Thursday, May 21, 2009

Artisan No 3 Wes Maebe - Sound Engineer

Yesterday, I photographed Wes Maebe at the legendary RAK Studios as the 3rd Artisan in my project to celebrate excellence through portraits of British craftsmen whose hands turn common stuff into something special. In this case - a massager of sounds!


We were joined by guitarist Elliott Randall, session musician par excellence and lead guitarist of Steely Dan and to be remembered for ever with his guitar solo on Reelin in the years.


A selection of images from the shoot can be seen in a slideshow. I used my trusty Fuji Finepix S5 Pro and my Leica M8 and Elinchrom lights along with some handheld Nikon flash and we were ably supported by Rob. Thanks to RAK Studios for letting us do it and to enryone involved for making it so much fun! cool music included!!

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by stefan lubo at Thursday, May 21, 2009 0 comments

Monday, May 18, 2009

A very red flower - Amaryllis

We recently were given an Amaryllis, which was about to blossom.

It now has, magnificently and I tried to capture some of its magic, using my camera hand held, as it was tricky choosing the right viewpoint and used the Nikon 85mm F.1.4 lens wide open to capture one detail at a time. On looking at the resultant images I then felt that I wanted the best parts of two different shots and thanks to PhotoShop's layers, blending options and Smart sharpening, I got the effect I was looking for.

Next time I will use a tripod and take advantage of the latest merge layers tool.

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by stefan lubo at Monday, May 18, 2009 0 comments

Friday, May 08, 2009

Battle @ Kruger Game Park

An absolutely incredible film of a wildebeest calf attacked by lions, then a crocodile tries to take it away and then the whole herd of wildebeest attack and get the calf back!



Fact is stranger and more wonderful than fiction.

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by stefan lubo at Friday, May 08, 2009 0 comments

Artisan No 2 - Richard Wilson - Bowmaker

I went up to Cambridge on Wednesday to photograph Richard Wilson in his studio, where he makes and repairs bows for a wide variety of clients and their stringed instruments. This was my second Artisan shoot, the first being the cabinet maker Keith Platt who is based in the Cotswolds.

Richard spent many years as a musician, traveling constantly before settling down, first as an apprentice bowmaker, and then setting up on his own, and now has twenty years of experience in this specialised and fascinating craft.

I learned that the body of the bow is carved from a single piece of really heavy wood (so heavy it sinks in water!!), which needs to be seasoned for years before use. The five main stages of the process are shown above. Other materials used are ebony, ivory, horsehair and brass.

Richard makes every element by hand mainly using a small plane and a tiny chisel/knife - it is amazing to watch.

I used both my Fuji S5 Pro and Leica M8, two Elinchrom Flash units, one with a softbox, the other with a honeycombe grid, supplemented by a small Nikon SB24 flashgun to give interesting highlights. I show more of the pictures taken in a slideshow.

Other Artisans, I am due to photograph include a Wood Restorer, a Violin Maker, a Stone Carver, a maker of Stained Glass, a rock music sound engineer ( yes! they too craft sound with their hands!!) and a master butcher.

I am seeking more Artisans, based in London and further afield, who are known and respected by their peers and all of whom embody excellence in their craft. Please do contact me if you would like to propose such a person. I plan on building up a portfolio of around twenty Artisans and then exhibiting at a central London Art gallery later this year, and publishing a book as a celebration of the excellence of craftmanship in this country.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by stefan lubo at Friday, May 08, 2009 2 comments

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Cornwall - The Eden Project & The Lost Gardens of Heligan


This Bank holiday weekend we visited St Austell and the Eden Project on Saturday

and then the Lost Gardens of Heligan on the Sunday

and St Mawes in the afternoon.

a resting canoeist summed up the weekend! as does the slideshow!

Labels: , , ,

Bookmark and Share
posted by stefan lubo at Tuesday, May 05, 2009 0 comments