Ian Vecchi Photography

Californian Sunset

2011-08-18T23:25:00.000+01:00

We didn't realise that the summer sea fogs in northern California would mean so few sunsets. But last night we had a fog-free evening with nice clouds so off to the Boardwalk we went for our first decent sunset.

Of course, the sun sets over a boring bit of horizon but the colours made it worthwhile.

And we got a wild-looking cloud right over the Boardwalk earlier in the evening too.

Big Sur, Californian Coast

2011-08-17T01:43:00.004+01:00

We decided to drive down to Los Angeles along the Pacific Highway/Highway 1 which goes along the California coast through Big Sur. On the way south we had heavy sea fog, but the journey north was much better. The shot above is McWay Falls, one of the most photographed waterfalls in California if the crowds there are anything to go by. It was taken on the southbound leg of the journey so the light wasn't great. But I still like it. Remember to click on the photos for larger versions.

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The next shots are of a long and apparently private beach. The first shows the fog, the second looks back at it on the sunnier day.

Two shots from another glorious, deserted beach (actually, if you look really closely there are people and a dog on this beach).

And finally a moody B&W of one of the many bridges.

Natural Bridges Beach, Again

2011-08-17T01:34:00.001+01:00

We went back to our favourite beach in Santa Cruz, this time with my new tripod. With Ali assisting I managed to take some decent long-exposure shots which I decided to convert to B&W. The next one is also a one-shot-HDR, turned B&W. All shots are of the same rock, just from two different angles.

Capitola Pier

2011-07-13T05:47:00.000+01:00

Some shots of the pier at Capitola, just south of Santa Cruz. Taken over the space of a few minutes with the help of ND and a Gold'N' Blue filter.

Natural Bridges

2011-07-04T01:42:00.000+01:00

Another trip to a different Santa Cruz beach. This time we spent an evening at Natural Bridges Beach. This is a magnet for local photographers and I want to go back to do it better justice. But here are a few initial efforts.

The Amazing See-Through Air of Santa Fe

2011-06-29T05:17:00.002+01:00

We had a couple of days free after a conference in Santa Fe. Amazing landscapes and special air you can see through (according to my cousin Helen - but she's Australian...). The picture above is four shots joined together of the view over Santa Fe at sunset. The colour of the sky changed by the second although my new Singh-Ray Blue-N-Gold filter helped mess things about too (click on the pictures for larger versions):

We went to Bandelier National Park on the advice of that same cousin and nearly died - it was incredibly hot and at altitude - but worth it in the end:

On the way back we saw the fire that is currently threatening Los Alamos (just up the road from the park). Luckily we had Junior Ranger Sophia on hand to look after us:

Finally, we went up to visit the Sanctuary at Chimayo. A very beautiful place, this is a picture of the toilet block:

Outside the Church:

Back in front of the toilet block:

Vegas Baby!!!

2011-06-29T04:55:00.000+01:00

We spent three nights in Las Vegas at the tasteful Luxor Hotel en route for a conference at Santa Fe. The best thing about the place was the Chriss Angel magic show, but it was good to visit four continents (three real and one made up) all in one day. After Africa (at the Luxor, complete with lightbeam), we saw Paris, New York and the fantasy world of King Arthur at the Excalibur Hotel. Unfortunately, Venice was too far away to visit in the 100+ degree heat so we settled on eating the buffet at the Bellagio.

Point Lobos and Santa Cruz

2011-06-29T04:43:00.000+01:00

Sunset over West Cliffs in Santa Cruz.

Cliffs and kelp beds at Point Lobos near Carmel.

Yosemite

2011-06-01T19:07:00.009+01:00

We spent a couple of days in Yosemite National Park last week. Absolutely stunning. The view above is from Tunnel View - a point overlooking Yosemite Valley that is full of photographers. Ansel Adams took one of his most famous photos from this point, although he had stormy winter weather, not fine spring sunlight. The big mass of granite on the left is El Capitan (3,000 feet from top to bottom), the waterfall on the right is Bridalveil fall (a 620 foot drop), and peeking out at the back is the top of Half Dome. Click on the shot for a larger version.

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This is the sunset view from Washburn Point, a long drive up above the snowline. You can see a side-on view of Half Dome being hit by the clouds, plus a couple of other enormous waterfalls. The top of Half Dome is 4,737ft above the valley floor.

