Descendants

5 years ago I embarked on an interesting project

'The Descendants'

Where I recreate paintings or photographs of the famous historical figures using their direct descendant

Starting with the direct descendants of William Wordsworth (poet), Charles Dickens( Author), Isambard Kingdom Brunel (engineer),Robert Falcon Scott (Arctic explorer)

The first series of portraits were going to be a one off, but it has blossomed into a project which has a life of its own.

I shot another 4 last week, which brings the total to 20.

This month my recreation of the famous Geronimo Portrait was used in 'National Geographic'. A lifetimes ambition achieved


I shot the image last year in New Mexico. Sourcing clothing and props from LA, a rifle of the type that Geronimo used(we did quite well but ended up with the cavalry edition which has a shorter barrel)

All that I needed to do was drive in a convertible Ford Mustang Shelby (Hertz do hire them!) from LA to New Mexico, I mention this as its all part of the adventure and one of the reasons why I became a photographer.

It was the trip of a lifetime, and it will be a longtime before the memory fades of a snow dusted New Mexico desert with the soundtrack of a tuned V8 playing, sitting in my London studio I can still feel the icy desert wind in my face. Life is beautiful

When we were close to the location we started to look for a barrel cactus, I thought would be easy but we had to visit several garden centers before we found one big enough.

We then met the charming Robert Geronimo and shot the image outside his parents house which provided the perfect backdrop.

Shot on a Phase One P45 + with a 120mm lens, using available light.

Just over one year on and it appeared in National Geographic, along with two other recreations of Oliver Cromwell and Charles Dickens.

You can see a short video of the Oliver Cromwell photo shoot here






To say I'm pleased is an understatement

None of this would be possible without my BRILLIANT producer Clare.

The descendants project is totally self funded, following your heart carries great risks but can reap considerable rewards

* My blogging has been a sparse of late, I have been SO busy, normal service has been resumed

Blowing Smoke........

You may or may not have noticed that I use smoke extensively in my 'forest' series

In fact I do get quite a number of questions about what machine I use etc

I use it to create an 'other worldly' look to the images.

And if lit correctly, it can add a great three dimensionality to ones images.

So, just go out and get one, and soon you will have the look you are after, right?

Well not quite

As Joe McNally said to me at GPP2009 in Dubai last week 'using smoke machines on location is like herding cats'

This is for one of a number of reasons but main one is wind

It will just go where the wind does, literally

This means you are at the mercy of the weather

Lets just say there is only a gentle breeze, and you have managed to 'herd your cats' in the right direction....

I have found that the key is to put the smoke 'screen' between the back light and the subject

Here is a plan of how I used it on the buffalo shoot



The idea is to use the back light, be the sun or artificial to light the smoke without it drifting between the subject and the camera

Now for the next problem.

Not to set the forest or the environment on fire!

That is why I use a vapor smoke machine which actually uses heated glycerin in a canister, so no real fire...nothing to burn.

This is my smoke machine a 'Concept Colt 4 Turbo'



It is really well built.

VERY Robust

Used by everyone from the BBC, to the Royal Navy for training

It is marketed by a company called 'peasouper'

Quite frankly what they do not know about smoke machines is not worth knowing

Real pro's

And now for the biggest challenge

Power

The image at the top of the posting is of a handheld smoke machine, of Chinese origin I believe, which I used in Thailand.

The real advantage of this was it did not require mains power

It was OK, but really lacked the ooomph of my Colt machine, which meant I could not 'fire' my smoke high into the trees

The Colt machine DOES need mains power really.

I have tried generators but never found an easily transportable, stable (non 'spikey') or powerful enough to make it work, it really needs 2500 w.

Its saving grace is that once it is up to full operating temperature it can be used, unplugged, for 30 mins

And finally......

Making the smoke thin enough, if it is too thick, it blocks too much of the background out, or the flash hits it and it is like using your headlamps on full beam on a foggy day........

Wafting the smoke is the key

You can use anything but I use a California Sunbounce reflector, it works brilliantly

Dubai-Gulf Photo Plus 2009

The view from the Virgin Flight to Dubai.......

Gulf Photo Plus is the biggest, not to say best photographic gathering in the Middle East.

This year there has been a very impressive line up of some of the biggest names in the industry, including Chase Jarvis, David Hobby, Joe McNally, David Nightingale, Chris Hurtt, Bobby Lane, Zack Arias, Asim Rafiqui, Robin Nichols, Cliff Moutner, Carol Dragon to name but a few.

Truly THE place to learn and share knowledge

You never know exactly how it is going to work out at a Workshop, and GPP 2009 was no exception

I need not have worried.

The two classes I have worked with have been lots of fun, willing and eager to learn, and enthusiastic too

A good job too as it rained big time on the first day

Here is a picture that one of the attendees Mark Kunz shot of Natalie when it rained and rained and rained

I would upload a video too but the internet is sooooooooooooooo slow.

He shot it on a Canon 5D 200th sec, F6.3, using 2 Profoto 7b's

One with a beauty dish at full power, the other with a kill spill, buried waaaaaaaaaay in the background sheltered under a overhang, keeping it nice and dry

I will post more material from this great event on my return to the UK

Good news indeed for the photographic World!

Phase One is making a 'significant financial investment' in Mamiya Digital Imaging.

