I'm not Tonto, but I work with a Loan Ranger...

Hello Blog and Dear Readers!

Sorry its been so long since my last confession. So much has been happening that keeping up with this blog has been difficult. While its the case that there has been so much to write about, getting the time to write about these very things has been the hard part. Yeah yeah, I know what you are going to say. Excuses Excuses. And I would have to agree.

But, last night was something to definitely write about. Last night Creative Photo Workshops ran yet another Emerging Nymph evening at Black Rock, our usual haunt for this shoot along Melbourne's bayside beaches.

Our models were Kelly Jean, Sarah Hardy and male model, Leigh Crozier, who, of course, was not an Emerging Nymph per se', but he added that 'business man in the water' aspect that has evolved within this shoot. While this event has now been repeated by us several places in Australia and now in LA, it is different each time. The models are different, the conditions are different and the weather can certainly factor in! Unique to last night was the addition of rock three-piece, Zenith ASP, a Melbourne band who came along for some free promo pictures. Hey! Why not? Joey, Evan and Jayden were very pleased with the images they were getting for the sheer act of turning up. For their image, we used Elinchrom lighting each side, and gaffer-taped a FotoBestway strobe complete with FlashWave III receiver to the back of an old Strat copy of mine. It was an interesting effect and it can be seen as the light on Jayden's face in the image below of the band. 

On the CPW team there was me (of course), Glynn, Natasha Humble, Adam Davidson and the inimitable Kerry Sumner. We were there working to ensure that our customers got some great images and to hold lights and set things up. We had about 12 customers, so that's a pretty good ratio of CPW team members to customers. Kerry and Adam were once customers of Creative Photo Workshops, attending workshop after workshop in our earlier days as a business. Their talent and passion for photography is contagious and we are honoured to have their assistance at these events. They are a pleasure to work with.

Zenith ASP

Apart from the addition of a three-piece band, something else is new to the Creative Photo Workshops arsenal of tools -the addition of Elinchrom Ranger Quadras as our location lighting kits. We have long wanted a portable, powerful lighting kit for our workshops and events - and this is it. For events like this and our recent Castlemania event, the Elinchrom Ranger Quadras  have been absolutely perfect for location lighting. They are certainly not cumbersome but they are powerful, easy to set up and easy to use. One of them even took a spill last night and wasn't phased by the fall. The Rangers are ruggedly built and keep working and working and working. Packed neatly into a relatively small case, they can be taken almost anywhere with you. With 400 watt seconds of potential power, there is little they can't achieve for you on location or even in studio.

For us, this is very important - as I am sure you can imagine. Portability is one thing. But when you have a dozen people all working from the same flash head, it needs to recharge quickly and have enough power in its batteries to keep up the pace and last the night. For us, the Ranger Quadras have been perfect and have not given up the ghost. Firing on full power for much of the time, they kept up with the different setups we had established and didn't let us - or our customers - down. If you do your share of location shooting with a requirement for portable flash, the Quadras are a perfect choice. They are not an inexpensive item but the pro or semi pro would have them paid for in no time considering the images they make possible, the power they contain and the logistics of location lighting they simplify. We certainly intend on using them extensively for our events and workshops.

Using Elinchrom Ranger Quadras on location

Case in point. For this shot of Leigh (above) a 40x40cm Elinchrom soft box was attached, as you can see in the behind the scenes photograph. This was enough to soften the output and spread the light more evenly, which, considering the proximity and angle of the light, was a necessity. The softness was great for sculpting and detail and the spread of light meant that lighting Leigh evenly across his cheats and to his arms was possible. To achieve this shot, our assistant and Friend of CPW, Adam Davidson, simply stood in the water next to Leigh, the battery pack hanging around his shoulders and the flash and softbox on a stand held firmly in his hands - as you can see from the behind the scene image here. It  was not difficult to achieve by any means. All it took was some imagination and Elinchrom Ranger Quadras. 

Elinchrom's range of lighting modifiers works on the Ranger Quadras although some need an adaptor to fit. Nevertheless, it means that studio quality lighting can be easily applied on location for fashion, wedding photograph, portraiture, editorial - whatever. We here at Creative Photo Workshops love them and highly recommend them.

Last night's event was hard work - as these things always are for us - but it was a lot of fun. It was windy and we were wet and cold. Sand was getting into everything. I even lost my car keys at one point - something I have a proclivity for. But it was sooooo worthwhile. Running a photography workshops business is not an easy thing, but it is enjoyable and very rewarding. I now know what three decades of shooting everything conceivable was leading to. They were leading me here.

