Hayley was with us in the studio a few weeks ago and those pictures can be viewed by clicking here.
We’d arranged then to also do some location photography and use the photos to further Hayley’s own portfolio development.
For our location we used the Linen Green Complex where our studio is located. It offers a great mix of backgrounds and gives an urban feel. This is the location I use for my ‘Introduction to Off-camera Flash Workshop’ days.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t in out favour and it was a mix of direct hard sunlight one minute, and a blackening sky leading to heavy downpours the next!
Here’s a few photos…
The Linen Green is an ideal environment for off-camera flash and offers a huge range of locations, all varied and all within 5 minutes walk of the studio door. I feel very lucky to have this much potential on my doorstep.
The photo above is one location I use regularly. I really like the contemporary architectural two story curtain wall glass. In the past I’ve photographed this anything from a tight headshot crop using a long lens, to a wide angle to sweep in the sky. Reflection can be your best friend and worst enemy here. This modern glass finish is like a mirror and the reflected ‘view’ depends on the camera angle. Keeping people, cars and of course the lighting stands out of the reflection can be a challenge.
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Just around the corner from the glass area is this old sliding door into a warehouse with its pale blue flaking paint. There’s a great big one of these doors on the opposite end of the building but its almost always in any sunlight there is so this one in the shade offers better control for off-camara flash. I thought the pink of Hayley’s dress worked well with the blue of the door. All cool tones.
A photography friend, Ciaran was with us and he’d brought along his Fuji camera which are all the rage at the minute. I distinctly recall Ciaran laughing (at me) when I suggested the lined pattern in Hayley’s dress was good against the vertical lines of the door 🙂
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And then it began to rain, and rain became a downpour! This is a cement wall where nature has had its say over time and toned down its cement look to something more natural. It’s heavily overhung by dense shrubs and trees in a steep bank above, so it meant we could still work away despite the rain. I used two flashes off-camera here. One from the front and another from behind with the intention of simulating sunlight.
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As the rain continued, (see it running down the wall) Ciaran started to explain (bore) Hayley with all the details of his new camera 🙂 Seriously though thanks to Ciaran for coming along and bringing his camera. He did it really to benefit me to see how the Fuji works with off-camera flash. One of these cameras is next on my shopping list.
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This is the exact same lighting setup as above but from a slightly different angle.
I seem to be asked increasingly about lighting and positioning of the lights is a particularly regular one. Almost all of my off-camera flash setups are taken directly from my tried and tested setups in the studio. I just take them outdoors and mix in ambient light. The photo above is an example of this. Anyone who has seen my photography will know the shot on the left is a regular in my studio setups. The photo on the right is the same setup, but with portable flash and natural light outdoors.
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Once the rain had stopped we made our way back across towards the studio, and this ivy and brick wall is the back of the staff car park at Linen Green. The natural light was stepped down and off-camera flash brought in. It makes everything richer and more saturated looking. A natural light shot is perfectly do-able here and in fact is easy as there’s a huge concrete yard in front which reflects a lot of light up, but it creates a much less contrast, almost washed out, milky look.
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Hayley quickly added a stylish coat for another look in the same location.
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This is one side of an old shipping type container which sits to the side of the car park. I’ve no idea why its there or what’s in it (if anything) but its been there as long as I can remember and its an eyesore!
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This is now moving away from the Linen Green which the public will be aware of and into an area of the old disused factory, still just 5 minutes from the studio. The Linen Green retail complex occupies only a small part of what was formerly the old Courtaulds Group Linen Mill. The photo above is natural light only and located within the old pump house part of the factory.
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Natural light again and this is the old doorway into the pump house.
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Moving on through to the next room linked to the pump house, and this building used to house huge metal water tanks. These tanks were fantastic to photograph, but during the recession about 3 years ago the then owner stripped them all out for scrap metal value and sold them off. Its a shame they’re gone. It still leaves a large area with great lighting options. Natural light is very easy in here because of the white walls, and the amount of light coming in from outside through big openings which used to be doorways to allow large machinery in and out. The building is flooded with natural light on all sides, but the most comes from camera left as we look in the photo above. For that reason I added subtle fill flash to enable all the detail to be held in the white wall and Hayley’s white top.
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This is the same area and Hayley is standing on a concrete base which used to support one side of the large water tanks.Same lighting as above.
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And a tighter portrait photo to finish.
