science Degree what could be described as a with the Open University. I did scientific, educational style of a lot of field trips and summer photography. schools and found that a small Why is photography important to limits to another level, to learn something new, you? Can you describe the moment overcome obstacles and achieve an end goal. I now when you knew photography was have 3 Associate qualifications in 3 different genres, so I guess the journey’s not over yet and it’s time just something that you had to do? to work on my Fellowship – no-one tells you that I work 5 days a week sat at a desk. To me creating a body of work to put together as a panel photography is an escape from the mundane job. can be addictive! An excuse to spend more time in the garden. And a How did you come to specialise in chance to indulge in my love of bugs and critters. your chosen area of photography?

What has been your career path so I love flowers and I love insects and I am very far? passionate about my garden so it made sense As I embarked on my career as a photographer to me to combine my favourite things with my I considered the value of a qualification as a photography. We are often oblivious or take for benchmark of excellence and as a way to measure granted the things around us and go to great lengths my progress as a photographer. For me, going for a to find perfection, so I am very lucky to have my qualification is about stepping outside your comfort own private haven just outside my backdoor. zone, setting yourself a challenge and pushing your

What do you want to do with programmes and skill, ability and patience of your photography? What the wildlife cameramen all brought together by the wonderful David Attenborough. motivates you economically, politically, intellectually or Is there something you always ask yourself / think before you emotionally? push the button? Over the past year or so I have been working When shooting insects the only thing I look more with Photoshop using textures and layers at when setting up is the background and to create some Fine Art still life images. I’m ensuring there are no distracting leaves or hoping to move this forward and possibly twigs as once the subject comes along there hold a gallery exhibition in the next couple of is no time to think about anything as they can years. disappear as quickly as they have arrived. Shooting still life however, is a totally Which photographers different matter. As nothing is moving I have influenced you? How did the luxury of spending time setting up a scene, they influence your thinking, re-arranging things, removing clutter and can photography and career path? take as much time as I like until I have things just the way I want them and only take 3 or 4 I don’t have a favourite photographer. My images. inspiration comes from the fantastic wildlife “I love flowers and I love insects and I am very passionate about my garden so it made sense to me to combine my favourite things with my photography.” What are some of the any camera shake, essential when shooting challenges you’ve encountered insects especially on a breezy day. I also wouldn’t be without my little box of cleaning and how have you overcome tools. It’s a simple takeaway container with them? scissors, paint brush, tweezer and a few other items; useful things for removing hairs, pollen, As you get older your eyesight starts to stray leaves etc. before shooting and saves lots decline and mine’s no different. I have of time when post processing. managed to counter it slightly by altering the view finder on my Canon to suit my vision Can you work us through the but I know that I won’t be able to fine tune it process you use when you set forever. I have also come to rely more on auto- up a shoot? focus, particularly when shooting insects. I don’t really have a set process for shooting What piece of tech/software/ in the garden. Other than checking the camera equipment couldn’t background, I always have a garden kneeler or a camping stool with me so I can be you do without? comfortable when shooting. Similarly in As well as the auto-focus on the camera, I the studio, I make sure I have all my props, wouldn’t be without my trusty and my backgrounds and cleaning tools for that cable release, both items mean I can get good, session to hand before I start as it saves clean shots every time without worrying about hunting for things mid-shoot. CLICK TO SIGN UP £30 NOW!

What tips would you give to a during the workshop I remind people that beginner photographer? there are other light sources are out there, the most expensive one I use is a video light Don’t rush out and buy all the gear, if you can, which is approximately £40. The same applies try it out before buying. Macro photography to space, a big fancy studio is not essential as is quite specialised and I hate to see people a kitchen table or work surface is more than spending £1,000+ on a dedicated macro lens adequate. You could say it’s not about the only for them to discover they’re not keen equipment but how you use it. on the subject. I run Macro Taster workshops which allows people to experience macro What is your favourite photography first hand with a range of that you have ever alternative lenses such as close up filters, taken? extension tubes and Raynox lenses to help I don’t really have a favourite image as it them decide what works for them. The same varies depending on my last shoot, but I do with lighting, macro subjects tend to be on the have a soft spot for my extreme macro wasp small side, so big studio lights are overkill, and my bug lady.

Check out more of Michelle’s work on her website: http://michellewhitmore.co.uk/ Or watch her fantastic films live on The Photographer Academy now! TOP 10 Live Critique Comments July 2017 Dimitris Pitsilkas

“Shot here with the little bridesmaid looking through all the hands here, like the idea. Love the expression of the two women on the righthand side, can see they genuinely mean it, and I love you can see the little girl feeling lost, so for me a craftsman image.” John Maucieri

“Shot here is a real symmetry, photoshop, kinda mirroring thing going on. Loving it as far as the exercise is concerned, so interesting, almost looks like a torso or an x-ray of some kind. I like the idea, it works so well in so many ways, so very well done. And you’ve disguised whatever you were doing down at the bottom, it really does work. If anything, I’m going to be critical of, it would be how black it is down at the bottom, it’s just a little bit too heavy. And then there’s almost ‘eyes’ coming in at the top of the image as well, so maybe subtly knock those back a bit more, but no loving that overall though.”

Brian Hennessy

“Shot of the Waterfall, loving the tonality, craftsman image without any trouble. I’d prefer to see maybe a little bit more space above, it’s a shame you’ve gone to a 3:2 crop, almost feels like more of a square image, needs the tops of the trees showing as well, so maybe stealing and inch of the side and adding a few inches to the top would have made a huge difference.” Joe Leung “Shot here of the old guy smoking a pipe, loving it, again it’s a strong certified image. If I’d only seen the bottom of his hand and more space above the smoke it would have made craftsman, maybe even master craftsman. Little bit of weirdness going on behind him, looks like a bit of work in post-production, but I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt as far as what’s going on with the chairs in the background. But I’m loving all of the top part of the image, so that’s where I’m giving you the benefit there.” Gary Stamp “Loving this shot of the dragonfly, it’s a master craftsman image, sharp from top to bottom. Great choice of background, really sensitive to the image, that could go on the cover of a magazine no trouble. All you need to do is keep doing what you’re doing, nothing more to really comment on there, very well done.”

Ian Holt “Next image here with the plumes on the head and the fag in his mouth, loving it as far as the contents concerned. Really strong by itself, loving the street feel to the image, good . I personally prefer something with a bit shallower depth of field and a bit more detail in the highlights, but fits into certification without any trouble.” Alan Butcher “Loving this shot of the eagle on the mound, great tone, just wish we had a little more information in the highlights of the clouds. Absolutely pin sharp when we go in close to it, so loving all the things going on. I’d just encourage you to watch your depth of field, to make sure it is absolutely right, and then really control in the post production because that’s where I think your lacking now, just needs that little bit more edge. Definitely feels like a craftsman image though” Michelle Williams

“Loving this street image here in whatever it is, maybe a tram, that is absolutely great for me, that’s an image that I’d want to take. Loving the yawn, loving the little girls head, the guys in the glasses looking like he’s from the mafia, all works really well. And this is the point in fact, where I think we could lose a little bit of the seat, but I’m glad you’ve darkened it down. So just on that wobble edge to craftsman.”

