C3 Stockport 120:20 Challenge & Castleton Photowalk

The other weekend I attended a group photo walk at Castleton and Pevreil Castle which was run by C3 Stockport.  A good day out and luckily the weather held up.  Heads up this is going to be a long post,

One part of this photo walk was going to be dedicated to a 120:20 challenge, the rules being that you have 120 minuets to take no more than 20 photographs, no deletions but you can use up one of the 20 shots to retake an image (say if you blew exposure). It was an interesting challenge to complete and is one of many you can do yourself.

We also walked around Peveril Castle before the challenge which gave everyone a chance to warm up before the 120:20 challenge which was run in the town centre.  Below are my shots from Peveril Castle and the 120:20 challenge.

First up the images from the walk around Peveril Castle. You will probably notice I had a thing for black and white on that day.

I won’t be uploading these to flickr until I have renewed the membership (the free account limits your sets and collections).

#1 (Model of Peveril Castle)

#2 (Climb up to the Castle)

#3 (Lisa shooting the Castle on the Climb up)

#4

#5 (Grass and Dew)

#6 (Black & White – 1:1 Crop of another Grass and Dew shot)

#7 (Lisa – Shooting a landscape)

#8 (Part of the Castle Wall)

#9 (Part of the Castle wall and an old gate)

#10 Spiral staircase in to the Castle remains,  not an original feature of course)

#11 (Shot through the window grates making a frame within a frame)

#12

#13 (Looking down from the top of the spiral staircase)

#14

#15 – Yup I know about the leaves and branches sticking in the right of the frame, but this was the composition I wanted for the elements with in the landscape and the people.  I may try to remove the leaves and branches in post at some point.

#16 (Similar to 15 but included more washed out sky and shifted to get rid of the branches, Personally I prefer number 15 and will even more if I can remove the branches and leaves

#17 (Mark shooting the Canon EF 100mm F2.8 L IS Macro on his 7D)

#18 Naomi & I had a bit of fun at the end of the day, she ran around in circles whilst I tried to track her with the camera – 500D  24-105 F4L , these few frames are the best ones out of about 8 (got a bit too close for minimum focus distance)

I would also like to thank Naomi for being a model for me during the 120:20 challenge, speaking of which here are the images from that challenge.

Below are the images (Top = SOOC  Bottom = My Edit)  I am including the edited versions to illustrate a few things that shooting RAW allows. The only images SOOC that had post work are the black and white ones, this is due to them popping back to colour in Lightroom even though they were shot B&W in camera (RAW only captures the RAW Colour Data) and unlike Canon’s DPP the Adobe Lightroom does not pay attention to the Picture styles (at least the way I have it set up).

120:20

#1 

Shooting in to light can cause loss of contrast, I expected this especially with the 18-55 kit lens, its not great at this.

Only some small tweaks in post to bring back some contrast in my edit.

#2

Long exposure of the stream/water.  Achived using a very small aperture f/36 on the 18-55 as this lens will stop down more than the others in my set. ISO100  1/2” got me this result out of camera.

Slight tweaks in post and adjust white balance as AWB made it a bit cool.

#3

Should of upped the ISO to get a faster shutter speed here or opened up the aperture a little. 

Not allot done in post in my edit. Just my own B & W conversion process and contrast tweaks.

#4

Landscape with human interest for this one.

+ 1/3rd Exposure in post as I was a little off with my compensation in camera.

#5

Place marker to show the location.  On a side note always photography major signs or landmarks when you visit places as I will help to complete a set of images.

Not allot done here in my Edit.

#6

Ships wheel.

Only a few slight adjustments here, namely contrast and clarity.

#7

Naomi – I asked here to pose for me and she started winking both eyes one after another   This is the shot I got. Naomi is quite the character, thanks for your help on the Day Naomi. Exposure was dialled in in Manual mode by using spot metering and metering of the cheek then adding +0.3 EV to get the right exposure before shooting.

Just a few basic tweaks to contrast and white balance (I always adjust white balance for portraits in post)

#8

#9

Wow fluffed this one.

I much prefer this version.

#10

Man again!  Shows what happens if you rush things, exposure is fine but framing sucks.  Whoops

Much better. Mental note watch the horizons and edges!

#11

That Sigma 10-20 ultra wide is fun. FYI I go nuts with that lens over the next few images.

Just a few tweaks for my edit.

#12 (Portraits with an Ultra Wide – Yup)

Now I would not normally shoot a portrait with this wide of a lens, this close… but some times its fun to play around.  Thanks again Naomi.

#13

#14

Whoops, should of dialled in about  – 2 ev.  Cameras meter has tried to get the primarily dark parts of this image (camera, jacket) and make them 18% grey  which = over exposed.

This is why I shoot RAW. A jpg would of been lost as the data is simply lost. RAW allows you to recover images in post, but Always try to get it in Camera.

#15
 

I was a little annoyed I blew that last one I shot a similar image again, but this time shifted right to crop the sign out in camera. Oh and this time dial in –1.7 EV

My edit.  Not allot done.

