Category: Low Light

Darkness visible? Very Low Light Photography

 Gavin   Available Light, Digital Darkroom, Equipment, Lightroom, Low Light, Techniques

Very Low Light Photography on the Canon 5DmkII

5DmkII ISO25600 Pre Noise Reduction
5DmkII ISO25600 Pre Noise Reduction

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of photographing a really cool jazz band at the Electric Theatre in Guildford. During the shoot I spotted (or rather almost spotted) one of the band members sitting in one of the seats in the auditorium. I say almost spotted because with only the stage lights on the auditorium was very dark, only being lit by the reflected lit from the stage. It was such a low light that I could hardly see him with the naked eye. This was a great opportunity to see what the 5DmkII could really do at it’s highest ISO setting. In most situations I photograph in I don’t normally take the ISO much above 1600. Every now and then the environment calls for something different and the extreme low light of the auditorium at the Electric Theatre was a good example.

With the camera on manual mode I metered the scene and dialed in an exposure of 1/50th, f/3.5, ISO25600. Apart from a very slight white balance tweak the image above is straight off the camera. Continue reading Darkness visible? Very Low Light Photography »

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 »

Low key…

 Gavin   Black and White, Low Light, Photoshoot, Strobist, Techniques
image
Low key, edgy portrait

I’ve wanted to try my hand at making this shot for a while now but have been unable to make it happen until my recent shoot with Tumi.

It was actually far more straightforward than I had imagined too.

Tumi was actually sitting on a bench in the street for this shot. If as night though which helped a lot. She was lit by a single 580exII with a grid (1/8″ Honl SpeedGrid) and I’d feathered the light to just kiss the side of her face. She had to sit really still for this shot. The light from the speedgrid is pencil thin and the slightest movement could ruin the shot. Nevertheless, she carried it off very well.

The speedgrid is definitely a must have for any strobist. They’re versatile, quick and very simple to use.

 

 

 

Greenwich…

 Gavin   Fashion, Low Light, Photoshoot, Strobist, Techniques
image
Tumi, sunset over Greenwich

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to receive an email from Tumi, a student at the London College of Fashion asking if we could work together on a photoshoot. I’m very glad she did too.

We threw a few ideas around and settled on an autumnal theme, with the aim of catching the golden light around dusk.

On the evening of the shoot we were very lucky with the weather, thhe sky offering up those sunset. To get the shot I placed Tumi on the beach, underemployed the sky by a stop out two and lit her with a 580exII firing into my shoot through brolly. I really struggled with the PocketWizards that evening. The Mini simply wouldn’t trigger the flash so I had to rely on the a second Flex instead. Even that wasn’t perfect but it was much more reliable than the Mini. I have to say though that this was the one and only time I’d had a problem of this nature. My only guess being interference from the boats on the Thames.

Another Shot in the Dark…

 Gavin   Black and White, Fashion, Low Light, Strobist, Techniques
Night life
Night life

I don’t often quote the parameters for my images but I will in this case: ISO6400, 0.5s@f11, handheld. That’s probably about the limit of what I can reasonably achieve wiht the 5DmkII. Nevertheless the image was very noisey and won’t reproduce at much over 12″x8″

So, what was I thinking when I set this shot up? Continue reading Another Shot in the Dark… »