Brendan O'Shea Photography

cameras in Fed Square

2010-06-09T16:35:00.001+10:00

cameras in Fed Square
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Everybody thinks they're a photographer. Truth is, it isn't that hard to get a good shot these days, with some of the amazing cameras that have been coming out over the last few years. Many professional photographers are worried that their days are numbered. And they have every reason to be worried. Uncle Bob with his brand new Canikon can sometimes get a totally pro brilliant shot. Sometimes. I see it as incentive to raise the bar a couple of notches. Get the shots that Uncle Bob can't. And get them every time without fail, when it really matters. Uncle Bob will get lucky every now and then. Good on you Uncle Bob!
I've got quite a few lucky shots. The more I practice and refine my craft, the luckier I get.

Car

2010-04-29T10:23:00.001+10:00

car
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Wide brown land, with a 45mm Tilt Shift through Rom's windscreen.
On the way back to the reception after the beach.

Rocks

2010-04-29T10:21:00.001+10:00

rocks
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

One of about 30 shots that really worked for this wedding. Rom and I used to dread beach weddings, but after dozens of tests and lighting experiments, now we pretty much specialise in them!

Petronas Towers

2010-04-29T09:58:00.001+10:00

petronas towers
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Another iPhone photo. This is the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur just after sunset. An amazing building.

sunset Samporna

2010-04-29T09:55:00.001+10:00

sunset semporna
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Sunset in Samporna shot with my iPhone.
We went diving in Sipadan the next day.
I can't explain how amazing that was. If I had a waterproof housing for my iPhone I would have gone nuts with shots.
Thanks to Scuba Junkies in Samporna!

just one thanks

2010-04-29T09:51:00.001+10:00

just_one_thanks
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I'm pretty sure they were serious about this offer.
Shop in Sandakan.

gift shop at Sandakan Airport in Borneo.

2010-04-29T09:49:00.001+10:00

gift shop at the airport
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Can't really think of a more inappropriate item to sell at an airport gift shop.

I think he's done a pretty good job with the eyes!

2010-04-29T09:47:00.001+10:00

portrait
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I shot this on my iPhone during my last night in Kuala Lumpur. Nobody else seemed to see the irony of the situation.

Petra

2010-04-29T09:44:00.001+10:00

Petra
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

By some miracle it stopped pouring with rain every time we stopped the limo to take a shot. And as soon as we got back in the car it started raining again. The clouds were so awesome that day.

Outside Flinders Street

2010-03-01T10:34:00.000+11:00

outside Flinders Street
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Rom and I always wanted to do a shot with the Fliders Street clocks in the background, and we finally got the chance. Thanks Jennifer, you guys were so great!

patrick

2010-02-27T10:04:00.000+11:00

patrick
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Me and Patrick from Stillmotion down at Fed Square after the Melbourne Stillmotion Experience. We did pretty good with the challenges, with our team getting first place in both of them.

Lynchian Bride

2009-09-16T15:37:00.001+10:00

Lynchian Bride
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Me and Rom picked the worst day to do an outdoor shoot. We had to keep the gals inside cars until the last minute because the 50 kmh winds made their hair and makeup look like they'd just woke up after a drunken night on the town.We had to change the concept a little since there was no way we'd get a glamour shot, so we went for a kind of David Lynch/Steven Klein thing. We used 4 bare 580EXII's since there was no way to put a brolly up. Even then I had 2 flashes hit the concrete from the stands being blown over.
We tried in vain to fire a flash through a scrim but it was like a kite, and nearly dragged the wardrobe girl across town. Next time we'll check the weather report.

ringflash sisters

2009-08-12T10:39:00.003+10:00

ringflash sisters
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Orbis Ringflash and an Ezybox camera right. I cranked the Ringflash up a half stop and that's all it took to get a completely different look. Hard to get any consistency with this combination, but it can look really good when you get it right.

ringflash solo

2009-08-12T10:39:00.001+10:00

ringflash solo
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Trying to get a good balance between an Orbis Ringflash and an Ezybox camera right. As little as half a stop changes the look entirely.

