Album Cover Photoshoot

Today I had the opportunity to do a photoshoot for the album cover of my friends’ band, “Checkpoint”. You may have seen me blog about them in the past, I’ve done a lot of work with them, we’ve been close friends for almost 6 years now and they got me into photographing live concerts so I love to give back as much as possible. Their new album is coming out soon, check out their facebook page for further details: http://www.facebook.com/CheckpointPunk
You can check out one of their new songs here: https://soundcloud.com/checkpoint-punk/driven-you-dead

Anyway, I am still very new to portraiture. I don’t have a clue how to pose people or how to compose shots, I always feel very uncomfortable when working one on one with people. I’m a huge fan of candid shots, about 90% of my work is of a documentation style, so this was another learning experience for me.

We all got delayed and gradually met up much later than agreed upon so we didn’t start shooting until 4:30pm, to add to that it was a horrible snowy day and we were down an alley… so I was stuck up around 1600 ISO the whole time, using my Canon 1D Mark IIN.  As per usual with photoshoots, I did a bit of forward planning and started to come up with ideas, unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with much. But I had one idea which I sketched out a little, here’s the page of my idea book:

Well, my idea didn’t work out like I planned. The shooting itself didn’t go how I would have liked, and the photoshop afterwards went horrible. I’ll probably end up going back to it and attempting to photoshop it again but for now I’ll give up with this crappy attempt. My idea was to blank out the eyes and seal the slight opening in the mouth, to make them dummy like.

That shot took a few minutes to set up and get the desired result, I’m really kicking myself about not getting the photoshop part right. With more time and effort my vision could come true, my cloning/tone blending abilities aren’t the best if I’m honest. After that we got on with the rest of the shoot. They had a few ideas which we shot next, mainly focused on their shoes which I found a little boring so worked around with a few angles to get as interesting a result as possible.

After that I wanted to do some individual portraits so set up in front of that door they’re standing in front of above. The reason I’m going with a square crop for these is because the album booklet will be in square format, so for ease of use I’m keeping them all square.

And of course, I had to capture a candid or two in between shots.

The candids aren’t square as there is little chance of them getting used. The above one was more powerful without cropping.
Throughout the whole day I found it very difficult shooting for a square crop. In the editing process I frequently found myself cutting off little bits of the image here and there because I didn’t shoot wide enough or underestimated the parameters of the square crop. We were wrapping things up when it started pouring snow again (it’s late March and it’s been snowing sporadically every day here in Dublin, Ireland). We spent the whole shoot in a little alley, so every location is less than 15 seconds from each other, it was a really cool spot to use, had a lot of interesting textures and a fair bit of character. If you’re ever in Dublin and want to use the location, it’s the back alley to the Olympia Theatre in Dublin City Centre, not too far from the IFI. We were about to head off because of the snow but decided that we can’t turn up the opportunity to have some shots walking down the lane with the snow in the background. We braved the elements and may have gotten a cover photo out of it!

All-in-all it was a pretty enjoyable shoot. The photos came out better than I had expected, but I still long for a particular style/feel to my photographs that I haven’t yet achieved. Maybe with time things will improve as I learn to work with people in a more efficient manner. If it weren’t for the weather I would have brought out my lighting kit and tried out a few things, but I didn’t feel up to it because of the snow. Really wanted to bring my brand new Peli 1510 case (I’ll be reviewing this soon!) but didn’t want to get the bus with it so brought everything in my Think Tank Retrospective 30. Unfortunately, in the end the only two pieces of gear I used were the Canon 1D Mark IIN and the Sigma 24-60mm F/2.8.

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Portrait of a Place, Volume 1

A few of my friends and I went down to a local chipper for lunch the other day when we had a bunch of free classes in school. Afterwards we were walking around the park next to the chipper and came across this really old, deserted playground. A new wooden playground had been build just beside it and this one was now obsolete. It was in bits, graffiti, rubbish, safety hazards… it was a broken down wreck. I felt that the place had quite a bit of character and after talking about it for a minute or two one of my friends convinced me that it would be a great place to do a photoshoot. So I took out my phone and took a few shots to get a feel for what the place was like and add it to my locations archive. However, I liked what I was seeing a took a few more with the intention of making a series which dealt with the character of the place. I’m calling this series “Portrait of a Place” and I plan to do it for a few things, hopefully the next will be done in a more planned manner!

