A Guide to Concert Photography

A live concert is quite a tricky situation to photograph, as there are many different factors to consider when you are trying to get that perfect shot. In this blog post, I am going to discuss what camera equipment and settings you will need to help you capture that magic moment. I will also include some of my own concert photography work, which will hopefully inspire you when you begin your own concert photography adventures!

I've been lucky enough to photograph some very well-known bands as a photographer, such as the alternative rock band, `Keane`, when they performed at the `Hastings Beer & Music Festival` (HBMF) in 2012. More recently I worked as a photographer photographing the post-hardcore band, `The Blackout`, when they played at `The Old Fire Station` in Bournemouth. I've also been able to photograph some great local bands too, such as `Ska’d 4 Life`, who also performed at the `Hastings Beer & Music Festival` in 2012.

`Keane` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge

Photographing a Concert: The Basics

If I've learnt anything from my previous work photographing concerts, it’s that you have to work with what you have, in terms of the stage setup, and more importantly, the lighting rig that is being used to light the stage. Here are a few basic points that will help you to take better concert photographs:

• Backlight your subjects - This is such a simple but effective technique. Photograph your subjects when they appear in front of a light, or if you should be in the `photographer pit` area, move yourself, so that your subject is positioned with a predominant light behind them; this creates a perfect halo around them and adds a great level of contrast to any image. You can see some examples of this `backlighting` technique within my photographs below.

• Try to avoid using flash, or use it wisely - When using flash to photograph live performances, it will quite often remove any shadow and depth that can be found within your image. I always try and work with the lighting rig that is being used, to capture the natural atmosphere surrounding the subject.

• Use a fast lens - By this I mean use a lens that has a very large aperture, anywhere between f/1.4 and f/2.8 would be perfect. The benefit of this is that you can use a faster shutter speed compared to a lens with a smaller aperture; as more light is allowed in through the lens, the shutter speed can therefore become faster, allowing you to take sharper images. If I’m working as a photographer at quite a large venue, I would tend to use my Canon 50mm f/1.8 Mk II prime lens, as this works unbelievably well in low light conditions, due to its large aperture size.

• Go full manual! - I know it may seem a bit daunting at first if you haven’t used the `M` mode, (manual mode), on you Digital SLR before, but trust me, to get great shots that have a fantastic level of contrast, depth, and have a sharp focus, manual mode is the ideal setting. If you use a pre-set mode on your camera, your photographs will tend to be over exposed and blurred, as your camera is trying to get as much light in through the lens as possible, and therefore uses a longer shutter speed to help it achieve this, which results in blurred images. Manual focus is so important as well, as your camera may find it very difficult to keep the focus on moving subjects, especially in the low light conditions of a concert. Before the band I'm photographing come on, I’ll take quite a few test shots to find the right shutter speed and aperture size to get the perfect exposure level.

• Choose the right ISO - Setting the ISO of your camera to the correct level will make all the difference when taking your photographs. If you’re not familiar with ISO, it measures the sensitivity of your camera's sensor. This basically means that the lower the ISO is, e.g. 100 ISO, the less sensitive your camera's sensor is to light. The higher the ISO is, e.g. 3200 ISO, the more sensitive your sensor is to light. But this increase in sensitivity does increase the amount of grain and noise that can be found within an image, so it is important to get the ISO just right, and not set it too high. At concerts I often photograph my subjects at around 800 ISO, as I have found that this is generally the right level to produce images that are sharp and not grainy.

• Choose different angles - A photographer should never be stationary, unless you’re using a tripod of course! Move around as much as you can to get coverage from many different angles; this will allow you to produce varied photographs which are much more interesting. Don’t be afraid to tilt and angle your camera as well. I hardly ever have my camera solely in the landscape or portrait position, I'm always trying to find an angle that enhances the composition of my shot, which therefore creates a more dramatic photograph.

Here are some photographs that I took at `Hastings Beer & Music Festival` (HBMF) in 2012 featuring `Keane`, `Cushty`, and `Ska’d 4 Life`. These photographs were taken on my Canon EOS 500D with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 Mk II lens. I have also included some photographs that I took of `The Blackout` performing at `The Old Fire Station` in Bournemouth. These
photographs were taken on my Canon EOS 550D with the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens:

Click on the images to enlarge them.