Evolution of a shot

2009-06-25T17:39:00.004+10:00

Here's a sequence of every image from a shoot Rom and I did recently. It shows the progress of setting up the light, the set and the composition.It also reveals how much time and effort we put into getting the expression juuust right!
Big thanks to On One software and their new iPod Touch remote trigger for the 5DII. Works first time every time!

Video Shoot

2009-06-25T17:01:00.003+10:00

Well I finally got around to shooting a video clip with the 5DII. Marc Collis is about to release an album and the first track is a song called 'I Miss Everything'. We shot it at Montsalvat in Melbourne, and Miranda was trying out the latest steps for us in the background. I used Apple Color for the grading, but I went a little overboard. I'll try to be more subtle next time! Molly Meldrum gave the video a spin on channel Seven's Sunrise the other morning.
I've got a couple more videos coming up in the diary. I'll be using a Steadicam for those. Not quite the same as sticking the camera on a tripod.

Jump

2009-05-21T11:06:00.001+10:00

Jump
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

In between takes on a video shoot at Montsalvat in Melbourne. Ezybox and a 580EXII.

wrestler

2009-04-03T16:06:00.001+11:00

wrestler
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Me and my buddy Rom went backstage at the local wrestling and did a series of shots in exchange for the use of their venue for a shoot earlier in the day. We used Roms newly acquired ringflash and a 580EX II to light the curtain at the back.

lindsay with videolight

2009-04-03T16:05:00.001+11:00

lindsay with videolight
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Lindsay at the GPO, but this time with a video light highlighting her face.

The Government

2009-03-20T13:35:00.001+11:00

The Government
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Single 430EX in an Ezybox above and to the left of the camera, Sunpak 383 bare rear left. Sun Rear right.
They didn't like the overpass behind them so I'm doing a reshoot with a different backdrop.
I thought it was kinda OK, but the customer is always right.
Stay tuned for the new shots.

The Government

2009-03-20T13:33:00.001+11:00

The Government
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Single 580EX II in a brolly above the camera, Sunpak 383 bare rear left and rear right.
This is a composite of 3 different shots.

Medee Bear

2009-02-06T14:13:00.001+11:00

mb
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Medee Bear with 2 Sunpak 383's as backlight, left and right, and a Canon 430EX into a small softbox camera right.

jenna sexxay

2008-08-17T09:50:00.001+10:00

jenna sexxay
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Jenna is a singer and we're trying to work out what's a good look for her. Very early stages of image development. While there's no doubt she's not too shabby in the looks department, she's not afraid of being a little goofy too. A great combination. Many hot chicks are too self conscious to act a little silly. But it's something you can't fake.
Sunpak thru an umbrella above and to camera right, and another sunpak thru an umbrella on the floor at a quarter power triggered with pocket wizards.

jenna cute

2008-08-17T09:49:00.002+10:00

jenna cute
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Sunpak thru an umbrella above and to camera right, and another sunpak thru an umbrella on the floor at a quarter power triggered with pocket wizards.
Pocket wizards; fire first time, every time. It is really hard getting a natural cheeky look without it appearing contrived and fake, even when the subject is naturally cheeky. Psychology and great subject interaction is way more important than any lighting technique.

light painting

2008-07-17T12:29:00.004+10:00

light 1
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Thought I'd head off on a tangent here and try some light painting. I got a little torch and put some coloured gels over it, turned out all the lights, got the group to stand totally still for a couple of minutes and then I went ahead and drew all over their faces with the torch. When I was done with that I went behind them and did some random patterns.

Composite

2008-07-17T12:29:00.001+10:00

Composite
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I had a compilation album to do and it involved about six bands, and I didn't want to do the same old bandy type posed shots. So I took headshots of everyone, and for each band got an unusual facial feature from every member and used it as a composite. For the front cover I used a blend of everyone's face. (top left image) It's amazing how attractive the average of all the faces looks compared to the composites.
Mother nature did a pretty good job before I starting messing it up.

Natasha

2008-07-04T17:12:00.002+10:00

Natasha
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Am I starting to feel old? I was touring the world with bands when I was 19 years of age. But when I start doing shoots with people who are smart, talented and only 13 years old, I often wonder what the hell I've been doing with my life. For this shot I used a 45mm tilt shift lens on my 5D.

