Friday 2 September 2011

The manifest


At one point I thought of beginning this blog with a Manifesto, a ringing declaration of what I believe and what I stand for...  However on reflection, I'd rather start with a manifest instead, that is, with a straightforward indication of what you are likely to find in this blog, if you open it up.


I am a photographer, so unsurprisingly this blog will deal with photography.  Photographers differ in many ways, among them in what subjects they prefer to photograph.  In my case, while I certainly enjoy photographing fountains and interiors and scenery and suchlike, my greatest pleasure comes from photographing people.  That can take the form of event photography, street scenes or portraiture, but most of my work in recent years has tended to be fashion photography, so expect most of what I post here to deal with that space.


Photographers also differ in their obsessions.  Many photographers obsess about cameras and lenses.  The first picture they take will be with lens cap on (deliberately! :-)) and the second will be of a blank sheet of white paper.  They engage in heated discussions of how much of what kind of distortion this lens produces at that zoom and this focal length.


Perhaps surprisingly, that is not me.  I shoot with a Nikon D90, and my usual lens is a Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5 zoom, and my biggest reason for choosing them is that the combination takes good pictures in the vast majority of situations I photograph in.  I'm quite sure that for any given specific situation, there is a different lens that would produce a picture that is just that slight bit better... but the truth is my budget has limits ;-), and the D90 and the 18-200 work acceptably well for me.


On the other hand, I definitely obsess about light.  Fashion photography differs from a lot of other kinds of photography in the number of different light sources and modifiers one typically employs, and I absolutely love the process of trying to determine, for any given project, what combination of lights (including the ambient light) will likely produce a result that works well for the purposes of the project.


Even among fashion photographers, however, there are differences.  Some do most of their work in studio; they frequently use big strobes from companies like Alien Bees, large softboxes and reflectors, and heavy stands to hold it all in place.  I however do a large part of my work on location -- and on top of that I do not drive.  Consequently, my kit needs to be something that I can carry along with me on public transport.  My lights are Nikon speed lights (at last count, two SB-900s, an SB-800 and three SB-600s) and they and my camera and my umbrellas and reflector/diffusers all pack into a small rolling suitcase, plus a shoulder bag for the light stands.  My heroes are the folks like Joe McNally and David Hobby, who can make that kind of kit perform magic :-).


Fashion photography (and indeed a lot of people photography) also tends to involve a certain amount of post-production, that is, manipulation of the recorded image in software such as Adobe's Photoshop.  And the subject of what can and should be done that way, versus what can not and should not, is also one that interests me a great deal.


So there you have the limits that define what I do, and consequently what I am likely to write about :-): what you will find here will be mostly posts about lighting solutions with small strobes (and what happens after).


Light by the handful, as it were.




Enjoy!





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