`Gavin Butler` - `The Blackout` - Douglas Benge

`SPIN` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge

`Tom Chaplin` - `Keane` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge

`Cushty` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge

`Sean Smith` - `The Blackout` - Douglas Benge

`Ska'd 4 Life` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge

`Tom Chaplin` - `Keane` - `HBMF` 2012 - Douglas Benge (2)

 `Sean Smith` - `The Blackout` - Douglas Benge (2)

Top Tip:

`Use your time wisely. If you’re working as a photographer at a venue where a band are playing, the band will state beforehand how many songs the photographers are allowed to take photos for. From past experience, most bands tend to allow photos to be taken for the first three songs. That may seem like a lot of time, but trust me, it will fly by! You need to keep taking photos and try all the different camera angles you can; this will ensure that you have a good variety of images to choose from when you select your photographs to edit.`

Animal Photography

Photographing animals has always been an area of photography that I have wanted to explore, so recently I set out with my camera with the intention of capturing portraits of animals. Not only did I develop my knowledge within this area of photography whilst conducting this project, I managed to produce some impressive portraits of animals which you can see in this post. I have also included a section within this post titled, `Top Tips for Photographing Animals`.

To take my photographs, I went to my local zoo called `Drusillas Park`. This zoo has a diverse range of animals with lots of different enclosure settings, allowing me to produce a good variety of photographs. Although the zoo was extremely busy, because the weather was sunny, which doesn’t happen often in England, I was still able to take some good photographs.

For all of the photographs included within this post, I used my Canon EOS 500D DSLR camera, with my Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. This lens was my most important piece of kit when I went out on my shoot, as it allowed me to zoom right into the subject, so that they would fill the frame, resulting in a really focused shot. The USM (Ultra Sonic Motor) featured in this lens, helped me a lot when I was taking my photographs, as it enabled me to keep my subjects in focus, as it would adjust the focus accordingly, whenever the subjects moved.

Here are three of the images that I produced for my animal photography project:

Click on the images to enlarge them.

`Wondering...` - Douglas Benge

I have titled this photograph, `Wondering…`, as this is what the lemur appears to be doing in the image, thinking and wondering. I took quite a few photographs of the lemurs when I went on my shoot, but this photograph was the one that had the most natural character within it. I really like the composition of this shot, as the lemur looks into the empty space at the top right hand corner of the image, which in turn is thinking space for the viewer. I added two textures to this photograph, to try and create a texturally rich image; I think I have succeeded, as this photograph of a lemur is full of colour tone and rich textures.

`Unknown` - Douglas Benge

I have titled this photograph, `Unknown`, as it depicts a bird perching on a branch, but you can’t tell what type of bird it is, as I have photographed it from behind whilst its head was tucked down into its chest. I really like this element of mystery that this photograph has, as it draws you into the image, as you try and work out what this `creature` is. I have used a dark texture on this image, to create the illusion that it is night time. After I placed this texture onto the image, I erased the area of the texture that could be seen over the bird, resulting in the image that you see before you, where the bird appears as if it is glowing. The abstractness of this photograph helps to create a more powerful image, that isn’t just another standard animal portrait.

`Rainbow Lorikeet` - Douglas Benge

I have titled this photograph, `Rainbow Lorikeet`, as this is what the image depicts. The natural colours within this photograph are beautiful and vibrant, which is why I chose to use a multi-coloured texture over the original photograph, to add to these rich colours, and to create a photograph with more tone. I really like how the lorikeet is looking directly into the camera lens in this image; it adds an element of interaction to the photograph, as we are able to look at him directly in the eye. When I was photographing this lorikeet, because of its small size and the fact that it kept moving, it was difficult to keep focus on this birds face, but with some patience, I managed to produce this shot where the lorikeets face is in focus.

I was inspired by the photographer, Pauline Fowler, to produce my animal portraits in the way that I have. Pauline has produced a photographic series titled, `Exotic Animals`, which features photographs of animals such as zebras, tigers, and monkeys, that have all been manipulated in Photoshop, to create really rich textured images. To create this effect for her photographs, Pauline uses layered textures; these textures include her own photographs taken of light on water, greenery, skies, and some free textures that she downloads from the internet. I highly recommend that you visit her website and take a look at her `Exotic Animals` series. Here is the link: http://paulinefowler.artspan.com/

Top Tips for Photographing Animals:

