lighting technique

How To Photograph Fireworks

How do you shoot fireworks displays? A common question at this time of year and the answer is both simpler than you think and complicated at the same time. Simpler because if you understand the exposure triangle and ISO/Shutter Speed/Aperture then its obvious – complicated because its pretty counter intuitive if you don’t know your [...]

Happy 80th Birthday Sir Terence Conran

I have spent a huge amount of time recently with my favorite company Benchmark Furniture – favorite because the staff from top to bottom are engaging, enthusiastic and very, very talented. The company was set up by Terence Conran and Sean Sutcliffe and last week I was there photographing furniture (about which more later) and [...]

On Camera Quickie

I’m a big fan of the off camera set up but sometimes on the way out to dinner you just want to grab a quick portrait of your gorgeous date and seize the moment – no time for the set up unless you want to kill the mood. Quick tip (oft repeated here) for fabulous [...]

Ring Flash Close Up

I have been using various Speedlight ring flash attachments over the years with disappointing results – I have even tried to make my own like a true Strobist. I have used both the Ring Flash Adapter and the Ray Flash. There is nothing wrong with the products themselves – solidly built and in theory fully [...]

Versatile Flash

My commercial work last week shooting reportage and lit portraits using small flash (580EX I & II’s and Quantum Flash 5d), pocket wizards, a Canon ST-E2 and Canon 5d MkII bodies highlighted the reasons why it is imperative for photographers to learn how to use flash under all circumstances. Without a good understanding of flash [...]

Whitesnake in London 2011 – what no flash?

As a break from the day job I got the opportunity to photograph live music this week – shooting rock gigs is great fun and a break from the lit portrait work. Whitesnake were performing at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Monday night and I went to shoot for their PR company. If you [...]

High Speed Sync – Literally!

Want to catch that strobist/low ambient look but you either don’t have or conditions don’t allow off camera flash? High speed sync to the rescue. During my trip to South Africa in February I got the opportunity to tour SharonSwarts farm near Swellendam in the Western Cape, South Africa. I was riding in the [...]

Macro Portraits for Kids

Sometimes its fun to step away from the more traditional stuff we teach on the digital photography courses here. My stepson Harry 14 came home from school with an assignment to photograph tools last week. Being an independent kid he started to lay some tools out on the floor and take photos of them with [...]

Speedlight Essentials – Gaffa Tape

Anyone who has been on one of my small flash photography courses or one to one sessions knows that I am not very interested in gear – either it does the job or it doesn’t – I’ll sit out the tool belt shuffle thanks. However one bit of gear that is essential is the good [...]

Using Flash to Brighten & Sharpen

As a break from the corporate photography in London I spent a couple of days with the wonderful people at Benchmark Furniture in Kintbury shooting pieces for their promotional material at the I SALONI furniture trade fair in Milan. Sadly I didn’t get the invite to actually attend the show although I guess five days [...]