Blog of photographer Kevin Ahronson

End of year

An interesting December. The snow has upset the plans of a lot of people... and it certainly put paid to a number of my photo opportunities.

Got some terrific images of kids performing on stage this week in a nativity. Sadly I can't really post them on the blog without mum & dad's permission. I am really pleased with the results. Hopefully I should have more luck next week when I photograph a local pantomime.

With more kids to photograph at the beginning of January in a studio shoot I am looking forward to 2011 kicking off.

In the meantime, merry Christmas to you all - a great New Year and here's to a new year of camera-welding, blog-informing, photography.

Snow Ball in Purley

It was a great night last night at Purley Baptist Church where the local Snow Ball was held.  The place was packed with young people from the church and their friends. 

My instructions were "No formal photos" (which is the way I prefer to work) just a free-hand to capture people as they were - in those candid, natural moments.

Using mostly my 85mm f1.2 lens, the best trick I found was to look for good light sources and then wait for people to move into them. The Canon 1D MkIV has an excellent spot meter, which I find really useful for getting faces correctly exposed against backgrounds that can contain both extreme black and intense bright lights at the same time.  With normal metering, those extremes can play havoc with the camer'a ability to work out the correct exposure. (For the photo-heads out there, ISO was 3200)

As usual, here are a few of my favourite images.

NB: there appears to be a bit of a glitch.  The colour images have not been correctly rendered.  However, if you click on them (to enlarge them), the larger copies will display with the correct colour. 

 

[click on photos for larger image]

Lucy's 18th Birthday

I had the priviledge of taking the photos at Lucy Ginger's 18th birthday Party last night.  The theme was James Bond and her parent's house was dressed like a casino, with games of chance (roulette wheel and cards) in every room.  Needless to say they weren't playing for real money, but I understand that there was a prize for whoever won the most 'cash' during the evening.

I had to photograph the guests as they arrived, and then go into stealth mode to capture some candid images for the rest of the evening.  As expected, the lighting was deliberately low and atmospheric, so it was time to put on the fast lenses and crank up the ISO to 3200. 

Here are some of my favourites from the evening

[click on photos for larger image]

 

Busy, busy

Apologies for not posting any blog for a week or so.  Between a bad case of man-flu and the recent snow, I've not had many opportunuties to get out with the camera.

This is about to remedy itself the closer I get to Christmas.  I hope to post  some images soon, there's a lot going on over the next couple of weeks.

Website:
The website is nearly finished and I'm hoping that the guys at Phosys, who are putting it together, will complete their phase of the work this week.  All that will remain then - will be for me to upload images and text.

Flash:
Over Christmas I am hoping to explore the potential of wireless-linked flash units.  I've just ordered a set of Pocketwizard flash transmitters and receivers.  This will open up all kinds of creative opportunities, expecially with wedding and portrait work.  I'm really excited about this.

Camera Club:
The camera Club I run in Purley had it's Christmas meal this evening in a local pub.  Most of us brought our cameras along with us and I took a few shots (as one does).  Using the Canon 5d MkII, I am so impressed with it's low light capabilities.  To be able to take pictures like these without using flash is fantastic.   (These images are straight from the camera with no colour correction or any other changes)

[click on photos for larger image]

 1/30 sec at f1.4   ISO 1600  (50mm lens)

 1/60 sec at f2   ISO 1600  (24mm lens)
  1/30 sec at f1.4  ISO 1600  (50mm lens)