Here are the photos, taken with a HTC One V phone camera and the JPEG (yuck!) shots were edited in Lightroom 4.

 

I post some similar pictures like this on my Instagram which can be found here if you’re interested: http://instagram.com/stuartcomerford

Is the Canon 1D Mark IIN still a good purchase in 2013?

*UPDATE as of May 2013* I own 3 of these bodies and they are all workhorses. They get me through absolutely everything I come up against.

———-

With my photographic needs growing significantly towards the end of 2012  and with the expectation of bigger things to come in 2013 I felt like my equipment was holding me back a big. I love Canon, and I’d love Canon even more if I had about €4,000 to spend on equipment. But like most, I don’t have that kind of money. I had needs that my equipment wasn’t meeting and I had a budget of €500. Things weren’t looking good. I had expected to end up sticking with my current equipment but I looked around and found a great deal on a 1D Mark IIN which I instantly snapped up and haven’t regretted since. In fact, I’m considering buying another.

Why the 1D Mark IIN?

Well, simply put… the Mark II felt too dated and the Mark III was a bit too expensive with a few too many AF worries. I was specifically after a 1-Series body, for the build quality, the dual card slots and the AF system.  As much as I love the 5D Mark II it just wasn’t fit for my needs, it has the benefits of low light performance and image quality but I just needed to get away from the 9 point AF system (well, only the centre point has ever been useful on any of these 9 point systems). The Mark IIN looked like it was the one, it fit all my needs, it fit my budget and it had very few drawbacks. So I went ahead and picked it up.

How does it perform?

I’ve used it on quite a few occasions now and I am extremely impressed with it. It produces fantastic images at all ISO values (actually, I don’t think I’ve had the camera below 800 ISO yet!). I’ve shot fireworks, a concert, rugby matches and some night time street shots since I got the camera. ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 are extremely clean compared to the same settings on the Canon 40D, 60D and 500D. They equal the quality of the Canon 5D Classic and ISO 3200 on the 1D Mark IIN is slightly worse than ISO 3200 on the 5D Mark II. (I’m excluding the 5D Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 1DX etc. because, if you have the money for them then you wouldn’t be reading this post…).

1/60th, F/2.8, ISO 3200

It’s snappy to focus. Better than any Canon DSLR I’ve used before. In lower light situations, the 40D/60D are quicker to start up but the 1D Mark IIN is quicker to find focus and it’s better at finding focus in low light situations. I shot a 4 hour long battle of the bands concert and there were only 3 occasions throughout the whole night that the 1D had trouble finding focus and that was mainly my fault. If you know to look out for the high contrast areas then it’ll be easy to lock focus 99% of the time. The constant changing stage lights didn’t put the camera off once. Music photography is by far one of the hardest jobs a photographer can get, you really need to be able to rely on your equipment to pull through for you.
The 45 point AF in the 1D was phenomenal. Every point, including the non-cross-type points locked on very easily. I stayed in one shot AF for the entire gig as that’s my shooting preference and I didn’t have a single out of focus image from the entire night. The 1D rendered the colours lovely and they were a pleasure to edit. I’ll mention now that all these images were shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom 4, no noise reduction was added to any of them (I went back and checked). The dynamic range of the 1D at 1600 ISO and 3200 ISO surpassed that of the much newer 60D  and the full frame 5D Classic.

