From Twitter
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@brillpix Thanks - was a lot of fun and a great way to test the 1D-X :D
May 20, 2012, 4:27 pmLowepro Magnum 650 AW all packed with 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM 16-35 f/2.8L II USM 24-70 f/2.8L USM 2 Speedlights... http://t.co/0hZUUUgx
May 20, 2012, 4:07 pmmy @LoweproUK Magnum 650 AW is all packed for tomorrows Olympic Torch Shoot through Okehampton http://t.co/OBhyTyex
May 20, 2012, 4:01 pm@roorootini mwhahahaha
May 20, 2012, 2:31 pm@roorootini is your skin turning white… ;)
May 20, 2012, 2:02 pmThe Video Interview
Proud to be a Loweprofessional
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Model: Cassie Hooper
Cassie is a tiny 4' 11" tall, but what she lacks in height she makes up in pure fun
Cassie and I have been talking about a shoot for sometime now. With a single portfolio shoot under her belt, Cassie and I arranged to shoot as soon as the studio was complete.
Well that day was yesterday and what a great shoot it was. Assisted, as ever, by the very awesome Tristan (check out his website at tristanography.com), we spent the morning working through different outfits and poses.
Cassie was a complete pleasure to shoot with and I am looking forward to our next shoot.
A few photos in the mini-gallery below
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Guest Post: Chris Harrison of Grime & Glamour
It's Easter Sunday and as a special treat, I've a Guest Post from Photographer Chris Harrison.
Chris is an amazing photographer who i've followed for a while now.
How Do You Eat Yours?(aka 'Eggs On Toast')
A quick word about myself. My name is Chris (working as 'Grime and Glamour') and although I enjoy shooting 'street' and 'macro' I concentrate on people.
Mostly 'Alt' glamour, and nearly always the female of the species.Usually without many clothes on. It's a horrible job but I struggle through 
I met Paul online some time ago, through Twitter and we chat on there and compare work and link to other photographers of interest. I have an appreciation of his work and,
(I think) he thinks I'm ok too 
Anyway yesterday morning (The Saturday before Easter Sunday) I tweeted that as I have a model staying with me right now (as a guest) I should do a shoot with her.
Paul suggested I should follow a theme. Hummm...now I am not very inventive when it comes to that sort of thing, and when he suggested "Eggs on Toast" I was stumped. I mentioned on Twitter and Facebook what I had to do and lots of people suggested ideas. Mostly involving nakedness but I didn't want to go down that route with this one--too easy(and the model is 17 so never going to happen!)
Eventually after wracking my (tiny) brain for a while I came up with this.
I was always thinking that I was going to use the Orbis ring flash and a very shallow depth of field (f1.4 TO f2.0) I wanted bright colours and almost a 'cartoon' feel to it. It was a lot of fun and quite a challenge for me to work 'outside the box'....not a massive stretch but I think its a little different.
Thanks to Paul for letting me take over a small part of his internet world. I shall 'repay' you one day!
Chris
You can find out more about Chris using the various resources below:
WEB SITE: http://www.grimeandglamour.co.uk
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/grimeandglamour
FLICKR: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovesguitars
TUMBLR BLOG: http://grimeandglamour.tumblr.com/
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/grimeandglamour
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The PDS Photo Jingle... Kinda!
A good friend of mine is a musician. I've known Paddy O'Meara for years now. He's survived every Facebook cull i've ever had.
This evening I sat Paddy a challenge. Write a jingle for Paul D Smart Photography, and I'll buy him a beer.
20 Minutes later... We were presented with this...
Amazing! Thanks Paddy
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Review {LensFettish - By Matt Fryer Photography}
I asked a very good photographer friend of mine, Matt Fryer of Matt Fryer Photography, to give an honest review of the LensFettish service. And with the launch of the new studio we are partnering with LensFettish to be able to bring lenses to the studio for you direct. We'll even check, package and return the lenses for you.
Towards the end of last year I had a kit bag clear out in preparation for some new glass for this coming season. A couple of commissions came in that required the focal length that I had just got rid of and was awaiting to buy new of.. Typical that hey.. So I decided to rent the lens in question rather than rush out and buy it for one or two jobs early in the season and with the imminent announcement of a replacement lens, plus I was almost on the verge of swapping from Canon to Nikon too!!
