Ultimate Gym Selfie

So 'selfies' are the thing, everyone's taking them, they're a cultural phenomenon. I'm not a fan.

At least the Kardashians are using the rear camera...

I sort of understand the mirror selfie, the best camera on your handset will generally be the rear facing camera. But using the front facing camera you'll end up with blurry or grainy images of yourself that you want (probably) to be flattering.
I mean, of course I've taken a few selfies, I do occasionally use Snapchat and I will use the front-facing camera on my phone when necessary, but I really don't understand SELFIE STICKS!

When did it become appropriate to carry the 'Wand of Narcissus' around with your phone bolted to the end of it?
While I appreciate that most smartphones have capable cameras these days, they're still PHONES! How can you effectively make or receive a call with a meter long pole attached to your handset?!

Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post

Sadly, whether I like it or not, selfies are a thing and the selfie stick seems to be the winter 2014/15 must-have accessory.

With that in mind we set out to make a testosterone-fuelled ULTIMATE GYM SELFIE, complete with the manliest selfie-stick ever!

If you can't beat them, join them!

Armed with some pro camera equipment, pro weight lifting equipment and the man-tank that is William Wayland, we headed to mi-gym to create the Ultimate Gym Selfie!

The concept was simple, Wayland would be holding an Olympic Weightlifting bar with a DSLR (complete with big lens) attached to the end of it. Simple, right...?

Well an Olympic bar weighs 20kg before you've added a weight to the it, the ends also rotate so the lifter doesn't have to let go of the bar to re-grip. Finally, how were we going to attach a DSLR to a smooth, round patch of metal?

We opted to use bandages to attach the camera (what's more manly than bandages?!) with a solid amount of gaffer tape to stop the bar from spinning.
The camera that was strapped to the bar was a Canon 7D DSLR with a Canon 24-70 f/2.8L attached to it - that's about £2500 worth of my kit being swung around on a metal bar.

We added a 5kg weight plate to the end that Will was holding, this added to the manliness of the image and gave him some counterweight to offset the weight of the bar and camera.

Wayland and Mossy trying to figure out the pose

It truly is a thing of beauty

I wanted the final images to be dark and gritty, sticking the MANLY theme. The subject was lit with 2 Nissin Di622 MkII flash guns that were set off with Godox wireless triggers.
All images shot on Canon 5D mkIII with Canon 16-35 f/2.8L lens.

Here's the finished picture.

THE ULTIMATE MANLY SELFIE STICK

As a bonus we decided to mock up what the pictures taken on this ULTIMATE MANLY SELFIE STICK would look like.

Look at that duck face!

MANLIEST SELFIE STICK EVER

The shoot was definitely one of the most fun photoshoots we've ever done, we were all laughing the whole morning.
Always a pleasure to work with William Wayland and once again thanks to mi-gym.com in Chelmsford for letting us play silly games in the gym.



All images copyright Brad Wendes 2015

Dani Studio Shoot

Dani Studio Shoot.

Another studio shoot this week, very different from the last one.
I had done a very 'male' shoot last week with harsh lighting that produced images with a little 'punch'.
So this week I wanted to shoot a much more feminine subject and produce images that were much softer in tone.

Once again this was a 3 light setup, one softbox to the left of the image (300w set to 1/2 power), one lamp with a reflective umbrella to the right of the image (300w set to 1/3 power) - both lamps in front of the model, pointing back towards the backdrop.
The third lamp was behind the model and off to the right of the image (300w at 1/3 power). This was to add light to the side of her and add the highlight and 'halo' to her.

The images where she is laying down was a 2 lamp setup. One softbox set high and slightly to the right of the image, pointing down above her head. The other used a reflective umbrella and was at her feet, slightly off to the right with the light aimed up her body. This was a great way to avoid shadows under the eyes. For these shots both lights were 300w lamps set to 1/2 power.

Big thanks to Dani for putting up with me giving orders and getting herself into all the requested poses.

I set out to produce images that were a stark contrast to the shoot last week, I like to think I succeeded in that.

Here's my favourite images from the shoot:

Dark Studio Shoot

Studio Shoot - September 2013

Here's a selection of images from our studio shoot last week.
The models are all part of Team Kinetix - http://www.teamkinetix.co.uk
We were aiming for dark, moody shots of guys that are clearly athletes.

Considering they had very little experience posing for portrait shots, the models did a great job. They were easy to pose and got the hang of staying in the light as required and were keen to get the best possible images.

