New Flash Workshop Dates

Just a brief note to announce the next 2 dates for the Flash Workshop.

December 17th 2011 - Saturday
January 14th 2012 - Saturday

Spaces are limited to 12 per day.
$180 for a full day's tuition, meals, refreshments and notes.

Detailed information on the website:
http://www.fireflyphotography.co.nz/tuition.php

For bookings or further information:
Rory - 021 063 1279
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Fireworks over Auckland

New Zealand is currently playing host to the Rugby World Cup, and it seems the entire country has taken on a very patriotic and festive atmosphere.

I witnessed this firsthand last week during the festivities that marked the opening of the tournament.
Part of the opening ceremony was a 12 minute firework display over Auckland City.
Seeing as I have never had the opportunity to shoot fireworks, I opted to spend my night on Mount Victoria (The best lookout over the city) and see what I could come up with.

Planning, thinking and learning bites after the jump.

This particular shoot posed two distinct problms.
Firstly, the fact that I had never shot fireworks before.
Secondly, finding and securing a location which was likely to be swamped with people (given that Mount Victoria was the best place to view the show)

Preparing to shoot something New
The internet is full of little gems of information if you know where to go look for it.
Preparing for the shoot, I was not surprised to find that one of the photographers I respect most, Joe McNally, did a fairly comprehensive post on the subject in his own blog.
Take a look at it here
The blog post is actually a condensed version of a chapter from his last book - The Life guide to digital photography

Seriously good writing by an absolutely amazing photographer.
Well worth the purchase, and at around NZ$20 (and free worldwide shipping) from The Book depository, it's an absolute must read.

The basic take home message for me:
1. Get there early and stake out your claim.
2. Compose the image with a lot more sky than you think you'll need. You can always crop in later, but you can't recover things if you cropped too tightly.
3. Shoot at your lowest ISO and an aperture of around f8/f11. Experiment with shutter speeds and figure out what exposes the static part of the image well.
4. Try shooting in bulb mode to vary your exposure time.
5. Using a black card in front of the lens with a bulb exposure will allow a longer exposure time.
6. Remove the card with each fresh burst of pyrotechnics, and if you time things right you can combine a series of bursts onto one image.

Location Location Location
I've done enough landscape photography to know that location planning is the foundation on which everything else is built.
Where to set up, what time to get there, how to get there and what to pack for the job.
Ignore these questions at your peril.
This shoot promised to be fraught with curve-balls.

Mount Victoria was by far the best place to view the show, but this also meant that I would be one of possibly thousands with the same idea.
This posed a number of problems that I could identify, though with no idea of how much they'd affect the shoot.

Mount Victoria is a long-dormant volcanic mound in Devonport, which is just north of Auckland across the Waitemata Harbour.
Great spot, but with one main entry road.
Timing it wrong would leave me stuck in traffic, lead me to arrive late, find parking miles away, lug gear and refreshment all the way to the top of the hill and then not find a spot to set up (Not a pleasant prospect)

I opted to leave home 5 hours before the show, thinking this would buy me plenty of time.
I'd packed an ipod, book and camp chair, so the wait for sunset would be a piece of cake.)

Despite this, I fouind myself backed up in traffic from the exit of the motorway. My heart sank into my shoes even further when, 30 mins after taking the exit, I arrived in Devonport to find every street parked up. Not looking good.

Luckily I grabbed a spot that must have only recently been vacated.
A brisk 10 minute walk and I was on top of the hill.
Luckier still, there were many unobstructed spots to choose from.
Game on!


Conditions could not have been more perfect, and with the festive atmosphere that existed, it was promising to be a very enjoyable and memorable evening.


I was incredibly fortunate to find a spot beside a really lovely family whose company and conversation made the long wait for 8 o'clock a real pleasure.

So, tripod out and set up, I opted for the 70-200mm.

Took a few test shots, tried a few different framing options, and settled in to await the setting of the sun.

In the meantime, I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of the "neighbours" kids.

Growing up is all good and well, but losing the ability to be completely enthralled by the promise of something exciting is a sad fact of adult life.

I honestly love landscape photography.

The thrill of being out with your camera in that golden hour around sunrise or sunset and actually capturing something special is something that most photographers relish.
I love the vibrance and energy of a city scene, and this particular night was something amazing.
All I had to do was get my focus and exposure right and the scene did everything else.




