More Landscape Photos

I don't think of myself as a landscape photographer. However, as I live in the countryside it's sometimes too hard to leave the camera behind, especially in the kind of weather we have seen recently. So here's a few photos that I took last week when the frost was still sharp.

A day with Adam Duckworth

You'll all be pleased to know that despite the subzero temperatures that froze my screen-wash dispensers I managed to make it to Birmingham and back in one piece. It felt a bit like driving through cotton-wool in the fog, and it took way longer than it should have done, but it was all worth it, for I followed a day long lighting seminar with photographer Adam Duckworth. Adam is a very keen 'strobist', and as I like to call myself a strobist as well, I thought I could do worse than get a few tips from him. A 'strobist', for the few people out there who might wonder, is a photographer who uses off-camera flash to create interesting lighting effects. A number of photos on my website use this technique, particularly the fashion ones, and for those who are interested in learning more about it, here's the reference website: http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/
We started by spending quite a bit of time in the studio, as it is a good knowledge base to then transpose on location. We worked on various lighting effects, using a mix of soft and hard light sources. It was a pleasure to work with professional model Katie, who really knew how to work with the light. We then went outside and used a portable Quadra lighting kit. Here's some of the photos I took. They are direct from the camera and haven't been worked on in Photoshop.

How to keep warm and save money

Here's where I relocated my workspace today:

And here's a nice link to today's pictures by Magnum photos: http://todayspictures.slate.com/20101206/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TodaysPictures+%28Today%27s+Pictures%29&utm_content=Twitter

Does anybody actually like HDR?

I just don't get HDR imaging. If you ask me, it stands for Horribly Denatured Rendering. For those who do not know what I am talking about, here's some samples on this site: http://www.online-photoshoptutorials.com/2008/10/17-of-the-most-visually-beautiful-hdr-images.html
I know you can get normal-looking images using HDR. One of my photography teachers who was also a photography wizard used to do it very effectively, but I still prefer the old-fashioned Photoshop way. The principle for this sort of images is that you take two or three shots of the same scene with different exposures, one exposed correctly, one underexposed, and one overexposed, and then blend them together. I haven't got a proper HDR software, so I just tried it with the Photoshop 'merge to HDR' button. Here is what I got:

It's probably hard to see at such a low resolution, but the sun area looks very pixelated and burned out.
Now here's my own version using layers:

I know it's quite subtle, but I find the result much more satisfactory. And it allows more freedom to play around. I did this by using my underexposed image as background. It was pretty much all black apart from the sky and the sun. Any other exposure would have burned out the colours in the sky, so this is the only way of taking an early morning shot like this. I then added my normally exposed shot on top, deleted the sky part of the photo using the gradient tool, and set it to luminosity. I then added a very gentle curve to boost up the contrast slightly, and there we go. Here is another one on the same principle:

Setting the second layer to 'luminosity' mode gives the image a slightly surreal look that I like, but you also lose some of the colours. Here is what happens if you leave it to 'normal':

But at the end of the day (or at the beginning rather!) good landscape photography comes from good lighting, and that is really about being at the right place on the right day. This image was taken a few minutes after those first ones, when the sun was a bit higher. It has hardly any Photoshop adjustment:

That's all for today! If anybody wants to ask me questions about techniques, please feel free to email.

My favourite place on Earth?

If you had been walking around Avebury last Sunday afternoon you would have been able to witness a strange sight. You would have seen a demented French woman running frantically from stone to stone with a camera, trying to catch every second of the most extraordinary sunset. There is something very magical about Avebury, and every time I go there I experience something strange and beautiful. This time was no different.
I didn't just take my camera this time though, I also set out with my flash kit and colour gels, with which I had meant to experiment for a long time. The results are mixed, and I still don't know what to make of it. Some pictures turned out quite well, but others look more like the Chritmas show at Disneyland! But as the light started going down I abandoned the gels and tried to make the most of the natural light, which was more surreal at that moment than any artificial lighting. The sky looked as if it had caught fire, and the fields opposite were glowing red. My friends and I forgot all about the cold, we were just looking around with a smirk on our faces.
I ended up with nearly 200 photos, which is very unusual for me as I am not one to shoot willy-nilly. It took me a little while to edit them, but they're finally ready and I'm putting a sample on the blog. No HDR was used, just basic adjustments on Photoshop.

Ellen Kooi

I saw an interview of Dutch photographer Ellen Kooi on TV a few days ago and thought it was interesting. Highly staged photography with a fairy tale atmosphere, just the stuff that I like. She's holding an exhibition in Paris until the 22nd of December, if anyone is interested: http://www.ellenkooi.nl/Ellenkooi.htm

My photo of the day:

Peek-a-Boo!

