Hi it’s that time of the week again. For Week 14 I did a challenge from Photocrafty: 75 Creative Camera Projects For You And Your Digital SLR by Sue Venables. This weeks challenge was Photo Message which is to write photo messages on a whiteboard and share them with people which I did for 7 days over on my Instagram @lucyandthelens and I am going to share them on here along with a few responses.
I decided to do this challenge for this week because I hoped to bring some positivity into the lockdown. I started and ended the week with the same message to say Stay Home, Stay Safe, Protect Your NHS as I wanted the message to be reiterated and people to bear it in mind.
Here are the messages for the week:
Day One and Seven
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day 6
Just a few responses to the questions too. For Day 3 creative I had experimenting with radial gradients, documenting the barren cityscapes and dancing in the park. For Day 5 teaching the best response of the week was I’m building a dark room, think I’ll get top marks for homeschooling my kids science.
For next week for week 15 I am going to be doing another challenge from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. Week 15’s challenge is Be Gross. This means photographing things that you would normally find in the rubbish or picking up rocks or rotted wood in the garden and photographing the things that lie beneath.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Be Gross challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #begross.
Welcome to my first instalment of my monthly Photographer Q and A. My first photographer is Gig Photographer: Button Photographic.
How did you get into Photography?
I started by taking holiday snaps on an old iPod many years back and I realised I quite enjoyed the act of taking photos, eventually I bought myself a DSLR and I kept shooting more and more.
What kind of gear do you use?
I use a Nikon D3300 with a NIKKOR 35mm lens most of the time
Which is your favourite lens? Why?
My 35mm because it is the perfect length for me as I find it can get shots with a lot of coverage but also shots that are close up.
So, you’re a gig photographer? How did that subject peak your interest?
I did one random gig shoot with a friend’s band and after that I began doing it more often and slowly built a love for the shots I was getting and the music I was hearing especially within the Manchester music scene.
What settings do you typically use for your gig photography?
I have to use settings which are typically best for low light, but every gig venue has different lighting so sometimes It isn’t as hard to make sure the shots are well lit.
Do you follow a shot list when you shoot a gig or event, or do you prefer to have free reign?
Free reign
How do you usually post process your work?
I organise all the shots that I like and then put them through lightroom so I can improve colour and light where it is needed
What makes a good photograph in your eyes?
If the photo gives people a lot of visual information and tells a story that typically is quite good but also a well framed and lit photo goes a long way as well.
Are there any other styles of photography you enjoy?
I really enjoy landscape and architecture photography as it is quite different from what I usually shoot
Tell us the story behind your favourite picture?
A shot I took when I went camping last September, we spent a few hours walking in pretty rough rain before getting to the campsite but when we got there and started pitching our tent we were greeted with this gorgeous rainbow.
It was a lovely surprise considering I expected the weather to be atrocious the whole time and I was overjoyed to get a shot of it.
I shot it on my Nikon D3300 with my Sigma 10-20mm lens.
I can’t really decide whether this is my “favourite picture” but it’s up there for sure!
Rainbow By Button Photographic
Have you done any cool projects recently that you’d like to discuss?
I have started shooting on film as a bit of a personal experiment to see how my film photos compare to my digital ones, I have found it to be very refreshing as it is a lot more involving.
When you do travel what do you take with you and why?
My Nikon D3300 with my NIKKOR 35mm and sigma 10 – 20mm because having these two lenses usually give me the variety I want when travelling and they aren’t too heavy.
Is there any photographers work that has influenced and inspired you? If so who?
Cody Smyth has been a big influence on my Music photography because of his amazing work documenting the early years of The Strokes.
Do you shoot both digital and film?
I have recently started shooting film as mentioned before.
Where do you expand your photographic knowledge?
Lots of practice is the best way I learn new skills.
Gig Photography By Button Photographic
Gig Photography By Button Photographic
Gig Photography By Button Photographic
Gig Photography By Button Photographic
Lightening Strikes by Button Photographic
Skater Against Grafitti Wall by Button Photographic
I hope you enjoyed something a little different showcasing and discussing the work of Button Photographic: Gig Photographer. Stay Tuned for the next installment with Alf Myers Photography:Street Photographer Next Month.
It’s Friday and You know what that means it’s photo challenge day.
Last week I set my week 13 challenge which was another challenge from be a Super Awesome Photographer called Make A Scene. For this challenge I used toys and other objects as props to create a scene. Henry says to use a lamp to create dramatic lighting and experiment with backgrounds to make the scenes more theatrical.
This week I took out a selection of Sylvanian Familiies And A 50mm Lens and some other objects to create my scenes.
