OZZYKLEEN and Ken Paterson-ric woods photography

Ken Paterson from OZZY KLEEN commissioned us to shoot some images for his website. The brief was to provide a shot list and make up for the woman that was to be the talent. We ( Nu make up and Will was assisting) arrived at the venue which was one of the apartment Ken secured on the site of the old Royal Hospital site, great views,lots of glass and mirrors with off white carpet that not only offered good reflectance but begged to get all over my black clothes for those low angle shots.

We finalised the shot list whilst waiting for the talent. after several phone calls Ken found out that the talent was no where to be found. Non professional talent has is a bit like non professional photographers...you get what you pay for. Ken was sweating, he knew either he was the talent...or nothing was to be salvaged.

Ken showing off his products.Even though Ken was very camera shy he was willing to take direction and step out of his comfort zone for some animated shoits.

Ken provides cleaning franchises for those that are interested

Like a true trooper he was under Nu's make up brushes and into the frame.

The idea was to be generous with the negative space to allow "text over" images and to use just details like hands,equipment etc from some images.

Will is always on hand to give me a whibal colour balance

Smiling and not smiling,facing left facing right...cover all bases for the web designer.

The reflection would be cleaned up in post.

We all had a laugh as Ken had to squeeze into tiny cloves...he had to suffer for our art.

One of the many portraits to be cropped for Kens headshot.

I hqad to shoot 2 strobes into a 60" umbrella to balance out the sun.Im glad I packed the studio strobes instead of the small off camera strobes..." A good big dog will ALWAYS beat a good little dog..

Ethos Health shoot-Hunter Business Chamber

Ethos Health commissioned me to do their staff corporate portraits, for their new website which is under construction at this time.As ric woods photography are members we were an obvious choice.Aside from the quality of images we have provided for Newcastle's high end corporate sector the word is out that our genuine care for our clients makes us an easy choice.

They were holding a conference at the Newcastle Hunter Business Chamber, as all the staff were to be present this was the perfect opportunity to shoot everyone at once. Otherwise shooting the 40 plus staff would not be cost effective and it would require much more work arranging several sessions.

Access to the venue was available from 7.30am and we needed to be finished by 9.15 am for the start of the conference, setting up the day before was the order of the day. The shot list must be followed to provide a smooth photo session providing our client with a selection of images of the subjects including full length and head shot, continuity and consistent quality were as important as getting great faces from the staff.

Staff were instructed to show up with uniforms ironed make up and hair done.....and away we go......

We provide proofs to our corporate clients then they select their favourites and we then edit and provide some digital clean up where required...These proofs below of Mark are straight from the camera.

done by 9.15.........

Xanthe on the Run

Personal Work: Is really important to me, it keeps me fresh...it's difficult to make the time BUT if I take the time to do it my attitude and Commercial images are better.

Xanthe is one of my favourite subjects, we always make great work.

Nikon D300 24-70 2.8 1/250@5.6 ISO 400.SB24@1/8 50zoom and SB26@1/2 50zoom, pocket wizards.Only photoshop work is edges were darkened...This is the digital shot,I use the digital camera as a proofing tool,my primary image is captured on film Mamyia RB 67 with no digital enhancing, composing and getting spot on exposures are essential on film.

Australian Speedway Solo Titles..Newcastle Australia-Jan 2010

Maree and myself shot some images at the Australian Speedway Solo Titles in Newcastle the other weekend...It was a blast

Young Guns

These guys all wanted the same bit of track

plenty of sideways action

A few spills...

QUESTION...How many photographers does it take to review and image:

Answer...All of Them

Great to see the crowd DUCK as the guys got out into the loose stuff...

There were some heated words..Riders and grader driver discuss track maintenance

I'm the one without the helmet...

This camera man was always looking for a "classy"(????) shot ...after every race..sigh

Lots of talent in the titles...

The bikes seem to "ATTRACT" each other ...sometimes very close

The GOLD

Congratulations from ric woods photography...

maree had a great first visit to the speedway solos...Im sure she will be back.

Jo Nelson-hair and make up artist

Jo Nelson asked us to photograph her for her website.

We work with Jo lots and like many photographers, make up artist can cringe at being in the shot. But as you can see below, we always crack our subjects up. Our key is to not operate on ego. Be focused to do what ever it takes to give your client a natural image. Jo was pleased with the shoot.

Here are a few behind the scene images of Jo.

Carl Barron get some minature cooling during the TVC shoot for Hunter Mutual. Little Green Frog was responsible for the creative on these shoots.

Waterford County shoot

Jo has all the moves

Waterford county shoot

LUCKY LUCKY STEVE !!

