London
I couldn’t very well live two hours away from London for three years and not go there to take some photographs at night. Alison and I took a ride on the London Eye, then walked along the river waiting for the sun to set. The HDRs have been combined using Photomatix Pro 3. The zoomable hi-res panorama below has been stitched using PTGui and is presented here using PSCS3’s Zoomify plugin, integrated into Wordpress using the Kimili flash plugin.
Connecting Generations
About an hour ago the results for a photo competition entitled The Connection Between Generations (Lëtz: D’Verbindung tëschent den Generatiounen) organized by 45Plus together with photogen.lu were announced. My photo above won the public voting and convinced the professional jury. I’m now the happy winner of a Macbook, the photo will make the first page of a calendar and I can take part in a workshop during the Rencontres d’Arles.
I’m a happy camper, and the least I can do is to share some of the behind-the-scenes info of this photo. The competition had been announced months ago, but students are masters of deadline dodging: the picture was taken the day before submissions closed. I had had the idea for the shot in mind for a while, but the problem was my lack of models: pretty much anyone I know in the UK is around my age, whereas I needed to photograph a parent with their child. So I got on my bike, cycled to the playground looking for a family to take pictures with. It didn’t take long before I met Dan and Esme. I explained Dan why I wanted to take photographs with them and offered them a copy of the photo for their family album in return. So when Esme was ready (going down the slide takes priority, after all) we started shooting.
The concept required the photo’s point of view to correspond with Dan’s. So I put the Canon strap (see setup photo) around his neck; the Tamrac strap which can be clipped on went around his waist to further reduce camera shake. After some test shots the camera was set to burst mode (6.5fps) at f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 160 and 10mm, the camera was triggered with a radio-controlled shutter release. Dan was spinning fast which meant that I could get away with quite a short shutter speed and still get enough motion blur on the background. Four of the about 80 taken photos had enough sharpness on Esme’s face, the others were blurred. With all the movement and spinning, the camera ends up wobbling around a bit. Before packing up I asked Dan to sign a model release for Esme - this is something you should do whenever you take pictures in which people can be identified. The one I use confirms that I as the photographer retain all the rights to the image, including the right to publish it, and on the other hand states that the people who were photographed are entitled to a copy of the image(s).
At home I processed the RAW image in Lightroom 2.1, with multiple virtual copies which were adjusted for the different areas of the image. Those files were then put together in Photoshop CS3, where I added a picture of a blurred sky which I took after the shoot. I cloned out some distracting elements on the ground and selectively worked on contrast and colour. Finally I added a slight vignette to draw the viewer’s attention even more into the middle of the frame.
Many many thanks to Dan and Esme for spontaneously shooting with me, and to the jury as well as all those who voted for my entry!
Dover
Essays handed in. Sun in the sky. Trains on time.
Halloween Studio Session
On Halloween, the UKC Photography and Modelling Society set up a studio in the Lighthouse at the University of Kent. The aim was to raise some money for the society to buy more equipment, and it worked out quite well.
The last photo shows out setup. The trickiest part was lighting the background without having too much spill on the people since we only had about two metres in depth with which to work. The backdrop is lit with two Canon Speedlite 430 EX flashes, both with gobos to make the light hit the background only. The lights left and right of the camera are a Canon Speedlite 580EX MkI and MkII with Manfrotto 001B Nano stands and Westcott 2001 double-fold shoot-through umbrellas. All flashes were set to slave mode and triggered with a Canon ST-E2.
DPChallenge London GTG
Once again a bunch of crazy photographers met to walk around London in the rain and take pictures. This time the get-together had a slightly more international feel: Olivier and I represented Luxembourg (we’re used to the rain and the cold). Alison and Mikey from the Photography and Modelling Society represented Bermuda and Barbados, respectively (they’re not used to temperatures below 15°C). The four of us who are or have been studying in the UK met up with Natalya, Andi, Robert, Dain and Matthew. Some of their photos can be found in the DPChallenge.com forums, here. Apart from taking photos, by walking about three miles we also contributed to the Walk Around the World for Brain Tumours.
Related links: International Brain Tumor Alliance, Rose McGill, Digital Photography Challenge.
Dudelange on Wheels
The good old Peleng Fisheye came in quite handy for these skate photos at the Dudelange on Wheels skating event. The fisheye effect looks best when you get really close, and one of the bikers (in the second photo) missed my camera by only five centimeters. No risk no fun.
