Basic Raw Editing for Lightroom

So I've been meaning to get round to doing a small video showing some of the basics of editing your Raw files in Lightroom and Photoshop for a few weeks and had a couple of questions about editing which coincided with some spare time. I've been editing in Lightroom for a good few months and thought it only fair I share with you what I've learnt.


I chose four different photographs to edit and reset all their settings in Lightroom, even dropping Lightrooms' default import adjustments (contrast, brightness, blacks) back to a zero value.


Hopefully this video will give you a starting place to continue to learn about editing. 


Take the plunge, and then, of course, let me know how you got on!

Thanks guys! See you anon
Chris Frosin

Smoke Training House

Again, inspired (or rather gently nudged) by Jared Polin's weekend theme, my photographs over the last few days have been with a very strong fire fighting theme. Jared set, in my opinion, quite a tough theme – Fire Hydrants – for the weekend of February 4th and 5th. Now being in the UK, our fire hydrants are lame in comparison to the American's elaborate cast scultpures, the most exciting thing being... a sign that says H.

Clearly not something that's going to win any photography awards, BUT I did know of something that might. My dad was a fireman for 25 years and as such I knew a fair few of the firemen in my town. Or at least enough for me to ask very politely if they would let me take a few photographs inside here.

This is the Derbyshire Smoke Training House, where new recruits and firefighters regularly (twice a month) get kitted out in their breathing apparatus and train in controlled conditions to locate and rescue bodies, extinguish internal fires and just learn to cope in situations where you literally cannot see your own hand 6" infront of your breathing mask.


I was very excited to try to shoot some photographs inside the smoke house and had my camera bag ready to explore. 


The interior is very very sooty, dirty and dusty as you'd imagine but surprisingly, unbelievably cramped. I yearned for a wide angle lens but had to try to squeeze some photos in with my 35-70mm variable aperture Nikon AF lens. That meant I had to pop my ISO up rather a lot as the widest I could get the aperture was f3.3. As such, these were captured at ISO 1600, which obviously leaned towards a black and white end image.

And all throughout the house are beds, sofas, televisions.

But no windows... at all! They're all covered with sheet metal, to hold in the synthetic smoke which regularly circulates through the narrow passageways.

All too quickly the tour around the interior was over and I was given free reign to take some photographs around the outside. Too many details and indeed, far too many photographs were taken. Here's just a few.

There's a set on my FlickR stream for the photographs I took at the Smoke Training House which you can have a look at here.


I actually had a very negative view of the photographs I came away with once I'd imported them into LightRoom. I was gutted I didn't have a wider angle lens to shoot inside with, and also that with hindsight I rushed through the interior photos just a little. After a nights sleep and several cups of tea I was feeling a little better about them and rather enjoyed editing the exposures and captures that I did have. 


I think I have made the most of the situation but I can't help but itch to go back inside and maybe break out the tripod. The only issue there is that the interior is just so dusty and the air is noxious which means you have to wear a simple breathing mask.


Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the little tour of the smoke house nearby, and no I'm off to try to limit the photographs down to just five to link up on Jared's forum thread over at FroKnowsPhoto.


And next time you see the news about a fire, or hear about one from a friend, just remember this post and some of the photos and try to put yourself in the situation of braving the smoke and heat to rescue maybe just one body from a building you can't even see in to find a doorway... or a door handle... or a bed.


Thanks everyone, see you all anon.


Chris

FroKnowsPhoto Top 5

This weekends theme on the FroKnowsPhoto website was Time Waits for Noone and my original idea was to shoot my little nephew – who's now nearly 20months old – looking up at my father. I've been struggling with portraits and really wanted to get a good solid portrait for the contest so I stuck with it and got a few of just my nephew.


Directing a 20 month little boy is tough though. Lines like "where's the window", "whats in the sky?", and "show me the tree, Riley" seemed to definitely get the gazeful look I was after and I ended up with these photographs.