Our Natural Light People Photography Workshops

Just a few images from last Saturday's workshop with Roy and Kelly Jean which once again manifest my love for a long lens with a wide aperture. In this case, I used the Tamron 70-200 f2.8. This wonderful lens is less than half the price of the Nikon or Canon equivalents and yet proves its worth in its ability to really capture a sharp image. I am not a lens snob, using Nikon lenses because I have a Nikon camera. I love Nikon lenses and I have my share of them. But I have others also, most of which are Tamron - and I love them. I will use whatever works, whatever I have on hand, whatever lets me get the picture. In this case, it happened to be my Tamron 70-200.

Old Places, New Eyes...

Model: Roy Gaskin

Model: Kelly Jean

Creative Photo Workshops is a business that deals with the love of photography. In so doing, we believe that the essential principles of photographic technique need to be taught. That is what we do at our workshops. Photographers cannot succeed without a solid understanding of the fundamentals. But we also love to throw an event. Last night was one of those. It was a walk through Melbourne. We were joined by musician/model Roy Gaskin and the lovely Kelly Jean.

I have learned that there are two main reasons photographers put their cameras down for extended periods of time, perhaps even for good. One of them is disappointment. The other can often be the simple lack of inspiration, an apparent lack of things to photograph. The latter is rather difficult to believe, but I know that many who take up photography expect a life of inspiration, adventure and creative satisfaction. As the About Me page in my blog indicates, this has certainly been the case with me. Photography has granted me a life beyond my expectations - and there is much more to come. I also know, however, that my experience is not the norm. Rather, it has been the exception. For many, their surroundings have become too common, too 'everyday' to be inspirational. The people they know, the places they travel past, the architecture that surrounds them - all of these are common and uninteresting. That is until you bring in a pair of fresh eyes. Conversely, you can orchestrate opportunities for yourself that are interesting, individual, creative. All it takes is an idea and a bit of planning. This is where we come in. Its what we do.

Creative Photo Workshops enjoys offering our customers events in which they can bring their cameras and, with our assistance if needed, create wonderful, interesting or dynamic images that grant them the experience they expected from photography. Last night we simply gathered a group of photographers together and walked them through the evening streets of Melbourne. It was a lesson about new eyes on a familiar location. '

I have learned from running workshops interstate and internationally that often we tend to forget the interest that surrounds us daily - even in the suburbs and towns where we may have spent the majority of our lives. When you choose to renew your vision through the camera, new and interesting aspects of your daily life become more interesting and captivating. Learning to create opportunities within familiar contexts is also part of keeping your passion alive. That's why we do what we do. So far, our events have included a pinup shoot with a WWII bomber, an emerging nymph shoot featuring Top Model Sophie Van Den Akker, an abandoned homestead, Trash the Dress and many more.

What about you? Are you considering putting your camera down? Is photography becoming a disappointing exercise, a frustration? Is it less than you thought it would be for you? Then you have a problem. However, that problem is essentially...you. Some of the greatest photographers in history have been those who have captured their surroundings. They have never thought of life around them as uninteresting or lacking in inspirational content. Photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson and Joel Meyerowitz  found themselves capturing moments that pass most of us by each day and in so doing make images that are timeless in their message and composition. If you live in a suburb or even a street, you have a world before your lens to capture. Want some ideas? Try this website. 

Have you considered either of the two options mentioned above? Have you walked around your area with 'new eyes' looking for opportunities to create? Or, have you put some planning into a photo event for yourself and your photofriends? The world around you is filled with potential images. You only need to get interested in it, see it with the purpose of taking photographs and being creative. You will find it a particularly rewarding experience.

One Singular Illumination

 

The interplay of highlight and shadow is one of the most powerful tools a photographer has to play with. This interplay is a fine balance sometimes, but it is often at the heart of some of our most interesting and compelling images. Where many photographers often fail is in keeping this at the forefront of their lighting layout, remembering that both are needed to create the notions of texture and form in a two-dimensional image. In fact, where some photographers get this wrong is in their tendency to overlight. What do I mean by this? Its quite simple. There is often the tendency to believe that one light is too few and the technique too simple for anything dramatic or truly photographic to emerge. It is a fallacious tendency that often ruins the best of creative intentions. Just because a technique is simple it does not mean that it lacks creativity or impact. Keeping it simple is the difference between B.B. King and Yngwie Malmsteen. Both are very talented, but BB only plays four notes to Malmsteen's four hundred. That said, I could listen to BB for hours.

