If you're seeing this, thanks for stopping by. I'm in the process of setting up my own dedicated website which you can find here:
www.2ndshooterphotos.com
It's a work in progress but I'm slowly adding stuff and getting some galleries up and running.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Back to Buts
It's been a while since I shot any concert stuff but had the chance to shoot three bands at Belfast's Limelight 2 on Saturday. I packed a massive camera bag, instead of just relying on the 24-70 in a small venue. And guess what? The 24-70 didn't get a look in. My new favourite lenses for concerts have got to be the nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 and the nikkor 10-24mm f2.8. These two, along with my trusty 50mm f1.8 seem to give the best coverage.
These two are of local Belfast band The Organ Grinders. Top one is shot with the 70-200mm and bottom one is shot with the 10-24mm
Same again for band number 2, A Little Bitter. Top shot with the 70-200mm and bottom with the 10-24mm
Anyhow, I'm not ready to retire the 24-70mm just yet as it's still the best general purpose lens I own. It ain't getting a look in for concerts or roller derby but it does most of the heavy lifting at the wrestling bouts.
These two are of local Belfast band The Organ Grinders. Top one is shot with the 70-200mm and bottom one is shot with the 10-24mm
Same again for band number 2, A Little Bitter. Top shot with the 70-200mm and bottom with the 10-24mm
Anyhow, I'm not ready to retire the 24-70mm just yet as it's still the best general purpose lens I own. It ain't getting a look in for concerts or roller derby but it does most of the heavy lifting at the wrestling bouts.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Monday, 17 February 2014
Wee Men
Wee Nun Tries Dating (single shot)
I have neglected my blog for way too long and as a way back into it again, I thought I'd try to put together a post about how (and maybe why) I shoot "wee men." In Irish and Scots slang, "wee" simply means little or small. I got into the Wee Men through the fantastic work of Slinkachu; if you haven't checked out his work, you should really do so.
Gear
I shoot with my Nikon D800. I like the resolution on this beast and it seems to do pretty well with macro photography. That said, any DSLR that you can stick a macro lens on will do the job for you.
I use a Nikkor 60mm f2.8 lens, mainly because it is the only macro lens I own - macro means it will have a much closer minimum focusing distance that most lenses which lets you get in close to small subjects.
A tripod
A remote or cable release ( nothing fancy needed - my third party cable release cost £10 from amazon)
Some wee men - you can buy these from Amazon (search for model railway figures) or from sites like Priesar or Gaugemaster in the UK. I find HO gauge works best but there are other sizes/gauges available.
Agave syrup. This is invaluable for getting little figures to stand upright and washes right off afterwards. I tend to dip my wee men's feet in it when needed.
Setting Up
I do some table-top shots and some outside in various locations such as streets, parks, the garden etc.
The key to really good wee men shots is to have a narrative in the shot - a story; something that says something or means something. Not having a narrative will still produce decent shots but they will lack either the impact or interest of shots that tell a story.
How To Shoot Flag Protests (single shot)
My advice would be to have an idea for the narrative before you start to shoot.
Forensic Investigation (single shot)
Shooting
Set up your scene, focus on the central figure(s) and away you go. With macro lenses you get very shallow depth of field so take account of this, or shoot for focus stacking later in post processing.
Focus stacking is what I prefer. This means using one single focus point and taking a number of shots with the focus point set on different parts of the scene.
Choppers (6 shots, focus stacked)
Post Processing
For single shots, there's very little that I do other than cropping and boosting the colour saturation and perhaps adding a slight vignette, all done in Lightroom 5
For focus stacked shots, the process looks like this:
- Import RAW files into LR5 and crop, adjust etc one shot as needed then sync across all shots
- Export files as either tiff or jpeg
- Open Photoshop (CS5, CS6 or CC)
- Go to File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack
- Use the browse window that pops up to select all of your stacked tiff/jpegs and open them
- Once all the files have loaded, select them all by control/clicking each one in turn
- Go to Edit > Auto Align Layers and select "auto"
- Wait for photoshop to align the layers then Edit > Auto Blend Layers and choose "stack images"
Vatican Makes Surprise U-Turn (12 shots, focus stacked)
Once this has finished, flatten your image
I would make any final adjustments at this stage then sharpen the image by adding a new layer, selecting the high pass filter and setting it to a value of around 10-11 and then using "overlay" as the blend mode.
