Another handy gadget for photographers

Joby Gorillapods are very versatile little tripods that double as clamps. I've found mine extremely useful for sticking my flash in places where a lightstand isn't practical and was thinking of getting a couple more, but today I saw this:

The Nasty Clamp combines the Joby's segmented leg with a clamp.  It also looks rather... suggestive, but that could just be me.  It's supposed to be able to support a 580 EXII flash and a small softbox, so with the way I like to light things on the go, it looks like just the kind of thing I'm after.  Think I'll get one or two and check 'em out.  I'm also looking forward to getting some new Carhart flannel-lined work pants in the mail.  I love my old pair, they're perfect for photogs who have to work out in the cold.

Android App for Photographers

At last, somebody (chainfire) has come up with a DSLR remote app for Android users.  This one allows you to fully use your Canon DSLR from your Android device with just a USB cable. There's been a DSLR controller out for the iphone for some time, and not being a Mac or iphone user (I started off as a Mac lover but it's a long story...) I've been awaiting the development of an Android equivalent.  It's still in beta, but I gather demand has been so high, the developers have released it early, and there are some enthusiastic reviews already.

I'm looking forward to hooking it up to my new Samsung Nexus S (that's my old HTC Magic in the picture) and taking it for a drive. You can check it out in the Android market here.

UPDATE: Seems the app is fine on Android tablets, but not yet working on phones without host functionality like my Nexus S.  As the Android Market notes say: Most Honeycomb TABLETS should be compatible. At the moment the only PHONE that is compatible is the Samsung Galaxy S2, with the 2.3.4 KG series firmware or newer.".  Fingers crossed for the full release...

Who Ate All The Pies?

At last, I was able to step away from my manuscript and to a little shooting for a new client today. Steve Turner runs Who Ate All The Pies?, the finest gourmet pie bakery I know of.  I have to say, Dunedin is becoming a great town for food and beverage, from boutique beers and its famous cheese rolls to whisky bars and fine dining.  And shooting for these establishments definitely has its perks.

Due to a slight glitch in communications at the bakery I arrived without a good brief and the bakers weren't prepared for an intrusion by a flash-popping photog. That wasn't the only challenge. It's a typical small bakery with just enough room to work, not to pose or shoot, there's lots of stainless steel and few places to hide lights, and the overhead fluoros lend things an inorganic blue/green ambience. James Hacon who who had organised the shoot was delayed in a conference call and I was aware of the clock ticking on client time. Not to worry, time to improvise and get to work.

Bakery. No brainer: Shoot product coming out of the oven. Easy - CTO gel on one of my Canon flashes, into the bottom of the oven and another flash bouncing off the ceiling to light Steve. It looks realistic, but it's normally black as night inside the oven and those pies actually just came from the fridge. You can tell because Steve's wearing hygiene gloves, not oven mitts. But we got the look we wanted.



Thankfully James' call ended and I got a brief: He wanted some shots to tie into a promotion around the international rugby games we'll be having in Dunedin as part of the World Cup tournament. He'd bought a bunch of team jerseys so we had some fun with a few ingredients around the bakery. The family sized pasties made the perfect rugby ball for the England jersey, potatoes seemed right for Ireland, and for Argentina we went into the freezer of the butchery next door for Steve to pack down in a scrum against a side of beef. Georgia? No problemo, a quick Google search and we learned that as well as rugby, the Georgians are fond of a clear grape liquor called Chacha. A borrowed shot glass was all that took. Running out of interesting backgrounds, I decided to pull Steve out front of the shop, have James hose his coffee machine in blue light to contrast against the red jersey, while Ray held up my new 40cm ezy-type softbox with the 580EXII inside for Steve. I'm looking forward to using that bit of kit some more.



Steve and James were happy. I came away with a Venison, rosemary & red wine pie, Ray with a Beef, bacon and tomato one, so we were pretty happy too.   It wasn't exactly the well thought out Rembrandt lighting session I'd like to do, but when the pressure's on, sometimes you just have to kick for touch.

Now I'm waiting to hear about some largish projects I'm bidding for, which will be interesting.  Also hatching up something very exciting on the pho-tour front.  An announcement on that is still some way off, but worth waiting for.

