Hello there!

Ages since we updated the blog...we don’t like to spoil you! Obviously lots of stuff been happening, over the next wee while we will be posting some of our favourite pics.

Commissioned portrait of Mr Alf Gordon.

© broad daylight

Some tech details

This portrait was taken on our trusty (very trusty) Hasselblad 503 body fitted with a CFV digital back. We use this camera for nearly all of our 'high end' portraits and we're really sorry to hear that, due to falling demand, Hasselblad has decided to cease production of it's V system cameras and "to reluctantly consign the V System to history"...a very sad day for an true classic.

Because the location was in the shade (dreaded winter light!) and was very dark compared to the sky behind the castle the lighting setup was more complex than the 2 lights + ambient we prefer....here's breakdown of what we had to use. Two Bowens QUAD 3KM heads running from an Explorer 1500 battery generator to illuminate the foreground elements. One of the QUADs fitted with a soft reflector was placed to the left of the camera and acted as our main light on Alf. The second Quad was also placed to the left of camera but it was aimed at the background to give some detail in the wall and river bank immediately behind Alf otherwise this are would have been a solid black. Three more Bowens lights were placed on the right hand side of the location. One was a directed at Alf to act as a rim light and the other two were used light the river and wall behind Alf. This set up was then balanced to the ambient light to give us the result you see here...hope you like it!

'Hit and Run in broad daylight'

broad daylight has supplied the cover image for 'Hit and Run' the new book from Edinburgh based author Doug Johnstone. It will be featured on Amazon as the Kindle deal of the day this Sunday 22nd April. Check it out...he seems like one of the good guys.  

© broad daylight

technique

This shot for Doug's novel was taken from Salisbury Crags and supplied as a digital monochrome file. We waited for the sun to set over Edinburgh to give the image more drama and lose some of the details such as windows and buildings which may have proved distracting in the final book jacket. The shot has been altered a little in some ways from the image supplied such as the addition of colour washes by the publisher (Faber & Faber)...such are the needs of book jacket design!

Check out more images for book jackets in our picture library section.

is there no stopping Christopher Brookmyre??

Grove/Atlantic, the publishing house in New York is publishing Christopher Brookmyre's book WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED in July. They are using our portrait of him (see below) in a graveyard as an author photo and for publicity!! 

a brilliant book & a swanky steading

blog…the book

This week we are pleased to report that German publisher Verlag Galiani Berlin is using our portrait of writer Christopher Brookmyre to promote his book ‘Where the Bodies are Buried’. Appropriatly we shot him in a graveyard…spooky or what? The jacket was designed by our friend and brilliant all round designer Mark Ecob.

© broad daylight

technique

This portrait of Christopher was shot on a Hasselbald using film!...what's that I hear you ask? Well it's strange material that was made by Kodak, Fuji, Ilford and Agfa...I believe some is still manufactured for a dwindling number of users...shame as it has some great qualities. In this instance we used Fuji PRO 160C which we then scanned before using in our 'as others see us' exhibition and book. This was the first job we used the Bowens Explorer 1500 portable battery generator with Quad 3KM flash heads. The lights were easy to work with and enabled us to light up a dark, damp corner of the graveyard.

…the steading

The new web site of Little Hardford near Aberdeen is now live featuring our photos. Set in the beautiful Aberdeenshire countryside, it’s a lovely place making our job so much easier and well worth a look if you’re looking for self catering accommodation up that way. It’s run by Majory and Ian Clyde who are lovely people with exceptional taste and standards hence employing us!!!

Check out Little Hardford at www.littlehardford.com

© broad daylight

© broad daylight

© broad daylight

technique

Shoot at different times of day if you can...as you can see on the Little Hardford web site we started early and finished late. With jobs like this try to capture atmosphere and character by taking shots of interesting details as well the usual images showing the accommodation and facilities...this will help people imagine themselves being there. Try not to use flash as available light will often give a more pleasing result. Crank up the ISO or use a tripod if you need to. We shot on Nikons and used a range of ISO's and Lastolites to bounce light depending on what the situation required. We also took some shots of the surrounding countryside to help place Little Harford in it's surroundings.

barcelona and ralph lauren

blog blog blog……two images from Tricia’s recent trip to Barcelona…yes we know how great it is…no, we haven’t all been there yet.

© tricia malley

© tricia malley

In other news we covered Prof Brian Duffy’s inaugural lecture at GCU London. He’s Ralph Lauren’s main man in Europe and a Global Scot. The lecture was so interesting giving an insight into the marketing and aspirations of a major luxury brand.

© broad daylight

technique

For her fabby Barcelona shots Tricia used the Fuji X10 which again did a sterling job...just the ticket when being a tourist.

Brian Duffy's lecture presented us with a few difficulties as we were unable to control the lighting conditions which consisted of a small amount of daylight, dimmed overhead tungsten, a digital projector plus purple and blue gelled 'mood' lights! When photographing a lecture it's best if you can to try to use a high ISO and available light as flash will kill what's on screen. It can also be very distracting for the audience if flashes are constantly going off and the use of available light with or without a tripod also helps capture something of the mood of the event. We used a Nikon D7000 set at 3200 ISO for this shot of Brian.