Photography services, promotional video and educational blog
Welcome to The Grapevine.
Photography, Entertainment and Education?
The Grapevine is the home for all photographic news and photography sevices relating to www.mrbluetone.com and DRB Media.
Read about my latest projects and films, and the thinking behind the images by clicking on the Tags.
Look at some images on our Media Page
Buy bespoke art prints direct from the Print Shop
Visit The Online Gallery to browse recent work and download images.
Photography Workshops: An Easy Guide
Go here to find information on my new photographic workshops, including my fast-track 1-2-1 tuition. Discover how and why I can teach you to ‘think like a photographer’ and create great images based on your ‘intention’.
My unique teaching method includes a guide to understanding the basics of photography by asking yourself some simple questions about what you ‘intend’ the image to look like, before you begin.
BOOK NOW AND DISCOVER THE SIX BASIC THINGS ALL CAMERAS DO?
Understanding this allows you to make simple changes to your camera based on the outcome you are aiming for, rather than trying to remember tons of complicated technical information.
Learn how to implement a simple step-by-step checklist. Unlock the secrets of reviewing images correctly, to help achieve consistent exposures and enhance your skills and knowledge.
Photography Services Background
I have been a professional photographer for over twenty years, providing photography, short promotional films, and educational workshops for schools, businesses, charities and marketing agencies.
I have gained an excellent reputation for delivering clear instruction, in plain English, with a minimum of technical jargon. Sessions are short, with an emphasis on practical, hands-on advice. Coffee, and lots of fun are included free of charge.
My work has been published in magazines, and commissioned by corporate organisations, local businesses and agencies.
Originally based in London and Edinburgh, I work closely with WEX and collaborate with a great group of creative film-makers, musicians, 3D visual artists, motion graphics experts and artisans.
Contact Tony With a Job Brief, Or For A Chat About Workshop Training
Leave me a message via our Contact Form or call for some honest advice.
Tony@mrbluetone.com
+44 (0) 7855 382 565
Anamorphic Lens Test
GH4 and ISCO Anamorphic Lens Test.
DIY Anamorphic fun on a budget.
One of the lessons I have learned over the many years that I have been involved with photography, is that hands-on practice is the best way to improve your skills.
There simply is no substitute for getting out there and trying to figure stuff out for yourself!
This may seem daunting at first, but gradually the unique blend of art and science that is photography, slowly comes into focus. Having mastered the basics of exposure, you can then begin to experiment. A great way to expand your skills is to set yourself small projects which test your knowledge and ability to figure out technical conundrums, and also your level of persistence!
As you may know, I like to imagine the end-product or print before I start to work, which helps me choose camera settings and such-like , and with this in mind, I decided to get involved in a low budget project, using anamorphic lenses to emulate the ‘look’ of one of my favourite films: Blade Runner.
Initially, to keep this post manageable (and readable), I shall list a few aims, issues and solutions which hopefully will be helpful, and illuminating.
Aims
- Emulate the widescreen ‘look’ of Blade Runner and achieve some linear flare
- Keep the budget realistic
Issues Part 1
- Lack of any knowledge regarding Anamorphic lenses
- Purchasing a lens without due diligence
- Sourcing a primary lens (manual focus)
- Attaching the two lenses together
- Keeping things straight
- How to focus two lens
- Close subjects are out of focus
- Frustration, and dealing with failure
Overview Of Kit
Here is an excellent resource by Andrew Reid of EOSHD which helped me get started, and is full of useful anamorphic lens information.
For my work, I tend to use a mixture of Canon DSLR’s and a micro 4/3 Panasonic GH4 which mainly deals with video. I have a few, very inexpensive, and very well made Chinese adapters which allow me to marry old legacy lenses (Canon FD and Russian curiosities) to modern digital bodies, which I absolutely recommend for maximum old-school fun. The cameras suddenly becomes a great, manual focus, street machines, with a vintage ‘look’ from the older glass manufacturing process.
After a little research, I decided on a combination of the GH4 (which has a 4:3 anamorphic video setting) and a Chinese (Fotodiox) adapter married to my Canon A1, 50mm f1.4 FD lens, which I found in a cupboard. It is a really lovely, relatively cheap, sharp lens with good contrast, and was recommended as a good field of view match for my ISCO anamorphic projector lens.
Due Diligence
In order to keep the budget realistic, I purchased a modified, gold projector lens from ebay, allegedly based upon an ISCO Blue Star, and therein began my first series of problems.
To be continued…
Rembrandt Three Point Lighting
Why Study The Old Masters To Improve Your Photography?
Excellent article from Videomaker on Rembrandt Three Point Lighting techniques, and how light can be used to create three dimensional form and a sense of atmosphere.
Workshop Method
Beginners Guide
Students that subscribe to the newsletter will be familiar with my thoughts on how to improve your photography by adopting a more rigorous working methodology.
For those that have not yet subscribed (for news, discount vouchers and links to helpful content), then I shall outline the basic process.
Given that there is a lot of technical information to absorb and remember, I have broken down the creative photography process into a series of easy to follow steps. I teach this to beginners that would like to take more control of their cameras and boost their skills by trying to give them a core knowledge from which they can experiment, using a simple, tried and trusted tick list.
It starts with a basic philosophy.
Light is constant. Cameras try to render pictures that are neither too light or dark.
Cameras are also capable of six useful things.
- They can blur backgrounds, for instance, in a sharp portrait with a soft, out-of-focus backdrop.
