Spotlight – Page 4 – Gavtrain.com

Colour Management video teaser

There are a few questions we get asked about regularly and colour management is one of those topics.

We had great fun in the studio making this video, we knew we wanted an awesome model to showcase some colours and killer moves, Beth Smith always delivers! Teamed with the fabulous make up and hair skills of Sophie Daly and some 60’s inspired bits of clobber it’s colourful and fun (and hopefully educational too).

Here’s a teaser to whet your appetite! The full video is due out on the 22nd of November.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsjdtqTytDg[/youtube]

Secret Portrait Shoot

People often ask Gavin where he gets inspiration or how he stays motivated, a really good question. For my part, I try and come up with ideas and suggestions and this one was something that Gavin really liked the idea of.

I suggested that I could arrange a shoot that he knows nothing about, he will just turn up to shoot. No planning, no research, a real challenge as he is someone who is organised and likes to plan as much as possible beforehand.

I have wanted to arrange a shoot at the beautiful Forest Garden at Shovelstrode. Beautiful woodland, a large pond, amazing yurts and cabins, there’s a lot to love here. Lisa and Charles, the owners, were so accommodating and helpful. We were very fortunate to have amazing weather on the day of the shoot, even though it was October!

Here’s a few behind the scenes photo’s and one of my favourite images from the shoot.

Here’s a teaser, the full video will be out on AdoramaTV Thursday the 8th of November.

Hopefully this will be the first of a series of Secret Portrait Shoots.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wbi79meS5g[/youtube]

Scary Halloween Basement Shoot

When Kerry said she was available for a shoot, even though it was only August, we knew it should be a Halloween shoot. Not sure why but most of the models, make up artists and quite a lot of photographers love this theme!

Despite the scary look, this was such a fun shoot. Also the first time I’ve had to clear up blood drops and splatters from the studio walls and floor, thank goodness all fake!!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/ScVEJfBzOJ4[/youtube]

As you’ll see in the video, the blood used was tried out first. The one used for the closest skin contact, especially on the bandages close to Kerry’s eye, was homemade. I used a mix of runny honey, a little cornflour and some red food colour gel. As it was edible and Kerry likes honey!

Creating props and outfits for shoots

Creativity is an essential part of Gavin’s photography. From deciding on the best angles and make up styling to venues and props we take a pride in creating and sourcing things to individualise our shoots and workshops.

I am always thrilled when someone takes the time to email or tell us how they appreciated the preparation and styling from a workshop, as this is something that happens way before the day and can make the difference between a good shoot and an amazing one.

Here’s just a few items we made our own for the ever popular Aviation Apocalypse workshop!

An old protective mask, before and after. Then in use attached to Kerry’s handmade post apocalypse costume.

Gavin printed this grenade on a 3D printer, it was a rather bright lime green so I gave it a paint treatment. It was added to Roger’s post apocalypse costume that we handmade.

On a recent commissioned rerun of this workshop by Olympus, we made 2 new outfits on a quick turn around. Here’s the clothes for Brian the ‘Feral Hunter’ before and then a test shoot giving them a trial run before the big day after an apocalyptic treatment.

Here’s a new look for Kerry, hoping to make it warmer as we were shooting outdoors in October, but it was actually really hot weather that day. This was made from our old sofa!!

It’s not just the models that get to try the outfits on for size!

The devil’s in the detail.

Make Up, Quick vs Quality

We started working with make up artists several years ago for our portrait shoots. It really opened our eyes to how much make up can change the look of your shots.

Some themes and styled shoots can benefit dramatically from the services of a good make up artist. In this video Gavin takes shots firstly with a quick make up coverage and then repeats the shoot after a more stylised make up look has been applied.

Our model, Beth Smith and make up artist, Sophie Daly help to show the difference achieved. Gavin gives hints and tips on how to get the most from working with a great make up artist.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/kVFcQ5mGgdY[/youtube]

Here’s some of the basic coverage make up shots.

A few of the shots after the more dramatic make up was applied.

Bed Sheets As Backgrounds

When I first started shooting portraits, I made do with some very basic gear. My studio was my garage, my second light was a reflector and my backgrounds were sheets of fabric.

