Articles
Most of my blog entries are transitory in nature.. they’re about what I shot on that day, or what I thought at that time.
These articles are little different. They are meant as a free learning resource about different aspects of photography, covering anything from the basics of exposure all the way through to digital asset management and colour work flow. Please feel free to share the content or link to it, but if you do, all I ask is that the appropriate credit is applied.
In saying that, my blog itself also contains info relating to equipment reviews, editing and workflow tips and tutorials as well as discussions on technique – most of which are listed below.
Posted by ciaran on June 15, 2012 in Blog, Editing & Workflow | 6 comments
It’s been a while since I played with textures in my images, the last time dating back to my Fellowship panel in 2009. Since then, one of the signatures of my work has been the distinct lack of heavy editing, post processing or manipulation. The images I post are very true to the images I actually take. This isn’t down to any elitist stance or puritanical belief that “un-retouched” images are somehow better than images that have been processed in Photoshop, but more down to me being incredible lazy (or efficient –...
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Posted by ciaran on June 8, 2012 in Blog, Editing & Workflow, Model | 2 comments
Click Here For Higher Resolution Version
Back in 2008, I decided on the idea of shooting a panel of outdoor nudes for my Associateship panel for the IPF distinctions. After the first shoot, I realised the pure folly of this idea! With no control over the weather or the light, it really meant I had little or no control over the images and because of this, I started to develop a plan B. Plan B was an indoor location; a fall back in case the shooting conditions outdoors were not conducive to good images. In the end though, there was so much time...
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Posted by ciaran on May 31, 2012 in Blog, Editing & Workflow | 3 comments
And similarly file size does not equal resolution I’ve come across enough examples of these two very different traits being confused for each other over the last few months, that I thought it deserved a little mention in my blog.
In response to my post relating to Snapseed on the iPad, people sent me lots of queries relating to it producing low “resolution” images and they were wondering how I managed to get high resolution images out of it. And similarly, I have recently had some people that were printing my work also ask...
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Posted by ciaran on May 11, 2012 in Blog, Equipment, Model, Polaroid | 0 comments
Since picking up a Fuji Instax 210 instant film camera during my stay in New York in November last year, I’ve been wanting to give it a go in a real life shoot situation. It did get a bit of an airing when I shot New York based model, Anna Catherine and a VERY brief outing when I worked with Kira Distler during her short stay here in Ireland, but it wasn’t until I shot Jen Somerfield last month that I finally got the chance to use it in anger.
Coming from a digital photography background where everything is such high fidelity,...
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Posted by ciaran on April 27, 2012 in Blog, Editing & Workflow | 3 comments
I’ve blogged about Snapseed before, when I talked about how I used it as an image editor on my iPad. One of the issues with this workflow, was getting the images on and off the iPad (I used Photosync), but now Nik have seen fit to release a windows version It’s not free, but at a price tag of just €16, it’s not a bank breaker, although it would have been nice of Nik to extend existing iOS users a free version or at the very least a discount on the sale price. Regardless, I opted to purchase a version and have had some fun...
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Posted by ciaran on April 20, 2012 in Blog, Model, Technique | 0 comments
We’ve had some pretty unseasonable weather here in Ireland over the last few weeks, with Spring actually strongly resembling what Spring should be like. Who’d have guessed So it seemed a pity not to avail of the weather and the light whilst we had it and with this in mind, when UK model Jen Somerfield came to shoot with me , we decided to head outside for the shoot.
Considering how badly I got my ass kicked the last time I shot outdoors, this time round I opted to find some open shade, to help both break up the light and give it...
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Posted by ciaran on April 13, 2012 in Blog, Model, Polaroid, Technique | 4 comments
There’s a saying that only mad dogs and Englishmen venture out into the mid day sun. Well it seems so do some pretty stupid Irish photographers because that’s exactly what I did on a recent shoot with US model Kira Distler during her short stop over here in Ireland.
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to give different presentations to various photographic groups and clubs around the country and one message that has been consistent through out, is the one of paying attention to the light. I would always advise to avoid...
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Posted by ciaran on February 20, 2012 in Blog, Equipment | 14 comments
Copyright (c) Nikon
Tools, cameras.. indeed life…. different strokes for different folks. We all value different things in life and lust after different features in our cameras. Recently Nikon announced the launch of the D800; a 36.3 Mega Pixel camera that I have heard many people say (or expect), that this will be Nikon’s finest camera. But will it really? Certainly from my point of view, I don’t think so. I really can’t see what all the fuss is about?
Sure, the camera is jam packed full of megapixels, offering a...
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Posted by ciaran on February 13, 2012 in Blog, Technique | 5 comments
The world of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) simply doesn’t apply to photography. It is all but impossible to replicate on screen or indeed on print, exactly what you see through your eyes. There’s limiting factors everywhere, from the lens, to the sensor, to the electronics in your camera, the software used to process your images, your monitor used to display them, through to the printer you use and the paper you print on to. Having a basic grasp of these limitations won’t necessarily make you a better photographer,...
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Posted by ciaran on December 13, 2011 in Blog, Equipment, Model, Polaroid, Technique, Travel | 5 comments
I’m a digital shooter and I’m whole heartedly in love with my D3′s. But on a recent trip to B&H Photo in New York, I decided to venture over to the dark side by purchasing a Fuji Instax 210 instant film camera. It’s very similar to Polaroid, except for the fact it’s a wider format image, as opposed to being square. But like Polaroid, it produces instant prints (2~4 mins to develop)
It was an interesting and indeed fun experiment shooting with what is essentially a VERY rudimentary camera, that offers little...
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