Obtaining stills from High Res video... The future? (video)

"If the production crew on movie or advertising shoot can record footage and then go back later and extract a publishable, high-end still frame from whichever section of the take they wish, then by and large the unit photographer's role will diminish considerably..."

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From the archive... #20

If you live long enough, you see everything... women wearing canapés! Yum?

This shot was taken at a recent commission at One Marylebone where my role was to shoot a pretty lavish birthday party. The design and planning of the evening was undertaken by the terrific Cranberry Blue Wedding & Events. 

I'm hoping to write a little piece about the detail and superb look of the main dining room itself, but in the meantime imagine the welcome drinks being livened-up by pretty girls displaying nibbles about their person, in this case via a two-tier 'neck brace'.

If that isn't a thought to keep you warm during a cold weekend, then nothing is...


Through the lens... the media stampede

I lost count of how many txts I received that day. No, not invitations to dinner and drinks; it was because my face had popped-up on the lunchtime news - busily shooting in the background of the shot below. Fame at last. Sort of.

Early in 2013 I'd been shooting material with Sir Chris Hoy, Britain's Olympic track cycling hero and all-round terrific bloke. The commission, at The London Bike Show at Excel, was for Jaguar, with whom I was working closely. Jaguar does lots of really creative PR with Sir Chris on both their product range and via his involvement with The Jaguar Academy of Sport. 

The day was rocking along nicely: the shots of the new Olympic kit were done, the press conference and Q&A went well and my set-ups with the snazzy new Jaguar Sportbrake were in the can. Then the TV teams went into overdrive. As they always do.

Sir Chris was ambushed on the way out and pushed for a quote on the unfolding Lance Armstrong doping scandal (Armstrong’s interview with Oprah had aired in US the night before). Of course, he didn't want to get involved, but the questions kept coming. Eventually he stated his position and left. Caught up in the TV camera scrum I was cornered behind Sir Chris. So I had only one option: to record the scene because you never know when these shots might be useful in the future. 

Having got their sound bite, the media pack fled to the nearest wifi and things calmed down. But around about then my phone lit up with txts with friends complaining I'd ruined their lunch... 

From the archive... #14

Only three weeks ago I shot this simple frame at Hampton Court, on a windswept day full of dawn-to-dusk rain showers.

Zoe pulled up in the car (looking amazing), glanced at the deluge, then simply got on with her day. A brilliant approach; the only thing on her mind was getting married.

Seemed an apt first post for 2014. Happy New Year everybody!

Through the lens... Christmas 2013

Credit for this idea sort of goes to my friend, Stacey Jackson, the irrepressible Canadian singer...

Over dinner one evening she berated me for not doing enough social media and self-promo... "you don't need a reason, man - just get them out there!". Doesn't do to disagree with the Stae.

So, here is the start of a series I'm going to call 'through the lens'. Basically a little corner of the site where I will regularly show shots which haven't been seen in blogs, and are possibly too left field or quiet for the portfolio. It's also a chance to lift the lid on some technical info for each featured image, something people ask me about a lot.

The first batch comes from commissions shot over the Christmas period, at weddings staged at The St Pancras Renaissance, Hampton Court and Kew Gardens.

Click on any photograph to enlarge....

A quiet moment during a drinks reception at Kew Gardens... (85mm lens, 125th/F2, 1600asa)

Morning preps with the flower girls, always a time for great shots... (28mm lens, 60th/F1.2, 2000asa)

The arrival of guests. I'm in the warm, they're in the cold - brrrr... (50mm lens, 250th/F2.8, 800asa)

Where would we all be without our smartphones! (28mm lens, 30th/F1.2, 2500asa)

A nervous giggle before the bridesmaids head for the ceremony... (50mm lens, 60th/F2, 2000asa)

Left: lovely moment with the bride reacting to a speech... (85mm lens, 90th/F1.8, 2500asa)

Right: a committed Liverpool fan... (200mm lens, 180th/F2.8, 1600asa)

Workflow. Here's the skinny...

