End of a Year....Start of a New Decade

I think we can all agree that it has been a tough decade and a difficult year

In so many respects

In the photographic world too

At the beginning of the decade we saw the emergence of digital as a fully viable medium

Film once the norm has become very specialist to say the least

We are about to start another new decade

And yes, we are facing another new revolution, the HD DSLR.

We should not be fearful, but should embrace it as soon as possible

It will never replace stills photography but run alongside it I believe

I'm going to share with you all what I discover on my journey

So watch this space

2009 has been a very turbulent year for me

With many challenges still unresolved

I have watched hits to my website treble

And this is in no small part to the followers of this blog

Which, thanks to you goes from strength to strength

Exceeding my expectations all the time

Without you none of this would be possible

So a massive THANK YOU to you all

I look forward to sharing more of me with you

And to meeting some of you at shows and seminars etc

So parting shot from the year?

It doesn't matter what you do but keep shooting what you Love, and Love what you shoot

And just watch yourself and your photography grow

I hope I will remain in 2010, as the blog says...


'AN INFECTIOUSLY PASSIONATE PHOTOGRAPHER'

Happy New Year to you all

Converge One - My Contribution

The Flash Centre Organized and ran 'Converge One' at the British Film Institute in London on the 11th of December

It was an event which aimed to celebrate and foster the use of DSLR's with video capability

It was aimed at both stills photographers and Movie makers

The event was a massive success, with guest Speakers including, Phillip Bloom, Richard Jobson, Dan Fung Dennis and many more too

I'm not going to give the full post show report I wanted to yet as I just have not been able to write anything meaningful yet, my apologies

I will however talk about my small artistic contribution to the event

When I was invited to speak at the event I accepted straight away.

I felt I need to show something new, after all if we don't make new work, stills or moving, we are not photographers, at best just talkers or dreamers.

Then I started to think.....

'Wouldn't it be cool if I could produce a mini short with actors and actress's for £500 or less?'

I LOVE big productions, and it would be my first using the Canon 5Dmk2 shooting full 1080p HD video

Here are some of my stills which inspired me to take this route

I directed and lit all of these shoots myself, so how different was it going to be doing the same with moving images?

Now for all sorts of reasons, I produced this shoot by myself too.

So first came the idea, which I came up with and developed with my collaborators Katherine Holley and Graham Trott, along with some storyline help with my good friend Peter Payne

Here is Katherine's storyboard, which as you can see was pretty close to how it all worked out

The premise of the shoot was a cleaning girl at a big fancy house who is not invited to the party, but dives into a broom cupboard and transforms herself, to crash the party and become the star

All set in the 1940's

We decided to the shoot outside of London, we chose Studley Castle, part of the best Western Hotel group, who are photographer friendly and did us a very good rate

It fitted the role of a big fancy house a treat, with the added bonus that is was very close to where the model Jay Jessop lives (yes, of Water buffalo fame!)

Putting together an (over)ambitious shoot like this means pulling in every favour you can

Costume came from Nicky Albrechtsen and a few charity shops too

Graham bought a few dirty Rain coats with him (for the photographers)

I'm lucky enough to own several MPP and Speedgraphic's so that was the photographers sorted out

The car came from Robin Crump who made the long journey in the torrential rain in his Austin Fairline

Did I mention the rain? Well agood portion fo the shoot was going to be outside, so we needed LUCK

This is what the journey up to Warwickshire was like....



A project like this is only possible with the help of willing volounteers and the shoot would not have been possible without the support of Henly College who supplied extras, hair and make up

They had quite a big team.

Which had to be catered for, remember we are trying to do the whole thing for under £500.

So it was down to me



So we had from 3pm until 10pm to shoot the whole thing.

The crew, consisting of Graham, Katherine and I, as hard as we all worked was way too small

In fact the shoot came close to failing as we simply could not move the equipment and people around fast enough

Yes, it was low budget but I took the size of the crew to something smaller than I would have used on a stills shoot of equivalent size

I was trying to prove something though

We did not have tons of lighting, the mainstay of what we used was A spot, one kinoflo, a Chimera Triolet, and some mini light panels

Yes, you can shoot available light on the Mk2 but But I wanted to control the depth of field and have my 'Signature' lighting

We left the location not really knowing if we had covered all bases, and that the whole thing was going to edit together well

But Katherine is a brilliant editor and I'm delighted with what she achieved

Sitting round after the edit I realized that project would benefit greatly from a unique score

I put an appeal out on this blog and in under 2 hours I had two very generous offers of help

Firstly from David Getfrid in Washington State, and then from Douglas Black Heaton in Helsinki, Finland

I liked both of these very different approaches and have used both of them

Thank you SO much guys

David pointed out that a degree of 'Foley' (sound effects of laughter etc) would enhance things

So, another offer of help came in for Foley from Conrad Norton in Wales

I was very apprehensive to see how the piece was received at 'Converge' but I need not have worried. The audience was most appreciative.

