Nick Hawkes' blog

Shiny things

2012-02-13T21:26:00.000+01:00

I was presented with this interesting coffee/tea pot (not sure which) fresh from a second hand market in Copenhagen, shiny things present a particular set of challenges for the everyday photographer especially when using flash mainly due to the highly reflective surfaces, so, I set about shooting it with a number of different setups, all with flash ranging from a single on-camera flash and ending up with 3 off-camera. All were shot with the same exposure 1/250th @ F8 against the same grey card background and all have had the same very basic retouching.

1. Simple on-camera flash, note the harsh,
ugly shadows behind and bright reflection of the flash.

2. Flash still on camera but angled up and bounced off the ceiling,
less shadow and better rendition of the grey background

3. Now the flash is off the camera and positioned on a stand 45 degrees to the right
and above, shadow now falls on the table and the pot has
more definition and less reflections but I still didn't like it.

4. A little more complex, 2 flashes 1 from either side through kitchen paper
to diffuse and one flash from camera right with a blue gel to accent the
grey background a little, also a white card directly above,
nice even reflections and good detail in the pot itself.

Food photography part 1

2012-02-05T21:54:00.000+01:00

I did say at the start of the year that I would strive to produce more photography involving food, well I have recently been researching techniques and theories concerning lighting for food, and I can say the jury is well and truly split between those who advocate natural light and those who extol the virtues of flash, it is also clear that the trend for the moment is to shoot "real" food as opposed to stage managing ingredients that are substitutes for food for example scoops of cream cheese supposed to imitate ice cream and ice cubes made of clear plastic. For sure there are situations where all these tricks have their rightful place but for the regular contributions to satisfy the media's hunger as part of magazines, websites and blogs then the immediacy and raw reality of real food works. Lighting-wise it appears that the norm is to light food from the back and fill the shadows on camera side with reflective materials ranging from mirrors, white card to scrunched up silver paper.
Here are some test shots I made today using some odds and ends from around the kitchen. More to come...

The 2 light portrait

2012-01-31T21:58:00.001+01:00

Eager to practice a technique from a birthday present book, the gang were assembled on Sunday and living-room furniture was moved around appropriately, collapsible background was erected, flashes were charged and positioned, coloured gels added for mood and finally doggy treats added for Maggie who was sporting a new hairdo and who can be a little reluctant in such situations, anyway here are some of the results.

More splashing around

2012-01-22T15:26:00.002+01:00

Technically speaking, this type of shot is not that difficult to achieve. It is principally one high speed flash strobe bounced off of a piece of white card behind a receptacle of water and a plastic bag of water hanging above punctured with a pin to let drops fall directly on to a predetermined spot on the surface on which your camera is pre-focused.
The rest is purely timing and trial and error, you are better off being patient and taking many shots, as eventually you will get something you are pleased with, then some small adjustments in light room and your done!
Here is a small selection from this afternoon, (click on an image to see it larger on black)

Spinning a yarn

2012-01-08T19:22:00.000+01:00

Picked this up this morning on our usual rounds of the 2nd hand markets and just had to buy it, why? well it's just got that "feel" about it.
A bobbin winder, that is it's name and purpose, and this one is well worn, Swedish made it was originally used for winding thread on to bobbins, I looked in to their history and didn't find that much other than there are plenty around mostly selling on Ebay and apparently they are most often used nowadays as ornaments in Swedish peoples summer houses! I think we will put it next to our other Swedish-made-clamp-to-a-table item which you probably recall.

The very end of 2011

2011-12-31T22:15:00.000+01:00

My grandad always liked the parson's nose of a roast chicken, he always used to call it "the last bit over the fence" so this day in December is more or less the same last bit over the fence. At midnight tonight the bongs of Big-Ben in London will herald the arrival of another year which will no doubt bring with it the usual raft of surprises, happy times and good fortune to most of us, it's the time to make resolutions and plans for all the things we will hope to do differently.
In terms of blogging I am going to post more food photography and publish more recipes they seem to be tops in the ratings I see from my viewer statistics, strangely enough the most viewed post since I started this blog is this one I don't know why there is so much interest in a pair of folding spectacles!
Thanks to everyone who has stopped by (I can tell you, you cover a wide area of the globe) and please let me know if there is any other aspect of photography, food or other trivia you would like to see more of.
In closing this year I would like to share a short video that is dedicated to all the other dog owners out there who think your dog is better trained than he really is. Enjoy and happy 2012 to all!

The youtube video

All spruced up

2011-12-18T20:55:00.000+01:00

Today was official Christmas tree decorating day, boxes of carefully stored (thrown in the sauna, sauna? I here you say, yes SAUNA) were dusted off, suitable music was iplayed and spectacles were donned for the purpose of threading cotton, wire and ribbon through tiny eyelets. Lights were tested and worked (Hurrah!) and appropriate food and beverages were consumed throughout the entire process, yes it's but a week away...excited? YES and to top the tree.... well what did you expect?
Here's some of the details:

Crafty update

2011-12-11T17:23:00.000+01:00

...Developing story.. For an update and full match report on the Christmas craft show head on over to the crazyhound blog here

Chocolate for bloggers

2011-12-11T17:13:00.000+01:00

I shot these recently for an invitation to a food bloggers event, the subject was working with chocolate and the lucky bloggers had the opportunity to learn from scratch how to identify good quality chocolate and then how to "temper" it to the correct temperature for use. From thereon it was moulding, spraying, filling, dipping and of course some tasting!
Look at the detailed finish on those chocolates in the last shot, they remind me of petrol or oil cans!

