We welcome photo events specialists ImagesXposed back to the studio this weekend along with Glam It With Mac for a special models and photographers portfolio shoot day.
From vintage 40s and 50s army outfits to sailors and RAF outfits, this is a unique opportunity for new models to get some fantastic unique images for their portfolios whilst raising awareness of Armed Forces Day and raising funds for a worth cause, Help For Heroes.
There's full details on the Armed Forces Day website and from ImagesXposed.
| There's a great little price comparison website that I have been using for a while now that, in my opinion is far better than the usual price comparison sites like Google Shopping, Pricerunner, Kelkoo as it selects the retailers as being a great range of UK based suppliers and the prices quoted are actually the prices that appear on the website! |
| Whatever you're in the market for, whether it's a DSLR, compact, lenses or accessories, then it's worth heading over to Camera Price Buster to see if you can save a little extra on your next camera purchase. |
|
| Also handy is the excellent price graph, which shows you how much the product has varied in high and low prices over time. |
| Let us know of any other great little photography sites like this one that we can share with our readers, and we'll post the best ones here on the Saracen House Studio Blog.
|
As found on one of the PureStorm forums, here's where First Aid looks far more interesting than you first thought.
Not for the faint hearted (although at least we now know how to restart your heart!) This video comes from the 'educational' website
Super Sexy CPR from Super Sexy CPR on Vimeo.
We're only a few days away from the realease of the latest incarnation of Adobe's Photoshop. This is CS5 and there's a lot of discussion about some of the cool new features that Adobe have been dreaming up in their labs to doctor those photos.
The one everyone's talking about is Content Aware Fill, which is undoubtedly going to change the way and more importantly the speed that photographers can clone and alter their images.
Here's a short clip from Adobe, giving you a sneek peek at what Content Aware Fill is all about....
Another very cool new feature is the Puppet Warp Tool, and this is something that is definitely going to get photographers who shoot people excited! Simply put, we're now going to be able to very naturally and accurately warp an image. Watch this video, and prepare to say wow!
Late last year we got an interesting phone call from a very nice chap called Tim, who runs a local video production company called D'Avekki Studios. He was working on a movie for release this year called Backslasher, which is a budget horror movie set in a late-night TV studio where the bad guy is a maniac who kills people who accept his friend requests on the internet!
Part of the movie is set in a photoshoot, and of course Saracen House Studio was the obvious place to film that part of the movie - and we were pleased to play our part in the story.
The film of Backslasher is almost complete and will be released later this year, but in the mean time, enjoy the production footage so far (and look out for a brief glimpse of our studio around the 26 second mark!)
Finding the right poses for your models, or if you are a model improving your range of poses, is really half the battle when it comes to photography. You can rely on luck and press the shutter release when you see something pass you by, or you can spend a little time before the shoot working out the best poses for your models.
What you're shooting will dictate a lot of the poses you'll be considering, but it's a good idea to start ripping eye-catching poses out of magazines and putting them in a scrapbook, which you can use as a reference when planning your shoot, or bring it along to the studio with you and work through some ideas with your model and show them what you're after, rather than trying to explain!
There's a world of books out there that give you posing ideas, there's even an iPhone App to give you ideas - but doing it yourself is the best way to figure out what works for you!
Meanwhile, here's a cool little video, presented by Swedish fashion model, Jennifer Olsson, who's signed to top New York agency Ford Models,
giving models and photographers a few dos and don'ts of classic fashion poses. Have a look and let us know what you think!
It's all personal taste of course, but many people ask us why we take meter readings for our studio flash. This is especially true now many people use the screens on their DSLRs or histograms to 'meter' their overall shots that way.
That's great if it works for you, but when you want to start working with slightly more complex lighting set-ups, getting the right effect could take a long time and a lot of trial and error til you get it right.
That's when a flash meter comes into its own, allowing you to monitor the settings for each flash individually or combined quickly and easily - maximising the chances of getting the shot you were after first time and maximising your shooting time.
Here's a useful video tutorial on using a flash meter, from an expert in all things lighting, Garry Edwards, who's an advocate of budget lighting company Lencarta.
So now you know why we use a meter. Next time you're visiting us, ask us to take you through the finer points in person - all part of the service!
Thank you to James, one of our regular customers for sharing this with you all:
Love 'em or hate 'em, the high key white background is a fantastic tool, whether you're shooting family portraits, editoral, glamour or commercial... but it's also a great starting point for many to get to grips with in the photo studio.
However, you can often find little grey patches where the background or floor is underexposed slightly. This is simple to correct in Photoshop or your editing package of choice, and this video tutorial sent to us by James shows not only how to acheive this, but also how to take things on to the next level... so even if you're not a fan of the white background, you can really easily create something that really pops out of the screen.
These are the same tricks that we use in the studio and in Photoshop for many of our shots, so we know they work. Try them for yourself and be sure to let us know how you get on or if you'd like us to feature more from this series of video tutorials from Zarias.com an Atlanta based editorial photographer.
We're always looking for useful resources of photographic info and YouTube is an amazing resource for anyone wanting to learn a little more about most photographic subjects, especially performing step by step Photoshop processes. We're going to feature some of the best we come across in our surfing and of course if you discover anything that you think we should share on the Saracen House Studio Blog, then please do drop us a line and we can share it with everyone else.
Today, we're sending you to an excellent resource called ProPhoto Life where Jim shows some excellent tips on studio lighting, problem solving, equipment guides, even how to make a 35mm camera! In this episode however, he's going to give you some info on Colour Calibration and Management; it's a top clip that runs for five minutes and gives you the answers to most of the basic questions you might have.
You know you need to do it....now you can find out why! And you can view ProPhoto Life's other helpful clips here:
ProPhoto Life's YouTube Channel
And stay tuned for more from us soon!
| This is the first blog post on the Saracen House Studio website. We're looking forward to keeping you up to date with the latest developments at the studio, events we're running and making sure you're the first to be updated on new equipment, facilities and services. |
| We'll also be bringing you 'how-to' guides on photographic subjects as well as inviting guest bloggers to share their experiences and thoughts, so feel free to send us your comments and ideas for things you'd like to see us blogging about. |
