Tag: Equipment

How to use Extension Tubes for Macro Photography

 Gavin   Back to Basics, Equipment, Techniques
Macro Photography - 70-200mm Lens + Extension Tube

In the early days of my photographic career my weapon of choice for macro work was a close-up filter. Nowadays it the Extension Tube. Here’s why…

Extension Tubes – What are they…?

Extension tubes are very simple devices. They’re short tubes, usually in the region of 5mm to 25mm in length, with a lens mount at either end. One end of the extension tube fits on the camera body where the lens would attach. The other end replicates the camera interface and is where the lens mounts. The tube fits between the camera body and the lens, moving the lens further away from the film/sensor plane, effectively magnifying the image from the lens. The longer the tube, Continue reading How to use Extension Tubes for Macro Photography »

All the gear and no idea…

 Gavin   Journey, Musings

A few days ago I met a photographer who told me an interesting story.

He’d set up a video camera to record the visitors to his stand at a local exhibition. He had all the gear – fancy camera, nice tripod, brand new shotgun mic. He even had a beautiful assistant to to around and visit the other exhibitors and do a short interview with each on their thoughts about the show.

But, there was a slight technical hitch. Continue reading All the gear and no idea… »

Making light work with modifiers – coming soon

 Gavin   Equipment

The owner of my London studio handed me a pack of goodies from Lumiquest and Lastolite yesterday to play with as he knows I do a lot of strobist work on location. It’s one of their sample sets and contains a couple of pop-up soft boxes, a pocket bouncer modifier and a snoot.

The flash batteries are charging as I type and I can’t wait to get out in the field to try them out and see what I can do with them.

First impressions are that the soft boxes, the Lumiquest Softbox and the Lastolite Micro Apollo light modifier will be ideal for a lot of the close up work I do where I don’t have the luxury of using the Westcott Apollo softbox, and a naked speedlite is way too hard to be flattering for many of my subjects.

The Lumiquest Promax Snoot is really cool and I have big ideas about what to do with a pencil thin beam of light. No idea if they’ll work or not though but I won’t know until I try. I like using grids on speedlites so it will be interesting to compare the results.

Not overly sure what to do with the Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer yet but I have a little project coming up in a couple of weeks where it might be just the right tool for the job.

Watch this space, I’ll be reviewing each item in a separate post shortly. Need to get some images first though.

At the end of the runway

 Gavin   Available Light, Event, Fashion, Low Light, Techniques, Tips

Runway Photography…The Best Seat in the House

Fashion Show, Runway & Catwalk Photography

As we’re only a few days away from one of the biggest events on the fashion calendar, London Fashion Week, I thought I’d share some of my experiences to give you a feel as to what it’s like to be stood at the end of the runway during London Fashion Week. It truly is the best seat in the house and an experience not to be missed.

Shooting a fashion show is both as exhilarating as it is challenging, and as rewarding as it is pressured. Fashion show photography is without a doubt one of the most technical and demanding types of shoot I do. Any fool can stand at the end of the runway and snap away. It’s not difficult. To do it properly though takes a lot of preparation and hard work. There is only one chance to get it right and if you’re shooting for the designer the pressure is immense. The designer needs to see *everything* front, back, sides, full length, 1/2 length, 1/4 length, detail, detail, detail. Continue reading At the end of the runway »

What’s in the bag? Packing for a shoot is more than gear in a bag

 Gavin   Equipment, Studio, Techniques, Tips

Back in the studio tomorrow for an all day shoot. To be honest, I should really be prepping and packing rather than writing this but I thought it might be good to explain what I take and why.

I’m a great believer in packing for the occasion, in this case the studio, but it needs a little thought and planning. You need to take the right stuff and if you’re not careful you’ll end up taking far too much. Even worse, you may end up not taking something essential.

Here’s what I take Continue reading What’s in the bag? Packing for a shoot is more than gear in a bag »