I’ll keep this brief as it’s relatively techy. Nokia have apparently seen fit to unlock RAW image capture in their 1020 🙂 Gives SO much more potential for post-production, particularly in recovering highlights and shadows. Please excuse the rather dry subject matter of these samples – really astonishing dynamic range for a phone!
Letter of thanks
Lovely letter from a father-of-the-bride 🙂
BSI’s annual congress in Liverpool
The British Society for Immunology were good enough to embed me in their events team for their four-day congress in at the Liverpool Acc Conference Centre, Albert Dock in December.
When I wasn’t being bamboozled by the discourse of cutting-edge scientific research (a c.20 year old GCSE Biology didn’t really furnish me with the skills to keep up!) I found it to be an enthralling event and it was inspirational to witness the passion with which this collection of remarkable brains set about ridding humanity of some terrible afflictions.
Dad’s 70th
My Dad turned 70 recently and it was celebrated with a huge gathering of the Strange Clan in the Sussex motherland.
The birthday boy
Uncle, brother and nephew
Another brother
A recent arrival to the family, one of a pair of new twin nephews
Birthday cake
Dad with his new bike!
This pic sums up my Dad pretty well – pulling faces at his grandson whilst his professorial brothers muse on heavyweight geopolitical themes.
Birthday walk
Nephew
Corporate portraiture
Howdy,
A string to my bow that I haven’t shown off for a while is corporate portraiture. I set up my studio equipment at companies’ premises and take portraits of their employees. Not just that, there is a hefty styling element to the shoots, from ensuring straight ties and even collars, to optimal angling of the shoulders and chin definition – JUST the right amount of ‘jut’ works well 🙂
Here are samples from a couple of shoots – the background and overall look is usually dictated by the clients, often to tie in with other images in their library.
Bike shoot!
East-London based Single Speed Components have been a regular client of mine (and I of them). One of my favourite shoots was for some of their lovingly-restored bike frames in a park near to their headquarters in Leyton.
Long weekend in Birmingham
Birmingham’s not the obvious choice for a romantic getaway, nevertheless my girlfriend and I made our way there for a long weekend a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was a fantastic jaunt – we quaffed on hot alcoholic drinks, ate German ‘delicacies’ at the famed Christmas market and generally had a wonderful time.
First stop was the new library…
Product shoot from the archives
This was a product shoot for Neko designs, who are based in Mexico and wanted some punchy images to attract retailers from the UK market to stock their goods.
Playing with my new cameraphone
A few weeks ago Nokia launched a new smartphone aimed squarely at photographers – the Lumia 1020. As chance would have it this launch co-incided with the death knells of my trusty old Blackberry. After a few glowing reviews surfaced on the internet, I took the inevitable plunge and ordered it in a stealthy black finish.
Nokia are making much of the fact that the camera has a 41 Megapixel sensor; of greater interest to me was the fact that the sensor itself is larger than those found in any other smartphone and the majority of compact cameras. Larger sensors have a positive effect on low light work and achieving a shallow depth of field – getting your subject sharp and your background out of focus.
Early tests with the camera have been positive on the whole. I am probably a more exacting user than most of the target clientèle, and whilst I do take issue with the lack of detail in bright areas and the softness of the lens in the corners, I recognise that to get the image quality in such a small device is a real marvel.
One of my test ‘shoots’ – via a gesture of unbelievable generosity from my girlfriend’s mum – took place at Wembley Stadium during the crucial England vs. Poland World Cup qualifier match.
It was so fantastic to have a half-decent camera to hand to be able to capture a few snapshots of what was a truly unforgettable experience.
The below image has been processed to maximise the detail in the light and dark areas
Skin tones do have a yellowish tinge straight out of the camera, unfortunately – this has been more or less corrected in post-processing in the below image.
Obviously I’m not about to start cracking it out for professional commissions, but to have what is really a very good camera on my person at all times is a real game-changer and will alter my relationship with photography for the better.
Llandudno
After many months of busying myself with weddings and corporate work, I’m getting to tinker with some personal work – namely post-process some shots that I took on various trips over the summer months. First up, Llandudno Pier and a view from the Great Orme (accessed via a cable car from Llandudno). Lovely part of the world – so rugged – I was there for a couple of days before attending a graduation ceremony at Bangor University.
Channel 4 News Event
A bit of a blast from the past this shoot. I was thrilled to be asked to cover a second event for ITN, this time for a Channel 4 News Editor who was stepping down. The event was held at 06 St Chads Place and was graced by many familiar faces, not least the one and only Jon Snow.
Lucy & Chris’ Photobooth Experience
Some of the choicest cuts from a recent Photobooth Experience.
