Derek Mc Auley Photography Blog

Light Painting…….an idiot’s guide ( thats me! )

derekmcauley — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:56:53 +0000

Great fun last night Light Painting with my good friends from the APC. These were shot at Mellifont Abbey outside Drogheda Town using steel wool fitted inside a kitchen whisk and a cord attached. The wool is set alight and spun around at various different speeds and directions to give different effects. This is something that was new to us all last night and we all really enjoyed it.

Thats me inside the circle A word of warning if you try this Wrap up well and I dont mean from the cold, those sparks really hurt!

This 2nd image is myself on the right hand side and Darren on the left witha whisk each.

I got burnt on the neck while Darren’s glasses were damaged with the sparks flying everywhere.

Still I am looking forward to trying more of this again soon.

Settings ISO200 @25sec F3:5 Wb-auto

In Dublin,s Fair City, there was a girl…..

derekmcauley — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:09:47 +0000

Shot recently on the estuary of the Liffey in Dublin lask week.

Shot in St. Anne’s Park, Dublin

Nga and Karl were lit seperately, Karl is over 30 metres away so I

used a 200mm lenses to compress him and bring him closer to the foreground.

Karl looking very much relaxed but in control, both himself and Nga were super too work with.

credit also goes to Amy Mc Guire (mua) and Wai Har Tsang ( stylist ) both of which I would recommend to and future Brides or Models.

One of my favourite images of the day of Nga

Wedding/Fashion Photo-Shoot Workshop

derekmcauley — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:36:05 +0000

The day started out very early for me first dropping the kids to schools and setting off

to the KnightsBrook Hotel in Trim Co. Meath.

The planning for this shoot has taken approx 2 months now with my MUA Jennifer Monaghan

leading the way and organising the hotel, Jewellery by Michelle from Indigo Moon Jewellery.

Next on board was Sarah Foy Dress Designs who supplied us with 6 dresses for the day.

Finally were 3 models who were beautiful and professional to the last.

A big thank you to Adele, Shira and Veronica you have given me hundreds of beautiful images to work on.

A have to mention my friend and fellow photographer Susie Dwyer who helped me throughtout the day and also worked on 2nd shooting.

First up is Veronica, I placed her against wall panelling on the first floor

lobby which is fitted with pelmet lighting and is also easily adjustable.

Iso 1250 F2:8 @100sec WB 2340

The same as above with a halo of light from the overhead room lights.

The hotel has a fantastic chandelier which I knew would have a

2 stop difference between the lower flash that is lighting up Veronica

so i decided to set up a second flashgun on the balcony fitted with a blue gel.

Iso 200, F14 @200sec WB 5300

The same set up as above, you can clearly see the blue gel on the dress.

Into the light 1

I love shooting into the light to push the boundaries of the high-lights in the photo.

Iso 640, F2:8 @40sec WB 5400

Into the light 2

Next I have Adele and back to the wall panels and my halo of light.

Iso 1250, F3:2 @40sec WB 2460

Just one of my personal favourities.

Back to the chandelier this time I have moved to half way up the staircase to frame the shot.

I was debating whether or not to take out the shadow of the plant, in the end

I decided to leave it as an extra element to the photo.

Into the light.

Into the light 2

Iso 1000, F 5:0 @40 sec, WB 4000

Next is Shira in a very heavy beaded dress but beautiful on her.

Iso 1600, F2:8 @80sec, WB 2460

Into the light 1

Into the light 2

For this shot I postioned Shira mid way up the staircase and set up a single flash unit high

up and to her left.

Iso 200, F14 @200 sec WB 5300

The same location just this time I moved position, same

setting as the shot above.

After a very late lunch I moved up to the Bridal Suite in the Hotel

This room is split over 2 floors including a balcony.

I am now back shooting Adele.

A10

This shot was taken high up with the camera on my monopod held

over my head with a Pocket Wizard fitted to fire the flash and by

setting my camera’s self timer to 10 seconds.

A11

Just something a little different.

A12

Another of my favourities.

A13

A14

A15

The weather wasn’t kind to us and was very windy on the day

so this is as close to outside as we all got the great outdoors,

maybe next time it will be better.

Iso 200, F16 @200 WB 5300

S10

Shira again in a different dress.

S11

The dress and jewellery in this one for me is amazing as is Shira.

S12

S13

My final image on the blog with an added splash of colour.

If your a fellow photographer and your interested in attending one of my 4/1

Wedding/Fashion Workshops you can email me through my contact page on my website

http://derekmcauley.com/ or my Face Book Page @ http://www.facebook.com/derekmcauleyphotography

A huge thank you too all involved again, it was a great if not exhausting day.

Please feel free to leave a comment below if you wish.