All of these shots were taken using 2 strobes, 1 through a white umbrella just out of frame and the other on a tall stand bounced off the ceiling, the advantage on this occasion of a room with white walls and ceiling is the light bounces off many surfaces filling all the shadows giving a bright, clean look.

Very crafty

2011-11-21T21:10:00.000+01:00

It's very busy this week, Mrs Crazyhound is preparing for a Christmas craft show in Malmo this weekend so there is much to be done, in recent weeks the evenings have seen felted dogs and sock creatures taking centre stage, buttons and pins (ouch!) everywhere.

One of the highlights if you can get there for sure will be the new design of bookmarks with legs, more on that soon... Frank by the way is keeping a bit of a low profile having been used on more than one occasion as a model, he thinks all the fame might go to his head.

Remembrance Sunday

2011-11-13T21:40:00.000+01:00

Always a special day Remembrance Sunday, my dad used to take me to London most years when I was young, I remember getting quite an early train on those Sunday mornings, the train came up from the south coast and there were many people making their way up to London smartly dressed, some with medals, everyone talked to each other on the train I remember that.
When we arrived at Charing Cross Station it was packed, we walked down Whitehall to try and get near to the Cenotaph and there was a real atmosphere, it was somber but very exciting with all the pomp and circumstance, everything seemed so organised, I remember once a very tall guardsman with a long grey coat and busby, he was making sure the huge lines of veterans waiting to march past the memorial were in the right place they all seemed to be watching and listening to him, he was totally in charge. It was nice when the sun shone but some years it was cold and damp, me and my dad, we often didn't get as far down Whitehall as the Cenotaph because of the crowds but it didn't matter, we were there.

(The image is from the first service of Remembrance when the Cenotaph was unveiled in it's current form in November 1920)

A day at the British Museum

2011-11-03T17:33:00.000+01:00

We had the good fortune recently to meet up with friends in London and visit the British Museum to see an exhibition by Grayson Perry it was called The tomb of the unknown craftsman and was, in his words "..a memorial to all the anonymous skilled individuals who've made all the things in the British Museum.."
They had on display many of his hand crafted exhibits juxtaposed against those from elsewhere in the collections of the Museum, one of the highlights was this rather curious motorcycle that included mounted on the back, a Pope-mobile type contraption for his pet teddy-bear.... (click on the image to see it large)

Learn more about the exhibition here

Where in the world?

2011-10-31T12:19:00.000+01:00

On recent travels I snapped, this with my iphone camera; who knows which town/city and in which country is it?
for real bonus points, who can identify the building it was taken from?

Calling all botanists (and Volvo mechanics)

2011-10-02T20:30:00.000+02:00

So who knows what these are? they were growing outside the back door but were blown over and snapped off, very pretty with mauve flowers, you can see one just emerging, anyone? feel free to comment.
The old Volvo by the way who was the star of last weeks blog is now in disgrace as she failed miserably in her yearly exam this morning, the examiner said she made a reasonable effort but let herself down towards the end, mumbled something about front axels and ABS...never mind.

Silver machine

2011-09-26T22:46:00.002+02:00

I decided to photograph our car in the style of a new car launch, I took inspiration from this billboard shot of the new Volvo V70 and thought it would be fun to mimic the style

There were a few things to consider, I needed a warm ambient light inside the car, I needed a moody/dramatic sky and I needed some controlled light on the wheels without lighting up the whole side of the car, things I didn't have handy on Sunday were: a castle or whatever that is in the background, cobble stones and a brand new Volvo.
The shoot itself took 20 minutes and about another 30 minutes in photoshop, see the finished shot and more details after the jump

Woollen slippers at last

2011-09-18T20:13:00.001+02:00

Anyone who has never worn slippers made of wool, you don't know what you're missing and anyone who has stayed in our house knows why we know so much about slippers! these particular ones were knitted (not by me) from a pattern obtained from pawfelts shop on etsy well worth a browse if you are handy with needles (not you accupuncturists) you can see pictures of my current favourite slippers which are from Falke (alas no longer produced) and the finished slippers below.

I also added today the "like" button from Facebook, you see it when you click on the post title, on the down side, Flickr sent me a message telling me that only the latest 200 pictures can be shown from now on unless I upgrade to a "pro" account. I am considering my options....

Update: Good news, I have been informed that the above mentioned favourite slippers are indeed still available from Falke see them here

Logging in

2011-09-12T21:52:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was brilliant, we hired a trailer then went to a farm and collected 3 cubic metres of logs to be prepared for the winter, last year we were newbies and didn't know where to get it and when we found out it was too late so we had to make many journeys to the hardware store and get those iddy-biddy bags of logs made of nylon netting that cuts in to your hands on the way back to the car anyway, we weren't sure what 3 cubic meters would look like but the farm man new exactly what to do, it was 3 scoops of his tractor fork as you can see.
Then we had three hours (trailer hire time) to decant the logs and get them into storage and stacked nicely, it was quite a work-out but all got done just minutes before a cloud break and thunder storm.

Later on when all the logs were safely in the dry it was time to take some pictures of Cath, Maggie and the latest creature we were/still not sure what his name is; we thought something appropriate for the day like "Stumpy" or "Woody" but ended with "Woodyard" anyway here he is, if you have a better suggestion for his name please feel free to comment.

Flappy feet

2011-09-04T21:06:00.001+02:00

I am sure you have seen and read the news article this week about the Emporer Penguin who got lost and ended up in New Zealand and then ate 3 kg of sand thinking it was snow, well he was released safely back into the sea today.
Here is Cath's version and I recommend playing a Michael Jackson track when you look at them. What do you think?

