Barry Paffey Photography

Family Portrait Ideas

Barry — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:44:26 +0000

Looking for good family portrait ideas can be difficult, but here are a few that can be done in the comfort of your own home with just a few flash heads and two paper backdrops. Recently I photographed a couple and their baby who’s wedding I photographed last year. Rachel, Robert and Frayer were photographed at their home in Hertfordshire using a few studio lights and a white and black backdrop. I used just a simple set up to shoot mainly high key photos with the white backdrop and a few low key photos with the black backdrop. The whole shoot took less than an hour including set up and dismantlement of my equipment, which was great for baby Frayer as she soon began to get fed up with us all trying to make her smile and sit still. I charge just £75 for this service which also includes a 10×8 print of your choice and all the photos in low resolution on CD. However, you don’t have to go for studio type settings as I love environmental portraiture shot in the countryside or even urban settings. Anyway here are a few photos from this session, please feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of the page:

This was the chosen 10x8

Dressage Video at Brook Farm Training Centre

Barry — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:25:48 +0000

I did an experiment whilst photographing the 2011 dressage championships at Brook Farm Training Centre last Sunday by videoing one of the tests with my Canon 5D Mk II DSLR camera. My experiment was to see if I could film and at the same time capture stills images with my other camera. The task was relatively easy as the camera filming was on a fixed tripod and all I had to do was set it up ready and push the start button before the tests started and stop at the end. Obviously I could not zoom in or out but with the lens set to approximately 30mm I could fill the frame with the arena and mimic more or less what a person would see with the human eye.

The point of the exercise is to see if there is a market for selling these films at events or after online. They are filmed in HD and are therefore of quite good quality. This one has been placed on Youtube with the subjects permission, making it easy for friends and family to view no matter where they might be in the world.

I will be seeking permission to film from above the judges position so that riders can view exactly what the judge is seeing. I’m not quite sure how much I will charge, it really depends on whether there is a market or not? If you have any opinions please fell free to leave a comment in the box at the bottom of this post.

London Commercial Photographer

Barry — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:25:49 +0000

Recently I was asked by one of my brides for next year if I did commercial photography and the answer was, yes I do. Admittedly it is not something I do a lot of but I am always up for a challenge no matter what the subject. This job was relatively easy, apart from getting into and out of London, that aside the task was to photograph all the staff and bosses of a new start up company at their headquarters in Tottenham Court Road for profile pictures on their web site. They also required a few photographs of their office block from the street, also for inclusion on the web site to help potential clients find them in this busy part of London. I would normally travel into London by train but I wasn’t quite sure what gear I would need for this job as the client was a little vague about where the shoot would take place and what back drop they wanted. So I decided to drive and take all the equipment I thought I would need to cover every eventuality. As often turns out this proved to be far more gear than I actually required, but far better to have too much than spoil a job for a few pieces of kit. The client wanted several portraits of each member of staff in both portrait and landscape orientation with space on the landscape shot for text to be inserted explaining who the person was and their role within the company. Although I took several backdrops with me a quick look at the conference room had me thinking that I could use the venetian blinds by the window overlooking the street as a ready-made backdrop and a few test shots also had the client convinced this was a good solution. I always take my laptop with me on such commissions and shoot tethered from my camera so that I can show the client or subject their pictures as I take them. This I find helps to relax people, especially those that do not like being photographed as they can see there and then how their images look. As previously mentioned I am not a full blown commercial photographer but I am well versed at taking portraits of people whether in the studio or on location so I see an office space or street scene as just another extension of that. Everyone seemed pleased with my efforts and I’m confident that I did a good job considering the space and facilities available. I have inserted a few images from the shoot for you to judge. Despite the journey I really enjoyed my trip into London and hope to do more of this kind of thing in the future as for me it’s just photography, and I just love taking pictures!

