Creative and business resources for photographers – ProPhotoNut

Vintage Cherish The Dress ~ Part 1

30 comments June 18th, 2010 11:33pm damien

Every now and then a workshop happens where so many variables come together in an astonishing way to produce a learning experience that transcends the sum of its parts. This workshop was one such event. Chris Hanley and I had five delegates each and we swapped around every 45 mins or so. This ensured that everyone had the opportunity to shoot all the shots.

Here are 48 of my pictures from the workshop. They have been edited by Marko to our exacting standards and then we created the looks using the three actions in the Lovegrove Vintage Photoshop action set.

1. I lit Chloe with a single Speedlight from the right for that punchy look.

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Studio portrait lighting with minimal kit ~ feature article

7 comments June 12th, 2010 11:44am damien

Here are a few ideas for creating striking portraits using one or two studio lights and minimal props. All the pictures in this article were shot during one Studio Lighting workshop at my studio in May.

Keeping it Simple

My lighting workshop delegates often expect to dive in to complicated multi light set-ups right from the off when the simple techniques using just one light need refining first. Using just one light sounds easy – switch it on and shoot, and it is, if you are careful and know what you are doing. It is often the simple single light images we start with on a workshop day that bring out the creativity in all of us.

Shot 1. Canon 5D Mk2 with a 100m lens at f/2.8 This shot is completely lit from one Bowens Gemini flash unit rigged above and behind Chloe. It was fitted with a 7" reflector and a fine honeycomb grid. I’m really happy to let thing go in my shots. I’m never one to worry about a bit of detail loss in the highlights if the shot is great. In fact I positively go out of my way to blow out highlights in frames like this taken against my patch of yellow wall in my studio. It looks sunny and I like that.

My studio lighting concept is simple, I start

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iPad picture resize action for Photoshop

11 comments June 8th, 2010 11:25pm damien

Here is my iPad picture resizing Photoshop action (right click link and choose to download linked file) I’ve zipped the action for security. The slideshow function within the iPad photos app (more…)

The iPad and the MacBook Pro ~ Partners in life

37 comments June 6th, 2010 08:54pm damien

I’ve been getting loads of tweets about how I’m finding my iPad and I’m hearing the pains of indecision from the ‘yet to get’ and ‘not sure if I want to’ togs. So here is my analysis of the mobile world according to Apple.

Background info: I own and use the following on a daily basis: (more…)

Speedlight Mastery workshop ~ pictures and slideshow

12 comments June 4th, 2010 12:12am damien

Here is a slideshow of a few pictures from the Speedlight Mastery workshop I ran earlier this week. I have set the pictures to some royalty free music using Fotomagico slideshow software. The music really isn’t a good choice so feel free to turn your speakers down. I’m hoping Chloe, our multi talented model can come up with something to replace it as she is a musician too, ooh and a writer Movie after the jump… (more…)

Model test shoot ~ Pictures and slideshow presentation

15 comments May 30th, 2010 11:58am damien

Here are a few pictures from a test shoot I did with Rosie Pitt last Wednesday. I set the pictures to some royalty free music using Fotomagico slideshow software. (more…)

1/8000th flash sync with Broncolor Mobil and Canon 5D mk2

56 comments May 23rd, 2010 08:36pm damien

Well here is a little something to get your heads around. I’m not sure on the physics or the tech behind this post but I do know the maximum published sync speed for non Speedlight flash kit is a measly 1/200th of a second with the Canon 5D and 5D mk2. Not any more! The techniques used in this post were hinted to me by Martin Hogeboom in a cafe in Amsterdam last week and I vowed to give it a go and see if the rumours are true. All the exif is intact so please learn from it as you wish. (more…)

Passion on the Streets of Amsterdam ~ Pictures and Techniques Part 2

11 comments May 20th, 2010 02:44pm damien

Day two in Amsterdam was warmer than day 1 for our models Bas and Samantha. The public holiday was over and the area was once again filled with bikes. All our shots were taken within the same 500m radius as day 1 so once again minimal walking was needed. Here is a mini selection of 23 of the pictures taken on workshop 2.

