Triumph motorcycle photo shoot on location.
Triumph motorcycle photoshoot on location.
I had this idea of a motorcycle photo shoot in the fields in my mind for quite some time now and just a few days ago I have managed to put all the things together and now I can share a few words about it with you.
In my head, I knew exactly what I want and when I found out that my friend Martin Bella just bought this beautiful and very classic Triumph motorcycle I knew I have to take advantage of it.
So I contacted him right away and he was more than happy to help me with the project. He also agreed to pose for me which was absolutely fantastic. Now I only had to worry about one more model. The very next day I started to scout for a good location. I know that if it comes to location in London, there will be lots of problem from the start. Mainly because every where you go you need a permit or pay lots of money for it. So the only solution is to find some place outside of London. I have spent a few hours in the car driving around and found a great location in Lakeside just a few miles from East London with lots of open space, high grass and a bridge in the background and also it was very close to my studio which was very convenient for everyone.
Photo Equipment.
I was going for one particular look and I decided to use only one light source, Elinchrom Ranger RX with large octa and plenty of sunlight. Octa gives you this very pleasing and soft light which is perfect for what I wanted to do. I had my assistant holding the light mounted on the monopod so was very easy for him to manoeuvre and move around with it. I also had 0.9ND filter from Lee Filters on my lens which gives me this 3 extra stops to kill the ambient and throw the background out of focus. With everything in place and ready to go there was only one thing missing. The sunlight. The sky was full of clouds with the sun coming and going every few seconds playing with my exposure. The plan was to have very bright and sunny pictures and instead we end up with very moody images. But hey, when you are going for a photo shoot on the location you have to be ready for every situation and just deal with it. In the end, we were very happy with the images and glad that there was no rain...
Problems.
For those of you who have never done a shoot on the location with the lights, there are a few things you may want to remember.
Well, for a start you are limited to your camera shutter speed which is 1/160 and you are left with F-stop and ISO to play with. Your shutter is being replaced with the power of your strobe and if you want to underexpose your sky you want to make sure that your light will give you enough power to lit the subject.
To underexpose the sky you have to set the camera to let say F11, F16 and by doing it the whole image will get much darker and that is including your subject. Once you set your background exposure, you have to fire the light on the subject and that is the time when the power of the strobe is important.
So if you are on maximum power, and still have not enough light there are a few things you can do. Number one - come with the light source closer to the subject. Number two - change the setting on your camera and sacrifice the sky by overexposing it. Number three - avoid the sky. Compose your image without including the sky in it...
Below image without using a strobe.
and here is the one with the strobe.
Behind the scene video.
I knew that this will be a very interesting subject to shoot so I asked my friend Pavel Prijma if he would be interested to do some behind the scene video. I love the quality of his work and I highly recommend him for any job. To see more of his work just click on the link.
Also, many of you may know that a good picture is not a work of just one photographer but the whole team. Every person involved in the shoot is a part of it, and I would like to say a big thank you to Kasia Bober, Martin Bella, Pavel Prijma, Michal Gutowski and Sandor Nadasdi to be part of this one.
Photoshoot dream team...
To see more of my work just click on the link.
Photography Studio Hire London - Your first time.
For many starting photographers willing to hire a photography studio could be a challenge. Partly because you have never done it before and partly coz you do not have much experience in studio lighting. So in this article I will guide you from start to bottom on how to do it and what to avoid.
Here are a few things you may want to check before booking photography studio hire London.
Studio size
- there is a big choice of photography studios in London with variety of sizes and prices. Always remember to pick the right studio size for the shoot. If you are planning to bring lots of models and a bigger team you may have a problem. Some of the studios have a limit of how many people can be accommodated. It is a good idea to check the website if there are any restrictions or call the owner for more information.
Equipment
- always check with the studio what is included in the hire price. Some of the studios have all the lighting and props included in the price and some will charge you extra for everything. Most of the studios have everything listed on the website, read carefully to avoid any inconvenience and disappointment.
Punctuality
- it is very important that you come and finish on time, in many cases there will be another person booking the studio after you and it is not nice to let the next person wait for you. Plus the studio owner may charge you extra for the delay and overtime. Always include setup/take down time in your hiring hours. That means that if you book studio from 10am till 2pm you have to do everything within the time frame.
When to book
- a good photography studio hire studio is usually booked up within one or two weeks ahead so do not expect to book the studio for Saturday calling on Friday. Make sure you call for booking much earlier. Most of the owners will reserve a date for you for a day or two giving you time to organise everything.
Also most studio will require from you a non-returnable booking fee to secure your date. This is to make sure that you will show up on the day and that the owner does not lose revenue in case you don't show up or have an emergency cancellation.
Here is the link to one of the photography studio hire in London.
Fashion Photography - My job as a fashion photographer
What is Fashion Photography?
Fashion photography is not only about the clothing, or brand that is being shown, it’s about the message that the image projects to the viewer. To make beautiful and interesting fashion picture you need to put few very important ingredients together.
First and the most important is model, then the outfit, makeup and hair, location and the last will be lighting and photographer.
Obviously skills of the photographer are very important but no skill can help if you have a bad model, not knowing what to do wearing really bad outfit and makeup.
My journey with fashion photography begging some time ago, that was the time when I didn't understand how important is this whole thing. I could put a model in front of the camera and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my pictures.
Took me some time to realise that it wasn't about my lighting or my skills it was all about the models and the outfit. But I think this is the way we all start, and the more we learn the more we begin to understand what is all about. It takes time to built confidence, creativity and the understanding for the Fashion Photography. I the past I have been shooting for several companies with verity of clothing form lingerie to bridal and many others.