And yes, I got a shiver down my spine as I watched it on the big screen of the National Film Theatre on the South Bank

It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

Every time I watch it I see every last fault and failing.

But I did it

I produced, directed and shot it

And it cost £600, not £500

Hi Def to follow but in the meantime.....

Here is the Version with Douglas's music

'Cinderella' ' Music by Douglas Black Heaton from drew gardner on Vimeo.

If you don't want to wait for the high res Vimeo here is the low Res Youtube version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFNXJsqtGfE

And Here is David's

'Cinderella' Music by David Getsfrid from drew gardner on Vimeo.

If you don't want to wait for the high res Vimeo here is the low Res Youtube version too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wLkwOrljs




The price of freedom

I was going to post about 'Converge' which was a great success and a defining moment for the industry in my mind, I'm still crafting(if that is quite the word) that post right now

But I have more pressing matters to share with you

There has been a great deal written in the media of late regarding stills photographers being prevented from taking pictures in public places, sometimes even arrested, under section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism act.

I always thought this was a daft law which would not be an issue for any length of time, as surely common sense would prevail in this fine nation of ours

Notably a campaign was launched to fight for photographer rights

I'm a photographer not a terrorist

The Daily Mail ran a very good article which pointed out the absurdities of the law

People arrested for photographing park benches, chip shops, that kind of thing.

I was hoping that once it hit the mainstream and beyond the realms of whinging photographers (and god knows we do!) that politicians and the Police would sit up and take notice and that common sense would prevail

I was disappointed to see the Met Police's ham fisted wrong headed response to this

Which is why I'm blogging about this

They could have said 'this is something we are looking into'

What they in fact did was to release this to the media

This is their justification for stopping ordinary photographers taking pictures

My friend Jeff Overs of the BBC was prevented from photographing St Paul's Cathedral

Yes, these guys do seem like they were up to no good, no doubt but lest be clear about this, they were never convicted of this, or any terrorism offence

As the report says

'Two men were subsequently convicted of a huge mobile phone and luxury goods fraud scam and deported after serving prison sentences'

And goes on to say...

'The police said the CPS had decided there was sufficient evidence to bring terrorism charges, but it was not in the public interest because they would have received the same sentence as for fraud'

Am I alone in finding this lacks any credibility?

I think these are weasel words

If they are terrorists they should be prosecuted as such

No matter how difficult the prosecution

Period.

If they were terrorist why on earth did the authorities let them out 'back into the wild' ?

Now before anyone gets in touch and talk about danger to the public I have been on the receiving end of a terrorist bomb which killed 2 people, one of whom i knew to say 'hello' to in the mornings when I bought a magazine or newspaper from his store

A terrifying event with awful consequences

The real issue here is the authorities getting better perspective on this, the real issue is not that people are taking photos, but their intent.

Surely sleeper terrorist cells would go about there work in a more discreet manner? Or what about google earth?

If photography is such a danger it should be banned immediately.

Straight away tourists should be prevented from taking photos of Buckingham place, the houses of Parliament and Big Ben, along with photos of their kids at play on the beach (it could be a target, couldn't it?) and yes, those fiends taking photos of chip shops

Democracy and freedom is not worth one jot if we cannot live and go about our daily lives, in fact this means the terrorists have in fact won,for they have changed what we do.


I urge any of you write an email registering your objection to the home secretary Alan Johnson here

I already have.

He seems like a decent bloke, you never know he may even listen?

It will take you a few seconds and will help make this country, a happier free place to live

A New Year beckons - So does a new direction

Next year I will have been a professional photographer for 30 years.

30 Years!

Spalding Guardian Chief Photographer Tim Wilson took this pic of me in 1979...the paper used my pics too, my very first published work

How does one keep anything going for 30 years with passion?

Well for me variety is the spice of life and I have been involved with just about every field of photography over that time, shooting in just about every format there is.