1/320th, F/2.8, ISO 1600

1/200th, F/2.8, ISO 1600

1/80th, F/2.8 ISO 3200

Regarding the editing of the RAW files: you can increase the exposure by about a stop but then the image falls to pieces. This is to be expected. Here’s a black and white image which I pushed and pulled to extremes to get just the way I wanted it, I boosted the exposure by about 2 stops and drastically increased the blacks and clarity to get the exact silhouette look I was after:

1/1000th, F/2.8, ISO 3200

However, when kept within its limits the camera’s RAW files hold up very well during the edit process.

1/640th, F/2.8, ISO 1600

1/100th, F/2.8, ISO 3200

So, I mentioned how the AF performed in one shot, how about in AI Servo? Equally as brilliant. I photographed a Leinster Schools Senior Rugby match and I didn’t get a single out of focus shot that wasn’t my fault. I got a total of 3 out of focus shots because I selected the wrong point or focused on the wrong thing (I was still trying to get used to the AF system at this point). At no point did I have to think about the AF, I set it to back button focusing (my preference) and just held it down without letting go. At no point did I have to give the AF any thought. Tracking was exceptionally good and the camera was not easily tricked. Even when the ball passed in front of players faces there was no noticeable hiccup in the AF. I’d imagine if you set the tracking speed faster in the custom functions you might encounter some problems here, but I had it set to standard and it was perfectly fine. I shot during the rugby match with the Canon 300mm F/4L non-IS and the Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L non-IS so AF was spectacular as per usual with those lenses.

1/800th, F/4, ISO 800

1/1000th, F/4,  ISO 800

I left AF point expansion off when shooting with the 300mm. It didn’t feel natural to me, probably because I’m not used to it yet, but the camera handled the action fine without it. I was able to keep up with the players by moving the AF point myself. The dual dial system is a bit tricky to get used to compared to the newer joystick method of selecting AF points but I now prefer it, it’s much easier than the joystick for people like me with big fingers.

1/1000th, F/4, 800 ISO

1/1250th, F/2.8, 800 ISO

1/1250th, F/2.8, 400 ISO

Conclusion

It’s fantastic. I love it, it’s a workhorse of a camera. The files it produces are superb, the 8mp sensor is more than most people will need, it will print as big as you could ever want (unless you’re a studio photographer, in which case I doubt you’d be interested in this camera).  The smaller file sizes are much more friendly towards CF cards though, the buffer clears quicker than with bigger files (like with the 40D or 7D), due to the buffer clearing quicker it’s easier to get longer bursts at the 8.5 FPS the cameras offers. A Lexar 8GB 200x CF card gives me a good 3 second burst of RAW files on full speed before it slows down. An even faster card wouldn’t have this problem, I just have no need for faster cards at the moment.
In terms of IQ, it is far beyond any current APS-C sensor camera offered by Canon. I would rather buy a 1D Mark IIN than a 7D. The IQ of the 1D matches that of the 5D Classic, the 5D Mark II is a bit better, especially at high ISOs. It really benefits from the full frame. I love the 1D Mark IIN and I think it is a very good choice in 2013 if you’re on a budget. Other cameras around it’s price range would be a 650D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 5D Classic – it performs better than each of those models in it’s own way. The AF is far beyond that of the 5D Classic, and the image quality (as well as other features like the AF) is far beyond that of any APS-C offering.

1/10th, F/4, 800 ISO

1/1000th, F/4, 640 ISO

1/1600th, F/2.8, 400 ISO

1/1000th, F/2.2, 800 ISO

Pros
-Fantastic Image Quality
-Rugged build
-Brilliant 45 point AF system
-Dual card slots
-100% Coverage Viewfinder
-Audio Recording
-Smaller file sizes allow for cheaper CF cards (like 200x as opposed to the 600x needed for similar speeds with a 7D)

Cons
-Big and heavy
-Big battery (twice the size of the 1D Mark III/IV battery and about 3/4 times the size of the 5D/7D/xxD batteries)
-2.5 inch LCD screen, not as high quality as current screens (doesn’t bother me, it’s still a brilliant screen)
-Only goes to 3200 ISO

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Morning Landscapes

I don’t know why, but I did. I got up at 6am and went out at 7am to take pictures in the freezing cold whilst it was raining and only 2 days after Christmas. I had an urge to take pictures after watching the phenomenal HBO series about photographers called “Witness” (look it up if you haven’t seen it already. Juarez and Rio are my favourites out of the two).

