This past weekend I attended an excellent art nude workshop hosted by Olly at Lion Works Studios, with the highly regarded Holly, or Ivory Flame as she’s known.
If you’ve never attended a workshop like this I would encourage you to do so, it’s a good opportunity to meet other photographers and open yourself up to a different world than you might otherwise find yourself in.  The way I approached the day was to be open-minded and leave all the camera talk  and machismo at home!  Invariably at workshops there will be the usual discussions about Canon, Nikon, preferred lenses, etc. (we had a very cool Leica in our group), but the main focus is on lighting and working with the model to create artistic images. It’s important to be clear that this is not an erotic environment, if that’s your fear don’t worry, everything is highly professional and the environment in a studio of 7-8 adults is nothing less than respectful at all times.  Holly is a great model to work with, very friendly and able to take direction but she also has a wealth of poses and advice for creating art nudes.

The workshop was duplicated, a morning session and afternoon session.  I was on the morning session with a 9am start where we were welcomed into the studio, introduced to each other, offered tea or coffee and some very nice biscuits.  Once briefed on the workshop we met Holly and went straight into the first of 3 lighting setups.  Olly started by explaining the purpose of each setup then we watched him build up the lighting and take several test shots.  After that we were each given about 10-15 minutes to shoot our own images, with assistance from Olly and Holly at all times.  This can be intimidating at first because everyone is keen to learn and be involved but when you are up for your shots everyone steps back and you really do have one-to-one time with the model.  There were three lighting setups in all and Holly made sure her poses were unique to each photographer, within the given lighting setup, so we all came away with a set of images that no-one else has from the day.

Lion Works run a number of courses throughout the year, on various subjects, and I would highly recommend them.  Many semi-pro or keen amateur photographers suffer from a delusion of knowledge – you’ll hear defensive statements about only working with natural light and not needing to pay good money for something you can look up on Youtube.  Well that’s a big mistake.  Being open-minded and taking instruction from established studios and models can be a significant key to taking your images to the next level and who doesn’t want to become a better photographer?

So here are some images from the day, my personal favourite being the first.  Rather that convert this particular one to black & white I wanted to go down the fine art route and create a sense of her body being like a marble statue, offset by the dynamic movement in the hair.  The great thing about doing a workshop like this is that it also pushes you to try new things.  I like to shoot sports related images so trying to create a fine art nude was a whole new learning curve!

I don’t really buy into all the end-times-paranoia about privacy controls and the like, although these days it pays to be wary when using a free online service, especially where data about you is being syphoned off behind the scenes.  No I’m ok with all that because I’m tech savvy enough to know how to use alias emails and lock down privacy controls in order to safeguard my personal information.  Moreover, contrary to overreactions at changes like timeline and privacy settings, I think Facebook as a technology is getting better all the time.  As an early adopter I can remember how it first looked and it really has come a long way.

What is it that I dislike about Facebook?  Do I think Mark Z. is evil and trying to take over the world? No, at heart I think he still just wants to connect people and make the web social.  Misguided and under pressure from stockholders maybe but not evil, Facebook is like a layer of the internet but it can never really replace the world wide web.  It’s not about the ads either, I can live with those because I don’t give the Facebook data machine much to go on and we were living with Google, Yahoo and oh, TV ads long before Facebook came along anyway.  Was it the new social politics that have evolved as your parents, boss, aunts and uncles have all joined the site and befriended you?  That has something to do with it… ever inadvertently offended someone by removing them as a ‘friend’ even though you never once communicated, or not ‘Liked’ a page after repeated requests?  Wow, sorry but in real life I do stuff with my friends that we have in common, we don’t forcibly try to engage each other in things we don’t have in common. No, that’s not it.  The social minefield is a pain but it’s manageable to an extent.

As a result I’ve had long discussions with friends and work colleagues who, quite rightly, were unsympathetic to my inability to clearly articulate exactly what it was I didn’t like about Facebook.  I’m a network engineer so logic is in my blood but I am also fascinated by human interaction and stepping back to get a bigger picture of how society functions when influenced by organised systems like Facebook.  There are people better qualified to talk about the psychology of Facebook so I won’t attempt to get into it, this is really to do with my personal conclusions.

