It’s been a long time since I have been to Abbey Road, work doesn’t seem to take me to that part of town these days and the last time I worked at the studios was sometime in the early 90’s. My first job there was in 1979 and I worked there quite a few times in the 80’s.
So there I was last week walking up towards the Abbey Road Studios to photograph a party and I saw these photographers taking pics of the tourists on the crossing. My first thoughts were – good little business idea ( I guess they were selling the photos) but surely dangerous! Then I thought, no, it’s actually far less dangerous than having lots of tourists jumping in front of the traffic with their own cameras. At least these guys understand the traffic and which direction it’s coming from and in the short time I was there they only went out in the road when it was safe. Can’t imagine what it must be like in the summer – manic! This was 4pm on a grey, cold and rainy January day and there was a small queue forming! So I didn’t interrupt them and went on my way to the party, looking forward to working in Studio 1 and Studio 2 again.
‘From Docks to Desktops’ The London Bubble production at The Biscuit Factory
Last night I photographed the London Bubble’s show From Docks to Desktops, an intergenerational show with a cast of 30, aged 12-80 plus.
The show was at The Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey. The old Peak Freans factory, an appropriate location as the show was about the changing face of the docklands and the old industries that used to exist in the area around the biscuit factory. It was about those who lived the area and based on interviews with people who worked in the docks and factories.
Plus, hand made beforehand in a room next to the performance space, free custard cream biscuits after the show!
Last month I was again at Portcullis House for the Breast Cancer Campaign to photograph MPs dressing up in pink to promote wear it pink day. A fundraising day for breast cancer, wear it pink is Friday the 25th October.
A hectic day at times, but the Breast Cancer Campaign team helped select the pink outfits then guided the MPs in my direction so that I could photograph them in their pink gear. A total of 201 MPs were photographed that day, which beat the previous record by a long way. So look out in your local press in the next week or two to see if your MP was one of those supporting the charity, and see just how much pink they wear!
Recently I was asked to do some photography at Danson House. The photography was for a new brochure showing the wedding set ups at both Danson House and Hall Place, both located in the London Borough of Bexley. I took along a Canon 17mm TSE together with a little rig I sometimes use to get very wide shots.
The photograph above is of The Salon, an octagonal shaped room in the house. The image is composed of three separate images which are then just layered together, it’s not stitching as there’s no special software involved.
This is a very tight space. I was literally standing against a wall ( not leaning on it! ) in between a very expensive chair and a probably more expensive cabinet. The tripod legs about a centimetre away from each!
Over the years I have used various cameras to get super wide shots, the Hasselblad SWC of course and 75mm lenses on 5×4 cameras. The digital full frame camera and shift lenses have in recent years made it possible to achieve the same kind of wide angle photographs that I was used to gettting on film.
The main issue is to keep the lens in exactly the same spot (relative to the scene) for all three images, this is done by effectively moving the camera around behind the lens. There are various rigs available to do this, but they can be quite expensive, so a couple of years ago I looked around for an economical alternative. I already had the Manfrotto umbrella attachment for a light stand and an old Metz 45 flash bracket so I just needed something to slide this around. I found the Manfrotto 454 micro positioning plate which was just what I was looking for. Cost for the Manfrotto 454 is around £75. I put these together so that I could mount the camera in a vertical position and then slide the whole thing very precisely sideways. It takes some time to ensure that everything is vertical – a bit fiddly but effective.
The rig with Canon 5D3 and 17mm TSE
The shooting method is as follows;
1/ Set the lens so that it shifts from side to side across the vertical plane, then centre the shift.
2/ Set the Manfrotto slider to a given point which works for you, I usually start with the marker at 20 or 30 on the scale. Ensuring that the camera is positioned so that it is directly above the tripod head.
3/ Take the first shot ( centre image)
4/ Move the slider 10 mm to the left (markings are 1mm) then move the lens shift to the right 10mm. Take second shot.
5/ From this move move the Manfrotto slider back to the centre point and then another 10mm to the right, move the lens shift so that it now goes beyond the centre position and 10mm to the left.
6/ This now means that I have three images each with a slightly different view but with the lens in pretty much exactly the same place in relation to the scene.
All that needs doing now is to align each of the images in Photoshop using layers. It’s feasible to do this in just two shots but I like to use the eraser tool to blur the joins of each image and having three shots gives me more room to play with on some shots. Also it’s safer to do three if you want to push the lens shift to 12mm, although I find it easier and quicker just to go for the 10mm markers most of the time.
The images usually line up exactly if I take time to make sure everything is straight and vertical, so layering them together is simple. The image on the left is slightly off in this shot. I have guessed roughly 10 pixels, but it’s only on the vertical axis and the side to side matches perfectly. I must have nudged the camera slightly on that one, or more likely I forgot to lock the Manfrotto plate on that exposure and this made a slight difference in how the camera was positioned.
You can see from the centre image on the Photoshop screen grab that you end up with a much wider image than just doing the one shot. The shot a the top of the page is cropped square which I think works well, very similar to how it might look on a SWC – possibly even wider. The full uncropped shot is below and works out at almost exactly a 5×4 ratio with a size of 113.5Mb.
