Jonathan Gazeley

For some time, I’ve been taking part in Stu’s Tuesday Challenge.

Recently, Stu has had great success with his East Midlands wedding photography business and so doesn’t have time for the Challenge any more.

So I’ve taken over the Challenge and rebranded it the Photo Challenge (so I’m not tied to a Tuesday). I hope the regular contributors on Stu’s blog will continue to take photos for the Challenges. It’s also an ideal opportunity for new photographers to try their hand at some of the challenges and get some feedback.

Why not give it a go?

It was an interesting challenge from Stu this week.

Set up your photo of any subject.
Now stop. Think. Make THREE improvements to your photo.
…and finally take it.

I was somewhat lacking in inspiration, but since I’ve recently become interested in how to light scenes properly, this is a perfect opportunity for some experimenting and improving with an off-camera flash. I had a go with portrait lighting a few weeks ago (also a Tuesday Challenge) so this time I’ll try something a little different.

Attempt 1

I set up this relatively uninteresting scene – a picture of my 35mm SLR on a box, in front of a kitchen cupboard. Sorry, it was the best I could think of. It will probably be quite challenging due to the reflective metal areas on the camera.

Nice camera, but a poor photo. It was lit using only the ambient light in the kitchen, and it’s too dark. Lots of the camera is in shade, and the top metal part is reflecting the light directly into the camera. This is a scene that could definitely benefit from some carefully directed light.

My digital camera was also in full auto mode, and due to the low light, the camera has bumped the ISO right up, causing some graininess.

Attempt 2

I popped up the built-in flash to cast some more light on the scene.

As built-in flashes always are, it was a disaster. The light is too hard, too cold and probably worst of all, the “nose” of my camera is casting a shadow.

On the plus side, there is now plenty of light. It’s just in the wrong place.

Attempt 3

I put a hotshoe flash on top of my camera. This is further away from the camera lens, so it shouldn’t cast a shadow, and the greater distance between the flash and the lens should mean more interesting shadows, and a less “flat” picture.

Well, this is the best so far. But the flash is still too close to the scene, and a large part of the image is overexposed. We need to move the flash somewhere else.

Attempt 4

Now I’ve got the flash on its own tripod, triggered wirelessly. This gives me the freedom to move it around and cast the shadows in any direction. I can also move it nearer or further from the scene. I’ve put a white carrier bag over the flash to diffuse its hard light a little.

The keen-eyed among you might also spot that the SLR is “looking up”. I’ve propped it up with the lid from a bottle of Coke to give it a more “sporty” stance.

Ah! That’s much better. No badly overexposed regions, no hard lighting and no odd shadows. There’s also detail in the shot – you can clearly see the Canon logo now that light isn’t reflecting directly off the camera body.

It’s still a pretty basic shot, but it’s all I’ve got time for this week

Oh, and if you wanted to see how I did it…

Well, maybe I bent the rules of Stu‘s challenge a little this week.

Backgrounds are important to a photograph. Why not find a good background first, then wait for something to happen in front of it.

My background is the boring night-time view from my balcony, but as it’s the 5^th of November, naturally there are fireworks going off all over the place.

I was originally watching a fairly distant bonfire party, and so the camera was aligned on its tripod and quite far zoomed in. Without warning, a much nearer firework shot up from a garden only two down opposite my balcony – and it was all I could do to hit the shutter.

This is the rather abstract result, and I quite like it. I love the detail of the “side sparks” shooting away from the main beam. Click for a bigger version and you can see better

This week’s challenge from Stu was Limitations.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with the most fantastic idea. What would you shoot if time, money and skills were no issue? Then work within your limitations to realise your dream. See what unique surprises occur.

I’ve always fancied taking some proper portraits, so I decided to have a go.

If time, money and skills were no issue, I’d be using a spacious studio with fantastic equipment, a willing model and, err, the experience to pull it all together. As it happens, I’m taking pictures in a tiny flat in Bristol with some tat I got off eBay, and my model would rather be watching Emmerdale. Oh, and only I looked up how to light portraits on the web this morning. But here’s what I came up with.

After a few shots, Hana decided she didn’t like the flashes very much…

… so we decided to change places.

And just to prove that it was rather cramped, here’s how I did it.

• Backdrop: black bedsheet from ASDA
• Left: main flash with shoot-through umbrella
• Right: snooted flash to light the face
• On top of camera: fill light
• Behind the chair: backdrop flash. Probably useless on a black sheet, but I did previously try this with a grey sheet (visible behind the black one).

This week’s Tuesday Challenge from Stu is a good one.

Do you find yourself asking questions as you travel about? What’s down that hole those workmen are looking in? Where is she going dressed like that? How can that little old lady manage to carry such heavy bags?

Your challenge this week is to capture a question you’ve asked yourself. Make it clear from the photograph what the question is. It shouldn’t require any supporting information.

This is my first attempt at this Challenge, and not necessarily the one that I will submit.

That Doesn’t Fit: Make an image where something doesn’t fit. An odd one out from a set of objects. Or a situation containing a visual version of a non sequitur.

Since I took the picture of floor tiles yesterday for Stu’s black themed photo challenge, I’ve been trying to come up with something I like more.

Here are two photos I took this evening that are also candidates for the final submission…

This is my first attempt at a black themed photo for Stu. I’m not sure if I like it or not, so I’ll see if I can come up with something better by Monday.

An unusual Tuesday Challenge from Stu this week…

This fortnight, your mission is to draw a giraffe. And submit it to OneMillionGiraffes. And post it here under the usual rules.