• Be patient! – Patience is probably the most important thing you can have when photographing animals. You need to remember that animals are their own beings, so they aren’t going to do exactly what you want them to do. In order to produce natural animal photographs, you need to be patient, and need to wait for that natural spontaneous moment, it will be worth it.
• Experiment with different angles – The size of an animal will affect the angle that you photograph it from, so be prepared to get on the ground in order to get that perfect shot, especially when photographing small animals like pets. Photographing your subject from the best angle, can turn an ordinary photograph into a really impressive image.
• Photograph your subject early or late in the day – Photographing animals in strong midday sun isn’t ideal, and animals are generally less active at midday if the weather is warm. So, you should get up early or wait until later in the evening, in order to photograph your subject in the `golden hour`, the first and last hour of sunlight in the day. This will allow you to produce images that have a beautiful warmth to them, and will also allow you to take some stunning back-lit photographs.
• Focus on your subject’s eyes – Having a sharp focus on the eyes of a subject is important in any kind of portrait photography; this same principle applies when photographing animals. Different animals will have different shaped and coloured eyes, so a sharp focus on these eyes will allow you to see them in great detail. Remember, “Eyes are the window to the soul”.
• Try to avoid using flash – If you were to use flash when photographing an animal close to you, their eyes in the photograph would be an undesirable bright green colour; use natural light to photograph your subject, as this will create a softer photograph that has better tonal qualities than an image where your subject has glaring highlights from the use of flash. If you are at a zoo, and are photographing animals though a glass screen, you should definitely not use flash, as the flash will reflect off the glass, resulting in a bright, glaring image.
  
  
  I hope that these tips will help you when you go out to take your own animal photographs.

Panoramic Photography

Panoramic photographs are created using a technique within photography that uses editing software like Photoshop, to capture images with elongated fields of view. This means that photographers can capture images with a field of view of up to 360 degrees. The technique of creating these photographs is very simple and yet can produce some really impressive images.

If you want to know how to create your very own panoramic photographs, there is a step-by-step guide included within this blog post.

Here are my panoramas that I produced for my panoramic project:

Click on the images to enlarge them.

View from `The De La Warr Pavilion` - Douglas Benge

This panoramic photograph that I have taken depicts the view out to sea from the grounds in front of `The De La Warr Pavilion`. It was produced from a total of nine shots, all taken with my camera in the portrait position. The subjects composed on the left and right hand side of the photograph, are Bexhill’s promenade domes, as the promenade runs along the seaside and passes in front of `The De La Warr Pavilion`. The other prominent subjects within this image are the three flags that appear in colour in this photograph, creating a more interesting and engaging image. The flag that is in the centre of the image, creates a strong and dramatic contrast to the dark and gloomy sky that is situated behind it. This creates a very powerful focal point to the image and really helps the flag to stand out. This is a wide angle panorama which probably has a field of view of around 160 degrees. In a way, it is the emptiness within this photograph that makes it so powerful as a panorama; it allows thinking space for the viewer and creates a more focused image, as the subjects in the photograph frame and focus your attention to the flag that is standing along in the centre of the scene. After I edited the image into grey-scale in Photoshop, I used the `Burn Tool` to darken certain areas of the sky and also used the `Dodge Tool` to lighten areas of the sky. I used these tools to create a really moody backdrop to the panorama, as the original sky featured in the photograph wasn’t very dramatic or contrasting at all. I think I succeeded in creating this moody and atmospheric effect.

Wallers Haven - Douglas Benge

This panorama depicts a section of the river `Wallers Haven`. It was produced from a total of seven photographs, all taken with my camera in the portrait position. I chose this river as the subject for one of my panoramas, as I thought it would be really interesting to capture the full length of this particular section of the river, in just one panoramic photograph. I have managed to do this and have consequently produced a panoramic image with a field of view of around 175 degrees. The river is the focal point of the photograph and creates an eye-line to the image, as we firstly look to the top of the river, the furthest left point of the image, before following the river through the photograph to the furthest right point of the image, where the river disappears out of view. This eye-line creates an engaging photograph. I edited the colours within this photograph by adjusting the saturation level of the image. I recognised that the unedited version of this panorama, had colours and tones that would work well if I were to brighten them up and increase the vividness of them. By adjusting the saturation level, I have produced an image that is strong in colour tone and has a beautiful colour palette, from the blues to the greens to the yellows etc.