The time actually passed rather quickly, and before too long I found myself sitting at 19:50 with a cable release in my hand, waiting for the first salvo of light.

I decided to stick with th 70-200mm lens, with the option to change to the 24-70 if necessary. (I reckoned there'd be plenty of time during a 12 min performance)
I was soon to learn that if you want to create magic when shooting fireworks you've pretty much got to get things right at the beginning.
The sky fills with smoke so quickly that pretty soon your scene loses all of its character.
I got lucky with the title shot of this blog, but the rest, apart from telling the story, are not likely to have much commercial value.







All in all, a pretty good night.

As I always do after any shoot, I sat down the next day to do a post mortem and jot down what I learnt, and what I could do to improve things next time.

1. Don't understimate how early you need to get to your spot.
2. ISO 100 @ f11 is plenty good to give a shutter speed that works really well.
3. The black card idea needs a little work. I don't think I created anything with it. Using the bulb exposure made things pretty tricky exposure wise.
4. White/yellow fireworks tend to blow out your exposure very quickly compared to red/green.
5. Get the money shot early on - a sky full of smoke kills a photo.
6. Don't plan on changing lenses.
7. Possibly set up a second camera + tripod.
8. Warmer clothing - Auckland wind on an unexposed hilltop at night for a few hours is no picnic.

The task now is to work at marketing some of the images.
Hopefully a few of the ideas I have will pan out, and that process itself will turn into a worthy blog topic.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by.
As usual, any comments or questions are most welcome.

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Flash Photography Workshop

27 August and 9 October 2011

Firefly Photography is proud to announce the resumption of the Flash Photography Workshop series.
The relocation of the business has created a number of obstacles to overcome, and a fair amount of planning has gone into getting things up and running again.

Following the success of the workshop at the Photographic Society of New Zealand's National Convention I have spent the last 3 months researching venues and refining the program.

I am happy to say that everything has been finalised, and 2 dates have been set aside for presenting this workshop in Auckland in the latter half of 2011.

Full details, dates, cost and description of the day's tuition after the jump.



Click the images to view at full size





Much preparation has gone into this workshop, and I guarantee you'll leave it fired up and eager to make magic with your camera and flash.

Places are limited to 20 per day, and are on a first come - first served basis.

Looking forward to seeing you there.
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The Eaton Family

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Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics

It was my privilege recently to photograph members of the Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics.
I have long known that a great image depends in a big way on putting something interesting in front of the camera.
To say I was unprepared for the grace, poise and athletic prowess of these girls would be a massive understatement.
In fact, my initial planning was woefully inadequate, as I underestimated the size of the backdrop I would need to illuminate in order to capture them doing what they do best.

But as with everything in my life, I was not satisfied with a second rate performance, and quickly arranged for a second shoot with Hannah Russell (Pictured above) which ironed out all the wrinkles that the first shoot threw my way.

Th idea I had in my head from the start was to do their abilities justice with a camera.
Gymnastics to me is all about grace and flexibility - it is a demonstration of the abilities of a finely tuned and meticulously trained body.
The simple fact that these girls are easily capable of physical feats that most people will never accomplish, demands that they are captured in as pure a manner as possible.
For this reason I opted to use a pure white backdrop, and in most cases, eliminate the distraction of shadows and the texture of the gym mat in order to present the gymnasts in a pure and uncluttered manner.

So, 7 hours of shooting and 10 hours+ of editing has brought me to this point.
I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.



Hannah Russell
Hannah is grace personified, and what she was able to do from a standing jump still amazes me.
Aside from this, she is absolute dynamite when tumbling, which was something I was determined to capture with a camera.





Claire Fuller
Photographing Claire was an absolute pleasure.
Aside from being incredibly comfortable in front of a camera, she has both poise and natural beauty in spades, which made photographing her so easy and so much fun.





Emma Espie
I haven't laughed so much behind a camera in a long time.
Working with Emma was a real pleasure because of that fact.
She is incredibly focused, and pours all her concentration into what she does.
However, she tends to poke out her tongue when she is concentrating hard, and this simple gesture had her, and most of us, in hysterics during the shoot.
(Wait for the blooper reel!)





