A few years ago a couple of good friends of mine had a tough time of it when both their Mums developed cancer. After a year or so, my life was also affected by cancer. My Father developed prostate cancer. Since then, one friend’s Mum passed away and although she had a good and long life, it begs the question… How can we do all the things we can do as humans but cannot conquer this problem.

So, to cut a long story short, I was asked by Macmillan Cancer Support to get involved and help raise money at their Enchanted Ball — We are offering for auction a £460 shoot for two people and are hoping that the guests will bid big… much bigger and make our contribution one to be proud of. Sometimes you only need to dedicate some time to helping others and I for one are proud of our teams contribution and hope to do more in the coming year.

If you need to speak to Macmillan to help you or a loved one, for cancer support every step of the way call the Macmillan team free (Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm) 0808 808 0000

So I promised to share a little information about the cameras and lenses that we use at Headshot London. The picture below shows two full frame cameras — Nikon D700 and a Canon 5D Mk 2. Elena and I spend much of the time using portrait format and so you see the cameras placed sideways in the image because this is how they are most used, with the help of a battery grip.

The next camera you see is not the HD DSLR camera that we are getting — Nikon D7000, but the achingly beautiful Fujifilm X100. Its a camera which is really a nice toy for photographers rather than the man on the street. At around £1000 with a classic-looking case, it’s not for everyone.

I recently travelled to Russia on holiday with it and it proved high quality but sadly harder to use than even I had expected. The focus is slow and difficult to master and the shutter lag can be a real problem if you are on the fly and grabbing for the shot. Still, I’m getting better at using it and everyone keeps telling me how wonderful it looks… and it does.

The lenses we use cover most situations and are: f1.4, f1.8, f2, f2.8

Nikon ED 70 – 200mm 1:2.8 D

Nikon 85mm 1:1.8 D

Nikon 50mm 1:1.4 G

Nikon 35mm 1:2 D

Arax 80mm 1:2.8 T&S

Nikon TC 20E III Teleconverter

Canon EF 24 – 70mm 1:2.8 USM

Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 II

I’m sure the list will grow as and when we need something bought in for a job but I cannot really imagine any other lenses that we could have in the types of photography we do. But… you never know. I hope you guys find this useful. The Nikon D7000 camera body and Video rig will be next on the list. I wouldn’t mind updating the 70-200mm with a VR version. It’s so rarely used now… maybe once or twice a month at best, so I’m not sure there is even the need to. The X100 really needs a Teleconverter on it. I have unscrewed the cover of the lens housing and screwed on a filter body without the glass to make the clearance further and then added a Skylight on the end and so there is a thread to screw onto if I need it. I’ll keep you posted on the X100′s progress.

Now we have started the Headshot London DSLR training for beginners classes, our students have been asking us what equipment and bags we have… well, it’s a little odd and not much of a guide but if it helps, here it goes…

Our main daily kit bags are a couple of Peli 1510 cases which are military spec and virtually indestructable. Convenient for planes, trains and busses… but mainly cabs! They are about £200 or so when you get the internal fittings you want. It manages to hold far more than seems possible.

Watch the great little video about the cases being pushed to the limits.

The next most used bags are modifier bags which come with the modifiers and are not on here as there are loads of them. The cases in the image above are all Peli (highly recommended) and we also use lowepro and billingham for a little nostalgia. I have had too many bags to mention over the years and finally I have it down to a fine art with the cases I have… I’ll also be buying another 1510 and another large lighting case and one for the DSLR video kit, when I get a chance. I’ll get the camera kit and lenses on here next.

We have recently undergone a new addition to our services at Headshot London. Those of you budding photographers out there will be pleased to hear that we are now offering training to all DSLR users as well as Bridge (Cameras which “bridged the gap” between point and shoot cameras and SLRs) users. The classes started in August of 2011 with an offer on groupon (Bulk buying website) which offered it’s customers the chance to kick off our training at a discount price.

The first 300+ London based enthusiasts signed up and are continuing to take part on the Friday and Saturday classes.

We also give away a course booklet, which covers the class curriculum — Narrative, Composition, Depth of field and Dial modes. The aim of our DSLR for beginners class is to get photographers working on producing creative images with a story or focal point rather than snapping away in the hope of something brilliant emerging from their cards.

If you are interested in participating, our classes will run throughout the summer and end in October. The fee is £60 for the three hour class and you are expected to leave the class with an insight into how to compose and think about your shots with the eye of a professional photographer.

Contact us through our Contact Page if you would like to join us.

I had a dream a few years ago of becoming a yacht racer. I guess it started off as a kid on dinghys, racing toppers and here and there over the years it revisits me. You may have read in the previous blog entry that I finally became a Yacht Day Skipper. It’s quite an achievement for me and I was so pleased with myself I wanted more. As it happens, I met a guy who runs a yacht charter company from Vienna, Austria and he invited me to join his race crew in the Adriatic Sailing Week regatta in Croatia.

Our crew was made up of the Russian charter company owner — Alex, English Operations Director for the charter comapny — Frank, Austrian Literary Publisher — Volker (see image above), Hungarian Graphic Designer — Endre, our Croatian Olympic Skipper — Rajko and finally me… we did have an English Photographer with us who was shooting the brochure material too but he was there as a jobbing Photographer rather than as part of the crew.

To cut a long story short… We came in best in class and 9th overall out of 28 race teams and the whole team was asked to stay on as the permanent crew of the AYC team. So, twice a year we will be racing in the Adriatic off the coast of Croatia and I hope here and there, I will get a chance to join some other teams in France and the UK… Well, the world is my oyster, so anywhere that will have me!

I shot a few images for the cover of the brochure and also a few shots for the internal pages. You can see them in the Portrait/Editorial Gallery.