It's quite a warm and sunny day outside. One that I could quite easily waste with a cold drink and my pipe. But instead I'm at the computer, gazing out of the window and typing up a long overdue update for you all.

I've only managed a couple of shoots so far this year. One each with my always reliable and eager models Scissor Doll and Alivya V Free. The results of which I'm very proud of. So proud in fact that I'm currently writing some verse to go with the pictures from my latest shoot with Alivya in order to put together a book, which I will probably self publish on Lulu and Amazon.

I'm quite excited by this prospect as it has been a while since I attempted any fiction or poetry despite holding a degree in creative writing.

Anyway here are a few examples from both shoots:

The Steampunk shoot along with some miscellaneous work is available to view on my flickr page. And there are more of the 'Oracle' pics as well as a couple of spooky black and white photos on facebook. However I'm only going to reveal a few until the book is finished. However there are also some 8mm style gifs from the oracle shoot in the works, so expect them to be available to see soon on my tumblr page.

You may have also seen another still life set called 'L'Absinthe C'est La Mort'. These will soon be available as prints/posters/cards on the red-bubble page.

In other news, it's sunny and warm... the perfect time for more infra-red photography. I'm looking to get a dedicated infra-red camera this year, so if you've been put off by the thought of long exposures and an element of the unknown, this solution should promise shorter exposures and crisper, more predictable photos. I'm still looking to arrange shoots with models and bands prior to this though, so if your'e interested, contact me through facebook, purpleport, model mayhem, or good old fashioned email.

That's all for now. Please continue to add my profiles and check out my casting calls.

It's been a funny old year. Last year I made a decision to cut back on the amount of gigs I was photographing in order to save on the travel money I'd been forking out and instead focus on the field that I really want to be working in... i.e. surreal, infra-red and vintage styles.

Fast forward from the last shoot update which featured my partner Debz, AKA Scissor Doll's low-key vintage/burlesque shoot and Alivya V. Free's infra-red/monochrome shoot and I've scored my first, but hopefully not last, infra-red band shoot.

Once again featuring Liv we were joined by the sharply dressed London progressive death metal band Talanas, who to their credit took to posing for long exposures VERY quickly. The results, I think, are brilliant. Ethereal and spooky, the long exposure time let us play around with motion blur to get some ghostly effects.

I shot with Scissor Doll again for another infra-red and low-fi shoot, this time making use of a zebra print body stocking. We've been talking about this for over a year so it was exciting to finally do it. Despite the ominous looking sky we got some great spooky shoots that yielded some interesting mistakes and blurs as well.

As always you can see the full sets on my flickr page or in the models and band sections of my photography page here.

All photographs © Imago Mortis Photography

Talanas

Scissor Doll

Alivya V. Free

'Memento Mori' - © Imago Mortis Photography 2013

As you can see, there have been some changes to the site. My old server added annoying adverts without telling me, and I got sick of the look of the old site. So now, following on from my webzine (http://www.intravenousmag.co.uk – go take a look!) I decided to integrate my Imago Mortis site into my Adversaria blog and merge the two into one.

There are still tweaks to be made here and there, and some pages still need to be uploaded, but overall I'm liking the new look.

I've also deleted some old profiles and created some new ones. Have a look in the LINKS section to visit... or if you're lazy, just look below:

www.facebook.com/imagomortis

www.modelmayhem.com/745193

www.purpleport.com/portfolio/imagomortis

imago-mortis.redbubble.com

www.flickr.com/photos/imagomortisuk

So this year I've got a few shoots under my belt and there is talk of more. Which is always positive.

First of all I did a burlesque themed shoot with Scissor Doll. It was originally supposed to be a quick test shoot to try out some new lights I bought. Anyway we got into it and ended up with A LOT of photos.

First of all I shot some with Scissor Doll's natural short and spikey hair and edited the pictures in a way that, to me anyway, had a hint of the 1980s. For the second lot, Scissor Doll got her new black dropped wig and let her inner Dita Von Teese out. The results I think are some of the best pictures I've ever shot. I liked them so much I did an alternative edit of every shot. This time, rather than just opting for the low-key black and white look, I took my inspiration from ManRay and decided to give the pictures a semi-solarised look.

