Sha La Las video shoot

 

I recently went to Powerhouse Studios in New Haw to take some behind the scenes images of
The Sha La La's latest video shoot.

Pictured above on Guitar is Darron, lead singer of the group, filming him is Robert Martin Kelly.
As you can see from the shadows on the floor, Rob had set up a couple of hotlights to illuminate the band but keeping the background black as they wanted a very contrasting look to the video.
My job was to get a few behind the scenes images, keep quite and keep out of the way which is always the best way to be on a video shoot!.

I sent in a selection of images from the night in black and white to fit in with the theme of the video and can be used for print purposes as well.

It was so hot in the studio that we had to take a few breaks outside as the hotlights live up to their name!

Btw, the Sha La La's latest cd is out very soon, I know I'm buying one-they are simply brilliant!

The Nevertones CD Artwork

 

 

The Nevertones.....

We recently got together for another shoot primarily for some forthcoming CD artwork.

The top image was at the end of the day, a very quick set up, a white background with one light aimed at it, and another light on each subject one at a time, then put together in Photoshop-simple but effective.

 

The bottom image was the complete opposite.... the group had an idea to have 4 different female characters taken from their songs to illustrate the CD cover, problem was we only had one girl!

Toni posed as all the characters with each member of the group which involved a change of clothes and makeup each time. I made sure there was enough space between each person so know one would overlap each other and took many frames.

In Photoshop I stripped the image together using layer masks.

It took a fair amount of time but looks effective.

Matthew Castle:cover shoot

Above is an image of Singer/Songwriter Matthew Castle,.

We had a shoot recently to create some images for him to use for general PR use and maybe an CD cover.

 

Our first location was a wooded area where we utilised a dead tree (see blogpost below), later we went to an old abandoned house that had shuttering up at the windows which made a nice background.

The colour version of this has a lot of impact as Matthews blue jean jacket contrasts with the cream walls and wood of the building, although I really like the black and white version shown here.

 

As for lighting, there was harsh sunlight coming from the right  so I lit Matthew from the front left with one flash, very simple, but very effective.

 

The square format of the image is ideal for a CD cover as I have left some space for text at the top left, as you can see in the mocked up version below.....

 

 

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All in the lighting.....

Ok, who turned the sun off?

One of my favourite techniques to use in strong sunlight is to turn the subject (in this case Singer/Songwriter Matthew) to face away from the sun so it rim lights the subject and then add flash to the image from the front, I used an Elinchrom Quadra to light Matthew with a see through umbrella to soften the light onto the scene, see the shadow of the neck of the guitar on the tree trunk in the image below?-nice soft shadow.

It's a bit of a balancing act with the exposure, especially if the sun disappears behind clouds occasionally!

 

Below is the image with flash, with Matthew lit to the same exposure as the background.

We carried on the shoot at a few more locations with a bit more of an urban vibe to them so Matthew had plenty of choice in the images he can use for PR purposes and to put in an electronic press kit.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Alex at the Oakford

 

I recently met Alex at an open mic night and he was interested in a shoot to promote himself.

He was based in Reading so we shot at the Oakford Social Club (thanks Ria!) in Blagrave Street.

 

The Oakford has a fantastic interior with lots of backgrounds to use including some red columns that had tiny drawings on them-being done on the other side by the artist as we shot, so Alex in his stripped T Shirt really stood out, all lit with one Quadra through an umbrella. the top image has Alex to one side of the frame-this is for two reasons, firstly the image is easier on the eye to have the subject to one side and secondly the image can be cropped square for a CD cover or flyer etc, something I always think of when shooting and artist.

 

We later shot some images in the seating area with Alex sitting on the floor with his guitar to change the look of the shots so he had plenty of choice in the final images.

 

Clothing choice is very important when shooting as you can see in the top image Alex's top really stands out against the red column and in the bottom image his brown leather jacket matches the tones of the seating and wood floor to make the whole image more harmonious in colour and mood.

I usually ask whoever i'm shooting to bring a range of clothes so they can be used against different backgrounds.

 

Tom Holmes:Comedian

 

 

Above is Mr Tom Holmes, top comedian, doing very well on the circuit at the moment.I met him at The Cornerhouse pub in Windsor, a good venue for stand up and took a few pictures of him performing.

We recently got together for a shoot to get a variety of images he can use for PR and Press use, flyers, poster etc.

We did a few variations in lighting, backgrounds, and posing so he had a wide variety to choose from depending on the use for the image.

 

For the lighting, I set up a white background and lit it to pure white, reason being a can 'enlarge' the background in Photoshop to incorporate text or other images.

I lit Tom with one umbrella and sometimes a weak fill light to put detail in the shadows with the white background.

The third image down was the grey background lit by one light laying on the floor for some drama and the one umbrella in front of him.

Tom was very good at getting some great looks and poses and it all comes together when the subject and photographer work together to produce some great images.