Drama in the sky

2011-08-28T17:48:00.000+02:00

Amazing sky captured this morning on the south coast of Sweden, we took the dogs to one of the only dog beachs that's open year-round, it's close to the nudie beach (apparently) so we kept Frank on the lead for obvious reasons. photo was taken on the phone camera.

Mint and mincer

2011-08-21T20:43:00.000+02:00

I remember going to a small garden at a place called Sissinghurst in Kent with my Mum some years back, it was called Idencroft herb garden a real typical English garden and what I remember about it most was all the varieties of Mint they had growing there, I think there were literally dozens of different ones, Spearmint, Peppermint, Applemint, Lemon, Cinnamon and so many others and I remember rubbing the leaves between my fingers and sniffing, after a while there were so many scents on your hand you couldn't smell the difference any more (bit like in the duty free shop at the airport!)
We visited somewhere a bit similar this morning and although they had less types of Mint it reminded me of Kent... we bought one plant called Eau de cologne (a Mint) and we'll plant it in a pot.

And with a rather tenuous link, what about our new mincer... (sorry) it's real solid, heavy, made in Sweden by Husqvarna and I think rather iconic, it has an enamel lining which I found unusual anyway bought it at a second-hand shop yesterday and we will probably make some mince for sausages or burgers soon.

Time for a burger

2011-08-14T19:28:00.002+02:00

At the end of another rainy week I thought I'd share some shots I made this week of some burgers .
Ahh, but no ordinary burgers are these, think Macaroons, Strawberries, Mango, candied Lemon grass, Mint and Chocolate ganache; granted not your typical list of ingredients for building a burger, but think again!

Macaroon = burger bun
Strawberries = sliced tomatoes
Mango = cheese
Lemon grass = onions
Mint = lettuce
Chocolate ganache = burger

And there you go, bite-size sweet burgers!

A great creative slant on an old favourite by the accomplished pastry chef Tor Stubbe

A new chair

2011-08-08T22:53:00.001+02:00

We had seen this chair previously on our rounds of the local antiquey second-hand stores and finally decided to buy it, it's just one of those nice things, got a solid feel to it, nice wood, nice colour and someone has taken the time to re-upholster it with a tidy piece of needle-point (is that what it's called?)
So I set about photographing it and suddenly, everyone wanted in (except Margaret who was listening to a radio 4 listen again program in the front room)

Holiday snaps

2011-07-26T22:41:00.000+02:00

I have never been a big fan of mobile phone cameras until I got to use the iPhone but now I can honestly say the results can be quite amazing and with a little tweaking with some of the great apps available really fun!

I especially like the way you can just take a shot and then it's back in your pocket with no lens cap to put on and no buttons, knobs to twiddle etc. ok, quality for big prints and manual controls and some bells and whistles are not there yet but here's a few from our recent trip down south.

A classic mighty Oak

Tobacco plants (never seen those before)

An under-ground church carved out of rock (what..??)

Cows doing cow stuff (looking)

Frank and sunflowers

And of course Frank reversing a tractor

More soon.....

Fresh custard with mint

2011-06-14T22:48:00.001+02:00

So... you need the following:

5 Egg yolks
50 gr Castor sugar
250 ml Milk
250 ml Cream
A good sized sprig of fresh mint (washed)

Put the milk and cream in a pan add the mint leaves no (stalks) and bring gently to the boil. Remove from the heat and remove the mint leaves (keep them)
In a bowl whisk the yolks and sugar until pale in colour and forms ribbons when you hold the whisk up.
Pour half the milk/cream on to the yolks/sugar and mix gently with the whisk then pour back in to the pan, be sure to scrape out the bowl.
Place pan back on a low heat and stir with a wooden spoon, as it heats, the custard will thicken but do not let it boil (unless you want minty scrambled egg) as soon as it has thickened remove pan and pour the custard through a strainer and throw the mint leaves back in.
Leave to cool and keep in the fridge until really cold and serve with your strawberries for a taste of summer!

The recipe above is a basic "Creme Anglais" and can be used in many ways, try:

Adding a split vanilla pod instead of mint or..
Slice some orange, sprinkle heavily with icing sugar and roast in a really hot oven until starting to caramelise and throw them in your hot custard and leave them in there or..
Add some instant coffee granules or..
Add some finely chopped 70% chocolate or..
Be very modern and use things like bay or rosemary (That's nice with poached fruit)

If you want you can leave out the cream from the recipe and just double the milk.

Strawberry time

2011-06-13T21:00:00.000+02:00

It's peak season for strawberries right now and time to fish out your dusty icecream maker from the recesses of your kitchen cupboard that seemed like a good idea to buy at the time, everyone seems to say that strawberries don't taste like they used to but I think they taste yummy! the best way to eat them is straight from the field when they are still a little warm from the sun and yes cream is the best thing to eat them with however; another really nice accompaniment is fresh custard with mint served really cold (I will post a recipe for that shortly)
Here are some images of desserts with a strawberry theme taken with an iphone I use a fantastic app to process them in the phone called camera+ it can add all sorts of fancy frames and adjustments.

The French Laundry

2011-06-05T16:17:00.000+02:00

I happened across this post on a blog called Lick my spoon which incidently won "best food blog" on the bloggers choice awards, it's about the legendary restaurant in California called the French Laundry (which I hope to go to one day) French Laundry website

Evening light

2011-06-05T15:54:00.004+02:00

When it's dusk and the light is falling it's time to get a flashgun and light things up, you get a kind of ethereal light and a great contrast between areas that are lit and those that aren't, I put a Honl grid on a Nikon SB800 to further restrict the beam throw and concentrate the light on the subject.
Or as John Loengard photographer of Life magazine said: "if you want something to look interesting, don't light all of it" wise words indeed.

Training program started

2011-05-30T22:52:00.000+02:00

Well Margaret we said, it's about time you started showing a bit of enthusiasm young lady and learn some new moves she said well Frank gets away with total lethargy why should I. I recorded the first session for prosperity whilst the dog whisperer got down to business.

Creating a splash

2011-05-01T19:59:00.001+02:00

I really like the high speed/short flash duration of the Nikon portable flash units, they make it easy to achieve really impressive results, for this shot I used 3 flash units 1 from the back with green gels through translucent material and 2 others from left and right, oh and an apple and some water.....

Update on Margaret

2011-04-27T22:32:00.000+02:00

For a dog who is supposed to be so shy, Maggie is turning out to be a bit of a character, she has taken to having a "glee-burst" round the garden when she gets back from a walk and on Saturday morning she even uttered a small bark, she is also watching Frank's every move and taking his example (Oh dear bad move, those of you who know him) Frank has changed his mood a bit as well, I wouldn't go as far as to say he has raised his game but he has started chasing people on a bicycle so we have taken his bicycle away.

Business as usual

2011-04-10T22:34:00.001+02:00

Fantastic spring day today, plenty of time spent in the garden with 17 degrees, suddenly you look around the garden and realise there's a lot to do but not surprising considering it's been covered with snow for the last 5 months or so, main job today was selecting the right colour Pansies then just enjoying the sunshine.

So here she is

2011-04-10T22:23:00.002+02:00

It's Maggie, or Madge, four and a half years old and pure Cocker Spaniel, blue roan in colour and very timid.

Frank said he's not jumping into anything and doesn't believe in arranged marriages in todays society, he said "let's see how it goes"

News Flash

2011-04-04T21:40:00.000+02:00

A heads-up for an announcement coming your way within the next 72 hours, regarding Frank's marital status....
Watch this space. You won't be disappointed.

Spring and the trouble with iphones

2011-03-27T22:48:00.003+02:00

Fantastic blue skies and temperatures above freezing, we went to Klagsham in the morning (click here for a sort of 70's ish website) with Frank of course, and walked around the harbour where many small fishing boats sell their daily catch, well there wasn't much of a catch this morning but it didn't spoil the walk. A way further east along the coast we happened across a building claiming to be a surf club (wind surfing we assume) nearby was a flag pole with a really tatty wind-shredded flag and I thought "photo opportunity" Frank against the blue sky with the flag in the background.

Meet me at the beach

2011-03-20T19:10:00.001+01:00

The good news is that the sea is no longer frozen!! and word around these parts has it that when there are 7 days in a row where the temperature is above zero then it's spring so..... is it really here?

Frank had a ball yesterday in the late afternoon sunshine running (and posing for pictures)

And I changed the look a bit of the blog, let me know what you think

Adventures in a Swedish landscape

2011-03-14T21:11:00.005+01:00

Well, where do I start with this one;

Foreground - felted models of Frank, Max and A.N.Others courtesy of crazyhoundstore
Background - Oil on canvas of a Swedish (presumably) country scene
Lighting - 1 accent light, snooted SB800 from camera right with 1/2 CTO gel through a spider plant to echo the dappled lighting in the picture behind and 1 SB800 also gelled bounced off white ceiling for overall fill.
Check out the dog on the right, what the heck is he doing?

A recipe for lemon cake

2011-03-13T18:53:00.000+01:00

Some recipes are just classics they are very simple, (like this one) basic and reliable, the way to get a good result from them is to know your basic techniques, use good quality ingredients, know your oven, weigh your ingredients carefully and practice your technique. That is what brings you consistency and confidence, when your cake turns out rubbish it is generally not the fault of the cake! Anyway, try this:

Oven temperature should be as a guide 170c or so
A loaf tin lined with baking paper is good for this but you could use a round tin too.

225gr Unsalted butter
225gr Caster sugar
4 Eggs
225gr Self raising flour or plain flour with a little baking powder
2 Lemons grated zest (juice squeezed and keep to one side)

All of the above should be at room temperature.
You can do this 2 ways either: creaming together the butter and sugar until pale, adding the eggs 1 by 1 and then the flour and lemon zest or
Throw it all in the food processor and buzz it for half a minute

While it's baking (it will take 45 mins to an hour), mix the juice of the 2 lemons with 85gr Castor sugar

When a thin knife or skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake it's done, take from the oven and brush the lemon juice and sugar all over the top, leave to cool before removing from tin and eat, don't be mean and cut slices too thin!

Lemon cake

2011-03-05T21:09:00.002+01:00

We love lemon cake in fact we love most cakes, today I decided to make a cake and shoot the various stages here below is how it panned out...
You'll see some scones there too, I tried a recipe that everyone raved about on a foodie site they were not as nice as mine, I think I am going to publish another couple of recipes soon from my days as a pastry chef.
The lemon cake was very nice by the way I don't think it will be around for long!

Food photography

2011-03-04T14:46:00.003+01:00

No you couldn't eat it!
But I am trying to get a ballpark basic setup for shooting food, this with a large softbox behind and a snooted speedlight from camera right with a half cut CTO for slight warmth, I tried another snooted light from camera left and behind the plate but it looked rubbish (for this shaped food anyway)
more to come...

This one I was reasonably happy with, I changed the background to a black card and accented the mainlight with a gridded speedlight from the right, next time with real food!

Quite a day

2011-02-27T21:56:00.004+01:00

It started normally enough, for a Sunday you know, get up late after reading and drinking tea in bed, cooked breakfast, bacon, egg, sausage, fresh coffee, bread from the bread machine etc and finally get out of the door around 12 ish. We were going to the sea side but Frank (who had already escaped from the garden once this morning and gone on walk-about-looking-for-cats/pheasants) got scent of a pheasant in the front garden and launched himself towards the fence where the un-suspecting dopey bird was sheltering from the icy wind, he seemed to get it in his mouth but after much flapping and shedding of plumage, it managed to take off and escape.
Frank was chipper and pretty pleased with his efforts, then when we got to the seaside, the sea was frozen as far out as you could see, I mean c'mon tomorrow is the last date of February! it has to start getting spring-like and daffodils and such like shouldn't it?.
So as you can see, as a result Frank could hardly concentrate on his piano practice.

Amazing folding spectacles

2011-02-19T23:05:00.001+01:00

These are great, they fold up and fit in a small case the size of a match box, just wanted to let you know I have got two pairs of these now.

Coffee breaks

2011-02-19T22:53:00.000+01:00

Shooting some food for coffee breaks this week I wanted a morning type light that kind of fitted with the coffee break theme, for these shots there was a large window to the left and the afternoon weather was grey and over- cast so the light was soft but lacked some snap. I ended up placing an SB800 up high on a window ledge behind the net curtain and another way off to the right to create some separation light you can see it on the truffles on sticks. I used a 90mm macro lens to get some close in detail on the cookies and throw the background out of focus as you can see on the last of the 3 images.

Buttons and Finnigan

2011-02-15T23:05:00.001+01:00

Real dogs this week, Buttons and Finnigan are Working Cockers and what a fine pair they are, perfectly behaved (almost) for the shoot lit with 2 Hensels, one to camera left feathered off the background through a large soft box and one camera right through a grid slightly behind.
Click on the picture to see it full size.

And may we have the next contestant please..

2011-02-06T20:47:00.000+01:00

Now this fellow looks a lot like Max complete with gimpy paw (he used to use it when he was a stray which was about 4 weeks of his life to good effect at bus stops where people used to feel sorry for him and give him bread etc), the challenge with lighting these felted animals is without highlighting all the loose hairs which as you can see here I have failed in a spectacular fashion.

Teenage torper

2011-02-02T20:12:00.002+01:00

He finally presented us with his new year's resolutions, and we have to say we were left a little wanting, he said he wants to smarten himself up and look more presentable when he meets new folk I asked him what about his dirty food-stained brown beard and he said he likes it like that and plans to keep it. He talked about trying to be a bit more up-beat and stop looking so miserable but said he may phase that in slowly over a few months (7 or 8 he told me later) he also brought our attention to the fact that as he only has Blibett for company (19 year old British short haired cat with senile dementia and cognitive dis-orientation) he has every right to behave like he does and then he went back upstairs, left his clothes in a heap and went back to bed. Oh well....

Lighting furniture and ABBA

2011-01-30T19:58:00.001+01:00

I do have some experience lighting people but not really with furniture, I am sure that like architectural photography it has a whole set of it's own peculiarities and tricks etc but this was more of a documentation of a chair that Cath has just re-upholstered which I believe is from the late twenties or early thirties (feel free to correct me you chair enthusiasts!)
This was actually lit with four separate flash heads using Nikon CLS including the small built in flash on my D200 used for a little fill on the front side, I guess I could also have used a reflector for that, anyway here are the details:
1 SB 800 camera left on a stand snooted with a sawn-off pringles tube at 1/8th power
1 SB 800 camera right on the floor and slightly behind the chair also snooted at 1/16th power
1 SB 900 bounced off the white ceiling in SU4 mode, I think 1/32nd power
and the built in flash set to manual and 1/64th power
Shutter speed was 1/200th second and F5.6 at 200 iso
There is a setup shot here

Thought for the day

2011-01-20T22:42:00.000+01:00

No picture or lighting details, but I happened across this on the blog of Chase Jarvis and thought it worth sharing....in short, stop umming and ahhring and get on with it and do it now!

"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, ‘Too late.’ – MLK jr.

What are these?

2011-01-19T22:18:00.001+01:00

They are not so unusual in this part of the world, so answers on a.... oh no that doesn't really make sense nowadays does it?
anyway more to come

Voodoo doll?

2011-01-16T19:53:00.000+01:00

Just brilliant! Cath made this little model of Frank from pipe-cleaners and fine wool it's a technique called "felting"
I wanted to catch the real Frank out of focus in the background so you can see the likeness (the girl's a genius)

.....and more good news, remember the sustainable fish dish pic? well it won the competition!

Last year

2011-01-09T19:49:00.000+01:00

Here are 2 images that should have been in 2010, the first one only just, it was New Year's Eve and we wanted to get the kitchen team who were working that night out the front by the ice sculpture, it was cold and we had to clean the snow off the steps first but it was worth it!

The next was a competition entry in December around the subject of sustainable fish and at the time of writing this the results have not been announced yet but it was a great dish to shoot with loads of interesting detail, using just one SB800 strobe through a shower curtain from the back of the dish as you look at it, I added some reflectors of white card covered with crumpled silver foil to kick some of that soft light back into the dish.

New year high resolutions

2011-01-03T22:28:00.001+01:00

It's serious business starting the new year off you know, you have to reflect a little on last years stuff and make a plan for how you want the next 12 months to pan out, Frank in particular has been making a bit of a meal of it and we are still waiting for his announcement.

