Xposure International Photography Festival 2016

Off to Sharjah for the Xposure 2016 International Photography Festival 12-15th October to run some workshops on Product Photography & also about Shooting for Stock.

Looking forward to traveling in that part of the world & sharing some photography tips & techniques.
My Workshops are aimed at beginners & those starting out in the industry or looking to learn a bit more. Workshops run Wed 12th October, Thu 13th October, Fri 14th October, Sat 15th October see website for links & times about the various events & workshops…seems there’s lots to see, do & get involved in.

 

LIFE photographers and support staff….with possibly the biggest lens I’ve ever seen!

The other day I was doing some research & I opened one of my photographic reference books published around 1973 and a loose card fell out with this picture of the LIFE photographers and support staff.
I love this image with them all looking very serious and proud with their cameras , lenses & equipment.
If anyone knows anything more about this image, like the date or place it might have been taken (I guess around 1973?) or who the photographer was, as I would like to credit them.
I’d also like any information about the camera with the ridiculously long lens & the lens it’s self, that is laying on the ground (bottom left). What is the lens mounted on the tripod (right/centre)?  Please get in touch if you know more? I thought the 200-500mm f/2.8 Sigma Lens was huge but that is nothing in comparison with the length of these two!

LIFE photographers 1973

LIFE Photographers Carl Mydans, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ralph Morse, Henry Groskinsky and John Dominis. Photo Lab Chief George Kara, Colour Supervisor Herbert Orth, Balck and White Supervisor Gerald Lowther, Lighting and Camera Technician Albert Schneider.

George Hurrel lighting

George Hurrell is one of my favourite photographers in terms of lighting. His glamour shots of film stars from the 30’s & 40’s was an inspiration for a recent commission for album & press images for Erica Wexler.
For years I’ve had some old 2,000 Watt Tungsten fresnel lights that I’ve used whenever I needed a particular quality of light that only these seem to produce. The ferocity of the beam of light is a dream to shoot with, being able to slightly soften the light yet maintain a streaming ray of light with deep crisp shadows is critical in being able to produce some “classic” style images.

Jyn-San did a great job at bringing the flavour of 40’s make-up with a modern twist. Here’s a couple of the images in B/W though they look equally as good in colour. I think they are going to be use the colour shots on the cover art work.

Rain protection for camera

One of the most useful photographic location accessories is some form of rain and dust protection for the camera. The best solution I have found which cost nothing are the free shower caps that you get from hotels!

Firstly they are free, secondly the elasticated band holds it over the camera and lens when it’s windy, almost a perfect fit for all but the longest lens. I can get two shower caps compacted down into an old 35mm film canister and they have saved my gear on many occasions. If the camera is sitting on a tripod locked down for any period of time it’s great to cover it from the elements and not a big deal if you loose one or if they get trashed… plenty more hotel bathrooms to raid!

Here’s the camera sporting the shower cap solution last week…

DSLR with shower cap

… bearing in mind that the camera in the shot has been outside in gale force winds and rain for two days and the shower cap is looking about as battered as I was. (No…. I wasn’t wearing the other one!)

Freezing fields

2011 got off to a great start with a shoot for Morrisons supermarket on the Isle of Wight. A shoot from dawn to dusk over two days in a cauliflower field. The first day was supposed to be a recce for the “proper” shoot the following day but we soon found the location & I set up the cameras & started to shoot some tests.

Double camera test

The weather was amazing, really cold, fresh and crisp with amazing skies and banks of mist that drifted in and out over the day, but as the sun dropped the temperature plummeted and soon all the gear was cover in an early frost.
Back at the hotel and reviewing the test files it was interesting that the files from the Nikon D3X were more acceptable than the Hasselblad H3D. The Nikon files were far superior when the light dropped, allowing me to push the ISO up & not suffer from the noise that was occurring in the shadow areas from the Hasselblad.

I also used the Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 EG lens which in my opinion is the best wide angle lens I have ever had the pleasure of using, so sharp and clean. The Hasselblad 35mm looked mushy in comparison.
Next morning 5am, and we are back in the field waiting for sunrise. I think the temperature was at least -10 degrees, but with the wind and the  darkness it felt a lot colder. I’d stored my cameras in the large chiller warehouse over night to make sure that they were cold enough to avoid condensation. It made a bit of difference but it didn’t take long before the frost started to build up on the bodies and also on the front of the lens.

Sunrise…. well it got a bit lighter, but that was it. There was no sun. It looked like it was going to be a long grey miserable day. After a couple of hours the cold really started to bite. The art director and account handler were shivering in our “location vehicle” ( a covered tractor trailer parked next to the field) at least we had some protection from the wind and rain showers . It was bitterly cold and I don’t think it got over -10 degrees all day.

Glamorous location trailer

I’d bought a Buffalo Special jacket a few weeks before and it was fantastic. Not too bulky & amazingly warm considering how lightweight it is. Thoroughly recommend it for outdoor shoots.
The batteries on the laptop soon gave up in the cold, I had 3 spares being kept warm with hand warmers but they didn’t last long. The Nikon battery lasted all day.
After 11 hours waiting for even the merest glimpse of sun…. we gave up, it wasn’t going to happen, it was lucky that I’d shot so much the day before and we had the shots in the bag.
I think we were all glad to be back in the warmth of the office the next day.

Experiments in Nikon DSLR Sinar 5×4 Mamiya RZ hybrid camera

Steve Seal & myself have been trying to experiment using a new camera which is a combination of a Sinar F1 5×4 camera with a DSLR Nikon body with Mamiya RZ lenses.

It was after seeing the new DSLR sinar system the p-dslr that got me thinking.

http://www.sinar.ch/de/produkte

I’ve  cut a rear mount plate for the Nikon from  foamex…the printers next door throw masses of off cuts away.I then used a set of coupling rings from an old set of MPP Macro bellows that had a Nikon adapter mount. There was just enough space between the rings to sandwich the foamex. Painted it black to stop any internal flare.

A quick test with the only 5×4  lens I’ve got left a 150mm & it looks ………… interesting? Amazing depth of field & sharpness.

It all looks quite Heath Robinson but considering I  cobbled it together from old camera bits lurking in boxes in the store room it’s not too bad.
So I have a “new”… well different… camera system & it’s cost me nothing but an hour messing about.

To add a bit of glam  we’ll try using an ipad & the on one software as a trigger mechanism & with live view as it’s all a bit wobbly at the moment.
http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=38

1980’s mechanism with 2010 technology…. love it

Next stage was mounting a mamiya RZ lens to see if these added a bit more value to the idea.

I bought an old sinar lens board with copel shutter “0” on ebay. Cut a circular hole in a Mamiya RZ lens cap & then bolted/hot glued the cap to the lens board. The lens can then be mounted & changed as required. If it works then perhaps I might invest in an old RZ body & chop the front off.

An important development was a special device which is  now called the “lens gut cord” to keep the lens stopped down. (Actually a piece of fishing wire wrapped around the lens… it works.)

If it works how I’m hoping then  I’ll post some images.

Any advice welcome!!

Here’s the camera… just got to think of a funky name.