365 Project - Day 59

Day 59 and it's nuts......... and raisins and tropical fruit. I have given up chocolate, Coke, and Biscuits this year for the period of Lent. I try and give up something every year as it makes me think about how I live my life and to ensure that I do not take everything for granted. Tonight's image is a packet of tropical fruit and nuts which I have started buying from our local shop when I am in need of a sweet snack.

The technical is nothing special really. Taken on my 5D with a 70-200mm lens attached, on manual set at f2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 400; the flash was my 580EXII set to ETTL -2 stops of power.

365 Project - Day 58

Today I spent the afternoon photographing Salisbury City FC v Wrexham FC in their Blue Square Premiership clash. The image I picked to use for my 365 project image is one of Matt Tubbs et al celebrating Matt's penalty goal which gave Salisbury a 1-1 home draw. You can see how much it meant to them to bring the match level after a relatively poor display by their current standards.

This shot was taken on my 5D with a 70-200 lens and a 1.4x extender. Shot on aperture priority f5, ISO 1250, shutter speed 1/1000 sec.

365 Project - Day 57

I did a bit of twitching today. Not something I get time to do very often but with the sun out (at last) I made the time today. I have posted my 5 favourite images tonight as finding one was just not possible.

These images were shot on aperture priority on my 30D with a 70-200 lens and a 1.4x extender attached, ISO 100, aperture f4 and a shutter speed of between 1/50 sec and 1/400 sec. Basic corrections in LR and then into PS for some burning in, sharpening, and to have the frame added.

365 Project - Day 56

I was stuck for a subject tonight as the ideas I had all invloved going out into the pouring rain with expensive cameras and lighting. So thinking again I decided to do an action self-portrait; with a bit of a marketing addition.

Shot with my 5D on manual ISO 100, 1/2oo sec at f10 with a 70-200 lens attached. The light source was from a 580 EX with the McGillicuddy beauty dish attached, in front and to camera left set to manual 1/2 power. The flash was triggered by a STE-2 which you can see covering my right eye. Into LR for basic correction and cropping, then into PS for the B/W conversion, the addition of my logo and to have the frame added.

365 Project - Day 55

Day 55 and I have a new toy; the Damien McGillicuddy portable beauty dish. This is a great bit of kit, it collapses into a small bag about 30cm x 10cm (I haven't measured it so may not be completely accurate) which is great for transportation, especially abroad.

The technical; 5D with a 24-105mm lens attached, 1/200 sec at f20, ISO 100. Two flashes, one inside the beauty dish set on manual full power, and one camera right firing to glance the side of the dish set to 1/8 power.

365 Project - Day 54

Continuing the weather theme, it is still raining down here in Wiltshire. Another trip into my garden this time to photograph a very wet Cotoneaster leaf. I will be glad when we can have a bit of a break from the rain.

Technical; 5D with a 100mm macro lens attached, still on manual, 1/200 sec at f5.6, ISO 100. On camera flash with a ring flash adaptor (if you look closely at the water droplet you can see the outline of the ringflash), set to manual 1/16 power.

365 Project - Day 53

Something tonight in keeping with the current weather system that is over our great country at the moment; global warming?? My wife Louanne standing under an umbrella in our back garden with a "is it ever going to stop" look.

A two light set-up tonight (yes I have more than 1 light) Camera on manual as usual, 1/200 sec at f11 (this setting allowed me to completely black out the background), ISO 100, two flashes both set to manual, one attached to the umbrella just behind my wife's head pointing into the umbrella, and the second on camera with a ring flash attachment. The settings for the flashes were 1/128 power on the umbrella and 1/8 power on the camera.

Post production in PS was a little levels adjustment, some burning, and the frame added, and in Portrait Professional a bit of skin smoothing; not that my dear wife needs it of course but I need the practice ;o))

365 Project - Day 52

I have had a headache all day and it just doesn't want to go, so what better subject than the end of my packet of Paracetamol.

Technical - 5D with a 100mm macro lens attached, set to manual 1/50 sec at f10, ISO 100.

I sat the packet on top of the flash, but found even with the flash power level as low as it would go (1/128 power) it was still too bright. I need to reduce the light entering the packet more so I folded a piece of kitchen roll to make it 4 layers thick and placed that between the flash and the packet. That reduced the light enough to give form to the empty cells.

