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A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lille Lungegårdsvannet Bandstand), Bergen

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lille Lungegårdsvannet Bandstand), Bergen

Firstly, thanks to the strangers I met in Bergen whose portraits I took for my 100 Strangers Project. I'm travelling again from tomorrow for a week, so I'm afraid adding your portraits to the project will take a little longer than ideal. Email, however, and I will send you a copy straight away. This is a vertorama of three shots, cropped to 8x10, from last weekend's quick trip to Bergen. (More info to come). Thanks to everyone who checked out Event Horizon and helped it make Explore - I really appreciate your thoughtful visits and comments, and look forward to catching up. Sorry that travel is making that a little challenging at present!

Event Horizon (Redend Point Pillbox With Ferry Light Trail), Studland Dorset

Event Horizon (Redend Point Pillbox With Ferry Light Trail), Studland Dorset

There's a ferry, due into Poole around 21:30 through the summer months which I've been stalking for a good couple of years now. The nuisance of being down in Dorset only once or twice a month, the intersection of good light/darkness with it's scheduled arrival time, the wild dither either side of its arrival time and, of course, the interference of other plans have all made photographing it streaking across the horizon something of a challenge. In recent months, however, I've seen a few successes, of which this is the first one I'm happy to post - even if the ferry isn't really a feature in the final shot. The foreground is a "pillbox" machine gun post, marking Redend Point on Studland beach, lit with handheld flash and LED (see below). Bournemouth's light pollution ends up in lots of my Purbeck images as a stand in for natural sunset and I have to say I will miss it when they switch all the ghastly sodium vapour bulbs for clean white LED's in the near future. As well as sharing a quick shot from my chasing of the ferry, this is a quick note to confirm that I'm alive despite recent inactivity on Flickr. I'm juggling some ambitious travel plans for the month ahead with changing jobs and some other projects - all keeping me away from Flickr. I'll be catching up over the next couple of days then back late August with posts of my own - though hopefully I'll be around off and on keeping in touch with contacts. Hope you're all fantastically well! Info for Strobist: The "pillbox" was zapped with a handheld Canon 600EX-RT over the course of the exposure, at 1/16 power - twice from camera left, hard along the cliff, four times from camera right, just on the edge of the sea, then eight times through the back window of the installation. The leaves in the tree above were then lit with ten seconds of sweeping light from a Lenser MT7.

Skye Light (Sunset Over Loch Dunvegan), Isle Of Skye

Skye Light (Sunset Over Loch Dunvegan), Isle Of Skye

Last October's trip to Skye hasn't really filtered into my photostream yet. The wildly changing weather demanded a level of preparedness and dedication that wasn't compatible with a family holiday, and winds at night were devasting on tripod work. Being on Skye is how I imagine standing on the prow of a yacht sailing through a year's worth of weather in a day. The sky constantly scrolls overhead and the weather hits you in an unrelenting showcase of possibilities - rain, sun, cloud, rainbow, hail, searing light, downpour, rainbow, fog, hail, sun, thunder, rainbow, lightning, sun, howling rainstorm, etc. all washing over you in seconds, faster than you can take it in. You're way out on the edge of the Europe, like a sentinel watching the Earth's production line dispatching rain to Dresden, sun to Barcelona, fog to Venice, hail to the Nürburgring, triggering weather reports on televisions in fifty languages. This particular shot comes from an outing to see the seals on the coral beaches of Loch Dunvegan in the late afternoon. Really I'd have liked a tripod and fifteen minutes more time to find a foreground, but neither were available. Stern as Jessica's legs are, at 2.5 years old as she was then, a couple of miles was too far to risk without carrying capacity - hence no tripod. A mile into the walk, we found a gurgling stream tumbling down to the beach, bright in the sunlight with fresh water that fell twenty minutes earlier in a claustrophobically intense rainstorm. Seeing it snaking off into the reeds and heather was temptation too great, and answering the explorer within, Jessica pounced off into the dense thicket of clean water, peat and phragmites australis. Treating us to the wry, hauntingly jolly laugh you'd imagine Oates sharing with Scott, Jessica was plucked out entirely soaked. Back to the car... As we raced her adrenaline-drunk metabolism back to a change of clothes, a proper firework display of a sunset broke over the far side of the Loch. Without time to compose properly or tripod to assist, I fired off a couple of shots. This is a manually blended product of the two. Almost all comes from the first, exposed for the sky. The pool of green grass comes from one exposed for the foreground, such as it was. Hopefully I've kept it subtle enough not to stray over the line. It's always hard to judge these, so let me know what you think - I'd appreciate it immensely! Hopefully everyone is having a terrific end to the week!

