Focus on Imaging 2011

It's been a couple of weeks since I went to this year's Focus on Imaging, and I had such a great time there. It was absolutely exhausting, but I learnt a decent amount of stuff, met people I'd met the year before and got some great new equipment! It was non-stop laughter, and we had lovely weather too as an added bonus.

Taken at the Bowens stand at Focus on Imaging

I was shocked when I heard that Canon had pulled out at the last minute, their only reason being "reconsidering marketing strategy", but thankfully Nikon were still there and I was able to play with two of their lenses. The first one I took a few snaps with was the 70-200mm f2.8. I've been considering getting it in future to compliment my 24-70mm f2.8. It was a really fun lens to play with and very quick, sharp and zoomed a fair distance!

Taken with Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8

I was quite happy with it until I got to the second lens on my list - the 85mm f1.4.

Oh. My. Word.

It was love at first click, basically. I fell in love with it and never wanted to take it off my camera. The way it separated the subject from the background was mind-blowing and the quality, colours and sharpness left me speechless. I liked it so much in fact, I started to almost wish I'd gotten this one instead of my 24-70mm, and I love that lens. My dilemma now however is wondering which to get - a D700, or the 85mm!

Taken with Nikkor 85mm f1.4

Sadly I can't afford either right now, but I did get two things while I was at FOI. I'd been considering a graphics tablet for a few months, and was debating which kind to get. Everything seemed to be pointing towards an Intuos4, and I eventually bit the bullet and bought one. So far, everything is great! I really enjoy using it and I think I even prefer using that to my multi-touch trackpad on the MacBook Pro. I kinda miss the gestures, but ease of use compensates for that. The nibs seem to wear down quickly though, which is a problem I'm trying to resolve. I knew it when I bought it, but after I'd heard friends say they had no trouble, I figured I wouldn't either. Thankfully, the nibs are cheap enough to replace.

The second thing I got was some software called Perfect Photo Suite by OnOne Software. I watched a demonstration of its abilities by chance as I was leaving on the first day, and was blown away at what it could do. I also found out I could get an education discount - more than half price! So after sleeping on it, I decided to get it. I'm incredibly glad I did, as it's so useful, works brilliantly alongside Photoshop and makes everything a lot easier. It makes the bridge between your creative vision and using technology to show it a lot smaller, and just speeds up your entire workflow. It's very powerful (you can remove the background behind things such as veils for example, and then put a new one in) and just a joy to use. I recommend it to anybody who's considering getting it.

PhotoTools v2.6, part of Perfect Photo Suite

As some of you may be aware, I'm now also writing for a great website called Light Stalking. I'll still write posts like this in this blog every now and then until I get my website up (where I'll have a different blog carrying on from this one) but check them out, they have a load of inspiring posts and useful hints and tips for beginners, all the way to professionals!

Bag Lady Part 3, and other recent stuff!

This blog is well overdue for an update. I was so busy with my AoP project "Bag Lady" and getting it finished in time that most other things got pushed to the wayside. I had another project going on at the same time (group cinematics) which didn't help matters at all, as I had to juggle my time and be in two places at once. But, it got done in the end!

I was also really, really ill when I was editing the final photographs. I think I was rundown from too many late nights which didn't help things, as I'd caught the bug that was going around. All I wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but the deadline was fast approaching and merciless.

After a few days of ruthless editing getting 663 images down to the final six and then editing those six, I had the final images at long last. I was so pleased with how they turned out! I would liked to have included more, but the brief only allowed six, so six it was. I'll be working on a couple of others that I liked and uploading them soon too.

So here they are, the final six! (Click for larger version)

Isn't she gorgeous? :D

My entry has been submitted so I'm hoping for some good news soon. Even if I don't get through though, I'm very happy with what I've achieved. I learnt a lot about organising a fashion shoot from the ground up, what to expect, what can easily go wrong and how to prevent it, and working with others was a lot of fun. From start to finish, the project was intensely satisfying to see becoming a reality.

I recorded myself working on one of the images too using a screen capture program, as I've had requests from readers who enjoy seeing the behind the scenes type things, so I decided to include this as an insight to how I work in Photoshop. I was using a trackpad at the time, not the best thing to use I know, but I couldn't use a mouse as I was curled up in bed coughing and spluttering and had nowhere to put it. Eventually I'll try using a tablet, but I'm still looking into which one to get. Does anybody have any recommendations? I'd be interested to hear about them in the comments if you do!