The eureka moment came to me this past week but really it was the climax of several weeks of observing my and other people’s behaviour on the site that formed the foundation of it.  The catalyst for it may well have been the announcement of the new Facebook design that is being rolled out shortly – it’s been touted as a rip-off of Google+ which, when I went and had a look, appears to be accurate.  Who ripped-off who is irrelevant to me in any case as my curiosity was sufficiently aroused to sign up to Google+ and take a look around.  To be fair I signed up to Google+ on day one, as I did with Google Wave, but the site has clearly matured and evolved in the last couple of years, enough for me to feel like I could make a more informed comparison with Facebook this time around.

And I like it.  I really do.  I had to consciously discount the initial buzz of the ‘something new’ because as anyone in tech knows, we love new systems but initial rounds of menu-clicking and tweaking do not make the long-term experience!  It feels more collaborative and dare I say it mature.  One of the things I really like is the communities, that’s a two-way feature that Facebook lacks, everything on Facebook feels targeted at you.

Here’s the part where I could offend but, having honestly monitored myself and my actions on Facebook, it’s less of a direct criticism at individuals and more an observation of what I see on Facebook when I step back and take an overall view.  Facebook is a needy place.  It brings out the worst in people in terms of insecurities and plays for hierarchical acceptance.  I read an article the other day which described it as a bad high school party or as I now like to think of it, the school playground.  My first honest (with myself) realisation of this was whenever I posted something that started to get lots of ‘Likes’, and quickly.  I tested my theory out by posting random puns for a few weeks which gained gratifying numbers of likes, only to be crushed when a post about something more serious or important to me went largely un-’Liked’.  I even caught myself comparing the number of likes between myself and other Facebook friends who were posting around the same time.  It was enough of a revelation to me to be careful about how and what I engaged my social circles with.  There are social media ‘experts’ out there who will give you advice on how much genuine interaction you need to maintain before you can get away with pushing your agenda (they wouldn’t call it that).  I wouldn’t want to be friends with someone if they did that to me in real life but on Facebook it’s reasonably acceptable… “Hey random old friend, how’s it going?  I like that photo you just posted because…”, I want you to like my band page and then we don’t have to really communicate if you don’t want to.  But please like my page… Like. My. Page.  Yes pages serve a purpose but since when did all my friends turn into self-marketing brands?

Surely we are more than the sum of our likes and dislikes?  But that’s the currency that appears to drive Facebook.  Aside from the ads, social politics and relentless bad photos, the last thing I need is my friends turning into agenda-driven ‘Like’-whores.  It’s needy and a real turn-off.

Recently I’ve started responding to genuinely nice Facebook posts with a text message, a congratulations perhaps, and even posting birthday cards to Australia because, yes it’s a bit old fashioned but it costs me time, money and effort and frankly my friends deserve that.  They’re great people, that’s why I like them and it just so happens that my best friend has never been on Facebook!

So last night I looked at every one of my friend’s walls one more time, made sure I had a means of contacting people I need to stay in touch with, and simply deleted my Facebook profile.  I’ve chosen the path of using Twitter for information, Google+ for communal internet-interests and well, hopefully meeting up with friends in real life and doing actual stuff together.

It’s like leaving school knowing you never have to face any of it again.

I feel liberated.

Jo runs a busy set of Chickboxing classes on top of being a full time mum, wife and everything else life throws her way so I was really privileged to get the chance to do a photoshoot with her recently.  Here she is in her own words, so nothing more for me to say except enjoy and be sure to check out the website links at the bottom.

“Chickboxing is a ladies only kickboxing programme designed to give women of any age and ability the chance to improve their healthy approach to life. Its a non-competitive class that is always delivered in a fun, encouraging and supportive atmosphere. Using tried and tested kickboxing training elements it is designed to improve fitness, help with weight loss, build strength, develop new skills, increase confidence and relieve the stresses and strains of modern day life.

I set up Chickboxing after realising that many girls and ladies were missing out on fantastic training and its benefits through fear of it being seemingly male orientated.

