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Email: neil.graham0071@gmail.com
A very special moment captured on your big day through the lens
To check wedding availability for 2017
Tel: 07584900938
Email: neil.graham0071@gmail.com
Website: www.neilgrahamphotography.com
#SpecialMoments #Father #FunWeddings #NewYear #Offers #UK #London #Weddings #Valentines #SouthernWeddings #Discount #DontMissOut #engagment #UK #2016 #Brides #England #WeddingPhotography #Portraits #Family #Valentines #Love #portrait #WeddingRings
Photo by Neil Graham
Along with my wedding photography, recently I had the pleasure to photograph my friends family so they could produce a large canvas. The photograph was a special surprise Birthday present for their Nan. I can always find time to take that special photograph for you and family to treasury, forever.
A wedding quote to warm up January
Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Throughout January 2016, I'm offering a free engagement shoot when you reserve your wedding with me.
The £250 gift from me will include one free stunning 8x10 print of your choice from the selected photographs.
To check availability.
Tel: 07584900938
Email: neil.graham0071@gmail.com
Website: www.neilgrahamphotography.com
#FunWeddings #NewYear #Offers #UK #London #Weddings #SouthernWeddings #Discount #DontMissOut #engagment #UK #2016 #Brides #England #WeddingPhotography #Portraits #Family #Valentine #Love #portrait #WeddingRings #Offer #Photography #photographs #JanuaryOffers #Portraits
After a few trips to London Heathrow airport this year, on this visit I took a few iPhone clips of the aircraft landing on 09L early on Friday. I edited the clips together in iMovie and uploaded the final video to Youtube in 1080p
If you want someway of uploading your content and showing the world, there is no better place than YouTube.
It was very cold but I braved it..
#avgeeks #photography #youtube #aviation
http://www.neilgrahamphotography.com/my-top-ten-aviation-photos-from-2013/
Another great question come in from a young up coming photography via my website at www.neilgrahamphotography.com
Below is the question.
Hi
As a young photographer just starting out how did you find out what you like to photograph?
Thanks
As you can imagine it's not going to be a short answer so I've written a brief history about my photography life and what inspired me into wildlife, sports and aviation photography.
I have been taking photos from the film days, using 35mm and 110mm. My introduction into photography was through my mum as she loved to record our family holidays.
When my mum became bored with the camera I would take over. This lead to me taking more and more holiday photos, I was hooked.
I think another reason for my photography interest, is that I have a terrible memory, coupled with dyslexia which made my photography a great visual artefact. In the film days every click cost money which made you conserve your film, so I only took family, landscapes, wildlife and pictures of vehicles.
I had a keen interested in wildlife and all kinds of transport from a young age, so it has become a staple diet for my photography. With this in mind I practice and continue practicing ,with the event of digital, overnight the cost came down so you take as many photos as you want. One quote I use now is, 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take' so get out there and enjoy photography.
In recent years I have been able to travel to motor racing events and to visit zoos, that makes you add to your skills plus it gives you a fresh and interesting subject.
Along with my sports, wildlife and aviation photography, I also enjoy street photography. Some people find this form of photography creepy, but taking photographs of interesting people with wonderful gestures, fascinates me and sometimes you can produce a great image. Take a look at a wonderful New York photography called Jay Maisel http://www.jaymaisel.com
You can also view some my street photography over on my website.
http://www.neilgrahamphotography.com/blog/2014/2/16/olympus-omd-em-5-first-3-impression
As for your photography, follow what interests you and practise that. Like everything else in life, if your not interested in what you do, it becomes a chore. Do not get tied down in buying equipment, yes it can produce a better quality photo but it will not help you with learning your skill. I use my camera phone a lot and that produces some great images. Remember it's not the camera that makes the photo, it is you.
I hope this goes some way to answer your question and if you want help or advice in the future I'm only an email away.
Look forward to hearing you
Regards
Neil Graham
Can I say thank you for the great question. Please leave a comment below if you have anything to add.
If you have a question that needs answering please contact me :
Email neil@neilgrahamphotography.com
Mobile: +44 (0) 7584 900938
Hi Neil,
Many thanks for your mention on Twitter this morning. Just had a quick look at your web site you have some fantastic photos. I was at the air show in Duxford last year my photos look nothing like yours – such clarity.
keep up the fantastic work.
Thank you Tony a Twitter follower, @tonysalephoto . Below I explain the approach I take with my aviation photographs and refer to a 2013 blog.
Hi Tony.
The Duxford show was the Flying Legends Show on Sat 13th July 2013.
Anytime for the mention on Twitter, it's great to have contact with new aviation photographers.
My photos are taken with a borrowed Canon 7d and my EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS USM All of the photos were hand held and taken in a Raw format. That day was around 34c and the light was hard and unforgiving. I find it always hard to obtain a good exposer in aviation photography coupled with a low shutter speed, but in the 34c heat plus the lighting was something else this year.
Other than a small crop,adjusting the exposer, highlights, shadows,vibrancy, clarity and sometimes adding a vignette in Lightroom 4 it's straight out of the camera. Having an L lens from Canon helps, but over 300mm the 100-400m does go soft.
Have a look the rest of my photos, over on YouTube in a slideshow format. Part 1 & 2 Duxford and Dunsfold park part 1 & 2.
http://youtu.be/jrXvEgmsQ9g Duxford Part 1
http://youtu.be/-zB-tWuD_Jg Duxford Part 2
Also, you can head over to my website blog and read an article I wrote last year. It has all my camera settings from the Duxford Airshow and post processing in adjustments in Lightroom 4.
http://www.neil-graham.squarespace.com/blog/2013/8/23/duxford-dc-53d-dakota-airshow-photograph-review
I am attending, “The Flying Legends” Show this year on the Saturday and hoping to meet up with a few other photographers.