I'd passed him my watch to 'play' with to, although he did nearly throw it into the hearth a few times.

I think the photos were definitely helped by the subject, he looks so adorable in his little jumper.

And this is the one that actually made it through into the Top Five of the week from the FroKnowsPhoto website. So proud of the photograph and sticking with and persevering with the portrait idea has definitely helped. 

If you'd like to know more about the photos, or the processing, please leave a comment below and I'll write a quick post about those too. 


If I could take five more seconds of your time to vote for the photo on the FroKnowsPhoto website, then please follow this link here and vote for me, DNGRMS in the vote box half way down the page.


Thanks guys, see you all anon!


Chris

Unboxing and fitting Battery Grip on my D90

So I recently ordered a battery grip for my D90. It arrived yesterday and I managed to contain my excitement enough to set up my iPhone to do a quick unboxing and fitting video.


As I talk about in the video, the reason that I finally bit the biscuit and bought the battery grip (say that five times after ten pints!) was quite simply as I was getting  frustrated with distorting my arms to get the camera solid in portrait... plus I wouldn't have to worry as much about battery power when I'm shooting at tennis tournaments.

One thing I've found out since I recorded the video...


There's a secret compartment! For the battery door which I clipped off.

So the battery door is now safely stored inside the battery grip.


Camera looks absolutely awesome with the grip on, and feels excellent in the hand. The weight does increase a fair whack, so for those of you with dainty hands, it may not be the most comfortable.

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed the video... and yes, I do get excited about 'new' toys.


See you anon
Chris

Tennis Photography - Thinking Outside the Box

Since I've been doing a lot more tennis photography (and badminton to be fair) I've been trying to find something slightly more 'inventive' for the photos. Getting away from the stereotypical action shots. These which I took at last years end of season Masters Tournament at the O2 arena in London, for example. (Click the photo to see it full size in my FlickR stream)

These are the sort of photographs that you see regularly, and it seems to be about finding the right angle and getting your timing right. I am loving capturing these shots, though. Tennis is such a fabulously athletic sport you can come away with some amazingly dynamic photographs.


I want to capture something different though.


So while a friend of mine was having a quick practice while I had some time to pull out my trusty Nikon D90, I had a play. 


My base settings which I started at didn't get changed much as I took more and more photographs. ISO 400 at f2.8. I started at 1/100th of a second and was playing around with the different angles and composition you can get on the tennis court.


The final photograph — which I was excited about as it confirmed to me that the idea I had is definitely possible and has potential  — was shot at ISO 400, f2.8 and 1/60th second but only with my 50mm lens. 

I definitely think there is potential to improve on this style of photograph. I'm going to get down to the courts again this coming week and try some more angles, and composition and also see how slow I can get the shutter speed to be and still keep some clarity in the important features (namely the face and tennis racket).


I'll also take my 80-300 Sigma lens to see how effective — if at all, with the high probability that the background will be all motion blurred anyway — a narrower depth of field will be to the photograph.


That's all for now, look out next week for a follow up post and if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment here and I'll get back to you.


See you anon.
Chris

Nikkormat FTn 35mm SLR Film Camera Walk Round

As promised in the last post where I talk about the Film vs Digital Challenge that myself and Ryan Conners are having, here is the walk around video for my weapon of choice for the challenge; the 1967 Nikkormat FTn 35mm SLR film camera.

Please enjoy the video, and if you have any comments or questions on the camera, the challenge, or anything else you see here, please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.


Until then, the last part of the puzzle have also been delivered to both of us... the film we will be using!

Here is my Kodak Ektar 100 Colour Negative Film. Three rolls to give a thankful nod towards Kodak who recently declared themselves bankrupt and with which I hope will give as accurate a photo as I can get to my current RAW processing style.


In a similar vein, here is Ryan's choice, two rolls of Agfaphoto Vista 100.

After seeing some of the photo results that have been posted with regard to this film, I can confidently say that it's development should match Ryans' editing style very closely as well.