- They can do the opposite, and keep everything sharp as in a quality landscape.
- The can speed-up and freeze fast moving subjects such as birds in flight.
- They can slow down, and add motion blur. A good example is soft, misty trails in a waterfall.
- They can focus on anything you choose, and also track moving objects
- They can add light with flash.
A combination of the above will allow you to capture good shots in virtually any situation. In order for us to take advantage of these six conditions, we must avoid the auto-features built into the camera, and start to think for ourselves.
Firstly. It is useful to decide what ‘kind of look’ do you want your picture to have before you start. Do you want a soft background or sharp. Are you trying to freeze water droplets or deliberately make them smoother, for an arty image?
If you can answer this question then you have some ‘intention’. Great masters like Ansel Adams used this to create some of the best images ever made, and often called it ‘pre-visualization’. In layman terms it simply means deciding what you want your picture to look like, and then working towards it, while adjusting the process, and assessing the results.
In other words, implement a working method that you can rely on.
Here is one useful sequence that I encourage students to follow.
How To Stop Using Auto
- Take a shot in ‘auto’ as a test, to see what the camera suggests.
- Decide on the final look of your image and how it may differ from the ‘auto’
- Choose a non-auto mode such as Aperture Priority (A/Av).
- Select an aperture based on the desired look. More wide open hole for blur, (smaller f: number), or more closed hole (higher f: number) for sharper shots.
- Check the shutter speed: the failure to do this is the most common cause of shaky shots. Minimum desired hand held speed is 1/60th sec. for regular shots.
- Increase the ISO to force the camera to ‘go faster’, i.e. increase the shutter speed to freeze action. Or, decrease the ISO to help the camera ‘go slower’ and create some motion blur.
- Take a picture.
- Review the picture on the screen and look at the data to decipher any issues.
- Use Exposure Compensation to lighten or darken the image to suit and take a second shot.
Allowing light into the camera through a hole in the lens (which creates a small electrical signal), and controlling the amplitude (of that signal) with the ISO button, provides us with a shutter speed.
We need more light, and a higher ISO (boosted signal or gain) to generate a faster shutter speed.
For a slower speed, we need less light and a lower ISO.
This is known as The Exposure Triangle, and once you have a good understanding of how these three things interact, then you can shoot any subject, and begin to experiment with different ‘looks’ whilst retaining control of your exposures.
Putting It All Together
Certainly, there are other factors involved in achieving a particular effect such as correct focusing, the amount of zoom and proximity to the subject, and whether to hand-hold or employ a tripod for stability. These are best demonstrated person to person. However, I have found it useful to adopt a basic mantra for students starting out with Aperture Priority that goes:
“Choose an aperture. Check your speed. Change your ISO’
This is the basic formula that can help you improve. For Instance there is no need to learn all the f: numbers, as long as you can remember that the biggest hole in the lens (smallest f: number) lets in most light and creates the most blur, and conversely, the smallest hole (largest f: number) keeps things sharper and the lack of light will cause the camera shutter to slow down. Everything in-between is just a variable on this. Holding an old-fashioned lens up to the light and clicking through the apertures on the dial will demonstrate this, as it shows the aperture hole increasing and decreasing as you click.
Maintaining at least 1/60th sec for general photography is a useful rule of thumb. Speed up the shutter (a higher number 1/250th, 1/500th, 1/1000th) by increasing the ISO to freeze action shots. Turn down the ISO for slower speeds (lower numbers i.e. 1/30th, 1/4, 2 secs, etc) for special effects, and use a tripod or a table to avoid camera shake.
As I said, this is the core knowledge that other techniques rely on, so let me show you how it works on a 1-2-1 workshop. Once you learn this correctly, then you will have a reliable working method that can be used to expand your handbook of techniques, and help you figure out the settings that other people use, just by looking at their pictures!!
Then you can begin working on the important things like mood, atmosphere and storytelling, as in this sombre image of a foggy Forth.
Gift Vouchers 121 Photography Workshops
Buy Gift Vouchers
Have you purchased a new camera for Xmas, and not looking forward to reading the online .pdf manual. Do you know a friend that wants to improve their skills, and would appreciate a unique present for their birthday?
Buy Gift Vouchers for one of my super photographic workshops and quickly learn the secrets to improving your skills.
Instruction starts at 35.00 for an hour, 50.00 for two hours and 95.00 for three. A second person is welcome free of charge to help split the costs.
Gift Vouchers 121 Workshops for 2018
My personalized classes help you get to grips with your camera faster. Take a look at these examples of how I can help you take better pictures.
- Learn with a professional tutor, in plain English. No technical expertise required. Ideal for beginners and those wishing to improve.
- Tips on Setting Up the Camera for beginners, Menus, and which buttons do what?
- How To Use and Choose Focus points for arty images.
- How to blur backgrounds
- Getting the exposures right, and editing in-camera
- Learning to read and understand all those pesky numbers
- Tips on better portraits and moving subjects
- Tripods and filters for Landscapes and Long Exposures
- How to move off ‘Auto’
- Creative editing techniques
- Book a fun Photo-walk to help you practice.
- Book a session to hone a particular technique
- Advice on how to shoot your first wedding
All workshops are bespoke and cater for beginners through to advanced.
Group Discounts
Special discounted group rates are available for schools, recreational clubs, leisure groups and company social events.
Contact Tony for a ‘per head’ quote and to have a chat about your requirements.
Workshop Gallery