Steve Wright

“Another macro image, loving the choice of colour, I think this is where the colour alone helps create a much more dramatic image, and the background image colour that you chose works really well. And also, when you zoom right in you can see how pin sharp this is, so really nice. I just think if the burnt-out areas on the plant were a bit more controlled you’d be looking at nearer to a craftsman image” BEFORE AFTER

Show the World Your True Colours The ultimate bundle for your photography workflow

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Please visit www.datacolor.com to learn more. Mike ©2017 Datacolor Inc. All rights reserved. Datacolor and Spyder are registered trademarks of Datacolor. Martin “Shot of the bee, good macro image but still feel it’s a little bit washy, so it needs that little bit of black and sharpening, maybe through using the levels tool. Still fits into certification though, good technique, good sharpness throughout. Again, just be aware if you’re going to use complimentary borders around an image that it doesn’t distract from it. I don’t think you need this blueish tint border, I think the bee itself provides enough impact.”

Watch the full critique on The Photographer Academy: www.thephotographeracademy.com/academy-photo-critique-21st-july-2017

Why not submit your own image for critique today! PIMP MY PIC

Before

“Once more this shot is falling down for being over bright. Again it needs to come either into RAW or into Photoshop and really drag that black down using levels, you really need to give us more. You don’t need to keep as much information here as you think you do. You can see the difference straight away, we’ve lost all that background information, it really starts to pop off the page now. And if that is just a bit too dark then use the mask tool, and then you can start to bring information back.”

See how Mark pimped this image step-by-step on After The Photographer Academy:

“Again it needs to come either into RAW or into Photoshop and really drag that black down using levels, you really need to give us more” THE SYSTEM.

© Fredrik Schenholm © Anoush Abrar A FEW VERY IMPORTANT NICE THINGS

1. Every Elinchrom unit has a distinct raison-d’etre.

2. It’s a simple range to understand, and everything works with everything else, going back over 30 years to the original Elinchrom 11 Compact heads and the 101 /202 / and 404 power packs, that are still working today!

3. 1988 saw the first Elinchrom Digital power control and now all Elinchrom is digitally controlled for the precision of exposure and accuracy of colour. But from this time Elinchrom established a power range that means that every Elinchrom flash unit uses the same power values, where 0.1 is 6 W/s and 10.0 is 6000 W/s. Hence if 4.0 (200 W/s) is your known power for a shot, whichever Elinchrom flash you are using you have your safe creative starting point!

4. 2004 saw the first Ranger RX weather proofed battery powered flash unit and the first cabled remote-control system.

5. Whilst 2007 saw the first radio remote trigger and control system , with Skyport Studio for control from your PC and Mac, and save-able set-ups.

6. Since when we’ve had the Quadra 400/w/s battery pack, D-Lite, BRX and professional ELC ProHD compacts, to mention nothing of the Rotalux , Indirect Lightbanks and all the other “firsts” such as Hi-Sync that have happened along the way. So, it’s easy to see why there are more Elinchrom Skyport “connected” flash units in the World than any other, and why Elinchrom prize so highly their ease of use, reliability and quality. When you buy Elinchrom lighting equipment we are pleased to share with you over 50 years of lighting technology at the leading edge.

©Eric Chieze ©Tristan Shu THE D-LIGHT RX ONE

With 6 to 100 W/s in digital 1/10ths stop it’s perfect for low power baby photography and everywhere that shallow depth of field with exceptional colour stability is an advantage. The diminutive size and 1 second recycling times (at full power) are an added convenience. Most importantly, the operating system is the same throughout the whole of the D-Light and BRX ranges, so we are going where you are growing. Each Elinchrom head includes a central umbrella tube into which the unique Elinchrom deflector set fits to modify the light from any seamlessly, from a to a full-blown beauty dish look. Skyport radio triggering and remote control is built into every Elinchrom unit. Elinchrom’s intelligent iCell for use even with Speedlite systems using pre-flash sequences. And last but not least, the wide front that offers 150 degrees of even light distribution is the perfect platform for every reflector. ©Christian Ammann It’s all so easy. ©Michael Clark

THE COMPACT ACCESSORIES

• The clip lock stand, manufactured from high inclination to use them. with the 18cm reflector or with the 16cm grade Steel with sure fast clip-lock fastenings, umbrella reflector making soft wide lighting • The 18cm with grid set. Ideal for a hair light it compares well with everything. so fast to set-up. Just beware of unwanted or background light, gels simply clip into reflections and possible colour casts from • The Portalite softbox is the most compact the front of the reflector to add colour coloured walls in small locations! softbox of them all, but uses the same as desired and when used bare the 18cm quality materials as the famous Rotalux reflector gives more focussed power with • And finally, the Skyport Plus receiver that softbox system for the best quality of light. more edgy shadows. enables you to synchronise existing It may take a minute to assemble, but it Speedlites with the Skyport trigger that’s • The Umbrella set. A silver/black and a also works with the Deflector system to included in the flash kits. translucent brolley in our soft bag to keep create the widest range of effects when everything clean and in its place can be used the photographer has the time and the © Ofir Abe THE D-LIGHT RX 2/4

The next step up offers one easy and logical way. stop and two stops more From lovely softies to the power with the same five stop rough tough texture of direct range, faster recycling times light controlled by grids for harder work, an ergonomic and barn-doors, Elinchrom handle for the easy positioning also have this covered with of larger accessories and a their 18cm and 21ch grid very robust polycarbonate sets. Adding the accessory shell for a head that rocks to holder and barndoors opens your roll. up a world of gels, diffusers, Each of the mentioned super polarisers, or any combination. portable accessories can be You want a background of any used but for larger shoots with colour? You’ve got it! softboxes you’ll probably also be using the Rotalux Softbox As a matter of interest, the system that’s manufactured in a mains powered D-Light RX4 wide range of shapes and sizes. is also very good for Hi- Another first for Elinchrom, Sync where you may wish to this is beautifully manufactured synchronise at more than the making it the fastest to set up normal sync speed, to minimise and take down, offering lighting the effect of sunlight streaming effects from the high fashion through a picture window, look of the bare reflector – enabling you to use the wide up to a full softbox look via that you had thought the deflector system and the impossible for the shallow choice of up to two diffusers. you wanted! Elinchrom simply gives you more, and it works in such an

©Audrey Piguet

THE BRX & ELC PRO HD Want to crispen your high energy sports and shortest flash durations with the most accurate dance images? Looking for a little extra power colour across the entire power range from 7 to in a package that enables you to use the largest 1000 W/s give colour accuracy to +- 150 kelvin. accessories? The BRX 250 and 500 duo are An active OLED display with easy to use menu designed to do just this. Direct softboxes of up to driven operating system delivers easy access to 175cm and the indirect 150cm Rotalux turn up the all the special features of the Elinchrom creative heat whilst retaining full retro compatibility with suite (Stroboscopic / Sequence / Delayed Flash) the D-Lites already mentioned. etc. Each of the above Compact flash units is mains powered with the capacity to use them on location And then it gets really serious with the ELC ProHD with a good quality battery inverter. 500 and 1000 W/s units. Of course, you don’t always need this performance. The most powerful charge circuit recycles to full But once you are used to it, you won’t want to power in 0.6 and 1.1 seconds respectively. The © John Wilhelm work without it. As for accessories, the biggest are the best. Litemotive deep parabolic and indirect softboxes use bespoke material offering an extra 1/3rd stop of light with beautiful specularity, and amazingly, reasonable portability. The new FS30 Fresnel Spot provides rich direct colour with dramatic tonal range. And yet, even the humble D-Light RX One is up to the job of creating fabulous images with the most professional accessories.

©Mark Cleghorn ©Tristan Shu

THE ELB 400

Next up is a battery powered unit that’s within which the fastest speeds yet another “first” from Elinchrom. The ELB can be used (controlled with Skyport HS) 400. to manage ambient light for the required aperture and stop motion. 400W/s in the palm of your hand, weighing 2 kilos and incorporating the power for Pro - Sits mid-way between the Action and up to 350 full power flashes. From 7W/s the HS, but also happens to deliver the to 424 W/s in digital 1/10ths, there is a most powerful flash. choice of three tiny, go-everywhere flash The ELB400 has its own range of super heads offering the widest range of creative compact accessories, but with the Quadra opportunity. to Elinchrom adapter also works perfectly Action - Uses very short flash durations with the full Elinchrom range of accessories. with normal shutter sync speeds to stop And then for some, there are the Digital motion in its tracks. 1200 and 2400 W/s packs and heads that HS or Hi-Sync - uses longer flash durations are leading us into another World.

ELINCHROM, LIVING LIGHT. WWW.ELINCHROM.COM/ MICHAEL HALL Shooting a Long-term Documentary Project

*Gas fields in Moomba, South Australia.The Moomba gas fields are located in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

*Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Australia. I developed a passion for photography when I first started travelling. Leaving my home country of New Zealand at a relatively young age I had no real plans other than a desire to see the world. Over the next five years I travelled extensively and captured everything and anything that interested me with an old my Dad handed me on departure at Auckland airport. This camera became my means of diarising my travels. I regularly bundled up batches of printed photographs along with lengthy 25-page letters posting them home to family. In those days I was painfully shy and photography opened doors and helped me approach people I would not normally have had the nerve to. Photography became a passport of sorts, an access card, a reason to explore further, to get up early for the good light and go searching for deeper and more fulfilling experiences.

By age 26 I signed up to study photography back in Wellington which opened up a whole new world to me. We studied the work of the great masters, learned how to bring a subject to life with studio lighting, spent many hours learning how to use a technical camera and when we weren’t shooting we virtually lived in the . Proceeding these two years of study I bounced back and forth between England & New Zealand doing speculative editorial work and placing work in a number of photo libraries which lead to a sustainable income.

Eventually settling in Wellington I moved in to a shared no use of my left forearm and hand. The only camera studio and proceeded to do a whole swag of corporate system I could physically use for the best part of half a and commercial assignments over the following years. year was my large format technical camera. This near- This work helped hone my skills, paid well, and was a lot death experience set me off on a different path which I of fun but ultimately after 20 or so years became just a honestly believe was the best thing that ever happened little meaningless, I was getting tired of having to wrestle to me as an image maker. This wakeup call came at with clients to maintain some aspects of my creativity. a particularly good time; midlife, mid-career, I was In 2006 my career took a rather drastic turn when while really starting to doubt the validity of my work and was out cycling one day was mauled by an articulated lorry. searching for more meaning outside of the commercial My body got pretty mashed up during this little incident, and corporate bubble. This was 9 years ago and I’ve been I lost the ability to walk for some time and had virtually shooting environmental work ever since. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

PHOTOGRAPHY BECAME A PASSPORT OF SORTS,“ AN ACCESS CARD, A REASON TO EXPLORE FURTHER” *Hoover Dam, United States. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

I’M BACK TO SHOOTING WORK WHICH ALLOWS ME TO TRAVEL, TO TELL “ PERSONAL STORIES, AND CAPTURE THE BEAUTY, AND DEGRADATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY OUR PLANET. & Climate Change

In the hands of a mindful, disciplined, and socially governments and corporations lay down as they conscious individual a camera is a powerful thing. continue to degrade our world. For as long as photography has been around it’s It’s never been so easy as it is today to access been used as a tool for social change and now that ” information, this theoretically should be a good the world is fast moving toward an uncertain and thing, however it’s also never been so easy as it is quite possibly terribly degraded future, photography today to find endorsement for any set of beliefs one is more important now than it ever has been. holds, no matter how perverse those beliefs might Deep down I’ve always harboured a desire to shoot be. A lot of what’s fed through the mass media is meaningful work. All those years shooting in the simply untrue and has led to a profound global commercial and corporate sector was never going ignorance. Governments prosper from this as they to allow for this, so I would always keep a self- ram through legislature which is destroying society driven assignment on the go and work on it as time and environment. We know this but seem powerless allowed. This was social documentary in nature to do anything about it. Perhaps photography’s and looking back to this period of my career all greatest strength is that a photo never lies, or is this the best work I shot came from this. Everything simply not true anymore? Photography, although is cyclical, I’ve really gone full circle and now I’m just another means of delivering information, is back to shooting work which allows me to travel, by its nature democratic and I hope photography to tell personal stories, and capture the beauty, and will remain an authentic medium. It is very hard degradation of our planet. to portray falsehoods through photography, viewers are not easily tricked. I’d like to think Climate Change is the single biggest issue the world of photography as not being corrupted or easily faces. Whether it be overpopulation, loss of habitat corruptible any time soon, or perhaps I’m way too and biodiversity, degradation of the environment, optimistic in this regard. the melting of the cryosphere, the bleaching of the coral reefs, desertification or severe weather events, I read today a new study has linked the impact of climate change is all encompassing and it’s a story Climate Change to suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian which very urgently needs to be told. farmers. Clearly there are a lot of personal stories to be told. Lately I’ve been wondering if I might not In recent times, this has become botheasier, and be better off leaving my film cameras at home and more difficult in equal measure. Easier because investing in a full frame digital rangefinder camera. there is just so much more subject matter out there, This more autonomous approach to photography especially as renewables become more ubiquitous. will free me up somewhat and allow me to tell There are more weather events directly attributable some of these stories. I’ve done some of this work to our changed climate and there are a lot more in the past and I’ve loved the inherent freedom and personal stories out there waiting to be told. flexibility this approach enables. People tell me it’s Photographing the climate issue has also become these more personal stories that they find most more difficult due to the increased regulations compelling about my work.