This, my friend, should be a very interesting little challenge. I hope you can find or acquire a film SLR too, and join in the fun.


Until next time, have fun and keep shooting.


See you anon.
Chris

Film vs Digital - My SLR Camera

You'll probably remember the last post where myself and Ryan Conners – with a hard R, apparently – were talking about a film vs digital photo challenge.

She already had her weapon of choice, a Canon T70 but I would be getting one over her already with my single lens reflex photographic equipment choice.


I had spent most of the weekend looking over a well known electronic auction website and have absolutely fallen in love with the original series of first ever SLR cameras from Nikon. The brilliant Nikon F range was released from 1969 and paved the way for one of the most successful camera companies in the world. The first professional camera they released was the Nikon F but following closely behind were various sister cameras with differing functions. For instance the Nikkormat FTn had centre weighted metering, whereas the Nikkormat EL which came along in 19 was the first SLR to come with an electronic shutter; so if you were doing a long exposure and the battery ran out... the shutter would close.


Back to the auctions and I was watching a fair few Nikkormat F series cameras and on Friday morning I was lucky enough to win one at a very fair price. Excitedly for the next couple of days I would hope for a parcel from the postman and on Monday...

I had to resist the urge to rip open the package and grabbed my D90 to take some snaps.


The camera I'd bought is a 1967 Nikkormat FTn SLR, widely recognised now as one of the finest and reliable cameras of its era, a title I quickly realised was likely to be very accurate when I picked the camera up out of the box; so heavy and weighty.

The camera feels very purposeful and weighty in your hand and has such a fantastic mechanical feel to all it's settings. For instance the shutter speed dial that you can just see around the brilliant Nikon F lens mount, has a very deliberate and reassured click to each shutter speed.


And that brings us to the Nikkormat's Pièce de résistance; it's lens mount.


The Nikon F series were named (probably anyway) after their lens mount. The F mount lens has been used by Nikon from the first Nikon SLR in 1969 until...


... the new Nikon D4 that was released a few weeks ago. Which means that all lenses that Nikon have ever made will fit every SLR they have ever made, the only downside being that some lenses won't be able to use the auto focus function on some of the later models or the use of the aperture to change the metering on the earlier cameras.


This is my secret weapon with which I will beat Ryan in our coming challenge. I will be able to use either my Nikon 50mm 1.8... or my Sigma 70-300mm super zoom... or even my little 35-70mm Macro. Oh the choice ;)

Coming up... a little walk around video (which is now up and you can see it here) and also I do a little cleaning and refurbishing of the camera to make it look as best I can.


Thanks for reading guys, and I shall see you anon ready for the next instalment.


Chris

Film vs Digital

Long has this 'discussion' raged, needlessly now in my view. Since my photography journey led me away from my Pentax ME Super film SLR to the Nikon D3100 I have been throughly enjoying the freedom at which digital photography gives you. 


I never got to grips with exposing and capturing photos back when I did have my Pentax but now I have a better understanding I am itching to delve into some film capturing, as I could put it.


In a conversation with my cross atlantic photography friend Ryan Conners, we came up with a photo challenge that would accompany my newly (actually, lets say freshly) found excitement to use and feel the emotion of shooting with a camera like....

...this, a 1975 Nikkormat FT2.


So I just have to acquire one now. 


A fair few are around on eBay, so on to my watch list they go and I'll keep you informed as to which I end up winning (if any, although I hope it doesn't come to a week later and I've not won a single auction). There is even a Nikon F on for a 'reasonable' value, the first Nikon SLR that was released at the same time as the equivalent Canonflex: Genesis in the world of Single Lens Reflex cameras.

The cool factor involved in owning one of these (ok, just the Nikon one hehe) will be fabulous! Owning genesis would be great so please cross your fingers that the eBay auction doesn't go through the roof in the next two days please or I may end up having to be content with owning a Genesis CD instead.