New light modifier

2010-12-12T20:52:00.000+01:00

So excited to try out my new Westcott 28in softbox, sometimes it just doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is you just have to take photographs!
It's the perfect portable softbox, folds up like an umbrella and fits perfectly on a light-weight stand or clamp with a small strobe,
here it was from an open doorway and another SB on the floor behind with a full cut of CTO on it (and you can see when someone is telling you that you've probably used more flash than is absolutely necessary for one night!)

Brioche by bread machine

2010-12-08T20:27:00.000+01:00

I must say that having tried many recipes in our now ageing Panasonic bread machine this is right up there with the best and I thought I would share it with all (both) of you.
Brioche is a French classic and falls under the enriched bread dough category and honestly all those years spent as a pastry chef come flooding back when I smell this wonderful bread wafting through the house.
We always use the timer mode so you can wake up and think you are in a bakery.
Depending on your bread machine things go in a particular order, here is what works in ours and I always use the basic setting with a medium crust:

1 packet of fast acting dried yeast
350gr white bread flour
2 tbspn castor sugar
1 tspn salt
1 egg
80gr unsalted butter
175ml milk

Like all bread machine loaves it needs to rest for an hour before you slice it, use that time to walk around it and marvel at it's fine form and shape.

Website update

2010-12-07T21:43:00.002+01:00

I updated my website today and chose one of the pre-sets from where it's hosted at Clikpic I can't recommend them enough for anyone starting out and wanting to create a website without prior knowledge in that field, they are very professional looking and the cost is really very reasonable for what you get and once you've chosen one of their ready made templates, you can go in and customise it until you get the look you want. You can see my updated site here.

Lightroom versus Photoshop

2010-12-05T17:03:00.001+01:00

I have been reading a lot lately (idly googling) about the merits of both Photoshop and Lightroom in terms of which is more, let's say approachable as part of a basic work flow for post production in digital photography. Without question they are both incredibly powerful pieces of software in their own right, Photoshop itself has hundreds or even thousands of possibilities to render a digital capture to a point far beyond whatever was squinted at on the small screen on the back of the camera it was captured with, and although I would describe my own skills as competent at best; I am sure I use only a very very small percentage of it's capabilities. Lightroom on the other hand although offering let's say a paired down set of actual editing tools (still loads and everything you need) but more of a complete overall process in terms of getting your images into a library, allowing selection and then editing and finally out-putting to web, slideshow or filing/printing wherever, so more of a one-stop-shop. It seems they are not really competitors (after all both made by the same Adobe and you can actually flick an image back and forth between the two) but instead rather compliment each other and provide photographers with a mighty arsenal with which to go about their business to whatever level and extent they choose.

Here's a recent of Frank with basic editing using Lightroom

So what's this?

2010-12-05T16:12:00.001+01:00

OK so it's been a while, but there's been a lot going on and I will catch up on some of this in the next posts but just to get everyone awake again; who can tell me what this is? Cath bought it back yesterday from a Christmas fayre (I will not even go in to how I photographed it) Answers please on a e-postcard.

More SB800

2010-10-03T20:54:00.002+02:00

More experimenting, this time I wanted to try the SB800 as a single light source through a softbox, when you position the softbox close to your subject (or vice-versa) it gives the impression of a big window with soft wrap-around type lighting Cath was actually about 12 - 18 inches or away from the softbox, the flash was set at 1/64th power so re-cycling time was next to nothing and my shutter speed was 1/250th sec which eliminated any of the ambient light there was in the room, aperture was F2.8 as I remember, so focusing on the eyes was critical. My latest favourite portrait editing work flow was used for this shot. Another interesting (or nerdy) point to note is the wall behind was actually white but due to the light fall off due to the inverse square law it appears almost black.

A day out

2010-09-23T21:01:00.011+02:00

In this first shot, Frank sits on a heavy wooden picnic table, we were at the top of a hill near a castle called Hovdala Slott the scenery was fantastic and with 20 degrees and a virtually cloudless sky it felt more like June than late September. The sun was just starting to descend and I used an SB800 flash and a shoot-through umbrella just to my left. I'm posting this now before we have another power cut and I lose the text again, more to come......

It's all there in black and white

2010-06-06T22:43:00.001+02:00

Three very different looks from the same image, that's one of the many advantages of shooting digital nowadays, these are all preset conversions from a raw file developed in Lightroom which I am getting more and more interested in, there is much more you can do apart from just sorting and cataloguing files, today I discovered a great skin softening brush that was tucked away and some cool details included when you export files. That's a big difference to photoshop where you "save as" in Lightroom you export instead.

Sunday blues

2010-05-30T23:41:00.003+02:00

It rained the whole day today so it was a good idea to go and visit a museum, we went to the Art Museum where there was an exhibition of photography, the first part of the exhibits was a section of prints from someone who had sat on a photocopier with no pants on, it made me think about the many hours I have spent sometimes trying to get an image right in camera and then in photoshop, I tried to put in prospective what made art art, anyway we stopped at a cake shop on the way home which made the journey worthwhile!
Later on I was practising with 2 flash setups and used a blue gel and a grid to project a pattern using a wire backed chair on the wall and lit Cath with a SB800 through a brolley. The other one I decided to convert to B&W with photoshop I'm going to do some different conversions and see which I prefer as there are many ways to do this.

Skyping

2010-05-26T22:32:00.009+02:00

Isn't it funny what we do sometimes! these are a few random shots taken during a skype conversation Cath was having, I used my 70-200mm F2.8 and set up two SB800 flashes on a diagonal one in each corner of the room and both bounced off the white ceiling, I really like the quality of light and the fact that you can move around and shoot from more or less any position. I allowed a slow enough shutter speed to include some of the tungsten light from the overhead lamp.