Here are this week’s results:
Lets Go On An adventure
Lets Go On An adventure
Lets Go On An adventure
Lets Go On An adventure
Stay Healthy Kids
Stay Healthy Kids
Lets Plant Kids
Lets Plant Kids
Lets Plant Kids
Lets Plant Kids
I Want To Ride A Unicorn
I Want To Ride A Unicorn
What Do We Read Next
Workout Time
Workout Time
Workout Time
Lets Play Chess
Read To Me
I Believe I Can Fly
I Believe I Can Fly
For next week in Week 14 I am going to be doing a challenge from Photocrafty: 75 Creative Camera Projects For You And Your Digital SLR by Sue Venables. Week 14’s challenge is Photo Message which is to write photo messages on a whiteboard and share them with people which I will be doing for 7 days over on my Instagram @lucyandthelens and I will share them on here and maybe some of the ressponses to them next Friday.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge why not have a go at next weeks Photo Message challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #photomessage.
Today I’m going to review the master photography podcast titled Six creative portrait images with Connor Hibbs (Colorado Based Photographer), Hosted by Jeff Harmon (photographer).
I went into this podcast as a first-time listener of master photography podcasts. I didn’t know what to expect from this 1 hr 12-minute podcast at all, but I was very impressed. It was extremely insightful and having the show notes on hand during meant I could develop a deeper understanding of just what was happening.
The podcast starts with a message telling us to stay safe which is important right now due to the pandemic.
At the start of the discussion Connor and Jeff talked about the anatomy of a portrait shoot. In finding that Connor didn’t have any personal projects in his portfolio he set himself a challenge to do one fun personal project every month. Just taking something for himself. This is something that helps his photography grow and flourish.
This is something I find exciting too. Back in 2016 I set myself Photo Challenges weekly to expand my creative thinking and grow as a photographer. It was just this month that I decided to bring it back while we are in isolation and carry on even when this period ends.
For me my personal projects are usually with models/ clients I now call friends. I like to do shoots with concepts like at Halloween I collaborated with another photographer and we did a harlequin and jilted bride shoot with a model each. We shot this in the woods and in December I worked with an actress I’ve worked with a few times, who’s really good at makeup to do a jack frost/ ice queen inspired Christmas Shoot.
So, think about this don’t just take images for someone else, do some personal projects for yourself too.
The next part of the podcast was about how he connected with his first model who was in the first two images. It was fashion photographer Johnny Edward who he met on Instagram around 6 years ago and they did a swap shop earlier this year. So, they both took photos of each other.
The two photographers also used each other’s set-ups in the shoot. Myself knowing a lot of photographers I think this is a great idea. It would teach you both something as you would see what lighting set-ups the other photographer would use and see if you can implement them into your future shoots and whether they can implement yours.
I think that photographing another photographer might provide you with a new perspective and I’d like to try this when life gets back to normal.
Unless you’re a self-portrait artist or really love taking selfies photographers tend to rarely shoot themselves. a compliment to the photographer is when the image is used as a social media profile picture like Connor Hibbs did with Johnny Edwards photo as mentioned in the podcast.
The main thing I took from the first shoot with Johnny Edward that was shown is that he tried to find objects and props to compliment the image which is something I should do more of. Johnny got a £10 rug from a thrift store to use. I suppose the message here is to always look for props you can take to a shoot. The closest I’ve done to this is using masks to represent hidden identity.
Id’ definitely recommend looking at Johnny Edward’s Instagram @johnycreative like Connor does not only for the amazing photos but for how he tailors them to the square format.
Tips from Connor – Lighting closer to a model creates a more dramatic falloff from the backdrop. Also always try and bring the models personal style into the photoshoot, using complementary tones. Sometimes adding a scarf to an outfit can make an image more compelling. The style of the portraits of Johnny are a really cool blend of high fashion and eclectic style.
I learnt from this shoot not to be afraid to look anywhere and everywhere for one of a kind pieces you can add to your shoots. Also, like Connor did for the other 4 images with the rapper always ask a model to bring a variety of outfits and put them together yourself.
Connor says a shoot will be more natural if you tell the model what poses to do to start them off and then just let the poses flow.
Connor used some one, two and three light setups with a variety of different modifiers mostly circular modifiers and for the 3-light set up two strip lights to light the background and a key light in the foreground to the right of the camera.
With the rapper Connor used a red paper backdrop and pushed himself to experiment with colour. Sometimes trying something new and getting out of your comfort zone can give you more creative control.
Here’s my favourite tip from the entire podcast. Jeff stated that if you use a light grey backdrop and a gel to get new colours the grey makes the gels stand out more. I can’t wait until I’m back in the studio to try this the results in the show notes look brilliant.
Connor always shoots his studio work with 1/125 f8 and iso 100 or 200 and adjusts the aperture accordingly.
