Group Shoot

March 24, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

While most of my photography is done with a bare minimum of help I find that from time to time it is great to join up with other people and do a group shoot. These enable you to work with a large number of models as well to see other photographers in action.

At the end of February I joined a shoot organised by make up artist Grace Krishnan, photographers Kevin Nj and Sharyn Reeve, and models Grace, Jasmine and Stacey.

Grace did most of the arrangements for the day which was no mean feat as she was holidaying in Australia at the time and only arrived back in the country last on the night before. She was then up by 7.00am to start makeup on the models. On top of that she loaned the girls their outfits.

We had chosen Kaitoke Regional Park for the shoot. We knew that the models would be ready around noon so we needed a location that offered us shade. The contrast between ball gowns and forest also appealed.

The day went without too much hitches. We started in the forest area and then moved to the river bank. The models then got changed and while Sharyn shot Grace in the river I worked with the other two.

A group of school boys added some entertainment at one point as well. Below is a selection of images from the day.

Jasmine in one of my favourite shots of the day

Random Thoughts

It just got harder

March 24, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

In December 2012 I wrote a blog post about the perils of people using Facebook as their sole marketing tool. This came after news that the company had changed the search algorithm so that only about 15% of posts would appear in newsfeeds (unless you paid for them).

Today came another post suggesting that Facebook intends to push this down to as low as 1% but at the same time allowing more content to come into feeds from advertising. Now Facebook is a publically listed company and it has to make a living so there is nothing wrong with it wanting to make a return for the billions invested in it. There are some real issues with this change though. Firstly there was a recent video that showed that many of the clicks that people were paying for were actually fake, and so where the number of “likes” that a page was receiving. On top of that many of the photographers with facebook pages (myself included) have been blinded by wanting as many likes as possible and have encourage other photographers to “Like” our page.

The net result is that as the number of people who will see your post in decreased by Facebook then the greater chance that those who see you post will not be interested in the material anyway. This just further the arguments that I put up in December 2012 that if you are trying to promote your photographic business then Facebook needs to only be part of the solution.

Nature

It can’t be that difficult, can it?

March 20, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

One of the great joys that many kids (and quite a few adults) share is blowing the seeds from a dandelion head. When I got my macro lens I did attempt several shots of the delicate arrangement designed to spread the seeds on the wind. Now static shots were great but I wanted to capture something better. A shot of the seeds actually leaving the stem.

Fortunately my wife agreed to provide the wind power provided that she was not in the shot and a local field provided us with a fine selection of specimens that were carefully brought home. Expectations were high that this would be very simple. After all it can’t be that difficult to shot.

In reality it was quite difficult. Firstly I should have realised that the seeds only come off when they are ripe or if you hit them with a gale. My wife was not generating enough strength in her blow and so we resorted to a hair blower. Unfortunately this worked a little two week. They tended to bend in the airflow rather than come off or move around which meant it was out of focus. Those that did come off simply appeared as a blur in the image.

I quickly determined that I needed to ramp up the shutter speed and we quickly got above the 1/200s that was the synch speeds on strobes. Add to that the fact that macro lens have very tiny depth of field that it was impossible to shoot them inside against the simple background I had set up. Bringing in a halogen light even didn’t help.

In the end it became obvious that we needed to shoot outside and my daughter took over the blowing duties. We finally managed to get three useable shots but they were still not as good as I would have liked.

As a footnote after the shoot someone told me that the easiest way to get the seeds to come off the head is not actually to blow across it, but to blow into the shaft (which is hollow).

Models

Glamorous looks and guitars

March 13, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

In January I answered a casting call on model mayhem where a lady by the name of Hailee was looking for a series of images for her portfolio that involved her guitar. We arranged to meet over coffee and worked out that she was looking for two completely different looks.

The first was a glamorous look in the style of Dita Von Tease, and the second was a series of shots with the guitar that were inspired by a series of shots from the 60’s involving Bridget Bardow.

I arranged to use a friends studio in Wellington and Ivy Gordon agree to do hair & makeup.

While I am really pleased with the results I learned a big lesson from the session that adequate time needs to be planned for hair & makeup. The actual time for shooting ended up being rather squeezed and so it ended being more rushed than I tend to like.