Photos and Video from Canon 5D MkII DSLR

Barry — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:52:38 +0000

The Canon 5D MkII is the camera I most use for Wedding Photography and it’s a great camera for that job. However, I rarely use the video function available with this camera, which is kind of sad as it’s actually really good! Today I was tasked with baby sitting my two young grandchildren so I thought what a good opportunity to get some great photos of them and also practice using the video function on my camera. I plan to shoot more video next year with my weddings so need all the practice I can get. The camera is easy to set up and use even without all the paraphernalia that’s available for DSLR filming. The only thing you have to remember is that there is no auto focus in video mode so focusing can be a problem with the relatively small viewing screen. I set the aperture to f8 which gave me quite a bit of latitude to the area in focus. The photos and video were imported into Adobe Lightroom where I carried out a few basic adjustments. I chose the video clips I wanted by importing into iMovie and saving to a folder on my desktop along with the photos I wanted to use. The files were then uploaded to Animoto where I did the final edits. The whole process took no longer than an hour and I’m really pleased with the results. Anyway judge for yourself and by all means feel free to comment:

Pinhole Press

Barry — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:22:52 +0000

Pinhole Press is the perfect way to make great looking gifts or keep sakes from all those digital images we take and most times never print. Just click on this link and register by clicking on ‘My Account’ to see lots of great ideas on how you can use all those great images you have, or even better, have bought from me. All products are produced in the UK by G F Smith and are of excellent quality.

Horse and Wedding Photographer

Barry — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:28:21 +0000

Regular visitors to my site will notice that I photography Weddings and Equestrian Events, but it’s not that often I get to do both on the same day! Last Saturday was an exception when I photographed the wedding of Gemma and Nigel at High Easter Church in Essex. Gemma is a big fan of horses and could not resist the chance to get her beloved Mare, June to the church on her big day. Equestrian fans amongst you will no doubt wonder at how calm June remained during all the commotion, which included church bells and a hoard of paparazzi like photographers clamoring to get a picture of Gemma on said horse. However June remained calm throughout, even when Gemma climbed aboard for a few shots of her sitting on this very smart horse that had been dressed for the occasion by Gemma’s groom. Below are a few shots of the happy threesome:

Brook Farm Photographer

Barry — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:20:01 +0000

So far this year I have covered in excess of forty events at Brook Farm Training Centre and if it wasn’t for my other commitments, Weddings and Social Events etc, it would have been a lot more. My most recent event was the Mini Hunter Trial/X Country show that took place last Wednesday which proved to be quite popular with a good number of entrants. Brook Farm is a fantastic location with great facilities and very friendly staff. They hold some kind of equestrian event virtually every weekend of the year and lots during the week to. Here are few photos from this week at Brook Farm:

Both Horse and Rider suffered no ill effects from this fall.

Brook Farm Dressage

Barry — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:28:26 +0000

I haven’t posted recently any of my equestrian photographs because basically I have been too busy photographing weddings. However, here a few from last weeks unaffiliated dressage at Brook Farm Training Centre and I will be there again this Sunday for some showjumping.

My sales from my equestrian photography have taken a dip recently, and posting pictures on here where people can rip them off won’t help, but I guess it’s just a sign of the times with everyone watching every penny, and who can blame them. Despite my less than normal sales I have invested in a new lens that I hope will improve on the quality of pictures taken at such places like Brook Farm where the light available for equestrian photography is less than ideal. Anyway as promised here are just a few from last weekend:

Weald Country Park – Environmental Portraits

Barry — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:30:28 +0000

As part of my packages I offer pre-wedding photo shoots where clients get a chance to see how I work and in return that get get a nice portrait of themselves to keep from the shoot. I prefer to take environmental portraits at local beauty spots like the place in these photos, Weald Country Park near Brentwood in Essex. Sam and Peter are getting married next year at the Mulberry House, Ongar and last Sunday we met up in Weald Park for our photo shoot. I took just one camera and leans combination, which just happens to be my favourite combination, a Canon 5D MkII and 70-200mm f2.8 lens, and all the photos were shot using just natural light. I think Sam and Peter enjoyed the experience and it gave us all a chance to get to know each other more before their big day next June. Here are just a few photos from the shoot:

Why my blog went missing

Barry — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:50:59 +0000

For those of you that follow my blog you may have noticed it went missing for a day or two. Sorry about that I have just change my web hosts and it takes time for things to settle down and become functional again. Things should be ok now and I will shortly be updating with some new posts and content.