I finally got to properly try out my new Sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6 lens. These were shot on my 60D but the lens also works on my newly acquired Canon 1D Mark IIN (I’ll be doing a review on this camera soon enough when I get to use it more at an upcoming concert and some rugby matches).

Anyway, enjoy the photos!

 

I love Photoshop!

I spent the past few weeks working with Lensmen Photographic Agency (one of my night photos is actually featured on their front page!). While I was there I learned a lot about file management, shooting, editing, restoration, retouching, scanning, business – you name it!

One of the guys who works there was pushing me to work more in photoshop and try to build my portfolio to include a good bit of photo manipulation. He taught me a lot about photoshop and he broke down many images, showing me just how simple they are. I honestly feel like I can tackle any challenge now!

So here’s my attempt… I just edited a photo I took of the Customs House a few weeks ago. I spent about 3 hours on it and I quite like the end result… I’ll probably go back and put in more detail such as more fire, more panicked people, shattered windows, cracks in the walls etc. But here’s my first attempt, I’d love to hear what you think about it!

 

Dublin City Night Photograhpy

Last night was my first time ever shooting at night. It was an alright experience, as usual everything looked better on the back of the camera than it did when I got home and imported it into Lightroom.

It was a good experience getting to do this, it may not have been as enjoyable as I would have hoped but I’m happy enough with some of my results from the night. One thing that really bugs me is that the top ring of the convention center wasn’t lit… it’s better than how it was before anyway, when I got there the lights weren’t on at all. It took an hour for them to come on which was very strange – usually they’re on from the evening throughout the night!

All the photos were taken with a Canon 60D and a Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens, and a Manfrotto tripod with Manfrotto ball head if you must know. I plan to invest in a wide angle lens soon, but probably when I got full frame… we’ll see.

I’m just going to put in a shameless plug here for my facebook page as I’m trying to reach 200 likes, so… if you don’t mind… I’d appreciate it… http://www.facebook.com/StuartComerfordPhotography

Here are my results from last night:

Roaming the streets of Dublin city

I never thought I liked street photography. It seemed strange, mildly scary and very intrusive.
I was in the city center on Monday, just walking around taking some shots of Dublin landmarks for a project and while going around I started taking pictures of things that just caught my eye. I started out on the Quays, went through Trinity College and ended up spending over an hour on Grafton Street (easily the best street in Dublin). It was fun, it took a while to get over the feeling that I looked like a huge knob but every third person had cameras – it’s peak tourist season.

I didn’t get anything amazing from the day, but here are the ones I like.

 

 

 

tUnE-YaRdS, Micachu & the Shapes and Last Days of 1984 @ Vicar Street

On Friday I was asked if I was free to shoot this gig in Vicar Street. Of course, I do little to nothing with my life so I snapped up the opportunity to shoot in an instant.

It was a decent gig. Last Days of 1984 opened and played a very impressive set, unfortunately the lighting on them wasn’t great and I wasn’t actually there to shoot them (I was just there because I’m always worried about being late so am there when the doors open, without fail) so I didn’t really get many shots of them although I wish I had’ve.

Next up were Micachu & the Shapes… I put my ear plugs in and started shooting. They were completely motionless on stage. But at least they had some good lighting.

And then, the big dogs: tUnE-YaRdS. I was only given 2 songs to shoot (pretty shit, especially since the first song was just her screaming – I can’t believe it counted as a song). The lighting wasn’t the best but I made do with what was available. Once I was kicked out of the pit I stuck around for a little while to enjoy the rest of their set, they put on a pretty good performance.

My kit for the night was: Canon 60D, Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8, Canon 50mm F/1.8 II, Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L.

This gig was shot for State.ie , big thanks to them for the opportunity and head over to http://state.ie/ to check out their stuff!

Here’s the shots: