Port Lympne

Tiger at Port Lympne

Todays weather was the best day by far this week so took the family to Port Lympne, after making our way through the ticket office the first place we visited was the Tiger enclosure. These animals are so majestic, i was totally smitten them.

We watched for a while and then left made our way around the complex and before we left revisited the Tigers, they are by far my favourite , so photographic

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Botany Bay Sunset

Sunset Botany Bay Broadstairs

Been meaning to visit this bay for a while and have not been out with the camera for a while , mainly due to work, so decided to finally pay it a visit.

Botany Bay is a beautiful sandy bay near the Captain Digby pub in Kingsgate. The bay is a quiet bay with some great cliff formations which have been carved out by mother nature over thousands of years. The tide goes out a fair distance exposing a large sandy beach with areas of rock, creating interesting rock pools the kids will love to explore.

This is a great bay for the family or as a photographer, its a ideal location for sunsets and on the right day it will not disappoint.

When taking sunset shots i find it better to under expose by about 1 stop, this will bring out the rich vibrant colours and i think it also helps to have the white balance set to cloudy as this will tend to slightly warm the whole image, providing you are shooting in RAW this can be done in post.
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Suprise Winner

Didn't even realise they were entered into a draw when i added it to the Aputure Flickr group but this entry has won this months competition and i win a set of new triggers, very nice :-)

http://www.aputure.com/blog/2012/06/01/lee-pelling-speedlite-gel/

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Golf Society Shoot

The eventual winner with a winning shot

Well this week i attended a golf society day at a local course. I used to play in this society a few years ago but my interest in photography was out growing my interest and talent in golf so i decided to give up the golf to pursue the photography.

The day started out with the usual bacon rolls and a coffee before the first Tee. I took my position just in front and to the side of the tee area, i was using my Canon 7D with a 70 - 200 mm F/4.0 L usm. This gave me a reasonable focal length to not be in the golfers eye line while teeing off.

The thing to remember when photographing this type of event is to keep a high shutter speed, one to reduce the risk of camera shake and two, to freeze the golfer mid flow, this does mean you may have to increase the ISO to get a working shutter speed and for most of the day i was working at around the 800 iso range.

After getting everyone on the first tee i had to try and negotiate the golf course and catch up with the first group out to get more images. Once i found them i remained on that whole and got the who group coming through then repeated this till the final whole.

Did a few presentation shots and a group shot which as it had just started to rain they were not very keen on moving out of the shelter into the open so the composition is not what i would have hoped for.

This was a good event for me to do got a few good images from and produced over 400 images for the society chairman to use as he sees fit.

The post processing was all done in lightroom 4 and was printed by photobox. I have to say the images photobox produced were very very quick in arriving just over 24 hours later however the images were a bit on the dark side so after some advise from another photographer i am trying a different lab DSCL so i will let you know if the images are any better from them.

A few pictures are being shown on my Flickr page and all photos from the day are on my Lee Pelling Photography Facebook Page. Feel free to have a look and any feedback and comments are always welcome





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Deb - Speedlite 52 - Week 15

Deb - Speedlite 52 - Week 15

This image was originally planned to be a colour image, i talked my wife into putting on some really over the top make up as i had a idea i wanted to try out,strictly photographic you understand!

As she was getting ready i was setting up in the garden. I had recently purchased a lastolite softbox and really hadn't had the chance to use it.

I set up the softbox on a lightstand with my 580 exii speedlite attached and was fired with Aperture Trigmaster Plus radio transmitters i had a second speedlite, my 430 ex ii , in a tree, which was camera right and slightly behind model.

Trying to find a nice pose that looks good and that the model is happy with is a real art and something which i think i need to learn more about.

We both decided on this image which was in colour but after a mono conversion using Niksoft Silver Efex Pro 2, we both really liked how this looked. If you want to see the original it has been posted on my Flickr Photostream.

The Lastolite softbox is a 24x24 or 60x60 box which is extremely well made and i anticipate this lasting a long time. The quality of light i think is fantastic, it uses two diffusion panels and a silver reflective interior, you can also remove one of the panels for a more contrasty image and masks are also available for creative effects. These can also be made with a few D I Y skills. So far i have to say i much prefer this to an umbrella for portraits and something i will be using more in the future i am sure.

The radio triggers are working very well, they are fully manual so no TTL metering with them but i like to set up manually anyway. These are very reasonably priced if you look around on fleabay you can get them for as little as £20 each, from amazon they are around £90 mark

The lens i was using was my Canon 70-200 F/4.0 L USM which is a fantastic lens. Very sharp great lens for portraits ,weddings or sports and would highly recommend it.
Right, must get off as i am doing a golf society shoot tomorrow at a local golf course so got to prepare for that, images will be posted on my website under RTCGS link for anyone interested.

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Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe 60 x 60 cm ( 24'' x 24'') - The Softbox forYour Flash

Well finally had the softbox delivered as the first one was lost on transit from carrier.

I have to say it was worth the wait the box is easy to assemble , like a pop up tent! Just attach bracket to rear and two diffusion panels which velcro in and your good to go. There are also additional masks available that you can attach for creative effects and even a honeycombed grid for even more controlled light.

The bracket is well made and designed allowing the most common used speedlites to attach without problem .