Also from Washburn point, this time looking north (I think):

Back in Yosemite Valley, this is the view of Bridalveil fall from the valley floor in arty black and white.

And another, this time of El Capitan and Horsetail fall:

We stayed at the Lodge at the bottom of Yosemite Fall - the tallest waterfall in North America at around 740m from top to bottom (in three steps).

Ali and I managed an early start on morning and managed to catch the rainbows at the bottom of the fall (while getting soaking wet). Not my best picture ever but it has a double rainbow.

On the way back from the falls the next morning with Michela and Sophia also in tow we unexpectedly met a bear.

We followed him with a growing band of photographers before he got bored and wandered off.

Even outside the Park, the views were stunning. This one is from near Mariposa, just to the west of the park.

And this is from nearer Santa Cruz in the smaller mountains separating the coast from the Central Valley (taken as we whizzed along on the motorway).

San Francisco

2011-05-15T21:01:00.000+01:00

We did the long drive up to San Francisco last weekend in an enormous hired Jeep. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, the view to San Francisco from Vista point, we went to Fisherman's Wharf and spotted Alcatraz.

2011-05-15T20:53:00.001+01:00

We went to Scott's Creek beach yesterday and had it pretty much to ourselves. Not very warm but a good time was had by all. After the enormous Jeep we hired last weekeknd we went to the other extreme this time and got a VW "Bug"

Campus Wildlife

2011-05-06T18:14:00.000+01:00

Signs from California

2011-05-05T17:45:00.000+01:00

Just a Few Shots from California

2011-04-28T23:04:00.000+01:00

A Few From the Weekend

2011-04-03T22:30:00.001+01:00

Lovely sunlight this weekend so I got the family to pose. All natural light (plus a touch of fill flash here and there) using the 100mm macro on a 5DII. I even managed to get Michela in front of the camera. Strong back-light for Sophia's pictures, front light for Ali's and Michelas' last shot, and strong side light for the first two of Michela.

One of Alessandro

2011-03-08T21:50:00.001Z

Just soft natural light for this one.

Strobist experiments

2011-02-25T17:48:00.000Z

Dark and wet out so I persuaded the kids to model for me while I fiddled about with flashes. One flash in a brollybox high camera right, another bare about six feet behind Ale and to camera left in the above shot to give a bit of separation.

With Soph, the backlight is directly behind her shooting at the back of her head. Both shots using ETTL.

Mostly hi key shots of Ale

2011-02-05T17:29:00.000Z

Tried taking a few bright pictures of Ale this morning with an 85mm lens. I deliberately overexposed the first two to keep the attention on his eyes, and then desaturated the images a little. I liked the third shot a little darker though. For some reason I decided to crop square this time.

Random pictures from Italy

2011-01-24T16:08:00.001Z

North-facing window light portraits

2011-01-11T18:36:00.001Z

Michela's mom's flat in Macerata has floor-to-ceiling north facing windows which give a lovely light for portraits. I pestered the children endlessly to pose for me.

Macerata

2011-01-11T18:29:00.002Z

We spent the last two weeks in Macerata eating, sleeping and taking the odd photograph. Here are a few shots of Macerata after some light editing. Taken with my 100mm macro on a 5DmkII. As usual, click on the photo for a larger version.

Bokehlicious

2010-12-22T17:11:00.001Z

I lit the kids with a flash in a softbox umbrella just to the left of shot, with the Christmas lights in the background nicely out of focus. Tom is over from Austria and didn't mind being experimented upon.

Snowtime

2010-12-19T15:45:00.000Z

Out in the snow yesterday. Ali kicked my butt throwing snowballs and before we all froze I took a few snaps (50mm/1.4). For no obvious reason I was shooting wide open.

Smile

2010-11-30T21:43:00.002Z

A quick grab shot of Sophia. Light from a window camera right, and I raised the fill light in post processing so you could see her eyes better. I just wanted to capture the smile.

Autumn light

2010-11-20T10:38:00.000Z

Dragged the kids over the road to the park then into the local churchyard for some photos. 100mm macro on my 5D mkII, all natural light.

Red Devil

2010-10-31T16:35:00.001Z

Not blogged much of late, but I'll catch up soon. For now, today's shot of Sophia in her "Trick or Treat" outfit.