Yesterday found me once again out on a Creative Photo Workshops shoot. This time our model was Kelly Jean, a model with whom I had not worked since my original workshops some time back. Our location was yet another abandoned, ruined old structure somewhere in the middle of nowhere, the whereabouts of which I cannot divulge. Glynn - my partner in crime - and I saw this old armchair in the rubble and moved it smack bang into the middle of a concrete slab on this property. The starkness of the scene and the presence of some rather wonderful clouds gave us an idea to create the images you see here. You will see me blogging quite a bit about shoots such as these now that we have a new magazine in the planning and video tutorials to create for our new website. More on that to come... 

The real light on the day

Most of what I do for myself and teach our customers at photography workshops in terms of off camera flash is all based around using one flash, one single point of illumination. And why not? The entire planet is lit by one main light source by day.  This one light source creates enough shadow and highlight in the world around us that we can with our own eyes tell shape, form and texture. Why not keep this same lighting principle in our photographs - at least as a starting point?
The images you see in this blog post were all created using one small handheld flashgun connected to FlashWave III triggers and receivers. Using simple guide number calculations that we teach at our Creative Flash Photography workshops, we can quickly establish the aperture for our exposure. Its a simple matter then of selecting the corresponding shutter speed to either match the ambient, or underexpose it. I usually opt to underexpose it to further highlight the subject. In this way, you are able to produce dramatic images straight from the camera. As you can see from the behind the scenes photographs taken by Natasha from Black Tulip Photography, the reality looks very different to the end product. Nevertheless, the images from the camera were very different due to the added flash and the choice of exposure for the ambient. Sure, each of these images has clearly seen a few minutes of PhotoShop. But the images out of the camera needed to be what they were in order for these finished products to have emerged. 

It is quite evident in these images that one light was enough to create the desired, ethereal effect. No additional lighting was required. In fact, it wasn't even really considered, which is odd, seeing as we brought six or seven flashguns with us. I always start with one light, adding more only if they are needed. I may modify that light with a Honl grid or some other accessory, but I find that usually I start and finish with one. One light is always my starting point in the studio too. Where many photographers who are learning studio lighting techniques err is in their enthusiasm for turning on every flashhead in the place to see what happens. A word to the wise if you don't mind. Turn on one light and then see where you need another one - if you do. Keeping it simple is usually the key to success in terms of lighting.God did.It works. 

Shooting and Teaching.

This coming year will see some interesting and wonderful developments for Creative Photo Workshops. Our team is dedicated to producing a new e-Magazine, a new tutorial website and an internet TV channel - all with the aim of educating the passionate photographer. We are aligning ourselves with the best businesses and people to make all of this happen. I will keep you posted here with details in the next couple of days. 

With these plans comes the need to keep shooting. In order to remain fresh and inspired, the CPW team (of which I am proudly a part) keeps organising shoots. Last Friday we met in an abandoned factory compound in Kensington and had the joyous experience of once again shooting with the lovely Lauren Busacca. Lauren is a beautiful young dancer, model and makeup artist with whom it is always a pleasure to work. She will be joining us soon for our City Walk event. 

This particular shoot was organised to align itself with the lead article in our upcoming e-Magazine. More on that later too. The lead article will be discussing the use of grids in our off camera flash photography. The tutorial we are creating will be a perfect companion to round out the lead article, revealing the simple benefits of using grids and the techniques behind the creation of dynamic strobist images. Here are just a few images from the day.

She's a Winner

Francine Cain

A few months ago, a lovely young woman by the name of Francine Cain won the Rob Guest Endowment 2010 award. Francine is a lovely young woman whose talents will soon be very evident as she plays Regina in Rock of Ages. I am sure that will prove to be the beginning of a long and wonderful career for her. Among her many prizes as winner of the Rob Guest award was a day having her photographs taken by Shelton Muller, Photographer. Second prize was two days. 

Sorry folks. Its an oldie but a goodie. It was there. I had to use it.

ANZ Trustees, for whom I do my fair share of commercial work, made my photography part of the package she so deservedly won. There are times when doing photography for a bank can be somewhat...mundane. Not that we ever take our work opportunities for granted, but its true. However, I was really looking forward to this creative opportunity, and the chance to be one of the photographers who helps someone along a the outset of their illustrious career. It also means that I might score some tickets to the show. Maybe even a backstage pass!

Well, one can hope...