#16

#17 (I like the rim light on the subject walking away)

Street scene. In this SOOC shot you can see the guy just coming in to frame on the right, I missed this as I am a right eye shooter, even though my left eye was open.. that and the 500D does not have 100% VF.

Slight Crop and my own black & white treatment for the edit.

#18

Quite like this crop in my edit. Not possible in camera.

#19

Group shot of Mark, Naomi & Lisa. I said say Cheese . which prompted mark to start to open his coat which would of revealed a Say Cheese T Shirt which is available over at www.newtophoto.com

#20

Last shot of the 120:20 is a portrait of Naomi and her mum Lisa.  I decided to use the barrel zoom technique to create this effect in camera.  If anything the zoom on this is a bit OTT but all good fun.

All in all a good day out shooting, and it made a nice change from shooting in studio or working with models/lights.  I look forward to next years.  As you can see from the images posted from the 120:20 challenge I don't do allot to my images in post beyond adjusting white balance, contrast and sharpening (with the exception of black & white conversions).  I rarely crop unless its needed to make the final envisioned result, I’m a get in in camera shooter.

My take away from this day out and challenge is not only is it fun I can open your eyes to other things by going out and shooting something you don’t normally shoot, those who follow my work online know that I am primarily a portrait photographer and use off camera lighting allot.. but I am aware shooting other subjects can also help improve portrait work by looking at shape, patterns, different compositions and colours all of which you will get by going out and shooting different subject matters. Also its good to break away an get out of your comfort zone.

Thank you Lisa & C3 for a great day out shooting.

Rick

Personal Work - Model Shoot: Pamela

(No1)

The other weekend I had a half day shoot along side Mark Boadey   The model for the shoot was Pamela who was booked for the shoot via Purestorm. We also had Jeni (a friend of Pamela’s) on board as MUA for the shoot. I will add links to her site/purestorm profile once I have it).

Weather on the day was great, sun was beaming down,  However this did make for the kit bags being a little heavier than planned as the bright ambient light along with the images wanted dictated that we take the Lencarta Safari 600ws Pack along, we certainly needed the power.

The shoot started near the entrance of a local park under a cool tree with over hanging branches and leaves (I have no idea what the tree is).

To start with I shot natural light thinking black and white. The reason for thinking black and white in this location was due to colour casts from the green trees and grass, light hitting the trees and grass bounces off but takes on the green colour, its most pronounced when working deep under tree cover or near areas with heavy foliage.

You can see in the first shot the colour cast. It has been reduced a little in post but its definitely still there.  After conversion to black and white I think the image is far stronger. (No 2/3)

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I exposed for the model which meant the background has blown out, just what I wanted. 

Thanks  (Big thanks) to Zack Arias I now always try to compose my portraits with head in a clean spot but as you can imagine with branches coming from all angles its not really possible so I tried to make them part of the composition. (No 4)

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This is not head in a clean spot really, but I have tried to make the branches in the background lead in to the model. 

(No 5) The last shot at this location was a lit environmental portrait , using the Westcott 28” Apollo (love that softbox) and a Canon 430EX.

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My good friend Mark got a great shot of Pamela in this same location. also lit using the Westcott 28” Apollo and speedlite but he also used the Lencarta Safari to fire through the branches/leaves in the background. (Image used with Permission © Mark Boadey) You can check out more of Marks recent work by clicking the image or visiting his site www.markboadey.com

image

The next location was further in to the park near to the hall,  I  planned to use the hall in a shot but the conditions were not right for it (parked cars, sun in the wrong place).

We did however use the area around the hall to get a few frames. Thanks to Jeni for spotting this cool tree, she has a good eye for details in locations.

The following shots were lit using the Lencarta Safari pack on 1/1(full) Power, 28” Beauty Dish up high camera left about 8ft away.  The sun was used as rim light.

I needed the more powerful light on these shots because a speedlite would have no chance of hitting F13 at that distance especially being fired in to a light modifier, in fact I would of needed about 8 (that's £1600) of them and you can’t fire 8 speedlites in to a beauty dish.

(No 6)

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(No 7/8)

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You can see a little lens flare form the sun, this was even with a lens hood.  I don't mind the flare, but if I wanted to stop it I would of just used my hand to cover the lens further.

The next set was a head shot as I noticed its something Pamela does not have in her portfolio yet.  Pretty simple set using the Westcott 28” softbox and Canon 85mm F1.8, I usually use an umbrella for head shots but wanted to try something different.

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(No 9)

You can see from the shape of the  catch light  a softbox was used to light this. In fact you can also see me in the reflection if viewed large enough.

After shooting the head shot above I noticed the sun had move round to our right hand side, and quickly set Pamela in position so the Sun would rim light her, and slightly over exposed the image to emphasise the flare I was getting from using the 85mm lens with no hood.

These are my personal favourites from the shoot. (No10/11/12) For number 11 the right hand image I brought in some fill flash with the 28” Apollo.

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I Really like this frame from this small set. Pamela fell in to this pose/position naturally So I had to shoot it.

