Blue Suede Shoes

This post is just a look back at a shoot i did last year for one of my projects which was to create a professional footwear shop for an advertisement. I really enjoyed this shoot apart from actually buying the shoes. (I looked a bit weird going into New Look looking for shoes…)

From the start i knew i wanted a strong contrast in my shot which would draw your attention to the actual product. I managed to find some women's blue suede heels so i got a red background, which would also be reflected on the black surface the shoes were on. For this type of photo shoot you really just have to make sure you get the lighting on the product perfect first, then go about moving the model and styling it the way you want. 

Smaller Things In Nature

It is true that when i'm photographing wildlife, i prefer to photograph the bigger animals. When i was in Kenya it was Lions, Giraffe, Elephants. But even back home in "sunny" England i still prefer to try and capture Foxes rather than Insects.

But you don't become a great photographer just photographing one thing. So i got my camera out and set out to photograph the smaller things in nature. Thankfully there were lots of Butterflies, Hover Flies, and Bees around.

For these only natural light was used, and i was zoomed in as far as i could. I also used a low f-stop to get a shallow depth of field.

Not Just Animals

I was looking back at work i've done from last year and there was one thing which i took which i was actually very proud of! And no, it's not wildlife! Last year we had a fashion brief on my course and we were shown the tricks of the trade in photographing product shots of clothing for websites and magazines. One of the techniques shown is called photographing an "invisible mannequin", and it's pretty much what it says. Making it look as if the clothing is on an invisible mannequin...

…which is easier said than done. But i got the hang of the photoshop skills needed, and pretty soon i was very happy with the results. We were set the task to photograph 5 or so product shots, front, back, and in detail, using one of the techniques shown. I chose the invisible mannequin, naturally. 

1st Of December!

Today is the 1st of December! The start of Christmas! I'm definitely a Christmas person. I love the snow, music, mince pies, everything! (See i do like things other than photography and wildlife).

This time last year though i remember getting an early present. My dad got an old Canon A1 35mm passed down in the family and i loved it. But he loved it more and wasn't going to give it to me… But he did surprise me with my own! And a bag full of lenses and film to go with it which apparently he got on the cheap. Needless to say i was very excited to use it. My very first film camera!

During the course of the next few months i went through the film very quickly, especially the black and white film. I couldn't think of anything better than photographing snow in black and white film. Anyway, as it was my first time with film the pictures weren't all perfect. I'd say they have a rustic feel to them. Here are a couple of ones which (for my first attempt) i quite like.

Village Life

Tonight I got in, sat down, ate my dinner, and watched The Lion King (Amazing film). While i was watching it i couldn't help reminisce about my time in Kenya. So i decided to write another post about it! 

The village i lived in while i was there was amazing. It wasn't big by any means. It was on the bend of a main road. It had little shop, a school, a "sports bar", a little place where you could drink Chi, and lots of little stalls. 

But the one thing which made this little village special was the people. The community. It was the best thing i've ever done traveling, and being submerged in a different culture. But the people were so willing to get to know me, and to let me take photographs. (Especially if you make an effort to talk in their language.) 

This is why love travel photography. Documenting a completely new culture and way of life, and capturing those feelings you get when you experience something new in photos.

What Started My Love For Wildlife

If you know me, you know i love wildlife. Always have, always will. But today i thought i might as well tell you all how my love of wildlife photography started! (Lucky you)

Growing up as a small kid, my bedroom was on the bottom floor, and out side my bedroom window we had a small side garden. Right out side my window we had a few bird boxes. Home to what is now my favourite bird. The Blue Tit. Everyday i'd see them fly around, collecting food. For years i grew up with these bright little birds playing around my window. Year after year i saw them grow up and start new families in the same boxes, and it felt like i really got to know their personalities.

When my love for photography started to grow, and i got my Nikon D90 and my Sigma 150-500mm lens, the first thing i did was try and photograph my tits (yes i just said that). I spent ages just sitting and waiting for them. But to be a wildlife photographer you need patience, and one thing i got from photographing my blue tits is patience.