*High tension power cables. Inner Mongolia, China. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT MY EQUIPMENT & Approach

*Kansas, USA What I like to refer to as my ‘hero’ images were shot on my 4x5” Arca Swiss Misura (lens of choice being a Schneider 90mm f.5.6 Super Angulon). Coal Fired Power Stations, Dams, Construction, Deforestation, drought, aftermath of the Black Saturday Bush Fires, Ice Melt, Renewable Energy were all captured using this kit. Much of what proceeded this, the work which is more social documentary in context, was shot on my Mamiya 7II (lens of choice being 60mm f4). My film of choice is Kodak 160NC colour (now just called Kodak Portra 160). I used to travel with both formats but soon tired of the bulk and weight of all this gear, in recent years I’ve just been just taking my Mamiya kit which consists of 4 lenses and a very much lighter tripod than the larger and heavy Gitzo carbon fibre tripod which is a necessary evil when shooting on 4x5”.

*Oradea, Romania. Then other than reading a lot of books, keeping up to date through podcasts, and doing a heap of research on the net, I don’t plan much prior to a shoot. I generally head to an area of a country where I know there’s going to be a good array of material and allow myself enough time to explore, following leads as I go. Other than making sure I’m at a meaningful location during the times of the day when the light should be at its best, it’s also important to be in the right part of the world during the right season. I’m not necessarily referring to summertime, in fact clear, blue skies are often the greatest inhibitor to any good photograph. I never particularly like being anywhere where there’s a good chance of blue sky and sunshine, I prefer stormy inclement weather and low light to evoke mood in a photograph. *High Atlas Mountains, Morocco

*Coal-fired power station, Australia. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

I have found both the US and Australia the most challenging countries to work in. Post 9/11 authorities have become very uptight and any major infrastructure is generally crawling with security. For this reason, I tend to work fast and move on before attracting any attention, not always the easiest thing to do as by its nature shooting large format is a slow, methodical process. I’ve found a fluorescent vest and hardhat wards off security to a point, from a distance they probably think I’m a surveyor. From set up to pack down I’m down to about 2 minutes per image. Low light photography is different of course as some of my time exposures are up to several minutes long, although this is not as much of an issue as I can remain more hidden under the cover of darkness. Much of my photography is subversive in nature and I tend in most cases not to seek prior permission as I’ve found this approach only leads to suspicion and generally flat out refusal. I’ve been reprimanded several times but haven’t yet been arrested although there has been a number of occasions where I’ve come close. *Hoover Dam, United States. MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

*Inner Mongolia

Concerning equipment issues; the ground glass on my 4x5” camera has frozen a few times in sub-zero temperatures and I’ve shot in temperatures up to 58ºC in North Africa, ever mindful of cooking my film. Fine desert dust is not a friend of a photographer, neither is sea spray. Vibrations through the ground in close vicinity to heavy industry and heavy traffic are something to be mindful of also. The larger the format you shoot the more pronounced these nuisances are.

Once I get the film home it goes to the lab for *Hubei province, China. processing. From the low res scans I edit the take, the selects are then scanned at high resolution, from here the dust and scratches are removed and the work is given a tweak to keep it in line with the rest of the work of the greater project. This scanning, clean up, and enhancement, is not a lot different to what we used to see in the old days of the darkroom so I’m comfortable enough with this provided it’s done with a subtle hand. I would never outwardly alter the architecture of an image as I feel it’s of utmost importance to remain truthful in what I’m portraying. All my project work to date has been shot on medium and large format colour negative film which is an inherently subtle and beautiful medium so I find it doesn’t require much grading to bring it to where I’m happy. *Datong, NW of Xining, China MICHAEL HALL SHOOTING A LONG-TERM DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

*Aldeyjarfoss, Iceland. MICHAEL HALL

*Victoria, Australia.

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Michael’s work focuses specifically on exploring the human impact on the environment. He is currently undertaking an extensive project to document the causes and effects of our changing climate as personal exploration and to improve ecological awareness around the world. This body of work has received endorsements from the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Prof. Tim Flannery & Emeritus Prof. Dexter Dunphy. He was until recently the first creative fellow of the Climate Institute in Australia.

TO SEE MORE OF HIS WORK, GO TO WWW.MICHAELHALL.NET OR FOLLOW HIM ON INSTAGRAM: MICHAEL_HALL_PHOTOGRAPHY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IMPROVING YOU OWN HEAD OVER TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER ACADEMY TODAY: www.kaleidoscope-.co.uk BLAST FROM THE PAST

Posing The BRIDE

This month’s blast from stuck for inspiration when shooting on the past is one of Mark a real wedding day. Cleghorn’s shoots with long For further inspiration, you can also term commercial client Blue check out the film of the original shoot Bridalwear. to see exactly how Mark achieved The interesting thing about shooting these fantastic images. Everything commercial work is often you trying from location choice, controlling the to create a perfect version of a real- light and directing the model. Watch world scenario to best show off a the session and you too can apply product or service. Because of this, it Marks simple, direction lead posing actually provides a perfect opportunity techniques to your own shoots. to demonstrate skills and techniques Plus, if you’re an Academy Pro or under controlled conditions, showing Business member, head over to the the ideal version of an image. This UPoser section of your account to means that you can then use these download the Bridal Posing App to images as a reference in the future your smart phone, so you can have and in this case, we’re providing them a simple refresher guide with you at for you to use as simple bridal posing all times. guide for those times you find yourself THE SALES ROOM TOUR

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In a seminar packed with information and specific sales techniques this 1-day practical sales session with Mark Cleghorn shows and demonstrates the techniques to enhance your portrait sales and to minimise the no or low sale without the hard sell.

Maximise Post Session Pre-Selling Deal with Objections to purchase Set Up The Perfect Viewing Room Price & Select Products for sales Sell with More Confidence book now www.markcleghorn.com/sales-room September 25th Manchester 28th Southampton 26th Coventry 29th Cardiff 27th London

Now only £49 that pile of old disks in the cupboard) but our clients won’t necessarily get to see the true quality of an image.

