The Magic of Photography

Yesterday was pretty bleak, with a cold white sky, and not a particularly photo-worthy day.  However, I'd been walking with our hound in the morning and seen this tree on its side and wanted to get a flash lit shot there.  I collected my girls from school and tentatively suggested a trip out.  To my surprise they were up for it (must be hoping for good Christmas pressies!!!) so off we went, cookies in the car as sweetners!!!  When we arrived, it was the usual story, it had all seemed like a good idea, but they'd changed their minds once we'd got out of the car - to be fair, it was pretty grim!  However, I helped Em up on to the tree and set Aimee up with the flash (a great assistant, and only 7!!!) I took my ambient test shot - what a dull and boring image, then I dropped my exposure by a couple of stops, got Aimee pointing the flash in the right direction (!) and BAM!  This was the result!  Their reaction - WOW!!!  That's the power of photography!!!  It's magic!  Emma wants to know if she'll be famous now - I told her I couldn't promise that, but she'd definitely given me a shot worthy of a blog post!!!  Nice one, girls! : ) x x x x

BEFORE: - Uggghhhh!

AFTER: - YAY!

The Wildife Photographer of the year Exhibition - an Inspirational Day out in Tring

Francis House School
http://www.francishouseschool.co.uk/
Today has been a really great day.  It began at Francis House School in Tring where I had the honour of judging their first ever photography competition - there were 3 categories - 5&6 years, 7&8 years and 9-11 years.  The standard was superb and the enthusiasm heartwarming - several children had submitted more then one entry and many children had entered.  There was clear evidence of thought, imagination, creativity and patience on display - congratulations to all the children who took part for their superb achievements.

Tring Museum
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/tring/index.html
From there I went to the Tring Museum where the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" is currently being exhibited.  It was truly breathtaking.  I found myself smiling, grimmacing, gasping in horror, wonder and awe.  I came away wondering why some people are still so reluctant to recognise photography as an art form.  For me it's a little like music - the response to a photographic image is immediate and can be articulated later, in the same way that you can be immediately moved by a piece of music - it doesn't need justification, it simply stirs the soul.  The exhibition served to comment on the current state of wildlife - -the most poignant for me being the impact of the ivory trade.  It also demonstrated without any shadow of doubt the awesome beauty and diversity within the natural world.  The animal portraits were amusing and thought provoking - I love the curious lion cub who is sticking his nose into the lens and the polar bear beneath the ice!  Some of my favourite images though were the more artistic and experimental ones - the kingfisher and his flight path, the ghostly owl in "Silent Flight,"  the energy of "Impression of Africa," the stunning lighting in "Resuurection," the imaginative composition of "Fish-eye view," the clever double exposure in "Magic mushrooms" and the beautiful simplicity of "The greeting."  And of course, the winner, Greg du Toit with his masterpiece, "Essence of elephants."  It is so fortunate to have access to this exhibition right on my own doorstep - I will definitely be going back to see it again - oh, and I brought the book..... and the calendar!  Oh dear!
www.songbirdphotography.co.uk

It's All in the Detail

Some of my favourite detail shots from recent weddings - it's a girl thing!!!
(fabulous floral arrangements are by Made with Love by Lyn
https://www.facebook.com/madewithlove.info

www.songbirdphotography.co.uk

Alice in Wonderland

Themed Shoots for Children

This studio shoot was great fun.  Tigs brought her own outfit, so just a few props were required to transport her to Wonderland for a fun set of themed photos!

www.songbirdphotography.co.uk

Calling All Brides!

Yesterday I heard yet another heart breaking story of a bride who decided to leave her wedding photography in the hands of a well meaning friend with a good camera in an effort to save on costs.  As a result she is devastatingly disappointed with her wedding pictures which were mainly out of focus and very amateurish.  When doing your wedding budget, I would urge you to put as much as you can afford aside for wedding photography - after all the time, money and effort that goes into preparing for a wedding, it makes sense to have your memories carefully preserved so that you can share and cherish them for years to come.  My advice is, hire a professional for the most important day of your life!!!
www.songbirdphotography.co.uk

Woburn Sculpture Gallery - Lucy and Phil's Winter Wedding

The weather defied the season and was amazing despite the forecast!!!  What a fantastic venue!  So many great photo opportunities and Lucy and Phil are a great couple.  Congratulations to you both and thank you for choosing me to photograph your awesome day!! x x x

www.songbirdphotography.co.uk

High Speed Sync Explained

If I’m in a situation where I want to use a flashlight outside during the day, and the natural lighting is fairly bright, I might quickly hit upon a problem.  For instance, if my ISO is low at 100 and I want to use an aperture of ƒ4, those settings will not produce a darkened sky and background as my camera's flash sync speed is limited to 1/200 of second.  Taking the photograph at those settings with a shutter speed of 1/200 will give me an overexposed image.  

The ISO has been taken as low as it can and I want to use a wide aperture to give me a shallow depth of field, blurring the background.  This leaves me with one option, to increase the shutter speed beyond the camera’s sync speed of 1/200th, and this can be achieved by using the high speed sync setting on the flash.  This setting enables me to use a faster shutter speed and the flash will compensate for this, so that all the power of the flash is captured in the shorter time than the shutter is open.  If high speed sync is not used, then part of the frame will not be lit by the flash and a blurred black line will appear at the edge of the frame because the camera has not been able to capture all the necessary light due to the shutter coming into frame.  When photographing ‘Contre-Jour’ it is important to get a good blend of ambient and flash light, this does of course depend on the desired effect.  Using softboxes and umbrellas can limit the effect of the subject appearing superimposed.  By altering the shutter speed I am able to control the effect of the flash and allow more or less ambient light into my background without effecting the flash light on my subject.

Flashlit image, taken at the above settings

Ambient image taken immediately afterwards

Lifestyle Photography - North London location in October

Dressage Event Photography

I had the privilege of shooting these beautiful animals on Sunday at Wing JDC.  The rain was unbelievable but it didn't deter the contestants.  Here are some of my favourite images from the day.

Newborn Baby Photography

Today was a great day, photographing the beautiful Lottie, an absolute angel and perfect little super model at just 5 days old!  x x x

St Paul's and Tower Bridge