Brian

2008-07-04T17:11:00.003+10:00

Brian
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

This is an out take from a Sydney band I did a shoot for recently. I thought the light was nice. It's actually getting pretty close to a more painterly style of lighting I've been trying to achieve. Sunpak through an Ezybox triggered by Pocket Wizards.

zygotic portraits

2008-06-12T19:04:00.001+10:00

zygotic portraits
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

These guys were cool with me doing some experiments, so I set up a Sunpak through an umbrella, then lit the background with a tungsten light. The shutter speed was about a quarter second to bring up the background. A side benefit of the long shutter speed was a nice black halo around the guys where I moved the camera a little during the exposure.

zygotic group shot

2008-06-12T19:03:00.001+10:00

zygotic group shot
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Did a shoot for a band called Zygotic yesterday. They're all like 14 and 15 years old, and really good. Kids these days eh? You don't wanna know what I was busy doing every day when I was 14 years old, but it certainly wasn't anything cool.
Really simple lighting on this shot. A single bare Sunpak above and to the right of the camera, and another Sunpak shot into a reflector on the ground in front of them.Some of the light from the top strobe spilled onto the background creating a subtle aura. Maybe too subtle.

Zero Degrees

2008-06-10T09:48:00.001+10:00

Zero Degrees
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

This carpark was interesting because just about every lightbulb was a different type, from low wattage flourescent to very warm incandescent. The blue area at the back is outside and very overcast. CTO gelled flash above the guys. Pretty much straight out of the camera except for the white balance.

marc collis

2008-06-03T16:16:00.001+10:00

marc collis
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I tried using parts of Marc's body as compositional tools to frame his face. I put up a single flash in a brolly above the camera and lit the background with a tungsten light. A slightly longer shutter speed combined with slight movement gave Marc a subtle black outline.
The vignette was in the shot.

Rhythm Hounds

2008-05-21T13:39:00.001+10:00

Rhythm Hounds
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Local hiphop act Rhythm Hounds are being signed to a new label and needed 3 or 4 different looks for various magazines and promos.
Here's a tip; make sure the client brings a few changes of clothes to the shoot if you wanna get some variety. Having the client put in some effort with the way they're presented takes it up a notch and makes the photographer look good too. I don't think the guys knew they were coming in for a photo shoot, so I was behind the eight ball from the start.

2 Sunpak 383 Supers rear left and right with a bare Canon 430EZ above and to the right of camera. Triggered with Pocket Wizards.

Learning from other photographers

2008-05-13T11:41:00.004+10:00

The online photography community is very generous when it comes to the sharing of information. A new blog by Brett Gillett is showcasing some talented artists in his blogger profiles at his new photoblog.

Check it out and get yerself some learnin'!

Hitman

2008-04-24T10:24:00.002+10:00

Hitman
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Another shot from the Modern Legion shoot last month. Me and my buddy Rom headed to the Melbourne Uni carpark where a few scenes from the original Mad Max was filmed early one Sunday morning, then headed to a car show which featured some brilliant american cars from last century, and then put it all together. I know it's not perfect, but we learned a lot and we intend doing a few more of these "scenario" type shots in the future. As long as we can find bands which are as accommodating as these guys were!
I'm the two guys on the ground back there.
This is a composite, but we used two sunpaks triggered with Pocket wizards for the main subjects.

Original modern legion shot

2008-04-21T12:38:00.001+10:00

Original modern legion
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

There have been a few people keen to see the original version of one of my shots recently featured on strobist.com
As I mentioned on that very informative site, the shot was nearly there straight out of the camera, and I just tweaked it a little in Photoshop. The process I used is well documented on strobist.com so I won't bore you by repeating it here.

It's taken me a while to figure out that a shot will never work without properly thought out lighting. My Photoshop skills aren't good enough to rescue a badly lit shot, so I just try to get it right at the shoot.
Thanks for the interest!

Angela and Elvis

2008-04-08T14:29:00.004+10:00

Angela and Elvis
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Angela wanted to try a Chris Isaak/Elvis look, so I got a single Sunpak 383 and bounced it off an A3 sized piece of paper taped to the side wall.
I wanted it to look like a still from a Noir style film.