I have used the Phase One camera, which is based on the Mamiya AFDIII on many occasions and it continues to go from strength to strength with 'Leaf shutter' lenses on the horizon too.

I have been greatly impressed by their optics too which are at least as sharp as the HC lenses on my Hasselblad H1, the Mamiya 28mm lens must simply be seen to be believed-it is stunning!

To quote from the release....

“We are committed to providing open, upgradable medium format camera
systems, so that pro photographers can enjoy the maximum flexibility and
versatility at an attractive cost of ownership,” said Henrik O. Håkonsson
President, Phase One. “Furthering our relationship with Mamiya Digital Imaging
that we initiated in 2006, we continue to design a broad range of new cameras,
digital backs and lenses that will offer the world’s leading photographers greater
choice and satisfaction.”

Mmmmmm broad range of new cameras!

This news is very timely as BJP revealed recently that Franke & Heidecke the supplier of camera systems,for both 'Leaf' and 'Sinar', had gone into administration

As photographers we all need to aspire to the very highest quality cameras and digital backs there are out there(even if they are out of our price range) and one of the very biggest names in digital imaging wading in with investment, safeguarding the format AND giving us more kit to choose from can only be applauded

THAT tethered set up

This is for all of you who have been asking for part numbers etc of the rather nifty tethered set up I use nearly all the time these days

It was all inspired by something Joe McNally conjured up, with perhaps more than a little help from our very good mutual friend Justin Stailey (formerly of Bogen, now of Leica USA)

I love shooting tethered for many reasons, it enables me to control EVERY minute element of the shoot from a my camera position, lighting and critically when I'm using my Phase One P45+ , focus...my goodness when it is sharp it is SHARP and when it is out it is OUT big time!

My assistants and I refer to it as the 'Helm' (as in the Nautical world)

It means it is off the floor and out of any mud and dust enabling me to keep eye contact with my subject, which is the very essence of a shoot.

It is a Gitzo/Manfrotto Hybrid

Now,I use a Gitzo GT5660SGT, I admit not the cheapest tripod in the world, but this set up works on any good sturdy tripod too

The cross bar is a Manfrotto 131DDB.

I have mounted a Manfrotto 468MGRC2 Hyrdrostatic ball head on each end, as you can see in the pic it enabled me to shoot tethered with my Canon 5d mk1 in Capture One Pro on my Lenovo W700, while I was using my Canon 5d MK2 for 'b' roll 1080P HD on the other end

If the set up is way critical I switch one of these tripod heads out for a Manfrotto 405 geared head....not cheap but wonderful.

And finally the Gitzo GO65 laptop platform, I recommend putting some self adhesive Velcro on the base plate of the Laptop and the platform just in case....

It really does work a treat!

Over the Top

Some time ago I shot a remarkable image for my Guinness world record show of Tony Matia who held (maybe still does hold?) the world record for the biggest barbie doll collection

We hired a very big car studio and shot down thru a hole in the ceiling.

The day was a success but it was not a cheap operation

I then started to think how I could achieve this without going to massive expense

One could use a step ladder but if you look straight down you get the legs in shot

After many false starts I came up with this set up which consists of a BIG high roller stand by Manfrotto Avenger, you Need a stand of this caliber and stability to support a dslr with a good degree of safety

The next component is my good old RED wing boom as it is solid, but importantly also is cantilevered which means if I choose to go higher I can but I still maintain the camera angle

And last but but not least is the Manfrotto 468 RC2.

A great but lockable tripod ball head

Not forgetting a safety line for the camera AND tripod head just in case

Shooting tethered via fire wire to my camera, needless to say I'm lookig forward to trying out Canon's live view with this set up which could be the ultimate, but ants in his pants Gardner has not got round to trying it out yet....in fact I'm writing this on my blackberry as I'm flying to Holland


I have managed to more or less perfect this over the last couple of years

Here is a cover I shot for radio times a few weeks ago

Winter Storms.....

This time not snow but storms of a rather more turbulent nature

Meet Stuart Robinson.

I photographed Stuart the other day for Channel 4 TV in the UK

He was the subject of a Cutting Edge Documentary 'A very British Storm Junkie' as he is an amateur storm chaser who travels the world

The challenge was to create a truly eye catching image, with the aid of photoshop, as twisters are rather thin on the ground in the London area.

I worked very closely with ace retoucher Charlie to create a cohesive and 'plausible' image

The only stipulation was no flying cows.......damn!

Charlie spent many a happy hour creating the 'background' storm from goodness knows how many images

The trick then was to position and light Stuart in a way that worked

This meant shooting him from a slightly higher angle...



Lighting him from the back with 2 Chimera strip lights, to mimic the backlight in the back ground, and a medium Chimera softbox from the front




Then to bring Stuart in, standing him on sheets of plastic so we did not destroy too much seamless, spot the mistake? We used black plastic at first which would have made cutting him out a bit of a mission, so we switched to white.



Here is Stuart getting into the swing of things



Leaning into the 'wind' direction of the model is all important

Now for the fun part......spraying him with water, now before anyone writes in the lights are battery powered so pretty darned safe, behind softboxes, and further away from the very gentle mist spray, to give a further authentic look



This is the shot we used in the end, and this is how it looked on the Channel 4 website