I started Kickboxing and Kung Fu at the age of 14 and at the time was definitely in the minority. There were only a handful of girls that I knew in my training and competing circle and I personally didn’t realise just how much I would enjoy everything that it had to offer. I thoroughly enjoyed my first taste of kickboxing and was hooked from lesson one!  I trained hard, roughly 4/5 times a week for 2 hours at a time and competed in many competitions, winning numerous rounds of ‘Points’ tournaments.

After getting married and starting a family I decided to return to my first love in life and began training again, realising that kickboxing was becoming more popular and mainstream. However it was at this time that I felt that women were still missing out and wanted to show them that ‘keeping fit’ can be a way of life and that you can learn a skill, belong and work towards a fit strong healthy body & mind all at the same time. I’m massively passionate about people enjoying what they do and for people to not ever see living a healthy lifestyle as a chore.

I wanted to give women the opportunity to train together as a group, as a team… the chance to experience the motivation that comes from training together. Its lonely pounding a treadmill for hours on end, week after week, there is more to life and many more benefits that can be experienced and appreciated in training together – the social life gained from meeting like minded people working on the same program with common ground being just one of them.  I wanted to make the world that I’d discovered accessible to women, give them all that kickboxing training offers but without the serious traditional discipline, contact, pressure or self consciousness brought about by a largely male dominated environment.  This is when I designed Chickboxing – structured kickboxing training elements in a controlled group environment, with fitness, technique, knowledge and skill being constantly developed. All this plus music, fun and laughter!

I hugely admire positivity in enthusiastic people and wanted to direct my enthusiasm and passion for this type of lifestyle towards helping others.

Witnessing the success and positivity in people I train keeps me motivated and I strive to make every Chickboxing session as good as the last. It’s a fantastic feeling knowing you’ve helped somebody achieve a goal and there’s no better feeling than knowing somebody has made Chickboxing part of their lifestyle because it works for them and makes them happy. Making others happy and healthy makes me happy, healthy and keeps me driven.“

Chickboxing – Designed to inspire and motivate to achieve!

Inspiring stuff! So now you’ve got the background here’s Jo in action…

Jo at the start of the shoot, probably as nervous as I was but already working the camera like a pro (Are you sure you haven’t done this before?!).

Things quickly get serious though. If you ever get this look from Jo, run.  Just run.

Crikey. It was only after the shoot that I realised how much form and technique Jo demonstrates here, that and
the amount of force she’s hitting the bag with.  Seriously impressive.

Jo’s a great example of being tough, disciplined and feminine at the same time. Something I’m sure a lot of girls and women are looking for in their own lives.

One of my favourite images ever.  Jo’s not used to looking at the camera during a punch so it took a while to get this but the eye contact makes for a really powerful image.

If you ever see Jo in real life you’ll find she’s really like this, one of the most positive, enthusiastic and passionate people you could ever meet!

For full details of Chickboxing class details and information please contact:

Website: www.chickboxinguk.com
Facebook: ChickboxingUK
Twitter: chickboxer247
Email: jo@chickboxinguk.com
Tel: 07837654287

Thanks to Versatile Gym for the great location and Camilla Tenn for editorial input!

Rich, Dan, Luke and Chris aim to visit all 92 league football grounds in England and Wales, in 92 hours, including watching the Brazil v. England friendly at Wembley on the 6th Feb. I’m very proud to be helping the guys out by doing some photography work for them and it’s been great to see some real recognition and momentum behind them now from the likes of Chris Evans and BBC Sussex as well as many of the clubs donating signed memorabilia to be auctioned off as part of the fund raising.

You can find out a lot more on the Facebook page, including a link to their charity donation site.  Meantime here’s a few frames of what I’ve personally been involved with.

The obligatory group shot – seconds after this frame they turned the stadium lights off and plunged us into darkness. Talk about pressure to get it done!

My hair!  Yes, even football fans are a little obsessed about one thing… their hair.

The local press turned out for a photocall at the Eastbourne Borough FC ground.  Already spirits were rising and the banter was beginning to flow.