For many years I was not aware of these phases of reinvention

So to the long list of genres of photography I'm adding the moving image

2009 has been a very challenging year for me in many ways, but it was the year I discovered for myself the joys of Canon 5dMkII and shooting HD video

Moving images and me, difficult to know where to begin but for sometime I have felt my work has life beyond stills, particularly 'the forest' series

In fact one of the motivations was  'Europa' (the water buffalo image)

One of the reasons I made the DVD was to show how much of my work is done 'in camera' and not relying on photoshop as 'a crutch for bad photography'

But still as time passed I realised that the vast majority of viewers saw it as a composite picture, even though it wasn't

I blogged about it on the Scott Kelby website, here is what I had to say

Drew Gardner photographed on Polaroid Type 55 by Lucinda Marland

Recently I was commissioned by Nexush to shoot a print and billboard ad for the Suzuki Swift.

It was based around an incident in a tattoo parlour, which goes horribly wrong, the tattooist misspells the
 word ‘respect’ writing ‘resplect’ instead.

To predictable consequences but very funny all the same.

Now this shoot is the most interesting I have undertaken in a very long time.

Why?

Because as well as shooting the ad as a still, my team and I shot it as a short movie for the client too.



How it was used on the Liverpool Media wall......




And a look behind the scenes too.....




A true glimpse into where I believe the industry is heading at breakneck speed.

We shot the still in the morning and decided to retain the same lighting to give the same visual ‘language’ in print and moving images.

It was a lot of fun but there are many differences.

Ok, first the kit………

We used a Canon 5d mk2 on a Zacuto Rig, which puts you in charge of the focus, and a Marshall V-LCD70P monitor, which lets you judge focus so much more acurately than on the LCD, I now mount the Marshall Monitor on my Manfrotto 525MVB tripod with its 503HDV fluid head with a Manfrotto 819-1 Small Hydrostatic arm and 386b Nano Clamp

In my mind the shoot just would not have been possible without the Zacuto and Marshall, those focus pulls with SUCH accuracy

I could bang on about the kit some more but this shoot revealed so much more to me.

For a successful moving image shoot it really is less about one person and more about the team of people around you.

In fact it was like stepping back in time to a pre-Photoshop age for one very simple reason.

Shock horror!

You have to get it right in camera!

Yes folks, if you don’t get it in-camera and have not made provision, it is not there.

I feel this is set to bring back ‘camera’ craftsmanship and will deal a blow to those who use retouching as a crutch for bad photography.

And we all know that there are many of those out there, right?

All of a sudden direction was back in on the shoot, and there was nobody paintively whispering in my ear, “Don’t worry we will fix it in post.”

We either got it or we didn’t.

All of a sudden I felt I had ‘come home.’

Less of the computer stuff and more of the photography.

Which in my mind is what it should be about.

When I’m lecturing I conduct a little question and answer session and I go round the audience and ask…

‘Why did you become a photographer?’

The answers are in the range of…

‘Because I love taking pictures.’

‘I wanted to travel.’

‘To meet people and see the world.’

Many, many others too, but you know what?

Not one person has ever said they became a photographer because they wanted to be a computer operator.

Now I’m not saying I’m against the use of Photoshop, something I use extensively in ‘The Descendants’ series.

But getting it right in the can is way more fun and profitable too.

So enjoy all the post production by all means, but get out there and remember the meaning of the word Photography.

‘To draw or paint with light.’

So there is part of my motivation

I'm really enjoying the unique look and feel of the files from the Canon and those STUNNING 'L' series primes

The Canon 'L' series primes I'm using at the moment...............

Canon 'L' Series 35mm F1.4

The photojournalists favourite, it fits like a glove in your hand, just the right size and weight, tack sharp too

Canon 'L' Series 85mm F1.2

My favourite lens of all time, if there was just one lens I could use for the rest of my life it would be this

Canon 'L' Series 135mm F2.0

A great lens and the cheapest of this lot too

Another prime I'm using at the moment is the......

Canon EF 100mm macro F2.8

OK, not the new 'L' series but it is very good

They make a world of difference, giving my work a cinematic look

Shooting full 1080P HD video at wide apertures has to be experienced to be believed

At the dawn of photography 'the dark art" (for that what it was called by some) split into two

I went to the remarkable 'Collision' conference in LA in August

It was remarkable as it was a forum for Film Makers, DP's and emerging stills-to-video photographers

Now we have a similar event in the UK

As I mentioned in a couple of 'tweets' I will be at 'Converge One' this Friday at the National Film Theatre, if you would like to see where the next step in photography is taking us, see my new mini project and engage in the debate ( not to mention see some of the gear too) do come and join us


So, I hear you ask, where does still photography fit in to my world now? It was my first love and will remain a big part of my life. In fact my still images will always be there, you will just be seeing them move.