Bridge Over Mala Savica River, Gorenjska Slovenia

Bridge Over Mala Savica River, Gorenjska Slovenia

Another outtake from my evening session up in the woods at the start of the Slap Savica walk. This one is a manual composite of four shots using the shift feature of the TS-E 24mm. It perhaps could do with being wider still, to get a little more of the rapids to the left. More notes at the main shot. Again, I think the bridge is probably a little lacking in "zap" - something I'd add some light to if re-shooting. Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to the new month!

Bridge Over Mali Savica River, Gorenjska Slovenia

Bridge Over Mali Savica River, Gorenjska Slovenia

Street portraits have kind of taken over my photostream recently. It's an addictive photographic niche; quite literally, I think, just from the adrenaline rush that comes with approaching strangers and asking to shoot with them. However, I've lots of other shots to share, so thought I'd take a quick break from posting my project to upload some other shots I was keen to get the community's feedback on. This shot is from a series shot in the Triglav National Park (TNP) in Gorenjska, Slovenia. The main shot from this set was a lightpainting, shot towards the end of the evening. However, I also have lots from the twilight as I set things up, tested compositions, etc. This is one of those, and generally it's had a very positive reaction amongst friends and family. I'm not entirely sure, however, if it has quite enough "zap"! Maybe the bridge is a little flat to my mind, and a punch of hard flash across the cobbles would have lifted it? Any critique would be appreciated! Hope everyone is having a great week.

Paris (Stranger #58/100), Watford

Paris (Stranger #58/100), Watford

Looking to keep the momentum strong on my 100 Strangers Project, I headed out in Watford yesterday late afternoon. I'd been out in Watford for a couple of hours before without any success, but buoyed up by breaking a similar hoodoo in Blackpool last Sunday, thought I'd give it a shot. Watford High Street features a (not entirely beautiful, but very useful) two lane overpass, offering limited shade and some short stretches of textured concrete I thought would work as backgrounds. With all the smokey grey blur ready, I just needed a stranger with enough impact to stand out against it and lift the image. Meet Paris. She and friend Kane were strolling along with an ice cream, and with her dark, definite make up, monotone outfit and vibrant sweep of hair all looked like they could take command of the scene I had in mind. Chatting, she was instantly happy to get involved. She's a second year photography student. As often when I hear someone shoots, I got carried away suggesting she check out the page and start a project of her own. I wish I'd asked more about her current work! Sorry! Learning from my shot with Chloe (#57) where the larger reflector was uncomfortable to pose with, Paris held the smaller sunfire reflector just out of shot, whilst Kane held the larger gold reflector camera left. When we shared the pictures on the LCD, Paris gave a whoop of happy surprise, which was kind of awesome - yet, unexpected as she posed so powerfully and naturally. Paris - thanks again for stopping, and I hope the full image her lives up to your expectation from the LCD. If you got a second to send me a link to your Flickr that would be ace - I'd love to see what you shoot and share your work here. Have a fantastic week in any event! This is portrait #58 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved. Catching up now after another weekend travelling and shooting!

Chloe (Stranger #57/100), Blackpool

Chloe (Stranger #57/100), Blackpool

Chloe and her friend Emma had just finished a Sunday afternoon's work and were headed into town, when they agreed to an interruption to their schedule. Chloe agreed only on condition she would look bold in the finished image. I hope we've achieved that! It'd been Chloe's awesome Marilyn Monroe t-shirt that had first caught my eye, and I wanted a background that would let it stand out, without becoming a distraction from Chloe. A simple grey silver along a shop front was just wide enough to offer that. Once again I tried the two reflectors together - Chloe holding the larger gold one, whilst her friend Emma stood as close as possible to the camera left, with the sunfire reflector vertical to Chloe's face. I really like the light it created, yet think next time around I'm going to swap them around, so that the subject isn't burdened with the larger, much wider reflector - which can be a little hard to hold and pose with. As we shot I chatted more with her friend Emma who shoots portraits of visitors to the Sealife Centre just around the corner. As well as that, she creates video projects of her own including one which Chloe fiercely endorsed about the Kray twins. Send me a link guys! Thanks for stopping and I hope you like the outcome. This is portrait #57 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved.

