Eleanor Jane

The Lash

Introducing my boyfriend Chris' latest musical incarnation, The Lash, a 45,000 RPM rock 'n' soul hurricane blowing through a city near you soon. Like the devoted girlfriend that I am I allowed them to drag me out of bed very early on a Sunday morning to shoot these pictures at Les Croupiers casino in Cardiff (with the aid of a very large tea and the promise of a giant sandwich afterwards!). Check out their new single here and more tracks here.

Links 13.01.12

Courtney Love's goal board - © Peter Murdock

♥ Courtney Love takes xoJane on a tour of her West Village, NYC townhouse. The decor is totally not what I expected with lots of antique furnishings, a little bit chintzy really!

♥ Iconic photojournalism of 2011... with added Lego!

♥ What do you think of these colour photographs of Russia over a century ago? Now, I know colour photography has been around a lot longer than many people think but for some reason I still couldn't believe these were 100% genuine at first. It took a lot of reading up on the process to convince me.

♥ On a similar theme here is some fascinating colour movie footage of London from 1927. Everyone is so smartly dressed and wearing a hat. How proper!

♥ These rare lenticular clouds, usually only seen over large mountain ranges such as the Himalayas and the Andes, were photographed in the skies above West Yorkshire recently. Apparently these cloud formations are the single biggest explanation for UFO sightings across the world (but personally I believe little greys are always to blame!).

Backstage at Opeth - Guitar World

Ok, I'm aware that it sounds like I say this about everyone I seem to meet through my photography, but Opeth are such friendly, down-to-earth people… I'm starting to believe there's no such thing as the stereotypical rock & roll ego!

I recently joined them on a couple of dates of their UK tour to shoot some behind the scenes pictures for Guitar World magazine and they were so very cool & accommodating. Frederik Akesson is an incredible guitarist, his playing mesmerised me into a state of total adoration and I have to admit I left with a little bit of an obsession! At one point I was up on the balcony of the Birmingham O2 seeking out a new angle to photograph sound check from but was so enthralled by Frederik’s intricate playing I ended up sat tucked away in the corner, watching & listening, camera in my lap… oops.

The magazine came out last week in America so hopefully a few copies should trickle across the ocean soon. In the meantime, here’s an awesome song called Slither from the new album, written in tribute to Ronnie James Dio. Enjoy!

 

 

The Hyde Family Portraits

I love outdoorsy, natural portraits. Although they're always a risk in the dismal British climate I think it's worth battling the elements to achieve something more interesting than the standard high key, white backdrop look. Thankfully Robbie and his kids thought so too, so in early December we took off to the Newport Wetlands nature reserve to shoot some surprise pictures as a Christmas gift for his wife. The rain held off and we even had an intense burst of sunshine which enhanced the bright colours of the kids clothes until they popped against the dark grey of the rainclouds in the distance. Don't you just love it when nature Photoshops for you?!

Links 06.01.12

© Hedi Slimane

♥ Woah, so Frances Bean Cobain is no longer the little grunge baby in the iconic Stephen Sweet pictures of Kurt & Courtney at home. With those genes she was clearly never going to be anything less than an incredible model but something about these photos leave me feeling oh so unsettled.

♥ Encourage your wedding guests to get creative with their snaps with this cute idea from Etsy.

♥ Barbie & Ken get married. Posing my Barbie dolls for impromptu fashion and wedding shoots is exactly how I got into photography so I adore this. The standard is much higher than what I achieved in 1993 with a Kodak 110 camera but I should really scan those old pictures in for a bit of a retrospective blog - Ffotogirl: The Early Years!

♥ 20 Myths About Becoming a Professional Photographer (& how to avoid falling for them).

♥ Kids' drawings are hilarious and Imagine Awesome is one of the funniest websites ever! The artist Garrett Miller re-imagines the drawings the way he thinks the child intended them to look if only they had the skills.