The De La Warr Pavilion - Douglas Benge

This panoramic photograph that I have taken depicts `The De La Warr Pavilion`, a grade one listed modernist building that houses a contemporary art gallery and auditorium. I produced this image from a total of six photographs, all taken with my camera in the portrait position, to help create a taller panorama. I have framed this image so that `The De La Warr Pavilion` is the focal point, as it is situated in the centre of the image and stretches out to the left and to the right side of the photograph. After I had created my panorama in Photoshop, and was happy with the stitching that had taken place, I edited the image into looking like an `old fashioned` photograph. I really love creating images that look as if they were taken using an old fashioned camera, and look like they have been developed as an old photograph would have been developed. To create the `old fashioned` effect that I was looking for, I edited the image into grey-scale and increased the contrast levels of the image, to produce a panorama with deeper black tones. I then created a new layer and placed a scratched texture onto this layer; I used this scratched texture to try and replicate an old scratched negative film. I then created another layer and placed a glass plate negative texture onto it. I added this texture to the photograph as I wanted to try and create the illusion that the photograph had been developed in a darkroom, as this was the old fashioned way of developing images. Finally, I added a vignette to my image, to create a subtle frame around the photograph.

How to Create a Panorama 

To create beautiful panoramic photographs, you may think that you need lots of expensive camera equipment and editing software, but I can assure you that the process to producing a panorama is not as difficult or expensive as you think. The basic principle to photographing a panorama can be summed up in these simple steps:

• Firstly, choose something to photograph, for example, let’s say you want to photograph a landscape scene
• You would then set your camera to `Manual` mode and would take some photographs until you found the correct exposure level for the scene. You need to use `Manual` mode as when you produce a panoramic image, you need to take a number of different shots; by taking them on `Manual` mode, you take the images with the same exposure level, ensuring that the photographs can easily be stitched together in Photoshop later. If you were to use `Auto` mode to take the shots, your camera would adjust the exposure level for each photograph without your control, meaning that when you came to stitch the photographs together, your final image wouldn't look like one photograph, you would be able to see that you produced it from however many shots
• Once the settings on your camera are ready, you can begin to take your photographs. It is best to take panoramas holding the camera in the portrait position, as you will get a taller and deeper image than if you were going to photograph your scene with the camera in the landscape position
• If you have a steady hand, you can take your images without the use of a tripod, but it is probably better to use a tripod to produce really level photographs that can be stitched together more easily in Photoshop
• Now your camera is set up on the tripod in the portrait position, work out where the beginning point and end point of your panorama is going to be. Then, pan round between these points and make sure that everything is level within the frame
• You can now head back over to the beginning point of your panorama and can frame up and take the first photograph. When you have taken this photograph, if you are going to pan from left to right to take your next image, in your head you need to divide your image into five vertical sections, then, look at the last section, the last fifth, and remember a subject that is within that section
• Now, move your camera around to the right so that the subject that was in the last fifth is now in the first fifth. This is basically ensuring that overlapping is occurring when you are taking your images. This is important as you do not want to crop anything out when taking your photographs, otherwise, there will be a noticeable gap in your final panorama
• Once you have taken this image, you do exactly as you did for the last image you took: remember a subject that is in the last fifth of your image, move the camera round to the right, making sure that the subject you remembered is now in the first fifth of your frame. You keep following this process until you reach the end point of your panoramic scene
• Now you can go into Photoshop and can begin to stitch your images together.

There are many tutorial videos on `YouTube` explaining how to use Photoshop to create a panoramic photograph, just type in: `How to Create a Panorama in Photoshop`.

Top Tip:

`When taking the individual photographs that will make up your panorama, make sure that your lens is slightly zoomed in. This will ensure that there is no geometric distortion within your images, as this will make it difficult to stitch the images together in Photoshop.  

If you have a standard 18mm-55mm lens for your Digital SLR camera, adjust the lens so that it is set on the 24mm mark; this amount of zoom should prevent this distortion from occurring within your images.`

Experimental Photography: Painting with Light

Painting with light photographs are extremely effective images, which are very easy to produce. The basic principle to producing a painting with light image is to get hold of a light source e.g. a torch. Photographers will then use this light source to either feature in the photograph, to paint light trails, or, to light the subject within the photograph, where it is not seen in the image itself. By experimenting with different lights, subjects, colours of lights, and the camera's aperture size and shutter speed, you can create some impressive photographs that look modern and arty. This technique of photography can take a while to master, but sometimes, photographs that you think went wrong, can produce some very striking results. This is why I enjoy the painting with light process so much. 

You need to be able to control the shutter speed and aperture size of your camera when using this technique, so if you don’t have a Digital SLR camera, or the ability to use manual mode on your compact camera, then the `Night Mode` setting on your camera would probably be your best opinion for producing painting with light images.

