I’m sure most photographers draw inspiration from others; very much the same way musicians do. I read other photographers’ blogs on a daily basis and one site I regularly check back with is The F STOP.

Advertising work isn’t really my cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean the photographers interviewed on this site aren’t inspiring.
This interview with Simon Harsent in particular struck a cord with me. Maybe it will with you, too.

Andy

The setup was simple: black backdrop draped over a bedroom door; a single flash high camera right with a shoot-thru brolly which was very close to Lauren just out of shot (to give a nice big light source for that wrap-around light).

Six Months of Shoots

Now, it isn’t perfect; we tried to get the hands in the same position for every shot, but as you can see from the earlier shots, we didn’t quite nail it. But generally, we’re pretty happy with the results. I hope you are too.

Andy

Well, Peach Summer Deighton and Mélodie Rose Deighton were brought into this world on Saturday January 16. And being photographers, I’m sure we’ll use this opportunity to kick off a new project!

Speaking of which, I hope to post a new pic soon- something we’ve been working on for a few months now. Watch this space.

Andy

I wanted to use the newly restored bandstand on Brighton’s seafront for two reasons; I knew it would be clear of visitors due to the weather; and because it would keep us dry! It’s been restored to its apparent former glory and whoever did it did a great job.
The tiling on the floor converges to a metal plaque at the centre and this was where Katie would stand. Again, Joe held a Speedlite up high to make sure Katie was well lit, then we placed another, snooted, Speedlite on a stand, that would pick out the handbag.
Katie changed in the wind into a white dress, which contrasted well with the broody sky, and off we went.

Katie in the Bandstand

Throughout the shoot I’d use two primes; a lovely Sigma 30mm F1.4 and my trusty Canon 85mm F1.8. But I always carry my mega-wide-angled Sigma 12-24mm aspherical. This thing is almost fisheye at 12mm, but you have to use it carefully, lest you want your subjects to end up with distorted heads.
So I wanted to use my wide angle. I already knew I wanted Katie standing on a wall, so I decided to get down low, below her, and have the bag closest to my lens. Even when I was less than 2ft away from the bag, I could still see the whole of Katie in my field of view. Lovely.
The wind provided the rest. Her hair was nicely blown out of her face, and the bag was waving in the wind. Joe lit her from high, while the other Speedlite added a little fill from camera left.

Blowing in the Wind

I found Katie Roberts on Modelmayhem.com. Young (target audience of chicachick), gorgeous and tall. She was easy to direct, despite the howling wind and chilly temperatures on Brighton’s beach.

I was at first reluctant to stay on the beach; I had visions of my Canon getting covered in salty seaspray, but in the end, the broody sky that the location afforded us was perfect. If I’d shot it inland, in the city, I think there would have been too many distractions.

My good friend and professional juggler/acrobat Joey Blaze (aka Joe Hague) was my trusty Voice Activated Boom man.

A week or so before the shoot, I started sketching out ideas for the shots I was after. This is an essential process for me, as I normally find it tricky to shoot on the hoof; I need to visualise the shot first. This worked perfectly for me. As soon as we’d picked a few outfits, we got stuck in and each shot materialised exactly as I’d pictured it. What a joy it is when something in your mind gets turned into a real picture. It’s such a buzz!

For the shot below, I originally wanted two Katies holding different bags up, set against the rusting supports of Brighton’s derelict West Pier. However, when we started setting this up, I realised I could create something more dramatic by having one Katie pass the bag to another. I like these sorts of multi-exposure shots so I stuck the camera on a tripod, took a baseline shot with no model, and underexosed it by about a full stop.

Katie 1 Meet Katie 2

Katie 1 then stood on the left while Joe stuck a 550EX speedlite on a stand and held it high to catch the bag and Katie. I think it was on full power (despite the apparent grey sky, we had quite a lot of ambient to overcome). Plus it was quite some distance away from Katie so we needed the flash to fully nuke her.

After getting Katie 1 looking just right (no laptop for me on the beach; this was all done by chimping the LCD), Katie assumed the position of Katie 2 (on the right) and this time I wanted her reaching out to receive the bag from Katie 1 (I told Katie to imagine reaching over a deep deep canyon). Again, Joe held the flash high to get her covered as well as light the pillar.

What works for me is the fact that the pillars, ground and Katie are all lit with nice 3D-shaping light. It makes the set look like it’s indoors.

With a little Photoshop work, the picture was done. And man, I’m stoked! The client is also very happy with it, which is a bonus!

I’ll post a couple more once they’re complete.

So, what I’ve learned from this is that you must trust your design and take control of the shoot. I know what I wanted, thanks to my sketches, and I did everything I could to make sure I got the shot. In the end it took about 15 minutes from start to finish.

Andy

Anyway, they need some of their products pictured with a model so I’m going to shoot for them in the busy street of the city centre. Should be a giggle. The shoot will be in mid-November some time, so I’ll post more when it happens.

(Yes, it seems that all I do is post about things that are going to happen – but they will happen!)

Ta ta.

Andy

Grey Area Gallery presents Empty Space, a photographic body of work by artist Eva Kalpadaki. Empty Space explores the relationship of the abstract photographic image to the inner world, and also notions of exteriority and interiority as these relate to the transition from the unconscious to conscious reality. The photographs negotiate an abstract photographic space of emptiness as a potential space of abstraction between a psychic space of subjective projection and an objective material space of aesthetic contemplation.

Tim Hume, owner of the Red Roaster coffee house, Brighton

We’ve nailed the coffee shot!

Tim Hume, owner of the Red Roaster Coffee House, turned up at the Red Roaster roastery in Kemptown, Brighton and with the help of my wife, Lauren, and good friend Joe (he’s one of the best jugglers I’ve ever seen, by the way) we moved 70kg coffee sacks, erected a backdrop and got my lights into position.

I followed a very rigid lighting structure:

got my key light dialled in first – I wanted the sacks to look well defined but not too bright. The brolly worked fine as I put it in there quite close. Set it to 1/32 power on wide beam

I then placed Tim in the frame to make sure he was also exposed fine. He was (I asked him to wear a white shirt because I knew I’d be using a black backdrop)

I then placed two more flashes either side of him – these were going to pick out the beans hitting his hands. I used our homemade grid snoots. I had them aimed a little in front of his hands so that the lighting of the beans would be subtle

I then got on the floor with a fairly wide angle lens (somewhere between 24mm and 20mm) as I wanted to give the sense of Tim knowing his stuff, looking down into the camera.

Joe and Lauren then filled several jugs of stale roasted coffee beans and poured away from out of shot. We did about 10 tries and we managed to get the bean flow just right. As you can see in the picture, the beans were caught by the flashes beautifully.

We then did a close up of Tim examining a bean – I wanted a second picture just in case.

All in all it was an awesome little shoot – delivered in less than an hour from turning up to sweeping away LOTS of stray beans.

If you have confidence in the look you’re after, and really want your shot to work, just take control of the shoot and stay calm. I’d had this picture in my mind for a few months, and when I saw it on my LCD I knew I’d got it. Happy boy!

Until the next one..

Andy