1.Here we all are - nearly. This picture was taken by a local resident from his apartment. He printed it off and and gave it to us in the street. Just one of those random moments that happen on a street shoot. You can see a couple of Speedlights rigged on stands in readiness for a few pictures of Samantha.

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Amsterdam shoot with Martin Hogeboom & Nick Liburd ~ Pictures & Techniques

10 comments May 19th, 2010 09:04pm damien

Wow! what can I say? Nick and I were fortunate enough to meet up with the legendary Martin Hogeboom in Amsterdam for a 2 hour creative shoot. Graziella our model met us at the American Hotel and we went for a walk, talk & shoot. Nick had done the recce and scouted out some fantastic locations so in just a couple of minutes we were putting our systems to the limit. We walked about 1km in total and finished the session in time for a bit of lunch together. Here are some of my shots from the shoot.

1. My first picture of this set was the last one I took. It is an infra red portrait taken using my converted 5D mk1. I shot it using my 21mm f2.8 Zeiss lens. If you click on the picture you can see it at 100% Lighting was from a barefaced Speedlight.

I learned some new tricks with Pocket Wizards way beyond the scope of my usual working using the (more…)

Passion on the Streets of Amsterdam ~ Pictures and Techniques Part 1

18 comments May 18th, 2010 09:34pm damien

1. We started in Cuba or so it seemed. One delegate spotted this shop window and we were off. This shot was given a warm treatment in camera by selecting an 8000 K setting for the white balance. It was overcast and threatening to rain all morning so I resorted to creating Speedlight sun for nearly every shot. All the Speedlights were triggered with a Pocket Wizard for the whole day although an ST-E2 would have done the trick. We just happened to have more PW triggers with us than infra red triggers. I chose to keep the lighting ratio calm, although I encouraged the delegates to go as punchy as they wished by changing their aperture to taste.

Day one in Amsterdam was a cold shoot for our models Bas and Samantha. There was also a one day public holiday so the dynamic of the area we were shooting in was very different to my recce the day before. All our shots were taken within a 500m radius so there was no major walking required. Here is a mini selection of 23 of the pictures taken on workshop 1. (more…)

Personal news

14 comments May 17th, 2010 08:42pm damien

Every now and then there are days my life that trigger significant chains of events. I don’t believe in consequences. Things happen for a reason. I have spent the past 16 years of my life being guided on a meandering path to happiness and fulfillment. The journey has been tough at times and is by no means over. An underlying drive to make things happen has given me the vision needed to succeed. Where does this energy and drive come from? It’s not Weetabix that’s for sure. I possibly have a condition. Strange word – condition, it somehow implies an unfortunate situation that requires treatment. But I can’t believe how happy I am to have it. To be labeled with the same brush as these remarkable people has me feeling quite blessed. The one constant in my life over the past 16 years has been Julie and wow, what a constant, steady as a rock – my rock.

How to pose couples ~ A photo guide by Damien Lovegrove

20 comments May 17th, 2010 10:22am damien

Here is my mini guide to posing couples in photographs. Working with more than one person at a time as your subject causes all sorts of complexities. Let me unravel them for you.

1. I used a flight of stone steps to form the base of this shot. The groom was sat on the step above the bride and she is sat within his legs leaning back into him. I like to ensure the cuff links and watch are visible on the groom when I’m shooting wedding couples. They are blissfully delighted and intimately unaware of those around them. ISO 400, 1/1500th second at f/4

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Shooting Weddings Workshop ~ 120 pictures with Exif

3 comments May 10th, 2010 11:39am damien

As I’m well into the workshop shooting season it is not always possible to post pictures from every event. So Julie and I have pulled together a selection of the shots that we shot at our most recent Shooting Weddings workshop at Stonehouse Court in Gloucestershire and Luke created an online web gallery with all the exif data.