So a bit of googling and reading of reviews I placed my order with LensFettish a local company from Devon. www.lensfettish.com The website is slick with a modern feel, finding the products is easy due to a well thought out layout and popular products just being there on the front page. So finding the lens I wanted was easy and selecting the hire period was simple too. (they have a huge range of hire length options) I opted for the 24-70mm f/2.8L for a weeks hire. At first I thought the price was a little high but when I compared it to another hire sites they were very competitive, as their prices include VAT unlike some others!!
My only gripe about the site is the ordering system. The stock checker tells you the goods are available to hire for your period chosen, which is handy. But from there it gets a little confusing. A previous hire company I used just adds the items to your basket; you pay for it, job done. With LensFettish you have to apply for the hire. So you fill out your details and wait. Now I did mine late on a Sunday night, I wasn’t expecting a reply or response that night, so I shut the laptop down and called it a day. The next morning I received a slightly annoying email asking if I was still interested in the lens hire as they had had someone else wanting to hire it for the same period!! I was fully prepared to pay upfront for the lens had the order system allowed me to, so was a little annoyed to be asked if I was still interested after such a short period of time and no notification email to say my application had been approved. So a few exchanges of email with the guys at LensFettish and the problem was discussed and sorted.. Nice and simple.
The lens arrived on the day of my hire period and I was stoked to see an aero, a mint one at that, strapped to the invoice. This wasn’t a one off either, my next hire came with a caramel Freddo included.. The lens was well wrapped and the box was well packed. The invoice was clear as to where and when I should return the lens, what more could I want.
After the initial glitch I was stoked how simple and easy it was to hire the lens from these guys and is certainly a company I shall use again, in fact as I type this I am just hiring another lens for another commission.
Come on Canon release the new version of the 24-70mm f/2.8. Please.. And a more wallet friendly price too please.
So if you are ever in the market for hiring a lens to test before you buy or just for a specialist job then I urge you to please check out LensFettish. A honest company from Devon with to notch customer service and you get free chocolate.
The images in the gallery are from a recent shoot commissioned for the Wedding Factor Magazine.
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Model: Jason Geen
Every now and then we choose a model from a previous shoot and feature them on our blog.
Jason is a Ninja!!! Well not really, but as a model he plays a very convincing martial artist.
I did my usual and got the model, Jason, to scream as he was throwing poses around with fellow model, Toya.
We used fake blood gel, swords, nun-chucks and guns. I know I know... You wish you were there!
All in all we had a great time shooting with Jason and with a new studio build under way, surely that's a good excuse for another shoot with him.
I'll leave you with a couple of photos of Jason, including the final one that we used...
If you're interested in working with Jason, he is on the books of Aesthetic Clarity
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Model: Victoria Orbell
I often get friends of mine, suggesting their friends as new models
Now, whilst I appreciate this, my idea of model worthy and my friends often differ. However, when I was introduced to Victoria Orbell, I knew we had a winner.
Victoria is young and very friendly and has a look which just... works!
She's also available to hire for both TFP/CD and Paid Gigs. You can get her details by emailing us...
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It's 2012... Happy New Year!
It's 2012 and everyone at Paul D Smart Photography would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year...
2011 has seen a lot of changes within Paul D Smart Photography... some good, some bad.
We've laughed at Office Moves and Expansions, worried when I fell off a truck during a shoot dislocating my knee and smashing a camera and cried when the country erupted in riots!
We can't wait to work with you and enjoy the ups and downs that come with 2012... On a personal note, I want to thank you all for your support over the last year. It means more than I can ever express in words!
Paul D Smart & The Team
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Limited by Name Only...
Today was a very big step in the world of Paul D Smart Photography.
We took the leap to becoming incorporated today, and within an hour of submitting the papers to Companies House, we had an email back with confirmation of our registration.
Though we are now a Limited Company, it's only in name. This new status brings a structure to Paul D Smart Photography that will allow us to expand.
I hope you'll wish us luck, 2012 is going to be a very exciting time.
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Shoot : Shelter
I thought we'd take a moment and blog about the changes that we go through for commercial projects.
We recently shot a campaign that was close to the models heart for Shelter. The charity dedicated to helping homeless people.
So after some work in the studio we settled on an image that we considered to be both thought provoking and shocking. Unfortunately a studio shoot is not what the client is looking for, so some photoshop work is required.
First of all we changed the background
Though this was perhaps a little darker than we wanted. We decided that the model should also be dirtier. She's meant to be naked and homeless after all.
Continue reading “Shoot : Shelter” »