Zoe Espie
Talk about dynamite in small packages!
Both Zoe and Emma were adamant about getting things "just right", which is a principle I am sure will reward them in their lives.
Zoe too shares Emma's penchant for strange facial expressions when she is concentrating, which honestly had me chuckling through most of the process of making the rough selections.
(Again, wait for the blooper reel...)





Pippa Benton
It's been a while since I've photographed anyone who has been as enthusiastic in front of a camera as Pippa was.
She has such a beaming smile I should have turned the lights down when shooting her!
Full of life and energy, she was also a pretty tough artistic director who regularly headed away from the lights to check the images that I was getting.
I hope you like what we came up with.





Maia Prochazka
There is something really special about Maia.
It is clear to see that she enjoys what she does immensely, and is so visibly happy that I am led to wonder if she has ever frowned in her life.





The WAGS Complete Slideshow
I am very grateful to have worked with such an amazing group of girls.
You are all so talented and well mannered that you made the act of photographing you so much easier than I had expected it to be.
I wish you all well with your young lives ahead, though I am sure, given what I have seen of you thus far, you are all headed for bright and wonderful futures.




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Aayden and Toni

I love the fact that I enjoy my work so much.
Not just seeing the final images, but the whole process of creating something beautiful for a client.
Getting a feel for their personalities, conceptualising the shoot, planning the lighting, deciding on props, setting the lighting, shooting, adapting, uploading and finally, loving what the whole process created.

I feel extremely blessed to have shot these two beautiful souls.
We had a great amount of fun, and Aayden's playful nature kept both her mom and me in stitches.





The shoot started out as a bit of a personal mission for me.
I believe strongly in having a standard, especially if you're charging people for the work you do.
Poorly lit, fuzzy images should never see the light of day, and should NEVER be paid for. (Yes, I know this is a personal rant)

Toni had received images of Aayden taken at her kindergarten by a photographer who had come in to shoot kid's portraits as part of a package deal.
As can be expected of a quick job, especially with children who don't always cooperate, the images did not capture Aayden's character, and just seemed to lack soul.

I don't like the idea of having anyone pay for work they aren't satisfied with.
There is something special about photographing kids - their personalities are ever changing, and I think it's a necessary thing to capture each stage of their lives, and capture it well. There is no way of turning back the clock and doing it a later stage.
But this also means that you do the job properly, and take the time to create an image (yes, it IS an active process that starts WAY before you lift a camera) that captures your subject as they truly are.

So, it was with this in mind that I offered to shoot pro bono to create something special for 2 very special people.
Now, I don't necessarily condone shooting for free, though not every reward needs to be financial.
My payback on this job was to spread my photographic philosophy on planning and approaching a client, and to garner some great word of mouth (Which truly is a priceless commodity)

The setup was a fairly simple one:
White seamless backdrop
White seratone floorboard
2 Background lights - metering a stop and a half hotter than the key light (Which creates the pure white background without flaring light on Toni and Aayden)
Key light - 90cm softbox
Camera - Canon 5D with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens, handheld



The shoot took all of 45 minutes, and yielded 49 "keepers" which I subsequently arranged into a video slideshow. (Which was a HUGE hit)



After delivering the images, I asked Toni to pick her top 6 images.
I was curious to see whether we'd have different points of view; me looking at the images from a photographer's perspective, and Toni viewing them very subjectively.

To be honest, I was expecting us to be pretty much similar with our picks - I could not have been more surprised.

Of six images, the two at the top of this post are the only images where our tastes coincided.

The 4 images below are Toni's other picks...
































































Whilst these 4 are my picks...




































































My thanks to Toni and Aayden for being such amazing people, and for reminding me how much I love doing what I do.

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GET MORE: Gear. Equipment. Technique. My Own Rambling Experience.

My previous post brought up a few details that I thought would make a good follow up piece.
These relate to a few techniques and items of gear that I used on the Butter Factory shoot.

Much of what I know has been gleaned from the works and advice of other photographers.
In the interests of paying things forward, I'd like to share a few lessons and techniques that my experience has taught me.

More after the jump




First up is the Tronix Explorer XT
Not to knock (un)available light photographers, but there is nothing that separates poor photography from art more than meticulously planned lighting - which invariably means studio lighting and the tons of modifiers available to make magic with light.

