Fish Master Class Browns Mayfair

A Wonderful Evening

One of my passions in life is food, having been born into the restaurant industry it's in my blood. I love food markets, cooking with good quality fresh produce that I can feed my family and friends, after all it's all part of my Greek-Cypriot roots to feed and entertain en-mass.

Even more, I like to take the opportunity to combine two of my passions in life, photography and food! When I'm not photographing people or classic car collections I like to indulge in some fine dining and to capture those moments forever (give me a commission to photograph food from field to plate and I'd be one happy lady).

Brown's, Mayfair

On Wednesday 21st May I went to Rocco Forte’s Brown's Hotel in Mayfair, London's oldest luxury hotel for an entertaining evening with Mark Hix for his Fish n Hix master class. My photographs show an account of what happened next, this may inspire you to try it too.

Mark Hix

Our host Mark Hix owner of Hix Oyster & Chop House and Tramshed entertained a group of nine of us, on how to prepare and cook some of his signature dishes. Located in the plush surroundings of the Niagra room he took centre stage at the head of the table with one cooking ring armed with the appropriate knives, scissors and tweezers.

What’s For Dinner

We were wowed with the quality of produce and the attention to detail that Mark is known for. He explained where he likes to source his produce from and uses sea vegetables where possible, in particular samphire, stonecrop, sea purslane, sea beet and sea aster, which really complemented the flavours of the fish.

We were served by a group of discreet and efficient waiters who made sure our wine and water glasses were always full, and service swift and attentive.

Mark started with a demonstration on how to prepare ceviche using fresh whiting fillets, a fish often under used but very tasty and lends itself to this recipe using the acidity of the lime to ‘cook’ the fish.

Followed by smoked salmon, we had a go at slicing under Mark's guidance and watchful eye, super sharp knives guaranteed you could glide the knife diagonally through this slab of heaven. The fillet of salmon once pin boned is smoked on site at Brown's. For his restaurant in Selfridges he told us he has a shed that sits on the roof where he can smoke his salmon to perfection. The salmon was moist, not oily, very lightly smoked and served with soda bread.

The red and white wines accompanying the courses were sourced in Portugal by Mark and his friend, restaurateur, chef and food writer Mitch Tonks. They have named their wine 'Tonnix' a combination of their surnames, the labels on the bottles designed by friend Tracey Emin.

We were also shown how to fillet and bone fish with a few tricks to make this less time consuming. Take a look at the menu below to see what followed, each dish was light and flavoursome and relatively easy to prepare at home. Mark is a lover of rapeseed oil, we were encouraged to drizzle this on our fish, in particular the salt baked sea bass and chargrilled brill.

The gurnard was prepared and cooked in paper pouches and was a tasty conclusion to this gastronomic event.

Photographs

The photographs I've taken are a snapshot of the evenings events over the two hours showing Mark at his best, he was entertaining and happy to answer all our questions and share his culinary experiences. I used my Nikon body with a 24-135mm lens and a mixture of daylight and bounced flash with a high ISO.

Thanks Mark for a great evening, next on the agenda is to try your meat master class.

The Menu

• Marinated Newlyn whiting with chilli and plantain crisps

• Albemarle smoked salmon 'Hix cure' with Corrigan's soda bread

• Isle of Barra cockles with Burrow Hill cider and smoked Orkney bacon

• Salt-baked St Margaret's Bay sea bass with buttered seakale

• Chargrilled whole Start Point brill with aura potatoes and béarnaise sauce

• Paper-baked Lyme Bay gurnard with steamed coastal greens

• Strawberry jelly and fool

We left the evening feeling comfortably full with a generous goodie bag containing a signed cookery book, an apron and a bottle of rapeseed oil. Not forgetting lots of inspiration for future cooking .

I can highly recommend a Fish Master class Browns Mayfair.

Anyone for fish?

Bye for now.

Stella

How To Take Great Holiday Photographs You and Your Family Will Love

Time To Get Ready

It’s that time of year when the days are getting longer and warmer so we can think about getting the suitcases out of the attic ready for the summer hols!