Models

Back to the waterfall

March 13, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

As I mentioned in a previous post, (Rocks, Waterfalls and beautiful girl) when I asked for models interested in shooting at the waterfall I was so overwhelmed with responses that I was able to split the shoot into two sessions. Furthermore I decided that the second shoot was to involve two models as I believed the pool areas was large enough.

From the group that had originally applied I picked out two favourites and was about to settle on details when a fellow photographer pointed out that one of the girls was only 16. Now for a fully clothed shoot this would not have been an issue but I had made it quite clear in the casting that this was involving fabric lengths and that I did not want underwear under them. She had never mentioned her age at all. I then discovered that the other model was only 17 so she was now out of contention. After looking at their images I decided to go with Eileen and Heidi.

That selection did not last long as the day after I met with Heidi she texted me to say that she had damaged her foot and even sent the x-ray to prove it. That was ok. Kat replaced Heidi.

Then the weather gods decided to intervene. The shoot was planned for the Sunday afternoon. It started raining on Saturday morning and continued all day. Sunday morning continued with misty rain and the temperature struggled to get above 15 degrees. I visited the site and while the water had not much higher than the Friday, everything was wet and so I decided that it would just turn into a cold and miserable experience for everyone. The shoot would have to rescheduled for a week.

Eileen could still make it but Kat could not. So back to the list and after several others who could not make it, I settled on Renee who I had shot with before.

Everything was arranged for a meet at a location where people would not get lost and we managed to make it to the waterfall. The first series of shots were taken individually and involved the girls in fabric drapes. This went quite well although the girls were not impressed when they found a very large spider on one of the rocks.

Renee in a 5 metre lace wrap. We had to careful that it did not get too close of the water because the weight could have been an issue.

For the second shot I wanted to have the girls together in the pool fully dressed. I had estimated that the pool was only about a metre deep so this should not have been an issue. That estimate proved to be way off and with an estimate that it was over their heads we changed the shoot. Both girls were real troopers as the water was very cold.

Random Thoughts

Removing emotion

March 6, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

I hope that this will not come across as pompous or arrogant.

One of the most difficult elements when it comes to looking at images we have taken is separating what is in the image from the emotions that surrounded its creation. Unless we can do this effectively then we will not only not see the image as others see it, but also will not be able to accept any negative comments about it.

This fact was clearly demonstrated this week during a discussion on the Facebook Group I belong to.

A women posted a link to her photographic website where she was offering her services to shoot portraits and weddings. After someone else commented about the use of the music on the site I decided to have a look.

The pricing model she was using was rather unusual and comments like “my kid will be in tow” and I can only shoot for a maximum of 4 hours quickly confirmed the suspicion that she was an amateur looking to earn a little pocket money on the side, rather than a professional.

It was her wedding section that really got my attention. It contained a lot of images (around 60 I would guess) but when you looked at them it was not hard to see that there were only two weddings. Now everyone has to start somewhere so I am not knocking her on that regard. It was the quality of the images.

One in particular took my eye (as it was large) and showed a bride and her father. Composition was good but the father had his eyes shut. Several others also showed issues with eyes.

When I stated in a comment that it was an image that I would have been rejected, she got really defensive and snotty. She stated that his eyes were shut because of the angle of the sun, and that the bride really loved it. She then deleted the thread from Facebook.

Now there is an important element here. With wedding photography the bride and groom are your customers and quite frankly provided that they like the shots then the opinion of other people (especially photographers) really doesn’t matter. However when she posted the image on her website it was no longer for the benefit of the bride and groom. It was trying to show her ability as a photographer. Therefore it was the end image that needed to stand on its own.

While she would have been aware of the emotions of the day and the bride’s reaction to the image, I only saw an image of a guy with his eyes closed. If sun was the issue then I would have expected a photographer to work around the issue. Without the emotion I saw images that would not encourage me to recommend her to shoot a wedding.

It is the same when we come to competition images. The judge doesn’t care that you had to get up before dawn, tramp 6 hours, fit a million sand flies to get that picture. They are only interested in what the image portrays to them.