Anyway...after months of trying to synchronise our schedules, Francine and I were finally able to meet in the city for a shoot. She had been to New York (where she bought that leopard print coat!) and was now back, so we got a few free hours together. We met in the old city square for coffee and then started our shoot in and around Hosier Lane in Melbourne. Photographers in our fair city know this lane well. It is perhaps the most colourful place in the entire city, with building walls filled with artful graffiti that is constantly updated and encouraged. I thought it a perfect match for Francine's colourful personality and her ideas for some 'different' photographs to the ones she already had. 

Francine had already had some very beautiful studio photographs taken and so we thought we would do some location stuff - a little bit 'street' with a few variations on a theme. I kept it simple, using single off camera flash techniques and available light. Francine brought a few different outfits and we had some fun together for a few hours, laughing through each setup and telling passing Chinese tourists that Francine was a famous singer. Clamouring to be photographed with her, they passed their cameras to me and posed for their snaps with a celebrity.

Well, Francine is not quite world famous yet. But as my friend Glynn Lavender says - its not lying. 

Its 'futurespeak'.

I wish you every success Francine. It couldn't happen to a nicer person. 

Simple Light

Model: Sarah Hardy

Of all the photography workshops I have the pleasure to run, our Natural Light People Photography Workshop is my favourite.As much as I love to create light,  I think I prefer working with the light I am given. Perhaps it is for this reason that I in the process of writing an e-Book on the subject. More on that in weeks to come. 

Available light is a challenge for the imagination and the eye. It provides the photographer with the challenge of spontaneous creativity, forcing his or her mind to see light and create from it. Studio lighting has the advantage of being completely created and tweaked. Available light provides the photographer with much fewer options.

It is also beautiful for its single-light simplicity. This portrait of young model, Sarah Hardy, bears that out. One window was all we used to demonstrate the beauty of available light at our workshop on Saturday. That simple light combined with the vision of an 85mm 1.8 Nikkor is enough to create a beautiful portrait. 

For me it is a reminder - a reminder not keep it simple. One light is often enough for beautiful portraits. Actually, often it is simply perfect. 

Making Love in a Church

Sorting through hundreds of discs the other day, I found this image from a shoot I did a few years ago. It was a moment of capture that I remember for two reasons. Yes, I am pleased with the image, but it has even greater meaning to me than that. Its all about making love in a church.

Please. Allow me to explain.

I was excited to have been commissioned by the ABC to photograph a training session for young and upcoming conductors. An Italian maestro had been invited to Australia to run a series of workshops for these young men and women. Their toolbox was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, renowned worldwide as being among the orchestras of choice. I had the privilege of standing right smack bang in the middle of this world famous orchestra and listen to several renditions of a Mozart piece - the name of which eludes me now. Its rather well known and rather beautiful, but I can't remember its name. I like Mozart. He was an interesting dude. His is a very sad story, the ending of which is even sadder. Genius is not always a blessing. 

Anyway, what surprised me was the difference in the response to each conductor by the orchestra. Sometimes the orchestra responded with such an audible glow that I was taken upwards by it. At other times, it was just...played. Between conductors I asked members of the orchestra why they responded differently, even though the notes on the paper were the same. It was all about the manifest passion of the conductor. In the end, the maestro took control, leading the orchestra without a single movement of his hands. By his face alone, he made them play that piece better than any of those whose hands had waved about in fervent endeavour like Robbie the Robot. 

In the image above, I distinctly remember the Italian maestro becoming so frustrated by this young conductor's rather academic approach to the music that it became impossible for him to contain it. Sure, the young man knew the piece, he knew the notes, he knew the timing. But he lacked feeling. In this image the maestro is trying everything to make this young man feel the piece, not just know it. 

"Feel it! Feel it! Pretend you are....making love! You are making love....in a church!" he pleaded with this young conductor. Alas, it made little difference. Even I could hear that all his pleadings were falling on someone who needed more experience...in life. There is no replacement for that.

Without doubt, photographers are conductors also. They conduct orchestras of their own and the instruments are the elements within the frame. It is irrelevant whether they be the elements within a landscape or still life, the bridal party at a wedding or the corporate leader whose portrait needs updating for an annual report. Without passion applied to each, the music will change. Sure, the little black notes will be the same, but the feel will be different. 

I once knew a young man who played the violin. He knew the notes very well, but his instrument sounded like a strangled cat. He knew the notes, not the intention. By all means, learn the little black notes that belong to each image you create, but get in touch with the reason for the image, the message within it, the desired result. Apply your head to its science, but your heart to its creation. If you have to, pretend you are making love in a church. 

California, Here I Come!