... and that would be a disaster! 


As for the Photo Challenge between myself and Ryan? Well you'll have to wait and see but it should be a lot of fun and will no doubt turn out to be very competitive ;)


Check out the next post about the challenge here.


See you anon!
Chris

Macro Photography - Lens Inverter Ring

I had an excuse to have a go at some more macro photography recently and jumped at the chance as the last time out I didn't get to grasp with the inverter ring I bought for my, then, Nikon D3100. Since then I've upgraded to the Nikon D90 and the change and improvement is very noticeable so I was keen to try it out. 


Here's an example of one of the better captures of my first outing which I wasn't very inspired by, haha.

Improving on this would be helped (or at least I thought would be helped) by the subject matter this time... ice! Or at least ice crystals.


As it turns out, ice is a damn nightmare to photograph and I got very very cold lying on grass, photographing frozen tennis balls and even some of the ice crystal formations on the car cover to one of my cars. One of the challenges is getting the exposure right, but to start with lets look at some of the settings.


Here's the setup we used.

Here's the Nikon D90, the BR-2A Nikon Lens inverter ring, and a Nikon 35-70mm f3-4.5 which I picked up ridiculously cheaply (£10) a while ago. The lens thread is 52mm which is important as that's the thread on the inverter ring.


Once the lens is mounted back to front on the camera body there are a few things you should set before you start shooting. 


Firstly, the shorter the lens focal length, the more magnification you're going to get. So in my case – 35-70mm - I dialed it right in to 35mm for higher magnification. 


Secondly the aperture. Obviously, the camera usually sets the aperture value for you (or at least the aperture ring if it's a manual selection) but seeing as the lens is on back to front the aperture selection lever is not engaged. I made a small rubber pin to hold the lever out. If you open the aperture right up, though, the already tiny depth of field will be absolutely minute. And I mean minute. Maybe a millimetre or two. And that makes focusing a nightmare. Mine was held out at about halfway, so around f8.


The downside to this is the exposure is going to be badly affected, so that meant the ISO went up to 800 or so and the shutter speed down as far as I could go.


My first few photographs didn't go very well. Focus was too tough.

Using a tripod was just too difficult as you pretty much have to focus by moving in and out from your subject. A monopod may work better as it provides a little more movement but even still, I'm not sure of it's ease of use.


Eventually with a little patience (ok, a lot of patience) I was beginning to get somewhere. 

One of the biggest tips I can give is to try to get the form you're capturing to run along the plane of focus, at least a little, or the photograph ends up with a selective focus point being tiny and throwing most of the rest of the photo into bokeh.


This is what happened when I tried to capture the frozen tennis ball. As it's round it was tough to get the ice to be along the same focal plane and some of the photos had such a small focus point it was laughable. Here is one of the better ones though.

One of my favourite photos of the day.


If you want to have a look at some of the other photographs and see more about what I did please check out the video below to see in more detail the processing that went into the photographs too.

All in all I was very pleased at how the macro side of things went and I'm sure I made a step forward from the last time I tried it which, after all, is what we're all after. Improving each time we pick up our cameras. Next time, I'll look a little more into improving my processing and trying to develop a style which I'm happy with and can repeat from photograph to photograph.


Thanks guys! I hope this is of interest to you and you get something out of it. Any questions or comments please feel free to ask them here or on youTube and I'll see you all anon.


Chris

Urban Exploration Challenge

One of the best things about being a tennis coach is I have plenty of control over when I coach. As it turned out for the first time in a few weeks the sun was out, and the skies were blue when I'd finished at 13:00. I quickly formed a plan of what I wanted to do, headed home and piled on the layers (it may have been sunny, but it must have been only a few degrees above freezing) and packed my now seemingly very small camera bag with some bits and bobs.