Flatten the image again, and Bob is (as they say) your uncle.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
2013 365 33
Zoot alors! It's week 33. A lot of this week involved getting ready to travel to Swansea for my first ever roller derby tournament. About a dozen bouts to shoot in two days, so a lot of prepwork involved.
The death by accidental misadventure of my 70-200mm lens during the week has also added to my sense of panic but a relatively inexpensive (2nd hand) replacement is on its way as I type. Hopefully it gets here on time.
I'm still getting a lot of fun from my 8mm fisheye lens. I took this on a visit to the Ulster Museum today and really like it and some of the other shots I got. OK, so it's HDR'd to within an inch of it's life but so what?
Very small and select secret gig this evening for Belfast punk/oi band Runnin' Riot. Got the chance to hear some of their new stuff ahead of their forthcoming CD launch. There's a chance some of my shots will make it onto the CD cover. In short, it was a blast.
Had my first visit to Castle Espie just outside Comber this week, a haven for a huge variety of birds. I don't do wildlife, but managed to get a couple of half-decent shots. This has to be a day of note as it was the last shots taken with my Tamron 70-200mm lens before it bit the dust big time. Adios my old amigo, you will be missed.
Old shot that I've done before, but not with a fisheye lens. It gave me several other ideas for shots involving a fridge that I naturally didn't get around to.
Had been on the lookout for a set of these blocks to use in the pregnancy/bump project I've been working on for the last few months. It's nearing the end, but we have a few set up shots we'd like to get and spelling out words with these blocks was one of them. Again, the temptation was too much for me. Sorry.
Mods vs Rockers fair and festival today? Sounds like a great idea and an opportunity to get some great shots. How wrong was I? It was dull, there was nothing worth seeing and this was the only shot I came away with. Lesson learned.
Full on zombie shoot with the ladies of Belfast Roller Derby this evening. I had three ideas for shots, two of which worked and one of which I was disappointed with. This was one of the ones that I felt worked very well, although it took a bit of fiddling to get the lighting right. I ended up with two remote flashguns balanced on my stomach and dialled down to 1/32 power to get it just about right. Using the fisheye again, and it also worked really well for another shot - but you'll need to check in next week to see it.
The death by accidental misadventure of my 70-200mm lens during the week has also added to my sense of panic but a relatively inexpensive (2nd hand) replacement is on its way as I type. Hopefully it gets here on time.
12/08/13
I'm still getting a lot of fun from my 8mm fisheye lens. I took this on a visit to the Ulster Museum today and really like it and some of the other shots I got. OK, so it's HDR'd to within an inch of it's life but so what?
13/08/13
Very small and select secret gig this evening for Belfast punk/oi band Runnin' Riot. Got the chance to hear some of their new stuff ahead of their forthcoming CD launch. There's a chance some of my shots will make it onto the CD cover. In short, it was a blast.
14/08/13
Had my first visit to Castle Espie just outside Comber this week, a haven for a huge variety of birds. I don't do wildlife, but managed to get a couple of half-decent shots. This has to be a day of note as it was the last shots taken with my Tamron 70-200mm lens before it bit the dust big time. Adios my old amigo, you will be missed.
15/08/13
Old shot that I've done before, but not with a fisheye lens. It gave me several other ideas for shots involving a fridge that I naturally didn't get around to.
16/08/13
Had been on the lookout for a set of these blocks to use in the pregnancy/bump project I've been working on for the last few months. It's nearing the end, but we have a few set up shots we'd like to get and spelling out words with these blocks was one of them. Again, the temptation was too much for me. Sorry.
