Photo Rebel » Outdoors

A man and his dog

gwyncole — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:20:26 +0000

Last week I did a quick photo shoot with my very good friend Ken and his lovely dog Lancelot. I scouted the location the day before and managed to get the whole shoot done in around 30 minutes. My buddy Joe helped and assisted on the shoot which made things move on much quicker than normal. Here are a few frames from the shoot:

I captured this frame half way through the shoot. I love this photograph!!

I went to the top of the sand bank to get a glimpse of the sea and the beach in the background.

You always need a frame like this on a beach shoot...

We all had fun filming on this shoot!

With a sky formation like this you just have to get more of it in the frame

I love how this frame almost appears monochrome...

A close up of Lancelot.

Finally back at base...

Searching

gwyncole — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:35:51 +0000

I’m continually amazed at how photography can reveal so much about ourselves. In my last post I mentioned that my father had passed away and the importance of photography (link). Since that sad day a couple of months later, I went for a walk with my mother. As we’re heading out the door I decided to pick up my camera… During the walk we stopped every-now-again to take a photograph and then continued walking into town. It wasn’t till later when editing the pictures did I realize how there was a sense of searching.

A thoughtful moment...

This is a very powerful image to me...

...

Will & Julie’s Pre-Wedding Shoot

gwyncole — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:52:54 +0000

Back in mid February Will and Julie contacted me to photograph their wedding. We met up at the pre-wedding shoot to take some lovely images before their Big Day. Graham Law and I did a location scout the day before and picked our locations carefully. The pre-wedding shoot lasted nearly 3 hours.

If you’d like us (Graham Law and myself) to photograph your wedding, get in touch…

Enjoy the photos below…

The shoot started with Julie in the local town park.

Julie and Will in the same location.

Moved over about 30 meters to another location for this frame.

I directed Will and Julie to create this wonderful image.

Same location but a figure in the landscape type image.

A moment of closeness.

Same location...

Time for some drama! Yeah!!

A quick visit into town for a few frames. This was the first location.

Used a wall that was right next to the previous location.

Love is in the air...

Across the road was a lovely telephone box for us to use.

A private moment...

A change of location...

I love making these kinds of shots...

A simple but effective portrait.

A wider frame of where we were shooting in the previous frames.

I absolutely love this image!

A change of location again... out in the fields...

It started to rain... but we weren't phased at all

Finally arrived at our last location.

The last frame of the day...

The Lead Mines

gwyncole — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:35:47 +0000

A while back Graham and I did a photo shoot with Hannah down at the Lead Mines at Clywedog Dam in Powys, Wales. My goals for the shoot was to create something special with a bit of class about it. An evening gown in the middle of an ancient ruin seemed a good contrast to me…

This frame from the first location needed no post-production treatment and is straight off the camera.

I always take close-up and wide angle frames when on a photo shoot. I particularly like this frame in Black & White.

This shot could have been taken anywhere that has trees or a small woods.

I used a bit of flare from the sun to soften the look of this frame in the woods.

A change of location to the river...

Using the sun again to add a bit of interest into the frame.

I took several frames like this one and it works in colour, Black & White and a warmed up desaturated look (above).

A change of location to another part of the river with this frame from a high vantage point.

Blue's and green's... beautiful complementary colours.

Time for something different and dramatic.

This kind of frame can also work in Black & White.

Perhaps something more fairytale...

Change of location to the old Lead Mine buildings.

Exploring different angles...

I love Hannah's expression in this image.

Colour or Black & White... whatever take your fancy...

The sun was starting to set at this point in the shoot.

This establishing shot shows the Lead Mines and the dam wall in the background.

Time for a few close-up portraits.

I love this frame!

Add a bit of light for this simple photograph.

I then went for a much cooler look...

This image makes you wonder what Hannah is thinking about?

My last frame of the day...

Into the Light

gwyncole — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:49:06 +0000

Here are my top 50 photographs from another workshop with Damien Lovegrove and Martin Hill. I’ve long had a desire to learn how to capture specific types of images and from this workshop, I learnt how these images are created. Enjoy…

I love how the lens flare softened this image of Katy McGee.

Photographed using natural light...

Exploring different angles...

I changed the colour palette slightly in this set of images.

Time to move location to the window.

Going high key.

Then Damien showed us how to create images like this! This was one of my goals of the workshop.

I love this image!

Same location and exploring different poses, looks and exposures.

A quick frame in the bathroom...