I've never felt 100% comfortable with architecture photos I've taken in the past; maybe issues with the composition or exposure, but the photographs never made me go wow. Determination set in and I was going to resolve this issue by heading over to one of the coolest looking derelict buildings around where I live. Unfortunately it's been completely boarded up now so there was no chance of getting in side, which left the exterior to be captured. Very nervous about this as it is definitely one of my weaker styles. 

The angles that play out when you photograph architecture, especially tall buildings such as this one, I find very challenging. Finding the balance of the building in the frame is tough... But I figured if i took enough photos I'd find which angles and composition work best in an architecture photo, or more relevantly a derelict run down shack. 

All around the ex-factory building there are a variety of artistic stylings, shall we say, one of which I really liked. Unfortunately I think I must have been a little hasty turning the camera off after I'd taken the photo...

Oddly I really like this capture, but I am gutted it didn't come out properly. Must be more careful in future.

Anyway, I was nudged towards recording a little commentary on what I was doing and my thoughts as I was taking the photos. A little like Gavin Hoey and his 15 minute photo challenges. 

It was certainly good fun, but I will apologise for the wind noise towards the end... And also for you not being there to see the sunset at the end of the day.

So have a watch, see what you think and then maybe when you have a few hours off next you, you can head out to a derelict near you and capture some photos too.

If you have any questions or comments, please post them below and if you would like to see the rest of the photos from the day, check out my FlickR photo stream here.

Thanks guys, see you anon.

Chris

Editing your Raw Files

Back when photographers used film, there was a lot of emphasis on their developing skills (or at least so I read) I unfortunately never got to experience any of this as I was 15 and took mine to Boots' 24 hour developing service. To some extent I envy those who did, and still do as it must be an even more satisfying feeling developing your negatives yourself, burning in the edges, or increasing the contrast. 

Today's light table and dark room takes the form of post processing software, one of the most popular of which is, aptly named, Adobe Lightroom, and is arguably as much of a skill to use well, as developing your negatives and fixing. Some of the most experienced and skilled in Lightroom quickly develop their own editing style and you can quickly recognise their photographs and edits quickly.

One of the most interesting challenges on the Internet is from the FroKnowsPhoto website where Jared Polin's uploads a raw file each week to add your own personal touch to, and also to learn how he, and others edit the file. I've probably done about 15 of these raw edits but this week something was different.

A good friend of mine, who has a very definite editing 'style' as we've mentioned, has had a fair bit of jostling from myself to put her amazing style on one of these files that Jared throws up each week, and week number 59 was, in my opinion, screaming to be edited by her. The challenge was set (ok, it may have been 5am in Pennsylvania, compared to 10am here in central England) but the photograph was such a gorgeous frame she couldn't resist. 

Putting both of our edits side by side is an eye opening experience. As I was working through my edit, I knew where I wanted to go but it's very hard to not be blinkered by what your doing. Once I saw Ryan's edit next to mine I knew there were some things I would tweak in hindsight. Anyway, let's have a look at the two edits and you can draw your own conclusions.

My edit above, Ryan (KilKennyCat) below...

There are things I love about both edits, but like I said, with hindsight and after those 'processing blinkers' have now been removed, I'd have lessened the magenta tint a little and also pulled back very slightly on the white balance. The top of her cheek also still looks slightly over exposed on my edit.

As to Ryan's take on the file I love her style anyway and this is no exception and I'm glad I 'bullied' her into adding her processing to the image. It's so muted, cool and stylish. I'd have liked to have seen a little more contrast in the eyes but I love the tone of her skin and the way her lips are just ever so cooler than mine. Beautiful tone.

What do you think of the pair of edits? What would you have done and if you would like to have a go, pop over to Jareds' Raw Edit section using this link. This file is Raw Edit number 59. 

lastly if you'd like to see how I went about my edit, check this Screenflow video out and let me know what you think? I hope it is of use and you pick up something, however small, that will help you in your future edits in Lightroom. (or at least it will be once Blogsy let's me find my own YouTube video haha)

Special thanks today go to Ryan Connors (KilKennyCat) for her Raw Edit and hope to get some more posts and videos up again soon.

