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British Railways

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British Railways logo on the side of a steam train

I chose my route back from Japan so that I would fly into Manchester Airport. On previous occasions I have flown to Heathrow and then taken a plane, train or coach up to Manchester. The first two are surprisingly expensive and the last one just makes the long trip so much longer. British Railways may once have been the envy of the world, but if I have to pay vast amounts of money for a ticket I expect the train to come at least close to shinkansen  in levels of speed, comfort and reliability.

Kelvin Mesmin Shoot (Part 2)

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A couple more sports inspired shots from Kelvin’s shoot.

Kelvin Mesmin - Swim

Kelvin Mesmin - Bike

Clearly I will need to shoot a final “Run” image to get the trifecta, but pleased with the shots we got. The bike image has contrast increased a little and saturation decreased a little. I would normally process images to match, but it’s nice to show the differences here. Cleaning up the reflections of light stands in the sunglasses took an hour or so of cloning last night. Although not noticeable on web sized files, the clutter free image will look much better when printed.

Bianca, Essa & Suzanne

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Essa & Bianca

Another location shoot, this time with Essa and Bianca on the beach in Uruma City, Okinawa. Bianca is wearing pieces by Suzanne Somersall Jewelry. More images to come, but currently on the road so will upload more when I return to Okinawa.

Horses are somewhat fidgety models, and similar to kids and babies, spend a lot of time pulling faces and sticking out their tongues. In this shot Essa was suddenly tranquil and I could capture the image I wanted. It turns out that horses can either pull funny faces or relieve their bowels, but can’t do both at the same time.

Snorkeling on Okinawa

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Snorkel Reflections

Along with the other images from the shoot I thought I’d try and get a snorkeling stock image. The ocean isn’t normally so flat, but it was great to get such a clear reflection.

If anyone’s interested, I think the best spots on Okinawa for snorkeling are Sunabe Seawall for the vast gardens of soft coral, Cape Maeda for the easy access and the Blue Cave, and Channel Crevices for its shallow tide pool and interesting rock formations.

Just remember that when snorkeling don’t rely on an inflatable ring or an air mattress if you’re not a strong swimmer. There have been numerous cases of mainland Japanese drowning after they are pushed out to sea by the wind, or their floatation device is popped by sharps rocks or coral. Also be careful if you snorkel out past the reef edge and the breaking waves. If the winds change and large waves suddenly appear, you may find yourself unable to get back to shore without going through a gauntlet of churning surf.

Amanda – Beach / Surf Shoot

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Amanda - Beach / Surf Shoot with Suzanne Somersall Jewelry

Here are a few photographs from an early morning beach shoot with Amanda modeling some of Suzanne Somersall’s jewelry. Beautiful morning light, but in minutes it would transform into scorching summer sun. At that point we retreated to the shade.

Amanda - Beach / Surf Shoot with Suzanne Somersall Jewelry

Amanda - Beach / Surf Shoot with Suzanne Somersall Jewelry

Amanda had her longboard in the car, so it seemed like to good an opportunity to capture some images with a surfer vibe.

Amanda - Beach / Surf Shoot with Suzanne Somersall Jewelry

Amanda - Beach / Surf Shoot with Suzanne Somersall Jewelry

You can see more of Suzanne’s Jewelry on her homepage at kirakirajewelry.com

Kelvin Mesmin Shoot

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Kelvin Mesmin

First image from a portfolio shoot with model Kelvin Mesmin. I found that to accentuate form when shooting the body, bring the lights further off center. This creates better play of light and shadow rather than a flat light. (In landscape terms this would be the difference between the soft long shadows of late afternoon light compared to the hard short shadows of midday.)

Pete’s Problem

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Pete's Problem

There’s something different about Pete. A few days back he was bitten by a crazy man. The happy go lucky guy I once knew seems to be developing a dark side.

Problem Pete

Problem Pete

Pete became paranoid, afraid of catching the virus that was causing havoc in the city. He wore his gas mask day and night, but it was too little, too late. The madness had already begun.

Chocolate Shake

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Chocolate Shake

A first attempt at capturing bear mid shake. Thanks to Michael and Pete for assisting and Bear for being repeatedly soaked. It’s a good job labs like water.

Lighting – Beauty Dish as the main light, magnum reflector behind Bear, both powered by Profoto Pro-7a. The beauty dish illuminates Bear, while the strobe behind bear illuminates the droplets. Strobes triggered with PocketWizards.