LUCKY LUCKY STEVE !! was reluctant to put an entry in the box at the local vets clinic. He eventually did and scooped a $10,000 cash prize sponsored by Beyer.. Steve said he will holiday in Canada with the winnings. Sadly his pet has to stay home. Last year his brother won $5,000 in a competition at the same vet !! Where do I sign ?

"The Crew" Little Green Frog Marketing-less director jamie

Its become a tradition of mine now to photograph the staff of little Green Frog Marketing on the morning of Melbourne Cup Day. They approach the day like tigers of fun.

HUGE softbox over camera,silver umbrella high camera right for some POP. white reflectors left and right of subjects.D300 nikon

Fine Furniture-by Rod Jackson

Its not very often I get to see such fantastic workmanship.Rod Jackson creates fine furniture.This piece we photographed to present to a panel of judges, these judges "invite" you to present your furniture in an exhibition.

This mostly handcrafted piece is wonderful in the "flesh".The only lathe work was to separate the ends on the legs and the collared grooves.These legs are had crafted from square lumber.OUR goal was to make images that show case the finer points of his work and get his piece selected.I feel we have achieved the brief.

Its valued at $10,000.00

What did my client think?

"G’day Ric,

Well, what can I say, except they are brilliant !!!!! It will be hard for me to select the number back to ten as they are all so good.

I can’t stop smiling and showing the photos to staff.

Kind Regards

Rod"

Thats how we like it .....

Lttle Lights -Big Results-lighting seminar

Hi it’s maree,
I’m excited to announce that I am now taking bookings for

‘Little Lights, Big Results’ – a seminar based on off camera flash.
The seminar will take place in the Carrington studio on;
Thursday 19th November 2009 from 6.30 – 9.30pm
The seminar will cover;
• Light Shaping
• Light Modifiers
• Creating a pure white background
• Working with grided spots
• A Great Studio experience
The seminar will be structured as follows;
• Studio set up before students arrive
• One hour of the " Nuts & Bolts"
• Two hours of practical, participants shooting
• Two sets / lighting changes
• Model Supplied
• Students will be paired with a shooting partner to maximise time with the model. Shooting time will be structured to ensure everyone get equal opportunities to shoot.
• Certificate issued to all students who complete the seminar
• Special voucher to save money on future seminars
I have limited the group to 8 students to maximise learning and more importantly shooting time!!!
Plans are already in place for a dynamic set, theme and model for the shoot session.
The cost of the seminar will be $70 for pro-am students and $80 for others. This price includes your worksheets for the night, tea/coffee and the guarantee that your memory card will be loaded with outstanding and unique images.
Spaces will fill up fast so contact the studio asap to put your name down and bring your money/credit card along on Tuesday to pay your deposit and secure your spot.
maree nichols – production manager

contact :maree@ricwoods.com

Maree the ever helpful assistant

We were shooting some high key mono portraits of two brothers, the dappled sunlight was a problem, until I sent Maree upthe tree with a sheet of corflu, to gobo the sunlight.Note that she removes her shoes, sensitive to nature.

LOCATION PORTRAITURE WORKSHOPS.(participants images below)

We are running some location portraiture workshops at ProAm photography lab Adamstown .
Maree has been the model,subject,victim and Ive been the tutor,bogey man and box head.
The participants are doing fantastic and we are having a great time. More images on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricwoods/

Rod Bathgates-art work documentation

An intersate collector commissioned us to document a recent purchase.It was a pastel by Newcastle artist Rod Bathgate. Some of Mr Bathgate's images may be seen from a previous exhibition at Cooks Hill Galleries, Newcastle.

Blue World Order Shoot-behind the scenes

Several people asked us for a little more about the on site with the band Blue World Order.

Maree-another image from the "Tule" shoot

Maree with $20 worth of tule.

Tech info: On boom above camera gridded snoot on SB600 1/4 CTO@1/4 zoomed 85.Camera right lower snooted-SB24 magentax2.Camera right top of frame snooted SB26 red gelx2,top of frame snooted SB26 CTOx2.D300 24-70 2.8.Triggered by PW.

I "see" it...click....gold.

I do many,many portraits and every now and then through my view finder I get a glimpse of gold. ...and that is the primary reason I make images...tech info 24-70 2.8, D300, gridded beauty dish high camera left,60x60 softbox right & rear of subject for separation. Fired by pocket wizards. This will be in my web portfolio www.ricwoods.com.