Baby Tomos

Do you remember Owain & Stacey's pretty country barn wedding from late 2010? Well, they certainly didn't waste any time settling in to family life - I think most of us were still recovering from the epic reception party when they announced that baby Tomos was on his way! Here's a sneaky peek at some shots I took of him at four weeks (he's nine weeks old now), awake & wriggling like crazy. Until I finish knitting my bright & cheerful newborn hats I'm loving shooting these baby pictures almost exclusively in black & white. Hope you guys like them too!

Anna Calvi - Total Guitar

YES! The January issue of Total Guitar magazine is out which means I can finally share my favourite portrait of 2011 (at long last!) - the beautiful and enigmatic Anna Calvi. This photo was taken in the hull of the Bristol Thekla months & months ago just before the live gig I shot for this feature. I stepped pretty far out of my comfort zone with all the music photography over the past few months but I've definitely thrived on the chaos... here's hoping for more awesome band shoots in 2012. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Goodbye Christmas

I absolutely love this time of year (I’m even happy to let the blatant lack of sunshine slide for a few days) and this has been one of the best Decembers ever. I partied & indulged my way through Christmas & Winter Solstice with family, friends and sickening quantities of tinned chocolates. I’ve been for blustery winter walks, ate lots of picnic teas instead of proper dinners (my favourites!), had several last minute rushes with my knitted presents (will start much earlier next year), met with old friends for champagne cocktails, unwrapped some amazing gifts (Peabrain & I were totally spoiled with a giant stack of books & lots of lovely, thoughtful little things) and my Mum made me a giant Hello Kitty cracker which we had to cut open to get the prizes out so that I could preserve it for future Christmases (she also made crackers for the Queen this year, fancy!).

As fun as it’s been, I’m impatient to put my plans for 2012 into action and am itching to start working already. In fact, I have already done a sneaky bit today and once my new diary turns up I will be unstoppable, mwaahaahaa! Until then, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas & HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you in 2012!

Christmas Gift Ideas for Photographers 2011

It’s CHRIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAS! Umm, how did we get here so quickly? I feel like I’ve only recently got back from my summer holidays and already I’m a quarter of the way through my advent calendar and planning what nibbles to serve at my mini winter solstice party. Still, I love this time of year so am definitely not complaining.

This December I'm looking forward to putting up the tree & hanging our Mickey Mouse bauble from Disney World, getting all scarfed up & going walking with my Peabrain to spot Christmas lights and find a nice pub for dinner, wrapping loads of presents (& hopefully having enough spare time to volunteer with my friend Andrew to wrap more presents & pack up food parcels for the elderly), finishing my crafty gifts and scoffing myself silly at our Christmas eve tea (mmmm Mr. Kipling's mince pies!).

Anyway, as usual I have compiled a guide of Christmas gift ideas for photographers (& please check out the galleries from 2009 & 2010 too if you're still stuck for ideas). I hope you find it useful unless of course you have been super organised and already done your Christmas shopping in January, like my nan!

1. Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography is perfect for any photographer with a serious case of wanderlust (& if you’re a squillionaire you could even throw in a couple of plane tickets too!).

2. If you thought the Gorillapod was clever… you haven’t seen the Monsterpod! Marketed by Photojojo as the “tripod equivalent to the hoverboard”, it sticks to over 1,000 surfaces and objects, hangs upside down, tilts & rotates to any angle with a pivoting tripod mount and is waterproof and dirt resistant. It looks ideal for those awkward self-portrait moments where the only viable option is a lopsided, stony precipice!

3. Over the past few years I’ve tried not to get so anxious over missed shots. As Linda McCartney would have said, “Don’t worry, it’s on the soul camera.” But for all the shots Linda didn’t miss, Linda McCartney: Life in Photographs is the definitive book. When the Taschen catalogue dropped through my door with this on the cover I knew instantly that I needed it. Linda worked at a time when photography was much purer and I can’t see how anyone would fail to be inspired by her pictures.

4. This USB negative/slide scanner may not be the thing for preparing high resolution scans for exhibition prints but it looks amazing for messing around with plastic fantastic “toy” camera shots or rediscovering your old snaps from ‘90s school discos!