Here are five simple steps for you to follow if you want to take your very own painting with light image:

1. The basic principle to producing painting with light images is to have a light source e.g. a torch. If you are going to paint with the light source itself, where it is moving within the photograph, it is very important to set the camera up on a tripod, to keep it still. The other alternative would be to keep the light source still and to move the camera.  

2. Set the camera to the shutter speed control mode, `Tv` mode if you have a Canon. This will allow you to control the time that the shutter remains open for. Set the shutter speed to, let’s say, ten seconds; this will allow you to get a good amount of movement from your light source. The aperture will probably set itself to f-stop 8.

3. Next, if you are painting onto a subject, shine the light onto it, and using manual focus, focus it into the shot. If you are painting with the light source itself, then focus the place where you are going to stand.

4. When you are ready, set the camera to timer so you have time to get into place.

5. Now, when you press the shutter release button, you will be able to get into position and when the shutter opens, you can start painting with light by moving the light source. 

When the shutter closes and you look at your image, you will be able to see the light trail that you have drawn. This is because all the time the shutter was open, the camera's sensor was picking up all the movement of your light source, causing this trail of light that you can see in your image. You can experiment a lot with this technique to produce some outstanding images. An easy place to start would be to draw simple shapes, like stars and swirls with your light source. You can then try outlining objects to give them a bold light trail outline. This would also allow for a very atmospheric glow from the object itself. 

Here are some of my photographs I have produced using this painting with light technique:

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Fire Spin

I was inspired to take this image after studying the photograph titled `Spider on the Track` taken by Brent Pearson. The equipment I used to create this image included my tripod, a household whisk, some chain, some steel wool, and a lighter. The basic principle to creating this image is to attach some chain, around 34 inches long, to the handle of the whisk. Then, get a medium sized handful of steel wool and stretch it out, being careful not to rip it apart. You stretch it out to allow more oxygen to come into contact with a larger surface area of the wool when you are burning it later. Once you have stretched it out, place the steel wool inside your whisk, spreading it out inside the whisk cavity. Now, go to somewhere that isn’t going to be a fire hazard, e.g. a wet field. For my photograph, I stood on a cattle trough, which was situated in a field. It was raining whilst I took this photograph, so there was no chance for a fire to occur. As my steel wool didn’t spark for very long in my pervious tests, I used a shutter speed of 10 seconds and an f-stop of 5.6 for this image. I set up my camera on the tripod and got my assistant to stand on top of the trough, shining the light on herself, whilst I focused her into the frame. I then put the camera on a ten second timer and got into position. Just before the ten seconds were up, I used the lighter to get the steel wool smouldering, as it only creates the sparks when you spin it quickly. Once my assistant told me the shutter had been released, I began to spin the chain which ignited the steel wool causing it to spark. I continued spinning it until I was told the shutter had closed. The outcome of this technique is extremely impressive, and one that I would definitely like to experiment with in the future. 

Light Graffiti

I took this photograph in an empty barn, as I wanted to create a large landscape image, something that I wouldn't have been able to do in a studio. To create this image, I set my camera up on a tripod and set it to the `Tv` setting, the shutter speed priority setting. This would therefore enable me to control how long the shutter was open for. For this image, a shutter speed of 25 seconds was used. This gave my assistant plenty of time to paint with the light source. An f-stop of around 4 would have been used with this shutter speed. After setting the shutter speed and aperture up, I got my assistant to shine the torch on himself so I could focus him into the photograph. After using manual focus to focus the shot, I put my camera on timer, and waited for the shutter to be released before telling my assistant to start painting this abstract pattern as soon as the shutter opened. The randomness of the light trails has created a really abstract photograph. 

Shining the Light onto Myself 

I used the other painting with light technique here, creating the illusion of six versions of me. By shining the light onto myself from my stomach up, for about four seconds in each stage, and then switching it off and moving to my next position, I was able to produce a photograph where it appears that there are six of me. I used a shutter speed of 30 seconds for this photograph as it was needed for the camera to have time to capture each of my positions. An f-stop of 4 was used to allow as much light into the lens as possible. With the positioning of my characters, the under lighting, and the silhouetted trees, the overall feel to this image is a spooky one. The way in which the character nearest the camera is crouching, with his hand on the floor, is quite scary as you can’t see him at first, until you spot his hand, as his face is white due to it being over exposed to the bright light. I also like the aeroplane that has created a red light trail in the sky, located in the top left third of the image. It’s a nice feature to the photograph, even though it was unplanned. 

