Hi All
A short blog this week, before I embark on a busy period of motor sport photography and some corporate and event photography in Edinburgh. At the weekend I had the privilege of doing some infrared photography in the Pentland Hills, Midlothian. Now as you all know, you need sunshine for good infrared images and it was certainly sunny at the weekend, but almost more important than sunshine is clouds and detail. To demonstrate, the attached image would be extremely boring without the wonderful detail in the sky - by the way I never use composite skies, preferring reality to a sky that is super glued to a photo. Now my daughter Gina is also integral to this photo as she appears in the distance but it is the sky that makes it, whether in colour or black and white, the photo works due to the sky. In fact in landscape photography in general, you need detail in the sky. Everyone was wondering why I was so excited before I left the house, it was because I just sensed the sky was perfect for infrared photography. it is one of the things as a professional landscape photographer in Scotland that I really like about this country, the changing weather, clouds and yes, you guessed it, detail in the sky.
So no moaning about our weather in Scotland please, it is great for photography.
Until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
Hi Everyone
I had a rare day off on saturday and a couple of hours to spare in Dunbar, so I took myself off to the Dunbar RFC v Penicuik rugby game. it was just like old times, as a professional newspaper photographer, I used to photograph a lot of sport and events in and around Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. As always, I have been trying to do something a little different for my own personal projects. Recently I did some infrared photography at a football match. This time I decided to do some contrasty HDR images at the rugby match, including a few black and white images, utilising On One and Silver FX Pro software. It took a little more time post processing, but well worth it, I think. As a professional event and sports photographer
working in and around Edinburgh and Scotland, my philosophy is to keep trying new things - not easy in for professional photographers in Scotland - but still achievable. Let me know what you think. Dunbar won by the way.
Until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
https://www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk/
https://edinburghphotographer.com/
Hi All
As you have probably heard me explain before, infrared photography only works well with sunshine, even better if it is in the midday sun. As you know most of us professional photographers in Edinburgh and around Scotland don't necessarily see much of the sun, although that's a bit of a myth to be honest, its just not that warm really. Well on sunday I had the opportunity to take some infrared photos midday on a bright hot scorching day in Edinburgh. Great you would say, but was it. There was absolutely no cloud, or if there was, it was a tiny wee thing hardly anything you would notice. This can make infrared photos a bit boring, as blue sky with white cloud is the best, for detail in the sky. Its the same with sunset shots in conventional photography, you want some cloud. So what was I going to do. Well you can make sure you find some prominent trees to fill the frame, also don't include much sky in the frame. Colour infrared is also better in cloudless days, than black and white. You can also fill the top half of your image with something to give it some interesting detail ie leaves from a tree in the foreground. Also you can concentrate on a striking foreground, so the sky wont matter that much. So it wasn't a bad photoshoot after all. Let me know what you think of this shot taken at Dynamic Earth with the Scottish Parliament in the background.
Anyway, until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
ww.edinburghphotographer.com
Hi All
Today's blog is looking at the weather and how this can seriously affect the outdoor professional photographer around Scotland especially. I love my job and while working as an corporate event photographer, when I am wandering around Edinburgh and the surrounding area, I tend to spend a lot of time outdoors and here are some of my key tips. They may sound like commonsense, but its amazing the amount of times I have seen people in trouble by neglecting to take these things seriously. So here they are, for what its worth:
1. Check the weather forecast and bring clothing accordingly, then also take clothes suitable for the opposite type of weather. Yes, even in this day and age the forecast can be drastically wrong.
2. Take suntan lotion, even in the winter.
3. Take some towels to dry your gear with.
4. Get yourself the most expensive boots you can afford and they will last you a lifetime - this is the one thing you shouldn't try and save on.
5. Take a hat, sun stroke is not cool, I had it once after a supercar photoshoot.
6. Get some protective waterproof housing for your camera, nothing too complicated mind you, if you are fiddling with it too much, it won't work in the rain.
7. Use your car for cover, where possible - I even managed to do this at a golf tournament once.
Anyway that's all for now.
Until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
Hi Everyone
Just had a good couple of days photographing the Deer Park Masters annual PGA golf tournament in Livingston. I really enjoyed it, although the weather did present us with some challenges, however for the professional sports photographer in Scotland, this can also provide you with some unique photography opportunities, the lone golfer picture attached demonstrates how bad the weather was at some point and play was abandoned not long after this point due to thunder and lightning. However we had play for most of the 2 days and as a freelance event photographer operating in Edinburgh and around Scotland, I can now add golf to the list of sports that I enjoy photographing. Here are the challenging aspects of photographing golf listed below:
1. Although a fantastic sport, it can be difficult to make it look interesting in photos, as the participants are not running or moving fast, so you have to keep thinking how to get creative.
2. It is difficult to get the ball in all shots and you shouldn't worry if you don't for every shot, it's good to include it if you can, so fast speeds when you can and take more shots of pitching and putting when it is easier to capture the ball.
3. As with all sports, positioning is the key, so get in the right place and keep moving if you are permitted.
4. The main thing when you are close to the players is shutter sound, so put it on silent if possible, and if you are close do not click the shutter until the ball has been hit, otherwise you could seriously end up in the bad books of the players.
5. Weather can be an issue for golf photographers, with little shelter available. Trees are good, but not this week when we had some serious thunder storms.
The above just added to the challenge and it is a sport I love to photograph. I even managed some sport infrared photos as part of my infrared photography in Scotland project.
Anyway, until next time
Kind Regards
Colin
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
www.edinburghphotographer.com