OLD MAC

I'm in Lithuania at the moment working on a job and while out and about came across this great piece of graffiti art of an old lady carrying a Mcdonalds bag. I'm not sure if this is a copy of a Banksy or an original but I love it.

LONG TERM TIMELAPSE PROJECT

A client approached me a couple of months ago interested in a long term timelapse project. I've done time-lapses in the past for them but only ones that have lasted a few hours rather than weeks, months or even a year! They asked me if I could do one that could last 2-3 weeks while their product (a pepper) changed colour from green to red. Knowing that it could be done I said yes and looked into it further.

As I researched it a couple of things sprung up - long term time-lapses were quite a specialist area and very few photographers were doing any that lasted much longer than 24 hours. There were a few companies that did just that and most of their work was in the construction industry where timelapseing a building going up was something architects and their clients wanted to record. But this was a very niche area and their equipment was very sophisticated often with stand alone units even fitted with servers and wifi for sending pictures to a computer at a different location.

I did find one or two people trying long term time-lapses and I looked at what they did and adapted a system that would work for me and my client. Above is a basic breakdown of what I've come up with.

1. This is the finished set up. We have the camera in a watertight case connected to a battery which is then connected to a solar panel to keep the battery topped up.

2. Here is a close up of the camera housing with metal brackets fixed to the back and attached to the wall.

3. The battery is a leisure battery (not a car battery) which is perfect for providing a trickle of power to the camera. A camera doesn't use that much power but when you're leaving it outside for weeks at a time it will soon weaken which is where the solar panel comes in to keep the battery charged.

4. Inside the case is a Canon DSLR attached to two 'L' shaped metal brackets. Initially I had plans for a quick release bracket to go inside but room was so tight that I had to find a wooden base to which everything is attached. Running into the camera (on the left) is a intervalometer that I can program to set the interval of my timelapses. This isn't the Canon one which is very expensive but a cheaper one from Amazon that I've used before and never had any issues with.

5. Here you can see the top of the camera and to the right in the bottom of the case is a volt convertor. The voltage from the leisure battery is 12 volts and much too strong for the camera which prefers 7-8 volts. So what this handy gadget does is convert those 12 volts into 7 volts. There is a dummy battery in the camera that leads to this converter.

6. Finally, the bottom of the case I've fitted a hole and rubber washer that takes the lead into the battery outside. As you can see it is just a cigarette lighter adapter which then feeds into a cigarette lighter socket to the battery.

The SD card inside the camera is 64gb which is capable of holding over 8000 images. If you're not worried about shooting in RAW (which I'm not) and are ok with medium jpegs (which I am) then the card can hold a lot of photos onto it and in theory stay in the field for a long time. And if the battery gets enough charge from the solar panel it could happily take timelapses for months until the card eventually fills up or something else happens.

If anyone is interested in me making one of these for them please get in contact. I offer three types of set up:

1. The complete kit you see here. Camera, case, battery the lot all tested £ 1, 750.00
2. The complete kit but without the battery (very heavy for posting)        £ 1, 550.00
3. The complete kit without the battery, camera or solar panel                  £    950.00

Please get in contact via carl@carlpendle.com

And here is the final result of all this hard work. It was so worth it.

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2013

On 23rd April I travelled up to London as a finalist in the Food Photographer of the Year awards held at the Mall Galleries. I'd been nominated as a finalist in the 'Food in the Street' category so me and the Mrs went up to see how my picture did. And it did quite well. Out of 6,500 worldwide entries it came second so was quite pleased with that. And I got this rather nice sticker for my efforts.

PAINTING GIF

Here's a quick example of an animated gif from an old painting.

SHE'S MEAN

I know my photography blog is not the best place to put a picture of my cat but I actually like the picture. If it wasn't for the stipes of my carpet it would have just blah but they contrast well with her coat. If she looks like a mean, lean, killing machine...that's because she is. My kids don't touch her!

BRIGHT BAZAAR BOOK

Couple of weeks ago I shot a video for Will Taylor for his very popular blog Bright Bazaar It was a lot of fun to make and Will is a great guy. The video, as you can guess, is to promote his new book which will be out some time in 2014.

In the meantime enjoy the video.

FORK YOU!

This is for all those restaurants and chefs who've been on the wrong end of a critics or bloggers review.  Being a food and lifestyle photographer I've seen first hand just how hard the food industry work. While not all deserve glowing reviews there are some critics who sensationalise their experience as entertainment just to sell newspapers, magazines or get more hits rather than a true reflection on the restaurant or chef. And in this current economic climate a bad review can kill a business.

BRIGHTON BEACH 2

This is one of my favourite shots from my weekend in Brighton. It is a classic shot of the pier nothing original from this shot but once I chucked it into photoshop and added a few of my favourite textures then it has come alive.

BRIGHTON PIER

This is one of three pictures I took on Brighton beach over the weekend. This is the old pier which is now falling apart and slowly rusting in the sea. Shame but it does make for a stunning picture. I've added a few textures in photoshop to produce something a bit different. Let me know if you want a print of this.

BRIGHTON IN WINTER

Went to Brighton over the weekend to shoot a video (to come) and it was one of those glorious cold wintery December days and Brighton beach looked glorious. Rough sea, piercing blue sky, no fog (not that you get much in Brighton) and decided to take a panorama of the pier. Then brought that into photoshop and added about 5 or 6 layers of texture to get what you see here which looks a bit painterly. 

Hope you like it. And if anyone wants to buy a print please get in contact carl@carlpendle.com

POOR PIG

While this photo montage is a bit gruesome and not very foody it is in my top 10 of food photographs I've ever taken which is a bit odd considering I spent a lot of my time making food look as appetising as possible. I guess part of the appeal is that I've always been a huge fan of street photography and photojournalism and this appeals to me on that level. I also like the fact that you can't see the butchers face yet the pigs is dangling, half on, down my his side. As I said, it is a bit gruesome.

