Let's go mobile...

In preparation for this year's increased blogging it was time to update the site with abit more functionality. Mobile Phones are a necessity commonality these days, and with a great little widget called 'WPTouch' you can now create a mobile version of your blog site for easier compatability/faster loading times. As of today, logging onto my blog site will automatically re-direct your mobile devices to the specific mobile version which still remains all funcationality of the full site (Comments, Pictures, Search etc) Let me know what you all think...

A blog post isn't right without pictures, so here's some of my recent uploads to FlickR:

The first photograph was taken using my new B+W ND110 77mm Filter. New blog post to follow shortly about this fantastic piece of kit.

Clicking any of the images will take you through to the assosciated FlickR page where you can find information on how where and why they were taken.

New Website Coming Soon

What better way to display a preview of the new website on my weapon of choice, the 27" Apple iMac.

I made the move to Apple a few years back, having purchased a 15" Apple Macbook Pro. Over the years my Sony Vaio literally started flaking on me, and the change to Mac not only brought about better functionality for my photography (in my opinion) but a huge leap in build quality. I've been a convert ever since,  and now own a whole "bushel" of Apple products.

My website is almost ready, as soon as it's launched you'll be able to find it over at www.richardpardon.co.uk.

Strobist: 2x Bowens Gemini GM500R Behind Bare @ 3.6 1x Bowens Gemini GM500R Camera Left w/ Softbox @ 2.5 1x Bowens Gemini GM500R Camera Right w/ Umbrella Bounced @ 3.6 Triggered via Bowens Pulsars

Rounding Off 2010...

First of all i'd like to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It wouldn't be complete without an end of year blog post to round off what's been a fantastic year for myself. This year has seen many opportunities in the photographic industry for me, and has brought about some great prospects for 2011. The blog has been a little bit neglected recently in terms of uploads, but i've been busy behind the scenes with new projects and website launch.

Not only am I super excited about what 2011 has to offer, I'm keen to blog and upload more of my work throughout the year. Hopefully you'll join in with keeping up to date with my work through the various social network sites I use.

Alot of my work is uploaded onto the popular site, FlickR. The ability to display work across an audience of thousands within seconds is a brilliant prospect for any photographer. If you use FlickR please feel free to add me as a contact. Even if you don't have a FlickR account, you can still check out my photostream.

You didn't hear this from me, but i've even come round to thinking Twitter is great. It's proved invaluable this year, and if your bored or fancy getting in touch/keeping up to date, feel free to follow me.

What's a blog post without pictures? Below are a few recent shots taken from my FlickR account. Clicking the individual photographs will take you directly to their page with information about how and why they were shot:

Thanks for reading. Here's to a fantastic and prosperous 2011!

Chequers...

Take one wine glass, half filled with water (ever the optimist! :)). Place the glass on a table a short distance away from a wall. With different coloured paper/card selotaped to the wall, line the glass up so that it intersects down the centre. Refraction and reflection of the water/glass provides these striking images. This particular attempt has a black and white conversion applied.

Not initially happy with the outcome of the concept, it was back to the drawing board. Three pieces of vibrantly coloured card was next on the agenda. It was a shame to have them stand alone, hence why the triptych style photograph was produced.

A cocktail of shots if you will....Cranberry and Lemon, Lemon and Lime or Cranberry and Lime?!

Clicking the photographs will take you to their FlickR page where you can find more information on how they were shot.

Spill The Beans...

These cold and wintery times call for one thing to get yourself ready to face the day...Coffee, and plenty of it! The concept of this image has been in my mind for a couple of days now. Little did I know, that with the help of another very creative mind we were about to make something even better than I had first thought.

Initially I set the shot up on a granite work surface, against a white tiled wall and used a red gel'd speedlight zoomed @ 105mm to create a hot spot on the wall. The coffee cup would be in front, lit by a seperate speedlight and have coffee beans poured into it, spilling everywhere (literally).  The image was sharp, well lit......but it wasn't quite right.

This is where two creative minds are always better than one. It's great to team up with someone who has similar inspiration and drive as yourself to bounce ideas off each other.

The image was too cold, quite literally the opposite of what coffee is. So to warm it up, I wanted a background with a similar tone to the coffee beans. I would then light this with an orange gel'd speedlight to add seperation. With the help of Hannah Couzens we turned her kitchen into a complete and utter mess. I'm sure she'll be finding coffee beans for many weeks to come, and for which i'm sorry! Hannah managed to find this fantastic brown leather box lid, which made for a perfect backdrop.

The above is a setup shot, shown where my strobes were placed. A Canon 580EXII Above Cup and Canon 430EX Zoomed Right of cup with Full CTO Gel. Triggered via Pocketwizards. ISO160 | 200mm | ƒ/7.1 | 1/100th second

The final image is actually a composite of two shots which gave me the beans falling how I wanted. A simple crop to give the desired frame, et voila! Perfect print for a kitchen I think! :)

Stock - How to turn your kitchen into a war zone...

All in 3 easy steps: 1) Taken a inspired photographer who has just spent hours browsing Flickr.

2) Pop to the local supermarket and buy a wealth of supplies to throw into various liquids.

3) Stand in your kitchen without  a care in the world for the amount of mess you've just made up the wall....Marvellous!

One thing I was always taught as a child was not to play with my food, but when it's this much fun you just have to...

It's been done a thousand times before, but this afternoon I thought I would turn the kitchen into a what can only be described as a war zone. I blame FlickR for being such an inspirational source of media. (Good job I don't live at home anymore, else I think my mother might have killed me with the amount mess I generated)

It was almost as much fun taking the pictures, as it was eating the delicious fruit afterwards. For the full gallery, please click here.

Photoshoot - Storm In A Tea Cup Jewellery

Storm In A Tea Cup started out as a hobby for Jennifer, making handmade jewellery in the comfort of her own home. The delicate and intricate jewellery has now taken the market by storm (no pun intended ;)) and as such has been picked up by the reputable "Culture Label" range. Although having plenty of photographs of the jewellery itself, they needed photographs of the items modelled. Upstepped a brave friend of Jen's and we had ourself a shoot on our hands.

If your interested in seeing some of Jennifer's designs please feel free to check out her website Storm In A Tea Cup, or see her items on sale over at Culture Label.

Stock - Spots and Stripes

A cup of steaming hot 'Bokeh' coffee...Bokeh is the way the camera renders out of focus light and is derived from the Chinese word 'Boke' meaning blur. With some fairy lights and abit of careful placing you can produce some funky effects:

This image was shot on a 50mm F1.8 Lens, using available light from a nearby window to act as a keylight on the cup. Simple, yet effective! :)

Stock - Cherry Drop

A house filled with my own artwork, what more could I want? So you take one cherry, one water filled vase, two speedlites and a craving to test out my new ST-E2 remote transmitter and what do you get? A shot good enough to have on a 30" Canvas :D (Click picture to see lighting diagram) :