17/08/23
Mods vs Rockers fair and festival today? Sounds like a great idea and an opportunity to get some great shots. How wrong was I? It was dull, there was nothing worth seeing and this was the only shot I came away with. Lesson learned.
18/08/13
Full on zombie shoot with the ladies of Belfast Roller Derby this evening. I had three ideas for shots, two of which worked and one of which I was disappointed with. This was one of the ones that I felt worked very well, although it took a bit of fiddling to get the lighting right. I ended up with two remote flashguns balanced on my stomach and dialled down to 1/32 power to get it just about right. Using the fisheye again, and it also worked really well for another shot - but you'll need to check in next week to see it.
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Runnin Riot Preview Show
I had the real and honest pleasure of being invited along to the Daring Rehearsal Studios in Belfast to hear Belfast punk band Runnin Riot preview tracks from the forthcoming CD release. A cracking, straight ahead, pedal to the metal four piece that never disappoint. Lots of Oi, some ska and a healthy serving of Buckie make it an evening to remember.
Sunday, 11 August 2013
2013 365 - 32
Things are picking up a little after the past few weeks and a little (very little) mojo seems to be returning. A couple of kicks in the teeth this week; couldn't take up an offer to go to a music festival (sick child) and another roller derby promo shoot was cancelled at late notice. However, I plugged away and the wee men were out this week as well as a lot more shooting with the fisheye.
Absolutely loved this shot from last night's wrestling in Antrim. All the elements I've been trying to catch came together at the right time. For the first time I was able to use a three light set-up for the wrestling thanks to the balcony' two speedlights on the balcony to cross-light the ring and one on the camera for fill. That's one going off behind Eamon as he launches himself off the corner post.
I'd promised myself that the wee men would get an airing this week and took them out to the garden and greenhouse. Here they are harvesting the shallots.
This is such a simple shot. It's a weed growing in the middle of the back garden. 60mm macro lens and the whole backdrop blurs into green.
The wee men again. It is sad to note that it is now Augusts and my tomatoes are still green. A couple are threatening to ripen but it's pretty much wall-to-wall green tomatoes in the greenhouse.
Donaghadee lighthouse, shot with the 8mm fisheye and given some faux-hdr processing to bring up the sky.
A bit of fun with the fisheye as well. Can you tell that I'm loving this lens? Depth of field is amazing and the distortion can work very well as a creative tool.
Yep, more fisheye fun, this time at the top of Victoria Square in Belfast. Went there to try some shots of the roof of the viewing gallery and then accidentally put my hand in a shot (not hard to do with a lens with a 180 degree angle of view) and had an idea to try this.
5/08/13
Absolutely loved this shot from last night's wrestling in Antrim. All the elements I've been trying to catch came together at the right time. For the first time I was able to use a three light set-up for the wrestling thanks to the balcony' two speedlights on the balcony to cross-light the ring and one on the camera for fill. That's one going off behind Eamon as he launches himself off the corner post.
6/08/13
I'd promised myself that the wee men would get an airing this week and took them out to the garden and greenhouse. Here they are harvesting the shallots.
7/08/13
This is such a simple shot. It's a weed growing in the middle of the back garden. 60mm macro lens and the whole backdrop blurs into green.
8/08/13
The wee men again. It is sad to note that it is now Augusts and my tomatoes are still green. A couple are threatening to ripen but it's pretty much wall-to-wall green tomatoes in the greenhouse.
9/08/13
Donaghadee lighthouse, shot with the 8mm fisheye and given some faux-hdr processing to bring up the sky.
10/08/13
A bit of fun with the fisheye as well. Can you tell that I'm loving this lens? Depth of field is amazing and the distortion can work very well as a creative tool.
11/08/13
Yep, more fisheye fun, this time at the top of Victoria Square in Belfast. Went there to try some shots of the roof of the viewing gallery and then accidentally put my hand in a shot (not hard to do with a lens with a 180 degree angle of view) and had an idea to try this.
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