The Primary Photographer was the very amazing Aaron Storry, if you do nothing else today go and have a look at his website and Facebook pages, simply beautiful work.

Anyway long story short here are a few of my images, now out of embargo and available to look at.

I must also express my deep thanks to Aaron for the opportunity.

My thanks also go to Steve and Emily for allowing me to document their special day

The ceremony was held at Higham Ferrers Church.

Happy wedding days! Neil

ALL COPYRIGHT REMAINS WITH AARON STORRY FOR THESE IMAGES

Just a little short blog today.

I was lucky enough to be asked to visit Silverstone Race Circuit n the UK.  partly to do with organising a christmas party event there.

Long story short, we booked the party.  Whilst we were there, the organisers asked us if we wanted to have a high-speed lap in a sports car around the circuit, naturally being a massive sports car enthusiast i jumped at the chance.  We piled down the pitlane, and admired the Ferrari’s all happily sat waiting, the other got in their cars and I found that there wasn’t enough for me to have one, cue a slight sulk.

This was very soon corrected after the organiser said do you mind if you go in a works prepared Drift car, cue Massive

needless to say i was strapped in and we set off for the ride of my life, I’ve been in several fast cars and at high speeds before (over 150mph), but never in a driftcar.  I feel confident in saying the bulk of the journey was sideways, simply epic is the only ay to describe it

below is a few shots of the Ferrari’s, and one of me in the drift car.

Happy days

Neil Balderson

www.nb-photos.co.uk

Today’s little blog is how I built my home studio…. Enjoy!

So as with all photographers I had dreams of my own studio, let’s be honest who doesn’t. I did my research and looked at all the options, I could get a paper roll and stand for a £200+, or I could rent a unit, for £1000 a month, I decided I needed more than a roll of paper, but I also knew I had only about £250 to spend. Tricky some may say.

I say it’s a challenge.

I started looking around at what space I had for free, and this amounted to the spare room, or the garage, the wife uses the spare room as a dressing room so that was out. Below is a picture of the garage before I started, I think you can begin to see the challenge. I should also state at this point I also have a car in there (the orange thing), and it needs to live in the garage when not in use as a studio.

I said it would be a challenge.

Job 1 amounted to simply clearing the garage out of all the junk I had collected over time. Actually job one was clearing out the shed in the garden to make room for the bit I wanted to keep from the garage. Subsequently I found several bits I could actually sell on eBay, hmmm the budget just went up by another £60, thank you eBay! after a form of “filtering” and 8 trips, (yes 8) down to the local recycling centre (the dump), I had a semi empty space that actually started to look like I had possibilities. It should be noted that this took 2 whole days on its own, but actually I guess that’ll depend on how much of a hoarder like me you are

I knew that the big strip light would be too over powering to have on whilst shooting, not to mention the colour casts, so I decided I needed some little subtle lights in the ceiling. Ahh there a small problem, the garage has no celling. Actually the solution to this was very simple and actually doubled as an additional storage area! I simply went down the local DIY shop and bought some loft boards, you know the chipboard you put down in the loft to stop you falling through the floor / roof. The advantage of this was they a cheap ~£6 for three boards, and I only needed 5 packs (£30) to do the two ends of garage (I had a plan for the middle section). The second advantage this had was to create a false ceiling which in turn gave some more hidden storage space! #forthewin.

Now for the centre section I decided to have a little expense, I used the pitch angle of the roof trusses and lined then with simple plasterboard to create an alcove recess in the roof. This gave the feeling of a larger space and the opportunity to have the studio lights at a higher height than a standard room ceiling would allow. I think the images explain this best. as an anecdote my neighbour walked past whilst I was in the roof space and all she could see were my legs not moving and had a small panic I’d done something silly (i.e. self shuffleled of this mortal coil). The plasterboard was £9 a sheet and needed 6 (£54). With the addition of a bit of filler to smooth out the gaps, and a ton of elbow grease sanding it looked nice and smooth.

Now the roof was created and the extra storage space used to tidy the rest of the bits up, I was starting to feel quite impressed with myself. The additional subtle lighting came from a pack of 3 down lighters I’d found while tidying, (bonus at a cost of £0). These would be fitted at a later time after the room had been painted (yes I started calling it a room!)

Next believe it or not was the longest portion of the task. Painting the room, oh dear god the painting, I learned the hard way, the cinder blocks and bare plasterboard act as a sponge to Paint. I seem to remember using nearly 25ltrs of Brilliant white paint needing three coats. I hate painting at the best of times. I did the whole of the room, walls, and celling in the same white, white everywhere. There was some debate as to if I should paint the ceiling or walls darker to avoid light reflection but I decided against it. Actually in the end it helped as I can use the walls as muted reflectors! (Total cost of paint £30)

So how we doing so far £30 + £54 + £30 = £114 not bad really. So as you can see we have a basic white shell, but still a nice cold concrete floor and no background. Now you may be wondering what I’m going to do about the background, well that’s coming right up after we discuss the floor.

