LONDON GIF

I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment with my animated gifs or sometimes referred to as cinemagraphs. This one was taken on the same day in London as the one below and just couldn't resist the irony of this statue busker moving while everyone else is frozen in time. This one was taken in Convent Garden where a lot of these buskers hang out.

TEACHER STRIKE ANIMATED GIF

It just so happened that this week I was in London working on the day of the teacher strike about pensions. I was on another job but as I had my camera and tripod with me I quickly set it up asked these two to kindly pose while I filmed them for a few seconds or so. Because I was working on a job for a client who wanted some gif animations I thought it might be an idea to turn a current news event into a gif as well.

There is some debate about the decline of news photography and focus more on video but how about a mix to of the two - a gif. It can have the same power of the still with the added advantage of being part video.

I thought it might make an interesting topic to discuss.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

A couple of weeks ago I returned from a food and lifestyle photography commission from Charleston, South Carolina. I've been to a few America cities and must say that this was by far my favourite. It is steeped in history, it's very walkable and the food was just amazing. Needless to say, even though I was working, I had a great time. Below are a few of my favourite pictures from the trip. If you'd like to see more click here which will take you to the direct link on my website.

MUSHROOM FORAGING VIDEO

This is my new film and it follows on from my plum jam video I did about a month ago. This is a bit different in that it has a bit of dialogue with Nik Westacott from www.82fishbourne.co.uk who is my local mushroom forager as well as B&B owner, chef, outside caterer and local celebrity.

It was filmed with my trusty DSLR Canon which produces a lovely cinematic feel and something that is only going to get better with the new Canon 5D Mark III which is coming out soon.

I hope you like it.

LAST MINUTES WITH ODEN

One of the most amazing videos on Vimeo is 'Last Minutes with Oden'. It has been watched by over 2 million people and won the prestigious 'Best Video' at the 2010 Vimeo Awards. It was shot and directed by the very talented Eliot Rausch. It is about a man, Woody, and his faithful dog Oden who has cancer and is going to be put to sleep. It is, understandably, a very emotional film and I'm not ashamed to say that every time I watch it a tear rolls down my cheek.

I'm no filmmaker and to call myself one is quite frankly an insult to filmmakers but I am a photographer who is learning to shoot video/films with DLSR cameras and I just want to learn from this film as I aspire to produce something as powerful.

Most good films are successful because of a storyline which has some emotional pull that gives us, as viewers, some hook that we just can't do anything else but watch the story unfold - but how filmmakers achieve this is all in the art of their craft.

I just wanted to break this fantastic film down into its parts so I can learn what makes a good documentary short. Again, this is just an exercise in how it was filmed. The success of this film very much lies in the narrative and it's emotional tug on your heart strings but this might be of interest to filmmakers/photographers/storytellers to see how it was constructed.

