Fellow photographers,

The “Behind the Scenes” feature in this Newsletter is called “Drinks on the level” and in it I discuss the techniques involved in creating an image with apparently slopping drinks in it.  Some of you may have seen the image as it was my photo of the day a couple of weeks ago.  Now I explain how it was done.

Since I sent out my previous newsletter I’ve been able to announce details of models for some of the forthcoming events.  We have a great line up for this weekend.  On Friday evening Sharon Adcroft makes her return to the studio to model for “Shooting for Stock” and Saturday’s Art Nude workshop sees  “Rosie M” aka Elusive Rose make her first visit to the studio.

There are still spaces at both events, but the Shooting for Stock event is booking up fast.  If you are thinking of coming to the Art Nude Workshop – please let me know ASAP as I need to finalise numbers, print out notes and order lunches.

Looking further ahead.  No explanation is necessary regarding who the model will be at the Self-portrait Night on 17th February.  Please don’t dismiss this event even if you are a little camera shy – many of the techniques we will look at are transferable to other forms of portrait photography.

On Saturday 25th February – the studio will be having it’s Birthday Bash event.  Studio regular Rachael F will be at the studio all day, but I am hoping that one or two other models will be popping in throughout the day.  This is no charge to come to this open day so please do come down and help me celebrate one year of “Ian’s Studio”

The final event I can announce the model for is the the “Messy Art Nude Workshop” on Saturday 24th March – the is a much expanded version of the Messy Art Nude evening we ran in November.  The model for this full day event will be Kiki Devine.  With a additional set-ups and a different model this event is worth booking for even if you did come to the November evening event.

Read on for more information on the events (And there are links to all the currently planned events at the end of this message)

Shooting for Stock

Friday, 10 February 2012 , 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Location: Ian’s Studio

At this event I will showcase some of the stock photography images that I have created and sold.

There will be opportunities for you to work with a model to create commercial images suitable for submission to photographic libraries.Additionally I will set up the table-top studio and give advice on creating table-top concept images similar to those that have I have sold in the past.

I am pleased to announce that our model for this event will be Sharon Adcroft – Sharon was last at the studio for the “Messy Art Nude” evening in November. (Note: link contains nudity).  You can see Sharon’s purestorm profile here: http://www.purestorm.com/ShazA1and her ModelMayhem profile here: http://www.modelmayhem.com/1322385#

Price: £22

Art Nude Workshop

Saturday, 11 February 2012 , 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Ian’s Studio
At this workshop I will demonstrate a number of art nude set-ups.  There will be printed notes detailing the lighting set-ups being used.The day will be suitable for those who are a little unsure about where to start with art nude photography; but time will be built into the day to enable more experienced photographers to build on these set-ups.

I am pleased to announce that our model for this event will be “Rosie M” aka Elusive Rose.  You can see her Model Mayhem and Purestorm profiles here:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/1979373# and  http://www.purestorm.com/rosie_m_7

There will be opportunities to create high-key (white background) images, low-key (black background) images and bodyscape images.  A large selection of props will be available to enhance the images and to help inspire you with ideas.

Cost £82 per person (this includes lunch and printed notes).

Self-portrait night

Friday, 17 February 2012 , 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Location: Ian’s Studio

Sooner or later every photographer needs a photograph of him or herself.  Most of us don’t like posing for other photographers, so tonight we will look at some techniques for getting self portraits.We will look at simple techniques for setting up your camera and ensuring you get yourself in focus.

We will look at not only studio lighting set-ups but also strobist techniques that can be used anywhere.  Of course many of the lighting set-ups can also be used for any portrait shoot.Finally in addition to all this I will show you the techniques involved in creating a surreal self-portrait.  (See the image advertising this event).

Your model for this event is…. YOU!

Price: £10

 Birthday Bash… Studio Open Day (Free Event)

Saturday, 25 February 2012 , 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Ian’s Studio

To celebrate the first birthday of “Ian’s Studio” we will be having a studio open day.  Drop-in any time during the day (from 10am till 5pm… or possibly later!) use the facilities free of charge and take the opportunity to network with other photographers and models.Model (and photographer)

Rachael F (http://www.purestorm.com/Rachael_F) will be at the studio through out the day so there will always be a model for photographers to shoot.  The event is open to any other models to drop-in throughout the day.

I will also have one table-top studio set up for those who prefer to shoot table-top.There will be the usual constant supply of tea, coffee and biscuits/nibbles.  Also special deals/discounts will be on offer to people booking and paying for future events.

No charge

Messy Art Nude Workshop

Saturday, 24 March 2012 , 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Ian’s Studio
At this full day workshop we will work with one or two art nude models to create a different style of art nude images using different messy substances such as chocolate & cream, foam, paints, and slime.

This workshop is expanded and extended beyond what was covered in the recent Friday night event.  This workshop will cover additional set-ups and full documentation on the techniques and lighting will be given to all attendees.

You can find example images of the style we will be creating at this event/workshop on my gallery:
http://photos.imb.biz/model/genre/messyartnude
(As you might expect the gallery contains artistic nudity)

The model for this event will be Kiki Devine.  Kiki is an experience art nude model, dancer and contortionist, so we can expect to photographer some great body shapes.  Kiki’s purestorm profile is: http://www.purestorm.com/kayleighpage and her ModelMayhem page is: http://www.modelmayhem.com/1956586

Please note: While care will be taken to try to ensure that those attending the event do not get messy, you should be aware that we are working with messy substances such as paint and food substance which may stain.  Wearing old clothes is advised.

Price: £75 (Price includes printed notes and lunch)

The Friday night version of this event was very popular and was actually over-subscribed.  So early booking is advised for this event if you wish to guarantee a place.

The Full Programme

For full details of all our fourthcomming events please use the links below..

 Behind the Scenes: Drinks on the level

I posted the above image as one of my POTD (Photo of the Day) images recently.  It was created at a recent “Table Top Photography” evening at the studio.  While the technique is probably fairly obvious I thought it worth just making a few comments about the image and how it was created.

The obvious part of the image is that the surface is sloping and the camera tilted to the corresponding angle.  The glasses were attached to the surface using some clear double sided sticky tape.  Which shouldn’t show in the image, but just to be on the safe side we placed the tape at the back of each glass.

The liquid in each glass was coloured using food colouring.  At first we put too much colour in the red and yellow glasses and had to adjust the concentration to ensure that it was translucent.  The trick to getting the water levels right involved using a spirit level held behind the glasses to ensure that the liquid in each glass was the same height as it’s neighbour.  Because of the slope your brain plays tricks with you when trying to do this by eye.  A large syringe was used to extract any excess liquid from each glass until the levels were correct.

As with any liquid or translucent object the lighting the set-up involved putting light primarily on to the background so that it could shine through the liquid.  We used two boards to prevent the light on the background hitting the glasses directly.  We also added a soft box high front left to add a little bit of fill to the scene.

The whole set-up can be seen in the image below.