After the local paps had finished we took a few more fun shots.

By this time the banter was in high gear and the boys were clearly excited about their sponsored car.

It’s also worth mentioning that for the entirety of the photocall it was unbelievably freezing cold but nature graced us with a great twilight sky to make up for it. Sort of.

And before you knew it they were off.  92 league clubs in 92 hours – they’re currently sitting at Wembley watching the Brazil v. England friendly.  Tough challenge eh?

It’s really all for good causes though so good luck guys and here’s hoping you reach your sponsorship targets.

It was the first time I’d done anything like this – the D4 has a built-in time-lapse feature which takes the shots at your set intervals and outputs a HD movie, it couldn’t have been simpler.  It was a stunning sunrise and my only regret is not having done a test shoot before the actual day. My first mistake was to assume the tide was going out when actually it was coming IN… meaning I had to rescue the camera after realising the waves were now lapping around the tripod legs!  The other thing I learnt was that at 30fps (frames per second) you need a good amount of footage to get even the shortest clip.  Still, it was a good morning and I met and chatted to another local photographer during the process which took my mind off the sub-zero temperatures.

No year would be complete without a shot of the Victorian Pier on Eastbourne seafront, or the “Grand Old Lady” as she’s known.  It’s still a wonderful place to live.

And just a stone’s throw from the beach is a room that feels utterly familiar even though I haven’t worked there in over a decade.  ICC studios still going strong!

A few months in and it’s full on triathlon and running season, the weather can vary incredibly as this image shows.  Same race, totally different clothing required on my part, thank goodness for layers.

Thankfully it wasn’t all outdoors as I got to shoot several classical concerts, this moment being a particular favourite. A soloist takes a moment mid-performance.

2012 saw Nikon release the game-changing 36 megapixel D800 DSLR.  This was taken on the day I received mine, Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour apartments, the detail it captures is staggering.

Another first for me was shooting a contemporary dance performance in Brighton, I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea at first but I have to say it was brilliant, erratic movements with arms and legs everywhere making it tricky to predict where the action was going.

The Queen’s Jubilee brought out all things British with “Keep Calm and…” merchandise appearing everywhere.  I think we all managed to stay suitably calm.

Eastbourne was treated to The People’s Monarch exhibition, a double portrait comprised of thousands of individual photos of ordinary British people.  I spent a good hour trying to get this shot of this fantastic work without people in it.

Olympic Torch fever gripped the nation and as non-plussed as I was about the whole thing it really was something special to witness, surprisingly, the only Eastbourne resident on the route through the town.

Still on an Olympic theme, the Tonbridge Half Marathon bought the opportunity to work with Dame Kelly Holmes for the day.  Having been in a TV documentary the night before she was a huge inspiration to the runners and brilliant to work with.

With all the national pride going on it seemed fitting to well, dress a model in nothing but a Union Jack!  This is our take on a shot Helen Mirren did for Esquire a few years ago.

Back down to earth after all that I was really taken by this older lady waiting at the entrance to the pier.  She looked so out of place amongst all the touristy stuff but equally this is what Eastbourne is famed for.

Having been a bit flat the last couple of years Airbourne was something of a good show again and who isn’t impressed by a wing walker? Or the Vulcan. Or the Tornados…

Speaking of being off the ground, this was a fun shoot with a local dancer.  Carefully choreographing leaps to avoid landing in sheep poo!

Jumping seems to feature a lot in my photos this year.  Even the Brighton and Hove Albion ladies were at it.

Matt on his bike.  A seriously powerful bike which he shortly afterwards had a nasty accident on and trashed, leaving him in hospital and lucky to be alive. I think this may be the last time he’ll be seen on a bike for a while.

Speaking of bikes, I did a shoot with another local photographer for Whyte Bikes.  The gloomy seaside pier scene was exactly what the client wanted so for once we were actually happy that to weather was so miserable!

Weddings are few and far between for me these days and I like this photo for the paparazzi-like flashes from the guests, all wanting a shot of the first dance. Upload to Facebook, upload to Facebook!

I started off taking photos of flowers (don’t we all?) and every now and then I like to get out go back to my roots… roots, get it?