Don’t forget to pack your camera too and get those important holiday photographs that will keep the memory alive.

An Accessory To Make Taking Photographs Fun

When packing your camera it’s always useful to pack a small tripod and I always take my Gorilla Pod this friendly gizmo is ideal to pack in your case as it’s flexible, small and capable of great things, to get shots in awkward places and for putting your camera on self time for a group shot you want to be in. Check out the website to see what this little monkey can do http://joby.com/gorillapod

Before You Leave Home

It doesn’t matter what camera you have, whether it’s a big DSLR or a compact point and shoot if you aren’t confident using it you’re not going to get great shots, so spend some time getting to know your camera if you haven’t already.

Pack a couple of extra compact flash memory cards or buy them at the airport, the cost of these have come down considerably in recent months. Best not to have all your images on one card so spreading across two or three makes good sense in case you lose your camera.

• Set your camera to the large file size option so you are getting maximum quality, you can make smaller if you need to on your return. You can’t make a small file bigger so start how you mean to go on.

• Check you know where your flash option is so this can be easily triggered when the occasion arises.

• Clean your lens with a soft cloth and take this with you, it’s so easy to have a greasy, sandy lens which will impair the quality of your images.

• Check you are familiar with the different shooting options. You may prefer to shoot everything on ‘auto’ or ‘A’ for aperture priority or ‘S’ for shutter priority.

• If you don’t get time to check this out before leaving home and are taking a flight this can always be done on the journey. The advantage of doing this at home is anything you aren’t sure about can be looked up and understood on You Tube, you can bet there is someone demonstrating exactly what you are looking for, just enter your camera make and model and what you would like to know, much easier than fumbling through a manual.

• Don’t forget to take your battery charger and adaptor depending on where in the world you are going.

• Two spare fully charged batteries are always worth having and carrying with you, we have all been in the position where you miss a crucial shot because your battery has expired, depending on the temperature of where you are this can happen sooner than you expect.

• Just one point worth remembering about battery power is it will expire quicker if you are a ‘chimper’ ( "chimping" frequently looking at every exposure captured on the back of the camera after exposure). Try and resist the urge to do this if your battery power is low.

Flash I always use my flash when shooting people in harsh sunlight especially with the sun behind your subject otherwise they will be in shadow so just flip up your flash option to increase the contrast.

Avoid using flash indoors if you have enough ambient light , especially for a portrait shot by the window the light is much softer and more flattering. Experiment with your flash on and off and see the difference. You may need to increase your ISO (sensitivity of your digital sensor) or if you have this setting on Auto the camera will do it for you.

Lens

Regular readers of my newsletters will know I love my 70mm – 200mm lens as it will allow you to shoot from a distance and get great results as far as shallow depth of field is concerned, so whether it’s people or landscapes you are keen to shoot this lens is ideal. For shooting groups and in confined places you’ll need to use a lens with a wider angel so a 24mm-70mm is a safe bet. However it isn’t always practical to carry a few lenses so if you can have a 24mm – 200/300mm this one lens will do the lot but you will have to compromise on your widest aperture as you may only get f5.6 when you are using it at its maximum 200/300mm

Composition For shots that are capturing a moment you really don’t get much time to think before you shoot otherwise the moment has gone, but for shots where composition can make all the difference between a good shot and a stunning shot, just give yourself a little time. Your subject doesn’t always have to be in the centre just by moving your camera to the left or right if you have an interesting background will make a difference. You don’t have to always shoot at eye level you can crouch down, tilt the camera on the ground, hold the camera above your head, just have fun and experiment and find what works for you. For shooting landscapes the best time of day is early morning as the sun is coming up or at dusk as the sun is going down. Try over or underexposing to get a more atmospheric result.

Finally

Photography should be about capturing a moment for future reflection and to enjoy the process, don’t let it get in the way of actually enjoying a moment and absorbing it, taking a great photograph is also about knowing when not to take it.