Hurray, I got to take my first baby pictures! Or my first proper baby pictures I should say, as the stuff I do for school photography with 30 seconds per family doesn't quite count.

I find photographing children is always a challenge and a laugh. It can be very frustrating but is always exciting as you never know what to expect. I just got a new assistant, who's been very useful so far:

I find that the best thing to do is always to try and keep calm. Young children often don't understand why their parents and everyone else are acting funny and it can make them a bit tense. How many times have I heard things like 'Come on, give us a smile' said in an agitated, almost angry way, creating the opposite reaction as what you're trying to achieve. If I've got time, I find that the best way to deal with non-cooperative children is just to ignore them and take photos of their parents or toys on their own. That usually bring them back. So, here's a few shots of what I did yesterday, using a low-key setting (black background), a soft box and a spill kill:

And for a little bit of inspiration, I would recommend having a look at the work of Sally Mann, that I find absolutely beautiful, as controversial as it is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/may/29/sally-mann-raw-material#/?picture=363062442&index=0

Now, here's something I don't quite understand. I've been told that the best way to get your business noticed these days is through the so-called social networks. So I've started this blog, I'm on linked-in, facebook, I've got 6 email addresses, two websites, and now I've just registered on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/annesophieolive). This is all very well, but how are you supposed to do any work??
I have to say I was a bit bemused by Twitter at first, but I've realised that I could use it to stay up-to-date with all the photography news. It's only been two days, but I've already made some exciting discoveries. The first one is this: http://www.burnmagazine.org/
Burn Magazine was founded by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey, who did a wonderful book on Cuba, among other things. The main article on this page shows touching and beautiful documentary photographs of Greenland that I highly recommend.
And because I didn't post anything yesterday, here's my own photos of the day, taken a couple of week-ends ago:

Take Two business cards have arrived!

Starting a new business such as Take Two is very exciting, but there are many many things to think about. It took Jennifer and me a very long time to design our business cards, but finally we cracked it and they came in the post this morning. There is a minor issue with the trimming on some of them, but hey, what else have I got to do today than to trim 300 business cards? (I could just leave it but I like things to be perfect). So here's a preview of what they look like:

Family and Children Portraits: It's not too late for Christmas!

All grandparents love to have photos of their grandchildren. So why not treat yourself to a family portrait session, and use the opportunity for a great and easy Christmas present? Alternatively, gift vouchers are also available.
To recap, here's what I offer:
- A photo session in the location of your choice or in my portable studio (white or black background)
- An online viewing gallery where you can order your prints from
- One complementary 10'x8' print
- Print prices start at £12, with a selection of framing options.
You can also turn your photo session into a calendar for 2011.
Spread the word!

Website Dilemmas and Stones

All photographers know how difficult and sometimes painful the editing process can be. When it came to choosing photos for the websites, the most difficult part was my personal work section. I wanted to include such a gallery because I believe it is important to give a sense of what my photography is about outside a professional environment. At the same time, a lot of my personal work comes as part of a series, which creates a dilemma: do I pick and choose the best images from each series or do I include one or two complete sets? I opted for the first option, but I would like to use this blog to fill the gap.
I will start with a series that I took last summer in Brittany. It was a very grey and dull morning when I set out on the beach with my camera. The light was very flat and there was nothing much to be done with the horizon, so I decided to turn my attention to the wonderful stones that are found in that area. The result is quite abstract and organic, and partly inspired by the work of Jem Southam (http://www.jameshymangallery.com/pages/artistsingle/5571/all/jem_southam-normandy_rockfall_1.html).

New Era

Well, well, welcome! With two brand new websites and a new blog, it's exciting times indeed.
First, I am proud to announce the launch of Take Two Photography, the wedding photography partnership I have started with my friend Jennifer Cope. Have a look at our website, we're quite proud of it, and we've even got a favicon!: http://www.taketwo-photography.co.uk/
This exciting new venture has nudged me into redesigning my own website at http://www.olivephotography.co.uk/ Please have a look at it, I hope you will agree with me to say it looks better than the previous one.
With this blog I intend to keep you up to date with what's happening with business, but mostly I want to use this space to talk about photography. I will try to post photos regularly, as well as articles, links, anything that I find interesting on the internet or elsewhere. So stay posted!
PS: this is the first time that I use a blog, so it might take me a little while to get to grips to the technicality of it, but I'm sure I'll get there. How hard can it be?!