See you all anon!

Chris 

Camera Journeys

So my first camera was given to me by my grandad (Poppa) when I was around 15. It was the Pentax ME. At that time I really didn't understand exposure and as such a lot of my photos were never really exposed well, but also, at the time, I really didn't care; I was walking around vintage sports car shows with Poppa capturing memories of his stories about this straight-16 cylinder aero engined Delage, or, one of my personal favourites, the 4 litre V twin GN.

At that moment in time that camera could have been a 1930's bellow camera for all I cared, as it was all about capturing a memory of my childhood. This simple form of capturing photos rapidly vanishes when an understanding of exposure and composition come into play and we start being more critical of our equipment than of taking the photos themselves. 

I was completely guilty of that two months after I revisited the SLR fraternity last May. I brought myself, after a lot of trailing and hands on testing at my local camera shop, a Nikon D3100. I won't go into why Nikon over Canon and Sony here, but suffice to say as with a lot of others who have had to make the same choice, the Nikon felt way better in my hands. Six months and over 5,000 photos down the line and I found myself criticising the cameras ability, particularly in low light, and dreaming of the 'next' model. For two months every photo I took had something wrong with it; it had too much noise, there was motion blur as I couldn't have a high enough ISO or the image quality wasn't as crisp as I was expecting.

I was convincing myself that I had outgrown the cameras capabilities and, more importantly, that I needed the Nikon D7000, D700 or even the impressive D3s.

This is the state of mind half the world is now in after Nikon have announced the Nikon D4. I will be one of the first to say "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god" at the spec sheet, the look of it and some of its new functions and layout. The spec sheet is readily available over the Internet so I won't go into details her (head over to Jared Polin's FroKnowsPhoto website) but there are a scary number of functions that make you go "Wow."

 Who wouldn't want a ISO of 100-12,800 (with the capability, and please add a comment if you can think of a reason to have to use it, 204,800 at Hi4) a 1/8000th a second shutter (... For shooting the sun?) or 1080p video capture at a 2.7 crop factor (everyone needs a robin photo from a mile away). 

The camera is beautifully and rightly pitched as their flagship model. An aspirational target for all photographers (Nikon and, dare I say it, Canon). Looking up at the higher echelons of the Nikon range when I was shooting with the D3100 was agonising, and even now I've taken a step up to the D90 the functions and abilities of the flagship models will, and rightly should, always inspire you. These cameras are there to push our photography skills further to the limits of the cameras we are currently using. 

Standing in a garage doesn't make you a car, and by the same degree, owning a Nikon D4 doesn't make you a photographer. Have a think about what you are shooting with right now and understand what it can do and what it can't. If, after that, you find yourself with a D700 and a need to shoot video, indoor sports and events then maybe you could look at a D4, but more likely, you'll never have the need to buy the D4. That of course doesnt stop my incredible urge to own one and if a year down the line I end up with enough disposable income to not blink at the thought, then I will no doubt be overjoyed with the purchase. 

It may baffle me for a few days with all the functions and menu options, as I'm 90% sure it would probably be a step too far, but on the flip side, I have no doubt that I would be able to be come as fluent using it's controls as the D90 I use now.

What is more likely to happen is that my first upgrade to a full frame camera (of which, I might add, I'm itching to move to) will be a D700 or possibly the D3S as video in my line of work (tennis coaching) is hugely beneficial. 

Until then am very comfortable and happy with the tools I have right now. I'm thoroughly enjoying using them and trying to find their limits and break them. More so than the D3100 which, I now realise, I was fighting with for most of my sports photos and, to some extent, portraits too. 

Get confident with your camera, find your 'inner peace' (to quote Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda, that classic and well known photography feature length cartoon) and simply enjoy capturing photos. Use the D4 as an aspirational beacon to where one day you will be experienced and knowledgeable enough to pick one up and instinctively know where the ISO dial or the autofocus beep option is, and that the 3D matrix metering system will help you focus during a game of ice hockey. 