Experiment as much as you can as this way you’ll see what works for you.

On return from your holiday download your images and back up on external hard drives too, only when you have done this clear and reformat your memory cards ready for the next time.

If you want to get the best pictures possible feel free to join us for a photography Masterclass. Create memories from your holiday to last a lifetime; investing a small amount on learning how to use your camera properly is worthwhile when you are spending so much on the holiday itself..call us on 01883 722282 to enquire or visit the Masterclass section of our website.

Bye for now!

Stella

Top Marques Monaco 2014

I have had the pleasure of photographing many Super Cars over the past year so I was very excited to be going to Monaco last month to visit the Top Marques event, the most exclusive Super Car Show in the World!

It took place over the Easter Bank holiday, but luckily for me it started on Thursday 17th April so I could get there just for the day on the first flight out of Gatwick and the last one back before Monaco was heaving with all the Easter holiday makers on Good Friday.

My Journey

I flew to Nice airport and got the train from a little train station a short bus ride from the airport called “Nice St Augustin”. For a few euros I took the 30 minute journey along the coast line which must be one of the prettiest train journeys I’ve taken, it certainly beats the East Grinstead to Victoria line that I’m more familiar with.

We stopped at seven stations on the way and the train was certainly filling up with many people visiting Monaco for the tennis or the Top Marque Show. Once I got to Monaco it was an easy walk to the Grimaldi Forum home of the show. As I was approaching the forum I was just in the right place at the right time to photograph the arrival of the Lamborghini Aventador which took pride of place at the entrance to the show and was supplied by aaarentcars .

A Little Bit About Monaco

Monaco, officially the principality of Monaco is the second most densely populated country in the world! Prince Albert II is the head of state and has immense political power. Monaco has a coast line of 2.5 miles and the state has no income tax, low business tax and is well known for being a tax haven and is understandably attractive to the super wealthy.

The roads were very congested due to the ongoing building work as the new Yacht Club takes shape and the preparation for the Grand Prix in May.

Grimaldi Forum

The Grimaldi Forum is the main exhibition centre and very impressive too. On arrival I was just in time to join in the walk about that was going on with Prince Albert II, I managed to tag along with the press to get a few shots.

The cars on display were an incredible array of dynamic performance and aesthetic genius. With the added option of being able to test drive a selected few, this I’m sure was a big attraction to the many visitors over this four day event!

Super Cars

On display were cars by a variety of manufacturers Noble, Ferrari, Jaguar, McLaren, Quant, Tushek, Tesla, Lexus, Mercedes, Bentley, to name just a few. I was there to promote my photography of Classic and Super Cars and met with the dealers and spectators to show case my book which is designed with the serious collector in mind who would like to have their car or cars photographed to add value to their collection, but most importantly to document their car as a work of art and to reflect the owners lifestyle and finished in a bespoke limited edition book, this part of my website will tell you more.

People

I met many interesting people all with a passion for cars and the finer things in life. One lady in particular, a local resident, just passing the time of day was very keen to do a brief interview about me on her iphone for a blog she wanted to start.

If you would like to take time out in Monaco next year the Top Marques Show is from April 16th-19th April 2015, I’ll be back again to soak up a little more of my passion and of course the Cote D’Azur.

Thanks for reading.

Stella

Wedding Photography Tips

This is how I do it!

First of all to be a great wedding photographer you have to have passion and buckets of it helps, a passion for the art of photography and a passion for communicating with people, this is a winning combination. I’ve been photographing weddings for over 35 years and started with a twin lens Rolleiflex using four rolls of film with only 12 exposures on each, so every shot counted and you had to get it right!! Let me tell you how you can do it with these wedding photography tips.

Passion

Passion isn’t something you can buy you need it to be able to get the results as this is probably one of the hardest genres of photography but probably one of the most rewarding, after all you have been entrusted with a very special day there really is no margin for error. Location Always make sure you have visited the location the wedding is taking place at so you are familiar with the best spots for group photographs, bride and groom shots and where the sun is positioned at the time of day you’ll be shooting. A plan B is a must in case rains prevents any outdoor photography, so check the inside of the venue too (especially if it's a church ceremony).