Robbie (Stranger #56/100), Blackpool

Robbie (Stranger #56/100), Blackpool

This is portrait #56 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved.

Alternate Take - Robbie (Stranger #56/100), Blackpool

Alternate Take - Robbie (Stranger #56/100), Blackpool

Please see main post for details.

Jean (Stranger #55/100), City Of London

Jean (Stranger #55/100), City Of London

Out shooting with Bomvu during England's second World Cup match, I met Jean on Moorgate in the City of London, juggling a phone with my photo request, searching for friends she was meant to be meeting. Taking a moment to stop, her boldly contrasting shirt and striking hair seemed perfect for a chalky stone backdrop along the side of an old bank. We shot four frames, with this superbly direct, almost reproachful, stare, before her friends saw her across the street and we headed off to our respective evening engagements. The shots the first of a few where I'm trying to work with two reflectors to get as smooth a light as possible. It's not a skill I've mastered yet, but hope to show you some progress through the next few portraits. In this one Jean is holding a giant gold reflector, whilst Colin shines a more distant "sunfire" finish reflector in from the camera right. Thanks Jean for stopping - and for being the lucky first recipient of my newly printed contact cards! Hope you like your picture. This is portrait #55 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved. Catching up now!

Andrew (Stranger #54/100), Paris Pont Neuf La Samaritaine

Andrew (Stranger #54/100), Paris Pont Neuf La Samaritaine

My final official posting from my Paris street portraits, delayed by all the wild work that comes with quarter end... and also failed attempts to process out the reflections in Andrew's spectacles. Andrew and Safra were wandering along the dilapidated frontage of the old La Samaritaine department store, where I'd met Lena and Michael. This interesting back alley along its side seemed a worthwhile background with the tall buildings and late afternoon light doing a reasonable job of controlling light levels. The only issue was the huge white building behind me, visible in Andrew's glasses as noted above. At least it looks Parisian I suppose! I'd hailed Andrew for his superbly appealing explosion of hair and beard, plus the cool rainbow-coloured DNA motif of his t-shirt. These things together, I thought, would give him a good central presence for the vanishing point composition of the alleyway I'd chosen as the background. In the comments there's a slightly wider version, and I was tempted to shoot even wider in the style of the fantastic Pete Zelewski, but my project is finding a style of its own which seems to pull in a little tighter. Even in experimenting a little around compositions, I'm keen to keep a consistent look and feel to the series, so this closer cropped version is the one I'm including. Andrew and Safra were an awesome couple - somewhat intellectual, somewhat whimsical, very easy going. They're over in Paris for two weeks, and only checking out Paris - an admirable level of focus, I thought. The t-shirt in this shot was a last minute addition and nearly didn't make the trip. I'm very pleased it did! Andrew and Safra - thank you both for stopping and sharing a moment of your afternoon with me. Safe travels! This is portrait #54 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved.

Lena (Stranger #53/100), Paris Pont Neuf La Samaritaine

Lena (Stranger #53/100), Paris Pont Neuf La Samaritaine

Day two in Paris saw me wandering and shooting some more general street and travel shots. Oddly I find the 100L macro lens rather effective for that - it forces one to select and isolate, it declutters. It's also my stranger project lens (every shot so far has been taken with it, all at f/3.2*), so when an opportunity presents itself I am ready. On this occasion the opportunity came as two backgrounds. Walking down through Les Halles I arrived outside the derelict La Samaritaine. On one side of the road a bold green hoarding offered potential, whilst newly laid concrete, smooth as ice and dusted with a fine, porcelain powder, sat beneath the department stores old canopy. Shaded from above, with the street a vast and flawless reflector it was like a street photographer's ideal studio-perfect beauty lighting setup. After a short wait and a rejection, a couple appeared that matched both. Michael (see comments) had a bold green hat to work with the green hoarding, and I thought Lena's bright skin and eyes would be superb in the even lighting. Like death, taxes and a late opposition equaliser, there comes a time when the 100 Strangers photograph shoots a roller shutter background. With Lena's superb tricolore striped top, that fateful moment had arrived for me. We shot with Lena first, then Michael, each helping with a gold reflector for the other, and a punch of fill from my on camera softbox. The effect is most pleasing on Lena's portrait I think - perhaps I could have found a little more drama in harder light for Michael, who I let down somewhat - given the superb intensity of his stare. We chatted, and it turned out they were Poles, visiting Paris from Norway to top up on sun. Stavanger, it turns out is pretty grim in terms of weather. It felt like a good handing on of the torch - I'm shooting more stranger portraits in Bergen come July, then Poland in August. They were a fantastic couple; bright, friendly, keen to understand and excited to participate. Lena and Michael - thank you so much for taking part, and our energetic chat. Dziękuję This is portrait #53 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved. *In fact there is one I messed up and shot at f/3.5 by mistake... Hope everyone had a great week - catching up now.

Light In Shadow, Paris Jardins De Luxembourg

Light In Shadow, Paris Jardins De Luxembourg

This is the kind of quick random shot that I wouldn't normally post. This one just popped up in my Lightroom reel amidst street portraits and I thought I'd share it. It was just a nice visual note-to-self to "shoot the light, not the land". It's just a walk around shot from Jardins de Luxembourg on the Sunday morning of my weekend shooting street portraits in Paris. On Saturday I'd walked 15 miles or so, so a cool hour beneath the horse chestnut trees was a relaxing start to my second day. Hope everyone is having a great week so far.

Fiona (Stranger #52/100), Paris Elysees-Madeleine

Fiona (Stranger #52/100), Paris Elysees-Madeleine

Having met Jacques I ambled along the Rue Royale towards the Place De La Concorde, passing more super stone-framed doorway backdrops. Though the light had dulled slightly, when I Fiona and Mark overtook me I hailed them. Visiting Paris for the weekend from England, both were superbly sophisticated and friendly, but with Jacques at #51 I thought Fiona would mix things up a little more in terms of variety of sequence. Mark helped with the reflector and we shot a couple of quick frames in front of one of the doors. I have to say I made a couple of mistakes in framing, with the oddly aligned doorway and portal all slightly skewed, and perhaps not the best balance of soft stone and painted door. Nonetheless, Fiona's natural class and charisma justified sharing this one. Or two. I couldn't quite work out which I preferred, so would welcome comments. I did go with this one as the main image, as I think having both shoulders in the frame helps with the scale and anchoring. Thank you Fiona and Mark for stopping and interrupting your late afternoon stroll. I hope you had a superb weekend and like the final images. This is portrait #52 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved.

Alternate Take - Fiona, Paris Elysees-Madeleine

Alternate Take - Fiona, Paris Elysees-Madeleine

See main shot for notes on this street portrait.

Jacques (Stranger #51/100), Paris Rue Royale

Jacques (Stranger #51/100), Paris Rue Royale

This is portrait #51 of my 100 Strangers Project - check out the group page and get involved. (Detail to follow... Adding now...)

