A selection of images from recent architectural shoots.
Author: Jon
Hanging Lake, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Hanging Lake is a clear turquoise lake with a waterfall that spills into it that is only about a mile walk from the car park – unfortunately that mile is all uphill and sometimes pretty steep. Not so good if you have heavy camera equipment with you! However, the lake is an impressive sight after the uphill climb and worth the effort. See the attached link for further information: http://www.visitglenwood.com/hanging-lake
To photograph the waterfall I wanted to use a slower shutter speed to blur/smooth out the water. I didn’t have tripod with me as I had decided to leave it in the UK. My Canon 24-105mm L lens was on the body (which is my go-to lens) it has its own internal stabilizer system which means I can hand hold it at lower shutter speeds. The slowest I got was 1/5th which is fine on the wider end of the lens but a little wobbly nearer the telephoto end. I did shoot some images with a faster shutter but I generally prefer the blurred water.
There’s a good review of the 24-105mm here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-24-105mm-f-4-L-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Just off the main path to Hanging Lake there was also ‘Spouting Rock’ where icy water from snow-melt forces its way through a narrow hole in the rock, producing a waterfall of cold water which you can stand behind and take more photographs. Once behind the falls you really are shooting from a cave to open daylight so exposure was becoming a bit of a juggling act.
My Partners G5’s LCD screen had failed so she was struggling to photograph behind the falls, we had to go old skool with me passing meter readings to her. As the G5 is a compact camera, the aperture doesn’t directly match a DSLR’s so we ended up with some blown images.
Clive and the SBA
I recently photographed Clive down on Plymouth’s Barbican for the SBA. The photographs where commissioned to illustrate an article on the SBA’s website profiling Clive’s story and the help he had received from them. The SBA is a charity that provides support for solicitors and their dependants in the UK, follow this link to read the full article.
Recent commercial shoots
Some images from recent commercial work that I’ve been doing.
Interior work
I’ve been photographing a lot of property lately, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to put some up on the site. The image above is of the main living area in one of the flats at the Royal William yard here in Plymouth. The room is huge and to get this final image took thirty individually lit pictures, which were then re-combined in Photoshop to produce the finished product.
Part of the joy in being a photographer is going to different places and seeing behind closed doors, so getting to take pictures of this luxury flat was great.
The Flat has a contemporary open plan living area and kitchen, it has to be one of the biggest single room spaces I’ve been in.
Jon
Quadcopter flying
At the beginning of the year I got hold of a Team Black Sheep Discovery, its a ‘big boys toy’. Multi-rotor heli platforms are becoming very popular for filming on a professional and recreational level. I’d looked at a few different models before settling on the Disco, there loads of varietions on the theme most aimed at getting a Gopro in the air. Although more expensive options are available for putting larger cameras (compacts and DSLR’s) skyward. In the end it was the FPV ( first person view) aspect that clinched the deal for me. Along side the Gopro sits a small camera that with the use of an LCD monitor or a video headset allows you to fly the model as if you’re in the cockpit.
As I said really it’s a ‘Big boys toy’ great fun to fly and a rather inexpensive way to get airborne if you look at the cost of a private pilots licence.
For more information about Team Black Sheep go here.
Microlight and Gopro
Charlotte got me one of those experience vouchers as a Christmas present last year, and I finally got around to using it a couple weeks back.
We’d picked up a Gopro for filming our skiing trips and this seemed like an excellent opportunity to use it. So if you have a spare thirty minutes you can watch my flight, or just skip to around 23 minutes in as the pilot fly’s low over some fields (Really Low!).
Age UK Exeter 10K Run
A really, really cold day! Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even if they where turning blue…
A big congratulations to Tom Merson for winning the men’s race in time of 00:31:15, with Dan Nash second and Ollie Garrod in third. The women’s race was won by Martha Neal with Clare Hodgson second and Jessica Craig coming home third.
I was on location for SportCam and images of the race can be seen on their site here.
Age UK have the ‘Wrap up and Run’ event’s throughout the country to raise funds and awareness for old people within the UK. You find out more about them here.
Deviation
Photomontage is one of those techniques that I dabbled with back in the day. Many hours in the darkroom printing then cutting out and sticking together, before re-photographing and maybe the odd bit of painting to hide the joins.
Roll forward a few years, add Photoshop and Deviantart is awash with photographic manipulation! I have to say I enjoy mixing images together as much now as I did back in my college years.
For those of you out there who have no idea what Deviantart is, it’s a place where artist’s amateur and professional can showcase their art and idea’s and is well worth a look.
These are just a few of the images I’ve worked up over the last year, I have two Deviantart ID’s for my work.
These images and others can be viewed here.
My professional showcase is here.
Charlotte’s Portraits
I wanted to get some different portraits of Charlotte for the re-launch of the website. We got hold of two Venetian masks and proceeded to muck about. This was a very silly session, I look like a right wally with either of the masks on and ‘no I’m not posting pictures!’
I was using a single light source (elinchrom D-lite with softbox) close to Charlotte. We also had a fan on to introduce some movement to her hair, the background is a smoke grey Colorama roll. This set up is very small and portable so can be used in most houses for a single or couple’s shoot.