The second shoot of the year also turned into a three-parter. It was the first time I'd shot with my friend Alivya for a few years and it was well worth the wait. I bought some 1950's underwear for her especially for the occasion and I think Liv found them quite comfy.

First we shot some infra-red pictures in what was, in hindsight, inadequate lighting. I could have done with a fill flash or something really. But the final shots after editing came out rather spooky and cool. For the next lot of pictures we used the camera with no filter and went for a classic black and white look. Finally I got the phone out and got some low-fi shots to edit in Vignette and Pixlr. Again I'm really happy with all of the results.

All the new sets are available to view in the gallery page in the MODELS slideshow, or you can visit my flickr page HERE.

All photographs © Imago Mortis Photography

Model Links:

Scissor Doll

Alivya V. Free

Screaming Banshee Aircrew @ The Duchess, York 2010

(c) Imago Mortis Photography

Photographing touring bands


Shooting in your local is one thing but there are a few different rules and hazards to look out for at club venues. We tell you the ins and outs of club shooting etiquette.

You’ve maybe had a few good goes at shooting local bands which has made you some friends and contacts, and given you a nice start to your concert portfolio. The next step is getting bigger names in that portfolio. It’s all well and good having a great shot of a band nobody has heard of, but it’s even better if at least someone will recognize them. The fact is that most bands don’t play huge arenas, most play venues no bigger than a secondary school’s assembly hall. This means the door price is low (typically £5-25) and there is no set photographer pit. This has it’s advantages and disadvantages. It doesn’t mean it’s necessary that you have to wrangle your way onto the press list, but you will have to watch out for the crowd.

The crowd are there to have a good time and will typically be indifferent to the plight of the local photographer, so expect to be jostled and your movement to be impaired. Also, don’t expect people to let you get to the front, getting in their early is your best bet for a clear view of the stage and when the place fills up, to move about as best you can without annoying people. The other thing to look out for is security, some clubs don’t allow cameras, so be sure to email ahead of time to get permission (and take the email with you just in case) or else you may be ejected.

The lighting will typically be better quality in a club as well so you can expect more ambiance for your photographs, but also more movement and complex saturation. This can be extremely frustrating for the beginner as moving light will throw your camera out of focus, and over saturate pictures. The trick is to keep shooting. Most bands have a set ‘pose’ list meaning that if you miss a fantastic shot or it’s blurred or over saturated, don’t fret as the performers will usually do it at least once more before the end of the set. They want to look their best in your photos and will almost always play up to the presence of cameras.

One thing that many bands and promoters discourage is the use of flash, whether the built in or external variety. It’s already been mentioned how it may effect your photographs, but it may also effect your reputation. Strong flashes on small or busy stages will get in the eyes of performers - remember they only see a dimly lit crowd, not the full brightness of the stage, so bombarding them with flash is not going to help them visually perceive hazards.

 Inertia @ The Electrowerkz, London 2010

(c) Imago Mortis Photography

Equipment for your camera
 

1) MEMORY CARD You’ll want a good size compact flash card, preferably 8gb and over plus one for backup. To get that one perfect shot you’ll shoot at least ten others that wont make the grade and when shooting in RAW those memory cards fill up quickly. Also remember to delete the outright bad shots between bands.


2) SPARE BATTERY DSLR batteries drain annoyingly quickly. Four bands doing a 30-45 minute set each will drain half of your battery’s life, so a day long festival will quite likely take the lot. Add shooting in RAW to that equation and you’ll soon realise that it is always best to keep a charged spare.


3) UV LENS FILTER Again it’s an optional extra but it can be useful for outdoor festivals in the summer if not in a tent or shooting a covered main stage. This will give you better colour correction when a strong sun would otherwise bleach out colours.


4) TELESCOPIC LENS This one is a very practical option as in festival situations the press pit can get quite far away from the performers. Even standing to the side of the stage in some indoor venues can put you further away from the action than you’d like so if you have the spare cash a good telescopic lens can work wonders and free up your aperture range as well.

5) SOFTWARE Unfortunately unless you own a top of the range camera ISO noise will be a problem. ISO noise occurs in dark patches on the photograph where the camera struggles to get more light. Shooting in RAW and editing in Photoshop, or now for those on a budget Paint Shop Pro X3, will enable you to edit out noise and also give greater control over colour and white balance.
 

