Wow, what has Blogger done to their site since I was last on the scene? It's a work of art now to get up the 'New post' box.
Been so busy doing plumbing and building repairs , yet strangely I've also managed to squeeze in even more photography than ever before with around 4 to 8 photo shoots per week. Most of these have been portrait on location shoots in the woods, by the sea, on hill tops and up to my knees in rivers, plus several portrait sessions in the sea with waves lapping at my pockets. My flashguns and stands have always been with me as my passion for great lighting knows no bounds, even in the surf.

Tonii at WestBay obviously used no flash at all but this is one of the extremely rare moments when I used pure natural light.
Exposing for the brightest part of the sky involves noting the auto exposure settings and then closing down two stops as a starting point. Usually I leave the white balance set to 'Flash' as I prefer the warmer tones. Same too with night photography when I want the tungsten street lights to resemble tugnsten street lights.

Now let's have a look at Tonii in this dis-used wartime building with its gorgeous grafitti. Taken with two flashes, one front and back, with Tonii sandwiched between. I call this sandwich lighting for good reason, preferably with a softbox on the nearest flash while the far light has no modifier and is often wearing a DIY grid.
I quite liked the effect of flare from the rim light and decided to stick with it for the rest of this part of the shoot.

Two softboxes help blend the warm daylight into this image with almost no visible cut off point between the two light sources.
Tonii is so patient and is helpful beyond measure, Although she is never backward in saying if she doesn't like a particular shot, which gets deleted there and then.
So yes, I do show my models / helpers the images as they gradually develope into the finshed product.
The church is run byMichael, a good friend of mine, who says we can borrow it any time he's not using it. Must remember to give him a copy of some of the better images.

 In this shot of Danii leaping over a log in a local forest I wanted to keep the daylight as a blur, plus create a blur behind her. The choices are either go with a stanionary camera on a tripod and catch the blur of white material streaming out behind Danii and freeze her with second curtain flash. Or, I pan with her and get streaky daylight.
After a couple shots of each category an idea sprang to mind - what if I could manage both trains of thought in one shot. By arranging for Danii to be running towards the darker area and panning with her I could turn the camera faster, in the same direction, after the flash had gone off in first curtain sync. I hasten to add that I was using about 1/10 of a second. Also, by the third image, I realise that although I'm turning the camera faster I'm panning it a little too fast. Because the flash is the main illumination here then Danii is less likely to record against the blackness. Her front foot is moving fast enough not to record as a great deal of blur due to the flash, although I did have to go into Photoshop and take out a small amount of blur in that area.

Latest news from Keith Robins

It's been ages since my last blog post here but Keith Robins Photography is still around and busier than ever. For instance, I recently surprised myself and managed ten on-location portait photoshoots in eight days besides working a fifty hour week in my plumbing business.
Now I've turned 67 it should be time to relax and put my feet up. But, as luck would have it, my long term hobby is photographing young ladies so I've brushed the dust off my camera, charged up a few batteries and taken a few on-location photo trips into the countrtside. River shoots seem to feature quite highly in the requests from young feminine beauties closely followed by 'on-the-rocks' at the seaside. If this is what retirement is all about - bring it on!

  I'm not sure how or why but Facebook was kind enough to give me a private page plus a business page, which I don't mind at all as it gives me a couple of options when I upload the results from these exciting photo sessions. Okay, so Facebook resizes all the images for me automatically, which helps make them less desirable to rip-off merchants, plus there is plenty of space for loads and loads of albums. This in turn has attracted quite a few viewers and resulted in new models contacting me ref photoshoots.

    I normally work on a TFCD basis which means I give some of my time and skill, the model gives her time and good looks. The model gets a set of CD images and we both end up improving our portfolios.
    Now, this might sound as if I'm losing out on a load of cash. But actually it's the very opposite - I'm saving myself money! What's happening is that I am now meeting some really attractive models, my persona and techniques have changed for the better. Plus, I consider myself a much better photographer and my skills level has shot through the roof.

   I'm now in a position where I could start charging for my skills because I can physically prove that I'm the photographer who is capable of producing stunning results.  Similar in a way, I suppose, to a brilliant violinist going on the X factor and winning and all his neighbours saying, 'Well I didn't know he could play like that!'
You have to show what you can do, how good you are and only then will Joe Public beat a path to your door. I look on Facebook as being my shop window, plus they even tell friends of friends how good you are - and it's all free!!!!
     I'm gradually putting a two or three results from each of my most recent photography shoots, along with a write-up, on to my Facebook page at:-   www.facebook.com/keithrobinsphotography
I also run a blog based website at:- http://www.keithrobinsphotography.co.uk
    Meanwhile, seeing as I'm now drawing a pension and my customers won't let me retire in peace, what's the point in charging loads of money and then paying income tax on all of it? Or am I sonehow missing the point?