5. How come whenever I have upgraded my camera body, the only thing to get progressively worse is the free strap? Hmm. The straps at My Funky Camera are highly recommended for both their sturdiness and being super cute proving that not all practical gifts have to be boring! Sadly for me my favourite designs have all sold out but I’m sure you could find something suitably stylish.

6. Camera Armour - the gift of protection! If only this came in pink…

7. Last year I had New York: A Portrait of a City for Christmas and LOVED it so much I had to ration the time I spent looking at it to last longer. Taschen have now brought out a Los Angeles version which looks equally as fascinating.

8. The Stella is the latest offering from Epiphanie, queens of the non-hideous camera bag. It’s a bit of a girly one but I am so tempted to buy this as a Christmas gift for myself. Totally vegan too!

9. Formula One actions are like a goodie box full of expired film… for your digital camera! Check out some sample edits here to see how other photographers have used the actions in post production.

10. Wires & plugs drive me crazy and I have managed to break three card readers this year so this product seems too good to be true for me. Automatically upload & backing up your shots via wifi? No wires? No plugs? No flimsy plastic card readers hanging out the side of your laptop? If only they made a compact flash version!

11. My wedding assistant Simon first introduced me to these Westcott Apollo softboxes. Use them with your off camera flash gun for location shoots where dragging your studio lighting around would be too awkward. The softbox itself folds down like an umbrella, clever clever! It’s a great bit of kit and I’m sure most location photographers would be thrilled to pieces with one.

12. Remind your photographer friends that pictures are best printed out and enjoyed!

13. Creative, experimental types will love Kevin Meredith’s Toy Cameras book. It’s a bible for all things plastic fantastic!

14. You can’t argue with the fact that all serious photographers need a good set of prime lenses and a 50mm f1.8 is a nice, affordable place to start. Try here for Nikon & here for Canon.

15. Everything is more cheerful in colour. These portable USB hard drives from Verbatim make the rather joyless task of backing up work slightly less dull.

16. At first glances I thought this camera bag looked like a terrible ‘80s monstrosity but it’s beginning to grow on me. Lots of space for extra bits & pieces means it’s great for a day trip and it comes in purple too (which is probably why I like it!).

17. I know I mention Moleskines every year but they really are the perfect notebook and now they come in PINK! Woohoo!

Ffoto Week 05.12.11

1. YAY, CHRISTMAS! I really wanted a bauble wreath but didn't fancy paying £20+ so using this tutorial i made one! Mine is a little wonky and needs some tidying up but I'm still pretty impressed with it. I'm going a bit craft mental at the moment...

2. There's something very wrong about getting up at 4:30am, driving to the airport and not even getting to go on holiday. My poor body was tricked into thinking we were going somewhere exciting this morning as after half an hour on the road I started to get mad cravings for maple & pecan pastries, my traditional i'm-going-on-an-adventure breakfast. But nope, I was dropping Peabrain off for an early flight to Scotland for work (where he reports it is snowing!) and sadly I didn't get to join him. Boo!

3. I know it's only been a few days since I posted about Em & Marc's wedding feature in Wedding Ideas magazine but I've been very fortunate that it's had a lot of coverage recently. This latest press appearance is thanks to Chepstow florist, Catherine Gray who used one of my favourite images in a full page ad in the latest issue of Tiara magazine. Love this photo!

4. It's about as far away as you can get from wedding photography but I've also been on tour with Swedish prog-metal band, Opeth, shooting a backstage feature for an American magazine. I had an amazing time hanging out at the various venues, meeting some awesome people and going behind-the-scenes with the band at Kerrang radio in Birmingham (which was quite exciting for me as I used to get Kerrang every week when I was a teenager). Opeth were lovely guys and lead guitarist Frederik Akesson is freakishly talented. While we were at the O2 in Birmingham I went into the deserted balcony area to shoot the sound check but ended up sat above Frederik's side of the stage totally mesmerised! The mag should be out in February so I'll share more pictures then.