00:00 Opens with medium shot (MS) of Woody carrying his bike out of his apartment
00:10 MS from behind as he walks out the door.
00:22 Wide shot (WS) of his back as he looks out from apartment roof
00:25 Close up (CU) of his eyes and glasses
00:27 Mid close up (MCU) of him smoking a cigarette
00:32 CU of fingers holding cigarette down by his side
00:34 CU of him smoking again
00:39 MS of him carrying bike down dark stairwell
00:45 MS from behind carrying bike down same stairwell
00:55 High above shot of him cycling in the rain
01:00 MS of torso cycling in slow motion (SM)
01:07 Cutaway MCU of his dog Oden shot from low down on the floor  (SM)
01:08 Cutaway MCU of Woody cycling shot from the front (SM)
01:12 Cutaway CU of dog's eyes (SM)
01:13 Cutaway of Woody cycling (SM)
01:16 Cutaway CU of Oden looking up from low down on floor (SM)
01:18 Cutaway MCU of Woody's legs cycling (SM)
01:23 MS of Woody arriving at his friends house and getting off his bike (SM)
01:36 CU of Oden as he struggles to get up (only having 3 legs) and walk towards the door (SM)
01:41 MS looking through hole in wall as Woody carries bike over shoulder (SM)
01:42 MS of Woody opening outside gate
01:45 High WS as he walks thought gate
01:47 MS Focus on hand with cigarette as Woody talks on the phone to a friend
01:49 Cutaway to Woody in slow mo carrying bike through gates
01:55 MS from floor level of his feet walking away from camera
01:59 Cutaway MCU of Woody on the phone
02:02 Cutaway MS of Woody walking in slow mo carrying his bike to camera
02:07 Cutaway MCU of Woody on phone
02:11 Cutaway High WS of Woody carrying bike
02:15 MCU of Woody in silhouette opening door to friends (Cynthia) apartment with bike
02:21 MS from behind of Oden looking towards door waiting for Woody to walk in
02:26 CU of Oden from the side as he lies down
02:30 MCU of Woody with his friend as Woody starts to cry
02:34 MCU over the shoulder of Woody as Cynthia puts her hand on his shoulder
02:39 CU of Oden looking up in slow mo
02:44 MS of Woody as he bends down and strokes Oden
02:48 MS of Oden licking Cynthia in the face
02:51 WS as Woody leaving the apartment with Oden on his lead
03:00 High MS as Woody carries Oden down the apartment stairs
03:06 MCU One of Woody's friends kisses Oden and says goodbye
03:16 MCU of Cynthia starting to cry
03:20 MS of Woody hugging another friend
03:22 CU of Cynthia from behind in car adjusting visor
03:24 CU of Woody in silhouette in car
03:25 CU of dashboard
03:26 CU of wing mirror
03:28 MCU of Cynthia's eyes in drivers mirror from behind
03:30 CU of Woody stoking Oden's head in car
03:33 MS of Woody and Cynthia from behind as he walks Oden to the vet's door
03:43 MCU of Oden sniffing in the vets
03:46 MCU of Woody talking to vet's staff
03:48 CU of Woody's hand holding the lead
03:50 CU of Oden's low angle as he rests in on the floor
03:53 CU of Woody's head as he talks to Oden and cries
03:56 MCU of needle as it is injected into Oden's leg
04:03 CU As Cynthia and Woody hold Oden's head
04:12 CU of Woody looking down at Oden
04:18 MCU over Woody's shoulder looking down at Cynthia
04:21 MCU of Woody holding his hand in his head crying
04:27 MCU as camera pans down as Oden goes to sleep
04:36 MCU low shot as Woody kisses Oden goodbye
04:41 MS of nurse, Woody and Cynthia looking down at Oden as Woody takes off his collar
04:52 MCU of Woody and Cynthia's faces looking down.
05:00 WS of Woody cycling his bike in rain. Camera pans up to his face in slow mo
05:11 MCU of bikes tyres
05:20 MCU Camera pans up to Woody's face in rain
05:22 Cutaway MCU of Woody holding a cigarette
05:25 Cutaway to Woody cycling in rain again
05:29 MCU of Woody's face looking sad
05:33 MCU Camera pans across the Cynthia
05:35 WS of Woody riding in the rain
05:38 Cutaway MCU of Woody and Cynthia hugging
05:46 Cynthia leaves scene leaving Woody on his own
05:48 MCU of Woody's hands holding Oden's leash
05:51 WS As Woody walks out of shot
05:55 MCU of Woody riding bike in rain focusing on tyres
06:00 WS as camera moves off leaving Woody out of focus riding in rain
06:03 FILM ENDS - CREDITS

Directed/Edited: Eliot Rausch http://www.eliotrausch.com/
Director of Photography: Luke Korver, Matt B. Taylor
Song: Big Red Machine / Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
PHOS PICTURES PRODUCTION http://www.phospictures.com/

VINTAGE IS COOL

Vintage things have always been cool but the last few years has seen an explosion of all things old and vintage. Never wanting to be left behind I decided to produce a series of vintage prints, that with a little photoshop magic, look quite good. Let me know what you think.

BRIGHT BAZAAR

Will over at Bright Bazaar blog kindly posted about my jam video today (Thanks so much Will). If you have a chance do take a look at his website - I'd say it is one of the best interiors, lifestyle and food sites around.

HOW TO MAKE PLUM JAM VIDEO

I've always wanted to make plum jam. Considering I'm a food and lifestyle photographer it has taken me quite some time to finally get around to making a cooking video. But I didn't want it to be a dull one so I eventually came across the right project with a couple of friends who make jam and we decided to do this plum jam film which I hope you will like.

