This last few days has been a good time to get some interesting portraits and ones which I am happy with.
We spent some time in Northern Italy over New Year, and yes I know that this is a Photo Blog but I have to mention the stunning food and wines in the area. Based on the town of Maniago, to the west and north of Venice.
Blissful.
But the photographs, the first was of a a hotel owner, without doubt very photogenic. Also very hard working and with an engaging personality
The photo was taken on the Nikon D700, ISO set at 1000. The lens (the super) Nikkor f/1.4 85mm set at f1.4.
Processing from RAW and removal of noise via Adobe RAW processing.
The black and white Photoshop CS5 helped by Silver Efex PRO2 to obtain the black and white conversion.
Gillindo
But what about that processing, is that Ok? Well it gives a good image but what about something a little more off beat, like this
This taken with a landscape lens, the Nikkor 14 - 24 mm f/2.8mm. The image cropped.
If you are reading this let me know what you think of the two shots as a comparison - to me its clear which is more eye catching but better?
Here we have photographic portrait of a remarkable man, Tom VonKeanal.
Tom is long distances cyclist, he is now to embark on his most challenging objective.
He is to cycle across the US from the Pacific and to the Atlantic. The complete journey wil take 11 weeks and conclude at the Arlington Cemetery near Washington DC. The aim of the trip is to raise funds for the vets from both the US and UK Armed Forces injured as a result of the conflict in Afganistan.
The story behind this trip and the trip itself is best viewed by going to the following link.
In many ways the journey started yesterday with the launch of the website on the 11th of November, Armistice Day in the UK and Veterans Day in the US. It was on this day that Radio Oxford Interviewed Tom about the trip and the charity that he has formed.
I was keen to photograph the interview and share with viewers of this blog the story.
The photography posed its own problems, the radio station was quite happy for me to take photographs (many thanks Radio Oxford) but as the interview was live silence was paramount Also the studio had not the best of light plus being painted in a crimson colour all the photos came with a red colour cast.
All the photographs were taken in the RAW format with the ISO set 1600.
The RAW files could be first colour corrected, but this was always going to be an issue given the red cast dictated by the studio colours. The noise on the files removed via Adobe RAW processing.
So the first photo was taken with the fisheye lens, What a great lens for use on this shoot. All the drama and atmosphere can be pulled into the shot, there is no doubt where we are here. Only colour and some cropping was all that was needed after sorting the noise.
But who are the characters here, in addition to Tom we have the reporter, he did a great job interviewing, live and with great skill. So it seems only fair to include a shot of Malcolm Boyden. Here I was able to look over the shoulder of Tom to get the shot of Malcolm, almost peering into the soul of Tom.
But, ultimately the shoot and the interview was about Tom, the project and the wounded from the war, so finally a shot of Tom. I liked the way that the black and white tone suited the day and the journalistic nature of the interview.
This week I was asked to shoot a band playing, not just a band but a Swing Band. Fantastic music and a great sound. They want images to promote the band.
This I thought would be straight forward, but as ever what you expect and what you get can be different.
What I was looking for was a shot with some of the atmosphere of the band coming through. Its Swing Band - lots of movement, sound and character. The fact that the light was off was great, now we aim for blur.
The main issue was light, there was very little and poor quality, no directional directional lighting and no flash gun in the bag. I opened up the ISO to 1600, the lens to 1.8 and clamped myself against a pillar and got in close.
In Photoshop CS5 the ability to remove the noise is just great, then the ability to remedy the white balance good. This I did in Adobe RAW.
Some cropping and then a move to a B&W photo via the great software Silver Efex Pro worked its magic- here the result.
Well, you can't quite here the Glenn Miller but a good feel of the night.
