Head 'n' Shoulders: Shooting in the studio....

OK 99.9% of my work is shot on location, but this time round I've decided to do some shoots inside in my studio.  Now I have to admit that I have enjoyed working in my studio, this is because of a number of things such as I can shoot my Nikon D40 straight to my Lap Top and the Models can then see how they are performing in an instant.  Not only that but it is also warm and dry and no bad weather whatsoever can call off the shoot :) 

The theme that I chose to shoot in my studio was simply just a Head n Shoulders shoot.  But again I really did enjoy working in my studio as for once I did not have to travel my-self to a location with all them speedlites strapped around my entire body, in addition to them 2 other two bags that I do carry i.e. one for my Camera Equipment and the other for my light stands.  I hope you all do enjoy my studio shots of the Models and for my-self I'm just going to enjoy the thought of shooting many more Models to come in the comfort of my own studio.

See you all later

Strober

11:30 Break

Ok come on... Hands Up... who remembers them "11:30 Break" adverts for Diet Coke? 

You know the ones, the ones where all the girls are whispering to each other in the office, saying to each other it's  11:30, it's 11:30, Diet Coke Break, Diet Coke Break.  Then all of a sudden all them girls do make their way over to the windows of the office in order to watch that hunk of a man take his t-shirt off in the street and to then enjoy that nice refreshing can of Diet Coke.  If not then you need to watch the video embedded in this blog at the bottom just underneath my Male Model Ashley.

Right now moving on, honestly people if Coke was ever to reinvent these adverts again then Ashley would be the perfect Male Model for this job.  I mean just look at that pic at the bottom of this blog, yes these ones where Ashley has got his t-shirt off......  Yes, I know exactly what it is that your thinking.... it's 11:30.... it's 11:30.... Diet Coke Break.... Diet Coke Break.  ;)

On this shoot with Ashley I got to test out a brand new bit of kit called the "Boom" and wow people the "Boom" just 100% rocks.  Not only that but these car park shots were a success too...  in the past these car park shoots have proved to be problematic for me, but not this time :)

Any way if you can't remember that 11:30 Diet Coke Break advert then please do watch the video embedded at the end  of this blog.

Regards

Strober

 

The Names Preston…….. Gareth Preston…………

If you are like me then the chances are that you have already been stopped in the past by the police and have been asked by that Police Officer what it is that you are taking photographs of ? Yes, I know……… "You’re a Photographer & NOT a Terrorist".

However, this still don’t’ change the fact that, that nice Police Officer still wants to know what it is that you are taking Photographs of ? Are you involved in some sort of espionage against the state? Are you gathering intelligence about Police Officers or are you taking photographs of "sensitive buildings" in order for them to be used for terrorist activities? No!!!!!!!! I hear you cry……… Your simply doing a little bit of Street Photography and your shooting candid shots of the public as they do walk you buy, so it’s not your fault when you learn that, that member of the public that you have been photographing all along turns out to be a SOC Officer (Serious Organised Crime Officer) who has an international Drugs Baron under surveillance and then there is little old you taking candid shots of him in the process. Right, may I just take some details of you says the Police Officer: Your Name, Age, D.O.B. Address, etc… etc…

Well as you can see from my photograph above people, I now no longer now have to tell that Police Officer my information and instead I now just simply have to hand him over my own home made Photographers Press Card. This little plastic card has all the details on it that any Police Officer would require from my-self i.e. my name, my age, my D.O.B. my address, etc… etc…

The reason why I have made my-self my own Photographers Press Card is due to the fact that this year has seen me attend quite a few crime scenes as a Photographer. First of all there was that young man that jumped off the bridge here in Stockport, then there was the Stepping Hill Murders, followed by the Manchester Riots…. Needless to say I have been pulled by Police Officers and I have been asked to explain my presence at these crime scenes in addition to supplying all the details of my-self which is now found on my new Photographers Press Card………. Any way just thought that I’d share it with you all.  To finish, I do have to say that I do think that my new press card does look kinda cool ;)

Regards

Strober

Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands From UK Highland Photography

Another one of the most important investments you will face as a photographer when it comes to working with off camera flash is not only what Radio Triggers, Speedlites etc... you should buy, but you will one day find your-self asking what “light stands” should you buy?  Well lucky for you there is loads of light stands out there on the market for you to chose from, the price range can be anything from £10 right up to £150.

You should base your investment on “light stands” not only around the budget you have to spend on them, but also in line with what kind of work it is that you want your “light stands” to  do.  For example if you are planning on being a Wedding Photographer, then I very much doubt it, that you are going to buy those £10 eBay light stands.  This is because that if you do then you may get a very nasty surprise the next time that you turn up at that next Wedding to find that 1)  A screw has worked it’s way lose from that cheap light stand & you can’t use the light stand now because you don’t have that missing screw to fix it or 2)  Part of the light stand has now snapped during transit, due to the fact that it is in fact made of cheap hollow metal or 3)  The wind blows and you watch in horror as your very expensive speedlite does bounce of that hard ground due to the fact that your cheap light stand can not stand up to strong winds. (NB:  Your light stand is to light to stand up against the force of the wind).