Midnight Configuration @ The Electrowerkz, London 2010

(c) Imago Mortis Photography

Part 3 Coming Soon...

Decadenze @ The Duke Of Wellington Pub, Lincoln 2009
(c) Imago Mortis Photography 

Concert photography isn’t the exclusive realm of professionals with extensive magazine contacts. Anyone, with any level of DSLR can get fantastic shots of a band whether it is at an outdoor festival, your local pub, or an arena. We show you how to get stunning results and how to overcome low-light and movement issues.



Photographing the local pub circuit

Everyone who is shooting for magazines, and websites started in the same place. The local pub. The local live circuit is an invaluable place to gain experience and network with bands. Just because a band is playing small venues doesn’t mean they aren’t showmen, and never underestimate the quality of light at pubs that advertise regular gigs. The big advantage to starting out taking photos down your local is the relaxed atmosphere. Exchanging your photos with bands for a credit and link back on their website will mean more invitations to gigs and even being invited to do promo photos. And by the end of this Beginner’s Guide you’ll know all the tricks to get great quality photos that will standout and open doors for you.

There are no set rules to concert photography, so experimentation is the name of the game. For instance, some people like to get a crisp shot, others like over saturated light and some prefer motion blur and light trails. Atmosphere is king as it is about documentation rather than promotional portraiture. This means that you are free to use whatever tools are at your disposal: entry level cameras such as the Sony Alpha 200 with the standard lens can produce the same level of quality as the top-spec counterpart as long as you know your way around the settings.

A good sized memory card (2gb and over) is sufficient for a four band line up, and with an average set lasting about 30-40 minutes there is plenty of opportunity to take a few test shots, adjust the ISO and aperture settings, and see what works for the band. What is a must though, is to set your camera to continuous shooting. This will allow the camera to work at it’s maximum speed to increase the chance of getting that perfect shot.
Exposure times will add the atmosphere to a shot. A shorter exposure will mean crisper foreground colours and a darker background. This works particularly well in intimate gigs to ‘hide’ the size of the venue. A longer exposure will allow more light into the camera at the expense of sharpness leading to movement blur and light streaks. These can be used to great effect but it reduces your chances of getting a clear shot. A wider aperture setting with a shallower depth of field however can compensate for this as it will blur the background and make batter use of the available light, thus increasing your shutter speed.

The flash, whether it is your camera’s internal flash or a flashgun with a diffuser fitted will not be needed in any concert situations. The flash will only serve to over illuminate the subjects, eliminating the natural ambiance and bleach the skin tones. The internal flash will also decrease the shutter speed and over expose your shots. There are other reasons for not using the flash but we’ll come to those in the next section.

Eibon La Furies @ The Duke Of Wellington Pub, Lincoln 2009

(c) Imago Mortis Photography

Settings for your camera

1) MODE You can set your DSLR camera to ‘Action’ mode - this will automatically set the camera up to capture fast movements. This on it’s own may be sufficient for acoustic gigs or small gigs in pub beer gardens or local playing fields, however some small adjustments may also have to be made to get the correct exposure. But for situations where natural light is plentiful, the beginner can get away with shooting in this mode with no fiddling. Otherwise set you camera to ‘Full Manual’ and adjust the spot metering, this will take the meter reading of a smaller area when shooting complex lighting situations.

2) EXPOSURE Set your exposure as low as you dare - a longer exposure will create vivid colours and streaks. If you like this then go for it. If not, you’ll want to make that shutter speed as fast as possible. This will create sharper images with darker backgrounds that will hide the size of your venue, and when shot from the right angles, capture a more dramatic shot of the subject.


3) ISO The rule of thumb is that the more ‘professional’ the camera, the higher you can crank up the ISO setting. Top of the range DSLRs will give you sharper images with less “noise” on them if you increase the ISO setting. On entry level DSLRs it is best to either stick to around the 400-800 ISO mark depending on the light quality, or leave the setting to automatic if you’re not sure. Again this is an area where trial and error is best - sacrificing a few early shots in the set to find the right setting will lead to more great photos overall.

