Talk Photography

Day 17 - Manchester Winter Snow 2009

2012-01-04T23:24:00.002Z

Yes we has snow in Manchester a couple of years ago who would believe it, i woke up one Sunday morning to heavy snow, opportunity not to be missed i set off into the city centre. It was peaceful and felt more so with the snow falling.

However this particular image is a recent addition to my portfolio, it has been lost in my digital archives since then. There was a little bit of cropping in this image and a little colour splash! Most people from Manchester should recognize the the street if not, it's Tib Street looking towards Market Street.

Day 16 - Light Meter

2011-12-29T21:51:00.000Z

This shoot was the first time that i used a light meter, i never realised how much time it could save me, and how much easier it was to control the light. Admittedly i did used to take the reading of all the lights together at that time! I would never be without one now.
This shoot was just 2 lights a softbox and beauty dish. I will start sharing drawings of my lighting setups so you can see how i position the lights.

Day 15 - Action

2011-12-28T23:50:00.000Z

So not 50 posts a day as i promised but another picture from the archives. I dug out this old one as it was one of the first studio shoots i did with a friend. The shoot was made easy because she was very comfortable in front of the camera.

This shoot was taken with 4 lights a beauty dish, softbox and 2 background lights. I asked the model to lean forward and then throw her head back. It took a few shots to get it but managed to do one of the more difficult things with strobes which is to catch an action shot and get a sharp image. We all have to start somewhere!

Day 14 - Piccadilly Station

2011-12-21T20:35:00.005Z

I will catch up i promise you, even if it means 50 posts a day! Well actually why not just keep you in suspense???

So a friend of mine put me in touch with the station Manager at Piccadilly Train Station in Manchester regarding my work possibly going up on a vacant wall in the station. Obviously i was very interested why wouldn't i be! I promptly emailed her a sample of my work, that was a few months back. I didn't hear anything for a while and then a couple of weeks ago she called me.

We arranged a meeting and discussed my Manchester Iconic collection and to cut a long story short the outcome of the meeting was that she said she would love to have the images displayed at the station. So yesterday the images went up in the Virgin first class lounge. Finally some of my collection are on display in Manchester where they deserve to be and to be admired by the masses, well at least the first class masses for now!

Day 13 - Project 365

2011-12-21T20:26:00.000Z

It's been a while wow it's nearly Christmas, can't believe i started this in March and am only on day 13! I have been working on a project since April so had very little time to post that's my excuse it's a genuine one i assure you! I am back with you now hopefully more often than once a month.

So what's been going on i hear you say, nothing much until recently. I did a Nail shoot they were all tf models a shoot arranged by the nail artist. The pictures were taken at Hallam Mill in Stockport. A few of the collection are on my website. The one's below didn't make it into the portfolio, but you can se them below. The lighting at the studio wasn't great, i used one Bowens beauty dish with a white diffuser and a large gridded softbox. It was just the same 2 lights on all the pictures well on some of the shots i turned one light off.

Day 12 - Project 365

2011-06-19T21:00:00.001+01:00

I thought it was about time i updated my blog, time is such a precious commodity, something worth appreciating when you have it, especially if you can spend it doing things you love.

Enough of the philosophy and onto my next picture. This shoot was 50's horror inspired with a model that was just perfect for it. It helps when the model is just as passionate about the subject as the photographer. We both decided on the theme and here are a couple of results from that.

The first picture was done by getting the model to stand with her head in front of the frame that was on the wall behind her. Then I simply brought the frame forward in ps.

This image was taken with a piece of leopard print material that the model brought along with her. She lay on the floor whilst i was up on a ladder above her. There were 2 strobe lights used for this image one with a softbox and the other with a beauty dish.

Day 11 - Project 365

2011-05-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

This next shot was taken on the roof of a mill in Manchester, the model was quite comfortable up there. Even though it was extremely windy! The light was a problem, as i only had the flashgun to work with challenging indeed but i was up for it. If i had even a reflector it would have made a big difference but nether the less i was happy with the outcome.

Day 10 - Project 365

2011-05-21T17:11:00.000+01:00

Not strictly a 365 project in terms of days as mentioned before but a 365 of pictures project, i'll post a picture per post and just give a brief description of the picture. I may do more than one post per day though! My aim now is to get to 365 and hopefully share lots more interesting pictures with you.