Once again I looked around and trying to work out how to save my money, I’ve only got less than £150 left.  I decided to lie down and simple water proof membrane, as I knew that moisture could get in under the garage door, this was a basically a thin continues plastic sheet.  On top of this for a bit of insulation was some felt type underlay, hoping to trap a little heat and stop the models feet getting too cold! And finally on top of this was simple chipboard interlocking flooring.  I had some paint left over from the walls and ceiling so it was used to paint the floor white. Finished bosh Job done!

Total cost of flooring £48.  So we’re up to £162 which leaves me with only £88 to get me a screen. Now as most of you will know you can’t buy a background Stand for less than that.  Here’s where my master plan came into action #mwahaha

I noticed sometime ago that Lorries have trailer on with Canvas sides, we’ve all seen them but probably never noticed. I managed to get a good close look at one, and I noticed the material was a single piece with no joins, I thought this would be ideal as a background material, it’s strong, waterproof, washable, and presumably comes in an array of colours.  The tricky part came from finding and sourcing some, it’s not like it’s your of the shelf homebase item.  A fairly quick Google search found a few companies that sold it online, it tends to come in 3mtr wide rolls and is sold by the metre, so If you want I little screen you can make one, or if you want a whole room you can too, and if you ask the seller, they will dispatch it rolled up so it doesn’t get creases in it! (That’s a top tip)  I opted to order 7 metres, and then trim the width to fit my room. Total cost £77, (a comparative professional screen would have been well over £300 on its own)

Only £11 left is I going to make it….. Remember I still have no way of mounting the back ground I just bought, cue second flash of inspiration.

I remember I was at work and looking at a new fire escape being assembled, and it was fundamentally a series of straight pipes and pre formed cast bends.  I noticed too that before the grub screws were tightened the poles rotated freely.  It dawned on me that I could mount a couple of floor bases on the wall with a pole between them that would then freely rotate and allow the screen to be packed away after use, sourcing a pole and two bases cost a nice £18

Ok I know I went over budget but it was only by £7, I think you can let me off that!

A few samples images of the finished article and a few of the images I’ve taken in the Studio!

Always happy to have feedback.

Neil Balderson

info@nb-photos.co.uk

www.nb-photos.co.uk

So it’s the end of another year and time for the usual end of the year rituals.

A personal little ritual I Have is to make an end of the year annual, featuring all the best work I’ve made during the year.

I don’t normally sell these, they are just a little something I do to keep a visual log of my work and remind myself what I’ve been up to during the year.

It’s certainly been an interesting year, featuring, babies, models, weddings, Sport scars, and a trip to USA.  Needless to say it’s always good to remember what you’ve done.  You learn to appreciate it more if you do.

Below is a sample of the introduction pages.

1st sample Teaser

And below that is a link to a previous year’s annual should you be so interested to read it!

2010 NB-Photos Annual

Don’t forget my Facebook fan page and website should you choose to want to follow me during next year.

Merry Christmas and Happy new year

Neil

It’s been some time since I wrote, too long in fact.

Last week whilst enjoying the pleasures of Facebook (I have an bad habit of playing castleville…), I got into a chat conversation with a rather amazing photographer, whose work in natural light I’ve admired for some time.

Long and short of it I was asked to come along on a trial as a second shooter for him at an upcoming wedding.  I think it must have taken me all of 3 seconds to think about it and agree, Who wouldn’t want to work and learn from Aaron Storry.

So the rest of the week was spent re-reading my shooting weddings in Natural light book, charging and checking lens, cleaning kit, and most importantly finding that one tie I own!

I have an unnatural worry when shooting in natural light; I suspect my main problem is watching others do it, look easy and not remembering the frames they don’t use and the years of training behind it.  Look at it this way; no one has ever released a book of outtake frames…..

My other concern is I know my gear limitations at High ISO, much over 800, and image quality suffers.  Not a problem when I’m using my flash as I can shoot at ISO200 and compensate.  The D700 purchase will soon fix that.

That said, I turned up today and met Aaron, a genuinely top bloke, and shot my frames.

The DVD of images is now burned and sat waiting to be dropped round to him.

I can only hope I’ve done enough to impress him and I get asked back for more work, but I can assure if I don’t  I will do eventually

Many thanks Aaron!

Happy shooting

Neil

So now instead of going on a rant about my troubles I actively try to resolve them, even if the solutions seem illogical to everyone else.

Frustration 1: People don’t get back to me about a photo shoot when they say there interested. (even when i offer it as free, yep that’s a saving of £75 they’re missing)

Solution 1: Not a problem for me, i have a long list of people wanting free shoots so off the list you go (previously I’d run around a chase them and do all the work, but why should i when I’m the one providing the service!) lesson learned there Neil!

Frustration 2: So Many “photographers” on Facebook it’s hilarious

Solution 2: Not a problem, by definition, apparently, “if you own a camera, you’re a professional photographer” I’ve never yet claimed to be a professional I’m just a very keen amateur, yet in my modest opinion my work is of a fairly high calibre.  more over  if people want to go and use a £10 photographer that their choice, and a learning point for them.  So once again I’m happy. win win situation

I’ve never yet fallen out with anyone over any of these frustrations, but i need to protect myself from getting ill again, something I’m all to aware could happen if I’m  not careful.

I Have many more frustrations that no doubt will resolve in time

SOO As A Little treat here is a re-edit of one of the first shoots i ever did

Beauty in the shadows

Happy Shooting

Neil

Most crucially I’ve been taught to imagine every penny we spend is my own…  So for example “if it was your money, would you agree to that price and product?”  This has drilled into me the need to buy High Quality, cost efficient equipment.

For this reason I’ve recently invested over £3K of my own money into new Lighting equipment.  After much investigation and testing I opted to purchase / buy into the Elinchrom Range.  I have a preference for mobility and lightness but with maximum power, for this reason I opted for the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra RX series.

Now as a reminder this is my OWN money, not a loan or grant, this could be viewed as a significant risk by some. 

I don’t see it like this.  I produce images that make both the client and myself happy.  I’m sick and tired of seeing people disappointed when they go for a “photoshoot” with a “photographer”, the phrase “oh but it was only £20, I thought they’d look like the magazines” is heard to many times.

Below is an Image I produced (in fact the very first using the new lights), on one of my Model taster session shoots. So here’s a question…..

How much would you pay for this…..?

Wanna Look this good......

(apologies if the image has degraded on Upload GRRRRRR)

Well if you want to know send me a mail info@nb-photos.co.uk

(I’ll give you a clue the whole taster session is less than £100)

Now back to the title….

Speculate to accumulate i.e. spend £20 x 5 times and hope you get a good photo

OR

Invest in Quality i.e. spend less than £100 and get 10 images that are great

I invested in quality….. Shouldn’t you……

In the past week, I ended up photographing the second most
powerful man in Nissan, Colin Dodge. Which in itself led to 2 wedding enquiries
(never saw that one coming…!)

It was certainly an interesting experience, having been at
weddings with 100-150 guests and that can be intimidating, trying to work
around 600+ crowd, and a video crew (so no flash allowed) was to say the least
tricky!  All that said we have had loads
of positive feedback so fingers crossed for repeat work.

Then came the big news of the week, out of the blue was a
phone call wanting to discuss usage of an image I have for sale.  The image is one of the many I have of
England Rugby Team.  After some
discussion the sale price was agreed, and I have found that the image is to be
used in the next 5 England game programs at Twickenham.

As a massive English Rugby Fan I can’t explain my excitement
at this.

So good time ahead let’s see what the rest of the month has
to offer.

Happy Shooting

Neil

Been a few days since the last post, and I’ve been having a rough couple of days, my heads just not been wanting to play ball.

Anyway I’ve been trying to decide how to move the work forward, don’t get me wrong I’m happy with everything at the minute, but failure to move forward is the same as moving backwards.

If I put my corporate business head on, it’s telling me to advertise. But this needs to be a cautious plan. When you advertise, are you actually advertising your business or your brand? Brand marketing is crucial but converting this into successful sales is tricky.

My personal plan for the business growth has always been an organic one, anything that grows naturally, will always be healthier and stronger than a forced pattern. The business has been growing well, but I discovered an old adage that has never been truer. It’s the simple ones you forget.

“..Nothing beats actually talking to your clients. Press the flesh!”

You want someone to buy something from you, you don’t just stand on a corner with a camera, you need to actually go and talk to people, your selling a service not a product. Go to baby clubs, talk to the mums, show them samples and hand out your card, go to wedding dress shops, show them samples and hand out your card, got to sports events, show them samples……. Well you get the idea.

Nothing beats physically talking to people, do it people, go and press the flesh!

Happy shooting

Neil

Oh wait, no I haven’t, but I have managed to recycle the same usual stuff you can find anywhere on the web, NOT!.  BUT I have got a few pointers I can recommend.

1)      Never assume that because you know which side of the camera to hold that you the next Rankin – I’d take a very safe bet, your not, you may be good, you may one de be great, but only one in a million are a Rankin.

2)      Don’t give your work away for free, UNLESS you want to. I still do TFCD shoots when the subject interests me, or I want to work with that person.

3)      Be prepared to say NO – You will never cease to be amazed by the amount of people that want something for free, yes by all means I’ll tailor a package to you, but not for free, (see point 2)

4)      All the Gear No idea – I’m still building up my kit and by comparison it’s basic, compared to true professionals.  BUT the number of times I’ve seen people shooting with a £1K camera and £1K lens, and can’t understand where the built in flash is trying to go off and they don’t seem to like me going “Erm that’s in auto mode mate”, start basic, and learn your gear, learn it well.

5)      Finally be prepared to be laughed at. –  I once got laughed at with my, quote, “toy camera”, yes it’s not a Nikon D3X, but I’ve shot at Silverstone, Rugby at Twickenham, Bears in the Canadian rainforest, Whales in the Atlantic, dolphins in Scotland, Weddings, and NASCAR in America, so I guess it’s not too bad.

Bottom line my friends, just be happy and avoid impatience, all good things to those who wait.

Happy shooting

Neil