Pin Up and Hot Rods

Posted by Paul

A number of things have all conspired, yes conspired – not inspired, me to attempt this shoot.
There has been lots of talk about how we should, as photographers or other creatives, adapt with the times and embrace new technologies. To an extent, I would agree, but we as a society risk loosing so much of our heritage in the blind pursuit of modernism. If we look around us at the the landscape and it’s architecture we see castle’s and manor houses that are hundreds of years old but are still functional and impressive. Admit it, all of us at one time have wanted to live in a castle! Compare this to the buildings of the last century, these were build to meet a need, often quickly built and embracing new technologies (mmm concrete – so sexy…) Which one of these designs has lasted better I ask you?

Now look at our transport systems…which looks better steam or electric trains? Which would you rather travel on – now be realistic, if you are on a commute to work it is going to be the electric train. However this doesn’t mean we should discard the old technology but we accept that each has it place.
With shooting pictures there is a huge fight to have the latest, fastest, biggest mega-pixel camera we can, People sell kidneys and distant relatives to always keep up with the latest trend. We now have camera’s that can take pictures in almost pitch darkness and boast sensors of 18 or more mega pixels that can record a gazillion colours (shame our eyes cannot isn’t it?).

Look back through pictures that have defined history for us, they are shot on 35mm camera’s or the bulkier Medium Format or even Large Format field camera’s. Am I advocating that we all step back to this technology? Not at all, but we should perhaps look at the images we create. So we can now create an image the size of a small house with eye watering sharpness and a veritable rainbow of colours, the question is do we need to? Surely we need to consider the QUALITY of the image we create, not it’s technical quality but its aesthetic qualities, does it work as an image? will people see it and understand what you are trying to achieve?

oooh La La
Pin up Model, kit car

So when I shoot the pin up shoot I will be using a vintage car, I may shoot some of it on film, I will shoot most of it using the Canon 5d2 as it allows me to instantly see what I am doing and also is more cost effective. I will be lighting it using modern flashes / strobes. Do I want a technically perfect image from it? Not really, I want the viewer to look at it and think nice car, gorgeous model – rather than them remarking on the wide gamut of images, the fact you can zoom in and see the eye lashes on my model……..it’s not about the finer details it is about the whole image. It is a reminder of the 1950’s as they never were…..yes I am creating a fantasy but I also want to create a reality that almost was…..

Behind the scenes of a Band Shoot

Posted by Paul

I was recently invited along to a band shoot for a local band called the Guttercats. They were having promotional pictures shot for an upcoming EP and had asked Andy McGeechan to shoot it for them. It has been a fair time since I shot any promotional material for bands, think the last time (excluding gigs) was for The Satin Dolls.
The shoot was organised at Fargo Village which is situated in Far Gosford Street Coventry, a world away from the image of a wild western town. Fargo Village is part of a large redevelopment and revitalising what was a run down area of Coventry. It has for years been an area that is home to students and migrant workers and has quite a transient diversity. The development differs from so many in the past in that it does not seek to eradicate what was there and start with a new look, rather it seeks to return the area to a glory it once new. Old buildings rather than being revamped are being sympathetically restored, hidden timbers are now on show and large airy windows replace the thick steel mesh that held out vandals. There is definitely a community feel returning to the area with a new found pride.

Medium Format

Posted by Paul

When I was younger and playing with different types of camera’s there was a huge range of formats to play with for the general user. We had the tiny pocket sized 110mm cameras, we had the 127 film sized which were almost camera sized and we had a huge range of 35mm cameras, from simple point and shoot to ones that were either fully automatic or fully manual.

I think the first camera that I ever owned was purchased on a family holiday to Butlins. It was a black plastic camera and the shutter was fired by a little metal lever at the front. There was no focus, no metering and it was all mechanical. It was back in the days when you would put them film cartridge into one of those envelopes they had in every magazine for Bonus Print or Supa Snaps and a week later they would return the prints and another film cartridge for you to use.