As photographers, we are very careful to colour calibrate our monitors and we spend time editing the

don’t think anyone would deny photographs to correct any exposure that we are living in a digital age. or white balance issues, as well as to Most of our clients, both wedding put our own artistic interpretation on I to them. What we don’t know though and portrait, like to buy their images digitally. If you look at how we is what our clients will be viewing “consume” imagery nowadays it is them on. I’m yet to meet any client primarily in a digital format. We all that has a calibrated screen and have use our mobile phones or tablets not you seen how over saturated some just to take photos but to store photos TV screens are? You can only imagine to show to friends, family and even what your images will look like when potential clients. We share photos they are displayed on a screen like online and it is a very easy way for this. Worst of all, your client has everyone to see them….. nothing to compare it to. They won’t know that the highlights look so BUT we are in danger not only of blown because the brightness is losing a whole generation of photos sky high… and that rather attractive (honestly, who is going to go through orange glow on their skin is due to the saturation of their laptop screen…. or the printing, I use an Epson By using Lightroom I can setup P600 Printer (it will print up a print template, complete with F to A3+) and I print most of my guidelines to show me how I need images on Permajet Fine Art Portrait to trim the print from an A4 sheet, Rag paper. I experimented with lots and Permajet will provide you with of different paper types to see which I FREE custom colour profiles for your liked best and suited my images. This printer/paper combination. means it is quick and easy for me to produce one off prints without needing to pay the postage costs from the lab for a single print.

his is why we need to be business is to give each and every client printing our images. a print of one of my favourite images T from their session as a complimentary I’m not saying we should only give print. I print this as an 8x6” print and printed images (although I’m sure then put it in a 10x8” mount. For that some people will say I’m wrong!) wedding clients, I provide them with 10 but we should give our clients the mounted prints in a presentation box opportunity to see how good the with their digital images. Yes, this costs images can look when they are me money, but I have factored that in printed. to my direct costs for each session and There are several ways you can do this I’ve made sure that this is covered in the and the route I have gone down in my session fee. his gives me complete control over the whole process and means that my clients go away with a copy of the photograph looking exactly as I intended. T The main advantages of providing a print are:

1. My clients know what the colours should look like so if they have their own prints made from the digital images they have a comparison

2. You can actually show them the difference in the quality of the print compared to the digital version on screen

3. It encourages clients to think again about having printed images

I also print my own work and add it to a portfolio that I can show prospective clients. There is something quite exciting about printing and it is extremely rewarding seeing your finished images. You also find yourself spotting things in printed images that you don’t necessarily see on screen and this is invaluable if you are looking to submit your images for a competition of qualification, even if it is a digital submission, by producing physical prints you can improve your photography and editing skills. Print in photo courtesy of Sian Lewis Photography So, set aside an afternoon and try printing! Frame your images, put them on your walls, put them in to a portfolio and show your clients what they SHOULD look like.

To see more of Lisa work, visit Premium Wood www.lisabeaneyphotography.co.uk and you can watch great film Folio & Print Boxes Now Available content from her live on The Photographer Academy now! 3XM 3xmsolution.com Product Shown:

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MARKCA PTURE!SEYMOUR Once you have your idea, it is about getting into position and waiting for that serendipitous moment when everything comes together and boom, there it is. Inevitably sometimes you can have a great idea and all the patience in the world, but the universe decides not to play ball. Some of my favourite more quirky images have happened this way. On a photo walk in London I spotted some graffiti on a wall and waited for someone to walk pass wearing the same converse boots; There can be, of course, an element of positioned low to the floor I focused on luck in getting that awesome shot, but just capturing the static image of the I would argue that if you develop your boot on the wall with the travelling boot creative eye to look not just for what crossing its path. is there in front of you, but for the But the photography I love most has compositional potential of a character/ people as the central theme. This is a event/location – you will increase your shot I captured during a photography luck. workshop in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi. As I walk around I am looking out for I had noticed the couple sitting under interesting or different elements that the advertising poster, a pretty mundane could be the starting point for a great shot which you could easily walk by, but composition. For me it is about having something captured my imagination the imagination and thinking ahead about about the visual interaction of the large what could happen to add a different figure looming above the couple. I stayed dimension to take the current image to with the shot, taking photographs as another level. However, this is not about people passed by, but the magic moment orchestrating an image; my photography came when the young women touched remains observational documentary her face; a totally innocuous gesture but Mark will be running another photography workshop in Vietnam in street photography, capturing real life as within the context of this composition a 2018, so contact him on social media or via his website it happens, a candid moment within an story was created in front of the camera; www.shootthestreet.co.uk to find out more information. individual storytelling frame. look, wait, capture! To see more of Marks work, visit www.markseymourphotography.co.uk/ Also, checkout Marks films now on The Photographer Academy It all gets bit technical, however the fun is and the usual crowd of Creative’s/Art Directors/ working out what works and what doesn’t. Once Agency people, clients, PR’s and marketers the technique has been established then it’s a assembled all round ready to see what would matter of lighting and executing it. I would be unfold. Even though I have been doing this job using a Hasselblad H5-50c (no motor drives for over thirty years I still get a little nervous on here then) as the resolution needed to be very these big gig’s, heart racing, is it going to work high quality, so I was only going to get one shot at as predicated in front of all these people? I get it! As fast action was required my Bron Scorros prepared, paint is loaded into the device, just packs would be perfect way to light and freeze as I am going to take the first shot, one of the the action at 1/10000th of a second. I had initially Creative’s whispered in my ear” you will be using thought that I would use a trigger system to a trigger device for this won’t you”? I replied, “No Bryn fire the shutter, however it didn’t seem to get not today, I’m feeling confident”. on very well with it in testing, so I took the brave The first image was taken and I knew we were on decision to go it alone and trust my own hand/ to a winner. Griffiths eye co-ordination. The day of the shoot came Contrived Spontaneity

Contrived It’s all about planning, some testing and Spontaneity, belief in yourself that you can pull it off’. that’s what I like I had worked out that I needed to get to call it. The set-build to create a large infinity pool ability to predict to contain the paint in which to create so called the splash. At the top, just out of shot, spontaneous a tipping device was made containing events. So, when you are briefed that the paint to be splashed. I worked out the client, a major household name, that the success of the image would be requires an image of a splash to cover a combination of the right speed, and their 12 million print run catalogue, the pressure at which the paint hit the you have to be confident that you can surface.... deliver that perfect looking splash.

So how to you do that? Lipstick Comma and Colour Expression

My cosmetics client wanted to create needed. The images were ultimately a campaign based around Art going to succeed due to lighting, Expressions, created by their product. tiny movements of the lighting were I love this sort of work as it really making big differences. The nuances gives you some freedom to express of light and shadow were crucial to yourself. The ‘artwork’ created was creating the form and shape that I quite small, so a macro lens was was looking for.