UKC Welcome Ball 2008
I’m back at uni, and the academic preparations, my job in the Venue and the work for the Photography and Modelling Society have kept me busy throughout September. So for now I’m just posting some photos from the Welcome Ball at the University of Kent, with Cricket Lane, City Girls, Fake That, and Coolio.
Hengendag
The eve of the Luxembourg national day, “Nationalfeierdag”, is one of those occasions on which our small capital seems to be bursting at the seams. I set out with my newly acquired 50mm 1.4 USM lens to capture the athmosphere of the evening and it didn’t take long before I bumped into some friends, then I moved on to watch the torchlight procession and the fireworks. Seeing as the last time I watched them I ended up with smoldering firework chemicals in my eye I chose a safer spot this time though.
Wedding: Martine & Mike
Martine and Mike are now enjoying this slideshow in DVD quality on their home cinema, as well as a costum designed hardcover photobook and an elegant traditional leatherbound album, all part of the coverage they ordered for their wonderful wedding in Mondorf.
DPC Canterbury GTG
For some reason it has rained at each and every DPChallenge get-together I’ve been to over the last year. No surprise then that the one I hosted myself didn’t greet us with sunshine. Even so Dain McGowan came all the way down to Canterbury to explore the city and the cathedral with me and Sebastian Andersson. In the afternoon we went up to campus to take photos at Artsfest.
Artsfest 2008
Returning from my summer break and with a slight delay I can finally post some photos I took during this year’s Artsfest at the University of Kent. Many thanks to Katie Van-Sanden and Tom Christian who supported me in my endeavour to gain permission from the university to photograph the fireworks from the Templeman Library rooftop.
Related post: Artsfest 2007
Keynestock 2008
Last weekend I covered the annual Keynestock concerts organized by Keynes JCC at the University of Kent. The weathergods were benign; it had been raining all week before the event and it’s been raning every day since, but we got through the concerts without a single drop. Even so the day was a demanding one for photography, the pictures you see above are a selection from 17 acts performing over 10 hours.
Below is the lineup for reference - and to make Google happy.
Randol (winner of Kent Factor)
Joel Williamson
Green Diesel
Martyna Baker
Katy McGrath
Maniac and the Circus on the Moon
Fumer Tue
Parker Brown (my favourite band of the day)
Cartoon Heroes
The Legacy
Trick
Catharsis
Inertia
Belleville
Racketbox
Verse
Elena Goulding (winner of Keynestock 2007.
University of Kent Summer Ball 2008
I present you a selection of 9 hours worth of photographs from last weekend’s University of Kent Summer Ball 2008, organized by Kent Union. The three huge marquees hosted four bars, two stages, tatoo artists, studio photographers, casinos, 2 main stages and more. The main acts included top DJs like Colin Murray and Fearne Cotton on the DJ stage, and the Vengaboys and the Wombats on the main stage. All in all a packed evening - even though we were two photographers sharing the workload I didn’t get a chance to grab dinner.
UKC Summer Ball 2008 Promo Video
The Fashion Show promotional video which Lee Francis filmed for the UKC Photography and Modelling Society got quite a bit of attention. As a result, he was recruited to also film a promotional video for the University of Kent Summer Ball 2008. I was at the filming location, one of the exam halls at the UKC, to help with the lighting and to take some ‘making of’ pictures, which you can see above. Oh, and I also pushed the caddie for the zoom effects, which led to the Ben Hur photo (taken by David Cater).
Cars
I put the money from freelance jobs into camera equipment, my friends invest their regular income into cars. Alain recently got himself a BMW 3 and Joe had tweaked his gorgeous Ford Focus ST a bit further (one day I’ll buy me one of those…). Unfortunately it began to rain after sunset, so we postponed the nightshots until next time.
Trivia: Googling around, I found another Ford Focus picture, where the photographer seems to have been a bit trigger-happy with the clone tool. Not only did he or she remove potential distractions from the chassis reflections, but the door handles disappeared as well.
A trip to the city
In between revising for my upcoming university exams there remains some time for photography. During my stay in Luxembourg I met up with photographer John Oesch for a shooting with model Kimberley at the Abbaye Neumünster. From there I went on to take the first photograph shown above, which I entered in the Photogen competition ‘Luxembourg City’. A bit later I continued for an exploration of the Kirchberg area.