2012 CHRISTMAS CARD

Finally got around to sorting out this years Christmas card. It's a bit different and went for a red and green letters theme. Would like to say a big thank you to this FLICKR GROUP  whose letters and numbers I borrowed for the card under the creative commons license. And especially Leo Reynolds where all but two of the pictures were his. A truly incredible amount of letters in his portfolio.

RAINBOW IN DEVON

Over the summer I went to Devon and while the weather was pretty terrible most of the time I was there I managed to grab this picture as a ray of light created this rainbow amongst the rain. I've added textures and played around with it in photoshop to create this here.

BOAT IN MAJORCA

Last week I was on a shoot in Majorca and while out and about saw this lone ship in the bay where I was photographing. I thought the sky and light would make a lovely shot and this is what I got.

MORE MUSHROOMS

As you can probably see from my below posts I've been photographing mushrooms and here's a few of my favourites. 

And while I don't like eating mushrooms they do make for some lovely photographs.

IT'S QUITE NICE AROUND HERE

This country gets quite a bit of stick - especially from those that actually live here. We constantly moan about the weather, the cost of living etc etc but actually we do live in a dam nice part of the world. You don't have to go very far to find a nice bit of countryside or some coastline to stare at. And here's my part of the world - the very lovely South Downs. Ahhh...

BLACK TRUFFLES IN THESE HILLS

Culinary speaking we Brits have always played second fiddle to the French. Well that is changing and the British black truffle is going to make our French cousins sit up and take notice. Why? Because there are quite a few of them lurking in the uk just waiting to be discovered. That is, according to the truffle hunter I went out with yesterday. And he says that the South Downs (where I happen to live) is a dam fine place to find them. Apparently they love the chalk soil and the roots of some of our native trees.

One major factor is that you've got to find them. And that isn't easy. While dogs are the best way to find them, they have to be trained and being a nation of cat lovers obviously doesn't help! Well, apparently you can dig for them without a dog but you need to spot the tell-tale truffle fly. 

So I look forward to the day we sell the French some of our truffles if anyone can be bothered to look for them. Although selling at £2,000 per kg is quite a good incentive to get off your arse. 

A SPOT OF MUSHROOM FORAGING

It's that time of year for a bit of mushroom foraging and experts don't come better qualified than Nik Westacott. I did a video (HERE) of Nik mushroom hunting last year but this year I wanted to get some photographs of him whilst foraging in woods around Chichester in West Sussex. It was a perfect day. Not too cold, bit misty and a lot of moisture in the air to get the 'wet' look on the shrooms. There were quite a few of the highly prized chanterelles around as well. Nik offers foraging courses and had a few clients along and I bet they had a great feast which Nik was cooking up later at his b&b in Fishbourne.

MY MOVEMBER PORTRAIT

This is Nik Westcott a chef, B&B owner and all round nice chap that also happens to have one of the greatest taches I know. I was out taking some photographs of him mushroom foraging yesterday so decided to take the opportunity to take a nice close up of his moustache. And as Movember (Prostate cancer charity) is coming up what an ideal time to inspire others to grow a tache and raise some money for this great cause - Movember.com

EAST MIDLANDS FOOD & DRINK FESTIVAL

Yesterday I was up in Melton Mowbray to photograph the East Midlands Food & Drink Festival. It was a great event and weather was fantastic so a great day was had by all. Aga were one of the sponsors and chefs Rachel Green, Arfan Razak, Stephen Hallam and Dean Edwards were on hand for some fantastic cooking demonstations. Above are a few of my favourite pictures from the event.

CHESIL BEACH CAFE

Last week I was down in Portland, Dorset to photograph Mat Follas at his new restaurant - Chesil Beach Cafe.  I've met Mat once before when I shot a video of him at his other restaurant Wild Garlic

Mat came to fame when he won the 2009 Masterchef and since then he's one of the few contestants that's actually done some great things with his talent. 

He's a nice chap and very down to earth so it is always a pleasure working with him. 

This shoot (see photos above) got cancelled numerous times due to the shocking weather we've had this summer but we eventually did it in late July just in time for the opening. 

I wish him all the best in his new cafe. 

ONLY GOD CAN...

I was on a shoot this week down in Weymouth and this man walks into the restaurant I was photographing and orders a coffee. I noticed the tattoo on his leg that said, 'Only God Can Judge Me' and took a few shots and thought it would make an interesting picture. I played with it a bit and decided to add a shot of the Bible. I thought his Nike trainers and Polo shorts juxtoposed well with his tattoo and the Bible.

WATER IN NATURE

I've a water client who wants some shots of water in nature and here's some shots I've taken of plants covered in morning dew. These were taken with the fantastic Canon 100mm macro lens which is one of my favourite lenses. 

MUTANT CARROTS

I'm very lucky to photograph top hotels and restaurants as part of my job and I'm often asked to photograph food at its most perfect. So it's nice to photography something quite ugly as a contrast to what I normally shoot. And it doesn't get much uglier then these carrots I grew in my garden.

JAMES SHOWING WILL.I.AM HOW TO WHACK!

This is my mate James Miller from MMFilm. We did a job together this week in London shooting President Clinton and Will.I.Am at an event. James is very well known for his 'whacking' filming techniques (SEEN HERE) that seems the talk of twitter and vimeo right now. It's tough to explain in detail what it is all about but the above link will give you a good idea.

While we were filming at the event Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas and The Voice came up to James to ask him what he was doing. I reckon James will be doing his next music video!