HAGUE MMC STEADICAM FOR 550D, T2i, GoPro Hero & IPHONE

I've been meaning to do a steadicam test on the Canon 550D (T2i) for a long time but when I got the GoPro and then an iphone I thought it would be a great idea to see if this cheap Hague MMC Stabilizer could be used with all of them. 

I tried it but they didn't really work very well being so light. Then I had an idea the other day that if I added a tripod head that would add the weight and make it much easier to balance out. 

And it worked. With a few basic adjustments of the bottom weights and playing around sliding the cameras backwards and forwards on the top I was able to balance them quite well as you can see. 

I was going to go out and shoot some test footage of these three cameras with the Hague but decided I'll leave that for another day. 

Let me know what you think and don't forget to visit carlpendle.com and digitalslrshooter.com

TIME-LAPSE AT THE ROLLS-ROYCE PLANT

 Rolls-Royce very kindly let me do a short time-lapse movie of their assembly line. It is just an amazing site to see these incredible cars come together. And it is not a quick process, as only 15 cars are produced per day of the Phantom and Ghost models at the Goodwood plant. But at about £165,000 for the Ghost and £235,000 for the Phantom what do you expect.

The time-lapse was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II at various setting depending upon the light in the factory. I mainly used the 24-105mm lens which did an excellent job. I also shot a bit of video of the Spirit of Ecstasy popping out of the car at the beginning and end. The music is Royalty Free.

At about the 1.20 mark you will see the start of a 360 degree panorama that I shot with the GoPro attached to an egg-timer!

ZOOM H1 NOW IN THE UK

Being a photographer I never really gave much thought to audio, why would I. But since shooting multimedia and videos for clients audio has become a big part of what I do. Now I’m no expert but have had a bit of guidance from Ben at DUCKRABBIT so I know a little. The problem is of how to best record the audio while shooting. A lot of DSLR video shooters probably have heard of the excellent Zoom H4 and it’s little brother the H2, but this week it looks like stocks of the smaller and more compact H1 are now in stock. I’ve not read any reviews but if they are as good as the H4 or H2 (which I currently use) then I’m not going to be disappointed. 

DSLR'S AND THE BBC

Wherever your take on the BBC they’ve just come up trumps for anyone shooting with the latest dslr cameras, more specifically, the Canon 5D Mark II. Before today you had to own a rather impressive and very expensive video camera to submit footage to the beeb  but now they are getting all gooey over the 5D and have said that shooting with one for some of their programmes might be acceptable. I don’t know the details of this but thought I’d give you the link where I read it and hope that it is true. STOP PRESS. With a bit of further digging they are now being a bit weary but this link tells you a bit more but it still looks positive. CLICK HERE

WORLD SNAIL RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

I like this. A multimedia video about something as crazy as the world snail racing championships in England. Not only is it well shot and edited but it made me smile is this sometimes overly serious world we live in.

GOOD NEWS FROM THE GURU

If you've heard about Jim Pickerell you will know that he sees into the future with all things to do with photography. He predicted the decline of rights managed stock photography and the increase in micro stock and now he predicts a demand for multimedia and video stories which is great news for all of us trying out this new form of storytelling. HERE is his article

TO SHOOT OR NOT SHOOT VIDEO

Last week I was at a large 5 day event shooting video. This was my first job shooting solely video whereas before clients had always asked that I shoot a bit of video as more of an add-on service to my photography rather than something I could concentrate on.
What was strange was that I was rubbing shoulders with a large press pack who, I got the impression, weren't particularly happy that I was shooting video with a 'camera'. I kept getting the 'whose the wanker with the pimped up Canon'.
Afterwards I chatted with a few of them and was genuinely surprised that although many of them knew their cameras shot high definition video almost all of them had never even played with the feature.
There are many pros and cons for shooting video as photographers and I'd have to be honest and say there may even be more disadvantages but it is something I firmly believe that there is going to be more of a market for.
It certainly isn't a quality issue with these cameras. You've only to look towards Hollywood to see who is using them:
HOUSE
ROAD TO NOWHERE
HOLLYWOOD COMES KNOCKING

MULTIMEDIA EMMY NOMINEES

The headline is not strictly correct but it’s close enough. This years nominees for ‘New approaches to news and documentary’ category is what I’d call multimedia. Some very talented photographers, videographers and multimedia artists have been put forward to win an Emmy.  The website Ewen Media has put together, in a nice easy-to-browse-list, a selection of the best multimedia Emmy nominations. Rather than waffle on about it please CLICK HERE to view the finalists.