If you were extremely impatient then you could pop to the local chemists and if you were lucky they would develop and print for you either over night or while you waited, Either way it was quite expensive.

The first real camera that I ever purchased for myself was a Canon EOS 35mm camera, it was quite a basic model but served me for a good few years. You could set the shutter speed and it would automatically meter and set the aperture for you. Although the fastest lens I had at the time was a f4.5 to 5.6 zoom! However that aside it did  what a camera should do and took pretty decent images. Not sure why I chose Canon as my dad shot using a variety of 30mm camera’s, a number of Russian made range-finders Zenit and the like, and latterly a Minolta which he only finally sold a few years ago. He has now developed a love of 3D imaging and is looking to return to film as he has found the limits of the Fuji FinePix 3D digital camera.

For a number of years I neglected picture taking and then bought myself a point and shoot digital camera and rekindled the love of taking pictures. At the time digital was very new and exciting and I saved up and purchased the Canon 300D digital camera…perhaps the worlds first affordable SLR camera. Although at just short of a grand I am not sure how accurate that saying was!!

From there I leapt to the Canon 1D2N which is an incredible camera (even today), each year at Focus on Imaging I would wander along to the Hasselblad stand and look at the camera’s there and drool over the medium format bodies there. Medium Format had always lived in the realm of the working professional rather than dedicated hobbyist and with digital backs starting at around £15k even then. It was never going to happen. Although the recent price drop by Hasselblad will allow you to enter into the range at less than £10k.

Recently I got access to an old Yashica Medium Format TLR camera to use as a prop in some images and there was something magical about the feel and weight of such a robust camera. The shutter was broken on this one but was a relatively easy fix but the cost outweighed the value and so as a prop it remained – but who knows one day?

However the seed was planted and I then acquired a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. This according to some is the ultimate studio camera (or was in the days of film). It is built like a small battleship and weighs about the same. The lens are pretty much all prime for this camera and with no metering and manual focus the studio or perhaps landscape are it’s playgrounds. You are not going to be shooting action with this. However get caught in a riot with this and you are going to have a very effective club!

There is something very retro about peering down into a huge bright waist level viewfinder and hearing the resounding clunk as you fire the trigger. However with only 10 images per roll it is not the cheapest and developing costs in this country are somewhat prohibitive if you want the images scanned. However after watching Framed Network I contacted Richard Photo Lab in America who will develop and scan for a very reasonable price.

I am looking forward to seeing the results of scanned images as thus far have only used some polaroid through it which was not the sharpest image (not that it was ever supposed to be) and one roll that I had developed by Jessops. I wasn’t happy with the way they developed nor the results and so wont be trusting them again!

Credit where Credit is due

Posted by Paul

Through out my time taking pictures I have met a number of people who have inspired me, taught me and pointed out my mistakes. Hopefully as time has progressed I am making less mistakes but I do believe that once you have mastered every single aspect of a skill it is time to find another. Surely the pleasure comes from the challenge, the determination to produce something ever better?
I am sure that if you ask any great artist about their work, they would point out the flaws, how they would just change that little bit there…
So I thank the models that I have worked with, some would say that models are the blank canvases that we work with but in reality a good model brings so much more, they will interpret what you say, add little nuances and interest.
The photographers that I have had the pleasure of working alongside (and whose techniques I have unashamedly stolen!), the studio’s that have allowed me to use there facilities, the designers who have loaned clothing, the venues who have put on shows or loaned rooms, and of course the make up artists who with a few pots of powder create flawless faces or amazing fantasy creatures.

a lens, a lens, my camera for a lens….