On the gallops

2010-08-14T10:17:00.001+01:00

Michela and Sophia went horse riding in Bude and Ale and I braved the dreadful weather to take some shots and stalk the hawks hunting on the headland. No decent shots of the hawks but we got these of the riders. The B&W conversions were taken with 300mm+1.4x converter on my 1DmkII through the rain. They were washed out in colour so I tried a moody conversion process.

Panoramics

2010-08-14T10:09:00.000+01:00

I tried some panoramic shots on holiday, stitching together several shots to make one. Easy-peasy in Photoshop. The one above is eight vertical shots of Bude stitched together, each taken at 70mm on a 24-70. The level of detail is phenomenal. Dead centre are seven tennis courts (where I had my butt kicked by Ale) and zooming in you can see the players, rackets and balls in detail. Well, all except the one ghost player that disappeared in the stitching process. To compare, I took one horizontal shot at 24mm of the same scene (below). Zooming in, the players are just about discernable but there is just no detail at all. Next step is to print them both out and see if it makes a difference at reasonable print sizes.

This last one is of the Eden Project. It seems to have a dark area over the large biome on the left. I'm not sure if this is due to the dodgy stitching of the shots or whether it really was there.

Skateboarding

2010-07-27T22:11:00.001+01:00

Ale chose a skateboard as his end-of-year present and here are some shots of his early attempts...A bit of a mix of processing styles but all taken on my 1DmkII with the 70-200/2.8

Family Football

2010-07-27T22:02:00.004+01:00

Some boys have a natural talent for football...

Some girls have a natural talent for football...

And some people just don't...

More Football

2010-07-20T20:07:00.001+01:00

More football in the afternoon sunlight. Lovely. This time I tried the 70-200/2.8. Missed lots as the 5D is a bit slow but those it got in focus looked good enough for me.

Football and photos

2010-07-04T16:51:00.001+01:00

Went out to play football with the kids and dragged the camera along too. Glad I did as the setting sun was lovely. 85mm/1.2 with the 5D mkII.

Natural light portraits

2010-06-21T20:40:00.004+01:00

I took a few natural light shots of the kids with the 85/1.2. I have some of Michela too but she won't let me post them!

2010-06-19T17:00:00.000+01:00

Cass Business School hosted a conference on asset management and I went to take some shots (and learn a bit about asset management). The venue was really dark with just a bit of window light and patchy downlighters. I didn't want to disturb speakers with flash so high iso was needed.

Brighton Beach on a Bank Holiday

2010-06-03T09:47:00.001+01:00

We spent Bank Holiday Monday in Brighton. Not the best weather for a day at the seaside but the non-Italians had fun at least.

We skimmed stones...

and they sometimes bounced...

We went on trampolines...

and slides...

and rollercoasters...

and finally we just chilled on the beach

Summer is Still Here!

2010-04-26T17:59:00.001+01:00

Yet another lovely weekend so yet another day in the park. Ale wasn't in the mood for photos so Sophia had to put up with me stalking her round with 5D mkII and 85/1.2

Summer is Here!

2010-04-19T21:05:00.002+01:00

Smashing day in the park and some decent shots of the kids. All with my 85mm/1.2 on the 5D mkII.

Basketball Hero

2010-04-19T21:00:00.000+01:00

I am afraid that Ali has his dad's natural talent for basketball, but at least we managed a shot that made him look like he had a future in the NBA:

50/1.4 on the 5D mkII with a lick of flash from camera left (via a TTL chord).

Lovegroving

2010-04-19T20:56:00.000+01:00

I have been watching the Damien Lovegrove DVDs on lighting with flash so I thought I'd give it a go. We had problems from start to finish. I had hoped to mount the flash on a monopod so I could hold it and take the shots - flash stand wouldn't fit on the 'pod. Plan B was to have a voice activated lightstand hold the flash, but this proved difficult when the VAL is only six, is way shorter than the subject and has no idea where to point the flash. Then the talent decided he was cold and didn't want to cooperate. Finally, the photographer was having a bad day and took endless rubbish. In the end, some heavy-handed processing and luck gave me a few keepers:

Just the one

2010-04-14T21:33:00.000+01:00

Sophia was playing on the computer so I sniped a few shots (5DmkII and 50/1.4) and here I've put a selection into a tryptich.

