A walk around Staunton Harold

During May 2012 members of the Derby City Photographic Club went on a Photo Walk around Staunton Harold. The idea of the walk was to encourage members of the public to come along, enjoy a walk and perhaps gain some photography knowledge from Club members. 


The walk was about 2 miles in length and took in some of the less trodden paths in the area. About 20 members of the public cam along and had a great day out. 


Below are a few of the shots that I took on the day. The rest can be found at www.carrington-imagery.co.uk

Lonely Tree f18@1/60 ISO200

Staunton Church f11@1/250 ISO200

Swan Take Off  f11@1/250 ISO200

Door Knob f2.8 @ 1.320 ISO200

Staunton Harold in HDR

Lilly Pond in HDR

Red Rose

Hi All,


This Rose has been blooming in our garden for many years so this year I decided to photograph it.


I set it up on a small table with a black background. I used my Sigma 50mm macro lens together with my Nikon SB910 flash gun set with a 20 degree gird to stop the light bleeding on to the background. 


I also used http://www.controlmynikon.com/ to ensure that the camera was correctly controlled and focussed at all times. 

Friendly Blackbird

Hi All,


It's been a little while since I last posted but that's simply because I've been spending more time taking pictures than editing them. 


As I write this we've just had virtually 24 hours of persistent rain and it's actually raining right now consequently it seemed like a good time to catch up with some of the pictures I've taken recently.


This set was of a blackbird chick that appeared in the garden one sunny morning in April. I was amazed just how tame this little bird was. in fact it never even flinched when the local cat came sniffing around. It just flew up onto the water barrel and waited for it to get bored. 


I thought I'd try to take a few shots before it finally became aware of the local dangers.


These are my favourite from the set. The rest, as usual, can be found in my gallery on my website at www.carrington-imagery.co.uk

I tried to capture the house in the eye of the blackbird. All images were taken using my Nikon 55-300mm zoom.

 

Superbikes at Oulton Park

Hi All,


Last Sunday, 6th May 2012, I visited the British Super Bike event at Oulton Park in Cheshire. The last time I visited this event I took my D300s but spent more time looking up the viewfinder than actually watching the racing. This time I decided to watch more racing and take less photos. However I did take along my trusty Nikon Coolpix S3100 just in case there was something I fancied snapping. I ended up taking quite a few pics and also a couple of race videos. 


The little camera did remarkably well as you can see below...

As I said I also took some video...

A walk through the Lime Yards in Ticknall

Hi All,

Between the village of Ticknall and the grounds of Calke Abbey near Derby there are some interesting photographic opportunities in the shape of the old lime workings. There are several interesting pools of water, a long tunnel, bridges and woods etc. 

Map of the area

In March on a cloudy Saturday afternoon my son Ben and I took a walk from the village hall in Ingleby lane over the main road and up the footpath to the beginning of the walk. Starting at the old tunnel we walked to the Calke Abbey visitors centre and then back through the woods to Ticknall village and finally back to the car park at the village hall. 

During the walk I took the opportunity to try some off camera flash shots in the tunnel, some panoramas down by the pools and also over the tops towards Calke. I also tried a few potential black and white shots. 

Some of my favourite shots can be seen below and the rest of the shots can be seen in the gallery on my website at www.carrington-imagery.co.uk .

This B & W shot was taken at the start of the walk looking over towards St. Georges Church across the fields. The shot was taken in RAW then processed in CS5 then converted to B&W using Niksoft Silver Efex Pro.

St Georges Church

As you reach the top of the path you arrive at the entrance to the old tunnel. 

Tunnel Entrance

The shot below was taken looking towards the tunnel entrance. I took a meter reading of the light at the entrance and then illuminated the walls of the tunnel with an SB910 speedlight stood on a small tripod at my feet. The image was given a boost by using Niksoft Color Efex Pro.

Inside the tunnel looking towards the entrance

The shot below was taken looking towards the tunnel exit. I took a meter reading of the light at the exit and then illuminated the walls of the tunnel with the pop-up flash in commander mode with the SB910 speedlight stood on its tripod just in front of Ben.

Ben at the tunnel exit

The shot below was taken looking towards the tunnel exit. The meter reading was taken for the light at the exit and then the SB910 speedlight was used at 1/125th  power to gently illuminate the ceiling. Niksoft Color Efex Pro was used to create a dual tone effect.

Ben in silhouette

This shot of the old bridge by the Lime Workings seemed to lend itself to a little vintage processing using Silver Efex Pro

Bridge by the Lime Workings

First of several panoramas. Three shots were combined in CS5 using the photomerge command. 