The reason we set this shoot up initially was to teach Liam (model in the beanie) how to shoot portraits and use studio lighting as he's just started a 2 year photography course and is incredibly keen to learn the craft.
Liam proved himself to be just as capable behind the camera as he was in front of it. Expect some great things from Liam's photography over the coming months!

All images in this album are shot on Canon EOS 7D with either 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM II or 100mm f/2.8 L macro.

The lights were quite bright and we wanted a dark background, so I made sure none of the lamps were facing directly at the backdrop (although it still needed to be significantly darkened in post production)
The shots were taken at between 1/125 and 1/160 shutter speed, aperture was between f/11 & f/13 and ISO 100 for the sharpest, noise-free images.

This was a simple 3 lamp setup with a black backdrop:
Key light was a medium sized softbox with a 300w flash head at 2/3 power. This was high to the right of the image.

I used a harsh 250w lamp at full power shooting from behind the model to the left. This gave us some outline and halo.

The third light was a 300w lamp set to 1/3 power with a shoot through umbrella. This was set forward of the model and to the far left of the image. This just lifted the left side of the image to remove harsh shadows.

Lighting setup for the shoot

Post processing was done entirely in Adobe Lightroom 4.4.
The colour images had blemishes removed, clarity boosted slightly, background darkened, saturation dropped a little and highlights dropped.

The black & white images had blemishes removed, saturation dropped, contrast boosted, clarity raised and a small amount of film grain added.

I was generally happy with these images straight off the camera but they were really polished in post processing.

Travelling light

As mentioned in an earlier post, I love my DSLR and don't see what all the mirrorless fuss is about (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

When I had an entry-level DSLR I lusted after something more 'Pro'. While I'm fully aware that having a 'better' camera won't improve my photography, it does feel better in the hand (especially with a decent sized lens on the front). I like the weight, I like having an LCD display on top so that i can quickly see my exposure settings and adjust accordingly.

As odd as this may sound, I feel more credible and therefore more confident as a photographer with a big camera in my hands.

I bought my Fujifilm X20 purely as a compact camera for BBQs and days out with friends, not as a camera that i would ever reach for given the choice.

When I was invited to a wedding at a castle in Ireland, I was very much looking forward to taking my kit bag and getting some shots. Sadly the closest airport to the Castle was only serviced by a certain Irish budget airline and my 15kg kit bag was over the weight limit for hand luggage. In addition, to take my clothes in a suitcase would more than double the cost of the flight. As I was just a guest at the wedding, I couldn't justify the expense of taking my big shiny camera with me. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would 'only' have a compact camera with me all weekend.

Even 'loose' the essentials take up a fair amount of space

I'll have to take the 'compact'

The Fujifilm X20 only has a 12MP 2/3" sensor but the lens does does let a lot of light in with a maximum aperture of f/2. I thought that for outdoor shots in August it would be fine. It's likely that I wouldn't be able to shoot during the ceremony but for any other indoor or low light shots I'd just have to make do and hope for the best. At least it shoots in RAW so I've got some post-production options.

All packed up for the weekend

Once again the "Little Camera That Could" impressed the hell out of me. I was able to easily shoot in manual mode as the X20 has 2 rear control dials (shutter speed and aperture) but I ended up shooting everything in aperture priority mode, choosing a wide aperture and letting the camera do the rest. If I wanted to make any small adjustments there's a handy exposure compensation dial on top of the camera with +/-2ev at 1/3 increments.

I was also pleased with the range of focal lengths on the small zoom lens (28mm - 112mm) and found that it suited what I wanted to photograph on the day. All in all I couldn't fault the X20 as a handy and versatile compact camera. Considering the sensor size, it's a fairly competent camera.

I didn't have to worry about off camera flash, changing lenses, carrying a big kit bag, I just concentrated on taking pictures - perhaps a lesson to learn there.

The official photographer at the wedding was absolutely superb, it was a pleasure to watch him getting creative and also trying to work out what he could see in his mind as he dashed around the castle and the grounds to find his shot. Having since seen the finished shots, I am blown away by his creativity, vision and proficiency with a camera.

He deserved a drink!

Enough about the official photographer, how did my little toy camera get on shooting a proper wedding?

Well here are a few shots taken on a £400 compact camera:

Markree Castle, County Sligo

So, in future I might leave my kit bag at home more often!

Not always necessary to take the full kit...