Light Laser

I took this painting with light image in a barn; like my other image that was taken in a barn, I needed a large amount of space to work with. The theme to this image is me, on the far right of the image, firing a light trail `laser beam` at my friend, who is positioned on the far left of the image. Because of the complexness of this image, it took me quite a few times to get it right. The large amount of movement meant that I needed a long shutter speed of 30 seconds and an f-stop of 4. First of all, I got my friend to stand where I am standing in the image, so I could focus the photograph. I must mention that the camera was set-up on a tripod, to keep it perfectly still, and to stop any motion blur. I set the camera to a ten second timer to allow us both plenty of time to get into our positions. Once I heard the shutter being released, I shone the torch on myself for about four seconds, I then switched it off and placed it in front of my hand where the `laser beam` is coming out of, before turning it back on again. I then began to move forward, moving the torch in a circular motion. As I got close to the end position of the photograph, I told my friend to come into the frame and stand in her position; whilst she got into her pose, I turned the torch off to avoid any motion blur. When she was ready, I shone the torch on her for four seconds, like I did with myself at the beginning of the image; I then turned the torch off. I was really impressed with the image when I saw it and was really happy with the natural exposure level. I like the way the barn floor has been lit in certain areas, creating the effect that it is glowing. This photograph is a great example of how the simple technique of painting with light can be experimented with and taken to a new level, in order to produce a stunning image.

Top Tip: 

`When taking photographs using the painting with light technique, don't be afraid to experiment! This is why this post is titled `Experimental Photography`, because you need to experiment in order to create your own unique photographs.

A good starting point is to move your light source in all different directions and to draw different patterns when the shutter is released; you are sure to end up with an impressive abstract painting with light photograph by doing this.`

Time Photography

In this post I have included a selection of photographs that I produced for a photography project titled: `The Time Project`. The aim of this project was to experiment with time through the medium of photography; I did this by using fast and slow shutter speeds, and also by creating sequenced photographs. This project was great fun and has enabled me to produce some really interesting images. I hope you enjoy them! 

Click on the images to enlarge them.

BMX Jump

This photograph was taken at my local skate park, where I asked one of the BMX riders if he could do the jump you can see in the image above. I set my camera up on a tripod and selected `Manual` mode, before selecting a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second. The use of `Manual` mode is very important if you want to produce images like this one, as you need to ensure that each photograph has been taken using exactly the same settings. If you use `Auto` mode on your camera, with each photograph you take, your camera could be taking them with different exposure times, therefore, each image may appear with a different level of brightness. The use of `Manual` mode, also meant that I used `Manual focus`, and so I asked my subject to do a test run so I could focus him into the shot. When he was ready, I held my finger on the shutter release button, which then took continuous photographs at a rate of three frames per second. Now that I had got my images, I went into Photoshop and started to edit them to together. You can find tutorials on how to produce sequenced photographs like this on YouTube, just type in: `How to make a sequence in Photoshop`. 

Golden Syrup

This photograph depicts golden syrup that I drizzled into an egg cup using a spoon. I took this image using a fast shutter speed to capture the syrup as it fell from the spoon and landed in the egg cup, so that the syrup appeared sharp and in focus. I used a very simple set-up for this photograph; I took this image in my kitchen, using my 70mm-300mm telephoto lens. The lighting set-up consisted of two desk lamps to light the egg cup with the syrup in, and another desk lamp to light the backdrop of the photograph, which was just a piece of white paper. I used `Manual` mode when taking this photograph as I needed to adjust the aperture according to the shutter speed, to get the perfect exposure level for the image. I needed a really large aperture setting, and therefore a small f stop setting, in order to allow as much light as possible into the lens, as I was using a fast shutter speed. It is important to note that I had my camera set up on a tripod and used the timer on my camera to take ten consecutive photographs at a rate of three frames per second. After selecting the best photograph and a little editing in Photoshop, the image was complete.

Milk Splash

I took this photograph using exactly the same setup as my image titled: `Golden Syrup`. I was inspired to take this photograph after studying Harold Edgerton, who wanting to produce and photograph a perfect coronet from a single drop of milk falling into a liquid. His final image titled: `Milk Drop Coronet` is extremely impressive, especially considering that it was taken in 1957. My photograph depicts milk being poured into a glass containing milk that has had red food colouring added to it. I added red food colouring to the milk as I wanted to create a more vibrant and abstract photograph. The red colour also allows for the white milk being poured into the glass, to be seen more clearly. I really like how the milk that is being poured appears so straight and cylindrical, almost like a straw. As it can't be easily identified as milk at first, it adds an element of mystery to the photograph, as the viewer is left wondering what is being poured into the red liquid. 