Events, People

All the fun of the fair

February 15, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

Petone is a small centre at the northern end of Wellington harbour. When the first settler boats arrived in the 1800’s they landed here and the first settlements were established. The area has a lot of very old villas and its main street escaped most of the strip mall development of the 1970’s to retain a very old character.

Each year in February the Petone Rotary Club close off most of the main street and set up a street market. Somewhere around 400 stalls sell or promote their services to around 30,000 people. It is therefore a great place to practise a little street photography or to simply enjoy people watching.

Fairs like this bring out the crazy in people especially teenagers. Although they are also an excuse for bad t-shirts.

To many of the kids on this ride this will be their first roller coaster. The girl in front has supreme confidence while the two behind don't look like they are enjoying themselves — To many of the kids on this ride this will be their first roller coaster. The girl in front has supreme confidence while the two behind don’t look like they are enjoying themselves

This ride is a lot more sedate than the other.

There is a wide variety of sideshows trying to relieve you of your money with the promise of prizes

This little guy has found something he really likes in the used toys stall

A group of older stallholders promoting tai-chi

When I say this lady talking on the phone I could not resist the shot — When I saw this lady talking on the phone I could not resist the shot

In the middle of the shops is an old villa used as professional offices. The grapevine over the porch is probably a century old and has a very fine crop this year

Mother and daughter have visited the face paint stand together

This little guy was not all that convinced when this lady painted his hand and asked him to put it on a piece of paper

Some of the stall holders really get into the festive spirit.

Local band Shenanigans entertain for the balcony of the Empire hotel

Someone has been very busy hand knitting these items although I do wonder whether any copyright fees have been paid to the original designers

Models

Rocks, water and a beautiful girl

February 14, 2014 whittyp 3 Comments

Some years ago I found a very special little waterfall and pool beside a walk in Upper Hutt. I just knew that it would be great for a shoot. My vision was to shoot a model in flowing fabric where what she was wearing and the water would meld into a single image. Knowing that the water would be fairly cool I always reserved this shoot for Summer but had never been successful in finding someone willing to take part.

That changed this year when a Facebook group was set up specifically for models, makeup artists and photographers who wanted to collaborate on projects. I took a punt and posted the shot I had of the location and was absolutely blown away with the response. Something with the concept and location touched the right cord and within hours I had lots of models to choose from. That resulted in me developing the idea from a single shoot into two with the second using two models. As I had planned to extend Waitangi day holiday into the weekend I planned the first shoot for Friday (7^th) and the second shoot for the Sunday.

One of the first models to approach me was Ashleigh-Jane who happened to live in Upper Hutt so she was offered the Friday shoot. She had recently done a shoot with another Wellington photographer that I know so I was given a good reference.

With my models I do try to meet up with them in a public place beforehand as I find that this removes a lot of nerves from the shoot itself. We did this and it was obvious that Ashleigh-Jane had thought about the shoot. After deciding that the original choice of material would not suit her complexion she left with a length on fabric that she was going to create a gown from. To ease her comfort I was happy for her to bring along a friend. You can image my surprize when the friend turned out to be Issy who was one of the finalist in the New Zealand Top Model contest. She had shot with some of the top photographers in the country, so you can imagine there was a certain nervousness on how I would measure up.

The day was perfect and the whole shoot went really well, apart from me slipping on a rock and coming away with a few grazes. We started on the rocks and then like a professional she moved into the water and then in the pool at the base of the falls. She was not concerned about the cold but was a little worried as to whether the stream had any eels in it. The location has really nice lighting at the top but was a little dark once we moved to the lower pool. This was easily remedied by getting Issy to use a reflector and shine it into the area. We used the gold side to create a very warm light.

The images came out exactly what I was wanting.

Photo a Day

By the Numbers

January 27, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

Since 1 January 2011 I have been doing a photo a day challenge with the intention of both improving my skills and also trying new things out. I started with a small number of others who are still continuing the challenge. As more of an academic exercise, than anything else, at the end of each year we review the images we have taken and classify them into subjects. The table below shots the number of images in each category over the last three years.