Out come the shutters of the window... photographed in natural light.

This is another of my favourite images of Katy McGee.

This frame always gives me a little smile...

It was time to use the Lupo lighting system... beautiful...

I love Katy's pose.

Going for a calmer picture of Katy.

Katy makes it so easy to create wonderful images...

Back to using the Lupo lighting system.

I need to purchase a lupo system soon

It was time to change over to Martin Hill. My first frame outdoors using the Lovegrove Gemini bracket.

Exploring different post-production options.

Ri just looks beautiful in her bridal dress.

Martin Hill got the big guns out (the broncolor lighting system) for some amazing images.

Every time I look at this image, I see a bride in a war torn region of the world. Yet, it was photographed in Gloucestershire. The camera angle had to be perfect to get this look!

I absolutely love this image.

I just liked how this frame looked in Black & White.

Back in doors with Damien and the out came the lupo again...

Again... Katy McGee makes it so easy to create wonderful images...

Exploring different angles...

I love the colour in this frame as well as Katy's look!

Its the look!

And this is my favourite image out of this small set.

Back to window light...

It was a hard choice between Black & White and colour. In the end, I thought Black & White worked best.

Same location, different angle...

Katy is full of magical ideas for poses.

See... magical!! I love this image because its just so unusual.

I had a hard time working out the best look for this image (in post-production). I decided to go with something punchy...

Working with Katy is so much fun!

Damien allowed us to use his homemade filter to soften the photograph. I love it!

Just so many images to share...

The images work just as well in Black & White.

Straight off the camera!

Last frame of Katy McGee...

Time to get back out doors with Martin Hill and the lovely Ri.

Photographed with the Lovegrove Gemini bracket into an umbrella.

My favourite frame in this set of 3 images.

Martin Hill let us out with the broncolor kit again... yeah!! set us free!!

Magical....

... and there you have it.... the last of my top 50 images of the day!

5 Minute Portrait

gwyncole — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:35:26 +0000

Here are some images of Steven taken in just a few minutes for his facebook profile.

Taken with a single flash about 10 feet away.

Same location but using natural light.

Again, single flash rigged onto a stand.

Even an empty car park is a great place to take a portrait!

A Model Wedding

gwyncole — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:00:26 +0000

My photography journey brings me to photographing weddings. Last year I attended another Damien Lovegrove workshop (3 days) covering all aspects of weddings and here are a few frames from the day.

First up was photographing the wedding rings.

Then the flowers...

Our model getting ready for the big day.

Sarah getting ready...

Then it was bridal portraits...

We got to explore many portrait opportunities.

I love how Sarah is framed within the window.

Then we moved onto a different area of the hotel shooting under very challenging lighting conditions.

Again... exploring different shots within the same lcoation.

Yip... its all fun!

It was time to get back to shooting portraits of the groom.

Exploring more angles for the various shots.

We had a lot of fun shooting in this spiral stairwell.

Then we moved to another location for this simple portrait.

... and swiftly moving on to the last groom portrait before a much need break.

Heading towards the final sessions of the day, we headed into the Church.

The lovely couple walking down the isle together...

Photographing the couple together using ambient light.

A tigher shot compared with the previous image.

A closeup of the lovely couple...

One final bridal portrait in the Church before finishing off the session.

On our way back to the main building... we had the opportunity to shoot outside.

It was very cold at this time...

Once back indoors, the final session was to try out the various continuous lighting gear!

I love the warm colours in this frame.

My last frame of the day...

Guernsey

gwyncole — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:11:30 +0000

I recently popped over to Guernsey to see a very good friend of mine! The last time we had seen each other was sometime in 2004. We spent 3 wonderful days catching up on what’s been going on in our lives. Obviously photography came up during discussion and here are a few frames from my visit…

Christophe's son. Strong diagonals, horizontals and verticals help make this image work… not fogetting who the star of the show is!

Photographed using natural light.

When I noticed this little staircase and I knew instantly that it would work

Same location as the previous image.

Marie's daughter. You've got to catch the right moment to capture photographs like this.

Using the staircase to create verticals in the frame.

I love the cheeky smile

A closeup photographed at F2.8.

My friend Christophe.

My friend's girlfriend, Marie.

Almost the last frame of my visit to Guernsey...