Derek

Just one shot from today’s Studio Workshop Photoshoot

derekmcauley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:30:50 +0000

One Photo from today’s Studio Session, a 4 light set up, 2 from the rear pointing back towards the camera and reflected back into the models face using a large silver reflector.

One light fitted with a gel behind the model which is lighting my 18% grey walls to the desired colour I was looking for.

The fourth light is a large softbox fitted on a boom overhead which helps to light both her hair and reflects more light onto her faca.

ISO200, F16, Shutter Speed 125s, WB set to K5560

The Contender ( White Collar Boxing )

derekmcauley — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:45:06 +0000

I had the Opportunity recently to photograph a White Collar Boxing event were Bankers fight Builders and Plumbers fight Accountants.

This was a little out of my Normal zone of photos but I have to say from a photographic point of view I throughly enjoyed the challenge of the ever changing lighting conditions.

Unlike a normal boxing match, there was the addition of dry-ice and lighting effects going off during the bout

which meant changing ISO, and Exp Comp constantly.

Powerhouse Punches from names like

The Punisher, The Liquidator, The Ghostrider

KO Kathy and Bernie Singin Bernie Walsh

You can see there were plently of colourful characters that didnt hold back on the punches.

Louise “Miss Dynamite” Scollon V ”Mighty” Maeve Jennings

The Contender Countdown

Location Workshop

derekmcauley — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:13:06 +0000

I have decided to Blog my photos from Sunday’s Workshop as well as post them on my Facebook Fan page just to let people know what we got up to. The day started out with 12 of us including Alex and Maddy two models I love working with.

We all met up in the Ramparts car park in Navan Town, Co. Meath and after a few issues with the Canon TT1 and TT5

units not firing a couple of the 7D’s which since then I have discovered a Firmware issue with the units in regard to that model of camera.

We got to shooting.

The first series of photos taken against a dull graffiti wall but add a splash of flash and the final

result is much more dramatic.

The same wall again this time with Alex and Shot at 5100K

giving a slightly cooler tone than the one above.

For this shot of Maddy I have set up 2 Pairs of flashguns on stands, 2 Canon units and 2 Nikon units.

One of my favourite poses of Maddy from the day’s shooting.

This next series of shots were taken in Navan town, this time only one light was used high up

on a stand and I am now shooting 4000K to give me a cool look in camera.

Lunch time in the Newgrange Hotel, which was really enjoyable and after a quiet word in 2 managers ears

I manage to fire off some frames inside in the front bar, this time low light, high ISO shots and slow shutter

speed to test all our gear and abilties to control the poor lighting conditions.

I am now shooting at 1/30sec on a Monopod.

Moving back out side now after across the road to St, Mary’s Church and after a little visit from the local

parish priest wondering what we were doing, I again set up all 4 lights and tool these shots.

The final series of photos were set up and taken art what is a fire escape to a community

building to the side of St Mary’s Church.

Only for the extreme cold weather at this stage I think we all could have stayed

here a lot longer as I personally love shooting metal structures.

I have also added a gel to the lights to our left to show all the delegates

what you can achieve with small flashes and a bit of vision to see the

final image before you ever fire the shutter.

I know i can safely say going by all the Emails, texts and posts on my Facebook page

that everyone involved both enjoyed themselves and went away with new techniques and some excellent photos.

Keep an eye out on my pages for future workshop dates to come.

A special thanks to Alex and Maddy for braving the cold weather.

Multi Image of Alex

derekmcauley — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 20:18:45 +0000

Just having a bit of fun in Photoshop CS4 with layers, blending and saturating images.

Here’s a multi image of Alex looking beautiful, this image is flipped twice, toned,

resized and a gaussian blur as a final layer on the background images.

I still have a lot to learn with layers and blending especially around hair strands.

Glamrock Chick Photo Shoot

derekmcauley — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:30:38 +0000

Taken on a recent Photo Shoot in Navan the wonderful Emma-Jane Hughes, I think you will agree she looks stunning.

A big thank you goes out to Kerrie Matthews from Odd Looks Makeup for all her hard but brillant work on the day also.

These shots were taken in Navan, County Meath at a furniture store and in a carpark adjacent to a car valeting workshop.

Archive Photos

derekmcauley — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:42:56 +0000

Just going through some of my old Mondello photos as a prequel to my up and coming talk at Navan Camera Club, I am going to include a few shots from Mondello,New York and my Living History project before I start showing my studio and location work.

Looking forward to meeting all the members of N.C.C

Huge HB Pencils

derekmcauley — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:28:21 +0000

A shot of Emma Jane beside huge fencing posts which reminded us all of huge school pencils.

I like this shot with the leading lines from the posts and the nearby pallets