I'll warn you right now, this is geeky blog post. If this doesn't scare you, read on...

Workflow. The backbone of any professional photographer's day. Many moons ago life consisted of shooting film, processing it, editing selections and then filing - all these tasks involved physical contact with material things (chemicals, cabinets and that funny little place called the Post Office). 

Today's darkroom is lean and mean. It's about processing power and efficiency. Apps, plug-ins and passwords - and a cloud! In 2013 your darkroom is your Mac. And good luck if can keep it down to just one. 

Everybody is different. No two photographers work in the same way. But I am frequently asked by clients how I manage the process from creation and delivery. So here's a brief production overview, whether the commission is a three-day foreign trip or an hour of studio portraits…

On the job...

Regardless of the shoot content, all the photography originates in RAW format, recorded to several CF cards (compact flash). At the end of the shoot, but while still on-site, I download everything to a Macbook Air, still leaving the data on the CF cards. Two copies now exist of that day's work. For me, this is vital and it's the minimum I hold at all times.

A quick check of the material in Photo Mechanic (an extremely powerful software package for browsing large files), and then we're done.

At the office...

My workhorse back at base is a 2013 spec, RAM-tastic 27" iMac, with a well used and trusty Mac Pro as backup. The laptop is plugged in to the Thunderbolt port of the iMac and the files upload. Once the transfer is complete I immediately back-up the folder to an external 2TB G-Tech hard drive.

At this point I can erase the CF cards and also remove the files from the laptop, still leaving two copies; the copy on the main iMac and one on the external drive.

The RAWs are then loaded in Apple's Aperture editing software. This allows me to work on the set and as I progress, create 'versions' of the original, after I’ve completed tasks like colour correction and cropping, etc..

The great thing about Aperture is that regardless of the work I do on a file, the master always exists, so if I wish I have the security of going back to the original and starting over - or create a different type of version.

Any extra or significant work/changes can be exported to Photoshop CS6, with these changes then saved back into Aperture for archiving. Once the whole set is edited, I can prep the batch of files in any format the client demands (.jpg, .tiff, . psd) ready for the distribution.

Post edit...

There are still choices to be made. Some clients want their shoot on a USB flash drive some need the selection transferring via Dropbox. I also use WeTransfer, Box, and a variety of other digital media. Amusingly, almost nothing is posted. If the media needs handing over I'll do that during a catch-up drink or lunch. 

My role is to fit in with people's preferences and solve the problem. I don’t believe it's for the client to adapt to me. I am constantly amazed how many photographers don't get this is a service industry. The tail absolutely does not wag the dog…

If you got this far and you're still awake - bravo. Welcome to my day...

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From the archive... #12

Certain shots simply fall into place right in front of you. You only have to press the button...

This shot was several years ago at a private residence; a gorgeous house near Liverpool. The shoot sticks in my mind because the original booking was to have been in Marbella - but we ended up on Merseyside - a long story.

Here you can see the Toastmaster, let's say 'urging' the little flower girl back to the reception after she had wandered away, no doubt looking for mischief. The shot really benefits from the walkway - a makeshift white tunnel which linked a chill-out lounge to the dining room. 

The crisp simplicity of the surroundings and body language of the people in-frame tell you what's happening. I really like the playful feel to the shot and the way the vivid uplighting pulls the eye into the centre of the photograph. 

More proof that the best photography is simple and without fuss...

20 things I take away from 2013...

 

1) I don’t agree with all Edward Snowden has said and done, but I agree with this: privacy is a sacred thing. We’re gradually losing it and we’ll be very sorry when Hurricane Social Media passes.

2) You'd think the best espresso would be in Italy. Nah, it’s a dead-heat between Paphos airport and a little kiosk on Seaford sea front.  

3) I want to live like a chap called Benjamin Zidarich. And if you've never heard of him, that wouldn't bother him in the slightest. 