4) APERTURE A wider aperture with a shallow depth of field will use all of the available light to the camera’s advantage, creating a sharper foreground capture while blurring a distracting background. A setting of around F/4-6 works best if using a standard lens. An expensive telephoto lens will allow you to move outside of this range but it isn’t necessary for this level of concert.

5) FORMAT Consider shooting in RAW format. This has advantages and disadvantages, RAW captures more information than JPG meaning that you have greater control over the editing of the image. However as the camera works harder to process the information your shutter speed decreases. Fine quality JPG is still OK and will let you shoot in faster bursts, but the compression noise on the final image coupled with ISO noise can sometimes ruin otherwise great captures.
 
 

Fall Of Industry @ The Duke Of Wellington Pub, Lincoln 2009

(c) Imago Mortis Photography

Part 2 Coming Soon...

Ophelia (1852) by Sir John Everett Millais

One of my obsessions is the Pre-Raphaelites. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William, Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. As well as those painters who influenced them and the ones who carried on those styles when the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood had ostensibly 'sold out' and focussed on more commercial works.

The early doctrine of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood contained four points:

1.To have genuine ideas to express;

2.To study Nature attentively, so as to know how to express them;

3.To sympathise with what is direct and serious and heartfelt in previous art, to the exclusion of what is conventional and self-parodying and learned by rote;

4.And, most indispensable of all, to produce thoroughly good pictures and statues.

Originality was King, and the belief that art was essentially a spiritual practice was held in high regard. Rossetti in particular liked to bridge the worlds of art and poetry which blurred with the principles of the Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Keats and Clare.

Elaine Watching the Shield of Lancelot (1859) by Henry Peach Robinson

Interestingly in the late 19th century, Pre-Raphaelitism's ideas and visuals such as 'Realism' and 'Medievalism' began to make their way into the growing realm of photography. Rossetti began to incorporate photography into his sphere of works and was joined by figures such as Henry Peach Robinson, and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (AKA Lewis Carroll).

Mrs Jane Morris (1865) & Proserpine (1874) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Within these photographs are elements common to paintings by the Pre-Raphaelites - the wild haired and un-corseted/un-crinolined female ideals of the artists in particular. In the case of Charles Dodgson (below) that ideal is summed up in the innocence of the Liddell sisters one of which, Alice, would become his most famous.

Alice Liddell as a Beggar Girl (1859) by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)

Pre-Raphaelitism has since been an ongoing source of inspirations for photographers since. Now the modern tastes for Gothic and Fantasy art, coupled with the resurgence in popularity of antique photography styles Pre-Raphaelite inspired Artistic Photography seems to be a viable style to explore.

Sarachmet, AKA  Malgorzata Maj, is one such person who has drawn on 19th century imagery and the principles of Romanticism in her photographic work. Her images are haunting and ethereal with the essence of the Pre-Raphaelites throughout. I really urge people to check out here work (link below).

http://sarachmet.carbonmade.com/

Thornton Abbey, North Lincolnshire:

I love infrared photography. The simple act of blocking all the other wavelengths of light out to create utterly surreal effects within the camera. You can do the same kind of thing on the computer but it is so easy to just slap a filter on your DSLR and have an experiment.



These are admittedly first attempts that I then cleaned up in Lightroom and edited in Paint Shop Pro X2. There is a certain fine-art effect to infrared that I just love and I'm keen to explore it more with live models and Lith Printing to then hand colour. If interested in the same please check out my latest casting call on model mayhem (http://www.modelmayhem.com/casting/848700).

As you can see it was a pretty overcast day so I didn't get the full effect that I was after but they still came out as very dramatic pictures, so in that sense I'm happy with them.

A few photographs from day one (Friday 16th July) of DV8 Festival in York. The Full sets as always can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagomortisuk



Legion:
The first band from Gotham City (AKA Leeds) were a great slice of Traditional Gothic Rock that hung (Upside down) between the early Sisters of Mercy and Rozz Williams' Christian Death/Shadow Project. Deffinately want to see these lot again.

Grooving In Green:
High energy Gothic Rock/Post Punk from former members of Children on Stun and Solemn Novena. Joined on stage at the end of their set by Rosie Lugosi for a fantastic rendition of the March Violets classic 'Grooving in Green'.