Passmores Business & Managemet College Corporate Shoot

We had the pleasure of shooting the students of Passmores Business & Managemet College. The shoot was to provide a corporate style of portrait for the graduating students CV. We shot approx 44 individual portraits with several shots for each student and teacher to chose their favourite. 3 full class shots and several shots of the entire college students and staff. This required 5 different setups ( including the moving around of 40+chairs etc) and for each person to chose their image as well as all the required releases and information gathering. We arrived at 9am and had left by 12.30pm. This requires a smooth work flow and good communication skills with your clients as many of these people are camera shy.Maree was fantastic on the production side, she mustered the talent, created the paper trail and I shot each student, she helped them chose their image. This is where shooting tethered to the laptop is a great time saver.It directs the images directly on the the laptops hard drive with almost instant viewing of a large image. ( one disadvantage that still makes me nervous, is that it does not save a copy to the card in the camera)

It was a great shoot and we were really impressed with these young professionals, they are bright and well groomed and I guess that is why Passmores places most into jobs.

Once back to the studio came the editing and the electronic "vanishing cream" to eliminated those odd skin blemishes amongst this crew. Burn student a copy and presto... their First corporate portfolio shot.

TEENS AGAINST WHALING-Skye Bortoli

Skye Bortoli is a wonderful young lady on a mission. At a recent shoot for the launch of a new product she filled us in on her quest. www.teensagainstwhaling.net is a strong group of young people determined to stop the slaughter of whales. Their latest goal is to send 1,000,000 postcards to the US President. Billabong is one of her sponsors and if you buy one of her stylish T shirts ( see film clip) , Billabong will donate $5.00 to help the cause...

Skye was a great professional and easy to shoot. The brief was to do some lifestyle shots, light, happy and young...that came easy. We also had a huge shot list of the new product she is launching ( a secret at the moment). Monique , Skye's mum and Skye we able to keep up the pace with the help of fruit juice, biscuits and a huge bag of red frogs that eventually evaporated.....Well done, good luck with your worthy mission.

Sparke Helmore raise the bar for Business network meetings...

Hunter Business Chamber organised an network meeting recently at Sparke Helmore on the foreshore in Newcastle. Sparke Helmore arranged a full fire drill ( joke) whilst we were in the building, in true spirit the chamber members continued to network and exchange cards on the sidewalk...WELL DONE . At ric woods photography we have reportage in our blood, never far from the action, this enables us to capture this moment in time. Seriously there has never been a better time to capture news photos as well as HD videos with the latest compact cameras. Even though some of the accessories might be a bit out there, there are many good products on on market.

3 Sisters Shoot

Maree and myself shot 3 gorgeous sisters the other day. The girls commissioned us for the shoot to give their parents a print as a gift. We were shooting both outside in a local park and inside the studio.We use different lighting set ups during the shoot to obtain different looks. People of different ages have their own ideas of the look they want.Some people like contrast and others like a light mood. We provide colour and mono images. I like to light Mono images differently colour to get the results I want.

The sisters are very attractive and have vibrant personalities so I chose to shoot the outside images with a shallow depth of field and allow a little camera movement to portray that dynamic feeling. Pin sharp has its place and so does movement in the image. Photography for me is about not only filling a commercial brief but also bringing a little something else to the client. I always deliver the requested brief and get lots of information from the clients about their personal tastes. The primary focus for this shoot was a GREAT picture that their folks would adore.....It had to have not only great technique as this would be a very large print, but we had to capture the energy, humour and close relationship between these women.

Maree my prod mgr and second shooter is fantastic on a shoot , she watches the details that I may miss looking through that small viewfinder i.e. small strands of hair across the eye, crooked belts,necklaces and comes up with interesting additional poses.

These is NO SUCH THING as a self made man/woman. I am surrounded by many people that bring expertise,skill and creativity to www.ricwoods.com

Waterford County Shoot ...

Photography is FANTASTIC, I enjoy it a great deal.The people I work with are very creative and they do inspire me. Most of the time when I'm on a shoot I'm full of adrenaline and coffee.

Here is a short movie behind the scenes of a shoot from the Waterford County Land Development campaign. It was late last year on a very cold day. I had previously blogged a few images from this campaign but the small movie is more entertaining for some.

Being self employed it can be difficult to take time out to walk on the beach, eat a good meal,catch up with the family and have some fun creatively,like the blog...Today, I was able to do them all...and secure a new client from Interstate.

The creative for this shoot was under the watchful eyes of Jamie Gilmore ( Little Green Frog Marketing) and his talented crew of young bloods.
By the way all my experiences with horses have been a little on the edge...including this time....Yes they do smell your fear

I was shooting on a D300 Nikon ( Raw Files) Lenses were 80-200 2.8,24-50 2.8 and my fave 24-70 2.8. ]

This is the images as it appeared in the sales brochure...