Taken on my Canon 5D mk2 with a Zeiss 21mm lens at ISO 800, 1/60th second at f/3.5

The gallery is here. Just click on the (more…)

Studio Lighting with touch of Vintage ~ Lots of Pictures & Techniques

20 comments May 7th, 2010 09:16pm damien

Here is a set of images from Thursdays studio lighting workshop. All my pictures on the day were shot with my Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro lens on a 5D mk2 camera. The lens is surprisingly light to hold, pin sharp, and has a rock steady viewfinder image thanks to the amazing 4 stop image stabilisation. Chloe Jasmine from Gingersnap was our model. The fabulous hair styles and make up were provided by our make up artist of choice at the Lovegrove studio, Vicky Waghorn.

Timeless beauty, lit with hard light (2x Bowens Gemini ProR 750s with 7" reflectors and tight grids) to create rick dark shadows, and clearly defined cheekbones. The low viewpoint and over the shoulder look create an opportunity for an intense moment. You can see into Chloe's soul in this frame and I love that in a portrait.

The workshop started with a simple demonstration of the property of shadows and went on to creating vintage portraits with (more…)

Nikon Speedlight Mastery workshop ~ pictures and techniques

15 comments May 7th, 2010 01:03am damien

Wow, what a wonderful day of shooting, learning and fun we had on Wednesday. The Nikon flash system was opened up and pushed to it’s limit at times and it responded with a faultless performance. Here are a dozen of my shots from the workshop.

Four SB-900 Speedlights set at full power in manual mode popped this shot into life.

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First shoot with Nikon 14-24 lens on Canon 5D Infra Red body

11 comments May 1st, 2010 08:50pm damien

I had my 5D converted to Infra Red capture by ACS cameras earlier this year and I bought an adapter to fit any Nikon lens to any Canon body. This gave me the opportunity to use the amazing Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens on my 5D IR.

The Adapter has a micro chip and the usual Canon electrical contacts that allow focus confirmation and normal non AF operation. The back focus is spot on and the zoom tracking is good too. The iris lever can be used to do stepless iris pulls when shooting video too;)

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Speedlight Mastery Manchester – Nikon ~ Pictures and Techniques

10 comments April 26th, 2010 07:14pm damien

1 - The Pebble of Manchester and Lisa Marie are lit with a splash of flash from an SB-900 on a stand. I triggered the flash in full sun at a distance of 30m with the pop up flash in my Nikon D700. At no point throughout the day did we have triggering problems with Nikon's fantastic infra red system.

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Speedlight Mastery – Canon in Manchester ~ Pictures & Techniques

9 comments April 25th, 2010 10:22pm damien

Last week I ran two days of Speedlight Mastery workshops in Manchester, one for Canon shooters and one for Nikonions. I’ve split the pictures in my posts to avoid repetition. Even though we shot the same routes with Lisa Marie as our model I set up and created quite a few different images to keep me on my toes. I stuck to my shooting style despite working in full sun for two days. So here are the shots from my Canon day:

1 - I used Orbis to shoot this simple frame. Canon 5D mk2, Speedlight 580 mk2 in an Orbis ringflash adapter triggered with a Pocket Wizard Flex and Mini pair. 1/200th second at 200 ISO @ f/8. Glazed tiles on the side of a pub made a perfect background for an Orbis shot.

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Cherish The Dress – Manchester ~ Pictures and Techniques

22 comments April 24th, 2010 05:42pm damien

D1 - I love the surreal nature of cross keyed Speedlights. The Hilton bar that I shot this frame in is aptly called Cloud 23. Two Speedlights on stands were triggered using infra red. I rigged Canon and Nikon Speedlights alongside each other on the same stands. ISO 200, 1/200th second at f/16

Here are the long awaited set of pictures from last weeks Cherish The Dress workshop at the fabulous Hilton Hotel in Manchester. Chris Hanley and I delivered a full on workshop with our team of assistants to the ten delegates. We split into two groups for the sessions. We regularly swap tutors and models to ensure that each group gets to shoot all the pictures. Chris and I share 36 of our pictures from the day starting with my set of 18… (more…)

Orbis ringflash adapter ~ A few questions answered

5 comments April 24th, 2010 10:22am damien

Why Orbis?

Well, there are several devices available for using a Speedlight as a ring flash. I’ve tried most and some are way sleeker and less cumbersome than Orbis but of all the ones I’ve tried Orbis is the only one (more…)