I also tried out processing some of the shots in monochrome, more out of interest than anything else and here's how they turned out.
Showing posts with label weightlifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weightlifting. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Deadlifts
Was invited to shoot a deadlift competition in Ayslum Gym in Newtownards at the weekend. Nice bunch of lads and a great atmosphere - challenging but supportive with some people lifting personal bests. Having never shot weightlifting before, this was a challenge. I used a three-light set-up with two lights set behind the lifters on either side in an attempt to make them "pop" from the back ground. The third light was an on-camera SB-700 set as master for the other lights and to provide fill-in light on the faces. The full colour set can be seen here:
I also tried out processing some of the shots in monochrome, more out of interest than anything else and here's how they turned out.
I also tried out processing some of the shots in monochrome, more out of interest than anything else and here's how they turned out.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
2013 365-4
Winter still here. Flag protests still here. Thought one might cancel the other out but I was wrong.
Snow fails to affect the flag protests. Protesters and snow managed to bring Belfast to near total gridlock this evening. Glad I got home a wee bit earlier today and was sitting with feet up and a cuppa in my hands while chaos ensued outside.
I'd been thinking about doing something in Belmont Park with the three carved wooden statues, one of which is now on it's side. Thought I'd give the wire wool a bash and since there was still snow on the ground, I knew I wasn't going to set anything on fire. It was an eventful evening. As I was setting up, four people arrived in the dark with torches and started sprinting up and down the hill just to the right of where this shot was taken. After a brief chat which went along the lines of "are we going to be in your way mate?" - "No, but I'm about to set fire to stuff" I started shooting. Four burns into my evening's fun, I found myself surrounded by a bright light. Turned out it wasn't the rapture, but a police helicopter with a very bright searchlight. Seems burning wire wool in east Belfast while flag protests are happening about a mile away isn't that good an idea. I waved and shone my torch on the camera and tripod. God knows what they made of that.
My favourite little model again. Went to walk the dog and grabbed the camera bag on the way out the door. I ended up armed with my camera, a 10-24mm lens and a flashgun. Not the best lens for portrait stuff but it gave me an excuse to try using some fill-in flash while also trying to use the lovely winter afternoon sky as a backdrop.
Finally, after a few aborted efforts, I made it to the Queens Films Theatre to see McCullin, the documentary about Don McCullin (no surprise there then). McCullin's photos made a real impact on he in my early-mid teens and were one of the biggest reasons why I picked up a camera, film in those days, and started trying to learn photography. My admiration for Don McCullin's photography has never waned although after reading his autobiography I was left with the impression of a very cold, unemotional and damaged man. This film changed my mind about this and left me quite awestruck at the man's humanity and compassion. He was the most reckless, impulsive and irresponsible of photographers; I've still not figured this out completely but guess a lot of it came from his upbringing in a fairly tough part of London and the gangs he ran with as a teenager. Even his first shots of these gangs were masterful in their composition. I realise this could turn into an essay - that's a shot of my cinema ticket, a postcard courtesy of the QFT and the two photos featured in the film that left the biggest impact on me - both taken in Biafra and on adjoining pages of one of my books of McCullin's photographs.
Mentioned on Facebook that I was having a dearth of ideas for the wee men. A suggestion flooded in. Get them doing a photoshoot. How I made the leap from "photoshoot" to "photoshoot involving woman removing her knickers" is anyone's guess. Suppose I'll have to bring that up with my therapist.
All day photoshoot at Asylum Gym in Newtownards today for a deadlift party organised by Dave (see last week's post). Great bunch of guys and a very competitive but supportive atmosphere with guys lifting personal bests. Picked this shot because of the effort in the face and the amount of bend on the bar - I couldn't do too many reps with just the bar, never mind with a bunch of weights on it. I'm slowly morphing into a photographer of obscure sports. And I'm enjoying it.
21/01/13
Snow fails to affect the flag protests. Protesters and snow managed to bring Belfast to near total gridlock this evening. Glad I got home a wee bit earlier today and was sitting with feet up and a cuppa in my hands while chaos ensued outside.
22/01/13
I'd been thinking about doing something in Belmont Park with the three carved wooden statues, one of which is now on it's side. Thought I'd give the wire wool a bash and since there was still snow on the ground, I knew I wasn't going to set anything on fire. It was an eventful evening. As I was setting up, four people arrived in the dark with torches and started sprinting up and down the hill just to the right of where this shot was taken. After a brief chat which went along the lines of "are we going to be in your way mate?" - "No, but I'm about to set fire to stuff" I started shooting. Four burns into my evening's fun, I found myself surrounded by a bright light. Turned out it wasn't the rapture, but a police helicopter with a very bright searchlight. Seems burning wire wool in east Belfast while flag protests are happening about a mile away isn't that good an idea. I waved and shone my torch on the camera and tripod. God knows what they made of that.
23/01/13
My favourite little model again. Went to walk the dog and grabbed the camera bag on the way out the door. I ended up armed with my camera, a 10-24mm lens and a flashgun. Not the best lens for portrait stuff but it gave me an excuse to try using some fill-in flash while also trying to use the lovely winter afternoon sky as a backdrop.
24/01/13
Finally, after a few aborted efforts, I made it to the Queens Films Theatre to see McCullin, the documentary about Don McCullin (no surprise there then). McCullin's photos made a real impact on he in my early-mid teens and were one of the biggest reasons why I picked up a camera, film in those days, and started trying to learn photography. My admiration for Don McCullin's photography has never waned although after reading his autobiography I was left with the impression of a very cold, unemotional and damaged man. This film changed my mind about this and left me quite awestruck at the man's humanity and compassion. He was the most reckless, impulsive and irresponsible of photographers; I've still not figured this out completely but guess a lot of it came from his upbringing in a fairly tough part of London and the gangs he ran with as a teenager. Even his first shots of these gangs were masterful in their composition. I realise this could turn into an essay - that's a shot of my cinema ticket, a postcard courtesy of the QFT and the two photos featured in the film that left the biggest impact on me - both taken in Biafra and on adjoining pages of one of my books of McCullin's photographs.