VIMEO ADDS CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

Whether it’s photos or video we all have to be vigilant about who we give permission to publish our work. It seems Vimeo is now giving account holders the ability to state exactly who can and can’t use your work after it’s been posted which has got to be a good thing for filmmakers and multimedia creatives.

ASTURIUS PHOTOS - NORTHERN SPAIN

Asturius Food & Travel Magazine - Images by carl pendle


Last week I returned from a Food and Travel assignment for a magazine and here is a slide show of the ones appearing in the magazine. Hope you like what the art editor choose.

EHRIN MACKSEY - A FINE FILMMAKER

I saw the above clip today and thought it was so powerful I watched it two more times. It was filmed by Ehrin Macksey, a photographer/documentary filmmaker based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He uses the canon 5d mark II (same camera as I use) and to great effect. He mixes the video with black and white stills which really adds something to the piece. The story is really sad and I urge you to watch it.

I'M NOT A TERRORIST

At first glance you might think this man to be a terrorist or some murdering thug but what's behind him is a bit of a giveaway - he's chopping down sugar cane in a field in Mauritius. Hard, tough work but he was a cheerful man and happily posed for a photograph.

DOOR NUMBERS

Don't ask me what it is about this image that I like but I just do. Maybe it is the regimented nature of the square or the random nature of the door numbers or that each door number is someone's house and behind it lies people's lives - I don't know and you probably don't care but I just like this image. Out of all the pictures I've taken this has probably taken me the longest time and has been the most dangerous - as strange as that may seem. These days in the super wary, on guard, there is a terrorist lurking in every dark alley people tend to be suspicious of someone taking a picture of their door number - and I sort of understand but it is only a number but I got sworn out, chased and generally got some quite unwelcome remarks at what I was doing even though I was doing nothing wrong. As a stock picture it has some potential, or at least that is what I am hoping. Home ownership is a strong concept keyword and these set of door numbers can have a number of meanings. It also has an educational element to it and it might make a good poster for a kids bedroom for parents wanting their child to learn their numbers. Here's hoping it appears in every child's bedroom! CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT TO LICENSE IT.

BIRD TIED UP

I took this picture quite some time ago when in Indonesia. A lot of Asian's keep birds as pets - and they pay quite a lot of money for them. To ensure they don't escape they tie them up like this. It is incredible sad to see. To stop an animal like a bird from flying must be like putting a person in a straight jacket. So while this picture upsets me it is also one of my favourites because of the emotional tie I have with it. When I look at it and just want to reach into it and cut the rope with a knife. I hope it raises your emotions like it does mine.

ART ON WEBSITE

I have a new picture on the homepage of my website www.carlpendle.com It's a bit different from the usual things I do on my website because it is more of an artistic photograph that has been processed in photoshop using layers of textures and blend modes to give it a very arty feel. I'd like to do more of this work but I do worry there is not much of a market for it to make it worthwhile. Let me know what you think.

PRICE OF MEDICAL CARE

Being a photographer I generally don't do illustrations. One because I mainly use photoshop and illustrator is foreign to me and I don't fancy learning yet another program (I struggle to keep up with photoshop) but I want to create a good stock image to tried to visually get across the rising costs of medical care. We all know how expensive medical cover is in America and it is only a question of time before the NHS struggles to cope and the government will issue some kind of top up NHS tax so an image that shows a heart monitor and a pound sign (I also did one with a dollar sign) I thought might sell quite well. I hunted round all my medical centres near me but none had a heart rate monitor I could photograph so just had to make one up in photoshop which wasn't that hard. I sent it to getty and then today when I had a look at the keywords they had associated with this image it was all about the stock market. So either my image is visually confusing or the getty keyword team is doing a poor job. I'll email them to see why. In the meantime if you like this image and like to license it go to my getty stream CLICK HERE

COUCH POTATO

In a lot of the work I do for getty images most of it is quite serious so thought a few months ago I'd tackle a very common keyword 'COUCH POTATO' and I came up with this image. It is not a new idea but putting a common potato on a couch with a tv remote and make it look funny was a bit of a challenge. I think in all, there are four different photographs in this one montage. It is for sale on the getty site so click below if you'd like to license it.

CLICK HERE