training shots
tony kindly leant me his flash so i could attempt something fancy when i did my photoshoot thing last saturday. here’s one of my test shots on a non-human head.
photo techniques
top 10 rules of photography
there was a lomography convention in trafalgar square this week, with 100,000 (i think) photos stuck up on boards. i can relate to their 10 rules of photography !
esther jumping
(using this technique)
the key to a different perspective
i take a lot of photos from a low angle. and here’s a good example showing the difference between an above picture of a lost broken key and a low angle version of the same thing.
to get the low angle picture i set my little compact camera to macro mode and centre point focussing, place it against the ground, and point it in the general direction of thing i’m photoing.
i usually end up taking 4 or 5 shots to get the thing i want to be in focus, with a fair bit of chimping at the time to check.
the worst bit is standing up again as i’m usually wearing my heavy backpack with laptop and various heavy documents.
the crouch is usually worth it though.
so there you go. you probably knew all that already.
smart photography
here’s a photography idea. put a webcam on a smart car and park outside a bar
the strobist hand
i’ve been practising my flashing following the strobist seminar. one of the tricks in getting your light right is to take pictures of your hand (so you don’t have to be fiddling about when the person you actually want to photo turns up)
just in case you are interested, this is the same scene, lit in different ways. (it’s not that exciting actually is it)
strobist seminar
i went on an off flash photography course yesterday by the chap who runs strobist. fantastic but exhausting stuff.
it was one of those courses that’s inspirational, but reveals how much i’ve got to learn and practice ! i tried a few things we’d learnt yesterday afternoon and got thoroughly depressed (and kezia got bored). so i stood in front of my flash instead and kezia took my photo
flash photography
i’ve been trying to expand my camerist skills a bit and trying to get in to lighting. i’m completely rubbish to be honest, but it’s worth a go. so far i’ve managed to get a remote trigger for my canon flash, seen here bungied to my monopod.
kezia loves being camerist’s mate, holding the extended monopod to the side of the thing i’m photoing.
fun with a toy camera
joseph (seen here) had a disposable camera with a funny plastic thing which you could put over the lense to make this effect. it fitted my compact camera too, as you can see here.
more ghostly apparitions
i took this long shutter speed self portrait at the same time i took this one. i think i like the wonky colours on this better.
through the kaleidoscope
kezia has a little kaleidoscope type thing which can simulate the effect of halucinogenic drugs in a child friendly way.
i held it against my camera lense and came up with thes quick shots.
orange kezia:
sure you could probably do something fancier digitally, but i liked the randomness and speedyness of the process.
angel kezia:
random upside down photo in tower bridge
here’s a couple of upside down – behind you photos from tower bridge many weekends back
here’s one i took:
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and here’s one esther took (shortly before she dropped the camera on her head!):
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london eye (random overhead)
another overhead shot. this time of the london eye on a particularly sunny london day.
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new photography concept (to me at least)
on our walk andy and i discussed a variety of things (as men spending 4 hours together are want to). along the way we discussed the works of Brian Eno and his interest in the random as part of the creative process.
and so was born this new photography technique. you take your camera and hold it directly above your head (upside down) to take a photo of what’s behind you.
here’s my first attempt. it’s the sky. mostly.
i shall try this technique in other situations.
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