Category: Strobist

Everything specific to off camera flash and remote triggering speedlights

Adding a little edge…?

 Gavin   Behind the scenes, Equipment, Fashion, Strobist, Studio, Techniques, Tips

I was asked to do a portfolio shoot for Helga (featured here) the other day, but to produce something a little edgier and with some striking black and white images. As to whether I achievedit or not, I’ll let you be the judge.

We were going to be working in a office over in Docklands, not too far from the Excell Centre, and thankfully we were also going to be inside. Given the extreme weather we have been having of late, this was very welcome.

After a quick scout around the building we settled on the breakout room on th groundfloor as our makeshift studio. It was nothing special, just a semi-large room with a few chairs a couple of tables and a pool table. This at first appeared to present a few possibilities as we were going to be doing lingerie but the biggest advantage was the empty room opposite we could use as an impromptu salon.

The problems to solve were that the white painted walls were not very interesting and full length shots were going to be difficult owing to the nasty grey carpet. This shoot was going to be controlled by the lighting if it was going to offer up any images of note. When we first started out, it had all the hallmarks of being an outright failure. Continue reading Adding a little edge…? »

Omar Mansoor Fashion Show at Runway Club

 Gavin   Behind the scenes, Equipment, Event, Fashion, Strobist, Techniques, Tips

This was the last show in the Fashion Meets Music tour and the one that yielded the best images although the evening wasn’t withot a few technical hitches. Thanks are very definitely due to Ande from the Dilema Agency for all her hard work and efforts, not only thoughout the tour but especially for this event.

As one might ecpect with night clubs, the environment is dark and Runway was especially so as the next sequence of images show

Continue reading Omar Mansoor Fashion Show at Runway Club »

The Drones…

 Gavin   Band, Strobist, Techniques
The Drones
The Drones

Had the pleasure of working with The Drones a couple of weeks ago in a really cool location. As it turns out, they wanted a set of images with a distressed look and one of the band members had access to an old outbuilding that was being done up.

I’ve wanted to work I this typeof location for a while now, particularly for a model shoot, as it has the potential to offer up some amazing images. When The Drones emailed me and suggested we use this building, I jumped at the chance. There was an added bonus too. When we made these images, it was about -3degC outside so having some shelter from the elements was very welcome.

This old building was amazing. It was in a sorry state of repair. Peeling plaster. Rubbish on the floor. Dark. Dingy. Perfect. I had total control of the light in there. It also had three/four rooms we could use too. Just the ticket for an afternoon’s photo-shoot with a cool group.

So we set to work, cue Big Mamma. I don’t get to use this light on location much owing to it’s size. 50″x50″ has a huge tendency to catch the wind and blow over which would be an expensive mistake. To be fair, in this location it may have been too big, but the quality of the light is amazing so worth a go… (see image below) Continue reading The Drones… »

Jimi McDonald, Drummer

 Gavin   Band, Black and White, Strobist, Techniques, Tips
Jimi McDonald
Jimi McDonald

In keeping with the band theme I’ve been doing recently, this was a shoot I did for Jimi McDonald in the grounds of Guildford Castle. This was also another shoot in sub-zero temperatures ad thankfully the castle offered some shelter from the elements as well as providing some really cool locations for us to use.

I wanted to makesome really great shots, different from some of the other band shots I’d done, and something really creative too. Continue reading Jimi McDonald, Drummer »

Overthrow Band…

 Gavin   Available Light, Band, Photoshoot, Strobist, Techniques
Overthrow Band
Overthrow Band

I’ve been doing a lot of band shoots recently. Makes a nice change from photographing female models and has really helped to come up with fresh ideas and styles of image.

The first group was the Overthrow Band, depicted here. These images were made on that bitterly cold weekend just before we had our first dump of snow for the season. It was -5degC when we made these images and between shots the lads were running in rings around me, literaly, in order to keep warm. Continue reading Overthrow Band… »