I've done a few shoots since my last post and this was another location shoot in Manchester lighting was just one strobe, a hairlight and a reflector. I was limited in terms of moving the lights around as the extension cable 30meters of it was not long enough! I think i need to invest in some battery packs!

Day 10 - Project 365

2011-04-25T00:13:00.001+01:00

I will get to 365 by hook or crook! Even though not by day now as i have lost that battle! I will post images when i can, why stop at 365! I'll just keep going and to be honest i think that can only be a good thing for both you and i. You get to see more of my work and i get to share more pictures and thoughts!

The next image was taken in a rehearsal room in Manchester, great professional model i have worked with a couple of times. I used a 50mm for most of the images in this set because the room was quite small not ideal for portrait photography but i varied the perspective to get the best from the lens. This image only has some minor airbrushing, any blemishes removed other than that it's as it was taken.

I will get onto explaining some of my lighting set-ups in future posts.

Day 9 - Project 365

2011-04-25T00:02:00.000+01:00

The following picture was taken of a local Manchester band in an usually baron car park on the edge of town. I framed the shot to try and catch some of the reflection and as i was shooting into the sun i used flash to light up the band. Not much photoshop work on this image, it's had its contrast increased with an added photo filter and desaturated.

Day 8 - Project 365

2011-04-24T23:46:00.000+01:00

Ok i'm going to cheat a little, and post a few days worth of images! I have been working away and with limited internet access and unable to upload any images, i'm back now and ready to share some more images for you! Sorry if you have been following progress! I have been doing more fashion shoots lately so maybe one of those can be the first that i share! A couple of the images from this set made into my portfolio, the ones shared here though are ones that didn't quite make it but well worth sharing.

This one was taken in a city centre mill in Manchester, a great location for an urban shoot. Manchester is a great playground with endless locations to shoot!

Day 7 - Project 365

2011-04-05T12:10:00.003+01:00

Technically this is not day 7, i have no excuse other than i have been poorly busy and... ok i'll stop there you get the idea!

Actually i did my first location shoot on Sunday, well i have done location shoots many times but never set up with the proper lighting. It couldn't have gone better the venue was great and the model was fantastic to work with, you will be able to see the pictures on my website gallery soon, well a couple of them. Or maybe if you come back in a couple of days i'll post the pictures of the full shoot right here, well on this blog!

So what do i have in store for you today? Vodka with ice anyone? Well it's a splash picture the newest addition to my portfolio. It sort of looks out of place on my portfolio as all the other pictures are either urban city or people shots, i'll get some feedback before i decide its fate.

This shot was taken in the studio in the dark with a black background and strobe lighting, the camera was set up with a remote shutter release. I simply dropped the ice into the glass (even though i couldn't see anything) and pressed the shutter release after the ice hit the vodka. Sounds simple enough but because of the flash sync it's difficult to freeze the action completely, a flash gun probably would have been better than strobes and i would have been able to see what i was doing!

The post processing of this picture was the same image duplicated with a splash of colour added to the ice and then 2 of the images had the colour inverted, great on canvas on a kitchen wall, or done in glass if you prefer, with a little personalised message!

Ok unable to load the image at this time will add it later or you really want to see it you can view it at www.everythingmanchester.co.uk/gallery.html

Day 6 - Project 365

2011-04-01T10:01:00.000+01:00

Ok so i'm a day behind, i had a php nightmare last night! I decided to do some more work on my website, wish i had never started! It was all good in the end though, my perseverance definitely paid off! Frustrating thing is what took me 3 hours would have taken a programmer only 3mins, i'm guessing!

So here is the Day 6 image this was taken outside Oxford road Cinema next to the Cornerhouse and Oxford road Train Station. This was the oddest thing i have seen in the city, even though when taking the picture i didn't actually spot what was going on.

So here is the story, I'm on my way to a gallery with my son and we stop so i can take a picture, I'm waiting for people to finish crossing the road and see everyone trying to avoid this man stood by the traffic lights in the middle of the road, one women had to run to get away from him.

So i think nothing of it as I'm quite a distance away on the opposite side of Oxford road. Once the people and cars were out of the shot i compose and shoot, just one shot.

On processing the image i notice that the man is sat on the traffic light island in the middle of the road pointing what looks likes some homemade weapon, a tube with what looks like a an arrow about to be fired out, also there was an aerosol canister on the floor next to him.

It just so happened that the film that was showing at the cinema was the killer inside me! All very odd indeed.

