| We're having a bit of a blowout here at Saracen House! Book a whole day's studio hire at Saracen House Studio and only pay for half a day - we're giving you half a day FREE! | ||
| Our offer is open to anyone booking a whole day, on any weekday, Monday to Friday during February 2011 and includes the full use of the studio as you'd expect, our full service, refreshments, use of all of the areas and equipment - the only thing we've cut back on is the price! | ||
| But this offer is only available for weekday bookings from 1st to 28th February 2011 and are subject to availability - so make sure you book soon to get the dates you want. | ||
Tell your friends, and see you soon!
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.
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!)
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.
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!
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. |