After a couple of hours we had a large variety of images to work with.

 

To read more about Tom and his inciteful journal about being a stand up comic take a look here

Oh, by the way-he's hilarious

 

The Nevertones, live and lounging

Above are the Nevertones, playing live at the Affinity Festival at South Hill Park recently, as usual the lighting was all over the place, one second there was a light on their faces, next second complete darkness! so there were a few double taps on the shutter to capture the scene in some good light.

 

They played to a very enthusiastic if small crowd and received a great reception which was good as it was the Drummers first live gig with them although you would never have known.

 

After the show we went up on the roof for some stage images, (top image) I put a tungsten gel on the one flash and set the colour balance in camera to a very cool blue, this turned any ambient light blue but left anything hit by the flash the correct colour temperature to give the image a little something extra.

Lee & Lisa

 

 

Above are Lee and Lisa, a couple of Rappers/Singers. They needed some PR images to push their profile as their music is getting a lot of airplay at the moment.

We started of on a very hot Monday evening in a disused garage for some more grimier shots, then moved to some very ornate gates a few miles away where I set up the lights to shoot against the sun (second image), after we did some shots of them together I managed to get some single shots in the time we had left, we finished about 9pm after a very hot 4 hours of shooting!

To see and hear more about them, take a look at the video on Youtube here

 

Travelling light....

 

What's this? I hear you ask...

I recently attending an event at The Houses of Parliament on behalf of a charity for sick children, I can't show any images as it was a private event, although it was attended by a few MP's and Dignitaries.

 

Anyway, back to the question, the above contraption is my rolling camera gear cart, I use it a lot when travelling as it fits a lot of gear in such as lights, stands, cameras, lenses, etc.

Security is very tight at Parliament, I had to take everything out of the roller case and put it through the x-ray machine, even the light stands, even though they are just made out of light aluminium!

 

Anyway, I managed to get through security and photograph the event for a couple of hours until I had to pack it all up and head home from Waterloo in the rush hour.

As well as carrying all my gear it makes a handy seat on the train when all the proper seats are taken!

Tom in the Park

 Above is Tom, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and Husband of the lovely Camilla (see previous post)

Tom requested a shoot after seeing Camilla's final images, so we headed out to a location in Windsor Great Park on a very hot evening.

I used a couple of lights for most of the shots, underexposing the evening sky to get a rich blue and then re-lighting Tom to the correct exposure.

There was some very old trees which looked good in the images, so we utilised them in various shots as Tom wanted a 'natural' theme to his shoot.

 

Below is a behind the scenes shot of Tom on a tree with my flashes lighting him and part of the tree behind him-a very simple set up but looks great in the final image.

 

 After a couple of hours we headed home happy in the fact that we had a wide variety of images that Tom can use for promotion such as flyers, posters and maybe a CD cover in the near future.

Camilla

 

I met up with Camilla on probably one of the hottest days of the year to create some images that she can use for Press and PR purposes.

We started out at an old disused garage but then went on to a open grassy area for the rest of the shoot in the sun.

 

I placed Camilla in the shade so she didn't squint  against the sun and lit her from the front to balance the exposure against the background, without being lit she would have been almost a silhouette, I also lit her from the side to put a rim light on her hair and left arm.

The best thing to ask a musician to do when having their picture taken is just to play, as any feelings of self consciousness seem to go as they concentrate on their music leaving me to capture the best image possible.

 

Later we went to some very ornate gates to shoot some more images in front of the stone column, the lighting was roughly the same but due to the slightly different angle the sun itself rim lit Camilla's left side.

 

Colour is very important in an image so when Camilla got out a rather beautiful wood guitar that had a lovely colour I was really pleased as the orangey/red of the guitar contrasted nicely with her blue jeans and the green background.

 

After a few hours in the sun i headed home for a very welcome cool drink.

The Cornerhouse Pub

 

 

Now, some of you eagle eyed readers might spot the room in the top image has been used before here when I took some pictures of Nathan Virica, yes it's the top room in the Cornerhouse Pub in Windsor.

Once a month a comedy club is held there, hosted by Dave Chawner (taking the floor, top image)

I took some images there of the various comedians and some of the audience that could be used for their PR needs.

 

As usual, pubs tend to have gloomy interiors, even though it was a bright evening I had to light the interior with one flash that basically lit the room up to a usable exposure- I usually find that flash is needed to either bring up the exposure in a dull interior to get a usable image or to create a lighting effect.

 

Bottom image is Tom Holmes, although there was a reasonable crowd at the comedy night, a good trick to make crowds look more than they are is to shoot through heads and shoulders, that makes the image 'claustraphobic' and indicates a crowded venue.

 

So, if you fancy a laugh, pop along to the Cornerhouse Pub first Wednesday of each month, you might see me with a beer in one hand and a camera in the other,  cheers!