Because they're quite common you might think that they're easy to photograph, but you're wrong. Blue Tits are very shy, and very quick. But if you want to photograph any wildlife, you have to be patient. Ok, maybe not for snails...

Kenya

In January 2012 i decided to go travelling to a little place called Kenya. It wasn't a trip specifically for photography. I went to do what most people do when they take a year out. I went to teach, and experience new cultures. I taught, lived with, and met some amazing people, and every chance i got i documented this amazing country. The camera never really left my hand!

The majority of my photographic work out the was portraiture, and the children in the school were more than happy to have their picture taken. They would run up and ask if i had my camera, in their hundreds…

Here are a couple of my favourite images of the kids at the school, teachers, and local people in the community. 

If i could give one bit of advice, it would be travel. Even if you're not a photographer, you might never get another time to visit places like Africa, or India, or America, so if you can make the most of it!

All of these images were shot using natural light.

I want to show as much of my time out there as i can, so it may take a few blogs, so just keep an eye out!

Painting With Light

For the past few weeks we've had a module at college called 'Alternative Techniques', or in simpler terms, 'Light Painting'. This is creative photographs with a long exposure, and essentially "painting" on the image by moving a light source around. By doing this you can create some pretty amazing images…and it really is as fun as it sounds!

For this project i decided to do an advertisement campaign shot for a NIKE sprinting spike, with using an external light source to make it look fancier. Sounds cool, i know. It has to be one of my favourite photo shoots i've done though. You forget about the time, and you just want to keep on painting different shapes, and colours, and trying different lights to see the effects. I was there for at least 4 hours just wiggling a glow stick about.

Well after all that playing (that's what it felt like), i came out with a shot which i really like. I used a snooted flash to capture the shoe, with about a 10 second exposure after when i painted with the light.

Just like with photographing stars, you just need a dark room, a tripod, and a long exposure. Then just start painting with lights! The effect i got was created with a thick yellow glow stick (not the little thin ones, they suck).

Star Shine

3 years ago on a chilly new years evening, i saw something on TV about photographing stars. Apparently it was quite simple according to the guy on the telly so i thought "Hey, why not!". First time for everything. I told my dad and he was keen too (photography seems to run in the family) so we headed out to our garden that night. Thankfully we live out in the middle of nowhere so there was very little light pollution.

I'm not going to lie, there was a lot of guess work going on as we forgot what the guy on the TV said. Tripods, long exposure time, blah blah blah. We were too exited to try it to listen to the rest. I ended up taking 30 second exposures so that the light on the horizon was just showing, and the stars were exposed enough. I also shot away from any buildings as the light from them would over expose the image. 

For my first time doing a long exposure shot of stars, i thought the results were alright! A little touch up in Photoshop just to bring out the stars a little, but apart from that you don't really need much else doing to them! 

Highly recommend giving it a go! Pretty much every modern camera you can take long exposures, just gotta keep it still. 

Oh, and don't forget to wrap up warm!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Today i woke up full of optimism and excitement! I finally get to do a shoot i've been planning for a week. After doing a couple of practice shoots in the studio for my 'light painting' module at college, which meant me getting the lighting i want, and deciding on which external lights to use to give the desired effect of smoke (big yellow glow sticks), i was ready to go on location. 

I wanted to use the new athletics track near where i live to do a long exposed shoot with flash to advertise a pair of Nike Zoom Maxcat running spikes. I got permission to use the track, i got an assistant, and signed off borrowing the kit i needed. Then the time came…

After a long trek up to the track, with a dark cloud following us, we got there. Unfortunately, the cloud was not far behind, and was soon upon us. We were there no more than a minute when the downpour started, and it didn't let up. We decided to try and set up our kit under the little cover there was, and practice the distances we needed to shoot at and settings, hoping that the clouds would let up for 5-10 minutes so we could quickly run out on the track and shoot, so we didn't get the expensive ELECTRICAL equipment wet…but it was no use. After an hour or so of waiting, i decided to call it off. The storm wasn't going away. Weather 1, Pete 0.

We packed up, and got a pizza. Gotta look for the silver linings.