This is all very well in a studio setup, but what happens when you want to use that lighting in locations where power outlets are lacking?

Invariably, you could invest in top of the range lighting systems which come with their own battery packs. (Think $$$, and lots of it)

Or, you could opt for something a little less pricey, which is what I did.

At a little more than $800, The Explorer XT is by no means an item you could buy on a whim.
The clincher for me was that it would allow location work that I otherwise would only be able to do if I sold my current lighting setup (Interfit) and invested in something far more costly.

Two things to remember with a sine wave inverter:

1) They need to remain on charge when not in use, or they could lose power permanently.
(I actually sent a mail to Tronix asking about this, and apparently they'll work just fine if allowed to charge for an uninterrupted 24 hours once per week.)

2) They do not fare well supplying continuous power.
What this means for me is that the strobe lights will work fine, but having the modelling lights turned on would not be a good idea.

This unit fared brilliantly during the shoot, and is likely to continue giving me joy down the track.



Secondly, we have the combination of Studio strobes and hot shoe flashes.

As far as lighting goes, I have 3 studio strobes and 2 Canon 580EXII flashes at my disposal, each with their own unique pros and cons.

The studio strobes are more powerful and are capable of creating a quality of light that I cannot achieve with the speedlites.
The speedlites however are very portable and versatile enough for quite a number of projects.

Ordinarily a shoot will require one or the other.
On the odd occasion a need will arise for both types to be used.
Sometimes I also have need for 4 lights or more, and in this case I have to use both types.

With the Butter Factory shoot I needed the 1m x 1m softbox to create the soft light on my subjects - cue the 600Ws Interfit Stellar strobe.

The speedlite was necessary for a few reasons:
1) I didn't want another strobe running off the Sine wave inverter (It could easily handle it, but I wanted to play it safe)
2) The speedlite was small enough to fit behind the couch without trouble and provide illumination for the shelves on the wall.
3) I have a little more options wrt gels on the speedlites - even if, in this case, I settled on something as basic as a CTO gel to warm the wall.

The trick with all of this is finding a way to trigger everything easily.
The strobe uses an Elinchrom Skyport, whilst the speedlite was triggered with a Pocketwizard Mini.
Fortunately, the Pocketwizard transmitter has a hotshoe above it, which allowed me to slot the Skyport transmitter on without trouble - and Robert's your mother's brother.





I must mention that ordinarily I could get away with a Pocketwizard only; the speedlite's flash will trigger the studio strobe, provided the strobe can "see" the flash.
Again here I chose to play it safe, and opted to use both the transmitters as the speedlite was firing away from the strobe.

The last thing I want to do in front of a client is fiddle with gear that isn't performing as it should.

Lastly, I want to share a lesson that the experience taught me.
In hindsight, this should not have occurred, but sometimes in the face of something new you end up being so overwhelmed by the experience that your normal routine is disturbed.

In this case I left one little element out of my preparation for the shoot that had me kicking myself repeatedly in post-production - I neglected to do a thorough clothing inspection before we started shooting.

Admittedly, the darkness of the location contributed, as I would have picked up on this if we were shooting outdoors.

Take a look at Steve's hat.
This little item is such an integral part of his character, and as such is evident in every shot - necessitating a touch up in every shot.
For a photographer - time is money, and unnecessary time spent editing can be a very costly mistake - especially if it could have been avoided with 2 minutes of primping before the time.



So to wrap up I'd like to share the post-game summary from the shoot - the little lessons I ALWAYS write down the minute I get home.

1) Low ambient light creates problems that you have to overcome.

-Find a way to illuminate your subject so that the camera can focus without difficulty. (Torch, modelling light etc...)
-Your environment/backdrop may have to be lit with flash.
-If you have to light the background with flash, be creative enough that your lighting does not ruin the ambiance.

2) Examine your subjects clothing before and during the shoot.

- Fluff, lint and other elements can cause nightmares in post.
- Changing poses can lead to make-up smudges on clothes, be prepared.

3) Don't skimp on your location preparation.

- Knowing the lighting conditions and options for setups will save a lot of headaches and spare you the ignominy of looking like an amateur in front of your client.

4)Be confident and methodical.
- This comes with experience.
- You will get the most from your clients if they truly believe that you know what you are doing and are focused on getting things perfect.

Happy snapping fellow photographers.



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