Eerie Seascape

This seascape is an example of an image that has been produced using a slow shutter speed. I set my camera to `Manual` mode and used a shutter speed of two seconds, along with the smallest aperture size/largest f stop setting I could get, to allow me to get the perfect exposure level for this photograph. Once my camera was ready, I set it up on a tripod and got the shot level so that the horizon was perfectly flat. It is so important to use a tripod when taking images with a shutter speed slower then 1/60 of a second, as the subjects you want to stay still in your image, will blur due to camera shake. The aim of this photograph was to capture the groyne in focus, whilst the slow shutter speed would capture the movement of the water, as it moved in-between the groyne pillars. The effect that occurs is rather magical, as the water appears misty and `milky`. This is because of the motion blur created from the waters movement when the shutter was open. The groyne appears sharp and in focus as it is not moving, but the water is, thus creating the misty effect. I edited the image into grey-scale and darkened some areas of the photograph so that the misty texture was more prominent, creating a rather eerie seascape image. 

Top Tip:

`I know it looks complicated and difficult to understand, but try and get to grips with your cameras `Manual` mode if you have a Digital SLR. Using the `Manual` mode enables you to take photographs exactly how you want to take them, unlike the pre-set modes on your camera, that will adjust the individual settings like shutter speed and aperture for you. 

All it takes is a bit of experimenting and you’ll be using `Manual` mode like a pro! If you do get stuck, don’t worry, just look in photography magazines or on the internet for the answers you need. ` 

Self-Portrait Photography

In this post I am going to be looking at self-portrait photography and have included three photographs that I took as part of my self-portrait project.

Self-portraiture is the art of capturing the person who is creating a piece of work, in the piece itself. So, if an artist were to paint a portrait of themselves onto a canvas, this would be a self-portrait piece of work. The same theory applies to photographers; if a photographer took a photograph of themselves, let’s say in the reflection of a mirror, this would be a self-portrait photograph, as they, the creator of the photograph, are featured in the image. Self-portrait photographs can be extremely powerful in conveying the mood, emotion, and character of the subject. However, a self-portrait doesn't have to feature the persons face, it can include objects that are very important to that person, in order to convey their character. For example, if someone was really into cycling, they could photograph a bike and use that as their self-portrait image, as it is a part of who they are.

After producing a coursework project on portrait photography last year, I edited nearly all of my images into grey-scale; I believe that this allows for the image to be `stripped` down of any distractions and enables the viewer to solely focus on the subject’s character within the image.

All these images were taken on my Canon EOS 500D with my standard 18-55mm lens.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

`Atlas` - Douglas Benge

I produced this self-portrait image with a map that is seemingly `wrapped` over my face, to convey my love for travelling. I also wanted to try and experiment a bit with Photoshop for this image. There were a lot of editing processes involved within the creation of this image, from clipping masks to the lasso tool, overlaying and using the blurring filter. The main process I used was the `Displace` filter in Photoshop, this can be found under `Filter`, `Distort` and then `Displace`. There are plenty of tutorials on `YouTube` showing you how to use the `Displace` filter, just type in `Photoshop Tutorial - Displacement Map`.

Douglas Benge

I was inspired to take this photograph after studying Mikael Eliasson, a portrait photographer who photographs most of his subjects posing with blank expressions­. I have gone about this by creating a really simple set up in terms of framing and composition. My head is in the centre of the frame, still leaving some thinking space for the viewer; this is much like Eliasson’s style of framing, with the subject composed right in the centre of the image. Eliasson’s portraits are almost all in colour, there wasn’t much colour tone within my image; I therefore edited it into grey-scale. I then adjusted the brightness and contrast to the level that I wanted. Just to experiment, I put both the brightness and contrast levels up as high as they would go, I decided that this looked really effective, so left it as my final image. The blank expression on my face along with the use of grey-scale lets the viewer look into my eyes and decide for themselves who I am.