I also grabbed a handful of images for the MUA Jeni during the shoot, some BTS shots of her working, love the interaction on this one.

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   Thanks Pamela & Jeni for a great shoot.

Rick

Something from seemingly nothing…

Looking through some images from a recent shoot, I found a rather underexposed grab shot of my Friend and right hand Photo man Mark Boadey whilst he was getting in position to VAL (Voice Activated Light Stand) the light for me.  I was in the process of finding my exposure for the sky (one stop under exposed) before asking the model to move in to place,  spotted this silhouette shot but screwed the exposure up some.

I like this frame for a few reasons, composition, memories from the shoot, its got a cool silhouette of a good friend and the branches and fern point or lead to Mark in the frame. 

The way I shoot is in Camera, by that I mean I try to get it right in camera as much as I can and as a result I can sometimes be too picky/harsh on my selections. With that said it does not all have to be pixel perfect, well exposed,lit, composed all of the time..sometimes there is a more important things to consider.

Now I am normally quite brutal with my image selection process in Light room and delete from disk the files I don't want. But something struck me about this frame.. it was interesting, I like the composition and it reminded me of a good evenings shooting.  It also inspired this blog post so kudos for mistakes!

If you click on the original image you will see a 1200px wide version which will hopefully show enough detail to see its underexposed and as a result a little noisy, even at ISO100 (Yup it happens, so exposure is key for clean files).  You will also see a few bugs/flies/err.. sensor dust spots as well as a small leaf/branch centre top of the frame,  I decided to remove these first because they don’t add anything to the image and also can’t be seen in one of the edits anyway.

Lets take a look at a few versions of this file, first up is the Version I will name Oh The Noise.

This version has been processed in light room to show how much Data/detail was captured in particular in the shadows, yes yes it looks like CRAP but it shows that shooting RAW can help, imagine a good exposure and how much Data you would have to play with compared to JPG.

On that note here are a few edits of the above original file one of which I will have framed or put on canvas.

Second Edit – Colour Silhouette

It had a fair bit of pixel punishment done in Light Room listed below. I have not added figures or values as well frankly they don't matter, you don't have this RAW file to work with.. it’s like those questions you get “Tell me what camera settings for outside and inside?”  Anyway…

• Exposure Boosted
• Clarity Increased
• Strong Contrast Curve, then curve processed on lights and darks
• Vibrancy & Saturation Increased
• Noise Reduction
• Black Levels, Contrast and Brightness Increased
  

Third Edit – High Key Silhouette

Similar post production to the above apart from exposure being pushed further and blacks increased more, also used an adjustment brush to whiten a few small patches.

Fourth Edit – Silhouette B & W

Processing is similar to the colour version but of course converted to black & white, well it would be rude not to include a B&W version.

I need to pick one of these to print and frame and will also name the print, so suggestions in the comments.  The take-away from this post is I hope, that it does not all have to be perfect

Perfect Exposure (no such thing anyway)
Light
Low Noise
Best Lens
Best Camera
Composition

Sometimes its about something far more important than all that crap, its about the memory or moment. Who knows you could end up with something from what seemed like nothing.

Rick

Oh if your wondering what I shot of the model Hazel here ya go,, just a quick edit. Separate blog post for the shoot on its way.

Photographing a good friend…. Steve

Image (Steve..) Taken 07/05/2011 – 1/100sec, F8, ISO 100 – Canon 430EXII 1/2+0.3ev

As I looked outside the first thing I noticed was the Sky, cool dramatic looking clouds other wise know as typical British weekend weather.  I knew I wanted to shoot with it in the background and underexpose it for that really dramatic look, crap I need a model.. no chance! so a quick call to my good friend Steve who by the way is the Farther of my two God sons Zakk and Saul, and is a kick ass guitar player.

Subject arranged I went to check the exposure of the sky (this was at 4pm) F13 and 1/200sec, ISO100, ok I need to wait – not enough flash power for the kind of composition I want with a single Canon 430EX II.

After some waiting (about 1 1/2 hours) I headed over to meet Steve and walk down the road to a local rec/field, now I only had 15 minuets to figure out a location, background that included the sky and how I was going to light it. The trees you can see Silhouetted in the shot caught my interest and we set up about 20ft in front of them.  Its pretty windy so no chance of flying a light modifier with out it being destroyed or taking me with it, so I went with a bare Canon 430EX II speedlite high up on a 13ft stand. After working out my framing I placed Steve framed in the trees to hide Silhouetted houses/chimneys in the background, found my exposure that would underexpose the sky by about 1 stop and light Steve well, grabbed a few frames before packing up and heading home. The above shot is the one I selected, as a result another friend of mine Mike wants a dramatic photograph of him making, no problem Mike I'm looking forward to it.

The take away’s from this are, 1. Don’t have a model (call a friend) 2. Know your gear so you can work quickly. 3.You don’t have to travel far to find a cool location and shot.

Thank you Steve Dude (i always call him that) for your time and friendship.

Rick