The Force Is Strong In This One

For the next few days, the NEC in Birmingham will be full of photography enthusiasts, as it holds the relaunched and rebranded Photography Show.

Today was the first day & so Gail and I popped down to see what was going on and how much money we could try not to spend!

Of course it was packed.  And there was a good buzz in the air. It seemed a lot different to last year's Focus on Imaging. Plenty of brightly lit stands showing their wares. The Olympus stand looked enormous, and it was good to say hello to top tog Damian McGillicuddy, who had just completed a demonstration using one of Olympus's latest cameras.

During the time we were there, I was looking for something unusual to photograph, other than people trying out cameras or looking at the latest kit. So I was quite surprised to see Darth Vader and one of his Stormtroopers there in full menacing stance.

They of course haven't mistaken the West Midlands for Tatooine and were about to destroy it with the Death Star, but were posing, as part of a studio lighting demonstration.

Review Of The Year - May & June

At the end of May, the Milk Race came to town. A full day of cycling around the city centre for both professionals and amateurs. So of course I had to be there to cover the action.

As Gail and I are keen photographers, we went to see the professional photographer Damian McGillicuddy who also uses the Olympus OMD camera. He gave quite an inspiring talk, while he took some photos of a model he had bought with him  We had some new wallpaper put up in one of our rooms, so when we returned home, I was keen to take a photo or two of my own model wife.

Blue Movie

I spent a very enjoyable day with a top professional photographer, two gorgeous ladies and five other students, in an underground bar in the centre of Nottingham.

We were there for the first ever Olympus Experience Days, with host and tutor Damian McGillicuddy. Unfortunately Gail couldn't join me, as she was working and didn't want to use up another day of her holiday allowance; especially as she gets less than me.

We spent the day learning how Damian sets things up for his amazing photographs. From working out the sets, the lighting and how the model, in this case Nic, should pose. For the last two years he has been using an Olympus OMD, rather than his usual Nikon kit, as he likes it's technical ability, quality of lenses and the fact that he can carry it around in a small bag, rather than a suitcase.

We all met at the Red Bar and Lounge, which is situated in the Crowne Plaza hotel. The colour scheme, which the name implies is mainly red and black. Damian set up shots in several different bits of the club, the bar itself for one, but he also liked this big leather seating area, which he wanted to introduce a touch of blue into, so it looked more New York, than Nottingham.

It was a fab day and I learnt lots, which I hope to put in practice, the next time that I go on a model shoot, or practice at home.

If anyone is interested in going on one of these course, Damian will be doing them all over the country over the coming months. The next one is in Birmingham on 21 July.

Gail

We have just got back from having spent a very enjoyable evening over at Rushcliffe Photography Club in Tollerton, where they had a guest speaker in the form of master photographer Damian McGillicuddy.

He was there to talk about his life, his work and how he sets up a shot. He then went on to demonstrate it using Nic the model, a couple of speed lights, a modifier, some voile and a stack of wooden chairs for a background.

It was very interesting to watch how he developed the slightly religious theme, with Nic dressed as a sort of nun, with the stack of chairs, to symbolise a church. Damian went through his thought process, and then tweaked his idea, as new thoughts came into his head. He then chatted some more and answered some photography questions posed by the quite large audience.

When we arrived home, we were quite inspired, and so I shot this pose of Gail, while she stood against some new wallpaper that we've got. And yes, they are photos of Marilyn Monroe. How cool is that!

The Artist And His Muse

Whilst in Whitby, we managed to meet up with top professional photographer Damian McGillicuddy, who was teaching several budding photographers about lighting outside the railway station, and using a local model called Mischkah Scott.

We've met Damian a few times now, the first time was at the NEC. He was there helping to launch the Olympus OMD. We have also been to his studio in Chester, on one of his courses and managed to have a go with the fab camera.

So for my contribution to the City Daily Photo's May Day theme of 'The Artisan', I'm showing you a top photographer in action, who wakes some really stunning images. If you want to see how stunning; here's a LINK to his Facebook page.

To see more artisans in action taken by my fellow bloggers, please follow this LINK to the City Daily Photo page.

Sharp Shooter

This entry was originally meant to have been posted on September the second, but Blogger is acting oddly and so has appeared today instead. After our excitement yesterday in Chester city centre we spent Sunday at well known photographer Damian McGillycuddy's studio. It was a great experience to be talking to a professional photographer, as he took us through the steps in creating an exciting and stylish photo. Setting the scene, sorting out the lighting and posing the model. He uses an Olympus OMD camera, and a rep from the company had come along with some, so that we could have a go with one. It is quite a small camera. A micro four thirds one, that has been based around their film cameras of the 1970s. It took some getting used to, as the layout is a lot different to the Nikons that I am now used to, or even my two Panasonics. The camera has a neat trick of producing a photograph in twelve different styles simultaneously using the built in art filter programme. I took a shot of Lois here, using one of the filters. She was lit by an off camera flash which faced a wall of glass bricks, which has added to the dreamy shot