Angela with a white background

2008-04-08T14:26:00.001+10:00

Angela with a white background
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Part of the same session. A single Sunpak 383 up high on a stand with a translucent plastic bag tied around it. Another sunpak on the floor bounced off an A3 sized piece of paper directly in front of her, just to provide a subtle fill. I'm getting a little frustrated with the recycle time on these little strobes since I have to shoot at full power most of the time. Time to move up when I get some bucks happening.

Angela and the black background.

2008-04-08T14:24:00.001+10:00

Angela and the black background.
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Angela was very patient while I fooled around for a couple of hours trying different lighting and looks. I've been in awe of Dan Winter's portraits for a while now, and I was determined to get close. Unfortunately I failed dismally, but I managed to stumble across a few other ideas in the process. It seems that the quality of light is totally different when I just used the feathered edge of the light as opposed to focusing it straight at the subject. Pointing the flash straight up, and just illuminating Angela with the falloff. A ringflash would have got me part way to the effect I was looking for, but the kids will complain if I put them on yet another diet so I can afford to buy more photo stuff.

Modern Legion chillin' in the alley

2008-03-31T11:42:00.004+11:00

Modern Legion chillin' in the alley
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

2 bare Sunpak 383's as backlights, and another Sunpak through an umbrella high above the camera. We only had half an hour but we managed to get 5 or 6 really good shots. This one has been worked on quite a bit. This is Niagara Lane in the city about 6:30 at night, and the light was quickly disappearing. Melbourne has some pretty good alleys.

Modern Legion, white background

2008-03-31T11:42:00.001+11:00

Modern Legion, white background
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

A different look for Modern Legion. A little less serious and a bit more pop. 2 Sunpak 383's backlighting and another one shot through an umbrella up front. Triggered by pocket wizards.

modern legion

2008-03-31T11:41:00.001+11:00

modern legion
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I did a shoot last week with my buddy Rom, and we went for 5 different looks. We covered alot of ground over the course of four or five hours. This is a composite with a single Sunpak through an umbrella high above, and another sunpak on the ground in front bounced into a silver reflector.

wine glass

2008-03-14T16:57:00.001+11:00

wine glass
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

How hard can it be to light a wine glass? Plenty hard. You don't so much light the glass itself, but rather, the things that are reflecting off the glass. Not much light was directed at the wine glass, but I spent a fair bit of time trying to make the reflections less complicated. Having text on the glass added another level of complexity. I had a softbox behind the glass and two thin strips of white card either side. No front lighting at all. That tended to make the writing invisible.

jump composite breakdown

2008-02-11T17:07:00.001+11:00

jump composite breakdown
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I did this shot last year, and I'm often asked how these guys were able to jump so high. This is actually a composite of 3 different shots, and some messing around in Photoshop.
I work up there in that room top right. I had the shots downloaded and the final comp finished by the time the guys got upstairs thanks to a little pre-planning.
Shadows are always the dealbreaker with composites.
I couldn't do this on a sunny day as the light would have moved too much. The lighting had to be very simple so I didn't make life difficult for myself later on.
Click on the image for a blow by blow breakdown of the shoot...

Katie in the Studio

2008-02-06T11:30:00.003+11:00

Katie in the Studio
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Part of a shoot where we tried to get a few different looks for singer Katie Weston. As usual, a couple of trusty Sunpak 383's triggered by Pocket Wizards. There was quite a bit of Photoshop work with this shot, but I never make public the "pre-Photoshop" photos. Unless of course, I find one of my photos being used uncredited somewhere. Somewhere like, shall we say, MySpace? Hmmm?

Katie and a Sunset

2008-02-06T11:30:00.001+11:00

Katie and a Sunset
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

After the studio shots, we headed down to the Docklands here in Melbourne to get some sunset type shots for a different look. A sunpak behind Katie and to the left gave some backlighting, and a Sunpak camera right through a brolly lit the front.