Tempus fugit

2010-05-23T22:23:00.001+02:00

And suddenly, here we are on an assignment in Denmark with all the animals to boot, was an un-familiar journey in the opposite direction to our usual long car trips this time due north or thereabouts and a short ferry crossing to Scandinavia, it's always great when you enter a country you haven't visited before you look all around like a country mouse in a big city trying to get a feeling for the new environment! and so far the feeling is good, very friendly and welcoming.
Travelling light at the moment camera-wise and snapped these with the balcony door open, an SB800 with a full cut CTO gel through a brolly camera right and a white balance set to tungsten to blue the sky and background yet hold skin colours normal.

Eyes right

2010-01-24T21:24:00.000+01:00

I just added a section called "my blog list" it's just there to your right, it will be the place where I include other blogs that I follow or discover and first off I thought it appropriate to mention Strobist the absolute best source on the web for off-camera flash, the author of the blog David Hobby (picture above) is a master and has the most inspirational way of encouraging others to push themselves to explore the world of flash photography. If you have some time then click through to his blog and be inspired as well he is developing a growing cult following!

On the mend

2010-01-24T20:55:00.006+01:00

Here he is just 2 weeks after his operation, Max has been rediscovering his puppy hood with a somewhat belligerent attitude, his appetite has certainly returned and he has started to show some increase in his weight. He is up and downstairs and for the most part in good shape, we are keeping his exercise on the light side as recommended by the vet. We thought it appropriate to get some pictures so I duly set up some SB800's, Cath was tasked with holding some dog biscuits just out of shot and the original plan was some nice portraits of Frank first and then Max but like the best laid plans it all got out of hand and Frank couldn't control himself and as soon as the biscuits appeared it all went a bit pear-shaped. Still, here are the best from the session, needless to say we are very happy to have Max and enjoy every minute with him!

In the last picture Frank is telling Max just what he thinks about the whole charade!

Two thousand and ten

2010-01-10T17:54:00.003+01:00

It has been without question, a funny start to 2010 Max has been through a pretty tough time with a malignant tumor which had made best friends with one of his kidneys, this led to him losing weight as he was not able to maintain his own protein levels, and after a multitude of tests, discussion and sample analysis it culminated with surgery to remove the offending kidney, the vets and surgeons were suitably sympathetic but none the less a pretty traumatic experience for all concerned. He is now home and resting with various antibiotics, pain-killers and anti-nausea tablets but remarkably after a little more than 24 hours after his op he was beginning to show a little of his old self. We are very relieved and are optimistic for a full recovery having learnt that it is possible (humans too) to survive on one kidney operating at only 20 percent efficiency.

It is all set to be a busy start to the new decade for us with many projects in the pipeline and we eagerly look forward to the end of the snow and the start of spring (am I too early with that wish? ) friends of ours have in recent years taken to going away to warmer climes for the winter months even though they love where they live, not such a bad idea we may consider it in the future.

I did formulate some kind of resolutions at the start of January but will monitor their progress internally until I see fit to publish any results... what I can reveal is that I am currently working on a completely new website and am dipping my toe in to the icy waters of HDR photography an example of which is at the top of this post, in short it is based on capturing the High Dynamic Range of a series of images under and over exposed by a number of F stops which are subsequently blended together and tweaked in post processing to produce images with a some-what painterly quality, more to follow. Happy new year to all.

The painted tree

2009-12-20T22:27:00.002+01:00

Today we finished decorating the Christmas tree, we thought most of the decs were in France but we managed to cobble and create enough items together to make a rather splendid adornment to the front window. Finishing touches were some dried orange slices, terracotta hearts and the angel complete with tiara all made by Cath.

On the baking front we knocked out a dozen mince pies and a slightly below par lemon cake.

Once it was all in place I set up the camera on a tripod and used a really long exposure of around 10 seconds with all the room lights off I "painted" the tree with light using a small torch quite a fun technique, white balance was tungsten or incandescent to maintain the warm feel to the image.

A toy story?

2009-12-06T18:46:00.005+01:00

Shooting today the latest creations for the Crazy Hound Store I thought it looks like there is a story line running through these shots like this couple meeting, being friends and a kind of tragic ending, so I am laying down the gauntlet to you creative writers out there to pen (or keyboard) a brief story using these two characters and a small prize will be awarded to the most creative. Deadline is 31st December 2009 so get cracking! you can post your story in the comments section of this post.

Oh, and the pictures could be in reverse order...or are they?

(Click on them and see them massive)

A Billingham bag

2009-10-25T19:50:00.004+01:00

Selling this one with some regret as it's got such a quality feel to it, if you've never heard of them Billingham are a smallish company out of the UK making these bags for photographers since the 70's they are somewhat iconic in an age where some manufacturers are now designing camera bags that don't look like camera bags. Sad

Today we had an hour longer due to the clocks falling back, made another Lemon cake and some shortbread with the old 1-2-3 recipe, never fails. I use 75 gms of castor sugar, 150 gms of soft butter and 225 gms of plain flour and today threw in a small handful of flaked almonds, 20 minutes at 180 centigrade and then we ate them, isn't that what Sundays are for?

Stormy skies

2009-10-11T19:40:00.006+02:00

Don't know why the time seems to go quicker this time of year, once summer is done and dusted autumn appears to tumble it's way through misty mornings, burning off to reveal clear blue skies or sometimes days where it never seems to get light at all interspersed with rain and plenty of it. We were in Angouleme for the famous Circuit de remparts where old Bugattis (a million pounds a pop +/-) and other vintage racing cars hurtle through the historic parts of the city on a road circuit, great fun and plenty to snap away at, will try to make a poster in the near future.