I know I will love to take my photography and camera journey to the Nikon flagship model, but for now, these shots make me smile in the same way they did when Poppa explained why this particular ERA was special (it was of course, Prince Bira's).

Thanks for reading guys and get out there and enjoy your photos!

See you anon (as Poppa used to say)

Chris

Challenge 1-4-365, Day Five

I'm clearly getting ideas down in the bag for the coming year of photographs to improve upon as all day today I had an overwhelming urge to see what astro and lunar photos I could capture. I decided early on in the morning that I was going to have a think about exposures and settings throughout the day rather than look up recommendations on the internet. I decided to start off with a 30 second exposure at f9 with ISO set at 200 and went from there. The star trail photos came out well but I'm keen to improve on them in the next few days. A quick swap of lenses and a change of subject matter...

This has ended up as day five's photo more out of shock and surprise that capturing the moon at this detail is possible with a DSLR and a 300mm lens! I will revisit some astro photography in the coming weeks; for starters I want to find a better landscape to frame and compose the star trails for more impact.

I can only urge you to get out on a clear night (cold sunny days will usually promote a clear night sky) and take some star photos yourselves. A tripod is essential for the trails, although the moon can easily be shot hand held from what I've experienced. A further post about my setup and the settings I use will be up soon.

Until then, take care and see you anon.

Chris

Challenge 1-4-365, Day Four

Already up to day four and most of the day was spent on court and I was looking forward to getting on the badminton court later in the evening for a distraction from my days work. I had my camera as I always do, and grabbed some candids during the matches. Here's on of the best of the bunch.

The indoor courts are a very touch place to photograph the sport itself and I'm striving to become better at candids and portraits hence the capture for today.

See you all anon.

Chris

Challenge 1-4-365 Day Three

Only on Day Three of the Challenge and I am already looking at aspects of photography I think I am in need of investigating. Namely lighting and it's direction. I saw an amazing video by Zach Arias on Jared Polin's Fro Knows Photo website where he talks about lighting and flash setup. I was absolutely stunned at the quality and variety of photographs he was able to achieve with what is essentially a very simple and straight forward setup.

I had a go last night, just using some simple house lamps (as I don't have any flashes yet) using Tigger as my willing model!

As such, this is today's photo for the challenge.


And here is the video from Zach and Jared which I really do urge you to check out. Unrivalled skill behind the camera.

Have fun, and look forward to hearing from you. Let me know what  you think or if you've had a go at some interesting lighting setups.


Thanks, and see you anon.
Chris

Challenge 1-4-365 Day Two

In a much more cheery mood today and as such the sun came out! Which is a first for a good many days. I'm going to have to master rain photography at this rate!

Day Two's photograph depicts one of my cars. It's a UVA Fugitive and admittedly looks rather scary to drive. I can guarantee that it isn't! Just an immense amount of fun. One of the few cars that puts an exhilarating smile on your face.

Day Two over and we can but imagine what tomorrow might bring. What photograph would you take to tell the story of your emotions tomorrow? Haves think and then go out and take it.

Until tomorrow.

Chris :)

Challenge 1-4-365, Day One

A new year has just ticked over and to mark the start of 2012 and to coincide with this new blog site I have started my own challenge; a photo a day for a year.

Each day I'll have a photo with the intention of showing what I've been thinking or feeling that day and then a video at the end of the week showing my pick of the photos from the week.

For the first day I was curious as to whether I could capture a lightbulb. With 1/4000th of a second being the fastest shutter speed I could dial in, I was excited when I saw the first photo and continued to fine tune the settings and angles until...

Amazed at the result! I dropped the white balance temperature in Lightroom as well as increasing the contrast, vibrancy and some sharpening. 

Keep your eyes out for Day Two, I hope you enjoy the coming photographs as much as I am looking forward to taking them.

Chris