Katie with a tilt-shift

2008-02-06T11:29:00.001+11:00

Katie with a tilt-shift
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I've recently acquired a 45mm tilt-shift lens and I've used it on every shoot since. Maybe over used. But I LOVE it!
Part of a shoot with singer Katie Weston.

TBWKTM

2008-02-06T11:27:00.001+11:00

TBWKTM
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Part of a 3 hour session with Melbourne band "The Band Who Knew Too Much". After some more formal band shots, we headed down to a local gym for some ring shots. If you want a client to loosen up and give you great expressions, you need to be prepared to be a little goofy yourself. Single Sunpak triggered by Pocket Wizard. The most important consideration with shooting groups is making sure everyone's face is lit, and lit evenly. When there is alot of movement that can be tough

backlit dessert

2007-10-26T09:24:00.001+10:00

backlit dessert
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I did a shoot at a restaurant recently, and they wanted us to take some food shots. Softboxes didn't work at all, so I just used 2 bare strobes, one as a backlight, and the other in front filling the shadows. Seems you can't have dark parts or deep shadows in food shots. It has to be bright, and a little overexposed to look fresh. Bare strobes contribute to the specular highlights, like in jewellery cabinets. I checked out the histogram on some food shots I really liked, and there was practically no detail at all in the darks. So I did the same.

Tilting and shifting

2007-10-26T09:23:00.001+10:00

cait & tys
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I ordered a new Canon 45mm tilt shift lens on a Monday morning from an online New York store, and by Thursday afternoon it had arrived here in Australia and I was using it on a job. Now that's service! There are stores here in Melbourne
that take longer than that to return a phone call. But I love this lens. The kids are six or seven feet apart, but their eyes are in focus. I tilted the lens to it's max, and everything is totally out of focus except a very narrow plane. Depth of field at 2.8 is very small, so it takes some skill to focus, especially when you're trying to focus on two points at once. This is a manual focus lens, and when you've got it tilted or shifted, auto exposure doesn't work, so there's going to be quite a few bad shots over the next few weeks while I get the hang of it, and hopefully some very unique ones.

polarized recording studio

2007-10-22T11:15:00.001+10:00

recording studio
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

After spending half an hour moving the camera fractions of an inch to avoid reflections from the lights in the recording studio, I thought I'd try my polarizer. Instantly I got that hi-tech look that I see in the glossy mags. And no reflections. I always figured a polarizer was good for making skies bluer, and that's about it, but they're actually a very handy filter to have around. I was trying to figure out the lighting on a studio car shot that looked very hi-tech, and I figured there must be a hell of a lot of photoshop going on. Then I noticed a checkerboard pattern on some of the windows. I've seen the same thing while driving around with my polarized sunglasses. At certain angles laminated windows have this pattern.
Try a polarizer when shooting highly reflective metal or glass objects. People wearing glasses. People with shiny skin. Shoot an LCD computer screen and you can dial it down to totally black.
If you want to get experimental, put a polarizer on your lighting as well.
I shot this using ambient light only. No Photoshop.

The Band Who Knew Too Much

2007-10-17T12:24:00.001+10:00

The Band Who Knew Too Much
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I spent a couple of hours with these guys and did some shots at the bar, some at a boxing gym, and a couple of these more formal shots for a promo poster. This was a challenge to light because of the cramped room we were in and the low dark ceiling. But I still wanted a more dramatic backlit look. I ended sticking a couple of Sunpak 383's in the back corners just out of shot, firing into the group, and a brollied 430EX filling in front. The classic problems with this shot are:

1: keeping everyone in the frame evenly lit

2: with the lights in such close proximity to the subject, light falloff was a major problem. The guys closest to the light were in danger of blowing out, while the ones further away were potentially in darkness.

Ordinarily I'd have the lights much further out to prevent that, but the room was way too small.
(I'm kinda surprised the shot worked out actually.)

quarters jump

2007-10-04T14:34:00.001+10:00

quarters jump
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

This looks like a composite, but is actually a single shot. It's for the cover of the Quarter's new CD. If I had a bigger studio I would have been able to blow out the background to avoid the shadows, but I'll get rid of some of the more troublesome ones in Photoshop later.
This the first session with Pocket Wizards instead of my trusty Skyports. Lighting was 2 Sunpak 383's either side and slightly behind the band fired into brollys. Front light was a bare Canon 430EX.
I had a fair idea of how Chris was going to jump, so I got Ivan (on the left) to lean over a little so he'd be peeking through the gap.
This was like the second take and it worked out pretty good. Working with musicians is pretty good sometimes because when I count them in for the shot, they're on it. For some people it's like "1-2-3...blink!"

Marc Collis

2007-09-25T09:54:00.001+10:00

Marc Collis
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Marc is ex-frontman for Melbourne band Whiteroom. We spent a couple of hours getting promo shots for his new projects. Very talented guy. Check him out playing live with Whiteroom. Just go to Youtube and type in Marc Collis.
Lighting was a couple of Sunpak 383 Supers triggered by Elinchrom Skyports. The one on camera right was fired through a 2ft x 2ft softbox with the softbox slightly above head height. This puts more emphasis on the face with some nice subtle falloff below that. You can see the softbox creeping into shot top right. I've since photoshopped it out. A bare 383 fired from camera left lit the background. The post production technique is pretty much the same as I've documented on a couple of my other shots.

furniture after retouching

2007-09-21T11:55:00.001+10:00

furniture after
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I took a job doing an office furniture catalog, and it was a lot tougher than I thought. It took at least an hour to get the lighting right for this shot, taking care not to get any hotspots and making sure there were no distracting shadows. I ended up hanging a large white scrim (What's the old sheet for? Watcha doin'.. hangin' out your laundry? etc...etc...) to the camera left and firing a couple of sunpak 383's through it at full power.
Light falloff was a problem inasmuch as the desk was blown out, but the shelves were underexposed. I had to have the scrim some distance away to reduce this falloff effect. Shadows were reduced further by a Canon 430EX fired into an umbrella camera right. You can see the stand in the "before" photo.

I took all the shots for the catalog using a Canon 24-105mm. Normally my favourite lens, but as it turns out, not so good when it comes to barrel distortion. Something I only noticed when I was trying to create a room for the furniture in Photoshop. No amount of work in lens correction could fix it entirely. I could never get the walls looking right. I'm saving up for a 45mm tilt shift lens, but in the meantime my 10-22mm has much better distortion characteristics.
The frame on the wall was made in Photoshop, and the picture is one of my shots from a visit to Bryce Canyon last year.
To see the "before" shot, click on the photo and follow it through to my flickr page.

clouds

2007-09-21T11:28:00.001+10:00

clouds
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

There were some crazy looking clouds over my house early yesterday morning. Reminded me of War of the Worlds or something.
I've seen some photos on the intertubes like this, but always assumed they were touched up. Seems they were totally real after all.
I guess that's global warming for ya!

Carly

2007-09-11T16:50:00.001+10:00

Carly
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

My buddy at work is always very accommodating when it comes to letting me experiment with new lighting setups.
I've always pointed the softbox or umbrella straight at the subject, but this time Carly couldn't be bothered standing up, so she just sat on the floor. The quality of light was completely different. The softbox was directed at a point just above her head, but the feathering created a very subtle aura.
Sunpak 383 Super fired into a softbox, triggered by a Skyport.

Piano player in a recording studio

2007-09-06T16:16:00.001+10:00

Piano player in a recording studio
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I got tired of lugging my umbrella around, but I figured there's nearly always something to bounce my flash off. In this case, I had my 430EX on my shoe cord pointed at his sheet music. The bounce off the white paper lit his face just right.
One of a series of 30 photos for a Secondary College.

Tyson's billy cart team

2007-08-27T14:59:00.001+10:00

billy cart team
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

My son Tyson and the rest of his team at the Billy cart Grand Prix last weekend.
Trying to get 9 hyperactive eight year olds in one place single handed, and then making sure they're all actually in the shot...well, I tried.
I had intended photographing a few of the 80 or so teams, but after two of them, I was so exhausted I had to go and have a little lie down.
Single sunpak 383 Super backlit by the sun.

media crew

2007-08-24T16:36:00.001+10:00

media crew
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Video and media crew from Dandenong High School.
Backlit by the sun, and front lit by a Sunpak 383 triggered by a Skyport through a little umbrella. I'd just blown all my lunch money on this new umbrella, and I wanted to try it on something, and these guys were very obliging!
I'm breaking a few rules of beginner photography in this one, but I guess rules are there to be ignored. This is in full direct sunlight, and I'm shooting into the sun.

Brothers In Harmony

2007-08-24T16:35:00.001+10:00

Brothers In Harmony
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Acapella group from Melbourne.
Great guys, very positive and very talented!
Side lighting with groups is very challenging. I'm definitely going to toplight groups from now on! If one person moves even a little, they end up blocking the light from someone else. You spend too much time on technical issues rather than expression.

Also, it's important to get some distance between light and subject to minimise falloff. Put the flash too close in, and some people in the group will be overexposed and some underexposed.
I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out!

2 Sunpak 383's on stands either side of the guys about 5 metres away.

Cait & Tys in the fog

2007-08-20T12:12:00.001+10:00

Cait & Tys in the fog.jpg
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I've been concentrating less on fancy lighting and more on extracting some of the personality of the subject. Nothing like dragging the kids out of bed on a foggy winter morning to make that happen! Cait's usually a little grumpy first thing, and Tys always sees this as a brilliant opportunity to annoy his sister.
Equipment:
Single Sunpak 383 into an umbrella camera left.
Canon 30D
Alarm clock set to 6am.

Tys in the fog

2007-08-20T12:11:00.001+10:00

Tys in the fog.jpg
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

My son Tyson in the park on a foggy morning yesterday. The hardest part of this shot was getting out of bed before the fog disappeared. I like the way the flash lends the scene a surreal edge, although it's probably a little overdone. If I brought the ambient light up by a stop (reducing the shutter speed from 250 to 125) it might improve things. Single Sunpak 383 into an umbrella camera left. Background underexposed 2 stops.
I remember when Cait and Tys found a dead moth outside, and Cait asked Tys "does it hurt when you die Tys?" and Tys replied " No, but it hurts everyone else." I think he was about 4 at the time.

Girls in the alley

2007-08-15T13:29:00.001+10:00

girls.jpg
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

I always say a good portrait is 99% expression. Well, actually, I've only started saying that recently. But I've begun to realise the truth in it. No matter how fancy your lighting setup, or how good your photoshop skills are, if you aren't capturing some of the essence of the subject, nobody is going to care. I'm not saying that's what I've done here, but I'm slowly moving away from worrying about doing "clever" lighting, and I'm beginning to think about how to make the subject feel comfortable enough to reveal some personality. Unfortunately, clever lighting and tricks have an immediate impact, and when you're early in your career, you sometimes can't afford to be subtle. Or tasteful for that matter. You need to slap the viewer in the face and say "here I am!" Annie Leibovitz said she can't look at much of her earlier work because of the overbearing lighting and contrived setups. I'd argue that without that earlier work, nobody would give a hoot about her current stuff, no matter how brilliantly subtle it is. You need to be loud to get noticed initially. Once you've got people noticing, then you can do tasteful. And hope your clientele sticks with you.
Single Sunpak 383 Super backlighting. Triggered by Elinchrom Skyport, and front lit by the sun.

The Quarters

2007-07-31T13:58:00.001+10:00

The Quarters
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

We had to dash out between traffic to get this one! we'd wait for a red light and the six of us would literally run out, take the shot, and run back to safety. The sky was overcast, and backlighting is pretty obvious in this one! Two Sunpak 383's triggered by Skyports and held by a couple of the band's friends. The sunpaks were snooted, and our helpers were sometimes too concerned about oncoming traffic to point the light accurately. Someone hit their horn and the guy with the guitar responded in typical rock star fashion! Pretty cool. Looking at this shot now, I should have worked harder on eliminating all the clutter in the background. Electrical wires, poles, parked cars. I learn something new every shot.

Sambrose Automobile

2007-07-23T14:58:00.001+10:00

Sambrose Automobile
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

A Sunpak 383 super handheld to camera left, and another one behind the guys on a stand for backlighting. Broad daylight. Triggered by Elinchrom Skyports. It's nice to have a band that doesn't mind looking happy for a change.

