Starry Cycle

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 20, 2013

Click image to enlarge

Of the thousands of pictures that I’ve taken over the years, this one is probably my favorite. There are many reasons why I like this picture– I like motorcycles, and I like star trail images. But I suppose part of the reason why I like this image so much is the process that went into shooting it.

It began on a clear dark night. Like usual for a weekend night, I was bored and had nothing better to do. Unlike most weekend nights though, I had my friend’s motorcycle. I was “babysitting” it while he was out of town, which basically meant that I would ride it every once in a while, to keep the carburetor from gunking up. (Or at least that was my excuse…).

So anyway, I had recently started experimenting with long exposure star trail shots, so I figured, what better way to spend a night than to ride around on the bike, then use it as the foreground for a star trail shot?

So I rode the bike to the northern edge of town. I wanted to take the picture facing north, so that I could get the north star in the frame. This way I could have the stars in the frame rotating around the north star. I figured the northern edge of town would give me the least amount of light pollution, since the town would be behind me.

I found a dirt road next to a farm and parked my bike. I had my wide angle lens attached to the camera, which I set on my tripod facing north with the bike in the frame. Since it was so dark out I manually focused the lens, and set it to the widest possible aperture, f/4 in this case. I set the camera for 30 second exposure at ISO 100. I then hooked up my intervalometer to the camera and set it to repeat indefinitely at 1 second. Then there was nothing for me to do but wait. I ended up lying in the dirt road staring up at the stars while my camera took 38 exposures.

The Making of "Toms Branch Falls"

Smokey Mountain National Park, NC

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 19, 2013

This is a picture of Toms Branch Falls in North Carolina outside of Bryson City, NC. I picked this photo because I like the way the tree branch helps lead the eye into the photo while outlining the bushes. The bushes and shadows in turn help frame the waterfall.

I used the Pentax K10D camera with the Tamron 18-250mm lens with a circular polarizer filter.

The camera was mounted on a Slik Universal U-212 Deluxe tripod while using the 2 sec delay (mirror-up) option on the camera to avoid vibration. Shake reduction was turned off while using the camera on the tripod. White balance was set on daylight although the camera says manual. (I keep the white balance on daylight 99% of the time since I shoot RAW) The photo was shot in RAW and post processed using Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Pedestrian Entrance, Zion National Park

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 18, 2013

Whenever I try to pick my favorite photo, this photo comes up more frequently than any other photo.  It was taken just outside the pedestrian entrance to Zion National Park and currently graces my wall as a 20x30 on "metallic" paper that really makes it pop.    

The Photo

Sunset at Luffenholtz Beach

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 18, 2013

Equipment and Settings Used

• Pentax K-5
• Pentax M 20mm F4
• Feisol Tripod and Ballhead
• 2 stop ND filter
• 4 stop graduated ND filter
• Shutter speed: 0.4 sec
• Aperture: F11
• Shooting mode: Manual

Making of Little Red

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 16, 2013

Hello dear readers, let me take you on an exciting and exhilarating journey, as I unravel the complex lengths I go to to create my masterpieces.... Or rather how I fluke my way through fashion photography with great finesse.

Introduction

I work as a fashion, beauty and portrait photographer in the North East of England and although I often shoot especially for designers and collections, I make sure I take the time to do test shoots and little experiments, several times a month to keep fresh and try new techniques. The photo I have chosen to blog about was taken during one of these mini adventures, where my friend AK FX Make up Artist had contacted me with an idea to do a shoot loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood but with no pressure to publish, just for our portfolios. I chose this photo simply because it is such a simple shot but it's still ethereal and holds a narrative. 

(click image to enlarge)

Model: Hannah

Make up: Abbie of AKFX

Dress: Christopher Niari Designs

*please note, to make this image websize you lose a lot of the detail*