My Kit Keep it simple!

You have a lot to think about on the day - who’s who, what’s the weather doing, am I in the right place at the right time, the names of the people you are interacting with, is my exposure correct with the changing light. Knowing your kit inside out is crucial to be able to make split second decisions. I carry two D700 Nikon bodies with additional battery attachments that way I don’t have to worry my batteries are going to die, after approximately 1000 exposures the second battery automatically kicks in. One body is fitted with a 70mm-200mm lens and the other a 24mm-135mm lens. I use a Nikon speedlight attached to my shorter focal length lens body as a fill in light source and also as a main light when shooting inside. I carry a foldaway reflector too, you never know when you might need it, especially for natural window light shots. In reserve I carry two more bodies as backup and a wider focal 18mm lens should I need to introduce this lens for the back of the ceremony wide angle shot. I often shoot with a second photographer as it’s impossible to get all angles covered, especially during the ceremony when roaming photographers are a big no no. I carry a sturdy tripod to prevent camera shake if I need a slow shutter speed in the church, as any supplementary lighting is often forbidden and natural lighting is far more complimentary. Make sure your 32gb memory cards are formatted and ready to go. I carry a light metre with me so I can get an accurate reading, I check this with the histogram on my camera too. In my kit bag I carry two spare flash guns with charged batteries and lens cloth cleaners.

Camera Settings

I choose to set the shooting control on my camera to manual so I can have full control of any given lighting. I have my flash set to manual too and set to two stops under the exposure of the camera so it should deliver the correct dose of light to fill in the shadows of group photographs or, for when your subject is backlight, full flash is best. This is something that over the years becomes second nature as does the camera settings. I generally set my ISO to 400 but change to 1600 for internal shots in low lighting and often use a low dose of flash too, this all depends on what my experience is telling me. I always set my camera file size to JPEG normal and RAW so I have two files of each image. A typical combination when shooting on a bright day is shutter speed 250th and aperture f11. When using my camera fitted with the 70mm – 200mm lens I don’t use flash and sometimes set this on aperture priority of f4 or f5.6 so I can shoot on a fast shutter speed in bright lighting. The image below is an example of this, I have used the backlighting and flare to my advantage, as usual these shots are rarely planned and capture the moment. I have my white balance (WB) set to auto, this is fine tuned in post production. Another crucial thing that makes life easier when you are sorting all the images from two or three memory cards together in one folder, is to set your cameras all to the same time, otherwise you’ll be doing lots of sorting to get everything in chronological order. You don't want to put yourself in this position.

Post production

Once I have downloaded the images usually between 1000 to 1500 images the editing takes place, this is a lengthy process and often takes place over two or three days. All images I take whether in the studio on location or weddings go through a fine tuning post production process prior to printing to ensure they are true in colour, this too is a lengthy but necessary process to ensure optimum quality. The RAW file (up to 10mb each) records maximum data, this helps if you are caught out and have over or under exposed your file, the RAW file will allow you to retrieve the data that a JPEG wouldn’t. Don't rely on this as it's always best to get the exposure right to start.

What Next If you would like your wedding photographed please call the studio to check we have your date available I am only taking 8 wedding commissions a year to ensure I can give them the time and attention they each deserve. To learn more about photography and understanding your camera, my masterclasses with give you the confidence to take better photographs.These can be small group classes or on a one to one basis. My classes will give you valuable wedding photography tips that you can use whatever you are photographing.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now.

Stella

Bluebell Photography Tips

How to get the Best Out of Photographing in the Bluebell Woods

There was a time when we relied on Mother Nature to tell us that Spring was upon us but nowadays we get most of our prompts from Facebook and Twitter! However I think now we can safely say Spring is in the air and the bluebellsare getting ready to flourish, I can almost smell them.