Exploding Pumpkin

I had devised a creative solution with a special effects team, I decided that involved exploding everyday that we were going to use dynamite!! items that had a seasonal twist for So, after some initial testing, we a household brand. I started with thought we had the solution. On the exploding Christmas baubles via a ball day of the shoot, the Pumpkin was bearing fired through a high-powered prepped with the dynamite…… then bazooka. The results were fantastic BOOM….. It sounded like a bomb and client wanted us to roll out the had just gone off and people came theme to other seasonal events. My running in from other parts of the favourite was the Exploding Pumpkin studio to see what on earth had just for the Halloween campaign. There happened. I realised we might need a was of course the little matter of little less explosion. The next test was actually making this happen….. a perfect image and then I proceeded to create a further 13 images all After consideration, in consultation different and all useable. Pourinig Paint I like to achieve images the best I over from America. I like working with can at the time of taking, so when I a black background because you can was briefed about the pouring paint hide all sorts of things in it, if you light image, I was determined to create it it correctly. I had made a wooden jig at the time of capture. As with a lot for the paint can to rest on, higher of my images half the battle is getting on the right side so it would sit on it the props etc… we search high and at the angle I needed for it to pour low to get hold of some plain empty correctly. Again, after careful planning, aluminium tins to contain the paint. I achieved the shot the first time it In the end, I managed to get some, was poured, with yet another very but they ended up having to be sent relived and happy client.

Bryn is a commercial photographer who has been creating imaginatively conceived and wonderfully lit commercial and advertising photography for more than 30 years. To see more of his fantastic work head over to his website www.bryngriffithsphotography.com/ or follow him on Facebook www.facebook.com/bryn.griffiths.33 And for more great Commercial Photography content head over to The Photographer Academy now: FEATURED STUDIO Can you give us a brief history of the should do this for a living!” And so, with business and your current studio? just a month left of my notice period, a 3-year-old boy, a baby on the way, Chrysalis Photography is based in the some savings, and no real clue how to grounds of the Renishaw Hall estate, on take professional photographs, let alone the edge of Derbyshire and just South of run a business, we decided I should Sheffield. become a full time Photographer.

Chrysalis Photography will be 10 In those early days my studio was our years old in October. In 2007, I was a back bedroom and our living room was Marketing Manager for a multi-national the viewing room. We would have to Chemical company, having completed send our poor children off to their rooms a PhD in Chemistry at Liverpool University ahead of each session. It was quite some 10 years earlier. This marketing difficult to separate work and family life career was exciting in the first few years, when it was so merged like this. and gave me many opportunities to visit countries around the World. However, We’ve been in a number of studio the reality of the hour motorway spaces away from home since then, but commute, and 8 hours stuck in meetings had our eye on this Renishaw Hall unit for started to take its toll, so my wife, Allie, a number of years before it finally came and I started to discuss other options. I available. A combination of patience gave my three months’ notice to give us and being in the right place at the right a deadline with which to decide on a time meant that when the previous future career - nothing like a deadline to occupants did a moonlight flit, we were focus the mind. on the doorstep with a pen to sign the contract within 15 minutes! Sometimes Then one day at a friends BBQ, while fate takes over. The space is perfect for all the other adults were eating and us, and gives us the huge extra benefit drinking, I was laid out on the grass, of having stunning award winning RHS camera in hand, capturing photographs gardens as location opportunities right of our friends children. Jokingly a friend outside our door. said: “these images are lovely Chris, you What type of studio are you? (location, location and studio photography in one As we are in an old stable courtyard we are main clientele, etc.) session. However, we prefer to go to our blessed with two lovely glazed arches. Prior equine clients’ own locations to capture to us moving in the unit was used as offices, We are a family photography studio, them with their horses in their familiar so we had a little work to do - replacing the focussing on babies and toddlers, but environment. Plus, with Derbyshire on our typical office carpet with laminate flooring, also welcome the variety of larger families doorstep, this gives me a great break from and swapping over door and window with older children. We also love to do the studio and a chance to shoot in some arches to better suit our style and access to pet photography - mainly dogs, but also stunning locations. the office and studio. extended to location equine photography in the summer months. How is the studio space laid out and how does this work within your With our studio at Renishaw Hall we have business? the benefit of being able to offer both We had just a few things we were looking for in our the space work well for us. Our office and reception built with adaptable sections to accommodate studio space. First, we weren’t worried about footfall. (190 sq ft) was already separated off from the main up to 20 of our largest product boxes or any other Our previous studio was in the middle of nowhere and studio space and so we split off the waiting area combinations of sizes we might have that month. We we were always pretty busy from all the marketing with counter top to help separate this from the office also bought a large Ikea shelving unit and added activity without relying on passing trade. We wanted space, and added huge sliding doors to the back wheels to it to allow us to move it out and store large ample parking and easy access, but still close of this room to give us loads of storage for stationary props and equipment behind. enough to Sheffield. In the past my daily commute and small customer frames. As the studio was an art As I’m currently the only person in the business doing was 3 hours so now we wanted to keep that to less gallery in a previous life, we were also blessed with both shoots and viewings, we’ve not ever had a than half hour round trip. plenty of wall space for products and great lighting. problem with using a single space. It means that I’ve A big attraction about the studio was the access. No When designing the studio what were the got a lovely long studio for shooting, with sofas for steps or tight spaces to restrict wheelchairs or specific criteria used or decisions that you took family to wait and watch while I shoot individuals. pushchairs, but the main thing was ceiling height. to maximise the space? Then for the viewing I’ve got plenty of wall space to In our last studio you could touch the ceiling, which show our products, and space for the children to play Everything was chosen to maximise space - In the drove me nuts with sofboxes and background rolls to while the parents make their choices. Once we could office we sold our big old office chairs for sleeker manoeuvre around. Our entire space is not huge at afford it we also installed a ceiling hi-glide system to narrow ones, and used cut down kitchen worktops 700 sq ft. This has to include reception/waiting area, further improve space and allow us to very quickly as desks to allow enough space for 4 people. Our office space for 4 staff, studio, viewing room and switch from studio to viewing room without a mass of studio doubles up as a viewing room to also get the kitchen, not to mention all the storage for equipment, cables, sofboxes and tripods to tidy up. best out of the space, and we had a deep cupboard props and customer products, so we had to make Were there any majors issue or unexpected We are very fortunate with our studio and I we then had to cram 4 months into 4 weeks. problems that you had to overcome? think the only issue we have ever really had is However, it ended up being a blessing in about storage. We have simply had to be very disguise as we moved the studio nearer to Now that we are looking to expand we clever about not hoarding things that we have home and at the same time disposed of the have found that having a single space for no need for. 3-hour daily commute. both shooting and viewing means it’s not possible to run simultaneous shoots and In one of our previous studio we had a major What one piece of advice would you give viewings. However, we have now been and very unexpected problem when the to someone setting up a studio? offered the opportunity to take on another national baby store that we were located in Think Big. Rent today for where you want to unit in the same courtyard which we will be decided, without any warning, we needed be tomorrow. This encourages you to expand converting into a living room style viewing to be gone in 4 weeks. As a busy studio and rather than your space being the barrier to room. with bookings in the diary for the next 4 months growth. Are you looking to develop your studio and take your business to the next level? For over 20 Years Mark Cleghorn has been consulting with major brands and photographers in developing the whole business of photography to both industry and clients alike. In more recent years he has been concentrating on making training more affordable and streamlined, allowing photography businesses of all sizes to benefit from his experience. 2014 saw the launch of the first Xperience Group, a hands-on business and brand building for photographers. The goals of The Xperience Group are to help you develop your business further by generating more clients whilst improving your photography as well as help you improve your sales. For more information head over to www.markcleghorn.com/xperience-group and start developing your business today. JONATHAN THOMPSONTHOMPSON

