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This site provides aspiring and professional social photographers with an inspirational blend of creative, technical and business articles so that they can take better pictures and earn more money.
The comments within ProPhotoNut pull together the thoughts and ideas of many photographers, from fledglings to some of the finest professionals in the world.
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May 9th, 2011 10:46pm
damien
1. Sensual and beautiful. Agata shot into the light with my 100mm macro lens without it's lens hood. Convention would suggest focussing on the nearest eye but I prefer a focus line that cuts through the far eye and the all important lips. Especially when there is no eye contact.
The location was the fabulous Dillington House in Somerset. The weather was high cloud with occasional sunny patches. The occasion was the Lovegrove Consulting Feminine Beauty workshop by Damien Lovegrove as part of the Portrait Euphoria event. Here are 59 of my images from this event. (more…)
May 6th, 2011 05:30pm
damien
Here are 25 shots from a recent 1:1 shoot training day for a keen amateur photographer and his daughter who is training as a make up artist. The brief was to shoot a variety of fashion style images using studio flash, continuous lighting, reflected sunlight and Speedlights on location. I’ve trained the photographer in the studio before and this was very much a refresher shoot session.
1. This shot was taken at our local beach against the cliff. It was lit with a pair of Canon 580 EX2 Speedlights attached to a Lowel Grand Stand with a Lovegrove Gemini bracket. The behind the scenes shot showing the stand and Speedlight rig is shot 21 of this set below.
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April 27th, 2011 04:10pm
damien
1. A simple set up to get us going. Lit with just a Lupo 1200 on minimum power.
Cat Hepple set up this test shoot with Chloe Jasmine Whichello to establish some new lighting styles and I second shot. We were at the fabulous Hampton Manor, the scene of future workshops, I’m sure. We kept things simple throughout the shoot being led by the ever-changing natural light. Chloe-Jasmine Whichello was our model. Enjoy the pictures… (more…)
April 17th, 2011 12:49pm
damien
Jo is wonderful, I thought I’d just get that off my chest. She has amazing clients because she is an amazing person who can use a camera artistically to capture unique images. Her product is way more than photography. It is a lifestyle capture, with a bit of fantasy, a story laced with art. It gives me great pleasure to share 50 of her recent Child Portrait workshop images with you. The first set of 25 are of Poppy and George…
1 A fusion of colour. A mellay of hues within a limited palette. There's way more to a Jo-de Banzie portrait than is first seen.
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April 16th, 2011 10:47am
damien
Last week I had the pleasure of photographing Johanna Ormsby from the Gingersnap model agency in Bristol. I was giving one of my Evolve students a 1:1 shoot training day to bring them up to speed on Speedlight techniques, natural light portraiture and some advanced shooting skills in low light. The session was great fun and generated some nice portraits, some of which I blogged a couple of days ago in my Speedlight post. There were many more that have been edited so I thought I’d share 50 extras with you here…
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April 14th, 2011 06:16pm
damien
Dudeoir is the catch phrase but I wanted to shoot clean simple images in my studio to see what lighting styles work well for men. I booked Damion from the Gingersnap agency for a two hour test shoot to find out more. Here are my shots…
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April 14th, 2011 03:29pm
damien
Here you can see the beautiful light created by the 60cm Lastolite Easybox Hotshoe used in close proximity to the subject. I rigged the light just about one metre from Katy McGee just out of shot on the left hand side.
Using the Pocket Wizard TTL system it is possible to use any shutter speed you choose and I selected 1/2000th second for the picture above to ensure I could use my 70-200mm lens on my Nikon D700 near wide open at f/4. The fabulous soft light and shallow depth of field is a combination that a Speedlight can do so well. By placing (more…)
April 8th, 2011 11:05pm
damien
1. That cheeky little look spells mischief. We had such fun on this shoot, a bit of pain and a few interesting moments too. I wouldn't have it any other way.
This was always going to be an amazing reunion. Just over 4 months without shooting together and the team were back for this very special workshop. Vicky Waghorn provided Chloe Jasmine with her make up and tamed her wonderful hair. Clothes were provided by Chloe Jasmine and Cathy of the Handmade Corset Company. There were 4 delegates and myself shooting in this wonderful country house. The photographs were mostly lit using continuous light from a Lupo 1200 or indeed daylight. The Juke Box shot was lit with an Arri 300 and a Lowel ID light. Post production is by the amazing Marko Nurminen. I hope you enjoy my pictures from the shoot.
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April 5th, 2011 11:58pm
damien
1. This big flash shot by Martin Hill typified his style for the day's training.
2. I was shooting inside with continuous light, keeping things simple and elegant.
A new era of defining style and beauty began on Monday 28th March. Martin and I had been planning this workshop for some time. Even with all the planning a few surprises presented themselves as we took the delegates on a journey of contrasts. It was like the first night of a big show and wow what a show it was. (more…)
March 26th, 2011 06:59pm
damien
1. I shot this frame on the beach at Ladye Bay in Clevedon. I was looking out to sea and had a home made diffusion filter on my 100mm lens. The exposure was right off the scale in my viewfinder. Probably plus 4 stops. Interestingly you have to shoot a Canon 5D2 in Manual mode to achieve this.