4) You won't hear a writer rave about creating better stories because of a new laptop. So why do photographers think a new camera will improve their work? It won't. The secret: obtain more talent.

5) People who obviously think they're exciting and important, are boring. But those who work away quietly in the background and achieve are impressive…

6) I love the Seagate Hotel in Appledore, Devon

7) Trieste is much nicer than Rome. 

8) I'm comfortable knowing JJ will do us Star Wars fans proud.

9) We now live in a world where even Ryanair admits Ryanair's service is poor. Better late than never.

10) Tech -  the right balance is: an iPad for daily news, a proper computer for work and then just purchase mags and books like you did before the previous two were invented.

11) Macs with solid state drives are laugh-out-loud fast. I can now crunch a gigabyte like it was a megabyte - warp-speed computing.

12) Sir Chris Hoy's handshake is vice-like. I took portraits of him in January, circulation returned in my right hand around mid-March.

13) Comfort-eating is dipping fresh carrot sticks in tartar sauce. Scrumpsh. 

14) I shall never, ever live in a house without a wood burning stove. We're the only household which looks forward to a severe winter.

15) Gather together most of the people you've ever met, and quite a few you don't speak to, then hold aloft a bluey/grey/yellow print of your cat. Sound absurd? I agree. But that's basically Instagram. Not everything needs to be photographed.

16) I fell asleep twice during 'The Hobbit: Desolation of whatever'. Each time I woke up the midgets where simply in another forrest. That book does not need nine hours of screen time.

17) I have never written an autobiography. This puts me five such books behind Katie Price.

18) If you photograph your child’s every move and bung it on Facebook, in 10 years time they will absolutely hate you. 

19) I’m not ashamed to admit I have rediscovered my love of Lego. Calming and satisfying. It’s wasted on children.

20) Flexibility continues to be the key to freelancing. 

… Happy New Year! 

Going live...

Wedding photography is all about creating a set of memories, which I try to construct brick-by-brick over the course of the day and spend hours painstakingly editing. Press photography is different. It is about getting the message out, reporting, being fast. It's about quick delivery. Luckily, I've done both which meant last week's eleventh hour request to release a picture of the happy couple to the world's media whilst simultaneously covering the day, was, if a little stressful, ultimately pretty straightforward. 

The commission was to shoot the beautiful wedding of Olympic cycling star, Mark Cavendish, and his bride, model Peta Todd. Due to the high-profile nature of the couple, unwanted press intrusion was a real concern. Especially as the venue for the wedding was One Mayfair, in the heart of London.

So a plan was hatched: we would keep the media animal fed with one great shot and hopefully - with the help of a security contingent - head-off any gate-crashing Paps. I decided I would send a fairly simple shot during the early part of the evening. The timing had to catch the first editions of the Sunday papers (around 19.00), but also had to fit-in with my extensive list of wedding day 'must-gets'. My overriding brief for wedding clients is always to create photography which will last, something memorable. But I also needed to click into deadline mode and get something out. 

Cavendish_media.jpg

On the technical side, I decided to take two MacBooks. One to download/back-up the rolling coverage as the day progressed, the other purely for the transmission of the picture. Around 17.45 I asked Peta & Mark to just spend a moment with me so I could grab the shot I thought would be appropriate. That done, they could relax and enjoy their wedding breakfast. Meanwhile, I raced off to the crew room and started to download... the clock was ticking.

Wedding planner, Lisa Walker, of Just Bespoke, had every element of the wedding covered to perfection and ensured I had a desk, wifi and the relevant contact from Mark's management to sign-off the shot for distribution.

I initially chose two pictures. A simple portrait and then something a little more creative, a wide shot from the actual ceremony. It was decided we'd send out the portrait. The picture duly signed off, the file was then slipped into a press release and immediately sent to PA, who, in turn made it accessible by all major news organisations. Phew. Box ticked. 

And as the press quickly clicked into gear reporting on the Cavendish nuptials, it was time for me to get back to creativity and shoot the speeches and evening atmosphere.