Ghosts of the Past

One of the tricks I'm planning to use in the book I'm working on (celebrating 150 years of the Otago Chamber of Commerce) is to combine historic pictures with contemporary shots taken from the same viewpoint. It's an idea I got from Sergey Larenkov's amazing WWII photomontages.

Photoshopping the montages isn't so hard. The most difficult bit is trying to get in the exact position and matching the focal length of the original photograph. Having a copy in front of you is essential but often its impossible to match the positions, especially in photos taken a long time ago as some places have been built on. It's also a challenge trying to match the lighting and weather conditions but its a very satisfying thing to do when you nail it. I'm tempted to make another book project of this one day. The thing I've picked up from Larenkov is that drama in the photos makes a huge impact, not just the change from then to now. People also help bring the shots alive, especially when they stare out of frame.



You can tell by the frames on these that I've made them my shots of the week for my mail list followers and the feedback has been very good. If I do try to make a commercial project of this, I might collaborate with a talented designer I know to really make the technique sing.

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Faces and spaces

The other day Mrs C asked for a bunch of my images to use for compliments and greeting cards for her business. She's a pretty good client, so I cut her a special deal: She gets to use my work and I get... certain considerations. They turned out so well I'm thinking of producing some for sale eventually. That's my favourite model Boog. I'm so disappointed that he's left town, the camera loves him... in all his altered states.

I've also been back to Dunedin Public Art Gallery to shoot promotional shots of some of their spaces for hire. Shooting rooms can be scary and challenging, but DPAG is one of my favourite clients, and any time I get to climb a ladder for a shot is a good time! This was an exercise in stability: perched up a ladder, attempting to get a hand-held low-light shot with an unstabilised lens. Never thought I'd be able to produce a sharp shot at 1/8 before, but it's amazing what you can pull off when you're really motivated.

Industrial Photography

I'm glad to say that I'm finally getting to the part of my book project that I've been looking forward to: Shooting the pictures.  I love industrial photography, so shooting the engineering firms is going to be great fun.  There's something very cool about manufacturing and metalcraft, although after working summers at the Bluff Aluminium smelter, I knew it wasn't the career choice for me.  Like my Dad (who was a foreman fitter there) used to say: "I can tell you love hard work boy, I've seen you sit on your backside and watch it all day long"

AJ Grant is one of the firms I'm writing a little about, so when I popped in today to talk to manager Allan Grant, I thought I might as well take my kit and get some pictures.  Allan's brother and partner Bruce wasn't there, so I thought of this as a quick test shoot.

AJ Grant is a blacksmith and metalcraft firm who also do a great job of children's play equipment.  I've already got some playground shots, so I wanted to see what could be done quickly in the workshop.  I was drawn to the most cluttered part of the building.



The fluoro lighting was pretty standard, and there were some really dark places under the mezzanine storage area - that's lit by one of my flashes. I knew I'd want to lose the ambient and do my own lighting. The foot of the ladder looked like a good spot for a portrait of Allan.  I like the clutter that busy workshops always have, but didn't want it to look too grungy, so I decided to add some contrasting colour to the foreground and background.  There's something about blue light that lends things a hi-tech look, so I figured it would help  Then I popped another flash on the floor with a red gel to wash up the pillar in front.  I was happy.  A quick exposure test with Laurie as my stand-in (top), and then it was time for Allan.



You could have gone crazy with this - softer light for Allan, hair/rim/fill light, more restricted beam...tormenting Allan until he gives me the perfect pose and look... there's no limit to the number of ways to do this. I may well go back and do it again when Allan's brother Bruce is available, but this was a quick workshop portrait, and it does the job.

Low Light, Little Camera, Big Lizards

Last weekend I forced myself to leave my DSLR gear at home for once and just take my little Canon G12 on a short family vacation to Auckland. It had served me well in the underwater housing during my white shark dive trip, but I hadn't really done much with it topside, apart from playing with its excellent macro function. One highlight of our weekend was to be the Walking With Dinosaurs show at Vector Arena, so I knew the G12 would be up for a good test. It didn't disappoint.



The lighting conditions were pretty low and we were a fair way up in the arena, so for much of the time I had the ISO cranked up to either 1600 or 3200 - places I very seldom go with my 7D or 5DII, while the lens was zoomed in to the max 5x 140mm equivalent. I have to say, I was impressed by the quality of the images it gave me. Almost as impressed as I was by the creatures and the show.



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