`My Style` - Douglas Benge

I have produced this photograph in the way that I have, to convey my passion for `old style` photography. I am really interested in grey-scale photography and have always believed that old photographs, quite often, have so much more character then any modern photographs that have been edited into the `old style` of photography. I have quite a unique style of photography and wanted to try and combine this with my passion for `old style` photographs. The strange facial expression I am pulling connotes my unique character and photographic style. I edited the image into grey-scale, as well as adding grain, a scratched texture, a negative film-strip, and a vignette effect to try and add age to the photograph. I edited a glass plate negative frame onto my image, to give it that final touch, aging the photograph even more. I am really pleased with the final result, as I believe it illustrates my character perfectly.

Top Tip:

`When taking self-portrait photographs, be yourself! The photograph is about you and is focused on conveying your character to the viewer. 

Remember, you don’t always have to include yourself in the image; you could just photograph something that means a lot to you, or an object that conveys your character.`

Telephoto Lens Photography

A telephoto lens will enable you as a photographer to fill the frame with your subject, without actually being that close to them. This type of lens is therefore often used when photographing wildlife or sporting events, where it is not possible to get close to the subject(s). 

There are many other benefits that telephoto lenses have compared to a standard lens:

• They increase background blur of an image (they produce a shallow depth of field)
• They flatten the perspective when photographing portraits
• Not only can they be used to photograph subjects far away, you can produce some really detailed photographs of subjects like flowers and plants using a telephoto lens; the shallow depth of field created by the lens is very effective when photographing these types of subjects.

In this post I have included some photographs that I took with my new telephoto camera lens which is the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens. The `IS` used here means `Image Stabilisation`, this comes in very handy as you are often zooming in onto a subject that can be very far away, `IS` therefore reduces camera shake. The `USM` feature of the lens stands for `UltraSonic Motor` which means the lens has a small motor built into its body, enabling it to auto focus faster than a standard lens. 

All these photographs were taken with my telephoto lens on my Canon EOS 500D camera body.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

A Squirrel Climbing a Tree

This photograph was taken in my local park and features a Squirrel that couldn't have posed any better for this photograph. I began by photographing him on the ground before he ran up the tree, stopping half way to turn around and look at me. He froze in this position for a couple of seconds enabling me to take this photograph. I was stood around five metres away from the squirrel when I took the photograph, this demonstrates just how well a telephoto lens works. The shallow depth of field that a telephoto lens creates in photographs is very evident here, with the grass in the background of the image completely out of focus.    

Catch Me If You Can!

At my local Air Show, I spotted a good opportunity to photograph the two main subjects of the show, the aeroplanes and the seagulls, who flocked to the beach where spectators sat with their picnics. After many photographs later, trying to get a seagull and the two aeroplanes in the shot, I managed to produce this image. I caught the seagull with its wings fully extended, filling out the frame of the photograph as the aeroplanes turned in the background, moving in the direction of the seagull. The fast shutter speed I used here has enabled me to capture this moment with the subjects sharply in focus.

A Pigeon Perched on a Fence

I carried some bread in my bag whilst on my visit to the park, in the hope that this would tempt subjects to come closer to me than usual. This pigeon spotted me as I was just putting away my bread bag, it then perched on the fence about two and a half metres away from me, it was then that I took this photograph. I gave the pigeon some bread when I had finished photographing it to reward its efforts as such a fine subject! Although this pigeon was much closer to me then the squirrel was in my previous photograph included in this post, the telephoto lens I used still created a shallow depth of field within my image.

 

Squeak

This photograph depicts one of my cats called `Squeak` and was actually one of the first photographs I took with my new telephoto lens. My telephoto lens worked really well in this photograph as it flattened the perspective of the subject, allowing me to get all of him in focus with the background of the image completely blurred. Although Squeak kept moving his head, looking around in different directions, I managed to capture him just as he looked into the lens, producing a rather striking photograph. The grey-scale effect of this image adds great contrast to the photograph and really allows for Squeak's fur pattern to stand out.

Top Tip:

`When using a telephoto lens, use high shutter speeds and a tripod when possible; this will ensure that the subjects within your image appear sharp and in focus.

By using a telephoto lens, you are magnifying an image, this however means that you are magnifying camera movement as well. Therefore, by using fast shutter speeds and a tripod, you will counteract this camera movement.`

If you are really sure you would like to invest in a telephoto lens, then it would be worthwhile investing in a lens hood as well. A lens hood simply fits onto the end of your lens and reduces flare that bright light sources can create within your images, especially if you are shooting towards the light source itself. For my lens, I have a `Canon ET-65B` lens hood, this works really well and stops excess light from entering my lens, reducing flare.


Next week I will be focusing on `Self Portraiture`, so get your cameras at the ready!