Fortunately I’ve added one or two more lights to my gear over the years and I have my own, permanent small home studio. My backgrounds have evolved a bit too but one of the most challenging parts of being in a studio is the limited choice of backgrounds. So in the video below I revisited my early days by buying three cheap bed sheets for use as backgrounds.

I love dark and moody studio shots, so my three bed sheets (technically they’re duvet covers) were a basic black, stripy black and damask patterned black. Each gave a very different result, as you’ll see in the video below.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pv_LX319uU[/youtube]

So what did I discover? First off, king sized duvet’s are amazing value (I limited myself to £20 max per sheet) and because they open up, adding some timber inside helps them hang well. However the creases were a real pain and took an age to steam out.

If all you want is a basic black background, a bed sheet is cheap and works perfectly. If you want a pattern, look for sheets that are advertised as crease resistant or ironing free but be aware that those terms aren’t really accurate from a photographic point of view.

As a bonus each duvet set comes with two pillow cases. So what should I do with those? Ideas below please.

F-Stop Chart

Flash meters are super helpful for lots of reasons but to really get the most from them you also need to know your f stop aperture numbers. You might already know that you need one more stop of light to move from f/5.6 to f/8 but how good are your intermediate f stops. For example you want to shoot at f/8 but your flash meter tells you f/7.1 or even f5.6.8, how close are you to your target aperture?

Learning the full stop scale is a must for any serious photographer and for me, so is learning the third stops too. Tenth stops is a bit more niche but many flash heads work in tenths. So to help you learn and as a quick reminder for me, I made an f-stop chart

Usage rules
The chart is copyright Gavin Hoey 2018. Use is limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. Do not redistribute the original images without my permission.

Download instructions
1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12H6LrCVIgkA_R0PEKCTfZtlrd8rkh61s/view?usp=sharing

Click the Download button
The download should start automatically
No support is provided with the Friday Freebies. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Vintage Explorer – Plan It, Shoot It, Edit

This is the first of a new series where I take you behind the scenes on one of my shoots. You get to come along for the ride as I plan the shoot, do the shoot and edit the photos.

The theme for the first “Plan It, Shoot It, Edit” is Vintage Explorer.

Plan It
It all starts with an idea, then there’s the preparation and planning. A location has to be found, props need making and finally there’s a test shoot to do. Of course not everything goes to plan, as you’ll see.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri5f29WqWqs[/youtube]

Shoot It
Now for the fun bit… the shoot itself. The weather was cold, so I decided to get some banker shots in my studio before heading out on location. Sometimes you just get lucky and on the way home I stop off to shoot against a spectacular sunset.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dNqKYBZNus[/youtube]

Edit
Here’s where the photos come alive. Adding colour and contrast is all that most of the shots needed but if you want to shoot wide shots and light the model with a softbox, there’s bound to be a bit of Photoshop needed.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2onA5CUF2uk[/youtube]

Behind The Scenes… Coming Soon.

I often get asked how I come up with my ideas or what my creative process is. With that in mind the next video for Adorama TV will be a different format to usual. Encompassing the creative process behind one of my photo shoots.

There’s a lot of planning and organising behind the scenes, all the stuff I don’t show usually. In the next 3 videos you will be part of the journey from initial concept through organising and shooting right to the end processing results and final conclusions.

You’ll see how we work as a team, that things don’t always go as planned. The importance of a plan B (and C) and much more. I hope you’ll join me, warts and all, to get a glimpse from the other side of the camera.

https://www.facebook.com/gavtrain/videos/2173023796040948/

Olympian Photo Shoot

It’s not often you get the chance to photograph an Olympic athlete, but recently I was very fortunate to be asked to take some PR shot of the brilliant freestyle skier James ‘Woodsy’ Woods for Olympus UK.

There was a small window of opportunity, between winter Olympic competing in the slopestyle skiing and world cup practice, when he was in the UK.

It’s not often the weather plays in to your hands but I can honestly say we couldn’t have planned it any better. We were shooting on the amazing rooftop at the ME London Hotel. There had been snow elsewhere in the UK but London was boringly snow free, just cold. But then a few flakes started.

The most intense of weather phenomenon’s hit and suddenly we couldn’t see the London skyline at all for snow. We sheltered ourselves and the gear in the very cool cable car the hotel has and when the worst of the storm passed we continued shooting with the fresh covering of snow adding the perfect level of authenticity to the photo’s of a winter Olympian!