But any way what I’m going to do now is to tell you a little bit about UK Highlands Photography's “General Purpose” light stands they are the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands.    Since working with them I have found that they are

• Very Fast To Set Up (NB:  Unlike my Interfit MK11 Light Stands)
• Solid and have a nice weight to them (NB:  Making them ideal to stand up to light winds)
• Include a Safety Mechanism (NB:  It’s a “Spring” inside the stand and is faster to pack up / put away than “Air Sprung” stands.)
• Extend to a height of  1 Meter 89 CM (NB:  Unlike my Interfit MK11 Light Stands which extend to a height of  2 Meters 27 CM.)
• Worth the modest price of (£34.95 for the Twin Deal) (NB:  Obviously I did purchase mine from UK Highland Photography my-self.)
• Won my trust with regards to working with them.

So boom, bang, crash, wallop, ping, thud, of course the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands are going to get those “cosmetic scratches” on them when your carrying them in your bag to and from location or from moving them around the studio etc...  But the one thing that these light stands are NOT going to do on you is to slowly fall apart when the going does get tough, the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands are a quality built light stand, with an added Safety Feature built into them.  However, I do feel that this spring safety feature will only be a benefit to us who work with the off camera flash approach i.e. “speedlites”.  This is because, from my own tests then the spring feature will / can protect your speedlite from crashing into the lower stand from it’s extended height if it is accidentally / suddenly released by an unknown person. 

However, I feel that when it comes to actual Studio Strobes like my Interfit MK11’s then I feel that the spring feature in the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands is not going to protect the MK11’s  Strobes, instead from my own tests then the spring feature tends to “Max Out” and allows both the top part of the light stand and the lower part of the light stand to “Clash / Smash” against each other, only then does the spring feature start to push the top part of the light stand back up and away from the lower part of the light stand.

My over all conclusion of the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands available from UK Highland Photography is that they are a very good darn light stand indeed and the quality of them is fantastic for such a modest price which will see these light stands last you for years upon years to come.   Yes the spring safety feature is a welcomed extra as it does put your mind at rest when you see that inexperienced person being nice and wanting to help you pack away your light stands when you are on assignment.  But if it is a high quality safety feature that you are after when it comes to choosing light stands then I would highly recommend that you pay the extra monies and buy the best light stands money can buy.  For again even though the Kaavie KA-200 Spring Cushioned Light Stands are a good darn light stand to have, but again I just feel that the spring safety mechanism in them are not going to protect your beloved Profoto D1 Strobes as much as you would like them to.

Best Regards

Strober.

PS:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kaavie-KA-200-Spring-Cushioned-Photography/dp/B005C950Q8

Manchester Riots

Keeping it short.... I did not get the chance to get into Manchester to see the actual riots, instead I only managed to get into Manchester after the actual riots ( Trust me I was gutted about this ).  Any way here is the shots that I did manage to get..... 

Cheers

Strober



Chocokoni and my-self in Alexandra Park

I meet up with Chocokoni in Alexandra Park here in Stockport yesterday....  also may I just add that Chocokoni is a very pleasant young woman too... 

Moving on, on this shoot I decided to use only one speedlite again and the scary part is, is that I loved working with just one speedlite :)  But this provokes me to ask the question as to why I did buy so many speedlites in the first place, that is if I just enjoy shooting with just one?  Hmmmmm................

Any way guys I hope you like the pics that Chocokoni and my-self did produce from our shoot together.

Regards

Strober

 

 

One SB 600, One Nikon D40 = Good Photo Shoot

I meet up with Jody from Purestorm on Monday just gone... and what a refreshing shoot this one was.

I arrived on location in Vernon Park with the following equipment......

• 1 Nikon D40
• 2 x Bishop Receivers
• 1 x Bishop Transmitter
• 1 x Rook Receiver
• 1 x Rook Transmitter
• 2 x SS600 Speedlites
• 1 x SB900 Speedlites
• 2 x Light Stands
• 1 Sigma 70 - 300mm Lens
• 1 x Nikkor 35mm Prime Lens
• 1 x Nikkor 18 - 55mm Lens

And people this is now the beautiful / refreshing part of it all..... out of all this equipment I had access to, I then simply did use only 4 bits of it to photograph the lovely Jody.  The equipment that I did use was......

A)  One Nikon D40, B)  One SB600 Speedlite, C)  One Sigma 70 - 300mm Lens, D) 1 x 18 - 55 mm Lens.

Yes, this means that I done no messing about what soever on this shoot and it was simply just a case of one SB600 speedlite being set to TTL mode and then it was just shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.  Again that's just simply shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. 

To finish I for one am well impressed with the results of working with just one speedlite on this shoot / assingment.

Regards

Gaz aka Strober