I wasn’t sure about putting another bike shot in but as it’s been a huge part of the year it’s appropriate.  Getting a panning shot of a cyclist, at speed, looking directly at you isn’t the easiest to pull off. If only they were all this good!

I’ve shown so much work with these guys but here’s another, adding flour to the mix gave things a new twist this year.  It’s messy but good fun and the images are really dynamic.

From flour to fire and I couldn’t resist this shot of a young lad diligently holding his torch at a bonfire procession.

Working with kids is never easy but now and then you’ll get a perfect shot where they engage fully with the camera and, as this is my godson at his dedication, it’s going down as my favourite photo of the year!

Not quite ending the year on a bang, more of a kick and a punch(!), something I’m really excited to share more of with you very soon…

And so it was, 2012… a very British year!

Heading down to the beach for the first sunrise of the year has become something of a ritual for me, since that very first HDR with my brand new 14-24mm lens back in 2010.

There’s special something about being there to witness the first rays of sun at the beginning of a new year that. Sometimes I’ve been down there in the rain and gloom, often with a hangover or at least still partially intoxicated, but this morning was pleasantly mild and beautifully clear.

Even better was the fact that the beach deck cafe behind me opened at 8am this morning so I sat afterwards with a cappuccino and pain au chocolat and actually enjoyed the view for once rather than trying to capture it. That’s something I need to do more of this year!

You’ll need everything you see in the picture below plus a couple of other bits. Don’t skimp on the quality of ingredients though, Cadburys milk chocolate and original Maltesers are essential.  I don’t know many people who make this so it’s time to share the recipe.

Once you’ve followed the recipe below you should end up with a huge slab of deliciousness that can be cut into squares… et voilà!

Now you’ve seen the photos you’ll be wanting the recipe then?  Here it is, a slightly modified version which I’ve honed for simplicity so it’s easy for kids too:

Malteser Cake Recipe  (PDF Document)

Fun Nutritional Fact:  Total mixed ingredients= 672g fat / 11,223kcal!

Well of course yes, but then panic sets in that I haven’t done all the usual things that you do on a shoot: scope location, discuss creative direction, plan lighting setups, etc.  Oh well, I’ll grab some light stands, a couple of strobes, a crazy wide-angle lens and see what happens.

When I arrive (“it’s the big wooden door beside the Chinese restaurant kitchen window…” says the SMS) the band are already rehearsing.  I put everything on the floor and setup in this, the only space around for a shoot:

This could be interesting!

In the end we do a few shots in this tiny space before heading out into the freezing cold night before coming back into the main rehearsal room.  I scramble around drum kits, amps and guitars in an attempt throw some interesting light around.  It feels chaotic and it is…

Ultimately the moral of the story is that bands don’t want polished studio shots and I’d completely forgotten that.  The shot below is the one they went for, so I think I need to stay out of the studio and away from weddings for a while because the other thing I forgot was how much fun band shoots can be.

You can check them out here, if you like Elbow or Doves you might just like these guys too.

I’m a sucker for wide angle photos and as much detail as possible, and for those reasons I think the Nikon D800 and 14-24mm wide-angle lens are the ultimate combo for capturing scenes like the one below. It should also be pointed out that I use that much-abused HDR technique on any landscapes I shoot.  For two reasons: 1) When shooting HDR all you’re actually doing is bracketing exposures and that’s useful, for example when the light and scene combines for a magical, never to be repeated one-off incredible moment. You can never have enough processing options when that happens. 2) I like to combine the images in what Photomatix terms an “Exposure Fusion”, so my processing style is less about the crazy details and more about the shadow, light and mid-tones.  Whatever it takes to enhance the dynamic range of this scene without ruining it.

So here is what I shot today, 5 aperture priority exposures bracketed -7, -3, 0, +3, +7. Exposure fused in Photomatix and processed using Aperture.  I’ve tried to keep it as simple, clean and true to the original as possible.

For all you pixel peepers there’s a link to the full size processed jpeg for you to scrutinise below:

Download the Full Size Image here – 37.6MB //  7184 x 4795 pixels