Red Kite shoot.

On a rainy grey overcast morning of March the 31st, Richard Peters, Luke Massey and myself met up in Oxfordshire to shoot the Red Kites., the forecast looked optimistic and promised us some sunshine, but as we all know, the weather in the UK can be temperamental.
I'd been to this particular location of Richard's on a previous shoot with him. We arrived within ten minutes of one another, him nine minutes before me.
Luke on the other hand was extremely eager to get to the location and set up early, having previously been there, he'd arrived at the crack of dawn and was already soaked through when we got to him.

We set up near a Muntjac Deer carcass that was of great interest to the kites. (Austin Thomas had noticed on a previous visit.)
The unfortunate deer often come acropper on the winding country roads (They can't drive!)


Luke showed us some images of the Kites on the ground he'd taken prior to our arrival, which boosted our morale, also the weather was looking promising as it had stopped raining.

As we patiently lay on wet grass for roughly two hours with not a hint of a Red Kite showing any interest in the gorgeous buffet laid out for them, (Cakes and wine!) Richard and me decided it was time for a spot of lunch at the local pub, aren't we just the lightweights! Luke was left with a load of our kit including a couple of my Pocket Wizards in an attempt to get a camera trap set up.

After filling up on bangers and mash and a home made burger an hour later we returned to Luke who'd virtually buried one of his cameras in the distance to attempt to get a remote shot of a Kite.

 He advised us that he'd not had any further luck. We laid down in wait again.

 After some time, we all ventured out to the carcass and remote camera setup to re-assess the situation.

I set up my remote 5DII with a 17-40mm lens, which in retrospect was far too wide for the situation (note to self to remember a 70-200mm next time.)  We then returned to our prone positions.


It was 14:00 when I think the first of the Red Kites actually showed some interest in anything.

The sun was by now cracking through the clouds and we had dried out somewhat.

The rest as they say is history.

All in all I think the three of us had a great day, not only shooting the Kites, but... erm, worrying about the psychological profile of Luke asking about finding scratched naked dead bodies! Haha! (You had to be there for that one!)

Follow Luke on Twitter @LMasseyImages
Follow Richard on Twitter @RichardpPhoto
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTphoto
Follow myself on Twitter @JaiGrieve

Focus on Imaging 2011

A very rare day off for me tomorrow!!!

Every year I attend the Focus on Imaging show, this year will be no different. It's the biggest imaging show in Europe.  I'll be up dawns crack and out of the house by 08:00 to get there early. Although Canon have pulled out for some laymo reason, I'm sure they'll be loads of shiny goodies to be fondled there from other manufacturers.
 Checklist:

1. Shopping list.

2. Another shopping list.

3. A body and a couple of lenses.

4.Money.

5. I've got to remember not to forget my pass!

Now I'm getting to bed without any supper, 'cos I'm so UPCITED!

Canon 5D mark II video.

This is my first attempt at doing something creative with the video function on my 5DII.

After playing with this feature and having enjoyed the results, I may give a short film a go.

Although I don't think it'll replace my love of taking stills.

In this short intro movie clip I've tried to build a sense of suspense and an uneasy atmosphere. I'm not sure I've quite achieved it here, but it's only my first attempt at cinematography.

Any advice or tips from you cinematographers out there would be greatly received.

You'll just have to wait for the rest of the movie for now! Haha!

Testing the 5D II in London city after dark.

I have been umming and ahh-ing over whether to get a 5DII or a 1Ds III for some time now.
Having just sold my 1Ds II and needing a full frame Canon to replace it I opted for the 5D II in the end. Last night myself and a friend went out and met at Waterloo station, London to shoot some street in low light conditions. Andy opted to bring out his 1D IV with a 50mm f/1.8 attached, I on the other hand obviously using the 5D II, went for a longer focal length of 135mm f/2.0.

Here are my results, which Andy thinks have better noise control over the 1D IV.

All in all I'm very pleased with the results seen below, although I have noticed a white "hot pixel"

ISO 3200 100sec f/2.0

ISO 3200 100sec f/2.0

ISO 6400 100sec f/2.0

ISO 5000 160sec f/2.0

ISO 6400 125sec f/2.0

ISO 3200 100sec f/2.0

I do like the last image of a guy checking his watch as he has just walked by arguably the most famous clock in the world!



I even had a go at the video, which will need some practice as I'm not a videographer/cinematographer! I thought I may post it on here just in case anyone wanted to see the bokehliciousness of it, and decided not! Alas maybe some other time!

L.A. Guns live at the Camden Underworld

On December 5th L.A. Guns performed live at the Camden Underworld in London.
The line-up of this band can get confusing to some, as there are two bands using the same moniker.
I'll let you sort out the bands history for yourself on Wikipedia.

Here are some images from the night.

Jizzy Pearl

The colourful Sound of Tracii Guns

I love this image of the backstage hijinx

Jeremy Guns felt the cold during the opening song!

 

 

Full of energy and just like the old days, they totally rocked with barely any chit-chat the songs were barraged at the noise hungry crowd one after another.

For an encore they came back on and did a cover of "Knocking On Heaven's Door" with Phil Soussan

Phil Soussan during the encore

Pretty Boy Floyd perform at Camden Underworld supporting L.A. Guns.

Last night six of us went along to the Camden Underworld to see L.A. Guns and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Before the bands

The current line-up of Pretty Boy Floyd opened up spot on 21:00 with such an energy which continued relentlessly all through the gig.
Troy Patrick Farrell on drums was powered by a bottle of Jack, while Steve "Sex" Summers opted for a nice bottle of Glens Vodka to keep his extraordinary voice energized! Kristy "Krash" Majors on guitar stuck with the beers, and Chris Sixx drank what I think was leftovers!
Blasting out all the old favourites from the eighties had crowd... I won't say singing along, more like screaming along. The usual obscenities from Steve kept everyone amused.

Here's some of the images of the kick ass Pretty Boy Floyd gig.

"Are you wearing a bra?" Shouts Steve Summers pointing to a girl!

Thumbs up dude

Here's looking at you

Kristy Krash Majors of Pretty Boy Floyd Sneers

Sing along with me

Out of Area Photo-meet

On Sunday the 5th of December at 07:30 I'll be attending/hosting a Nature/Wildlife Brighton flickr group meeting at Bushy Park
You needn't be a member of the Brighton flickr group to attend.
Wear warm clothing as it WILL be cold.

There are refreshments available in the car park from a wagon,  There is also a cafe within the park where we'll be heading for a break at an agreed time, ideally not lunchtime as it gets extremely busy.

Images taken throughout the days meeting will be plonked here on my blog, and I'm sure you'll be posting some on flickr. :)

If anyone would like more information to attend, I can be contacted @ jaigrieve"at"gmail.com. Send me an email and I'll send back my number in case you need directions or if you're late you can call to rendevous.
I hope to see at least some people there on the cold winter morning. The snow may stop all the possible traffic routes to the destination, but I'll definitely be there. :)

Optional things to bring:
1. Carrier bag with no holes in it. (The blue ones from off-licences are usually good)
2. A couple of elastic bands.
3. Flask of hotness.
4. Spare socks
5. Camera and lens(es)
6. Presents for me. Haha!