May 25th, 2013

Fight night at Teviot0
neil posted in Travel on November 29th, 2008

The Edinburgh University Boxing Club held its annual fight night in Teviot house union. I was drafted in to shoot for Student and the Sports Union. Last year I missed out as I was working on Islay, James Robertson had a good evening and made one of his portfolio pictures. This time around the only real ambient light was from some overhead lights aimed straight down, not the best for ringside shooting. My lighting plan was simple, I put up flashes aimed across the corners of the ring at quarter power and 105mm zoom. The aim was to give a front and backlight or a left right sandwich look. It was edgy, but not brilliant as the shadows dropped off pretty heavily. Also getting a good boxing moment appears to be an art, ring ropes and ref ass all over the place from ringside. More here.
 

James Robertson wins Guardian Student Media award0
neil posted in Travel on November 27th, 2008

James Robertson in Perpignan

James Roberson, a friend who I worked with on Student, has won the photographer category of the Guardian Student Media Awards. He wins a pile of cash and a week working for the Guardian newspaper. His portfolio is available here. Good stuff.

21st Birthday portraits0
neil posted in Photos, Neil on November 24th, 2008

It does a soul good to make images like this now and again.

The Whisky Picnic1
neil posted in Photos, Neil on November 13th, 2008

“Whisky….cocktails?” I asked trying not to sound incredulous. “Yes, we’re showing that whisky is’nt about an older generation sitting around fireplaces sipping malt. We want to show young people having fun with whisky, we’ve got some local bartenders with exciting ideas about how to mix whisky.” replied Nick, who works for a large whisky firm. It sounded interesting at the very least and the dresscode “a modern take on tweed” suggested there would be some fun to be had there.
“Sure…I’ll do it”.
It was dark, so dark my trusty 24mm would’nt focus, and rammed with people. One SB 800 up on a fully extended tripod with a foot on three seperate tables, SB900 on minimum power placed cunningly by the bar. I’m having a hard time getting position with all these people around and my light placement is determined by the only places, not the good places. I can make the occasional  decent shot when the planets align, but with limited placement, its getting to be the same shot again and again. After nipping outiside for a group photo the nice ladies from the hottinroof PR start using the word atmosphere. A lot. I’m sick of only shooting where I can make my fixed lights go and I’m worried that the SB900 will blind someone and the SB800 will brain someone. I break out a CTO (or 1/2 CTO) gel and my trusty “run and gun” flash setup. Zoom the flash to a minimum of 50mm and play the fun game of focus, lock, compose, aim the flash & fire. I tried some of the cocktails and things got a little harder but a lot more fun. More of the photos here.

Samhuinn, where and why?0
neil posted in Photos, Neil on November 7th, 2008

Never let it be said your gear does’nt get you gigs. I had a phone call a few weeks ago asking “Neil do you have that 70-200 ? With IS?”. The Beltane Fire Society photographers had envisioned Samhuinn as a chance to sharpen up less experienced photographers, however when they managed to get a room in the registry overlooking the stage they came to me because I had “that lens”. I was glad to have it, I enjoy shooting with the BFS performers and high action in low light is a real challenge. This was another challenge as it combined high action in low light with a long lens and considerable distance from the stage.

Beasties performing

To stabilize the lens, I borrowed a Calumet tripod from Scott (Fishsuckseggs) which had a very nice, smooth operating head on it. To stop the action I used three flashes. One flash was carried by JR on a hama bracket as he shot from just inside the crowd. The other two flashes, including a SB900 were on the ledge of the rightmost window. The 200mm throw of the SB900 was nice to have here as it would make more efficient use of its output and it was backed up by an SB800. These lights ran full power and combined gave me a working aperture of f/4.5 at ISO640 on the center of the stage. The flash carried by JR was there to give some side/rim lighting and was running at 1/8th or 1/4 power. We also borrowed a remote camera, a Canon 400D, and used its wired remote to command continuous motor drive for the duration of the event. Its exposure time was set at 30 seconds, a bit long in retrospect, and its exposure mode was shutter priority.

Initially I used 1/20th of a second for my shutter speed, but with torches, flares and other exposure changes I was working the shutter speed pretty hard. My general goal was to keep the ambient 2 stops down, but this changed depending on the situation. Canon’s ergonomics seem much better suited for on tripod operation. When you are’nt balancing the camera, the vertical back wheel becomes considerably more usable. With some acts, once I had a usable shot at higher shutter speeds, I would make 1 or 2 second exposures to capture movement with a little flash freeze.

Summer Dancers

When the wild hunt’s giant wolves advanced through the crowd I tried a panning shot (did I mention I liked this tripod) with some flash on top of it.

Wolf on the move

In case you’re wondering, myself and all the camera gear was securely fastened to anchors in the room with massively overspecified ropes.

US Presidential Election from Teviot Row House, Edinburgh0
neil posted in Travel on November 5th, 2008

Hope... is coming?
Students gathered in Teviot Row House, Edinburgh for the US election party. The place is mobbed, the three open bars full to what must be capacity. Two projectors showing CNN were supplemented by dozens of TVs and the students own laptops. The atmosphere was initially relaxed, but partisan. Texan McCain supporters parading in string vests and arguing with anyone they could find. More colourful Obama supporters were in the majority, to judge by the cheering & booing. The atmosphere slowly electrified as CNN projected more states for Obama. Texas appeared to flash up blue for half a second and the numbers at that time predicted it as close, blowing the minds of resigned Texas democrats. The bar closed and tables were cleared away, displacing more and more students until only a handful remained. The clock counted down to the next wave of states at 3am, with seconds to go the projectors and TV cut to boos and jeering. The fire exits opened and we were dismissed into the crisp night. End of photography…
     
I’m at home in bed when California and other states projections come in. Numbers rack up alongside fancy graphics. The BBC’s commentator simply says “and thats it…”
Being evicted from Teviot circa 3am  

Samhuinn0
neil posted in Travel on November 3rd, 2008

Currently a little blown away.. I had a PR based shoot today and I’ve only just dusted the “best of” Samhuinn. There is a gallery of those images up here.

I’ll write more, about the techniques we used and the exposures I was attempting, once my feet touch the ground and the photos are in the right places.

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