Cidersweets

2007-07-23T14:57:00.001+10:00

Cidersweets
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

These guys insisted on doing one of those multiple exposures, so I went along with it. The whole thing only took about half an hour, including the Photoshop work, thanks to a little pre-planning. The camera was on a tripod for the 4 separate shots. I made sure there was just enough overlap between the shots so that there was no obvious grouping that would ruin the illusion, but not so much that it would take too much time to complete the job. It's important to minimise the shadows and have relatively flat lighting with this sort of thing. It's really hard to paint in shadows, or eliminate them when they're not supposed to be there. I had somebody holding a Sunpak 383 Super triggered by an Elinchrom Skyport, standing directly in front of the guys for each shot, and just brushed her out later. Compositionally, the big area in the top right was intentionally left uncluttered for the typography.

Amy

2007-07-21T11:41:00.001+10:00

Amy 1
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Amy was kind enough to allow me to take some shots in some not so typical locations.
Sunpak 383 on a stand just to the left of the camera, firing into a shoot-through umbrella. Another Sunpak, (snooted with a toilet roll) further back down the alley, just out of shot, camera right, aimed at Amy's head. The sun also gave a little bit of backlighting.
Desaturated in Lightroom. That's it. Except for the crowd of onlookers behind me!
It was after this shoot that I finally realised that no matter how careful you are with lighting and location, if expression isn't there, it will never be a great portrait. This is almost wholly the responsibility of the photographer in my opinion. While this shot of Amy is pretty good technically, it was the first of the session, and I hadn't been concentrating on making Amy feel confident and relaxed. It took a while before I was able to make her feel comfortable and we finally got some great photos.

Masketta Fall do Harry Potter

2007-07-21T10:56:00.001+10:00

Masketta Fall do Harry Potter
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

Masketta Fall get the Harry Potter look!
You can see flare from one of the lights creeping into the shot on the right edge of the pic, about 3 metres down the alley. The other light was to camera left. Both lights were Sunpak 383's on stands triggered by Skyports, and snooted with the empty rolls from toilet paper. Snooting the light makes it appear more dramatic. The Sunpaks were set to full power to overcome the ambient light. (it was the middle of the day)
The toughest part was making sure everybody was lit by both strobes.

The Reefs

2007-07-21T10:54:00.001+10:00

The Reefs
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

The Reefs were nice enough to do a big jump for me.
Two sunpak 383's on stands either side of the camera, triggered by Elinchrom Skyports. In the alley where I work. (I don't actually work in the alley!?) I wanted the sun to backlight the shot, but it wouldn't come out for me. Maybe next time!
I've had lots of questions about the post processing, but it's not really any great secret, but if the lighting and the exposure aren't just right, it will never look right.
I open the unsharp mask dialog box and crank up the Radius slider so that it's greater than the Amount slider. The opposite of what you'd normally do. I then desaturate slightly. Then repeat untli it stops looking good. This look is starting to become a little dated now, with photographers like Jill Greenberg and Dave Hill being much better at it than I am.

Kickers

2007-07-21T10:44:00.001+10:00

Kickers
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

In the studio with a black backdrop.
This is a single flash setup with a slightly diffused Sunpak 383 overhead and bounced into a reflector underneath the girls. They were five or six feet from the backdrop and I made sure there was no light falling on it.

The Dudes in the studio

2007-07-21T10:31:00.001+10:00

The Dudes in the studio
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

This is one of the shots I took in the studio for a band called The Dudes. Sam's hair looked good, and I figured I could feature it, but not in a "hey check out the hair" kinda way.
I used my trusty Sunpak 383 Supers bounced off big pieces of A2 paper taped to the wall. Triggered by Elinchrom Skyports.

me

2007-07-20T14:16:00.000+10:00

Brendan O'Shea
Originally uploaded by brendan.oshea

The last day of my motorcycle trek around the Southwest USA on the biggest, loudest, smelliest and blackest Harley I could get. The public swimming pool at Twentynine Palms had just opened for the season, and since I hadn't seen water for about a week at this point, I made good use of their showers. Thanks guys!