365 Project - Day 51

An afternoon at the Ray Mac, home of the mighty whites, Salisbury City FC. I was there with my son Edward to watch Salisbury get to the semi-final of the FA Trophy by beating Tamworth for the second time in a week 2-1. The image below shows mid-fielder Rob Sinclair making a run into the box after a great bit of trickery leaves the Tamworth left back struggling to keep up.

Technical - 5D with a 70-200mm lens and 1.4x extender fitted, ISO 800, 1/500 sec at f4.5. taken into PS to add a bit of Bleach Bypass and the blog frame.

Claire and Paul

The Pre-Wedding shoot with Claire and Paul who are to married in June.

365 Project - Day 50

Day 50 and Spring has arrived. A nice little snowdrop image tonight, I hope you are in a spring mood. I have had enough of Winter and am looking forward to some nice spring days.

The technical - 30D with a 100mm macro lens attached, ISO 800, camera set to manual 1/125 sec at f5.6. Into PS for some levels, colour boost, burning and to add the frame.

365 Project - Day 49

I thought I would post the cover page of my business plan tonight. WHY? Well because it is that time of year when I go through my business plan with a view to seeing how I did against what I wrote last year, and set new goals for this coming year. This year is going to be a big year for John Rose Photography and it is important that everything that is going to happen is written into my business plan so the company has the correct focus.

Sorry the image isn't that inspiring tonight, but if you have a business or are thinking of starting one, then I urge you to get busy thinking things through and writing a business plan.

365 Project - Day 48

This image was presented to me tonight on my way home from an imaging viewing with a client. I pulled over to capture it before it disappeared which it did very soon after this image was taken.

Captured on my 5D with a 70-200mm lens, set to manual 1/60 sec at f14 hand-held. The image was processed in LR and then the colour boosted and the frame added in PS.

365 Project - Day 47

Feet tonight. A friend, who is pregnant, said that once the baby is born she would like to have some pictures of all her children's feet. She said she had seen this really cool picture of different sized feet on a black background and asked if I could do the same once the baby was born. Well yes I can, and this is a picture of my son Edward's feet; for those of you who know my other son Alex, you will realise why I didn't do his; screen not big enough to show them. :o))

Technical - another simple shot really, I covered the arm of my sofa with a black cloth and asked Edward to put his feet over the edge of the arm. I shot with my 5D on manual 1/250 sec shutter speed at f11, with a 24-105mm lens attached. The flash was also set to manual 1/64 power, hand held above and at 45 degrees in front Edward's feet and triggered it with a STE-2.

365 Project - Day 46

A little castle image tonight. I had a light bulb moment while thinking about what I would photograph tonight. This little castle, and I mean little, is one on my son's fish tank items. It was in the bathroom from when he cleaned his fish out the other day and I wondered if I could make it look like a haunted castle on a mountain top. Well, I will let you judge whether I succeeded but I have to say I love it; as does my son.

I have included below the very simple set-up used to capture the image.

A very simple set-up as you can see. A single 580 EX II directly above, adjusted to ensure the correct shadow angle and detail for moonlight, 5D with a 100mm macro lens fitted to ensure I could get close enough, camera set to manual, ISO 100, and 1/125 sec at f32 to ensure enough of the castle is in focus. I took a very low angle for the shot to give the castle a dominant position, ensuring the castle looked bigger than its actual size.

365 Project - Day 45

No surprise what the theme is today; roses of course. This image was taken from the dozen roses I gave to my lovely wife today. I made a fuss of her today as all husbands, boyfriends and girlfriends should to their partners on Valentine's Day.

A very easy shot to create; 5D with a 100mm lens and set to manual, ISO 100, 1/125 sec at f5.6. Lit using a 580 EX II flash camera left, set to ETTL, and exposed at 2 stops under.

365 Project - Day 44

Guess what John got today!

A simple little image, shot on my 5D wit a 24-105mm lens, a STE-2 on top, flash set to manual 1/128 power zoomed to 105mm, ISO 100, shutter 1/125 sec, aperture f5.6. A black cloth was draped over a chair for a background.

