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Waited ages for this picture, and then it’s dusty. Great.

Standing near to Westminster, I was looking at the reflections of the clock tower in passing buses and cabs. I was thinking it would be great if a bus actually stopped and I could get a picture of the reflection of Big Ben. I never knew there were so many wrong kinds of bus. Too dirty. Too adverty. Too non-reflective. Too obscured by a truck/another bus…

I turned my attention to the passing cabs. Iconic? Yes. Good reflections? Yes. Going at breakneck speed around this roundabout? Yes. Impossible to take a photo? Yes. Waited it out, and finally someone decided to get out on the exact corner that I was on. Shame it was a dusty specimen, but I still like the photo. Maybe the dust actually adds something to it. It’s growing on me.

Big Ben is actually the nickname of the bell inside the tower. Apparently the clock tower is the largest four-faced chiming clock tower in the world. Who knew?

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/80 sec at f/5.6
ISO 200
85mm

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A couple of weekends ago, I decided to sign up to a food photography workshop. I took the class soon after I did the grapes/wine bottle and barrel/whisky bottle shots, and knowing now what I’d learned during the class, I would have set up those shots differently. In my book that means the course was useful! I’d highly recommend the course to anyone interested in food photography – 8 hours that you won’t regret!…

The course was run by the ever-enthusiastic Lou Manna, and took us through ‘behind-the-scenes stories’ from some of his shots, before going into a more practical session where we each took turns to set up a food shot and try out different ideas. The class was really great, and although I think the above shot shows that my food styling skills need work (peppers in a shot glass????), I learned a lot from the class.

Another cool thing about the class was meeting the other participants… I think the furthest travelled participant was from Ecuador. Pretty cool. Another person attending was Hannah – at a young age, already very talented and has a book out called ‘My Sweet Vegan’. Not only does she do all the cooking part of the book/website, but also does the photography – a lot of which is fresh, and innovative! Take a look at her website here, and her blog here.

I’ll sign off with a setup shot of the picture above – at last I remembered to do one of these – I keep meaning to try and remember to do a setup shot for the in-the-kitchen shots I’ve done previously… One day… one day….

Main shot info: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/125 sec at f/8.0
ISO 100
63mm

Strobist info: Two strobes at camera left and camera right. Left strobe in softbox, with the light feathered onto the food plate. Mirrors reflecting the light from the right hand strobe into the front and the left of the food plate. White seamless background.

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Last post on the road-trip photos… Grapes in the Equus Run vineyard in Kentucky. Heard about the vineyard from the owner when she was in New Orleans, so thought it was only right to stop in on the way through Kentucky!…

On the right, one of the bottles about to be enjoyed – this one was the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Composite shot:

Grapes:
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/160 sec at f/3.5
ISO 200
50mm

Bottle:
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/3 sec at f/4.5
ISO 400
70mm+EF12 extension tube
Strobist info: Canon 580 EXII Fired into wrap-around reflector on the right hand side of the bottle and plant. Additional reflector board placed on camera left. Flash at 1/128 power.

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A closeup of the Maker’s Mark bottle, and the wooden barrels. It is one of the few American made whiskeys to be spelled in the Scottish form ‘whisky’. Learn something new everyday!…

We showed up right at closing time, so the shot on the left was taken right before they closed the door to the tour area. They did let us roam around the grounds a little before leaving though, and they did switch on all the lights again for us to buy a sample.

The mark itself – ‘S IV’ actually shows that it’s the Samuels family (4th generation) that is currently in charge of the distilling process.

Composite shot:

Barrels:
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/40 sec at f/1.2
ISO 3200
50mm

Bottle:
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/4 sec at f/3.5
ISO 400
68mm+EF12 extension tube
Strobist info: Canon 580 EXII with snoot fired through the bottom of the bottle at 1/128 power.

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Bad joke. Sorry.

Trees whizz by on the way to the Okefenokee swamp, Georgia, USA. At this point in the roadtrip, we’re just over halfway though the trip. For the moment though, blue skies and motion-blur trees.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/40 sec at f/20
ISO 200
70mm

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So we turn up at this town – Metropolis. Hm. Heard that somewhere before?
Daily planet… Kryptonite… Red capes?…

Sure enough, there was a gigantic statue of superman in the town square. Across the way from where we were parked there was a computer store selling superman-themed computer systems. The town in Illinois lays claim to be the ‘home of superman’, however it was down one of the side streets that this wall caught my eye. Almost seems painted.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/800 sec at f/4.0
ISO 100
50mm

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So not exactly the most obvious shot, but I thought it was cool the way that the tiles were peeling up having been exposed to the elements for so many years…

We just got back from a road trip, covering a somewhat staggering and an even-more-so unplanned 5,800 miles of the US. Finally got to see some of the ‘flyover’ states, and now I can appreciate why so many people prefer not to take the 30,000 feet route.

Near the Cool Springs Baptist Church on the Blue Ridge Parkway, USA.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/160 sec at f/5.6
ISO 200
70mm

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Still pursuing my banjo ambitions, it’s now been roped into photo shoots in its spare time….

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/200 sec at f/20
ISO 400
70mm

Strobist Info:
- 580exII directly above the banjo shot through a partially collapsed umbrella (partially collapsed because I had to angle it staight down, and my light stand doesn’t do the beam-arm thing). 1/2 power.
- 580exII behind camera to the right with full CTO gel to warm up the wood on the right of the photo. Shot through a large diffuser. 1/2 power.
- Large white reflector below the camera, which un-clutters the reflection in the hand rest on the banjo (without this you see junk, books, tripod reflection and me-reflection).

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On a recent trip to London, I took the opportunity to do the tourist thing, and get out and get some photos. A couple stood out from the pack below:

The Queen Victoria memorial outside the front of Buckingham Palace in London, England. This figure is one of many allegorical statues – figures which represent ‘ideas’ such as Truth or Charity. In the background is the golden statue of Victory on the top of the main memorial. Another picture below…

Despite the powers of Wikipedia and Google, I can’t find anyone who knows for sure what this particular statue represents. He’s walking next to a lion too, if that helps…

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/1250 sec at f/3.2
ISO 100
85mm
+ Split tone post-processing

A member of the Life Guards on parade in Horse Guards. Part of the Household Cavalry they parade daily in London, England. In the reflection in the back-plate you can see the crowds of visitors standing and watching the parade.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/1600 sec at f/2.8
ISO 200
200mm

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Weeping Angel in the tomb of Chapman H. Hyams in the Metairie cemetery in New Orleans.

The crypt itself was actually locked, so to take photos of the angel within the crypt, I had to lean through the only open slit-window in the side. I took a few other pictures also, courtesy of a napkin wiping the glass on the front doors.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III
1/100 sec at f/4.0
ISO 400
35mm

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