http://www.owenbenson.co.ukLatest content from bloggo.en-gbhttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45754&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45754&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/sam_and_henry-2549_23186_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45754&tid=rss500333Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:20:00 GMT Last Friday night I did a photo shoot for singer-songwriters Samantha Marais and Henry Dingle who will be touring together this autumn. They chose a pub (Kingsdown Wine Vaults in Bristol) as the location, to get the warm, cosy feel of an old fashioned pub. I didn't use flash on this because it would have annoyed all the other people using the pub. Instead I used my LitePanels MicroLight LED light, which I normally use for video. I only need a bit of light to separate Sam and Henry from the background, make it clear they were the subject. http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45715&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45715&tid=rssTue, 03 Aug 2010 09:05:00 GMT I spent most of this past weekend at the Bristol Harbour Festival - seemed like a good place to video live events, what with music, theatre and even circus acts spread around the harbour area. In the end I stayed mainly in Castle Park because the acrobats in the circus area were great to watch and even better to video, especially the aerials as they have much cleaner backgrounds - no crowds of people in the sky :) One advantage of going both Saturday and Sunday was that I could shoot the same acts from different angle, then combine those to make it look like I'd shot the act with more than one camera. Luckily the weather was quite similar on both days so the cuts aren't obvious. On Saturday evening I moved over to the Amphitheatre to shoot a band I know, "Something of the Night". Hopefully I'll be doing a...http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45666&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45666&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/womad_22971_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:45666&tid=rss500750Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:54:20 GMT Went to Womad at Charlton Park on Saturday. Wide range of music and food, with lots of colourful people. I took quite a few photos but I also shot another music video with Samantha Marais, on the steam powered carousel (part of Carter's Steam fair). I will link that as soon as we've edited it (first I have to finish editing last week's video of Memzee and the Sweetners playing live at the Canteen in Stokes Croft, Bristol). This photo I felt summed up the spirit of Womad - a mix of ages and cultures and lots of colour. The gentlemen in the background are from the United Arab Emirates and played some great music. http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44698&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44698&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/regency_ball-2_21489_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44698&tid=rss500333Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:58:00 GMT UPDATE: the entire set of 250+ images can now be seen (and printed) at www.photoboxgallery.com/owenbenson The Jane Austen Centre in Bath organised a Regency Ball at the Guildhall, which I was asked to photograph. UPDATE 2: the video I shot is now online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8NTDs1F53Y There were over 100 people at the Ball, all in costume, all having a wonderful time, which makes it easy to take good photos :) I shall be photographing the Jane Austen Festival in Bath this September, on behalf of the Jane Austen Centre. http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44309&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44309&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/real_life_3255-edit_19980_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44309&tid=rss500281Tue, 04 May 2010 21:29:21 GMT This is my first narrative music video, from a concept developed by Samantha and me. We filmed it entirely in Bristol one Saturday afternoon/evening (apart from the timelapse sunset which I shot the week before). We intend to do videos for all the songs on the album, joining them in a single story but that may take awhile! Gear: Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm f/1.4 L, 50mm f/1.4, 24-105mm f/4 IS L, 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lenses, Zacuto Z-Finder, Steadicam Merlin, LitePanels MicroPro, FaderND, and a tripod with fluid head. I edited it in Premiere Pro CS4 on my PC. I've been practising with the Steadicam Merlin over the last few weeks but this was the first time I used it to lead/follow someone. It works well but it does need practice to control it - I tried some shots from across the street, as if a passerby was watching Samantha busking,...http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44807&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44807&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/samantha_marais_home_500w_22185_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44807&tid=rss500281Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:17:40 GMT Follow up to "Real Life" from which it follows on directly. Sam and I worked out the basic idea of returning to her house and getting ready for bed but to show ideas of "home", which the song is about, I suggested using shadows of childhood, parents, etc. Sam immediately saw what I had in mind and this is the result. We filmed her coming home, having a bath and going to bed in about 4 hours one night. The shadows were filmed a few days later, in about 1 hour, at Hamilton House (because the top floor is completely empty and has a long blank wall). I edited the main video then went through adding shadows (using After Effects because I needed to mask out the people casting the shadows, and I had to make some shadows into a 3D layer). Sam's makeup: Bex Baxter.Shadows: Sam, Henry Dingle and Sarah Long.Director,...http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44734&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44734&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/janes_puppets-9541_21859_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44734&tid=rss500333Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:32:18 GMT A few weeks ago I was asked to take photos of the puppets which Jane Leakey makes and uses for her company Fat Cat Theatre Company. She has a large garden, it was a sunny day and most of her puppets are animals so we shot them outdoors in their natural environment. http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44623&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44623&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/lisa_and_tim--7_21422_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:44623&tid=rss500333Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:05:00 GMT Anyone following this blog may be wondering if I've been lazing around recently - no updates for weeks! In reality I was so busy I never had a chance to update the blog. That and I've been on holiday for two weeks in Ireland. Now I'm back and it's time to get this thing up to date. The week before my holiday I got to photograph Lisa and Tim's wedding, in a field in the middle of nowhere, on a glorious day. I've known them for a while - Tim and I were both in a play called "Presence" by Ian McGlynn a few years ago (and I'm shooting Ian's wedding in December!). Lisa was second photog on the two weddings I shot last year and hopefully I'll get to work with her again (she was obviously a bit busy this time!). http://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:43781&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:43781&tid=rsshttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/Files/BLO/JPG/A/A/B/jackals_day_3-744_18515_1.jpghttp://www.owenbenson.co.uk/redirect.aspx?module=3&doc=0:43781&tid=rss600400Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:43:59 GMT Jackals finished filming on Friday night (well, Saturday morning at 3am!). I wasn't able to be with them every day but I got some good shots over the weekend and night shoots. My friend Polly Christopher was the lead actress.