Tomorrow I'll give my thoughts so far on my new lens - the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8. Stay tuned!

...and breathe

So I've gotten the BA1 fashion shoots done. Now the editing begins and I can concentrate more fully on finishing my project for next Friday. Only one person hasn't picked up their images, I'm not too sure why. I've got things to do though so they know where they can find me. It puzzles me that they'd want images and then not bother to collect them when the deadline is today. Oh well. I was getting pretty confused yesterday as I was being asked by everybody for their images and ended up giving one person the wrong images. It was because she'd done the hair on the model so I thought she'd wanted it because of that. It was soon sorted out :) I almost missed the bus yesterday and caught it just as it was pulling away. I'd have gotten there sooner but my laptop had decided that it wanted to swallow a DVD-RW at a crucial moment. After trying to launch terminal (and failing) and threatening the computer (don't we all? :P ) it finally let go and gave it back.

I got some really good images over the course of the day, and I enjoyed doing it. I'm glad I was able to help so many people and I hope they all make good use of the images. I saw some printed today, and though I know I took the images and am confident in my abilities and their quality it's funny to think that it was indeed me who took them. Seeing them printed is so different to seeing them on a screen. It was a great feeling :D

Something worth noting is the camera I ended up using yesterday due to my own camera dying on me. I ended up using the Canon 450D (as previously mentioned here), which belongs to Foundation. It got the job done and I got some interesting photos from it. I loved it when I was on foundation and I wanted to buy one. It's pretty much what introduced me to DSLR photography on a grander scale than the occasional use of my Mum's D70, so maybe it's just me being used to my Nikon D5000 (it's almost like an extension of me when I use it, I'm very familiar with it now) but I really didn't like using the 450D at all yesterday. The controls were all over the place, the light changed often and it couldn't cope, the white balance was all over the place....I think 50% was user error/not being used to it and 50% it being a lower end camera. It's a nice camera, but I think I'll stick to my Nikon. I'm going to buy a new battery for it soon to avoid a repeat of yesterday. Also, I packed my charger today! I probably won't need it but it's a good habit to form. Eventually my D5000 will become my backup camera and I'll upgrade to a D700 sometime around the end of second year. I used one once and I love it. I'd like the D3X but the price difference is something I'm not too sure I can justify. At least with the D700 I can take full frame images and afford some kick-ass lenses at the same time. Lenses is where it's all at anyway. My 50mm would finally be able to autofocus with the D700 too :D

As a side note, my Spyder USB plug has finally arrived in Switzerland. I'm hoping to get my brand new replacement Spyder in the post within the next couple of weeks. Hopefully this one will work.

Here comes the bride...

Today I'm sitting among all the fashion students on the verge of sneezing my brains out due to the high percentage of hairspray in the air. I'm on my second day of shooting for a BA1 fashion group who have all made bridal corsets. I had a great time yesterday and got some fantastic images that I'll be sharing (I'll have a LOT more free time after today, editing here I come!). Since I'm waiting for makeup and hair to be finished by the hairdressing and makeup students from another campus, there's no reason to panic even though we're running 30 mins over schedule. I'm reasonably happy watching students use tools that look like they were designed for torture and learning about what they're actually meant for.

Again today I have 3 models in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, thankfully we've been blessed with good weather again today so if need be we can work outside. The second group yesterday were certainly keen on doing that and I can't blame them, we got some gorgeous shots with some blossom trees and a willow. The lawnmower man was adamant that he'd be included in some of the shots however. Bring on content aware fill from CS5. I'll have it some day I'm sure. The corsets were all lovely and there's some more interesting ones on the way. Not all have finished yet in true student style :P Everything is ready and waiting, so while I carry on waiting I'll put my laptop on charge and hope I can get everything done in the time given. I'm quietly confident it'll all get done :)

EDIT: Disaster strikes! Well, sort of. My camera battery had less juice in it than I thought it did. It has about 20% left but I have the college's Canon 450D on backup (and currently on charge). Course, the only day I don't bring in my camera charger too is the day I need it. From now on I'm never leaving the house without it. Lesson learnt!