Pool Panorama

 Another panorama of the smaller of the two pools at this point of the walk. The light was changing constantly as the clouds cleared and the sun 

Pool Panorama

Panorama of the footpath crossing the field looking towards Ticknall with Foremark reservoir to the right.

Footpath from Ticknall

Black and white panorama overlooking Foremark Reservoir 

Foremark Reservoir

These are only a few of the shots I took on the day but as you can see it's an area that's well worth a visit. The grounds around the Lime Yards are extensive and can be quite dangerous. I can recommend sturdy footwear and a map. 

Creating a gritty portrait with Photoshop CS5 and Color EFEX Pro

Over the last few months my son Ben has become quite an accomplished guitar player. For his 18^th birthday he bought a Charvel Desolation Single Cut DS-1 Floyd Rose guitar in Flat Black. It’s a spectacular guitar and I thought it might be nice to shoot a portrait session with him and the guitar.

I wanted to create the impression that he was being lit by a spotlight whilst maintaining the detail in the guitar. The lighting needed to be subtle but at the same time strong enough to bring out any detail.

I tried several different lighting set ups but finally settled on the one below.

I set up two speedlights. The first was a Nikon SB910 set to manual at ½ power. It was stood on a lighting stand through as 24” shoot-through umbrella. The light was positioned directly in front of him slightly higher than his face.

The second was a Nikon SB600 with a 22.5 degree grid. This was set on a stand and aimed directly at his right hand, set to manual and reduced to ¼ power.

Both speedlights were controlled using the pop-up flash on the D300s in commander mode.

I took a few test shots so that I could establish the optimum position for the lights to create the effect I was after. Shooting in RAW I decided to slightly underexpose the shot so that I’d have some room for movement when I got the image in Adobe Camera RAW.

Below is the start image in ACR. As you can see the effect is almost there. It just needed a few adjustments to bring out the detail.

Initial Image in Adobe Camera RAW

I lifted the exposure and also added a little fill light. I increased the blacks slightly and also added some clarity and vibrancy. The final ACR image is below. 

Adjusted Image in Adobe Camera RAW

After launching it into Photoshop CS5 it was now time to give it an edgy, gritty look. I decided to do this using Nik COLOR EFEX PRO4. There were a few filters I could have chosen but the one that gave me the look I wanted was the Bleach Bypass filter. Using the pre-sets I selected the one that I liked the look of and used it without any further tweaking.

Color Efes Pro 

Once back in CS5 the one thing I did notice was that the filter had exaggerated some of the defects in the wall behind my subject. I eliminated most of the larger defects using the spot healing brush but I chose to leave some a the smaller ones to add to the gritty look.  Lastly I added some Film Grain just to give it a final edge.

Final image adjustments in Adobe Photoshop CS5

This is the final image which came out pretty much exactly as I wanted it to. Very Pleased as was my subject. 

Final Image

Shooting a Ladybird in Macro

Hi All,

The other day, whilst in the garden, I spotted (pardon the pun) a Ladybird on a bush. On closer examination I noticed that there were two of them, one under the other. I decided to have a go at photographing them so quickly ran inside the house to grab my gear.

Normally when I try to do this the subject either moves or leaves the area altogether so it was imperative that I moved quickly.

I set up my D300s with my Sigma 50mm macro lens and set the front of the lens as close as I could to the Ladybird without disturbing it. Unfortunately in order to get a good view I had to place the camera in such a position that the body cast a shadow on the subject. I tried a couple of exposures but it soon became apparent that some additional lighting was needed.

I set up my SB910 speed light on a tripod and manoeuvred is in to position just to the rear of the lens (shown below). Connecting the flash to the camera with an SC20 sync cord I set both the flash and the camera in manual mode and took a few test exposures. The ladybird didn't appear to mind, in fact the only reaction I got was that it repositioned itself slightly further along the branch then settled down again.

Camera and flash setup

Naively I hadn't realised just how shiny and reflective a ladybirds wings were. On examining the test shots on the monitor I found that the exposure was reasonable but the flash head could be seen quite clearly on the wings.

I fastened a diffuser dome to the SB910 and took a few more test exposures until I reached a compromise between reflection and exposure. I also noticed that whilst the speedlight was causing a reflection it was also bringing out some of the detail on the wings which was a good thing. After a few more exposures I settled for f22 @ 1/60 second, ISO100 and the flash set at 1/4 power.

My favourite shots of the set are below.

The rest of the images from the set can be found in the Nature gallery on my website at www.carrington-imagery.co.uk