Soft Focus

Hi,
One more thing about my Portrait Workshop at the D.L. Kirkpatrick show in Armagh.

I have been asked about the softening method I used to get the nice skin tones. I have over the years of working with digital tried many different methods but this is the one that I like the best (so far).

It requires you to make an action which then can be run anytime you need it. Now if you don't know how to make an action then I will show you how. Come back to this site soon and I will have a connection on how to do it.


In my continuing quest for knowledge I am always buying books, One of the most inspiring book of images I have recently bought, is one by a Spanish Photographer,
Chema Madoz, I have his site listed over in my favourites on the left. I really recommend this or any of his books, it just might make you think a little bit differently about your photography.


Well that's it for today, back with more info soon. If I can help with anything then please email me, or at least leave a comment. Be nice to know if anybody is actually reading this blog.

Gerry

email gerryATgerrycoe.co.uk Replace the AT with @

Some info re Armagh Workshop

At the Armagh talk I mentioned a book by "George DeWolfe", Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop. See the link on the left for Amazon. This was mentioned a bit late and some people had already left. I have found this to be a very informative book and it gives a very good way to get a workflow organised so as to give your photographs the best quality that you can get. It may not suit every situation but it gives you a good understanding of what you should be aiming for. It is written quite simply and with humour. I certainly recommend it.

I welcome your feedback so please leave a comment or email me .
gerryATgerrycoe.co.uk Replace the AT with @

Did a seminar today

I was asked to do a seminar for D L Kirpatricks , the photographic wholesalers annual show in Armagh, Co. Armagh.

It was very well attended and the reaction to my talk was very good. But I have found that there are an awful lot of people who do not understand the basic idea of how to light a subject. I suppose this is a case of me having spent a long time working with portrait lighting that I had forgotten how steep a learning curve it can be.

I normally would work with 4 lights in the Studio, 2 on the white background, to keep it as white as possible, and 2 on the subject. I have 2 softboxes for the main lights and if I am wanting to capture fast moving children then an overall general lighting will give me that freedom.

Also if I move in close for my special style of "Pencil Portraits" then the same 2 lights close in, almost forming a tent slightly to the front of the subject with a silver reflector underneath at about chest height. This will create a wonderful wrap around light and gives me the desired light for my portraits.

It is also very easy to move to a Low Key" style of lighting by turning out the 2 background lights or using one of them with a snoot or Honeycomb modifier to give a splash of light onto a black background. Then just use one of the main front lights to light the face, and if positioned correctly it can give the classical look of the Rembrandt light, which is one side lit and the light comes round the face to give a triangle of light on the shadow side of the face. A reflector underneath is not used but it can be placed on the shadow side just to give a slight lift to the shadows.

I am soon going to do some very special talks and also arrange week long Photo breaks away in Spain taking photographs and producing prints without traditional negatives and printing without an enlarger. This will probably not be until next year sometime but if anyone is interested email me and I will keep you posted.
Gerry

I welcome your feedback so please leave a comment or email me .
gerryATgerrycoe.co.uk Replace AT with @

New boy, my first attempt

Hi if anyone is out there, this is something totally new to me so I am sure I am going to make lots of mistakes as I go along,

I hope this little blog will maybe turn into a mix of information and interesting stories.
A little bit about me, I have been a photographer for almost 45 years and I'm still learning, I am principally a Portrait photographer doing mostly Families and Children.

I have a Studio in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have concentrated on B&W and up until recently it was all hand printed in the darkroom. Almost 4 years ago I bowed to the inevitable and bought a digital camera, a Nikon D70.

I experimented with that and after many hours working with Photoshop I was convinced that I could turn out work as good as anything I was doing in the darkroom. Nowadays I think I can do more and better.

People ask me if I have missed the darkroom and I can honestly say no, I have absolutely no desire to return to that dark and smelly room. I sit as I am now at my computer looking out onto the street I live in and watching people passing by taking their dogs for a walk on the beach about 100 yards from my front door. I can live without all the chemical smells of Fixer etc and the long hours of washing prints, especially as they are now going to charge for water.

So what do I do now? Well I have 2 printers at present, an Epson 3800 and an Epson 4000 which I am now setting up as a dedicated B&W printer. I used to have Epson 2100 which was a dedicated B&W printer using Jon Cone "Piezetone" inks from the States, it died on me, so I decided to use the 4000 as my B&W printer but this time I am going to use MIS inks. I also like the idea of the bigger B&W print from the 4000.

This is my first post and I will try to add some pictures to make things a bit more interesting.
Thanks for looking
Gerry

I welcome your feedback so please leave a comment or email me - gerryATgerrycoe.co.uk Replace AT with @