Frédérique (Stranger #50/100), Paris Montmatre

Frédérique (Stranger #50/100), Paris Montmatre

On my recent Paris trip I made the mistake of walking too much. On the Saturday I went over 40,000 steps (a threshold I've only reached twice previously in three years - one a marathon and one a half marathon followed by half day hike). As previously noted, my usual modus operandi is to find a background, test shoot for exposure/separation and then wait for the right person. Trying to cover too much ground in too little time, I found myself repeatedly breaking my process, marching on to cover ground. This saw me miss some great strangers; caught without a background I paused that millisecond too long and they were on their way. A few hours into the day, aware of this problem, I'd made myself the promise that if I saw someone to shoot then - comfort zone or not - I would stop them and tackle the background as the conversation unfolded. That resolution in mind, struggling up Montmartre, I saw Frédérique. She had an incredible, ethereal poise, and poignant, almost haunting intelligence about her that whispered of an old, noir-cloaked Paris. Like Franck earlier in the day, she listened, understood and agreed to take part in the project, so long as I could follow a few hundred yards, in this case to a bus stop. She confirmed the times, and noted we had eight minutes. Slightly too close behind the bus stop, but on hand at least, I noticed these black, glossy metal bars - offering a workable backdrop. Ideally I'd have shot with an extra twenty paces between us and them, but without that luxury, we framed the shot and talked. This is the first frame of four that we shot. In the comments you'll find the "straight out of camera" version - in which I'd nicked the top of Frédérique's head. Among the various self-enforced rules I'm observing in the quest for a consistent look across my project is having the full head in the main shot. Her pose, and expression, though were such powerful echoes of what had inspired me to ask if she would take part that I couldn't use one of the other three shots. (So often I find the first frame is the strongest). Enter Photoshop, wherein I rebuilt the missing details, widened the frame and de-cluttered the background. There's a photo-journalistic streak to street photography, which I respect, and this processing perhaps runs counter to that - yet I'm comfortable with that here. The ends, I think, justifies the means. Still I'm going to push myself harder in two seemingly contrary directions following this experience. The weekend reminded me to stay true to my MO, be patient, find a quality background, rein in distance covered and be ready to wait for the right person. Yet this shot, and Franck's, have forced me to accept that sometimes you just have to jump in, ready or not. As my grandmother noted in her memoirs; "You regret the missed opportunities more than the mistakes." If you're still with me after that ramble, you might wonder why I've written so much about the shot and the processing, but little about Frédérique herself. She was a superbly interesting person to speak with, yet amongst the topics covered were some thoughts on privacy which I must respect. She asked that I only share her portrait and name. This is portrait #50 of my 100 Strangers Project. Half way in and I cannot recommend it enough as a learning project, and as one of Flickr's best groups. If you're at all interested in taking part, why not check out some interviews with those who have completed the project. A new one is live today with the fantastic Paco_X which might inspire you further!

In The Light Garden (Girl In Rose Garden Lightpainting), Kent

In The Light Garden (Girl In Rose Garden Lightpainting), Kent, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
After lots of recent stranger/model work I wanted to keep up with my lightpainting. I've been doing lots of test sessions with the new TS-E 24mm to make sure I can use it blind come next months trip to Slovenia.

This is my third lightpainting using it, and I'm finding it hard not to use it on full swing. I guess that urge will diminish with familiarity, but I do like the effect it gives - here dropping out the unwanted fence and plumping up the blossom into cotton wool bokeh. All blur is in camera.

All lines were drawn in camera too - though I took the girl from my first frame, and roses from the third, so this is a composite of two shots.

My hands still bear the scars of tracing the roses in the dark. The green is from a plastic bottle top held over the torch; gels have never been string enough to colour bright LED light to my satisfaction. Having discovered bottle tops I think I might start a collection for future use - they're much less fiddly and far more effective than gel for this.

I'll be catching up this evening - hope everyone is having a bright start to the week.

Story Arch (In Camera Light Painting), Studland Beach

Story Arch (In Camera Light Painting), Studland Beach, a photo by flatworldsedge on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Last weekend the good weather saw us paddling along Studland beach. The tide was out, so we took Jessica up to the rock pools and re-discovered a set of caves I'd forgotten existed. That evening I went back to shoot from one.

It's a shot I think I'll need to reshoot, but thought it was fun enough for an initial post. I'm going to watch my tide tables and feet a little more to get smooth sand coming into the cave, and would ideally see a little less cloud for a final frame.

There's a strange ghosting from the TS-E here - I think the issues come from shooting straight on, close focused on the rock of the cave. Next time I'll see what I can do getting the girl closer to focus.

There's a little cloning on the left hand cave wall to remove a distracting chalky stain, but everything else is in camera as always.

Info For Strobist:

Three half power flashes of Canon 600EX-RT from 2m camera left to light cave. Girl is hand drawn with LED flashlight with sock as diffuser.