Milano Manchester

gwyncole — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:54:25 +0000

Earlier in November I had the great fortune of going on a Chris Hanley workshop. I’d been with him on a previous Cherish the Dress workshop and the opportunity to do something different screamed out at me! An added bonus was that the model for the day was Valentina Feula (link). Below are the pictures I took with a few comments…

We started the day near the meeting point and Chris encouraged us to 'see' the photographic opportunities around us.

Valentina was a joy to work with and I particularly liked this frame.

A few nice shots from the same location.

It was time to move on to the next location. I shot this at -0.7 stops metered against the ambient light (in manual mode).

A tighter shot...

...and a wider frame.

Has the bus arrived? I think this frame in Black and White works just brilliantly!

Okay... maybe the bus won't be here for a while...

The following location was nearby against a wall that you might have walked passed.

A moment caught while Valentina was posing for another photographer.

I loved this location as there were so many different images to be had.

Next up was a portrait taken in New York! Or at least something that might look like it was in New York

This frame was shot at 1/30 sec.

In the same location as the previous 2 frames.

This kind of frame works in Black & White and in colour.

An abandoned location makes for a wonderful portrait.

Simple textures make great locations!

A tighter frame still works great!

I love Valentina's pose in this frame.

A quick trip over to Cuba!

It sure is hot in Cuba in early November!

Shhh... don't tell anyone I'm here...

Nice window reflections are hard to resist!

It was time for lunch and an opportunity to make a few frames indoors with the Lowel-ID light.

Valentina just looks fabulous!

The Lowel-ID light is so versatile and helps create wonderful images.

I just couldn't stop snapping away at the camera's shutter release button...

The wonderful Valentina kept making it easy to grab shots like this...

The last frame indoors before we headed out into the pouring rain!!!

The rain was pouring and I placed my camera inside it's Storm Jacket. I originally shot this on a cool White Balance but ended up correcting it in post-production.

What a perfect location for a rainy day!! I got to see how Chris works when it rains and how he finds wonderful locations in such conditions. A true master!

A wider frame... I love Valentina's expression!

We ducked into a small off-loading bay (under cover from the rain) and shot these wonderful frames with a Lowel-ID as a back light.

Its hard to stop taking wonderful pictures of Valentina...

Still in the same location... more picture opportunities...

Still using the Lowel-ID light....

Back on the street in the rain. My camera's Storm Jacket was doing its job nicely!

Again... we ducked into a small location under cover from the rain.

I love this look which I applied during post-production.

The blue's and green's... loving it!

So many different pictures to be had from this location.

I love how Valentina can look so vulnerable in the next few frames.

Picture says it all...

I borrowed this idea from Adam Johnson (ARJ Photography).

Going in close....

Its simply amazing how many pictures we could take at this location.

Off we go to our last location of the day. I decided to give some of these images the Black & White treatment also...

The Lowel-ID light so wonderful that I purchased one straight after this workshop.

I still don't know how Valentina found the energy! We'd been full on the whole day...

I always try a wide shot and I instantly loved it in this case.

The very last frame of the day... and a big 'thank you' to Chris & Claire Hanley, Valentina and Samantha Gardner (who did the make up).

Georgia’s Portraits

gwyncole — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:01:37 +0000

About a month ago I photographed Georgia in Hitchin town center in Hertfordshire. I had done a location scout the day before and had a few good locations lined up for the shoot. The shoot lasted about 2 hours and it was all fun, fun, fun…. I also had a great assistant, Joanne, who helped out throughout the shoot which made Georgia’s special day a real success.

The first location of the day was near a car park.

A wider angle view of the scene using a single flash on very low power.

A classic over the shoulder look.

This was taken no more than 4 meters from the previous images.

This was shot at a local bank in Hitchin. I loved the markings on the wall and wanted to use them in a nice composition.

A short distance away was time for a single flash setup.

Everybody likes shopping!

I used a small allay way for these next few images. The kit I used here involved a light stand, a magic arm, Pocket Wizard triggers, 2 flashes and a coloured blue gel.

Slightly different camera angle.

So many opportunities in this little allay way.

A high camera view point.

I love this frame...

Time for a bit of natural light shooting...

Georgia was having so much fun at this point!

Another high camera view point frame.

A small little corner on the street.

Taken at the same location as the previous image.

I couldn't resist this frame on our way back to Starbucks. Flash on-camera.

A quick frame in Starbucks using a 70-200mm F2.8 lens in natural light.

We popped over to a park nearby to get some non-urban portraits.

I love the white, greens and reds in this frame!

This camera angle just works so well...

The last frame of the day...