At a couple of shows recently we have been experimenting with a small studio in our tent as well as our normal photography activities. Next year we will be offering this in one form or another at most events, but they are really event dependent.

The first is the trophy shoot, both as a mock magazine cover and second as a more straight forward print.  See the examples below.

Next will be the more traditional portrait and we can include dogs in this too, like these two.

If you would like something like this at the next show we are attending, just come and ask us. Oh, the Little Owl was brought along by the Worcestershire Barn Owl Conservation Trust and is only available at certain shows. Sales of prints featuring the owl also help the Trust.

Just a quick post of a picture I took a couple of days ago. My daughter was about to go out and I had an idea that I wanted to quickly try. Using off camera flash, this was shot at about 5.00pm in the afternoon, so still quite a lot of daylight about, not that you would guess from the photo.

A couple of evenings ago, my daughter wanted to photograph some of her outfits ready for her University Portfolio. She was unsure about what background we should have so I suggested we go Green Screen or Chromakey as it is also called. This involves shooting against green backcloth though blue is also commonly used. The problem with this is if there is green in the clothes being worn and the green channel will be removed affecting their appearance. As you will see, yellow is also affected as it has a lot of green in its makeup.

So we put up the cloth, set the lights and metered light levels. Jo blew up some balloons too.

Here is one of the pictures of Jo in the dress that was always going to be the difficult one.

As you can see, we were having lots of fun doing this shoot, but note what happens next to the green and yellow elements of the dress once the green has been removed using some specialist software. Jo also decided she wanted a black background, but at this point we could just as easily insert any colour we wanted or even another image altogether as the background. The image was also cropped slightly.

Note also how the blue balloons have become a much richer and darker blue due to the green channel being removed from their colour spectrum. We decided to leave the blue balloons alone as the richer blue was more appealing. But the green and yellow parts need some work to regain their original colour. So, once this image had been saved, it had to be opened in another program and using control point technology I was able to correct the colours to close to their original.

Green Screen shoots can be a lot of fun, why not consider booking one for yourself and friends or family or if you are organising a function, it could be a lot of fun for you guests.

It is a lovely day here, and it is my daughter’s birthday. I managed to drag her kicking and screaming out in the field behind the house to get a few shots. It was just a few minutes of fun.

Last month I managed to miss doing my Project 10, so as I was in Shrewsbury with my daughter yesterday, I decided it would be a good opportunity to capture another set of ten. Shrewsbury proved a little harder than other places and I had my first rejections, three in all, though one of those was willing to have his picture taken, he did not want a copy and did not want to give his name or it to go on the web, so I passed on him. Oh, and Ollie, please apologise to your dad for his face not being the centre of attention.

Today, colour felt right, so just one black & white. As usual, a big thank you to all my willing subjects.

Much Wenlock was the latest town to feature in my Project 10 series. If you have never been to Much Wenlock, it is worth a visit one day as there is a lot here of historical interest and a wonderful ruined Abbey too. It is also not far from Ironbridge and the industrial revolution. In 1850 the first ever Olympics were held here, the brainchild of Dr William Penny Brookes and if you wan to visit this year, the 124th games run from 9th to 12th July. The modern Olympic Games started in 1896. For all things about Much Wenlock.

So here are the faces I captured yesterday afternoon before the rain came down.

I am offering a free print of an image of my choice to anybody who can tell me what that image is. This is a puzzle and is open to everybody in the UK. It is free to enter and should not cost anything to solve either, so long as you have a modern phone with a camera in it.

You can find out more here, Jan/Feb Puzzle

Yesterday I went with my two good friends, Mark and Jon, for a walk in Snowdonia. Over a fine cooked breakfast at the Bryn Tyrch Inn we made plans for our route. There was plenty of snow on the tops so wee decided on a route taking us up Y Garn, then dropping back down to the top of the Devil’s Kitchen before heading back up over the Glyders and then following the long ridge back down to Capel Curig.
Parking the car at Idwal Cottage at the end of Llyn Ogwen, we set off up the steep ridge leading to the summit of Y Garn. The temperature was -3c. It was not long before we had to don crampons as the ice covering the rocks became more and more tricky. If you never used crampons, it is an amazing experience to feel total grip on the ice. Just before reaching the summit of Y Garn, 947m, there was a steep climb through a snow cornice, the soft snow being hard work to work our way through, but once on the ledge, the views were stunning. From here it is a leisurely climb to the summit and then the long easy descent down to the top of Devil’s Kitchen. On our way down we heard that just below us somebody was waiting for the Mountain Rescue helicopter, so we went over to see if there was anything we could do to help. It seemed it was a suspected broken ankle caused by a simple trip over his own crampons. It is easy to catch the spikes on the inside of the foot on the trousers of the other leg, so when wearing them you need to walk a bit like a duck with toes turned out. Anyway, he had a good group of experienced friends with him so we carried on, reminded how easily such fun can turn seriously bad very quickly.
After a break for coffee and Christmas cake we trudged up the steep scree slope that leads to Glyder Fawr, 999m, except it was no longer a scree slope but now a snow and ice route. Again crampons made the going safe if not easy. Once on top, the sights were just amazing, the ice crystals, views, the rocks and the clouds with bright sunshine and blue skies. A winter wonderland. Too cold to hang about for long we marched of to Glyder Fach, 994m, sometimes walking on solid ice, at others pulling ourselves out of deep snow pockets.
The descent in the snow was much the same and I was glad of my crampons, but spotting one long slope down to a gentle stop at the bottom, I removed my ruck sack and held it in my hands as I sledged down on my back. Brilliant fun. After a while the snow gave way to frozen ground and then boggy paths.
Eventually we staggered exhausted into the cafe at Capel Curig for a well deserved pint of tea before a lift back to the car. ‘Twas a great day.

Merry Christmas

to all of you from the team.

We look forward to seeing you all again in 2010.