Model: Louise Exley; Makeup: Helen Scott
And I’m not quite finished yet. More to come when I’m done retouching.
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So, here’s what I’ve been doing with my time
The BinnsBlog
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Have studio
Model: Louise Exley; Makeup: Helen Scott
Will shoot.
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Amie Dodgson with a camera
(This post originally appeared on my internet brain-dump and visual notebook).
Amie Dodgson, who’s an extremely talented photographer, not to mention a phenomenal model*, has a new website for showcasing her photography. Go take a look.
*I came across Amie’s ModelMayhem portfolio when I first joined that site two years or so ago. She was immediately on the list of “models I want to work with.” Unfortunately, she also seemed to end up on the list of “models that the little voice will tell me I’m not worthy of working with”, which is a crying shame. I’m trying to get rid of that list this year.
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Social pirates
For a bit of fun I shot some portraits the other day of the cast and crew of the Lower School production at my wife’s school. There was, as you may have gathered, a piratical theme to the play.
This fits into the realm of social and event photography more than it does into my usual body of work, but I’m pleased with what we managed to produce having just a couple of minutes with each group of students.
For the curious, the light rig was the same for all these shots: One light, on axis and above the camera, in a reflective umbrella. I set up what Zack Arias calls a ghetto boom arm so that I could shoot without the light stand intruding into my frame. With the 8-foot ceiling, that made for a night of crouching.
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0 people like this
Quite terrifyingly (in some ways), I now have a photography-dedicated Facebook page. Why? Well, as I said recently, my personal Facebook page is for people I actually know. This one is for, well, everyone else.
I don’t expect masses of popularity, but feel free to like me if you want to.
Right, ego trip over. On with the weekend.
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Where I am on the Internet – January 2011 edition
Dallas by night, January 2011
Haven’t been around for a while. Again. You might have noticed. I really must make more of an effort to actually finish the blog entries I start rather than just forgetting about them, which I’m wont to do.
Anyway, a quick summary of where you can find me on the web these days, since I don’t have a single unified presence (it’s getting harder and harder to do that, I find).
- I blog at grahambinns.com/blog – i.e. this one you’re reading now. Semi-regularly updated, must try better on the evidence above.
- I post random things I’ve found, as well as my own work, on my Tumblr blog, tumblr.grahambinns.com.
- I occasionally, though less frequently these days, post my work to my Flickr stream.
- I spout meaningless drivel and artistic angst as @grahambinns on Twitter.
I’m told by people In The Know that I should set up a Facebook page, too, but I haven’t yet got around to that. My personal Facebook profile is reserved (mostly) for people I know in real life.
I’m travelling home from Dallas today, so there won’t be much activity until the jetlag’s passed. After that, though, I’ll do my best to get back to a regular blogging schedule, if I can.
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Which is better?
Three versions of the same image; three different processes, A, B and C (left to right). Which do you prefer and why? Click the triptych above to embiggen, answers in a comment or a tweet @grahambinns, please.
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That was the 2010 that was
Once again our pale blue dot has managed to meander around the sun without crashing or imploding or vanishing in a puff of improbability. All of which traditionally means that we’re supposed to be taking stock, making resolutions and then absorbing a large amount of alcohol, but since we’re having a quiet night in round our way I’ll settle for only doing part of the meme.
2010 was a cool year. I’ve done a lot of things this year that I’ve never done, and I hope that next year I can carry on the trend. To that end, I’ve got some wishes for next year. I’ll not call them resolutions, but they go firmly in the things-I’d-like-to-do category.
So, things I’d like to do in 2011:
- Shoot video: I’m intrigued by the opportunities presented by the modern crop of Hybrid DSLRs and I’d very much like to get my hands on one and try making a short film of some sort.
- Shoot art nudes: I’ve not yet shot any nudes. Whilst I’m not ever going to be a glamour photographer (it doesn’t interest me) I’d like to try my hand at artistic nudes, just to see if it’s something that I enjoy doing.
- Shoot more concept-driven work: Thus far my personal work has been of a slightly hodgepodge, get-it-as-you-can nature; it’s been a case of finding a creative team to work with and then just going and shooting and hoping that what comes out is something cool. Whilst that’s worked out quite well for the most part, I want to start doing more conceptual work, partly because it’s more fun and partly because it will mean I have to push myself that much harder to make it work.
- Work on some personal projects: I’ve already got a couple of personal photographic projects lined up for 2011, of which I’ll blog more anon. The point is, though, that projects give you an aim for each frame you shoot, rather than just looking to make good image (the “just” in that sentence is ironic).
- Work with other photographers: Once again, I’ve already got a couple of things in the pipeline here. I want to work with other photographers for fun and profit, whether than means second-shooting for them at weddings or acting as assistant on shoots, I’d like to see how other people do it. I can but learn.
Anyway, that’s about it for me. I’ll leave you with a short slideshow of my favourite shots from 2010. See you on the flipside.
Slideshow – Best of 2010 from Graham Binns on Vimeo.
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Anno Uno
Photograph copyright © Century Photographic Ltd.; used with permission
You’ll forgive me a massively soppy post, I’m sure. A year ago today (assuming that the WordPress scheduler does its thing) I married my childhood sweetheart and best friend, Sarah.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year; it seems to have flashed past, rather like a YouTube clip being fast forwarded: there are bits of it that seem to stand out – two weeks on the Broads, Florence and the Machine in Blackpool, being on stage with Derren Brown, etc. – but most of it is a blur of stuff happening and I barely recall most of it. I must be getting old. But it’s been easily the best year of my life, and that’s mostly down to my wonderful, amazing wife.
Here’s to the next year, then.
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Alexia Sinclair’s “The Royal Dozen”
Alexia Sinclair: Pope Alexander VI – The Borgia Pope from Sultana Studios on Vimeo.
I’ve been a fan of Alexia Sinclair‘s work for a while. She combines excellently choreographed studio work with bespoke costuming and digital compositing to produce beautiful fine-art images.
Her series The Royal Dozen, a sequel to her original series The Regal Twelve will be exhibited as part of a group exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney from November 25th. You can find more details over at Alexia’s blog. I suggest checking out some of the other videos on the Sultana Studios Vimeo channel too if you want to know more about her work.