
October 9, 2014 12:23 by
Martyn
...since my last blog update - Life just seems to be getting in the way a little at the moment!
Following the birth of Finley, my 2nd little boy, we've lead a pretty hectic life - balancing work and family time is always a challenge, and my photography has had to take a little bit of a back seat for a few months. (Well, 2 kids and an engine conversion to the "green machine"!)
In the mean time, while the 5D Mk2 has taken extended periods of rest, I've always had my iPhone with me - always accessible, quick to use, and quite honestly, produces great quality images - even the available editing apps that I've downloaded are fast and simple, and can produce some great results instantaneously.
Those of you who follow me on social media, might have seen a few of them over the past months. Instagram has become a favourite for capturing the growing moments of my family, along with regular pictures on Facebook too.
Having had lots of time off from the 5D, I downloaded a bunch of images that had been shot over the last few months. Onto the Macbook, and into iPhoto, they immediately become available, via my photostream, on my iPhone too! So, when I have a spare five minutes and I'm a way from my Macbook, I choose to edit the odd shot on the iPhone - here are a few of the boys from the last week or two:

September 18, 2013 09:00 by
Martyn

September 4, 2013 12:30 by
Martyn
I had the pleasure of being asked to shoot a good friends wedding up on the Isle of Skye a few months ago - as you'll probably be able to tell from my blog, I'm a huge fan of the Western Isles, and jumped at the chance to capture their wedding. It was actually the Bride and Groom, Martin and Becs, who introduced me to the wonders of Skye, a number of years ago. Since then, we've visited without fail every year! Sometimes, we've managed two or three trips up there in a single year! It's a truly special place.
Their wedding took place at the Sligachan Hotel - a place where many a Cuilin adventure have both begun and ended. With the wedding outside(!), the Scottish weather was very forgiving and other than a brisk breeze it was a perfect setting at the foot of the Cuilin Mountains. The bridge on which they got married, dates from the 1820's - possibly even earlier, but thankfully is no longer used for anything other than foot traffic - it provided the perfect setting for a truly fantastic wedding day. Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day:
Popped out with the Snap-On LED torch the other night… Sat the Canon on a tripod, hooked up the wireless remote, and commenced shooting the rear of my Exige. The night after, I stole the keys to the Dad-in-Laws Elise and did a 'secret shoot' of a 3/4 view for a bit of a surprise for him.
Back home - I say back home… One of the shots was shot on the driveway, just outside the back door! - a bit of deft photoshop editing later, and I ended up with 2 images I was really happy with. What do you think?

Here are a couple of image composites of the 2 shoots - Each shot is made up from approximately 20 individual photos, selectively masked and balanced to make up one single image.
Each image is shot over 10 seconds, and the 'light trails' you can see around the car, are the paths that the torch took over the curves of the vehicle, to highlight individual contours and features...
Here also, is a bonus video showing the number of layers and individual images used to create the Lotus Elise image: