[DerekLaverty]

September 29, 2007 at 10:41 am

Hi Blade, the best place I have used to date is Loxley Colour. They have a really fast turnaround and are reasonably priced. If it’s portrait shots you are getting processed they will do free colour correction for you if you want. Or you can tick a box for them to leave it alone and process them as you have it. You need to download a small progam called Loxley ROES. then just upload the images in the sizes you want and usuall 2 days later they are on the doorstep……..

Hope this helps………….

Derek………..

[DerekLaverty]

April 4, 2007 at 10:35 pm

Well Done Roberto, I think this is a great image, The tree line on the left leads the viewers eye into the image, ie towards the valley, then your eye is drawn down the valley and into the rest of the image, the colours are great and the image is nice and sharp from what i can see, my only “nit” and it is a nit is that to me the sky is very uneventful but at the end of the day there isn’t too much you can do about that. All in all i think it’s a smashing image, well done thanks for sharing…….

Derek……….

[DerekLaverty]

March 21, 2007 at 11:24 pm

Hi Graham, for me the shot doesn’t work. ( Personal opinion ). I don’t like the amount of detail that has been lost in the image, i.e. I’m not sure if the fellow is bald or has hair like Albert Einstien. The way his bread dissapears into his jumper and his jumper into the background. The facial tones in the image are way too dark for my liking also. Not sure if it’s my monitor or not but there seems to be a slight sepia tint on the image as well. Sorry for the harsh critique but it’s just not my bag, but at least you got out there and took the pic, for that i give you full marks………

Derek………….

[DerekLaverty]

March 16, 2007 at 5:47 pm

No Problem, it’s pretty straight forward once you get sorted. I’ll tell you my set-up and you can work from there.

Firstly as Brandyman said it’s done using incence sticks, I use a black background about two metres away from the sticks. I have two studio heads set to about 400watts each. One at ninety degree’s to the camera position and at the same height. The other is opposite but higher and pointing downwards onto the smoke. I have no diffusion on the heads at all, just bare flash tubes. I have the camera set to manual at a shutter speed of 1/250 and the aperature set to f22. Focus is a little tricky as you cant really see if it’s sharp or not with the smoke. So I use a text page to get the focus manually at the same point as the smoke is rising. ISO is set to 100. Then just click away…………

Once i get an image I put it through PS set the levels and the trick is to invert the image. This then makes the background white and the smoke dark, then it’s just a matter of adjusting the colours to suit yourself……..

Hope this helps, any questions please feel free to ask…………….

Derek……………………

[DerekLaverty]

March 15, 2007 at 10:39 pm

Thanks folks , obviously wasting my time here looking for constructive critique………….

[DerekLaverty]

March 14, 2007 at 10:52 pm

Thanks JB7

[DerekLaverty]

March 14, 2007 at 10:28 pm

Hi Carl, Yeap, they are enjoying the wee dog, saves me from being run ragged at night, Thanks for your comments.

Derek…………………

[DerekLaverty]

March 2, 2007 at 6:53 pm

Thanks very much Rob. With the long dark nights of winter we need some sort of release…… lol…..

[DerekLaverty]

March 1, 2007 at 11:34 pm

I’m not really too good with the computer, it’s a much as i can do to get it up as a thunbnail. How do you embed the image on the page??????

[DerekLaverty]

February 19, 2007 at 9:54 pm

Not sure what the images are off KPM, but for all my wedding images I use a lab in Scotland called Loxley. http://www.loxleycolour.com I find the quality top notch, 3 days from upload to doorstep and they will do skin tone colour correstion free of charge if you need it done, I cant fault them at all. You have to download a program called Loxley ROES, but it’s well worth it.

[DerekLaverty]

February 14, 2007 at 9:34 pm

Hi All,

Expresbro, There is a well known photographer in the north down area that had a shot a lot like this blown up and framed. The shot was about 30 x 20 or around this. It was in his window for a long time and a lot of people had remarked on it. I love the shot, I thinks it very abstract if that the right word, very modern. There is another well known studio consortium in the uk, they do a lot of work that is like this, they call them lifestyle portraits, some of the work they do is outstanding and other stuff in my opinion is ” dubious ” to say the least. It’s all about what pleases you and if you are commissioned for a job they what the client likes. the only thing although not any type of a problem is the border/ frame, I’m not to keen on that although if it was to be framed and mounted it wouldn’t be and issue. For me it works , well done and thanks for sharing………….

Brandyman, I like your work on this shot, you seem to have gained a high key effect and kept a lot more detail. Well Done also.

All in all I think we have 2 terrific images here. Expresbro has the modern, hip image and Ross the more traditional image. Either one I feel would be impressive in large print mounted on the wall.

[DerekLaverty]

February 14, 2007 at 2:10 am

Thanks for that link Gerry, it makes some interesting reading. I have added it to my favourites and will be going back to look at it agin in more depth. Thanks for the link………

[DerekLaverty]

February 14, 2007 at 2:04 am

Hi all, well Ryan, my studio is 12′ wide 25′ long and about 8′ high. As most of the other guys have said, if I had it to do again I would go wider and higher. Don’t get me wrong, for the majority of work it’s great. On a few occassions I have had an issue with height. Apart from that no probs and I’m reasonably happy with my set up

[DerekLaverty]

February 4, 2007 at 11:20 pm

Shutterbug, I have a friend who has a whole array of Minolta lenses. Not sure if they would suit your job or budget but I know they are for sale and I can ask if you like.

[DerekLaverty]

February 4, 2007 at 11:15 pm

I have just seen a fantastic image posted else where on the forum by Alison Boland. This is the type of thing I was talking about…… https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=2170