365 Project - Day 43

A nice colourful image tonight. I saw these in Halfords the other day and thought they would be great for keeping my studio flash power cables together. They are Velcro ties and as I have yet to put them into use I thought I would turn them into some colourful art for you all.

Photographed over one of the glass panels in my dining room table, I set the flash to manual 1/2 power and my 5D with a 24-70mm lens to manual 1/200 sec at f6.3. I tried several combinations of aperture and flash power but this was my favourite. A little colour boost in LR, and PS to add what has become the blog frame and there you have it.

365 Project - Day 42

Tonight's image started as an idea to do a light stream but once I got it in LR it looked like a black and white image to me. I have cranked up the contrast and although that has bleached out some of the highlights I love the feel; I hope you do too. The spire in the background is Salisbury Cathedral.

The Technical; I took several images and looking at the back of the camera made a judgement on whether the exposure needed to be more or less. This was the image I liked the most and the settings were G9 set to manual, ISO 400, 2 seconds at f4, because of the long exposure time I rested the Camera on a railing to prevent camera shake.

365 Project - Day 41

Day 41 is simply my computer screen with its many links and a quote from Christian D Larson which acts as my inpiration for daily life.

The Milford Hall Hotel, Salisbury

I mentioned in a previous post that I was going interview some of the businesses I am working with to give you an insight into the the world of John Rose Photography. The first of these interviews is with Ali Greenwood of the Milford hall Hotel. Thank you to Ali for giving her time to answer this brief questionnaire.

If you are looking for a venue to hold your wedding reception, or indeed ceremony, then please give Ali a ring. There are some special offers available if you book the Milford Hall Hotel and John Rose Photography together so give Ali a ring or make an appointment to see her and she will tell you all about her wonderful hotel.


John interviews: Ali Greenwood. Ali is the Weddings & Events Manager at the Milford Hall Hotel, 206 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3TE
(01722) 424116
conference@milfordhallhotel.com
http://www.milfordhallhotel.com/

What does your job involve?

My job involves taking enquiries and (hopefully) turning them into bookings. This could be for a civil wedding ceremony, wedding reception, funeral wake, conference, meeting, birthday party, christening, or any other social occasion. I will always send out a personalised information pack in response to a phone call or email enquiry and I am always pleased to show a potential client around the hotel before giving them our best prices and other information that they may require. Our motto really is, “If we can, we will!”.

Another aspect of my job is to produce “Function Sheets” for the other departments to work from. These are our “bibles” and ensure that every department is aware of what is happening for each event, i.e. timings, menus, room layout, final numbers etc.

How long have you worked here?

I have worked at the Milford Hall Hotel for approximately 14 years including the last 11½ years under the guidance and expertise of the Hughes’ family. I have watched the hotel grow over the years with an evolving and now very popular seafood & steak house restaurant; an extended and refurbished function room that can now accommodate up to 200 people theatre style and 11 superb new executive bedrooms taking our bedroom stock up to 45 rooms.

How important are good staff?

Good staff are absolutely vital. A beautiful building with lovely furnishings is great but nothing beats a warm welcome and consistently good service. Regular customers like to be remembered and our staff are really good at doing this. Having said this, new customers and potential new customers are every bit as important too! Good staff can avoid awkward or embarrassing customer moments; they can avert potential disasters and help to make a guest feel relaxed and valued. A smile from a member of staff can immediately put a guest in a much better mood and we receive many letters of praise for our staff which is really great!

What is your most memorable moment?

This is quite a hard question for me to answer because I feel I have had so many memorable moments. It was a great honour to be at the Award Ceremony when we first won the Hotel of the Year Award for outstanding customer service but a personal favourite for me was organising a complete wedding for a couple in less than nine weeks and being told that their guests were still talking about the fabulous day many, many weeks later!

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of using your service?

I am sure anyone thinking of using my services at Milford Hall would not be disappointed. If you have an important occasion coming up and you want to be confident that it will be looked after in a most professional manner, then do not hesitate to come and see me. Every function is tailor made and every customer is highly valued. You may begin as a customer but you will almost certainly end up as a friend!

Tell everyone why they should book with you?

Everyone should come to the Milford Hall Hotel for their wedding, wedding reception, conference, meeting, party or other special occasion because we genuinely do care about our customers. We are a small but competent team and everyone works hard to ensure that our customers go away satisfied and happy. Although no-one is perfect, we try our hardest to be the best we can possibly be and the many letters of thanks and testimonials that we constantly receive show that we are on the right track!

