Recently Abi and I went and shot some photos for her book, for once the English weather proved to be nice enough that we could shoot out side, in the sun! A rare treat this year… Rather than shoot in the studio got out on location around Oxfordshire.

I shot using just a long lens (Canon 70-200mm f/2.8) and no flash. The result are really natural looking photos, and quite different to most of my other fashion photos. Deffinatley something I am going to work on more in the future.

I have been reading a lot of fashion magazine, most recently POP and I-D, so been trying to take influence from some of the ideas from shot in there. I have also been working with a styliast for some of the shoots. I will have one to put up from the other day, a geek/chic kinda look.

I love the look of the golden late afternoon sun, here it is being used as a catch light for the hair on Abi. It was a really fun shoot, thanks to Abi for doing it, expect big things from her in the future.

I managed to do two update on this in a week, pretty good going for me! I have lots more photos waiting to go up, so check back soon.

I had a fun shoot with my friend Local in my studio the other day, trying to get some fun different shots, nothing too pretty! Went for quite an exagerated lighting setup and post processing.

Always fun to get a few props involved, getting wild with an axe…

Found a really small little chair which was fun to play about with. This was probably my favourite photo from the shoot.

I have LOADS of photos and stories to put up on here, just finding the time to do it is a bit of a problem. I was in London last weekend taking stills on a TV advert set, not something I had done before but it was really interesting. I am going to do a whole post on that soon, I just need to sort through 850 photos from that weekend… I have also been shooting quite a bit of model/fashion stuff which I am really excited about. I am going to try and update this a little more regularly…

For a long time there were simply no real options for Canon photographers using crop sensor digital SLRs if they wanted to shoot with fisheye lenses. Tokina was the first to address this with their Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5. I considered buying this lens, but it seemed to have some image quality issues, particularly with regard to chromatic aberrations.

When I heard about the Sigma offering I was really excited, a prime fish eye which can shoot at f/2.8, now that sounded tempting. It has been a lot of fun so far.

I thought I would include a couple of sample photos of the lens in action, shooting sports photography. Firstly is a skate photo, shot just before it rained, shot with 1 Sunpak 555 and a 1 Vivitar 285 both off camera and set to half power triggered by Elinchrom Skyports.

[All pictures link to higher resolution Flickr ones]

First impressions

I thought my Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 was wide at 10mm, the fisheye is on another level! Very strange being able to see your feet or tripod legs in photos. The lens feels well built, a little heavier than I expected, which is no bad thing in my opinion. There is a small lens hood to protect from glare and comes with Sigma’s standard soft carrying case.

Although you cannot place regular filters on this lens, there is a small gelatin type holder on the rear of the lens for this purpose. The lens comes with the usual neat Sigma soft case.

The next sample photo is a BMX shot again using 2 flashes, one on camera and one to camera left.

Autofocus

Autofocus is provided by Sigma’s HSM which means it is quick and quiet, no problems there. It is worth noting though that because the lens’s DOF is so shallow for most photos the lens will be set to infinity anyway.

Image quality samples

These are crops, please click on the image to see a 100% un-cropped image.

Advice

This lens is so wide that you must be careful not to get tripod legs, or your own legs into the photos. Generally speaking onboard flash will not cover the scene, especially up close! An external Speedlite, a Canon 430ex in my case, fairs much better and will cover fairly well when set to 14mm wide mode.

Summary

• f/2.8 so great for low light photography
• Very sharp once stopped down to f/4.5 and beyond
• Well controlled CA
• Gelatine filter holder
• Cheaper than a 5D/1DS + 15mm (full frame option)

Cons

• Not as sharp as I would like wide open (but still usable)

A club on medium length exposure, a tripod was used. Colours are beautifully reproduced. Note the curvature of the roof due to the fisheye distortion.

Conclusion

This lens is not for everyone, but it’s a lot of fun and when used in moderation can add a unique aspect to your work which other lenses simply cannot achieve. The fisheye look can be overdone, but when used in the right situation some stunning results can be achieved. The lens is very sharp once stopped down down to f/4.5 and I am very impressed with the image quality in general.

In July I went along to a local acting group to take some photos of them in action and also some portraits of the members of the cast. For those interested there are many more pictures here: Performance on 17/8/08, Performance on 19/8/08 and Portraits taken on 17/8/08

For those of you not familiar with The Canterbury Tales they were written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th centuryand are actually pretty funny. Always nice to take photos of something that makes you laugh too! Here Bible bashing is taken in the literal context.

I also took portraits of some of the cast members. For those of you photographically minded out there; I used two shoot-through umbrellas and Canon Speedlites to light them. The rather beautiful wooden background was part of an old barn on the stage site. Always nice to find something like that to work with.

Again there are lots more images which I have split into three galleries for those interested.

Performance on 17/8/08, Performance on 19/8/08 and Portraits taken on 17/8/08

This image was my winning entry in the “People and Portrait” category of the Microsoft Future Pro global competition. The image is of break dancers posing on the side of the Students Union in Cardiff. Two off camera flashes were used to light the dancers, freeze their motion and separate them from the background.

You can download a press release about my winning of the competition here. You can also see more on the Microsoft Pro Photo site.

The following post is a collection of images during my 5 day visit to Seattle.

Looking up at people in the Bellevue Art Museum

Part of the prize was flights and accommodation for the Microsoft Pro Photo Summit in Seattle, Washington USA. Despite having been to Canada numerous times, it was my first stop off in the States. The first night was a party for all the people at the conference, held in Bellevue Art Museum. The party was on the roof terrace and you could look up from below and see people’s feet! There was more crab than I could eat, total bliss.

Playing pool with the other winners of the competition

Drinks at Joe's bar, Bellevue

Entrance to the Westin Hotel, Bellevue

Local strimmer guy

Because of jet lag I was waking up at silly times in the morning, so deceided to walk around and see what I could find. I bumped into this guy doing some strimming. Or least trying to get the thing to work.

A local stacking chairs

Bainbridge seen from the ferry and a telephoto

One of the guys I met at the conference, Harris, recommened to go out on the ferry to Bainbridge island. It was well worth doing and there were some stunning views to be seen.

The City Line again as seeen from the ferry

There’s no better way to see the city scape

Mount Rainier seen from the Bainbridge Ferry

Happened upon a wedding

One of the buskers outside the public market, playing some good blues riffs

Back into Seattle with a fisheye

I managed to get to see a couple of galleries whilst there too, including Benham , Photographic Centre North West and the Seattle Art museum for a talk. I got talking to a bunch of people out there, and I hope some of them see this post.

I was lucky enough to catch a beautiful sunset at the airport, a perfect end to a great trip. The planes framed the sky nicely

I had a really good trip, met some really interesting and inspiring people. Many thanks to Microsoft, in particular for Jeff Green for sorting everything out! Seattle is deffintley a city I would like to go back to and spend a bit more time in.

Next week I will spending a week at The Times in London taking photos, looking forward to that a lot. Again here is a link to the press release about my winning of the event.