The only thing I wanted was to be able to angle the softbox up or down but for this you need a additional bracket which is available for around £15 or you may have a suitable umbrella adapter you may be able to use if you have a large enough spigot.

Not had a chance to really use it yet just one very quick home shoot but I was very impressed with the build quality and the results it produced.

I would highly recommend this softbox to anyone looking for a good speedlite light mod as this makes a great key light especially for portraits.

Hope to have some more images from it soon so check out my Flickr photo stream for latest images

Black Rapid Sport II

Today my new sling strap arrived and would like to recommend it to you all. If you are looking for a new strap for you camera i highly recommend the Black rapid Sport II sling strap. It feels very comfortable to wear and very secure. It is a little expensive for a strap but i am a great believer in you get what you pay for! This is a quality product well made and will last you years.

The sling strap takes all the weight from around your neck and distributes it more evenly. Great for if you out on location walking around. The camera can be locked in position at your hip when not in use and unlocked so you can slide it up the strap to shooting position.

If your camera has a tripod plate you may need to purchase a extra attachment if you want to keep the plate on as well, i purchased the extra for my manfrotto RC2 style plate. You do have to remove strap from camera to use on tripod but this is very quick and easy with the attachment, means you don't have to keep removing the thread all the time.

Check it out on their website, great strap if you in the market for a good one.

I got mine from Amazon site
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Catbells from Hoarse End

A gentle walk even the grandparents can do ! I think that was a quote I read but you would have to be a pretty fit biddy ! It a fairly steep climb to start before reaching the first flat spot. From here you walk along for a while to you reach a rocky scramble which if, like me, you take the wrong route it turns into a but of a climb up slippery rocks with a nice drop below if you fall. This was a nervous point but one we managed. From here was a short scramble to the summit. After a nice rest and a few photos we walked further along towards high spy although we didn't make it all the way, we came back via a disused mine and along a footpath taking is around catbells towards skelgill. The view from the summit of catbells were breathtaking overlooking Derwent water, keep looking at my Flickr for images to follow in coming days.

Sadly this was our last day and tomorrow we head home leaving behind the lakes I love so much . Thanks to my mate Barry for a good few days hope to do some of the bigger fells next time. Sadly not getting any younger and did find it a bit if a struggle at times .

Aira Force

Today we went for a walk around the aira force area taking in the view of the main fall along the way. In my opinion the river above the main fall is more picturesque and hope to post ages on my return, again home and showered now off for a drink ;-)

Haystacks

Today we made it to the top of Haystacks. On the way we had wind rain sleet hail and yes even snow ! Great walk up visited a couple of tarns on the way and took a few pics . Camera went away in the end due to bad weather hope to post images soon ! Off for a beer now !

Morning from the lakes

Well first morning awake in the lakes and it's been raining all night. Just starting to ease now. Hope to be able to get to Haystacks today where the late great Alfred Wainrights ashes were scattered, may be a wet day but still how to get a few shots !

Deb - Canon 70-200 F/4.0 L USM

Deb - Canon 70-200 F/4.0 L USM


Finally decided on a new lens and as i didn't really have a good medium telephoto lens this is what i went for. I watched review after review and tied myself up in knot's! After ruling out the top of the range F/2.8 with IS mainly due to budget i looked at both the F/4.0 versions. The F/4.0 with IS was about £500 more expensive than the Non IS version. So given my photography will be mainly outdoors and also with speedlites i decided to plump for the cheapest version the Canon 70-200 F/4.0 L USM was £529.95 but at the moment you can claim £45 cash back from canon via a redemption form available online.

This is my first image i have produced with it so i have yet to see if it lives up to its great reviews. I do have to say that this is my first L lens and the quality is very good and the lens is very sharp. I would have to say if you do a lot of indoor photography then the F/4.0 IS version would be better as this gives you about three stops of extra light and the more expensive F/2.8 will only give you the one stop extra, just my opinion.

Problem is i already want to upgrade my other lenses to L series!! Better buy a lottery ticket i think!!





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London Festival Of Photography Tickets Now Available

London Festival Of Photography Tickets Now Available

Great read never been but would like to go this year maybe




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Riveting Read - Speedlite 52 - Week 12

Riveting Read - Speedlite 52 - Week 12

This is a composite image made up of three seperate images, Each image was done with speedlites in different positions which gives each of me a different look. However it was fairly difficult to work out how to merge the three images together given the different lighting and shaddow casts.

Strobist

580 ex ii fired into westcott reflective umbrella
430 ex ii fired bare but zoomed into 70mm into the magazine
Aputure Trigmaster Plus Triggers.



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Bird Bath - Speedlite 52 - Week 11 Using Aputure Trigmaster Plus

Bird Bath - Speedlite 52 - Week 11

Today my Aputure Trigmaster Plus  radio triggers arrived, after i unpacked them i took this shot as a trial of the triggers and for my speedlite 52 project which is now on week 11.

The triggers come with everything you need to get started, the batteries the units and all the cables you are likely to need to connect your speedlites or studio strobes to the triggers and your camera.

As you can see from the image below i was indoors about 20 feet away and both triggers fired without problem.

My only gripe is i am used to changing the flash power output from my 7d menu system, when i connect these triggers it will not allow me into that menu as a result i have to change the power output and zoom manually on the speedlite concerned, this is a bit of a step back but the extra possibilities of radio triggers will make up for it ....i hope.

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