Other seasonal accomplishments include a new batch of onion chutney and a couple of pounds of quince jam so quintessentially English you can almost smell the linseed oil and cucumber sandwiches from the village green on a Sunday afternoon, last week's cake was a Victoria sponge and today saw a banana and walnut loaf and an apple charlotte with apples from the garden,

The sky this evening was so dramatically dark it seemed a shame not to capture it on film (or rather a sensor) now the technical bit... light was provided by 2 SB800's fired through a shower curtain hanging in a doorway just out of shot camera right, used some Lucis and increased saturation in post to make the colours pop.

dessert poster

2009-09-13T20:42:00.002+02:00

dessert poster
Originally uploaded by narkibar

Have been busy with food pictures this weekend, and here is the result. Got some good light by firing an SB 800 through a white shower curtain from the back and slightly to the left and filled in the shadows with white foam board and some smaller cards covered with scrunched up silver foil (best of all I had to eat the desserts afterwards )

Over the water

2009-09-06T18:33:00.007+02:00

We've had an action packed few days in blighty visiting family, friends and even getting a visit in to Brands Hatch, that was a thunder-twins event with some enthusiastic clubmans racers ie those hoping to make it to professional level although from where we were standing they all looked pretty professional, weather wasn't brilliant but it was a bit of a blast from the past for us to go to such a legendary circuit. I stood at Druids bend a slow hairpin to take the below shot and panned with my 18-70mm standard zoom using a slowish shutter speed, this was one of the few that had good sharp detail. (click on the image for an enlarged version) oh and the blur in the bottom right of the picture is a pro photog.

Meanwhile Frank and Max had an excellent time at home with the family getting spoilt rotton with all manner of treats!

The jump

2009-08-17T21:46:00.004+02:00

Goofing around in the back yard, I have been meaning to try "the jump" shot for a while and tonight the planets were in alignment, my willing assistant who was in the process of preparing dinner at the time (hence the apron) was encouraged (instructed) to jump off the wooden ledge and those who know our garden will be familiar with the water just the other side of that ledge!

For the technical readers I fired two SB800s with pocket wizards from left and right both gelled with full CTO's and set the white balance on the camera to tungsten to bring out the blue in the sky, I shot with a wide angle and was lying on the floor. Judging from his pose, I think Frank was the least impressed of all of us!

(click on the image to see it real big and even see swifts in the sky!)

As sure as eggs are eggs

2009-08-04T23:04:00.003+02:00

There's something nice about buying eggs from a farm, don't know why it just seems better than from a supermarket, for sure the ones from the shops never have dirt or feathers on them and these are not quite all the same size, bottom line is I guess it keeps the chickens in work.

Happy as a dog with...

2009-07-29T22:27:00.002+02:00

Quick update on Max, how happy was he when the vet said he only has a torn ligament and prescribed chicken flavoured pain-killers and some rest

A sizzling Sunday

2009-07-26T20:25:00.005+02:00

Made the most of a warm sunny day and tried out the new barby this afternoon with some home made snags from the local butcher, one of our dogs Max has a bad leg after chasing rabbits last week Thursday and still can not put his weight on it so he will be off to the vets tomorrow for a once-over, not such a sizzler for Valentino Rossi at Donnington but at least he finished 5th despite falling off and rejoining the race in 11th.

For Sale

2009-07-26T20:11:00.001+02:00

After carting it around from country to country, house to house, loft to loft, I have decided to sell the old analogue camera kit. It's just amazing how old fashioned or retro it looks and feels, made of metal for a start and has a distinctly solid feel to it. I remember buying it back in the late 80's (?) I traded in a Pentax, a Ricoh and a bunch of lenses just to get the money for the Nikon FA body only and stayed up nearly the whole night looking at it and reading the instruction manual! I'm selling it all together with a carry case so if anyone is interested shoot me a mail

Crazy hounds

2009-07-19T19:41:00.006+02:00

It was one of those sunshine and showers days today but we managed a good cycle ride in the morning punctuated with a stop for an almond magnum, then it was to work on an image for Cath's Etsy site where she sells her creatures (all crafted from socks) and yes some were mine and yes they were sterilised and fumigated before she handled them!
Etsy if you havn't seen it is a site for all things hand-made and crafty, a great place for gifts. Cath's creatures have all got personalities and are mostly one-offs although sometimes they have been known to mutate and clone themselves, checkout her store and see for your self or even order one for christmas! http://www.crazyhoundstore.etsy.com/
The shot was a two strobe setup, one through a brolly camera right and the other in the background left on low power providing some fill, used a wide angle lens fairly close in which seems to be a popular technique at the moment.

Slideshow

2009-07-15T22:05:00.004+02:00

After about a week I finally managed to activate the slideshow function, it creates a slideshow of my pictures on Flickr.com and if you click on the slideshow itself, it takes you to my flickr page, there are also more pictures to be seen at http://www.nickhawkes.ro/

2009-07-07T22:22:00.000+02:00

I was practising for an assignment of food photography on the weekend, made some Focaccia and shot it with some bits and pieces that were sculling about, had a set up with one Nikon SB800 from the back through a diffuser and a gold reflector to warm up the shadows at the front

2009-07-06T22:11:00.000+02:00

I have first blog nerves!
who will see it, who will comment?
oh well, here goes.....

Ahem.. Welcome everyone to the blog, I thought I'd leave it like that for the first one...

Here is an image to see how that looks (monkeys, the pair of 'em)