There are times you wonder if you have made the right choices in life, realising that there is little you can do about some of them if indeed you even wanted to. Time takes care of them. But there are others that you never regret or feel differently about in any way. For me, one of those decisions was to build my secular and creative life with a camera in hand. And, as a result, another 'once in a lifetime' opportunity has again come my way. I have been invited to travel with my old friend, Ian Rolfe and legendary Australian landscape and commercial photographer, Peter Walton, to run a photo tour through some of California's most incredible locations. This tour will run in May, 2012 and I have to admit - I can't wait.

Now, I am not a landscape photographer as such, but its not because I don't know my way around them. I actually do, and I am very proud of the landscape images I have created over many years of traveling and running photo tours. Our recent Creative Photo Workshops MeaWannaShootaLotta tour in New Zealand in 2010 was just one of those. For me, being primarily a people photographer is a creative choice and a personality based one at that. I am a people person. I enjoy connecting with people even more than I do the earth. That said, I have stood in awe and watched the sun rise and set over some of the most incredible places this beautiful planet has to offer. I have breathed those moments in and realised that I was experiencing something so wonderful it could not be put into words. More than that, I have created some of my most memorable images ever in those moments. So, perhaps my contribution to this tour will be different to the other two gentlemen of note. I imagine I will be adding some 'people elements' into those locations. Then again, I imagine I will also have my own experience in the landscape to offer. Thirty two years with a camera in hand has taught me much about each photographic opportunity. Much of my landscape and travel work is on my website - Shelton Muller, Photographer

Ian Rolfe and I have been friends for over 25 years. We have photographed and traveled together many times and photographed the same places from different perspectives on many occasions. I have known of Peter Walton's work from a time even before I knew Ian. It was some 30 years ago that I came across the work of Peter Walton in an issue of Minolta Mirror, a now defunct annual photographic publication that was a must have in its day. Peter's commercial work was amazing, but his love for the landscape is reflected in his work. I had the honour of being on the same lecture bill with him in Auckland at a photographic convention a few years ago. A nicer fellow would be hard to find and I am looking forward to traveling with him very much.

For information about our Californian Wonder Photo Tour, click the image posted above left.. If you are interested in coming along, contact Ian Rolfe in an email. Click here for that.

As per usual, Creative Photo Workshops has many events planned for 2011, one of which is our photo tour through Egypt, which is also now in the planning. I will keep you posted very soon about the details on that incredible event also! I have been to Egypt twice, and it is a land of intrigue, history and photo opportunity that is simply mesmerizing and unforgettable. 

Shelton Muller

A View to a Shoot

Its a kind of 'Captain Obvious' thing to say when you declare that PhotoShop has changed photography irreversibly. No matter who you are, what kind of photography you do or how long you have been doing it, PhotoShop inevitably alters your shooting style and your end result at some time in your life as a photographer. There are some shoots wherein I intend little if any post processing. Then there are others in which I intend the image to actually be made possible by the utilisation of a PhotoShop process. The images I took on Saturday were definitely in that category. It was just the place I was in that day. I saw everything I shot as the end process, and then shot accordingly.

This is not the norm for me. I love PhotoShop, don't get me wrong. Lightroom too, for that matter. But my process is to create all that is possible in the camera. It always has been, and it is what I continue to teach at the workshops I run. I suppose I did the same thing on Saturday but I have to admit that my head was in a different creative space. After all, there was only so much I could do in camera. The rest had to be a post capture process. The images I saw in my head were simply not possible in the camera alone. But that is still the best place to start. I am not a believer in fixing images in PhotoShop, only enhancing or completing them. Its certainly not a new approach either. The great Ansel Adams is only one of the many photographers I could name who prepared his images at capture for the darkroom process. His metering and negative chemical process were all arranged with one final process in mind - printing. These days, PhotoShop is the darkroom of choice for the overwhelming majority of us. But the images themselves still require the process to be correct at time of capture. Fixing photographs is not what photographers do. We take them and complete them where necessary later. 

Glynn and I found ourselves without a workshop to run on Saturday, so we organised a model, the funny and lovely Maeva, and drove to Victoria's Goldfields region for a shoot. We had already scouted the area and knew that our first port of call was going to be the apparent birthplace of AFL legend, Ron Barassi. This old stone home is now in ruins and is such a wonderful backdrop for some really creative photography. Blessed by clouds and good weather, Glynn and I were able to work through some dynamic images in preparation for a workshop event we have planned for that area in the first weekend in March 2011. Stay tuned for an announcement on our photography workshops website. 

Shelton Muller