What is my job as a fashion photographer ?
It is not only to photograph clothing but also to illuminate the ideas and associations suggested by the seasons, the range of clothes, the designer or the design brand.
Fashion Photographer work both in studio and on locations to create original and eye-catching photographs that illustrate and advertise clothes, accessories and lifestyle.
Photographer must understand each client's brand image and be able to work closely with other creative people to fulfil the idea. Fashion Photographer usually work in busy studios, and must have good experience in lighting and be able to work effectively under pressure.
Most of the time photographer has to work very fast to capture the entire collection within the hours.
The demand and pressure from the client is growing while the budgets for the photo shoots are shrinking every year.
Here are some of the images I took recently for few of my clients in the studio and on location.
Please click on the link to see some more interesting articles regarding fashion photography.
London Portrait Photographer-shoot with Jayvic and Jahilez
Here are some of the images from the latest session with Jayvic and Jahilez, two very talented singers and writers from London. As a London portrait photographer I knew that this will be very good session. The moment I saw those two guys I knew I have to come with something good, something which really show those two artists. I knew that there is potential and that both of them will do them best to get good result. The competition is massive, a specially in place like London so to make them stand out from the crowd I had to create something different. I decided to go for little bit moody look. The biggest challenge was to find the right place to shoot, and since I couldn't find anything I want I had to do ti myself. So I went to B&Q I bought plaster board, paint wooden panels. Two days of work with few of my friends and here we are inside the room ready to shoot. I was probably more exited about building the set then taking the picture... However as in life even London portrait photographer can learn something new every day.
To show the wall lamps I had to drag shatter speed and set ISO to 400. Canon 5D mark2, 70-200 IS I also used one soft box placed in front and above the subject.
In this image I used to soft boxes in clamp shall position with two strip boxes behind the subject to create rim light.
To see more about London portrait photographer Pawel Spolnicki just click on the link S.O.P
Headshot Photographer London
I have been doing headshot photographer for some time now and I would like to share with you some of my experiences and also technics I use to make a good picture. Every time I have a new client in the studio I start simple. Most of the time with white background and nice soft bright light I always play good music for them and take lots of pictures to worm up the clients and to relax them a little bit. Being a headshot photographer in London it's not easy coz there is a massive competition and you have to do everything to stand out from the crowd. The key to success is good lighting and expression you can pool out of your model. If one of them is not right there will be always something missing in the image. Here is my favourite set of lights for headshot photography. I set two lights in clamshell position, on the top I put softbox or beauty dish and on the bottom softbox of the reflector. To make light nice and soft I place them as close to the model as possible plus close lights give you beautiful catchlights which are an absolute must in headshot and portrait photography.
I'm shooting wide open to create great depth of the field but remember when you shoot 2.8 or 2.0 make sure that your focus is perfect other ways you will find lots of soft and blurry pictures. I focus on the lower eyelid and most of my pictures are ok. I shoot full-frame and most of the time I use 70-200 F2.8 lens, for some reason, I feel like that is the best lens for the job. Its nicely compressing the background behind the subject and it helps to get read of all the distracting things in the pictures. I always place my model far from the background that the key light does not affect the background. I just like to have full control over the lighting.
Here are some of the pictures I took using clamshell lighting set up.
Glamour Photographer London
Glamour Photographer London.
A few weeks ago I was asked to do the photoshoot for a fantastic lingerie designer Sonata Rapalyte - Sonata Lingerie.
As a glamour photographer in London, I had to think of something special, something which would really show the beautiful new collection.
We did not have much time to get ready with the whole shoot and after a few reschedules and problems we have managed to choose the date. And since there was not much time to look for the location we have decided to do a photoshoot in my studio which was quite challenging.
I had to make the studio look like some hotel room and since the studio has four white walls and a bit of background it wasn't easy. But I think that every glamour photographer has on some point problems like this and have to deal with it.
Here is how I have done it...We bought some furniture and lamps and we have made this beautiful wall from plasterboards to imitate a large room. We knew exactly what we want and slowly started to see the effects. We had a fantastic model Keeana Kee knowing exactly what to do which is a big plus during the photoshoot, and extremely talented hair and makeup artist Gosia Peruzynska and you can see the effects of the work below.
Click on the link to see more of the Sonata Lingerie
In this picture, I positioned the model on the floor around 3m from the background. I placed a horizontal strip with a grid above her head very close to her ( just out of the frame of the camera) and I added one strobe and I pointed to the floor as a fill.
In this picture, we need to add a little bit more feel of the glamour photography. We have bought furniture and lamps and we place them in the way so they look like they are inside the room.
I set the camera to F2.0 to make a very shallow depth of field. I have placed vertical strips with a grid on each side of the model to narrow the beam of light and I pointed one strobe with a reflector with a grid on the furniture to make it more visible.
All the strobes were gelled with half CTO to match the colour temperature of the table lamp.
In this glamour picture, I placed again strip boxes on both sides of the model. The one on the left was very loose to the models face to imitate the light of the lamp and the one on the right was approximately 2.5m from the model to give me a nice rime light on the leather jacket.
I have set the camera to make sure that I can see the light from the lamps. The rest was adjusted accordingly.
As a Glamour Photographer, I have to say that I love the simple window light. I have a large window in the studio which I use quite often.
In here I placed the model next to the window. Camera settings: 85mm, F2.0, ISO 200, 1/320
I hope that this short article will help you to become a better glamour photographer in London where competition is really big and you have to make your way through.
Click on the link to see more work from glamour photographer London
Also, you can find here some useful information about Fashion Photography and Glamour Photography.