Last week we drove out to see our friends Tim & Julia for tea and cakes. While there I took the opportunity to photograph dog portraits of their two: Star is a pedigree Staffie, while Riley is part Staffie, part something else… [Read more…]
In the months leading up to Christmas I shot hundreds of pictures whilst out walking in the parks of Derby: a mix of landscapes and still-life. They are all in square format, mostly shot on my Lumix LX-3, with a few taken on the D700. I’ve collected the best of them together in this book, which is a visual journey through the transition from Autumn to Winter. The book is a petite little thing (7″ x 7″) which can be yours for a very reasonable price. Beautifully printed with rich, detailed images it contains around 70 photos on 40 pages, available in hardcover or softcover versions. Have a look at the on-line preview and then order your copy today via the link below. Prices start from £11.29 for the softcover edition. I welcome your questions or comments.
http://www.blurb.com/b/1796797-walk-out-to-winter
Also now available as an eBook!
A walk on the beach: no Cliff, but plenty of Shadows!
Nikon D700, 24-70mm lens, graduated filter added in Lightroom 3.
Sunday 2nd January, 2011.
Not content with taking on the dog world, I’ve now moved on to equine portraits: these photos of Echo were taken in Holbrook back in December, on a horribly cold and wet day (in between two of the bouts of snow and ice we experienced that month). I went fully equipped with flash, lighting stand, tripod, etc. only to realise that horses really don’t like anything out of the ordinary, and are quite prepared to let you know about it! The lighting conditions in the school were terrible: a little daylight, assisted by halogen floodlights, which produced a very odd colour balance. Without flash I had to set my camera to ISO 3200 in order to get a workable shutter speed of 1/125 for most shots. Kathy really wanted some action shots of Echo trotting round the school, but given the poor light and cluttered background it proved difficult to get any really striking shots. I will visit the yard again when the weather is better, and try some action photos out in the field. For now I’m pleased with the portraits, but will work on my panning skills!
I did a fair bit of post-production in Lightroom – noise reduction to minimise the grain produced by such a high ISO, and a lot of burning to darken the background and draw the eye into the frame.
They say never work with children or animals… well, I think I can just about cope with the little ones, but I have to say that Dolly the Jack Russell proved to be a difficult subject. OK, she’s only 11 weeks old, but I fired off over 100 shots in order to get a handful of useable photos. She had a great time though! I started off shooting with the flash and shoot-through umbrella on a stand , but Dolly decided she didn’t want to hang around in any one area of the house, so in the end I put the Speedlight back my camera and worked with bounce flash, following her around the house on my knees. Focusing proved tricky too – I don’t entirely trust the Continuous Servo focus option on the D700, but with a fast-moving subject like Dolly it proved it’s worth.
George proved a much easier subject – he’s clearly more relaxed in front of the camera, and he turned on the soulful look without much persuasion. Trouble is, he liked me so much he kept lying down on me… Photos shot on location – thanks to Jacky for the hospitality!
