Anyone for a glass of milk?

Anyone for a glass of milk?, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Great shoot this and very much a collaborative effort.
Taken from a workshop with aurumlight - head over to their blog for more info on future workshops.
Two day shoot - first involved taking the base frames and then a full day of photoshop :-)

Lighting by way of two Paull Buff Einstein units using Elinchrom Recta light mods. Einsteins were used as they can provide very short flash duration so that the milk does not blur when thrown.

And yes lots of towels were used - but no cows were hurt in the process!

Let me know what you think

DrF

Boxer

Boxer, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Great opportunity today to shoot the current welter weight tri service boxing champ. A true gentle giant.

Shot with an elinchrom ranger through the 135cm deep octa. I removed both inner and outer diffusers then put a silver deflector on to create a large beauty dish. This was then placed high above and looking straight down at Tam. Behind was a large mirror that then provided a touch of rim lighting.

Post production was in PS using a new trick I've discovered with unsharp mask then b&w conversion in SEP 2.

Reminds me of a certain famous shot of an Afghan woman in Nat Geographic but perhaps that's me being conceited!

As usual more on flickr.

Thanks for stopping by

DrF

Self Portrait

Self Portrait, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Looks sad I have been told - but far from the truth as I have finally gotten around to creating my website!

Have a look at www.drfireballphotography.co.uk and please let me know what you think.

Kind regards

DrF

Enlightenment

Enlighment, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Such a great shoot this - thought I'd share thoughts on another from the day :-)
Hired some kit from Provision in Leeds. They were incredibly helpful and I will definately be going back there again. I turned up on a Monday morning while they were preparing kit for shooting Emmerdale - I had to ask if there was a prize for being their smallest customer that day......

This shot similar to the previous one on my blog (but make sure you check out the one entitled "Leap of Faith" also) was shot using the El Octa hidden behind a pillar. This was almost the last shot of the day - time was running out as was the Ranger battery - great kit and I have not often had to change a battery during a shoot (only really when I am shooting on full power through the Octa.)

Post produciton was with Lightroom to do the raw conversion then I used a few of the Oneone plugins I have recently aquired - well they were massively reduced this month and I could not resist :-)

PP consisted of adding a little blue sky thinking through the window which was otherwise blown out and then working on overall tone and contrast.

I may very well use fractals to blow this one up large and print it.

Hope you like and all comments welcome.

Kind regards

DrF

Grace

Grace, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Photo from recent shoot in Kirkstall Abbey. Only had couple of hours and the time flew like the wind. Two great dancers - Fliss and Helena who performed beautifully. More photos will be uploaded as soon as I get a chance :-)

This shot was lit using my El Octa hidden behind a pillar and triggered with a pocketwizard (as the sky port seemed to have a problem with the stone work......)

Post production was done in LR and SEP2 for the b&w conversion.

I had an assistant along and this proved to be incredibly helpful - thanks Steve!

Once again hope y'all enjoy

DrF

Time waits for no man

Time waits for no man, originally uploaded by DrFireball.

This is taken from a commissioned shoot today - for the MUA's final degree show. The brief was for 1920's theme - got the work from my Film Noir shoot with Dani previously.

As expected got on great with Dani and it was good to meet Samantha (the MUA). Generally i shoot for myself and so it was interesting having a "client" whose needs were different to mine. Hopefully this all went to plan though and I look forward to seeing the prints as part of the show.

I was told where the shoot was to be in advance and so took the opportunity to scout the area. Busy part of Ilkley but fortunately those who did choose to look on left us well alone. The wind was up at times but this did not prevent me using the El Octa. Thus shot was taken from a small stepladder that I brought along in expectation of this shot. The lighting was via a 135cm Deep octa and two quadras. "Chimped" rather than metered :-)

Post production using a touch of liquify and SEP2 (becoming a bigger fan the more I use it.)

Enjoy

DrF

Dance (Explored)

Dance (Explored), originally uploaded by DrFireball.

Good day this one in a studio in Stockport. I don't often go into studios as I tend to prefer shooting on location however I could not pass up the opportunity to use their enormous infinity cove.

Had two hours and managed to get my first two photos into Flickr explore from the day (I possibly understand a little more on how to do this- I reckon it involves "proper" comments from folk rather than "awards"....)
Anyhoo back to the shoot. Started with two very large parabolic umbrellas with three speedlights on a trisync bracket - idea being that the duration of the flash would be shorter than that of a studio strobe. Eventually used two quadras left and right in the para-umbrellas. These were powered from the B socket. Swtiching off all the ambient light in the studio we then used the modelling lights to give the camera a chance to autofocus. The 5dMkII did well here despite what I (and loads of others on certain forums) might have thought. I used back button focus and Emma did a pre-bounce to get more height and alert me to her jump.

The infinity cove wasn't lit other than from the spill from the umbrellas and I coloured the background in PP.

DrF