So the way i processed this image is, i used the traffic light in the middle of the picture as a natural dividing point. I made the image black and white and added a red photo filter over the crazy guy on the first half of the image. I then exposed some of the colour in the image. It was all done to make it very dramatic and i think it works, especially if you see the picture in a larger format.

Day 5 - Project 365

2011-03-30T23:31:00.000+01:00

Made it to day 5, not much interesting happening today! Recovering from a cold and bad sinuses. Trying to arrange a photoshoot for Sunday, need to start doing more location shoots so looks like the studio will be redundant for a while!

So onto my next picture which takes a while to work out, some people just overlook it and others think that it's been photo-shopped, but there is no post-editing work on this image what so ever. It was some advertising covering up a building site at Spinningfields in Manchester in about 2009 if you look through the advertising you can see the building site. Towards the bottom of the picture you can see the stitching where 2 sheets of the advertising meet. I did have a wider angle shot too but i prefer this one!

Day 4 - Project 365

2011-03-29T22:27:00.000+01:00

Ok some bugs fixed on the website, got some good feedback from the Talk Photography Forum website on the aesthetics so looks like i might get an early night for once! : )

Before reading on look at the image and think of what you see, not literally but does it provoke any thought!

Ok thoughts over, the next shot is of some urban wall art otherwise known as graffiti, well some call it art. Whilst my son was playing with his cousin (in the park) i was doing handstands and some self portraits using the graffiti as my backdrop which was in some old converted outbuilding.

The idea was to provoke some thought about why the ball was there, where was this taken, who or if anyone is in the wider shot. Whether it achieved that or not only you will know! The wall itself was interesting but needed a subject to bring it to life. You can see the picture of me against the same wall in my website gallery, but this was the first one taken.

So until tomorrow!

Day 3 - Project 365

2011-03-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

Had a nightmare with my new website it wouldn't work with Windows IE what a surprise! I only found out when i tried the site at work today. So just spent the last 5 hours re doing some of the code hopefully when i test it this time the pain will be much less! Either that or i decide to limit my market to Firefox.

Anyway i digress this next image was taken in Cuba, Nov last year. The picture is of some random guy pulling along some chicks packed in crates down the middle of the main high street, and there's me chasing him to get a shot and the locals looking at me like I'm the crazy one!

About an hour later whilst looking for something to eat i bumped into the man again this time he was at the counter of a food outlet with the chicks out on top and all the staff handling them! Looks like they were destined for the kitchen! Oh and there were no wheels on the crate either he was just pulling the thing along the floor. Poor chicks :(

I can't guarantee that no chicks were harmed!

Day 2 - Project 365

2011-03-27T22:23:00.000+01:00

Wow only day 2! I've been so busy today never thought i would get round to it. A huge contrast to my last image this was taken during Zombie Aid in Manchester in about 2009 i think! A Zombie walk through City Centre Manchester held for charity some people took it quite seriously, as you can see! I had my face painted as well just so i didn't look too out of place. The walk took people from the Printworks through the Arndale centre and then back to the Printworks.

I have no idea what will be next as there is no method to what gets uploaded. I will try and do one each day if i miss a day then i will upload two the following day, you catch the drift!

Day 1 - Project 365

2011-03-26T11:17:00.000Z

Ok so here is my first picture and this trip to New York is what really got me into photography. This Picture was taken in New York in 1998 from the Empire State building! (like sooo many before and after) It was taken using a film camera so with it being scanned you're not seeing it in it's best quality! However this image was blown up very big and spent many years on my living room wall.

This image has not been modified it was taken using black and white film. Other than the twin towers if you look to the far right you can just make out the Statue of Liberty.

Add caption

Project 365

2011-03-26T10:53:00.000Z

I have decided to do a 365 photography project with a difference. For those of you that aren't familiar with a 365 project it's where you would take a picture each day for a whole year with the ultimate goal of seeing your photography and your eye improve. I have never lasted a full 365 project 13 days is the most i mustered, funnily enough i called it the 13 project!

So onto this 365 project the idea behind it is to show of some of the thousands of pictures that i have taken over the years. On my website only the cream of my pictures make my portfolio but they are what i have decided are the best, and with my portfolio being dynamic and changing all the time a lot of my images have been lost in storage.

Hopefully this blog will bring them back to life for you all to enjoy! I will also explain each picture, where and when it was taken. The only thing i need to decide now is do i start with the oldest to newest or just randomize!!! I suppose if i date them it doesn't matter, ok randomize it is!