It was the day of the Parkinson’s UK ‘Walk in Greenwich Park’ and I was on my way to photograph the event. The air was a little chilly and the sky grey as I walked into the park, but after the recent hot weather I appreciated the change. Maybe I would check the forecast with the Sky weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar who was going to start off the walk.
I tried to keep up with the walkers as I photographed them and not lose them as I dodged around the route. Surprisingly difficult to find them sometimes – despite their bright cyan T shirts. It was good to see the park back to normal after being used as an Olympic venue last year.
The clouds stayed for most of the walk; so it was cool, perfect for the walkers, also for me – nice flat light so I didn’t have to fight the harsh light of a clear blue sky.
So what was Naz’s view on the weather at the start of the day? ‘Good weather for walkers’ was the verdict but warming up later. Spot on – must take more notice of Sky weather forecasts in future!
Now, back to the heatwave?
To find out more information about Parkinson’s go to Parkinson’s UK.
Craig Charles, backstage at The Danson Festival 2013
Summer returned to the UK last week and last Sunday (7th July) I photographed the Danson Festival for Bexley. Very hot, unlike last year when it rained so much that my camera stopped working (Canon 5D mk11), fortunately last year I also had my 1Dmk111 which carried on regardless. Anyway back to this year. I followed and photographed the Mayor of Bexley, Cllr Sharon Massey, around the site for a few hours while we both (and the tour group) slowly wilted in the heat. The Mayor meeting and greeting etc. We finished and I said goodbye to the Mayor and then spent the afternoon doing some general pics around the festival.
The day always ends with bands on the main stage and so there I found myself shooting the local London band Leogun, not the headline band but well worth a look in my opinion.
The heat of the day faded as I stood in the shade at front of the stage. This is where I switched into ‘gig’ mode: a history of shooting hundreds of gigs in the 70’s and 80’s (and a bit of the 90’s) came into play, it’s second nature, it’s like I am 25 again. After a hard day toting gear around in the heat this, for me, is a refreshing way to finish. The day ends with Craig Charles and The Fantasy Funk Band. After Leogun finish I catch a quick pic of Craig backstage before going out front to shoot the rest of the show.
Recently I was photographing an 80’s themed event for a corporate client. The weather, unusually, remained acceptably warm so the event was held on the office rooftop overlooking London. After a while I started to take notice of the background music, and thought to myself: photographed that band, and that one, and them, seen them, met him, etc.
A couple of days later I thought that maybe I should do the occasional retrospective in my blog. So here it is, 30 years ago this week I drove through Wimbledon in the early morning, passing the fans on their way to watch the tennis. I was on my way to shoot the band Talk Talk, one of the iconic bands of the eighties. I met them at their manager’s house and then we drove down to somewhere in the New Forest for the photos. One of the photographs from this shoot was used last year in the unofficial biography ‘The Spirit of Talk Talk’.
Driving there and back through the Wimbledon tennis traffic has forever linked that shoot with Wimbledon fortnight for me.
Coming back from a job in Reading this morning, feeling a bit annoyed as I discovered before I left for the job that a courier had ‘lost’ a new camera I had just bought. Standing, as you do, on the tube , not making eye contact and trying to blend in. Looking around I noticed an ad, and thought – that’s my shot! You might wonder how someone with 40 years in photography is still amazed at seeing their pics in print. Well it’s because a lot of stuff I do I never actually get to see in print. I don’t do much that appears on the street and if it’s in a publication I don’t go out of my way to find a copy – so this was unusual. So forget about blending in, out comes the camera and a few shots quickly rattled off.
The ad was for part of the Prostate Cancer UK’s Father’s Day campaign and features a shot of Ray Winstone taken during filming of the Father’s Day movie.
Neil Stuke on set during the filming of Father’s Day.
This week saw the launch of the film Father’s Day – a short film made for Prostate Cancer UK by Coast. The cast includes Ray Winstone, Charles Dance, John Simm, Neil Stuke, Stuart Laing, Cyril Nri, and Tamzin Outhwaite. The television company ITV has teamed up with Prostate Cancer UK and the film will air on ITV4 at 11.15pm Sunday 16th June as part of ITV’s ‘Stand By Your Man’ campaign.
I was asked by Prostate Cancer UK to shoot some stills on a couple of days of filming back in March and also at the launch preview this week.
It was a great experience to be on set during the filming and meet some of the actors. Although I have worked with actors in theatre for many years it was a different experience watching actors work on a film. They have an ability to repeat scenes for different camera angles and make it virtually exactly the same every time, even when shooting the same scene on different days, it’s fascinating to watch.
I’ve just seen a few snippets so far. The film was on screen at the press reception at The Groucho club but I was working so couldn’t watch it all – from what I saw it looks excellent and so I for one will be watching ITV4 at 11.15pm this Sunday.
Neil Stuke, Tamzin Outhwaite and Cyril Nri tuck into popcorn at the screening of Father’s Day.
steve hickey 