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Archive for January, 2010

Chantel Portrait Shoot

Posted in Flash, Outdoors on January 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A couple of days ago I took some portraits on my Niece. These were taken on a farm where there was a bus with Graffiti on it and an old shipping container.

I purposely positioned Chantel next to the arm and hand painted on the bus.

Using 2-point lighting with a 580EX II as the key and a 430EX II.

A single 580EX II as the key in this shot. I wish I had added my 430EX II speedlite on a low power rating to see the difference in the shots. I somehow think that seeing a little more detail on the right side of the frame would have been better.

A Black and White version...

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North East of England – Blyth Beach

Posted in Outdoors on January 18, 2010| 6 Comments »

Last week I was in Blyth for a couple of days and took these images of Blyth Beach.

Overlooking the pier. ISO 400, 1/125 sec, F4.

Overlooking the pier. ISO 400, 1/125 sec, F4.

A wider shot... ISO 800, 1/85 sec, F6.5.

ISO 800, 1/200 sec, F4.6.

Blyth Beach. ISO 800, 1/100 sec, F4.6.

A short pier... ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.

The Blyth outlook post. ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.

The Port of Blyth in the distance. ISO 800, 1/15 sec, F4.

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December Portrait Shoot

Posted in Flash, Outdoors on January 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Between the Christmas and New Year period, my Nephew Bruce came to visit and my shooting buddy (Graham) and I decided to use his camera gear for the shoot. My gear was in my luggage which hadn’t arrived from being lost in Singapore Airport (which I now have).

We used Graham’s 580EX II speedlite on a stand in varying positons. Not sure who took what photos as we both shared the same gear. So the photos below have either been taken by myself or Graham Law.

Graham located a barn out of town that seemed to work well as a location.

This frame wasn't perfectly exposed in-camera, but seems to shape up okay in post-production.

Graham drove us to the lead mines at Clywedog dam. Graham had a second cheap flash unit (with in optical trigger) which was used to illuminate the wall on the left side.

I can assure you it was very cold and we didn't stay out long!

We added a CTB gel on the second flash.

Back at the barn, a quick portrait of Graham.

I like this shot of Bruce and I like the pose.

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Day 84-86 – The return to the UK

Posted in General Ramblings on January 7, 2010| 3 Comments »

My last days in the Philippines were very much in denial. Even when I was leaving on the boat it didn’t register that I was actually leaving the island. In many ways, it would be easy to make Boracay a home…

I left the island and got on the SEAir flight to Manila and then the next day, started my journey back to the UK. My first stop was Singapore. I always loved this airport, but this time round, it wasn’t as much fun as it had been on previous visits. I waited around the airport from 2:30pm till 11:30pm. So had quite a lot of time to wonder round. The next time I’m in this airport, I’m definitely going to bring swimming gear. They have a great outdoor swimming pool which costs about £7 to use.

Then it was time to travel from Singapore to Heathrow and then onto Manchester. Arriving at Heathrow was a complete shock! -6 degrees C!! Unfortunately I discovered that my luggage had got misplaced in Singapore. This was a little worrying as I had 16Kgs of camera gear in the bag. A week later, my bag arrived in Wales and was very relieved.

Within a few days of being back, the Great British seasonal winter bugs,viruses, etc… had a huge welcoming party for me! I was in bed all of New Years Eve and have been unwell since. Today (7th January) is the first day that I’ve started to feel close to normal.

Looking forward to 2010…

Phil and I with the day time staff at Rumba's on my last day...

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