La Rugoletta

2010-03-28T19:01:00.000+01:00

Lunch at La Rugoletta, our local Italian restaurant on Saturday, and the light was so nice the camera came too. I switched between the 85mm/1.2 and 50mm/1.4 lenses on the 5D mkII. The light was coming in through two large windows behind me (Sophia's camera left, Ale's camera right and straight on to Nonna Maria's face).

Little Red Riding Hood

2010-03-22T18:13:00.002Z

The kids had a "dress up as a book character" day at school and went as Little Red Riding Hood and Horrid Henry. Nonna Maria made a skirt and cape for Sophia and this weekend we went out to take some photos. Sophia had to skip through the trees on the bit of green just round the corner, and Ale assisted by calling out when Sophia hit her mark. It took a few goes to get the lighting right (a bare zoomed flash camera left and the setting sun camera right), Sophia's hood to stay up, and for her to look like she was skipping at the key point, but we got there in the end:

We then had time for some action images of Ale:

Earlier that day I took some shots of Sophia in the local park (50mm/1.4 on the 5DmkII):

My New Brollybox

2010-03-21T14:32:00.000Z

Got a new brollybox last week and this was my first chance to try it out. It is a silver lined umbrella with a softbox cover, so the flash is bounced back off the inside of the umbrella but diffused by the cover. It takes seconds to set up and is 47inches wide. In these shots, the umbrella was high camera left. All pictures with the 85/1.2 on my 5DmkII.

Sophia on the Violin

2010-03-15T21:09:00.000Z

Sophia decided to have a go on Ale's violin this afternoon. The pictures aren't up to much but they are better than her violin playing! All taken with a 70-200/2.8 IS and a 5D mkII. Slow shutter speeds and only natural light from the window camera right. IS worked a treat.

Sophia's Turn at Doing Homework

2010-03-05T19:56:00.001Z

This time it was Sophia's turn to be photographed doing her homework. Still enough window light available at f1.2 so out came the 85mm again. Focus seems very good on the lens with the 5D, although I missed once or twice. Still, it takes a lovely photo...

Ali at 85

2010-02-27T10:57:00.004Z

Took delivery of an 85mm f1.2 beast of a lens earlier this week and tried it out on Ali this morning. Just simple grab shots in an all white room lit with morning daylight. Shooting at minimum focus distance wide open an a full frame Canon 5DmkII means the depth of field is about one centimetre. Focusing doesn't seem a problem, although it is quite slow. The problem is getting both eyes and the mouth in focus at such a ridiculous aperture. Still, I am happy the lens is sharp and focus is good on the 5D (my old 85/1.8 was way out on a full frame body).

I took a few more of Ali later in the day and he even got some of me for a change.

More Sophia

2010-02-21T17:06:00.001Z

Some quick grab shots of Sophia, all taken with bounced flash using the 50/1.4 on my Canon 5D mark II. Lovely detail in these. Processed quite a bit starting with some presets in Lightroom plus some random fiddling around to get the look I wanted - kind of desaturated and soft, but with detail preserved.

All Blacks Rugby

2010-02-07T13:48:00.000Z

OK, so not quite the real thing but London New Zealand visitied Finchley RFC this weekend. Another day out with the 1D mkII and 300/2.8, mostly with a 1.4x teleconverter attached as it was sunny (but freezing cold). I am getting used to this monster lens now although it has an irritating tendency to lose focus mid-burst which I'll have to learn to tame. The best timed three shots from the day were all out of focus. But I am happy with the others:

Finchley RFC v Hampstead RFC

2010-01-30T20:45:00.003Z

I took my new-to-me Canon 300/2.8 L to the local rugby club for its first real test today. The low winter sun gave some lovely light across the pitch and I concentrated on getting some sportraits of the players. In the first half I used the 1.4x teleconverter with the 300/2.8 on my Canon 1DmkII, but in the second half tried the lens on its own. I still needed quite a bit of cropping to get good compositions, but I am happy with the results. For the record, Hampstead (in yellow and red) comfortably won 29-8.

More Children's Portraits

2010-01-25T19:36:00.000Z

Giorgia and her family came to visit recently. I stalked her round the house with the 5DII and 50/1.4, looking for photo ops. I wish I had the flash handy as it was getting dark, but I managed a handful I am happy with. The lighting was different in these shots (above and below were natural light, the next two lo-energy tungsten bulbs which confuse the AWB), and unfortunately I couldn't get them to look similar in processing.

