Esses Photography » Digital SLR photos http://www.esses.co.uk Photography by Richard Hopkins Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:18:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 My first time in a studio http://www.esses.co.uk/2011/02/my-first-time-in-a-studio/ http://www.esses.co.uk/2011/02/my-first-time-in-a-studio/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:15:40 +0000 Lifechooser (admin) http://www.esses.co.uk/?p=131 Last year, I was talking to a friend about their experience with Venture Studios. They had a voucher which a friend had bought for them, and had some great pictures taken, but when it came to the viewing the prices took their breath away. A standard medium sized print was something like £450, and came with a side of if-you-buy-right-now-it-will-be-3for2 hard sell. It’s a story I’ve heard many times before, and not only about venture.

I’ve always wanted to do a studio shoot, and this was my ideal opportunity to give it a go. Once word was out, it wasn’t long before I had 9 groups of people who wanted to have a session. It took a lot of organising to get everyone into suitable time slots, and all too quickly the day came.

I had booked Lowford Studio for the day, along with some help from the proprietor Chris, to help me with the lighting. I was then advised to buy a roll of white paper, as I was sure to use some during the shoot, and it would be cheaper to buy a roll than pay for damage by the metre. Chris arranged for purchase and delivery for me. I basically showed up and was ready to shoot.

A quick snap by my wife

A quick snap of the studio shoot

On the day, 3 people couldn’t come, mostly due to a nasty flu bug which was around, but to be honest, this eased the pressure a little bit. Chris and I spent a very short time with the lights, as he was suffering from a computer crisis and I hadn’t allowed much time before my first victims clients were due to arrive. Within 15 minutes I was ready.

The first people were a large family group of 10 people, including a 3 month old baby, and grandparents. Talk about in at the deep end! I made a few mistakes, including positioning someone too close to the backlight, and I hadn’t noticed that one of the rear lights was too dark, but overall I was happy with the result. The time my wife and I had spent researching poses, and controlling people correctly was well worth it.

The day went on, I had a couple more disasters, including a bit of confusion with the rear lights at one point, however on the whole the day went well and I now I have lots of people who are very happy with the results. The main issue was because of the high number of toddlers and very young children who can’t be persuaded to smile, and find the whole thing very confusing. My technique was to try to relax the children, and just let the day happen. We spent a long time trying to get a good shot of one girl in particular, but the photo only came right at the end, when everyone was in the foyer putting their coats on. The girl relaxed and started running in and out of the studio with loads of energy. Everyone just let her, and each time she was in shot, I took a photo, and got a great series of shots.

I can’t put many up here until I get permission from other people, but here is a taster.

]]> http://www.esses.co.uk/2011/02/my-first-time-in-a-studio/feed/ 0 Second trip to Core4x4 http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/10/second-trip-to-core4x4/ http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/10/second-trip-to-core4x4/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:53:57 +0000 Lifechooser (admin) http://www.esses.co.uk/?p=89 One month later, and I’m back at Core, near Chichester, this time with Derek who has a 20D, 17-40 and 70-200 F4 lenses. All the photos show are my own, with the exception of the one where I’m driving. That shot was Derek’s idea, as he realised I could easily and safely get the front wheels airbourne. Interestingly, I didn’t ground the suspension arms on that run, so perhaps it’s the way forwards!

If anyone knows a fix for this, let me know.

In that last photo you can also see the camcorder mounted. The video is on youtube – it’s 10 minutes long.

]]> http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/10/second-trip-to-core4x4/feed/ 2 Off roading in the Jimny http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/09/off-roading-in-the-jimny/ http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/09/off-roading-in-the-jimny/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:50:28 +0000 Lifechooser (admin) http://www.esses.co.uk/?p=87 Many of these photos were taken by James Dick, but I have uploaded them here so that I can share them with other people.

This trip was to core 4×4 near chichester, on a pay’n'play day to try out the Jimny for the first time. I had great fun, even if I did manage to fill my footwell with mud. I now need to fit some recovery points and go out again :)

]]> http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/09/off-roading-in-the-jimny/feed/ 0 Pro 40 Cricket at the Rose Bowl http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/08/pro-40-cricket-at-the-rose-bowl/ http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/08/pro-40-cricket-at-the-rose-bowl/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:00:40 +0000 Lifechooser (admin) http://www.esses.co.uk/?p=77 On the 5th August, Hampshire played Yorkshire in the Pro 40 league. It was a great game to watch and went down to the very last ball. Entering the final over, Hampshire were trailing by 9 runs.

It was also floodlit. It was really strange watching the moon rise, whilst watching a game of cricket.

Enjoy the photos.

]]> http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/08/pro-40-cricket-at-the-rose-bowl/feed/ 0 Thinking of the Empire State http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/04/thinking-of-the-empire-state/ http://www.esses.co.uk/2009/04/thinking-of-the-empire-state/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:56:47 +0000 Lifechooser (admin) http://www.esses.co.uk/?p=50 Thinking of the Empire State

This is a photo I took with my 10D in New York from the “Top of the Rock”. I am trying to get a lot more human interest into my photos, and I think I hit the mark with this one. Let me know what you think, in particular whether you think that adding people to photos like this makes them better.

I’d appreciate the comments on flickr, it increases its ‘interestingness’ and more people will then view the photo. Thanks :)

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