25/01/13
"They were madly in love but friends knew that it would end in tears"
Those are shallots, not onions, in case you were getting worked up.
26/01/13
Mentioned on Facebook that I was having a dearth of ideas for the wee men. A suggestion flooded in. Get them doing a photoshoot. How I made the leap from "photoshoot" to "photoshoot involving woman removing her knickers" is anyone's guess. Suppose I'll have to bring that up with my therapist.
27/01/13
All day photoshoot at Asylum Gym in Newtownards today for a deadlift party organised by Dave (see last week's post). Great bunch of guys and a very competitive but supportive atmosphere with guys lifting personal bests. Picked this shot because of the effort in the face and the amount of bend on the bar - I couldn't do too many reps with just the bar, never mind with a bunch of weights on it. I'm slowly morphing into a photographer of obscure sports. And I'm enjoying it.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
2013 365-3
Welcome to week three of 2013. I have had an eye infection for most of this week and while it hasn't stopped me taking photos, it's made working on a computer a less pleasant experience than normal.
This is a rather excellent chap called Dave. Dave approached me about doing the photos for a powerlifting competition that he is organising at the end of the month. Naturally I jumped at the chance, in the suspicion that it would provide massive amounts of photo opportunities. Tonight I visited the gym to check out the set-up and lighting and took a few snaps. Hard to decide whether to use ambient light or the speedlights. This was a quick portrait of Dave, which unfortunately gathered some very unflattering comments on-line. Wrong choice of lighting for this shot completely, even if I'd fooled myself into thinking I knew what I was doing.
This was titled "Missing flag found safe and sound - Belfast rejoices." I wish. Protests continue, violence is ongoing and everything now seems to be planned in advance. At times like these a bit of humour goes a long way, if you can find the humour of course. Maybe there isn't actually any in this current situation.
The biggest moral dilemma a photographer can ever face. You're in the middle of a riot (or peaceful street protest to defend your cultural heritage) and you come across a car being burned out. What do you do - shoot on aperture priority or shutter priority? It's an old and well worn joke in photography circles, but worth another outing.
So the snow arrived this afternoon and it was certainly cold. Fairly heavy snow all evening, although in Belfast it wasn't lying that much. In the hills outside Belfast I heard some stories about cars being stuck and snow drifts. By the following morning, it was all but gone but I got one quick snap outside in the front garden while it was still falling.
Just in case you ever wondered where soup mix comes from - it's mined by teams of wee men. It must be some built-in instinct on my part, but as soon as the weather gets really wintry, I make soup and in particular, I make the same vegetable soup that my grandmother and mother made. Quick, easy, tasty - there's half of it in the fridge to be eaten over the weekend and the other half is in the freezer for use later this week.
I was crawling around on the floor this morning with my camera (don't ask why) when my dog Muffin decided to join me. This was a quick point, click and hope for the best shot, and it turned out pretty well all things considered.
14/01/13
This is a rather excellent chap called Dave. Dave approached me about doing the photos for a powerlifting competition that he is organising at the end of the month. Naturally I jumped at the chance, in the suspicion that it would provide massive amounts of photo opportunities. Tonight I visited the gym to check out the set-up and lighting and took a few snaps. Hard to decide whether to use ambient light or the speedlights. This was a quick portrait of Dave, which unfortunately gathered some very unflattering comments on-line. Wrong choice of lighting for this shot completely, even if I'd fooled myself into thinking I knew what I was doing.
15/01/13
This was titled "Missing flag found safe and sound - Belfast rejoices." I wish. Protests continue, violence is ongoing and everything now seems to be planned in advance. At times like these a bit of humour goes a long way, if you can find the humour of course. Maybe there isn't actually any in this current situation.
16/01/13
Yet another report in the newspapers this week about a photographer being robbed of his cameras and gear while covering the current street protests - by my count that makes three since this this started. It's hard to tell if this was a couple of opportunist scumbags spotting some expensive looking gear and deciding to take advantage of the situation, or whether it was something more sinister and connected to people not wanting photographs of the disturbances to make it into print on on-line. The "little scumbags" theory is maybe more likely, but who in the name of hell are they going to flog pro-level photo gear to? Don't see them trying to teach themselves the basics of photojournalism with their ill-gotten gains.
17/01/13
The biggest moral dilemma a photographer can ever face. You're in the middle of a riot (or peaceful street protest to defend your cultural heritage) and you come across a car being burned out. What do you do - shoot on aperture priority or shutter priority? It's an old and well worn joke in photography circles, but worth another outing.
18/01/13
So the snow arrived this afternoon and it was certainly cold. Fairly heavy snow all evening, although in Belfast it wasn't lying that much. In the hills outside Belfast I heard some stories about cars being stuck and snow drifts. By the following morning, it was all but gone but I got one quick snap outside in the front garden while it was still falling.
19/01/13
Just in case you ever wondered where soup mix comes from - it's mined by teams of wee men. It must be some built-in instinct on my part, but as soon as the weather gets really wintry, I make soup and in particular, I make the same vegetable soup that my grandmother and mother made. Quick, easy, tasty - there's half of it in the fridge to be eaten over the weekend and the other half is in the freezer for use later this week.
20/01/13
I was crawling around on the floor this morning with my camera (don't ask why) when my dog Muffin decided to join me. This was a quick point, click and hope for the best shot, and it turned out pretty well all things considered.
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