Sophia on the Stairs

2010-01-23T14:50:00.002Z

A few more quick shots with the 5D mark II. I used the 24-70/2. and a lick of bounced flash for these. Quick desaturation, added vignette and a fiddle with the contrast and voila! Tonnes of detail in these pics. Click on them for larger versions (800pix wide).

Homework

2010-01-14T22:54:00.001Z

Ali had to do some homework tonight and I had to continue to test my 5D mark II, so we killed two birds with one stone. All the shots were taken with the 50/1.4 lens, mostly wide open. As I'd been asked for some higher ISO samples I increased the ISO from 400 through 800 to 1600. I cannot honestly see much difference, even blown up large. I am growing to like this camera.

New Year, New Camera

2010-01-10T15:03:00.002Z

Yeah, the lack of new camera gear over Christmas got to me and so I bought a Canon 5D mark II yesterday. I sold my 17-40/2.8 for what I paid for it and will let the old 5D go to fund the mark II. It feels lovely and has lots of settings I can play with once I get a manual for it. I took a few test shots of Ali with it today using the 50/1.4 and they look good!

I also tried a few lanscapes in our local park. They were all awful so I tried shaking the camera for an artistic effect. I quite liked this one.

And later on I got this one of Soph (with bounced flash).

Family Portrait

2009-12-31T14:36:00.001Z

The real family was out so I decided to do some product shots.
First I did the little ones...

Then the big ones...

Then the whole family...

And finally I made them put their hoods on as it was cold out...

The baby of the family (Zenitar fisheye) was too small to be photographed, and, of course, I had to be taking the shots (Tamron 90mm macro) so as usual I am not in the photos either.

Roman Holiday

2009-12-21T20:42:00.001Z

One from earlier in the year now. We spent half-term in Rome visiting relatives and seeing the city. Ali was doing the Romans at school so we did all the usual sites. I took the 5D and 24-70/2.8 together with my Zenitar fisheye. The next three shots (the colliseum, the Vatican museum spiral staircases and the pantheon) were all with the fisheye, the last two night shots (and the day shot above) with the zoom.

Sophia in the snow

2009-12-21T13:12:00.004Z

Went to the park with Sophia, the 5D and 50/1.4. Not enough snow for a snowball fight so Sophia spent half an hour trying to hit me with a long twig while I tried to take photos.

Food Glorious Food

2009-12-20T10:49:00.004Z

I did some product shots of Christmas goodies for Angela's Handmade website a while back and updated the shoot with some extra pics of the panforte yesterday. Michela and Sophia had been baking gingerbread men so Ali and I took some shots of those too. Taken with the Tamron 90mm macro or Canon 50/1.4 on my 5D with either bounced flash or a softbox in tight camera right. A little bit of PP on these to give a consistent look to the shots.

And one of Ali's shots...

Pet Shop Boys

2009-12-19T22:50:00.004Z

The cats have been lazing around recently so I have managed to get a few shots of them. This is the first time the boys have seen snow. Indoor shots taken with a 24-70/2.8 on the 5D and bounced flash. The snow shots were tests of my new-to-me but very battered 300/2.8 on the 1DmkII. This lens was retired by its paparazzi owner soon after shooting Katie Price/Jordan.

Wiggly Nativity

2009-12-18T17:56:00.002Z

The kids' Christmas activities began with a Carol concert for Ali and a nativity play for Sophia. Ali played a shepherd, while Sophia was a narrator. No shots of her narrating as she was hidden behind a huge lectern but she did come out to dance. Both venues were pretty dark so these are pushing the limits of the 1DmkII's high ISO capabilities. Image stabilisation in the 70-200/2.8 proved helpful though.

Ahh Grasshopper...

2009-12-18T17:29:00.000Z

Grasshoppers RFC visited Finchley RFC last weekend. I went with my son, my Canon 300/4 and a 1DmkII. The light was nice and low, giving some nice shots as the match wore on. Grasshoppers (in green, not surprisingly) won pretty convincingly after a strong first half of attacking play, and some solid defence aftre the break. Click on the pictures for larger versions.

Welcome

2009-12-17T20:33:00.000Z

Welcome to my new blog. Nothing to show yet but I will update with sample shots soon.