Sussex wedding photographer's blog » general photography http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog Wedding and corporate photography from Lucky Dog Photography Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:40:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Macro shots with Panasonic Lumix LX3 http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/2009/08/macro-shots-with-panasonic-lumix-lx3/ http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/2009/08/macro-shots-with-panasonic-lumix-lx3/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:51:17 +0000 DaveP http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/?p=988 I eventually managed to get hold of a Panasonic Lumix LX3 a few weeks ago, after waiting for two months for new stock to arrive. I’d been looking for a good compact camera for general use, and had also read how some wedding photographers were finding these useful for detail shots of rings etc.
I tried using the Lumix for my last wedding (see the ring shot at the end of the previous post) and was very happy with the results. It’s now replaced the 60mm Nikkor macro in my camera bag, it’s lighter, easier to use and the results are great. There’s enough detail to print a 10 by 8 inch print without any loss of detail, more than enough for my requirements.
I’ve also been taking it around with me almost everywhere I go. I’m hopeless at taking a DSLR out with me when I’m not working, but this is so small I don’t notice I’m carrying it. I particularly like the macro function, you can focus within a few millimeters of your subject; it’s turning me into a bit of a wildlife photographer in my spare time. I found this rather handsome frog at the bottom of my garden this morning and managed to creep up close enough to take some shots. He hung a round for a couple of minutes before hopping off behind the shed. The bee shot took a lot longer, they don’t stay still for very long and the macro focusing isn’t that fast. I have about forty shots of out of focus bees, bees bums and photos with no bees at all, that I won’t bother sharing with you. The butterfly shot was taken on a trip to Dorset last week, in the two hours of the week when it stopped raining. The last one is a hoverfly (I think). Eat your heart out David Attenborough.

Close up photo of frog taken with Lumix LX3
Macro photo of frog taken with Lumix LX3
Macro photo of bee taken with Lumix LX3
Macro photo of butterfly taken with Lumix LX3
Macro photo of hoverfly taken with Lumix LX3


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]]> http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/2009/08/macro-shots-with-panasonic-lumix-lx3/feed/ 0 New prospectus photographs for City College, Brighton. http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/2009/06/new-prospectus-photographs-for-city-college-brighton/ http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/2009/06/new-prospectus-photographs-for-city-college-brighton/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:15:46 +0000 DaveP http://www.luckydogphoto.com/blog/?p=762 I’ve worked on various commissions for City College in Brighton over the last three years, providing photography for poster campaigns and various promotional materials. Last week I spent two days taking photos for the new 2009-10 prospectus.

In previous years I’ve spent quite a bit of my time at the college taking photos of students as they worked. The brief for the prospectus this year was to try for a less literal representation of each subject area. Instead of photographing classes as they happened we set up shots, mainly of individual students, and spent some time on the composition. The idea was to get images that could be used in a magazine style layout, some with enough room for text to be included.

We had allowed about an hour for each subject and tried to get a selection of shots in each area, using different backgrounds and models. We also had to find willing, suitable models from amongst the college students in that time, so the schedule was fairly hectic.

The college is lit with fluorescent lights, which give a horrible greeny yellow look to photographs, so I had to use flash for most of the interior shots. I used a very minimal lighting setup because of the lack of time, just a Speedlight on a stand bounced into an umbrella and triggered with a radio slave. This meant I could get the light source off the camera, move it around the subject, and get a variety of effects. Light from a flash mounted directly on the camera gives harsh shadows, a flat look, red eyes and generally looks quite nasty.

If I’d done this on my own I think I would have been lying in a sweaty heap by the end of it, luckily I was helped by two graphic designers from the college, Steve and Sarah. They came round with me and found locations, students and came up with some good ideas for shots. At the end of the job I had a wide selection of images that I think will fill the prospectus quite nicely.

Student plumber posing for prospectus photos

Young woman smiling at camera in library

Student machanics posing for prospectus photos

Student footballer at Brighton college

Student hairdresser with tattoos at City College Brighton

Brighton art students posing for photos

Woman with books in Brighton college library

Student bricklayer at city College Brighton

Student hairdresser posing for college prospectus

Student artists in Brighton at end of year show

More information on the press and commercial photography page

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