i fellow foodists, here’s a couple of over on Salted Mint. Perhaps you’re creating quick food photography tip to take an image you want to use as a banner for into your next shoot. I’m going to Facebook, which will need to be horizontal or Hquickly talk about two food styling tips landscape orientation. D’ya kind of see where I’m coming from, make sense? How your image orientation effects your food styling.

The first tip on image orientation may seem very simple, and I suppose it is, but you’d be surprised how many times people tell me they hadn’t thought of it.

There you are, all ready and eager to make some stunning food shots. You have a beautiful main subject, you even have a bit of a theme and story in your mind. All your props are at the ready and ood Photography the light, today, is beeeeeeeautiful. Styling Before you get carried away putting everything together, your do-dahs here and pretty whatsnames there. Think about what orientation you are planning to shoot. The image orientation can be dictated by a whole host IMAGE ORIENTATIONORIENTATION of things. Most often it’s down to where and how you’re going AND to use the image. For example, Debs (Mrs.T) likes to have mostly FBUILDING UP vertical or portrait orientation FLAYERSLAYERS Lets just take a momentmoment.

Next, select your camera position. This is where you’ll need to look at the scene in order to style it. There’s really no point building a beautiful shot from a point of view which the camera isn’t going to see. Always go back to camera position to see how it all looks. Even better, get your camera in position and use the live view screen to see the scene. If you don’t have the live view option simply look through the viewfinder to get an idea of the scene.

Once the image orientation and camera position is decided, it makes your job of styling a wee bit easier. You have your light source, your table and your favorite shooting surface laid out. Now all you do is style, keeping in mind which orientation you’re shooting in. Landscape/horizontal is wider and shorter, while por- trait/vertical is narrower and taller. This is the same whether you’re shooting top down or at an angle.

Building up Layers in Your Food PhotoPhotography

also want to share some of the techniques we use to build up depth and interest in food photographyI by building up layers.

You will see it time and time again. Some of the nicest food photos have several layers, built up with chopping boards, napkins, boxes and just about anything that can bring depth and texture. You don’t have to look too far for your props. One of our favorite backgrounds we love to use is our very well loved baking trays. Material stores will also be your best friends. You can get just about any kind of material, from silky and shiny to hessian and rustic. Here’s one of our baking trays that we murdered these cherries on as part of a post. Taking a Look at an ImageImage.

he 1st layer is an apple when you shoot from the front it all perfect, just go with it. box giving a rustic, as well as additional interest for Secondly, like anything else, textured starting point. top down. practice, practice, practice. Layer 2 is the white plate. this Even without adding the food, As you can see the layering gives a bit of height to the scene practice setups, using empty technique gives us a much without distracting from the plates or dishes. Once you’ve more interesting photo. We subject. Layer 3 is the hessian layered up a scene, grab your try to bring plenty of textures material, folded for further camera, and practice shooting to the layers for that extra layers and has great texture. the scene. It’ll give you a better components. Layer 4 is the metal skillet understanding of how your which also brings texture as So, there you have it, building styling will look in camera. well as height. Then finally layers in food photography is As always, if you have any the pasta is full of depth and pretty straight forward. You can questions, don’t hesitate to get varying layers. In this shot we over do it if you’re not careful in touch and I’ll answer them, I have a second skillet, bread and but let me leave you with a love hearing from you. herbs in the background. This couple of bites of advice. Don’t also brings a depth to the shot get too caught up with getting

To see more of Jonathan’s great photography head over to his website:

www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com/

And check more great content about taking better food photographs, live on The Photographer Academy now IT LOOKS OK BUT...

“It looks okay on yet there is one filter left between you and your because they have different curves. the screen, but it photograph: your computer monitor. Another subtle filter to change your view of never comes out the photograph. You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that the colour on the same when the screen is unarguably that colour. But that simply The camera setting in RAW will set the white printed,” remarked isn’t the way a screen works; a screen is more like to 6500˚ Kelvin. Most screens are that colour an experienced a printer: all are different, making each photograph of white, but not accurately - and getting it photographer. It is a challenge, however, that look different. Think about it like a filter that reduces right is important for skin tones. Otherwise, many shy away from because it is made to seem the colour and brightness of your picture in a way none of the colours will appear balanced complicated, or even excusing prints for looking that might not be clear - and this is important when with each other, causing an odd feel to the ‘good enough’ - but no! You take great photos, and you are working on a photograph, because you are photograph. want them to look that good printed too! not looking directly at the true photograph, but a Most screens are not designed for visual It might come as a surprise that the difference filtered version. creative work, but for reading, writing, using between looking passable to award-winning great When you shoot RAW files, they are captured in spreadsheets, etc. - for none of which does is right in front of you! You’ve spent good money Adobe RGB, but most screens are sRGB (a few are it matter if one part of the screen is subtly on the best gear, cameras, lenses and lights, and P3). This is the , and describes how much brighter than another. But it matters in your subscribed to Adobe’ or purchased Capture One, colour is in the photograph. If you view a photograph photograph! You don’t want to be editing a on a screen that is not shadow the screen is producing that is not in displaying Adobe RGB, your photograph. some of the colour in This is all made simple with an EIZO your photo is hidden ColorEdge monitor that controls all the colour from you - you can’t see management problems by making sure the what it looks like. That is monitor is transparent between you and your not a good start! photograph. That is, it uses the right filter so All images displayed you can see how your photograph is going to on a screen are done appear before it is printed - so when it is, it with a gamma curve, looks the same as it did on the screen, and not which changes how ‘just okay’. bright different parts of your photograph appear. If you view it on a television or a laptop For more information about the range of the contrast will appear monitors form Eizo head over to different, even though http://eizocolour.com/ the image is the same, And check out Victor’s great series of films all about Monitors & Calibration on The Photographer Academy now Glenn Edwards The Photojournalists Report

