"El Blog"

24th November 2011

The Bike Show at the N.E.C., Birmingham.

This was my third visit to a bike show at the NEC. Definitely the best yet.
I arrived at about 10.55am and fortunately being a Thursday and about half way thru it's week of run, it was not too busy and bustley.
I did my usual trick of deciding to walk from the car park to the show hall. If you have ever been to the NEC before, you will know that the distance from which ever car park you end up on, is always further to the hall than you thought. I was carrying my rucksack with my Very weighty Nikon camera and lens aboard. Exhausted before I got to the show. Only about three hours of walking about ahead of me. I will get the free bus next time, definitely.....
The car park charges are a bit steep, £8.00, for the time you are there.
The show entry charge was £19.00 on the door. £12.00 for seniors, 65+ that is. Well told the cashier I was 64.5, she let me in for £12.00. Result to start with.
My usual plan is to have a general look all round the exhibits and stalls in one quick pass. Just to get a feel for where everything is, well that's the plan. Without a program, they were £4.00 each, I didn't have a layout plan to consult. A bit of walking around in circles ensued. Having covered most of the layout, I determined to do the whole thing again but this time with my camera at the ready. Some of the shots are included here. All images were taken at iso2500 with my Nikon D3 and 24-70 lens. No flash used at all.

I think I was there for about 5 hours, so most of the place got a good viewing. Walking around almost constantly seriously takes it's toll on legs and feet. I used the free bus service to get back to my car. Roll on next year.

Saturday last, 22nd October, I attended a concert by Keri Degg [www.keri.degg@sky.com] and Chris Lawry [www.chrislawry.com]. The concert was held in a fairly new multi-purpose hall on the outskirts of Mansfield in Notts. A really enjoyable evening was had by all. Keri and Chris were superb. Looking forward to the next one.

A typical problem I find with these venues is the type and white balance of the lighting. Not wanting to use distracting flash, I was working at high ISO settings. I set my WB to florescent, but the camera still struggled with the yellow wall paint, creating a constant cast in the images. My work around, as always, was to shoot in RAW.

This gives total control during the work flow to get colour balances correct. Another process I always do in the pre-concert period is take shots with a grey card in the image. Click on this with the sampler in ACR and bob's your uncle the true colurs appear by magic. Well that's what I was told. LOL. The images below give a graphic illustration of what I am talking about. No processing has been done on either image apart from WB correction.

Aspire Day 4

Sales speciality day. Jane Breakall was our tutor. Jane's relaxed, informed approach helped us gently into the
least loved, for a photographer, part of our practices. We don't mind using and spending the money that comes
from our skills [hopefully]. Asking for it or mentioning it is so hard at first. Am I really good enough to
charge THAT!! amount for my work? Well Jane's day was all about exactly that.
She expertly walked us thru what we need and how we need to do it...Sell our work, present it, package it,
talk about it in a selling frame of mind. How to conduct ourselves at client meetings, what to say, and in what
order to say it. Very important mojo, all of this.
As with the other tutoring days a lot of the session went down in note form, when that has been revisited I am
sure it will be absorbed and implemented to better affect my business.
Well done Jane, that was a good day.
It was also the last day, so sad. Seven people I had never met before Tuesday, have become my new inspiration to
move onward and upward. All from different backgrounds, different skill levels, all great people. It was a
pleasure to share the time and the course with them.

This from my facebook page :
 
"What a great learning experience we 8 students had at the Aspire course. Catherine Connor, her team & visiting
tutors were tremendous. Now is the time to absorb and implement the miriad of information. The seven other young
students were a joy to be around. Their enthusiasm and energy was and is a great motivator. Well done guys and
what a pleasure to meet you. We must do lunch... loveys. LOL"

I will be back Catherine... that is a threat... LOL, not a promise. xx

Aspire day 3

Lightroom day. Today was about learning the art of 'workflow'. Can be geeky, and some of it is, but mostly it is essential
to promote efficient mamagement of your assets. Your photographs.
Stuart Randall was excellent in describing his recommended methods, how he managed his image stocks and set about his
post processing.
The morning was a mix of geekiness and photography. Novice model, Rosie, was on hand, with the ever vigilant Rachel,
for Stuart to demonstrate his techniques and skills at getting the model at ease. Yet again, the little things you don't
think of make such a difference. Stuart got Rosie, from a shrinking voilet to an in your face 'model with attitude'
within half an hour. The transformation was astonishing. All in the best possible taste, you understand.
Rachel, as ever was applying her magic touch thru out the shoot.
The afternoon was back to full geek mode, no not really, Stuart portrade his passion for speaking about his passion,
with passion. The trouble with new things with software like Lightroom is, there is always more to learn. I certainly
learned more about the use of the system than I realised I had missed. That now leads to more I need to find. Bring it on.
Bye the bye, the weather play nicely for the shoot. Sunny intervals, cool wind, cold out of the sun. Which made Rosie's
modelling in flimsy summer dresses all more appreciated. Well done Rosie. 

Aspire Day 2

Photography day today, with Gary Walsh. Cheeky chappy, naughty boy [in the best possible sense], but does he get results.
He has a total, in your face, we are going to have a good time, approach. We did, a laugh a minute/serious approach that
got the attention and trust of his models and students. In between the jolly japes are the pearls, what we came for. How to
build a "set" with the models, in the morning, a family of four. How to work with them, tease the expression, or not from
them without using forceps. Wonderful stuff. The young daughter of the family, Amy, was an absolute star and a trooper in
the non-mediteranian weather.
In the afternoon session a young couple were our intended prey. Gary was off again, he had them eating out of his hand within
minutes. He almost convinced them to get engaged-ish LOL. Nervous at first, since they were new to 'mogelling', they soon
settled and started to 'play' to and for the cameras.The weather broke into a rain storm, just as we finished. Luckyyyy.
Another great day of learning and entertainment at Aspire. Bring on day 3....
Almost forgot somebody from the day. Rachel Hayton, the stylist. I had never had experience of a stylist at work on a shoot
before, I had seen them on TV programs and films about photography, but never close up. I don't know how good she is in the
grand scheme of thing, but she looked good yesterday. In, adjust, move, fluff the cushions, towsel hair, straighten hair. All
in the beat between Gary pressing the shutter again. Like a ghost. Well done Rachel.