365 Project - Day 40

A bit of football action tonight. This image is from a match I photographed on Sunday.

The technical; 30D, set to aperture priority, with a 70-200mm lens and 1.4x extender, ISO 800, 1/800 sec at f4. Basic corrections on Lightroom, taken into Photoshop to be treated to a couple of actions and have the frame added.

365 Project - Day 39

Day 39 required a bit of ingenuity as I have not really had much of a chance to create today. So here we are with a bit of lateral thinking. I have included the set-up with this one to show you how something very simple can give a dramatic effect if you just think outside of the box and start seeing the potential in the things around you.

A little bit of technical as this really is a simple image to create. Captured on my 5D with a 100mm macro lens attached, set to manual 1/200 sec at f2.8, ISO 100, 580 EXII flash set to ETTL and triggered with an STE-2.

Now I know what you are thinking, I don't have all this fancy equipment, but why not try doing the same thing with your digital compact. Turn off the flash, put a bright light, such as a torch, behind or inside a cheese grater and take the picture. If you have manual settings on the camera then set them to the same as mine to start, and if it is too bright make the aperture smaller (larger number) and if it is too dark open the aperture up (smaller number). Let me know how you get on, perhaps even send me some of the images (click John Rose Photography to go to my website or become a fan of John Rose Photography on Facebook) or put them up on your Facebook profile and invite me to view them. Good Luck!

365 Project - Day 38

Day 38 and a little 30 sec video of images from yesterday's pre-wedding shoot with Claire and Paul. I hope you like it.

All of the images were shot on my 5D with a 70-200mm lens attached, ISO 400, and using available light

365 Project - Day 37

Tonight's image is of Margo. Margo belongs to Claire and Paul. I shot Claire and Paul's pre-wedding portraits today and we were trying to get Margo to join in but she just wouldn't play ball. I grabbed this shot while outside on the patio shooting Claire and Paul in the doorway.

The technical; as I said, a grab shot, 5D with a 70-200mm lens attached, set to manual ISO 400, 1/100 sec at f8 using natural light, post production in lightroom.

365 Project - Day 36

Tonight's image has been created for Sarah. I was chatting to Sarah this afternoon and she said that she had seen a picture that had been repeated 4 times and flipped each way to create an interesting pattern. Well Sarah I hope you like my version.

The original image was taken in Tuscany last October and is of a cafe facade where I was having coffee. I thought the facade had some interesting shapes and the angle gave an interesting perspective; although I did not see it being used in this way at the time.

The technical (for Martyn): 5D with a 24-105mm lens, ISO 400, set to aperture priority f4 at 1/8000 sec.

365 Project - Day 35

I was lacking inspiration tonight but thought I would take a rather ordinary subject and try and make it into a piece of art; I will let you be the judge of whether I managed it or not.

The technical (just for Martyn); taken on my G9, set to manual, 1/4 sec at f2.8, ISO 200, hand-held.

365 Project - Day 34

Tonight's image was presented to me when I was asked to take some photos of a friends car. She had been hit and the insurance company had asked her to take some photos of the accident. She did not have a camera with her and the light was not good enough to use her phone so I took a few snaps for her.
Everyone was OK, which was the main thing, and insurance details were exchanged without incident. :o))

365 Project - Day 33

A bit of pop art with my wife's smile tonight; below is the starting image.

The technical; 5D with a 100mm macro lens attached, camera set to manual 1/125 sec at f5.6, ISO 400, flash set to ETTL and fired with an STE-2.
Taken into PS and cut and feathered to the shape of the mouth. I created 24 layers and using one large one as the background I distributed the other 23 around the page. I changed the colour of a few of them using the Hue/Saturation tool to give it a pop art feel.

New Website Celebration Offer 1

THE FIRST THREE CONFIRMED WEDDING BOOKINGS WILL RECEIVE A FREE CANVAS OF THEIR FAVOURITE IMAGE FROM EITHER THE PRE-WEDDING SHOOT OR WEDDING DAY.

365 Project - Day 32

Day 32 is a little video to launch my new website. Please take the time to visit the real thing and let me know how you get on. Best wishes John



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