Finally, at the end of the podcast Jeff and Connor mentioned a photo contest running from March 19th -April 19th on Flickr and the rules are all images must be shot between those dates and you can win a 30-minute masterclass with one of 4 professionals.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this podcast for portrait photographers and I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5.
If you enjoyed this post let me know in the comments and read more.
DIY Photography shows you have to do a variety of photography related projects. At the moment its highlighting people who are finding clever ways to photograph in Isolation.
This is the blog where you can guarantee to
find anything you need. There’s Camera and photography product reviews, tutorials
and tips for a variety of things, challenges that you can take part in. Just be
sure to read this blog for any kind of Advice.
Picture Correct is my go-to blog for lighting
and editing tips and tricks. My favourite posts are related to lighting
tutorials. I’ve learned so much more about lighting from watching people try it
over video.
Here is the home of the Sunday Shutter
which highlights the best photos there have seen that week which I think is
really cool and good to see what other people have photographed in the last
week.
For me this is another one like digital photography school that has been around for so many years, it’s hard not to find a variety of useful things on here.
Please be sure to check these out and if you enjoyed this posted stay tuned for more.
t’s Friday and I’m back to show you how this weeks challenge went.
So Last week I set my week 12 challenge which is Use Colourful Language from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. This challenge Is about taking pictures using colour as the main element. Literally anthing that catches your eye because of is Colour. See what complimentary colours you can find in the confines of your own house and garden.
This week the challenge wasn’t the easiest task as I found in my Garden the colourful flowers and plants haven’t yet bloomed however I’m an avid reader so I had a lot of colourful books in my room. I also have quite a few ornamental objects and notebooks that are perfect for this challenge. This week like last week I also used a 50mm prime at an aperture between F1.8 and F3.5 and a shutter speed between 1/80 and 1/250.
Below are the results of this challenge:
Yellow Books
Red And Pink Books
Red And Pink Books
Blue Books
Tea
Tea
Shampoo And Conditioner
Peacock Notebook
Butterfly Notebook
London Bus
Kangaroo Coaster
Hats
Hats
Fruit
Always Hufflepuff
BearBee
Bearbee
Bearbee
For next week in Week 13 I am going to be doing another challenge from be a Super Awesome Photographer called Make A Scene. For this challenge you use toys and other figurines as props and create a scene. Henry says to use a lamp to create dramatic lighting and experiment with backgrounds to make the scenes more theatrical.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge why not have a go at next weeks Make A Scene challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #makeascene.
Typically when taking photos on my mobile I use the mobile
version of photoshop (photoshop express) when editing.
The first thing I do when editing quickly is a quick 35%
sharpen of my image as this amount is what I find pushes the image just enough.
Then I auto expose my image but usually change the auto exposure to fit the
mood I want the image to have. As sometimes I find auto exposure to be too
bright or to dark for what I was going for when I took the image. For me these
mobile quick fixes are easier for IPhone photography.
Normally I shoot from a camera so when I first started I’d upload my images to my computer and import them into photoshop to do a more complex edit, without ever using lightroom, now that’s my go to. My processing started in a similar way to my IPhone photography as I started by sharpening the image. My sharpen is slightly different to on the phone as I start by duplicating the original layer and using an unsharp mask filter to sharpen my image to 35%, with a radius of 5.0 pixels and a threshold of 3 levels.
Next I would duplicate my sharpen layer and then I adjust
the levels so the light to dark ratio of my image is perfectly balanced. Then I’d
use auto curves on my image to further improve the light to dark ratio.
Finally, not all images lend themselves to colour and thanks to the Google Nik collection as there are now better ways to make an image black and white without using the standard photoshop desaturation or black and white filter. So, before Lightroom Pre-sets and still on occasion if I think an image shouldn’t be in colour, I use the silver efex pro filter from the Nik Collection as the tool which contains pre-sets. My favourite pre-set is high structure harsh because it makes the original boring background stand out against a subject and I typically used this for street photography and any portrait where I think the original background was dull.
If you enjoyed this look out for more tips and tricks in
further reading on my blog.
Last Week I spent lots of time reading Photocrafty: 75 Challenges for you and your DSLR. The reason I chose this book to read at this point was because most of the population are self-isolating at home due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. I was hoping to find some challenges that you can do at home and luckily there are some exciting ones.
Sue Venables is a Lecturer in video and photography at city
of Westminster college. Sue says “we should look for magic moments everyday”
which is an analogy I really resonate with because I feel as a photographer you
should always be looking for an image and these moments will jump out at you
when you don’t expect it. Take your camera everywhere and just snap what you
see and capture those moments. Remember “The best camera is always the one you
have with you” don’t think you need to have all the expensive kit.
