Tree

Highlight: January is a quiet month of me so it's nose to the grindstone with accounts, redesigning website, sorting portfolio, archiving pictures, etc. OR…HAVE A GREAT TIME WORKING ON SOMETHING CREATIVE!!!!
Lowlight: Not enough time to work on some more - BUT I'LL BE BACK!
Fill in: I shot Tree in November as part of a band shoot and loved her style - A tribal Fusion Belly Dancer. She had bones in her hair, could juggle swords, glittered with rubies, wore skulls for a bra - what's not to love! What's more she looked like a model from Vogue knew how to pose. I took quite a few of her in the narrow changing room against a white backdrop worth a view to styling it up.


Tech Spec: The shot was taken against a white Hi-lite lit by a brolly. I also took lots of details shots of Tree's hair, jewellery and costume. The trees were images from stock I had shot myself and the birds were from
cgtextures.com. I ended up with over 50 layers but I think it works okay. Still trying to face the accounts...

For more about Tree visit:

http://www.spiraltribedancecompany.co.uk/

For free image samples: http://cgtextures.com/

Chinese New Year

Highlight: Seeing the leaping lions - never fails to impress



Lowlight: Trying to photograph the fire crackers.Fill in: This annual event in Trafalgar Square always has plenty to photograph and I'm always glad every year when I get the call to do this one. Brief is to get the performances on stage, any press calls, documentary of the square and the lion dances and record o the sponsors banners so it is pretty full on.
Tech Spec: I rely on zooms - wide, standard and long, all with F2.8 so backgrounds can be thrown out of focus as it is very busy event. Viewpoints are pretty limited as press pits are set up for the fireworks, firecrackers and performances, and passes are getting more restrictive each year. The lion dances are particularly difficult as there are no press areas and it is a case of rucking it with the crowds. I normally smile nicely at the restaurant owners and they let me sit in their doorways to get the lions as they spit out the lettuce.


For more info visit:
http://www.london.gov.uk

London Assembly Holocaust Ceremony

Highlight: The first job where I try out my new Nikon V1 in anger.

Lowlight: The Holocaust - always makes me depressed.Fill in: Usually my first job of the year at City Hall, this annual event is a sombre affair with young and old people paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Discretion and respect is the key.

Tech Spec: The DSLRs of today are clangingly loud. I recently invested in a Nikon V1 and lens adaptor as it has a completely silent shutter mode. Although it has taken me a bit of time to get used to the compact camera layout, the results are impressive and I can take a lot more shots no I have no fear of glaring looks from the guests every time I press the shutter.
For further details: http://www.london.gov.uk

SLAMbassadors

Highlight: This event always puts my faith back into the younger generation. The kids are insightful, respectful, talented and wise beyond their years.

Lowlight: They do not get the press they deserve.
Tech Spec: Tried out my new D7000. I would love the new D4 but finances are low. So to give my kit a boost I got rid of the D300 and replaced it with the D7000 - it is quieter, better on low light and still has the DX format to give my long lenses the extra boost in focal length. The down side is it is not professional grade so I will have to go easy on it - but it will probably only come out for concerts where I need the extra focal length and conferences and events where discretion is the key - e.g. this one where young people are performing, sometimes for the first time, and nerves do not need extra shaking by my constant clicking.

For further details: http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk

Topping Out Ceremony

Highlight: Brand new year, brand new client.

Lowlight: Didn't know what a topping out ceremony was or how to photograph it - thank god for the internet. For those of you who are like me and have no idea about anything it is a ceremony to place the last brick of a building to finish its construction phase.
Fill in: I was passed this job by a fellow snapper who specialises in architecture. As this was a PR shot I wasn't too out of my depth, but got thrown a curve ball when once on site, they asked if I could just 'grab a few site shots' while I was at it. 
Tech Spec: It was a nice day and I had an idyllic image of being on the roof of a pristine building with suited and booted executives holding a shiny trowel and grinning. As it was the lift was not working and the executives were not young, we had to do the shoot on the ground floor which was still furnished with concrete mixers, piles of bricks, huge steel girders, and spaghetti electrics all over the place. A corner had been cleared for us but it was still very dusty (a nightmare for equipment). I was glad I had my wide angle as the group was very large and the space very small. I also used a diffuser over the flash to make the most of the white walls.
For further details: http://www.vinciconstruction.co.uk/

Yamaha Class Band Presentation

Highlight: Seeing another meeting room in the House of Commons. Starting to finally know my way around this place.


Lowlight: Whole party comprising over 40 school kids, several teachers, a handful of MPS and VIPS and a headmaster, arriving at Portcullis House only to be told we were in the wrong building and had to cross the road!
Fill in: The job was for Yamaha who were giving a presentation on a project their education programme. I had to get the VIPS with each of the four schools present then a group shot of the whole party.

Tech Spec: We were squashed into a tiny meeting room and I was racking my brains on how to rearrange the very heavy furniture. Was most relieved when we were told we had permission to shoot in the Great Hall. There was a convenient sweeping staircase so the shot was simple in the end.

For further details: www.coventry.gov.uk/pas

PYTHIA

Highlight: So it's the start of the year. I have been hibernating, but who better to wake me from my slumber but the lovely Ms Ovendon.

Lowlight: She needs pictures - like …Yesterday! And kicks my arse on Facebook.
Fill in: I had promised finished artwork to Pythia last month but I needed my sleep. However now it was getting serious. Japan and Metalhammer were calling and it was time to actually process the pictures into something fantastic - or at least publishable - in two days!
Tech Spec: I had shot the band members individually against a white background with a view of comping them together. I had this great idea of putting them at the mouth of a cave which was a serpents mouth cave thingy but I didn't have time for that now - I did a mountain range Skyrim style - but it was rejected and in the end we settled on a crystal ball thingy which I added a serpent to - all in the space of two days - the power of email.
 The Japan cover was much easier -I had already done the background but just needed to swap in a better head and tweak the layers a bit. Lesson: Always keep your PSD file with all the layers - it makes any changes so much quicker and I have even made apparantly new backgrounds by just tweaking layer opacities.

For further info: www.pythiamusic.com