Hold onto your hats
Every month I have at least one test shoot where I can try out new ideas, new models and develop my photographic skills without a risk of failure or having to stick to a tight brief. A few weeks back I was fortunate enough to have a day of shooting with former Evolvers Chris & Claire Hanley. Chris suggested a pier shoot and Blaise my PA set about getting the various permisions etc. The plan was to have a leisurely shoot on the pier, a pub lunch and a beach shoot to finish the day. Here are my pictures: (more…)
March 21st, 2011 11:14pm
damien
1. The pictures in this article were shot on recent studio lighting workshops in 2011. They are previously unpublished and I wanted to share them with you. This shot of Marie - Francoise is lit with just one light, in one exposure! How did I do that? Have a think about it.
In lifestyle or reportage portraiture the environment completes the narrative. The story is all around the subject and the viewers eyes can wander the scene reading new information with each pass. In my studio I have abandoned the narrative to reveal just the subject in isolation. I’ve opted for purity of design. A sumptuous immersion into minimalist shape and tone. With everything in control – well, nearly. (more…)
March 15th, 2011 11:23pm
damien
1. A simple picture taken with a single Lupo 1200 Fresnel spotlight. Hard light is fabulous light.
It was a cold, dark and gloomy day on the 1st March but my delegate was chirpy. Having flown over from Holland the day before he had ample time to check out the room he was staying in. We were due to shoot there throughout the next day venturing out only to get lunch and to give my Broncolor Mobil a blast. The room was (more…)
February 25th, 2011 04:44pm
damien
Here it is at last. We have just taken delivery of our first 100 Geminis, our latest precision engineered lighting accessory. The design is simple and effective. The finish is first class and the Gemini was designed and made in England.
Gemini ~ The twin Speedlight bracket designed for use with Nikon or Canon Pocket Wizard TTL receivers.
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February 25th, 2011 02:15pm
damien
DL 57. A single Speedlight well placed and a rather vibrant blue sky gave this picture a wow feel.
Part 2: The Quarry, coastal artillery base and cliffs
Pictures: Damien Lovegrove & Martin Hill
Models: Katy McGee & Miriam Martinez Hidalgo
Our short trip to Spain was full of surprises. Each turn of the twisty mountain road revealed another striking view of a deep blue sea under an azure blue sky. (more…)
February 22nd, 2011 09:34pm
damien
Part 1: The abandoned monastery
Pictures: Damien Lovegrove & Martin Hill
Models: Katy McGee & Miriam Martinez Hidalgo
We spent two weeks planning the operation. The mission was to find shooting locations, hotels, restaurants and contacts in Spain to run a workshop in October. While we were there we thought we should test the locations thoroughly. Martin and I are running a joint workshop in March (full) and we wanted to get up to speed with Speedlights on location for the coming season. We all need practice and what better way is there to do it than in sunny Spain. Here is the story of our adventure and some of the pictures from our first shoot.
DL 1. Katy in the extensive grounds at the mystery monastery. A pair of Speedlights rigged by Martin and I were used for this scene setting shot at the end of day 1. For the most part we had sun on day 1 and when it clouded over by 5.30pm we headed back to our sumptuous hotel for pre dinner drinks.
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February 11th, 2011 06:06pm
damien
1. Into the light, always into the light. On the limit, always on the limit. Magic happens.
This post is the result of four hours of test shooting in a 1970′s house near Milton Keynes with Agata as my model. Chloe – Jasmine Whichello first mentioned that I should shoot with Agata back in the summer of 2010. I remembered this a few weeks back when I went searching Model Mayhem for an East of England model. I had a creative day in the diary following a training day with one of my main clients in Cambridge so I decided to further research a product that I have been working on for some time. Here are my pictures (more…)
January 28th, 2011 12:35am
damien
1. This shot of Katy was from Day two of our feature rich agenda. It was lit with a pair of Lupo HMI spotlights and my Venetian blind MK2. One of my delegates asked "Can you gel up a Lupo"? I said "let's do it." In my TV days we used to light shadows with a complimentary colour so I showed how that's done too. (The walls are white).
Two fabulous women delegates, one agenda, two models, a penthouse apartment in Bristol and (more…)
January 24th, 2011 10:12pm
damien
A screen shot from my 2010 collection. Click on the image to visit the gallery.
I have uploaded a selection of my 2010 pictures in a gallery. This has become customary for me now in January of each year. I’ve included my EXIF data to make your journey through my shots more interesting. All the pictures were taken in 2010 between March and December. Choosing is always tough and I never seem to know which images I should select, so please forgive me if I’ve missed out your favourites. I could have just shown shots of the fabulous Chloe Jasmine Whichello and dedicated the year to her such was her impact on my evolving style. There were of course many other wonderful people that I had the pleasure of photographing too. This collection is for everyone.
Enjoy.
January 23rd, 2011 12:00am
damien
Here is the Speedlight and location flash triggering kit I will be starting the 2011 season with. On the left is my Canon kit. In the middle is my Plus 2 trigger kit that I use for my Broncolor flash and on the right is my Nikon kit. It is worth noting that the Plus 2 kit is rarely used now because my Flex TT5 units can perform identical functionality.
I was giving some lighting training out on location all day Thursday and I had a Speedlight issue. I wanted to trigger a Canon 580EX2 on a lighting stand that was rigged just 3m from my camera. I opted for (more…)
January 10th, 2011 12:47am
damien
7 Key steps to building a world class wedding photography business
Here are seven of the twenty five key steps that I have identified that are needed to develop a world class wedding photography business…
1. Start with the end in mind
One of my favourite couples in a favourite location of mine, Babington House in Somerset. I lit the groom with a small 50w battery light and used 1/8th of a second shutter speed with my camera on a monopod to make the exposure.
Having an exit strategy is one the most important parts of the process, hence why an exit strategy is (more…)
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