Hope you’re ready as Sue has set 75 challenges for us to do
in Photocrafty. I will be doing these challenges on Fridays on my Photo
Challenge Friday posts and ticking them off when I’ve done them. You can also
join in if you’re interested as I post the next challenge on my blog the week
before.
The book starts off with the very simple techniques in the
challenges and as you go through the book the challenges get more and more
complex. In fact, some might require me to rope in a glamourous assistant like
they do in magic shows.
I thought I’d discuss the top 5 challenges that intrigue me
most in this book rather than listing all 75. So, here are my top 5:
Photo Message
I chose this challenge because I feel that this is one most of us need right now to keep each other in a creative mindset and to encourage each other in this difficult time. For me this one will work best for Instagram and should be next week’s challenge to start on Saturday using a whiteboard or pieces of white card.
Shoot 50 Shots
I absolutely love the idea of this
challenge in that you simply pick one subject and photograph it in 50 ways. I’d
hope this one helps me think more creatively and out of the box.
Photojourno
Taking photos and capturing a story through
image and text is something I love, and I can’t wait to do this on the street
again when I’m able to spend time doing street photography. Id love to
photograph and make notes on the story.
Your Bubble
In my opinion this is the coolest one, you go out photographing with a glass dome or Crystal Ball. The idea is about how we all exist in our own little world (Our Bubble). I’ve done this before here’s a link to my related post: Crystal Ball Photography
Bring History Alive
The Idea is to take an old photo you already
have or from the internet and go back to the same place and photograph what’s
there now or recreate an old photo. During My MA I did this for my how do we
use public space project as I was showing how the space had changed over time.
What we used to use it for and what it used for now.
To conclude my review, I found this book to
be extremely informative on each challenge and I’m so excited to try them out.
Sue mentions what some challenges mean in their original languages., she gives
us a deep insight into what settings you should use for some of their
challenges and gives a list of kit you might need.
I hope you enjoyed this review stay tuned for
more blog posts and reviews.
It’s Friday and I’m back to show you how this weeks challenge went.
So Last week I set my week 11 challenge which is See Things Differently from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. This challenge is about taking ordinary things and seeing them in a new light. For Example, a vacuum could be a twisting python or pancakes could be planets or you could find the alphabet in your photographs. Just use your imagination and see what you come up with.
This week I really struggled with this challenge because I’m sure i was overthinking It. Then I started to relax a little and photograph objects In my house and garden and I noticed things I wouldn’t normally discover. This week I only used my 50mm Prime Lens and Apertures between F1.8 and F5.6. So here is how I saw things differently this week:
The Letter A
The Letter A
Cloud 9: Getting More Done In Isolation
Cupids Arrow
The Fan
Monkey In A Boat
The Chair With A Face
Patterns The Coffee Leaves Behind
Ladder Looks Like a Shelf or Rack
UFO Light
UFO Light
Lamp Becomes an ornament
For next week in Week 12 I am going to be doing another challenge from be a Super Awesome Photographer called Use Colourful Language. This challenge Is about taking pictures using colour as the main element. Literally anthing that catches your eye because of is Colour. See what complimentary colours you can find in the confines of your own house and garden.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge why not have a go at next weeks Use Colourful Language challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #usecolourfullanguage.
Two weeks ago, I asked you to share your best ever shot. My best ever shot is this image below of Stacey because I remember it as the first shot, I won a photography competition with back in 2016 and I think that stays with you. It was one of my first portrait night at Preston Photographic Society Also. It was shot with my 55-200m Telephoto zoom lens. This image was lit with soft boxes and a reflector.
Lucy And The Lens: Stacey
The second image is from Button Photographic. Button Photographic Says: “Here is a shot I took when I went camping last September, we spent a few hours walking in pretty rough rain before getting to the campsite but when we got there and started pitching our tent we were greeted with this gorgeous rainbow.
It was a lovely surprise considering I expected the weather to be atrocious the whole time and I was overjoyed to get a shot of it.
I shot it on my Nikon D3300 with my Sigma 10-20mm lens.
I can’t really decide whether this is my “best shot” but it’s up there for sure!”
Button Photographic: Rainbow
The third image here is from Simon Garner Photography. Simon Garner Says: “I really love the shot, and it was one of my first dance shoots. It Taken with Nikon D3x, 50mm lens, two soft box flashes. Taken as part of a dance shoot.”
Simon Garner Photography: Dancer Upside Down On Chair
If you enjoyed this post and want to share your best ever shot with me please email lucy@lucyandthelens.com or share on my facebook page www.facebook.com/lucyandthelensphotography.
The reason I chose this book to read at this point was because most of the population are self-isolating at home due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. I was hoping to find some challenges that you can do at home and luckily there are some exciting ones.
