story behind the still

It was great to be asked by Digital Photographer to talk through the lighting techniques behind some of my still images.
I don’t think of myself as a technical so much as an instinctive photographer. I love watching the play of light and how it shapes, highlights and contrasts things. I think I have more of a feel for photography than a desire to analyse it. When I compose a shot it’s like having a band playing in my head and I arrange the lighting like a man who knows his music but isn’t interested in how the notes are formed.
I’m in awe of the whole gear head thing but I’m more of a ‘get out there and just do it’ guy so see if you can guess how I took this shot and then click on the image to find out for real.

Tim Hetherington 1970 – 2011

Tim Hetherington – gone too soon from this world in a life lived on the front line and shared so sincerely with us all in images and on film.
If we all take the time to look at his work his journey will not have been in vain.

ideas vs equipment – who dares wins

You can own the latest HD DSLR rig. You can have the latest lens and newest gadgets but if you don’t have the eye, the skill or the sheers guts to get out there and shoot then you’ve got nothing…
This incredible ‘point of view’ video, shot with the HD Hero, is a one take continuous film of a downhill bike race in Valparaiso. It’s steep, scary and heart stoppingly watchable!!! Enjoy…..
I just wish we could have seen the guy’s face at the end – pure adrenalin and high emotion it MUST have been.

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Rafa Botello – twilight portraits shot on flash

shooting professional athlete Rafa Botello for my ‘Twilight Portraits’ series of images, I had the shot set up perfectly and was all prepped and ready for that all too short window of twilight that comes and goes in a flash.
Here you see the light and the balance is perfect but I had wanted to make this a moving image and just as Rafa set off his tyre blew out and he had to do a quick change…Fast as he was the light fell faster into the night to make this much of a differnce but while, to me at least, the top shot is more technically well balanced I still prefer the moving one below.