This week we have just completed our biggest single framing job to date, in terms of frame size.

We were presented with a woodcut print produced by Paul Bloomer who is originally (like me) from the West Midlands but now based in Shetland.

Up until now the largest woodcut I have ever seen was roughly A3 size but the size of the tube this print was delivered in meant that is was going to be rather larger than A3 !

Once un rolled and squared on the paper the print came to 1800mm x 930mm roughly 6′ x 3′ in old money.

Once we had overcome the problem of cutting the frame to the right size as my guillotine only goes to 1.5 metres, the Obeche frame then had to be hand painted to match the woodcut.

The image is of Curlews in Shetland and I am reliably informed the print is how the scene looks in Shetland.

The picture below gives and idea of the size of the frame as Mrs Islay Studios checks it over in the workshop before delivery, which again wasn’t too straight forward.

After delivering the frame and seeing where it is going to hang the finished piece is going to look absolutely amazing.

If you are interested in Pauls’ work and he is quite an accomplished artist in other media as well then check out his website at www.paulbloomer.com

EXIF is 1/6  @ F16   100ASA  Focal length  24mm

Well the answer like many photographers is yes but only of the neutral density variety.

Neutral Density effectively does one job and that is to reduce the amount of light coming through to the sensor, so can be used where a lighting situation is too bright or when you want to extend the exposure time for effect.

The word neutral means that there is no effect on the colour or white balance of the scene, as far as I am concerned this means tampering with nature and creating an image that isn’t true and whilst that is the business of some photographers, it isn’t me, as is only !

There are two types of these filters, one that covers the whole frame and one that fades from top to bottom or left to right, these are called ND graduated filters.

My ND grads get used extensively because they can be used for balancing exposure across the frame, so if the sky is bright but the foreground dark then this exposure can be evened out.

As even the best sensors on modern cameras can’t cope with a large dynamic range.

A friend of mine came to Islay last year with a ND grad which he hadn’t used before, after five minutes at Saligo Bay, he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t had one in his camera bag until now !

To illustrate the difference between using one or not, yesterday on Islay threw up ideal conditions where a filter was needed.

I use the Lee filter system and the beauty of these large filters is that you can have the filter in place in the holder and have the filter doing it’s thing or not by just sliding it in or out of place, no need to remove the filter if you don’t need it.

So the shots below were taken just seconds apart and are web friendly versions of the RAW file with no processing, hence the dust spots from the sensor still there !

This was using the 0.6 hard grad but in fact could have benefited from a 0.9 or even a combination of the two to increase the exposure compression.

Without filterWith filter

You can see here the difference thats made, but really it isn’t enough, so multiplying the filters would have been better.

The main image is after processing with a curves adjustment and removing the sensor dust, and cropping to improve composition.  Now of course if you are handy with layer masks then all this could be done in Photoshop although can look a little clumsy, but I can assure you it is so much quicker at the point of capture and you are tinkering less with your pixels so quality will always be better. One further point is not to confuse these filters with grey graduate filters which will affect colour and white balance even though the manufacturers of these claim otherwise.

Yesterday I had to trawl through some old files to find some images to illustrate an article for use in  todays issue of Scotland on Sunday and came across this shot which I must have dismissed at the time for any future use.

I guess the moral in this is to always keep your RAW files even if at the time you think they are just good for deleting.

I now have something like 50,000 Islay images, I wonder how many other shots I have previously dismissed could see a second life ?  however it could take a while to go through them all again with a critical eye.

So the picture is of daylight breaking over the Paps of Jura  with the fishing boat Golden Opportunity tied up in the Sound of Islay.

I looked at the time the shot was exposed and it was 03.16 AM, not normally my time of day !

EXIF is 1/250  @ F8  640 ASA   Focal length  105mm

This saves time later in post but also gives better quality results, the less you mess with your pixels the better they are going to reproduce in print.

However the process doesn’t necessarily end up at that point, what are you going to do with your  perfect print ?

Most photographers aren’t picture framers and most picture framers couldn’t take a picture either, this is where I guess I have a foot in both camps and can see both sides of the situation therefore often when I am out shooting I have sometimes already decided how the image is going to be presented.

As a framer I never advocate putting a high quality image in a supermarket type frame, for one they are usually produced in metric sizes ( as they are often produced in Eastern Europe or worse still the Far East ) whilst photographs are traditionally printed in imperial sizes.

This means the prints never fit the frame properly mounted or not, also most framers also make metric sized frames as they are usually framing art which is produced in all sorts of dimensions.

My frames are normally always sold in imperial dimensions but made in metric sizes for better accuracy.

Therefore if I am framing a full frame picture the frame will  be right sized for the print.

Over the years I have framed all sorts of strange objects as well as the usual diet of photographs, art, and football shirts and the like.

I have also framed a bottle of Bruichladdich Whisky (empty I should add ! ) plus a wedding head dress, some three dimensional face masks and feathers from a falcon.

So we like a challenge,

In  Monty Python terms perhaps this should be titled  ”And now for something completely different”

I had printed a picture that I shot on Boxing Day at Kilchoman, I posted on my photoblog here shortly after.    http://islayphotography.aminus3.com/image/2012-01-04.html

The picture was printed onto Epson Premium Canvas and I wanted to present it differently to how I would show a canvas photo.

So the end result is that the print has been invisibly float mounted, I haven’t seen a photo presented like this before, let me know if you have already.

The frame is hand finished (in Satin Black) Obeche natural wood. The print size is 24 x16″ but sits in a frame of 44×36″ giving the floating effect.

As you will see from the photo, it needs to hang on a neutral coloured wall, floral wallpaper is a definite no no, as the perceived mount for the picture is the wall colour.

The photography of Islay Studios always tries to be a little different, hence our blog slogan of  ”More than just recording the scene”, now we are taking framing to a new creative level as well.

The finished item is now on display in the gallery in Islay House Square, please come in and see it if you are here on Islay.

EXIF is 1 sec @ F22  100ASA   Focal length 24mm

I nearly chose a shot that eventually ended up on my photoblog    http://islayphotography.aminus3.com/image/2012-01-05.html

But in the end decided on this one.

A popular location for stormy day pics, it is shot from the beach at Claddach looking across to the Rhinns lighthouse, notice the seagull on the left of the shot trying to fly into the wind (well gale !).

EXIF is 1/500th  @  F8  100 ASA    105mm

Taken between the thunderstorms and the hail showers is a solitary bale of straw between small streams of water running down the field.

Will be out shooting tomorrow again in the middle of this dreadful weather.

EXIF is 1/640  @  F4.5   1600 ASA  200mm  Mono conversion in PS

Piece number 1  is based around an Ardbeg Lord of the Isles whisky bottle, this is a combination of four  photographs and some digital painting.

It is then  printed onto canvas which brings out all the textures of the art, is then  framed and makes a great centre piece for a wall.

Lord  of the Isles whisky is long sold out so this maybe the only opportunity to own a bottle, in imagery..Last time I looked bottles were selling for £200-300, so this would be a cheaper option and you get to see the scroll all the time without having to keep the box open !

The ideal gift for an Ardbeg enthusiast…..