Posted by Paul

Once many years ago I had a lens and it’s name was 50. It was a very groovy guy and cost me £50 for a 50mm lens. It was made of plastic but had an aperture of f1.8. It was known as the nifty fifty.
Then one day as it sat on its shelf it looked longingly at the world beyond and stepped hesitantly into the abyss betwixt shelf and floor….fleetingly it caressed my hand before landing with a sickening thud onto the carpet. Its front and rear elements went in separate directions and alas it was a lens no more…
Recently I decided that perhaps it was time to replace that little workhorse and had a look at the various offerings. Canon were now selling the 1.8 for around £90 which for such a sharp lens is pretty affordable.
Sigma also sold a contender but a little voice in the back of my head whispered f1.4….
Canon sold this for around £350 and researching it told me that it was a very good lens for the money, however Sigma also offered the same lens but around £370 or so…decisions decisions…
I was able to sweet talk Sigma into lending me the lens for a few days and so spent this lunch time wandering the arctic temperatures of Birmingham.
This was to be a scientific test so I ensured that I didn’t have a tripod with me and had made no forward plans.
I wasnt interested in how good it was in a controlled enviroment, I wanted to know how good it would be in the real world.
floozy in the jacuzzi
I also tried shooting buildings with lots of hidden detail, for example on this picture I saw the vapour trail from the plane but only when editing did I see the bird flying high over the roofline.

So far the little Sigma lens is performing remarkably well. It also comes with a little petal hood, not sure how much use this would be in reality as it is quite small – but it is not offered with the Canon version…

As a totally unscientific test I wanted to catch some lens flare, I was interested in the way it presented itself across the lens. I think you will agree that it is quite pleasant?
So after a couple of hours play what did I think?
Beautifully sharp lens, cute lens hood AND has a 77mm front element – which matches the filters I already own…
Its about £30 more than the Canon equivalent but I would probably spend that on a new filter for it….it also has the lens hood…
Dear Sigma I appear to have misplaced your lens……I think I may be raiding the piggy bank!!!

Location and Lighting

Posted by Paul

Recently I have ventured out of the studio and the plain white background that usually features in every studio shoot. There is a whole world out there that needs exploring and using. However lighting it is a whole different game. In a studio you have pretty much total control over every aspect of lighting, where it comes from, how much, what shape everything is within your control. Then you get on location… it’s windy, the sun moves, it changes colour, you get clouds when you don’t want them and none when you do!
One option is to invest in a set of pocketwizard flex’s these are expensive but such a joy to use. Unlike cheaper radio triggers in that they work in full ttl mode. This means that you can let the camera set the power outputs for you – each flash thinks it is sitting on your camera. Now you may think this limits your creativity but there you are wrong, for a few pounds more they sell the AC-3 which is a zone controller. This clever little device gives you total control over the power of the zones you have set up. Want that flash a bit brighter, a bit less or even off? all easily controlled on top of your camera – none of this trekking to each light, adjusting it, checking it, re-adjusting it. Worth every penny for its ease of use

What do I look for in a Model and what to avoid

Posted by Paul

Whilst everyone loves to work with perfect and agency models realistically this is not always possible or cost effective. Some of the best models I have worked with have not been ‘agency standard’ and this in now way means that they are not excellent models. Rather the industry has decided that because they are one or two inches too short for catwalk, or perhaps too curvy for fashion, or not mainstream enough.
Should we therefore overlook these models? I think not, society is full of individuals and it is these that we are trying to connect with via our pictures so lets embrace variety and take advantage of it!
For me it is more important that a model is enthusiastic and eager to work than how experienced or agency standard they are. At the moment for example I am planning some faery tale based images and the model I have in mind for some of these shots, is not ‘agency standard’ in that she is of average height – however she more than makes up for this in her modelling skills and all my images with her have been amazing. Would I rather use an ‘agency standard’ model for these shots – definitely not! The model has to compliment the image and vice versa.
References from previous clients are a good source of information but it is important to make sure that they are accurate and first hand. Too often we hear of people bad-mouthing others in the industry in order to get ahead. Model X will tell Photographer A that Photographer B said this that or the other… and quite often it is to build up a relationship with the photographer. Photographers will also tell models about other models they know or have heard about.
AN important thing to remember is that when you are being told stories about other people is that they are also probably telling the same stories to someone else but just changing the name – and it could be yours!
For me then I choose to work with models who avoid the gossip and simply take part in a shoot. A professional model is one that you will work with again and again.