Fun in the rain

I shoot my first wedding in over ten years this Saturday. Although I have shot plenty weddings in the past I am excited with the possibilities this weekend will offer. Times change and hopefully I am now a better photographer, the stuffy images of the past will make way for a more relaxed and spontaneous style.

The couple getting married are Lindsay and Bruce. A great couple and we spent about ten minutes on Sunday morning , beaten back by the wind and rain, getting some pre-wedding images. These were shot handholding a flashgun in one hand and a 40D with 70-200 in the other. I would have liked to use a stand and brolly etc but I don't think they would have survived in the wind.

Scotland 'A' v Australia 'A' (21/11/06)

This is a test. After reading Craig Mitchelldyer's blog entry I decided to try embedding a slideshow gallery. I have tried this before with mixed results, but this was before Photoshelter brought out some new updates. This is a 'A' international game from two years ago but I will probably use this as a way to display future press images as you can click and buy straight from the slideshow. Cool!

Hey I'm getting this flash thing

Here are some images from a sponsored head shave(partial) and leg wax held in a crowded bar at the weekend. All images were taken for the paper. The images themselves are nothing startling but I was pleased with the way I controlled flash. In the images I was positioned no more than 1-2 feet from the subjects in the photo but still managed to control how light from a mounted flashgun was spread. The answer was a A5 piece of white card velcro mounted to bounce the flash against. I think it produced quite a pleasing result in a situation I might normally have struggled to light evenly.

Catalogue shoot

I have just finished a catalogue shoot for http://www.twiceonline.co.uk. This is the first time I have shot something like this which I found more challenging than shooting people. Making an inanimate object interesting is all to do with light and focus. I would hope I have succeeded doing so with the images I took. Below are some examples.
For the record Twice is a local business run by Caroline Hoyer Millar selling household goods made with traditional materials or in a traditional way. Pay her site a visit.

Speed shooting

Saturday should have been a fairly easy day shooting. I was asked by the paper to cover two Amateur matches both kicking off at 2pm, a Junior match kicking off at 2.30pm, another Junior match kicking off at 3pm and a simple news image about football programmes at the same ground.

The weather forecast said the rain in the morning would clear in the afternoon.Good. I got my equipment together and left the house just after 1.30pm giving plenty time to get to the furthest away amateur ground. Got to the ground to discover the game wouldn't be kicking off at 2pm after all probably closer to 2.30pm. So I decided to go the the second amateur match with a view to covering that first. Same story. Now I was left with 3 games all with a 2.30pm kick-off. Suddenly the day would be a bit more hectic. I headed back to the first game and shot a few images before heading back to the second amateur. The heavens opened at this point. Torrential rain and wind. I shot the second match for just over 5 minutes before heading off to my first junior game. By this time I was drenched. Covered the next two games and news image by 4pm. Wet through but job done. The glamorous life of a bottom rung sports shooter!

Below are the images I will be submitting to the paper with the exact time they were captured. One thing I would say is that there is a real similarity in the images due to the fact that I shot the first three games from a midfield point for safety (making sure I have images to submit). Award winning images they are not.

Tay Thistle v Dundee Shamrock. Image captured 14.40pm

Tay Thistle v Dundee Shamrock. Image captured 14.41pm

Letham Amateurs v Menziehill AFC. Image captured 14.49pm.

Letham Amateurs v Menziehill AFC. Image captured 14.51pm.

Jeanfield Swifts v Steelend. Image captured 15.08pm.

Jeanfield Swifts v Steelend. Image captured 15.09pm.

Scone Thistle v Culter. Image captured 15.36pm.

Scone Thistle v Culter. Image captured 15.42pm.

Scone Thistle president Scott Farquharson with the new look programmes. Image captured 16.03pm.