THE STORY

with no story in mind. It was just a IN THE getting used to exercise, but when asked to participate in the Street project I decided to take it more seriously and look at the road in a IMAGE more documentary way specifically for the Pier Head exhibition. Do we think enough about how our pictures are viewed and the stories I wanted to tighten the story as just they tell when placed in front of other generally looking at the road wasn’t people’s eyes or is it more important good enough. I watched smokers, that they create discussion and phones, hats, bus stops even pigeons argument regardless. but nothing rocked my boat enough to become a theme. Recently it was a privilege to be commissioned to take part in the Much of my work over the years has Cardiff Street Photography exhibition revolved around raising awareness on at the Pier Head Gallery in Cardiff Bay issues both here and in Africa and it with work by the renowned Picture became apparent the beauty of the Post photographer Bert Hardy amongst area was its multiculturalism. others. With so much negative news over the We had an open brief, as long as it was past months, even years, on the subject taken in Cardiff. These new pictures the aimlessly walking and camera were then to be seen next to street playing evolved into an important idea work from the early 1900’s to the for an end product. modern day giving a really interesting I photographed eastern European, insight into the life and history of our Africans, Polish, a community from all Capital city over the world, all within half a mile I had recently bought a new Fuji X-T2 but it was a photograph of an Asian camera and daily walked aimlessly woman returning home from shopping along Albany Road in Cardiff playing that caused the greatest discussion. and finding my way around the camera Glenn Edwards The Photojournalists Report

I walked past a corner pub with two racist for no reason. People insinuated it Welsh guys enjoying an afternoon was an image showing a City of division pint, relaxing in the window. It was the and even a picture of the future after perfect start of an image but needed Brexit. more and I just waited for the right I am not saying I am unhappy that the person to walk into, and make the picture caused so much conversation, I picture. It took a while but a woman am very happy as that is exactly why we arrived in a stunning red saree that was take pictures and I did later apologize to ideal, both visually and for the essence the two innocent guys in the window for of the story. causing them a bit of grief but they were In my mind was this lovely juxtaposition not upset with the picture in any way, in of culture. Two welsh guys, no words fact they really liked it. between them, gazing at the street They agreed with my reasons for taking outside within feet of a beautifully it, and the real story it told, but they dressed Asian woman returning home, were unhappy with how others had put shopping bag in hand. A wonderful mix their own narrative and ideals into the of cultures closely living together and image and without knowing them made just getting on with life. comments about their personal views. The exhibition was given two pages But isn’t that what photography is all in local papers The Echo and Western about, to view an image and create a Mail with this picture, one of six used, personal story. to publicize the exhibition. This is when Obviously, as happened in this instance, things became interesting that story can be the total opposite Maybe because the picture was seen to the one the photographer wanted on the page out of context – not with to create. Does that make it a bad others from the story but others from photograph? the exhibition – or maybe just the minds Isn’t it our job to create an image and it went in to. The picture suddenly had thought process to create discussion a totally different meaning to some people. Is it my fault that people STILL think this way in 2017. No, it’s not and that is Facebook suddenly exploded and there why I will continue to photograph in this was more talk about this picture than way to create images and try to change the latest band playing at the pub, minds. That I feel is our job. mainly good but some not. What are your thoughts? The two guys were accused of being

Glenn Edwards

www.glennedwardsphotojournalist.com

Director of The Eye Festival

www.theeyefestival.co.uk @TPAPHOTO

@peterducephotography

@johnnorthoverphotography @alaninglisphotography @Oz.john.photography

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SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE OVERHEAD SHOT SETUP USING A STAND Setting Up From cookbooks in bookstore windows to magazine will need to be directly above your set and pointed covers you pass in the grocery store check outline, it is straight down. If you are hand holding, you will end up 1. Place your product as you like it, but realize that you’ll adjust after you’ve setup your camera and see hard not to notice the overhead camera view’s popularity in a position that puts a lot of stress on your lower back. the first round of images in food photography. Overhead shots are also incredibly That may be fine for the one-off, but if you’re doing 2. Set up your tripod. popular in creating stylish product shots or knolling multiple overhead shots that’s going to take a toll on your 3. Secure your Rock Solid Cross Bar Side Arm to the 3/8” thread on your tripod. If you don’t have a photography for social media and the web. body and lead to poor . tripod, you could substitute a light stand or C-stand paired with a Rock Solid Baby Ballhead Adapter. An overhead shot setup is a great tool to have in your The one key to making this type of photography super 4. Attach a camera ballhead to one end of the Rock Solid Cross Bar Side Arm, and attach your camera. arsenal. In this article we’ll discuss the process, creation, easy is a stand with the Rock Solid Cross Bar Side 5. Connect your TetherPro USB cable (and JerkStopper) from your camera to your computer and and necessary hardware to create your own simple Arm pictured below. The Cross Bar is 25” (63.5cm) in launch your tethering software of choice. overhead shot setup. length and allows photographers to extend the camera over the shot. 6. Snap your first shot from the computer and adjust the camera placement, product, and lighting as To shoot from the overhead camera angle, your camera necessary. In this in-use shot, we’ve mounted the Rock Solid Necessary Hardware Cross Bar Side Arm to • Stand with a Rock Solid Baby Ballhead Adapter – the ballhead adapter provides a 3/8” mounting a lightstand using the option to a c-stand or lightstand allowing the side arm to be mounted securely like the Tether Tools Rock Solid Baby Ballhead Low Boy Roller Adapter, then securely mounted a camera on a • Rock Solid Cross Bar Side Arm – features 3/8” threads at each end and base, knurled plates for ball head/tripod mount to quick and easy mounting, and double locking ratchet knobs to keep the side arm secure one end of the Cross Bar • TetherPro USB Cable and JerkStopper Camera Support – the necessary USB tethering cable for Side Arm, then tethered the camera using a your camera and cable management to protect your camera port and to stay connected TetherPro USB cable. • Computer and Tethering Software – Lightroom, Capture One, or Smart Shooter are all great It’s also absolutely options necessary to shoot • Camera tethered once the camera is setup on the side arm. Leaning over your plate of food or product, struggling to take and check shots Want to learn more about Tethering, check out the just won’t work. Once your great resources available from Tether Tools on their camera is connected and website tethered to a computer, https://www.tethertools.com/ you can trigger the camera, check focus, change settings, Or head over to The Photographer Academy where all from the comfort of you can find a range of content looking at many ways your laptop or computer. you can use tethering in real shooting scenarios. Next Month on Films *August 2017

George Advanced Studio Lighting Fairbairn Teen Dancer Test Choice & Shooting & Processing a in The Studio Control Composite Band Image

Editorial Don't Forget to Basics of Retouching Location Macro Kit Apprentices Follow Our & Digital Make-up Victoria Clock & Compass Lastest Michelle Whitmore Hillman Lighting and Films Shooting with Speedlites Go get

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