Weapons Grade (Koochie Koo Witch Shoot), Shrub Hill

Weapons Grade (Koochie Koo Witch Shoot), Shrub Hill, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Although this was just one of the test "calibration" shots as we dialed in the flash settings, it's one of my favourite images from a shoot with the awesome Koochie Koo.

She's another super model met through Purpleport, and I'd recommend a quick check of her portfolio there. High quality shots, with a charismatic sense of humour throughout.

For anyone based in the UK, I'd recommend the whole site in general. It's like a Model Mayhem that actually works!

I've also posted a black and white version in my portfolio there for anyone that's interested - I quite like the new Flickr, but the way it hides the first comments is a nuisance when you're sharing alternative versions, hence putting this one off site - here.

Our shoot was looking to mix long exposure light painting with model work to get some "witch" themed images, with spells and magic being worked. After an hours warm up, however, something snapped in the sky and it blasted down with rain. Pretty much armageddon intensity. Leaving us re-booked for next week.

Info for Strobist:

2x Canon 600EX-RT - master on camera in Lastolite "Ezybox", at the same power as the slave in shoot through umbrella, 90 degrees to camera left, fired by built in RT. I'm afraid I lost the flash setting, but am pretty sure it was 1/32 power.

Eidetic (Emma J Black Reading "Light Scattering By Small Particles"), Southbank Skatepark London

Eidetic (Emma J Black Reading "Light Scattering By Small Particles"), Southbank Skatepark London, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This is the first posting in a series I'm shooting with maths textbooks - in this case "Light scatting by small particles" by Hendrik Christoffel "Henk" van de Hulst ForMemRS.

It's shot at the Southbank's incredible skatepark - a London icon currently under threat of redevelopment. If you're equally horrified at the thought that an inspired piece of urban reclamation is going to be bulldozed for yet another tessellated row of veneer-tabled coffee shops, please sign the petition against its destruction here.

The model is Emma J Black, met through Purpleport. If you have a second, her portfolio is pretty intense, and worth checking out here (NSFW). She's fantastic to work with, and more pictures from our shoot will be coming shortly.

There's a more professional crop of this image - rotated a little, cutting out some of the distractions like the dayglo green paint splash to the left - but it simply isn't as charismatic. Likewise, the crazy colour cast on Emma's arm is left in.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying a fantastic weekend.

Dryad (Irina Sosnova), London

Dryad (Irina Sosnova), London, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
First image from a series shot with Irina Sosnova in a crowded, humid, 32C St James Park yesterday evening. Irina is awesome, and this image is just a shadow of her proper work which you can find here.

Shooting flash without CTO gel into the setting sun left the colour version a little tricky to balance to my satisfaction. There's a version in the comments below; the bokeh behind her are a little nicer with that burnished glow of sunlight, and the foreground branch is a little more interesting. That said, I like the way the B&W really focuses the scene on Irina.

As always, your thoughts on the colour vs the B&W would be of great interest to me, and much appreciated if you have a second to share them.

Info for strobist:

2x Canon 600EX-RT fired by ST-E3-RT. the first is at 1/4 under a white shoot through umbrella on the ground, 45 degrees to camera right and 3m from model. Perhaps that one is slightly too powerful. The second is at 1/8 on a light stand just above her head height, 45 degrees to camera left, 2m from Irina. A 1.2m silver reflector, anchored to a tree behind me with sellotape, is bringing a little of the sunlight in from behind camera right.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far - catching up now.

Brushfire (Backlit Reedbed At Sunset), Dalaman

Brushfire (Backlit Reedbed At Sunset), Dalaman, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
A quick post as I continue to pursue, belatedly, a New Year's resolution to post more marginal shots that I like - even if they might not be revolutionary in terms of content.

This one is in Dalaman, Turkey - somewhere where relatives have a holiday home, which we'd like to go back to, yet current flight prices are so outrageous we've been exploring other places instead.

Low DOF backlighting like this always looks pretty cool; some other examples in the comments.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to the weekend.