Vendemmian:
This heavy post-punk duo were an excellent lesson in stage presence. Taking up less than a quarter of the total area of The Duchess' stage they stomped and flung themselves at full throttle into every song.

The Eden House:

A coming together of Gothic royalty as members of Fields of The Nephilim, All About Eve, NFD, Sensorium etc. forge an alchemaeical mixture of meandering psychedelic Gothic Rock and Ethereal Shoegaze into an utterly hypnotic signiture sound. I'd love to see this project reach the heights it truely deserves.

Pictures from days 2 and 3 including: Luxery Stranger, Screaming Banshee Aircrew, Inkubus Sukkubus, Wayne Hussey, Flesh Eating Foundation, Zeitgeist Zero, Rhombus, Pretentious Moi?, Goteki, and Gene Loves Jezebel are forthcoming.

Well the first of 3 lots of photos for album artwork has been published. This is a band photo of the sublime Avant Garde Black Metalers Eibon La Furies in the album art for their debut on Code666 records 'The Blood of the Realm'. You can see the full selection of promo photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagomortisuk/sets/72157623173732954/

It may yet change but it seems as though sleazy goth rockers Deadfilmstar and Satanic Industrialists Midnight Configuration will be using photos in the artwork for their forthcoming albums that I took of them at the Nightbreed Records gig back in March at the Elektrowerkz in Islington, London.

Now it's time to post the second half of the shoot with Miss Cobweb. Last week the photos were more glam/geisha inspired, but this week they're along a more 80s punk/hair metal theme:

Full set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagomortisuk/

A latex uniform shoot with Felix Liquer and a Fashion Shoot with Alivya V Free will be posted shortly.

It's funny how the recent crazes for HDR photography and even more recently anything and everything in 3D, are all essentially re-hashing technology that is (in some cases) well over a hundred years old.

Take for example 3D photography – The recent announcement by Sony that their new Alpha Compact cameras will have a processor that will allow them to capture side-by-side images for 3D viewing is not a new thing... OK admittedly being able to capture side-by-side images through a single lens is new (and pretty handy), but this is still a revival of what was a Victorian craze. And it was a craze that was big business with most photographs of the late Victorian period and early Edwardian being shot on stereoscopic cameras to be printed and placed in special viewers to be used at home.

See T3's Website

It's not just Sony that are getting in on it either: Fuji film have released a compact digital camera with two lenses for stereoscopic photography. The lo-fi, 120mm film fetishist's darling Holga, has also been joined by a stereoscopic sibling.

I only stumbled across stereoscopic photography due to the artwork on the tool album '10,000 Days'. The album featured Victorian style portraits of the band members, and artwork by Alex Grey printed in the fashion of the top picture of this blog, and attached to the digipack was a stereoscopic viewer. I was hooked.


But what about 3D at the movies? Well you can't honestly tell me you've forgotten about the humble anachrome glasses... those little cardboard specs with one eye covered by blue plastic, and the other covered by red? I have to admit the new “shades” you get at the cinema are a lot more comfortable and stylish to wear though.

3D cinema seems to have it's phases through the years, particularly in cult/B Movies in the 50's and cropping up every so often there after. I even remember certain TV programmes in my childhood being broadcast in 3D for things like Children in Need or Comic Relief. So again, it isn't new... But with films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland using it to add an extra dimension to what are already visually stunning films, AND with Sky TV now adding 3D channels to accompany their HD ones, it seems as though the technology has caught up with the ideas.

HDR is another one. You might not be too familiar with this if you don't really have an interest in photography, but it stands for High Dynamic Range and it's the practice of creating super-realistic photographs from multiple exposures. Digital technology and software editing packages has turned what is a very time consuming process into something that anyone with a DSLR, Tripod, and a downloaded version of Photomatix can do.

The first to experiment and develop this method of combining multiple exposures into realistic photographs was Gustave Le Gray – A French photographer who made his first HDR prints in the 1850s! Gray would photograph seascapes using one exposure for the sky and one exposure for the sea and combine them. This allowed him to create sharp images when photography required long exposure times.

It's certainly food for thought at any rate.

For more on the history of stereoscopic photography I recommend visiting the website of The London Stereoscopic Company, run by Brian May... Yes THE Brian May. londonstereo.com

Links to work by Gustav Le Gray can be found here: Artcyclopedia