Clare - Tight Crop

Clare - Tight Crop
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

This was taken as part of the 2 Strobe (SB-800) trial that I did with Clare.

I have posted this to see if anyone thinks the Post Production work is over done.

I am really pleased with it, but, as usual, I welcome comments!

Most of the work was done in CS4 using a BETA of Imagenomic's Portraiture plug-in. 

This was a 2 strobe set-up... The main light acting a Soft box, the second providing fill and also warming the skin tones slightly (The Gold Brolly insert achieves this). The second light  was set to a very low power level to achieve the contrast levels I was after.

At the Park - Mosaic

At the Park
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

A quick Mosaic made with Flickr fd Toys - Really cool stuff and very easy to use.

If you use Flickr, check out http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

You can even produce full Hi-Res version for just $25 a year (non-Hi Res are free!)

Megan Warhol

Megan Warhol
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

Take one image (clean background helps)... A few adjustments later and we have Megan 'Warhol'

Nice effect, VERY easy to do....

Would look cool printed as a large format acrylic.

Girls Mosaic

Girls Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

This Mosaic was made using FD's Flickr toys.

I thought it interesting to compare the quality of images from the D300 (on the left) and the G9 (on the right).

The D300 is clearly better in terms of sharpness and contrast, and benefits from the wide aperture which throws the background out of focus (these were taken with the 70-200vr @ 2.8)

The G9, however, has handled the colours really well - These are JPEGs too... If I had taken RAW, I could easily increase the contrast and add a little sharpening.

The G9 will never replace my DSLR set-up, but it sure ain't a bad backup!

Weeeeee !

Weeeeee !
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

Lovely being able to use manual controls on the G9 too... Allows you to 'play' with speeds to achieve this sort of thing.

Again, straight from Camera.

Amazing 'Compact'!

More G9 Loveliness!

Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

Again, snapped straight from the G9 - Converted for web use, and posted here...

Pin sharp, great handling of the Reds... The Nikon DSLRs tend to over saturate the Reds, so the Canon is actually better in this instance.

Really enjoying what it can knock out straight off the bat.

How good is the G9?!

Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

It just gets better - Can't wait for the Summer (or a Holiday!) to see how well it performs in the bright sunlight.

This were all taken today - It was dry, but a little overcast; The saturation is excellent, the images are bright and sharp, and the focusing is FAST!

This really is the ultimate walkabout... The G10 needs to be mighty impressive to be worth the extra over the G9.

Lovin' it!

Morning Megan!

Morning Megan!
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

Natural light - D300 + 18-200vr... This is at ISO 640.

The low light ability of the D300 is amazing - There is some noise evident in the shadows, but it is well controlled (almost Grain like).

This has a slight radial burn added in CS4 and converted from Raw to JPEG, but other than that - Straight from the D300.

G9 Fireworks Trial

G9 Fireworks Trial
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

G9 in 'Fireworks' mode - Handheld, straight from camera... There doesn't seem much that the little G9 CAN'T do!

This was taken at Bedford RFC, Goldington Road.

Clare Lighting Study

Clare Lighting Study
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

Again, this was part of the single SB-800 lighting study that I did with Clare.

Again I used CS4 to enhance the eyes, but other than that, pretty much a straight RAW to JPEG conversion for web use.

The single SB-800 was shot through a white brolley.

Leeds City Centre

Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

This was taken from my Hotel room (http://www.parkplaza.com/leedsuk)
using the G9 in RAW mode.

I did some slight adjustments to the WB in Aperture, but other than that, this is straight from Camera.

Not bad for a 'little compact'

Cheeky Megan

Cheeky Megan
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

18-200vr + D300... As usual this was using the diffused lighting in the conservatory, shooting back into the lounge to give the dark background.

Love the lighting here - Nice catch light in the eyes, enhanced with the CS3/4 eye pop treatment.

I will post a tutorial on eye pop soon (promise!)