Going To The Snow (Going To The Sun With Snow Action), Glacier National Park Montana

Going To The Snow (Going To The Sun With Snow Action), Glacier National Park Montana, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
A few weeks back I tweeted about an amazing looking free "instant snow" action shared on Gavin Hoey on his fantastic website. It's an ace site well worth checking out for resources and advice.

Since then I've been playing about Photoshop actions, and thought I'd share one of the more pleasing results. It's very largely down to Gavin's snow action.

It's pleasing though, as it comes from an after thought holiday snap fire off as we got in the car to drive up the "Going to the sun" road on a miserable, rainy day. The colour original was woeful, yet it made a neat black and white shot a couple of years ago. This version kind of updates it to fuller potential. Shooting nowadays feels like it is as much about catching "source material" as it is about getting great results in camera.

Whilst we strive for the latter, missing out on the former leaves some great images on the figurative table.

Hope everyone is having an amazing week and surviving the heat (if in the UK).

Raven, London

Raven, London, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Another quick posting from last week's Monday evening shoot with Raven-Lily and bomvu.

Black and white version in the comments below.

Info for Strobist:

2x Canon 600EX-RT - master on camera in Lastolite "Ezybox", 2 stops below slave in shoot through umbrella 45 degrees to camera right on 1/32 fired by built in RT. 1.2m silver reflector camera left.

Evening Read (Backlit Summer Portrait), London

Evening Read (Backlit Summer Portrait), London, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Quick first posting from a second Monday shooting with Raven-Lily and bomvu in St James Park.

Colin and Raven had an amazing backlit shot from the first session, so this was my attempt to plagiarise. As TS Eliot wrote, "Great poets steal".

I've left most of the flare in the shot, just removing a very dense set of rainbow circles floating to the left of Raven's face. Kind of cool, but distracting. The WB in this version is as shot - even though it was fun shifting it to the outrageously warm and seeing the image dissolve into a golden haze, I thought this slightly subtler presentation was ultimately the more intriguing.

Thanks to Raven and Colin for another great session shooting together.

Info for strobist:

2x Canon 600EX-RT fired by ST-E3-RT. the first is at 1/16 under a white shoot through umbrella on the grass, 45 degrees to camera left and 1.5m from model. The second is resting on a book, 90 degrees to camera left, 5m from Raven at 1/32 power. A 1.2m silver reflector behind her is bringing in a little extra light from a patch of sun another 4m to camera right.

Hope everyone is having an ace week so far.

Raven Light (Raven-Lily B&W), London

Raven Light (Raven-Lily B&W), London, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
First posting from a fantastic early evening shoot with Raven-Lily and bomvu on Monday night.

Colour versions in the comments.

Raven jumped in last minute to cover a cancelled shoot, and we had great fun meandering up from Victoria to Piccadilly, juggling stands, umbrellas and all sorts of esoteric paraphernalia which I'm amazed didn't see us packed off on a one way trip to some sub-contracted Bulgarian detention centre in the name of "prevention of terrorism". London's army of self appointed Jack Bauers deserve a measure of kudos; we shot through Westminster and by the Palace without harassment. A refreshing data point that hopefully pulls the whole curve nearer something that resembles a confident, functioning democracy.

Raven's key objective for the evening was to get some clean headshots for her portfolio, so this early effort focused on this. There's a nice headshot crop in the comments. I'm not sure this one is ideal for the brief; that splash of silver light across her shoulder is maybe just a little hot and distracting. I kind of like it though, that shimmering smooth gradient glamour is just too perfect for me to care too much about the fact it's brighter than the light in her face. Though it is...

Per my reference on Purpleport (see above link to Raven's portfolio there), Raven's a terrific person to work with. Striking, enthusiastic, patient and flexible; she's awesome to work with. Colin, Raven and I are all looking forward to part 2 of the shoot next Monday. Other postings from the first session to come into my Photostream as work allows,

Now catching up with everyone - hope you're all superbly well and enjoying a productive, exciting week.