Ginger Spooks (Westy 52)

This weeks' image is a full length portrait shot of the girls in their Halloween costumes.

It was shot with the D300 + 35 1.8 (1/60 @ f8) with two Speedlights.

The SB-800 (camera left) firing through a Ezybox softbox (at about 45° to the girls), the SB-900 directly behind them (to separate them from the black background), all controlled from the built in commander flash.

The commander was also set to provide a small amount to front fill.

Even with the SB-900 behind them, the original shot had the girls lost in the background a little - so I had to do some work in Photoshop to help out:

Original Image

I added a new Layer (which I increased the levels on) to bring the hat and wig detail back.

Adjusted levels on Hat

I then masked out the rest of the image (which returned them to their original 'correct' levels).

I then did some other dodge and burn adjustments using the Wacom Tablet to increase / decrease the levels as required across the image.

Extreme Pay (Westy 52)

This week's image was taken at a local fun fair.

We had visited during the day, but I decided to go back in the evening with the D300 and tripod to grab some light trail shots.

I really liked the colours in this one, and the way the stationary group contrast with the movement of the ride.

The neon 'Extreme Pay' sign was an added bonus.

Shot in full manual - A full 2 second exposure at f25 on the D300 with the 18-200vr set at about 50mm (ISO 200).

Spin it! (Westy 52)

This weeks image was a little bit of trial and error.

I love the idea of suggesting movement in a still photo, so had the idea of fixing the camera to look at a point on the car, and then moving the background around the stationary camera.

I searched EBay and found the perfect thing to help...

This cost me £2.99 (!) - Allowing me to clamp the G9 (not brave enough to try it with the DSLRs yet) to the car door.

I set the G9 to fire automatically after 10 seconds (giving me time to jump in and drive the car to get the movement I was after).

I also set the ND filter on the camera to give me a slow shutter speed even though I was shooting during the day.

I boosted the contrast a little in CS4, but other than that, this is straight from the camera.

This is very much a 'work in progress' - A project that I will continue to explore in the coming weeks.

Looking forward to trying the technique out with the 'bike.

Wait for Dad! (Westy 52)

A grab shot of Clare, Caitlin and Megan this week, taken during an Autumn walk is a local forest.

Taken with the D300 + 35 1.8 (1/1600 f2).

Processed with Color Efex Pro 3 in Aperture by adding a Bleach Bypass filter, which was then selectively removed from the girls (so that it only effected the background).

Used sparingly I think the effect can work well - It lifts shots out of the 'snapshot' bracket.

Slightly sharpened using DFine.

Broken Morning (Westy 52)

We have had some great sunrises over Bedfordshire this week (most annoyingly on Tuesday when I only had the iPhone camera with me! - Lesson learnt.)

However, I was fortunate enough to be greeted with this scene early on Sunday morning, whilst on my way into the office.

This is a handheld 3-shot HDR image, shot in RAW.

I combined the 3 exposures in Photomatix Pro, then added a Polarising filter in CS4 to deepen the blue in the sky.

I am really pleased with how the road surface looks almost B&W in contrast to the range of colours in the sky.

I know that taking 'Landscape' shots in a vertical 'Portrait' format break the rules, but in this case, I think it works well.

Sometimes pushing the rules works to your advantage.

Images in Print

Professional ImageMaker Magazine arrived in the post today.

It is the worldwide magazine of the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers).

Great to see my 'Into the Blue' Image voted as a competition winners by other Pro Photographers.

For those that haven't seen the image before, this is the one...