Classification	2013	2012	2011
People	41	34	24
Events	28	27	30
Sports	5	5	4
Street	52	42	26
Plants	39	35	43
Animals	4	5	9
Birds	16	4	7
Insects	2	3	1
Urban Landscape/Building	72	71	67
Rural landscapes	14	24	14
Still Life/Objects	56	93	94
Weather/Skies	14	6	21
Transport	22	16	24

The table below is sorted based on the how the 2013 classification totals entered up and is useful to see how there is some movement between them.

Placing	2013	2012	2011
Urban Landscape/Building	1	2	2
Still Life/Objects	2	1	1
Street	3	3	5
People	4	5	6
Plants	5	4	3
Events	6	6	4
Transport	7	8	6
Birds	8	12	11
Rural landscapes	9	7	9
Weather/Skies	9	9	8
Sports	11	10	12
Animals	12	10	10
Insects	13	13	13

There was really no surprise to me with the top three categories given that most of my images are shot during my lunchtime around the city. What was pleasing though was the drop in the “Still Life/Objects” category. I say this because it is the category that usually carried images when I have been a little stretched to come up with something good for the day. This category also includes a very wide range of subjects including such varied items as Art works to food.

The classification is somewhat arbitrary as there is quite a lot of overlap. For example the majority of shots in the categories of “Street”, “Events”, and “Sports” actually involve people. I only classify images in the “people” session that are part of portrait sessions where the person posed for the image. If you summarise the categories into major headings then it is quite clear where I do tend to focus my attention.

Major Grouping	2013	2012	2011
People Related	126	108	84
Landscapes & Weather	100	101	102
Man Made	78	109	118
Nature	61	47	60

While there are 13 classifications shown, there has never been a single month in the last 3 years where images have been submitted against all of them. In fact there have only been 3 months where the maximum of 11 categories were shot.

Events, People, Random Thoughts

Shooting people in the street

January 23, 2014 whittyp Leave a comment

Last weekend was Wellington Anniversary which meant we got the Monday off work. As such it appeared that lots of events were planned to occur and the Saturday was particularly popular. In addition to several beach related sports event, there we two large scale festivals. In Civic Square there was “Out in the Square” which was a celebration of the gay community and at Waitangi Park the Wellington Pasifica Festival was held.

The events had appeared in a number of facebook posts with the comments from those going that it was a great event especially if you liked to shoot street photography. So camera and a couple of lens we headed into town and the first stop was Civic Square.

At first glance the event had all the elements that you tend to associate with gay events, namely lots of colour and drag queens.

The announcer for the entertainment certainly stood out from the crowd.

Now flamboyant people are great to shoot and those that are entertainers I have no qualms about photographing them. But as I walked round the festival and talked to some of the stall holders I just got the feeling that it was not appropriate to simple shoot others on this occasion. I do not know why but I thought that there was almost a risk that I was trying to capture them as if they were a freak show, whereas in fact they are perfectly normal people.

I know that there is a bit f an argument that goes on in Street photography in terms of whether you should ask someone whether you can take their picture. On one side is the thought that if you are going to invade their space then you should be polite and seek their permission. Countering this is the equally strong argument that if you ask then they will pose and that destroys the candid side of the image that you want to create.

I am a little in both camps. For some images I will simply take the image, but generally if I want them looking straight at me I will ask permission.

I found this lady's make, costume and the umbrella quite appealing so I asked if she would mind me taking her image. — I found this lady’s make, costume and the umbrella quite appealing so I asked if she would mind me taking her image.

The bright colour hair was the initial attraction with this lady. Again permission was sought

We then moved onto Pasifica after a slight detour through the city.

This dog was waiting to greet people in a small gallery in Vivian street that we didn't know existed. — This dog was waiting to greet people in a small gallery in Vivian street that we didn’t know existed.

Pasifica was very crowded and it was a little difficult to shoot the craft being worked on without other people getting in the way.

Making Tapa cloth is a very slow process.

All concentration producing headbands, although not with natural ingredients

Finally on the way back to the car a street performer was entertaining the crowd in front of the Te Papa museum. In the case of street entertainer I will normally shoot them first and then pay them some money.

pwfotos

Group Shoot

It just got harder

It can’t be that difficult, can it?

Glamorous looks and guitars

Back to the waterfall

Removing emotion

All the fun of the fair

Rocks, water and a beautiful girl

By the Numbers

Shooting people in the street

A photographic journey

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A photographic journey