Thanks for the feedback and if you have any tips I can use, I would be happy to chat on the phone.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Neil
Again, thank you Tony for the feedback . If you have any feedback or questions, you can contact me on
neil@neilgrahamphotography.com
Mobile +44 (0) 7584 900938
A couple of followers on Google plus ask me how I obtained a crisp photo of the winning Audi LMP 1 car at the 2013 Le Mans, I thought I'd put together a quick check list of what I do for my night time panning shot.
My Gear- Canon 60d and Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 IS USM Mk 1. Click for technical data.
1. Try to find a length of straight with flood lights or perhaps an entrances or between corners, the main reason for this is it provides you with a consent light source and at corners you have cars bunching up which provides light from behind. In a way the flood lights becomes your key and car headlamps become your fill light at ground level.
2. I always shoot to the right of the histogram in Raw which seems to allow more information to be captured by my APC crop sensor in my Canon 60d. By coincidence, +Martin Bailey of Martin Bailey Photography recently produced a podcast #381 about shooting to the right and Martin explains it in more technical detail and much better than I could so it's worth heading over to Martin's website or iTunes and have a listen.
3. Test shots, to set up your camera and don't rush because they will come past again and again. You also can test your panning technic, I stand with feet firmly planted to the ground and rotate my hips as smooth as I can, plus I tuck in my elbows tight to reduce my own nature shake.
4. Always aim for a correct in-camera exposure, which will give you more room in post processing to recover highlights and open shadows up. I try not to go over ISO 3200 on my Canon 60D but I'd rather have the correct exposure in camera than under expose and recover in Lightroom 4, so I will go above ISO 3200 if required. It's better to smooth the noise in Lightroom 4 with a correct exposure rather than under expose, then increase your exposure in LR4 as this only produces even more noise to deal with as you push it higher.
5. I use the centre focus point on my camera for the best sensitively during focusing and the lenses set on stabiliser 2 for side to side movement.
6. As mentioned before if you find a straight which you can access safely with subjects only moving from left to right, this will help your camera to focus quicker. If the cars are coming at you then away fast, the camera not only has to track the target towards you, then the camera has to move focus, this is one of hardest things for your camera to do, especially in dark conditions.
7. Put your camera in high continuous, Al Servo. I can guarantee that not every photo will not be in focus, as I found in a set 8/9 burst, only number 3 and number 7 would be in focus. I would set up to take 8/9 photos and only expect 2 photos to be useable. For me this is not a bad ratio of return. I also delete the others to save space on my hard drive space. Some photographers say never delete any photos, the choice is yours.
8. Normally all of my photos are hand held because as a normal paying customer at the motor racing there is not enough room for a big set up, but I if remember correctly this time my camera was mounted to a tripod, because I was making a video and this did reduce my up and down movement.
9. Finally, I use Lightroom 4 for my post processing. Generally I only adjust the exposure, highlights,shadows,charity and vibrance,then I sharpen, apply noise reduction and lenses correction and that's it. No photoshop at all. (Mainly because I don't know how to use it)
Below I have all of my camera settings and my post processing setting in Lightroom 4, plus the before and after photo.
Camera Settings
1/100 sec at F/2.8 ISO 3200 200mm (EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM)
This is a 50% Jpegs of the CR2 original before processing in Lightroom 4.
Lightroom 4 processing settings
Temp 3800 (Fluorescent) Tint +21 , Exposure +30, Contrast 0, Highlights -41, Shadows +62, whites 0, Blacks 0, Clarity +44, Vibrance +20 and Saturation 0.
No Curve, no HSL, no Split toning.
Sharpening- 36, Radius 1.0, Detail 2, Masking 40, Noise Reduction - Luminance 67, Detail 50, Contrast 27, Colour 49, Details 50
Normal Lens Corrections with LR4 Profiles and Colour.
The winning number 2 Audi LMP1 at Le Mans 2013.
Click on the image to view more audi photographs.
I hope this short summary helps you with you're panning shots at night. Again, it does show me using my prosumer camera you can still produce some very good photos.
If you have anymore questions please email neil@neilgrahamphootgraphy.com
With the recent snow fall In the UK I went out and spent an hour taken photos of my son sledging and freezing the action with 60d and Mk1 70-200mm lens. Yes, I was pleased with the outcome, but in some of the photos it looked like he was parked up and not speeding down a hill, as you can see in the first three 3 photos. 1/1000 f5 135mm
It was time for something different, panning?... As I'd used this technic at Silverstone Race Track I thought I would give it a go again . The hill was short and my son was zipping past, so I starting at 1/50 f6.3 70mm high speed continuous in Raw and this produced camera shake and the whole photo was blurred. I moved up through the shutter speeds and settle between 1/80 - 1/160, f5.6-f6.3 70mm and with the stabiliser switched to 2 for side to side movement. Trying to move the camera from side to side whilst going up and down a hill and focusing on a fast moving target was hard and ladies, you know men can't muti-task! It resulted in me losing my balance and ending up in a heap.
I was happy with the results and as you can see from the last seven photos I had fun trying to produce a sharp image with a blurred background to suggest movement. Give it a go and remember 1 photo in your burst should be in focus and just work on that one in Lightroom 4 and bin the rest.
Happy Shooting....
Coming up soon...
Richmond Park 2013 shoot and using the wrong shutter speed and blaming the camera for moving it.....
