As things get back to the new normal there are bound to be less exhibitions and more online launches for all sizes of business.
To facilitate that I can offer up to four cameras with switching from camera to camera live, or three cameras and say a Powerpoint slide presentation.
All this with proper sound and lighting - it can be recorded, or recorded and streamed live to say YouTube or even Facebook.
A few weeks ago I ran a test at home.
This test uses three fixed positions cameras and one camera on robotic slider, lighting is a mix of Dedolight and Kinoflo
I can live stream from location, I also have 5g Router.
Essentially the broadcast studio comes to you, a couple of hour setting up and we are good to go, can also include teleprompter/autocue.
Get in touch if this might be of help - James Rudd - 07909 990849.
]]>The finished video above was posted on Facebook and Twitter and at today's date has had over 30k views.
Shot in 4k and 1080p, lit with Dedolight and Kinoflo lights.
Shot on Canon 1dxmkii in 4k, some at 60p, on a Rhino Slider with Motion and Arc to get the smooth shots. The over the top shots on the bike were shot on a Ronin S gimbal.
The background is a Lastolite Panoramic black background.
One interesting element of the video is the apparent camera flashes of the reveal, these are in fact special effect from the two Kinoflo lights the dark to light reveal was done in camera.
See below a quick timelapse of part of the shoot.
Get in touch if you need launch, or product videos - office 01327 811627.
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Video is becoming more and more important - producing high quality videos with proper lighting whether talking heads, products, corporate events or interviews is my stock in trade.
Using proper Canon Cinema Cameras, with Cinema Lenses and the fabulous light quality provided by Dedolight with give your video that cinematic feel.
Social media is seeming to dominate the media with short, effective videos with high production values putting companies in the best light.
Let James Rudd Photography help you produce your video - get in touch - 01327 811627 or mobile 07909 990849.
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In 2018 I started to shoot a lot of videography adding to my offer - many of these were talking heads - or interviews and that required investment in continuous lighting - most headshots and business portraits are shot with strobes or flash.
The above image taken with a Hasselblad medium format digital camera and is lit with continuous lighting, in this case Dedolight.
The shot has one 1x1 panel with a softbox and grid, a hard light flooded with a 1x1 softbox and grid, a hairlight spotted with a slightly cooler white balance and also another flooded light with a projector attached.
The projector has a gobo that mimics a blind - this is projected onto a paper background and deliberately de-focussed to give a feeling of depth.
The subject was sitting on a stool about a foot in front of the background.
The result is a pleasing actor's headshot in the classic style with the talent looking directly at the camera with little facial expression.
The benefit of using continuous lighting is that it provides a good platform for both videography and photography at the same time.
Call James on 01327 811627 to discuss your photography and videography requirements.
I recently completed a fabulous project to create an Annie Liebovitz Vanity Fair style shoot.
The commission took place in the Great Room at New Hall Hotel and Spa in Sutton Coldfield, where a group of friends were holding 1920s style murder mystery weekend and in full costume wanted to create a Vanity Fair feature style look.
There were around 19 people, one dog and a small child in the shoot, it was very tight for space and the lighting quite difficult.
Shot on a medium format Hasselblad H5d with a 28mm lens, lit by three B1 Profoto lights with shoot through brollies close together and one Profoto A1 with a dome.
I was thrilled with the out of camera results - shot tethered to a laptop on a Tethertools stand.
In the preliminary discussions it was determined that we would source a trunk, and two step ladders, we also borrowed a chair and I also used some Manfrotto posing cushions.
We took a variety of shots including a stoic look, a happy look, shocked look, a murderous look and a disbelieving look.
If you would like a family or group portrait, do get in touch with me - James Rudd - 01327 811627 or by email.
Below early behind the scenes photograph, showing some of the set up and how tight it was.
Last summer in August 2017 I was commissioned to shoot a green screen photograph to be comped into an App on location - and supply the green screen behind the scenes work for the video interview shot at the same time.
The talent had not been on a photoshoot before and although shooting medium format with a Hasselblad digital camera, I was able to mock up the final look on location to help coaching and get the best image.
The final image went out on a national press advertising campaign and London based Tech Show.
In the video below you can see some behind the scenes footage of the actual shoot.
Green screen background, Profoto battery powered studio lights on location, shooting tethered to preview the images and also comping a mock upon the fly to match the brief.
Of course, green screen or chromakey work is fairly specialist. This could have been a business portrait or a headshot, or even a commercial assignment, working together with creatives, on location at short notice and producing high quality on spec, on budget work is the key.
Get in touch with James Rudd for your shoot - call 01327 811627 office or email [email protected]
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As a photographer from time to time people might say, "Oh you don't need all that equipment my iPhone 6 takes fantastic pictures!"
Well the answer to that is yes and no.
I have been shooting with Canon dSLRs since things went digital and they produce great results, they have good resolution and they are fast to use but... and there is a but, very often with portraits and business headshots whilst everyone thinks speed is key, what actually is important is getting a very high quality image.
I invested in a Hasselblad H5D with an 80mm F2.8 lens, the sensor on the camera is nearly twice the size of my 35mm equivalents and it has at least twice the resolution, but its not all about pixel quantity, pixel size is very important. Pixels on a medium format sensor are bigger and the sheer size of the sensor allows it to capture much more light.
But because the sensor is bigger, the camera is bigger, the lens is bigger, there is better depth of field control and then there is that something... as a photographer my advice is that if you never intend to go down the medium format route - Don't look through a Hasselblad view finder - its very bright, very big and you'll never want to go back to 35mm or smaller every again!
Medium format does not do 14 frames a second, more like one, but that one frame, produces a 16 bit file - so why is that important?
A jpeg is typically 8 bit, this has 256 levels of grey per channel, (there are three channels, red, green and blue).
A Canon dSLR is capable of producing 14 bit files these have an impressive 16,000 levels per channel - significantly more.
But wait for it, a 16 bit tiff from a Hasselblad H5D has an incredible 65,353 levels per channel.
What does this mean in the final image, it means many things:
- Headroom for editing or post processing
- Provides very clean and smooth gradations
- Accurately reproduces colour and subtle tonal changes
- Holds detail
- Helps with expanded dynamic range - the sensor can record further into dark and light subjects and be able to hold detail
The real answer is very high quality images with great detail and colour that are produced by the high possible quality professional camera, sensor and lens.
I shoot tethered, this means that files which the camera generate are ported directly to a laptop where they can viewed. Once they are on the laptop a little App called Phocus that is available on Apple Iphones, Ipads and Android devices allows clients to view and rate their images there and then too.
Reviewing the images on a laptop also helps with the sitting and coaching process to produce the best results.
So to conclude whilst it might be possible to take a headshot with an iPhone, it does not look quite so good when its ported to a computer, or even blow up to a photo frame - it would never make a poster. Literally its 256 levels of colour versus 65,353, its not really a competition. Much better to get it done properly.
Get in touch to talk about your headshot, business portrait or photography requirements. I come to you.
Telephone James on 01327 811627 or email: [email protected]
]]>Initially many people just used an image they had, some were even taken from holiday snaps or weddings with other people cut off!
However in the connected business world, first impressions are very important and a good, high quality, clean head shot or business portrait makes a massive difference to your profile or website.
More important is the impression it makes on your friends, customers and prospects.
There is a static somewhere that shows that people get more views of their profile if they have a good image.
Make sure you give your company, your business or yourself the best prospects by having a professional high quality headshot for your profile
A few basics:
- Business head shots for company websites all need to look the same or as if they were taken at the same time, despite new employees arriving - the high key white back ground is very popular and effective across all platforms - desktop, mobile or tablet.
- High key (white background) work very well on presentations and CVs
- Colour or black and white is a personal choice
- PR shots tend to be more dramatic, often on location
- Make sure you and your team ready for the shots.
- Monday mornings are probably not ideal!
If you feel you headshots need updating get in touch - email [email protected] or call me on 01327 811627
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