Time of Year I love this time of year when the days are longer and we can begin to shed a few winter layers of surplus clothing.  My cameras start working overtime as I photograph many families in our stunning Surrey countryside. If you are going to venture out with your camera I’ll give you a few tips to get the best photographs of your family in the countryside.

First of all Before leaving home make sure your kit is in order. We can all sometimes forget to clean our viewfinder, I know it’s such a basic thing but without a clear view of your subject you won’t realise it’s full potential, so a gentle wipe with a lens soft cloth is all you need, no harsh fluids are necessary, also give your lenses a gentle wipe too, you’ll be surprised at the grime and fingerprints they attract. Make sure your battery is fully charged and take spares with you. A memory card of at least 16GB is ideal, shooting in RAW takes so much more space than JPEGS and the results are so much better as you are recording maximum data.

Setting Your Camera For photographing people and pets I prefer to use a 70-200mm lens so you don’t have to be on top of your subject, a low angle at bluebell level often works best. I always shoot on manual and check my histogram after the first exposure to check its correctly exposed, looking at the images isn’t always accurate. To get a shallow depth of field so your subject is in focus and the background and foreground are out of focus just follow these simple tips. It’s the aperture and the distance of the subject from the background that will get that beautiful shallow depth of field and those ‘circles of confusion’ in the background. Providing your subject is at least six feet away from the background and you are shooting on a wide aperture, I prefer f4 and a fast shutter speed of at least 250th to prevent any camera shake.  As you are usually under the canopy of the trees set your ISO tobetween 800-1600depending on the time of day this will ensure you can get the fast shutter speed and wide aperture combination.

Where is the best location Choose somewhere in the woodlands when the sun is low and behind your subject, early morning and late afternoon work best for me. It doesn’t always have to be a sunny day, different lighting will give you different colour saturation. Make the most of the trees too they can be used to frame your subjector to be part of the subject.

Composition Take time to think about your composition a little cropping in post production makes the difference between a great photograph and a stunning one. Do what feels instinctively right, I very rarely plan the shot as each photo shoot is differentand everyone feels comfortable indifferent settings. So let your creative juices flow and have fun.

Book a shoot with me I start my Bluebell Location shoots in the next two to three weeks depending on the great British weather, but you can rest assured that the photographs I take of you and your family, will capture the present to create the past for future generations….

What next To arrange your photo shoot or to book in on one of my Photography Masterclasses to learn to do this for yourself and more call the studio on 01883 722282

Be quick as the bluebells are at their best only for a short time, they don’t wait for anyone!!

Thanks for reading

Bye for now.

Stella

The Alzheimers Society Fund Raising Evening

Thank you to everyone who visited us at our late night shopping evening in December 2013. We were very proud to showcase our photo booth courtesy of Booth Mania.

Michelle and John from Booth Mania set up their unit in the reception area here at SMS Creative Photography and did a great job in ensuring the evening was a hit with everyone! What a transformation it worked so well! Groups of up to six people wishing to join in could choose a hat, glasses or other fancy dress item to wear for the four different shots that were taken and presented on one sheet in seconds!

It was reminiscent of my childhood days of going into photo booths whilst out shopping with friends that gave us so much fun. The children don’t look at booths in the same way nowadays and are fortunate enough to enjoy the spontaneity of using their phones to capture images with their friends and share on social media (how neat is that).

We were taking donations in aid of the local Alzheimer’s  Society and raised £164, so thanks to everyone for their generosity in supporting this very worthy cause.

Take a look below for a glimpse of what went on, if you would like to hire out the booth for your event I can highly recommend Michelle and John from Booth Mania for a stress free fun packed time. Nothing was too much trouble for them and they certainly added to the atmosphere.

This is me presenting Andrew Cornwall a volunteer from local The Alzheimer’s Society with a cheque.

If you would like to have your own event to raise money for The Alzheimer’s Society please get in touch with Hannah Miller Community Fundraiser Surrey and West Sussex - East Region.

Thanks for reading

Stella