Photography Society Meeting
Before the Easter holidays the Photography and Modeling society met up for a last shooting session. We started in the Cathedral Cloisters where the basics of flash photography and balancing it with ambient light were covered. I lent my camera to someone else so I have no pictures of that part. After a delicious Sunday lunch in the Dolphin we decided to take some group shots in the nearby park area as well as the pictures of Charlotte in the daffodils. For the eTTL adepts out there I’m happy to report that the 430EXs had no trouble picking up the master signal from the 580EX in broad sunlight from about 15 metres.
World Book and Copyright Day
These are some older pictures from a shooting with Cazz Walker in the University of Kent Library. The shooting was aimed at the DPChallenge.com photo contest ‘Books Smarts’ where the first picture posted here got second place. There’s something in this photo that adds further interest to it for me. The half a dozen black volumes in the upper right hand corner are copies of Bennett and Royle’s Introduction to Critical Theory, a work that has simplified and simultaneously complicated my life as student of English and American Literature for some years now.
For the copyrigth part of this UNESCO organized international day, this may be a good point to explain why all of my new images that ever see the internet, and most others, are watermarked. One reason is that some of my pictures have been taken from this website and different photo communities and have re-appeared on sites with a somewhat dubitable reputation. Other instances include publicity managers ‘forgetting’ about the payment part of non-use agreements, or even big organizations like the ‘Lëtzebuerger Guiden an Scouten’ printing a book with one of my photographs on its cover without asking permission or giving credit.
So, yes, the watermarks are a necessary evil. It doesn’t make the images theft-proof, but makes stealing them more difficult. [Rant over.]
UKC Student Activity Awards Night
Each year those students and societies that put special effort into making student life at the University of Kent worthwhile or/and contributed to the newspaper and radio station are honoured at the UKC Student Activity Awards Night. This year it was on March 28th and apart from covering the night for inQuire, I received one of those shiny glass awards myself. Bragging is healthy once in a while: I am now officially Best inQuire Photographer 2007/8. Yay!
For the pictures of myself on stage I passed the camera on to fellow photographer Dave Cater. All pictures were taken with the Canon EOS 40D and EF 70-200 2.8L IS lens, mostly at F/2.8, ISO 1250 and 1/100.
Rutherford Raiders win Cup Final
Congratulations to the Rutherford Raiders who won this year’s University of Kent College Cup 3:2 against Parkwood United. All pictures taken with the Canon EOS 40D, EF 70-200 2.8L IS and Kenko 1.5x Teleconverter.
Update: Thanks to Simon for informing me about the final score.
DPChallenge.com GTG 12, London
Once again users of DP Challenge met in London. Once again, it rained. This time I had a few more people from the UKC Photography and Modeling Society with me: Kristel, Charlotte, Ibi and his friend Dan. We walked from the London Eye past Westminster to Trafalgar Square, then to Buckingham Palace and back to the Southwark. Here is another group shot by Mark Simms. And here is one of me by Deb Fort.
For the photos that everyone else took check out the DPC forum photo thread.
Kent Union Election Results
Sometimes, I have to work with the pressure of a wedding photographer and the salary of a bartender. Such an occasion was the results night in the Venue last Thursday, when the winners of the Kent Union elections were announced. In spite of tricky conditions for shooting I managed to be in the right place at the right moment for most of the night.
Congratulations to the winners:
Union President - Tom Christian
NUS Delegate - Faith Victoria
VP Welfare - Tom Page
VP Education - Helen Palmer
VP Sports - Cai Robbins
VP Activities - Caz Brooker
Men’s Officer - Liam Carmichael
Women’s Officer - Nicola Barker
Ethics and Environmental Officer - Peter Gray
LGBT Officer - Jack Bowman
Students with disabilities Officer - Marsha Todd
Postgraduate Officer - Jason Simpkins
RAG President - Ian Simons
International Officer - Charlotte Brower
Student Trustee - Taiwo Otaiku, James Howard
Keynes JCC President - Lauren Granville
Darwin JCC President - Iain Kiy
Eliot JCC President - Helen Wood
Rutherford JCC President - Alice Maskell
Parkwood Committee President - Sven Stear
Kent Union Election Campaigning
During election week the University of Kent Campus is usually crowded with candidates for the different positions available within Kent Union for the next academic year, and their eager campaigning assistants. This year the dismal weather significantly reduced the number of students strolling over campus, and, consequently, the campaigners clustered in front of Eliot college to brave the rain-promising skies together.
CSR Elections
Canterbury Student Radio elected a new executive team in the Orange Street Music Club. Congratulations to the people elected to the positions for next year.