12 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.comMixing it up
Dan shoots more than just street fashion.
Here are some other strings to his bow...Photographing images for stock
“My previous career in IT gave me the
chance to travel and discover the fields
that I wanted to concentrate on after
turning professional,” says Dan. So during
our stay in New York, with its bustling
street life and vibrant architecture, he
refreshed his stock library (below) with
some new images around Manhattan.Group training and 1-2-1 tuition
“Around 2012 I discovered a love for
teaching, and began running summer
model workshops across Europe. It’s
a wonderful way to make lifelong
friends while helping other passionate
photographers produce beautiful work.
“Last year I started private 1-2-1 tuition
at my studio in Colchester in Essex
(visittheloft.co.uk). I was meeting a lot
of talented photographers with great
potential, but they needed experience in
key areas to push them to the next level.
“This could include planning,
photography, post-processing or a
combination of all three. It has been very
successful – many of the photographers
I’m mentoring are gaining the skills and
confidence to turn professional.”one
to
one
Dan made the move
to full-frame mirrorless
in 2015 and couldn’t
imagine going back
to using a DSLR
The tilting rear screen
is invaluable for nailing
compositions quickly.Dan uses Sony’s A7R III
and G-Master lenses
for location shooting.station. En route to the location on foot, we
were glad of a break from the wind and rain,
so we headed inside the station to take
a picture of Erin under a chandelier.
Shooting on a Sony Alpha 7R III, Dan
composed a test shot on the rear of the
camera, setting his focus point on the
touchscreen. Feeling that this particular
shot might work better in black and white, he
called up a Monochrome preview to check- raw image capture meant that he had
a colour version if he needed it. Dan tried
three different shots in the station before we
moved outside. Crossing East 42nd St and
leaving Erin on the opposite side, Dan gave
her the signal to strike a static pose before
following the rest of the pedestrians.
Our next location involved a taxi ride from
Midtown to the World Trade Center, where
Dan was hoping to take an image in the
Oculus shopping centre. Our stuttering
progress southwards through Manhattan
provided a good opportunity to find out more
about Dan’s approaches to photography and
his shooting style. Having started out using
Canon DSLRs, then progressing to medium-
format cameras for studio work, he made
the move to the Sony Alpha full-frame
mirrorless system in 2015. In the absence
of competition from established big hitters
Canon and Nikon, Sony had this market to
itself for several years, but kept on innovating.
Dan’s a big fan of the A7R’s high-resolution
images and wide dynamic range. Asked about
making the change from DSLR to mirrorless,
he couldn’t imagine going back to shooting on
the former. As well as the size and weight, he
finds the real-time image preview invaluable.
Given that modern EVFs are improving all
the time, are fast and aren’t as susceptible to
blackouts, Dan relishes the instant feedback
while tweaking exposure settings on the fly
and being able to see their effect on the scene
in front of him. He eschews using tripods for
location work, as it slows him down, and
knows that he has a couple of stops of
latitude when shooting handheld in low light,
thanks to the A7R III’s in-body stabilisation.
And stability was an important factor for
our next location, for Erin at least, as she had
quickly donned a ballerina’s outfit to perform
a relevé on a subway platform at 86th Street.
For this shot, Dan framed from a low
position, again using the rear touchscreen
to select his focus point. He’s particularly
fond of Sony’s Eye AF, with its unerring
ability to find and lock on to your subject’s
eyes. Many pros say that eye autofocus
has revolutionised portrait photography
and Sony’s execution of the feature –
alongside several other innovations
in the Alpha range – is widely fêted.Dan previewed this scene in
black and white to see if it
worked better than colour.