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.
To start off, we used the mossy wall above with a gridded speedlight to give the spotlight effect on the wall. I wanted something different this time rather than the “shapes and shadows” shot that I’ve used before. On this occasion I chose to position the light to light the wall and the subject as before but position the camera so as not to see the shadow. A quick contrast adjustment in post to bring out the texture and we have the image above.
Time for another location, and hopefully another cool shot…
I hadn’t planned on making this image, rather it was one of those that simply came about by sheer dumb luck.
We were shooting late morning and being December the sun was low in the sky, just peeping out from behind the trees and house in the distance. Prime territory for a starburst effect and luckily Jimi, being a drummer, had brought some drum sticks with him to use as a prop. A few minutes later with the subject positioned, the camera stopped down to about f/16, an off camera speedlite to light the subject with an one on camera to give a hint of fill and we were ready to go. The biggest problem was how to accurately position the drumstick.
Jimi had the solution to this as it was casting a shadow right on the lens. By allowing him to simply tell me when he could see it in the correct position the problem was solved. The flare from the drum stick was a happy accident, it certainly wsn’t planned that way but does add to the image. If I’d thought about it at the time, maybe it would have been obvious. Either way I like it there.
Post processing this image was a very quick and easy black and white conversion with some minor tidying and a little dodge and burn thrown in for good measure.
I was tempted to remove the second catchlight in Jimi’s right eye and this might be something I do in the future.
Far too cold to stand around waiting so it was time for one more setting, this time a nice, warm, cosy pub…
The Star Inn, Guildford. We sneaked in a few minutes after they opened, settled into a little alcove to thaw out and turned what was essentiall nothing more than a broom cupboard into an impromptu studio.
Colour balance was a major issue here. There was a window to camera left that was producing the highlight on the right hand side of Jimi’s face and a standard lamp behind him.
I originally started out with a full CTO gel on the flash but this turned out to be totally off. The standard lamp had a CFD bulb and the warm, orange colour was coming from the walls and all the wood surrounding the area. I removed the gel and have played around with the white balance on this image but I’m not convinced it is right yet. I wanted a warm feel if this was to be a cosy pub which I’ve kind of achieved but I’m not over enamoured.
One for next time I believe…
BTW – If anyone is interested, that little alcove has some history attached being the place where the band “The Clash” was formed.
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DISCLAIMER
Pointing the camera straight into the sun is a very stupid thing to do and not something that I would advise anyone to do. If you do it and burn out your eyeball, don’t blame me.
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