The Ducks Photo Blog

2011 A Retrospective View

The Duck — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:06:13 +0000

As we head into a new year I thought I would post a few of my personal favourites from 2011. In no particular order.

A huge thanks to all clients, friends and collaborators. Here’s to an even better 2012!

[Show as slideshow]

Dark and Smokey Shoot

The Duck — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:12:19 +0000

Ford Cosworth Awesomeness

The Duck — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:44:40 +0000

I recently did a promotional shoot for Red Dragon IT Rally Team. This Blue Oval Beauty is a rebuilt ex works rally car.

Hopefully to be appearing as a feature in a Ford type magazine soon!

Modified Live, End of Year Finale at Snetterton

The Duck — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:04:40 +0000

I’ve been asked to shoot and write for RevLimit if you like your motorsport then this is the place to go! My first report is now live on their site. Its from Modified Live at Snetterton on 25th September here are a couple of images from the Time attack and European Drift Championships final round 7 for 2011

Class 8 Kitebuggy European Championships – Hoylake UK

The Duck — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:11:39 +0000

A long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away I used to kite buggy. So I jumped at the chance when I was asked to head north to Hoylake and cover the European Championships.

After a mammoth commute of over 350 miles! this was the first view that greeted me when I trudged out to the pits on Wednesday morning for the first time.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t always play ball all week and a lot of time was spent waiting for the sandbank to dry out.

The courses that were set were gigantic covering a few square miles! but even a field of well over seventy pilots from all over Europe that included England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Spain. The race starts were something to behold.

There was however some great racing when the conditions allowed and I spent three days shooting a memorable event the full galleries can be found at http://www.rubberduckdoes.com/euros2011.

Its not often I get papped when I am working but Ruairidh Munro managed it! It actually looks as though I know what I am doing! Anyway make sure you check out his FlickR stream

My advice if you ever get the chance to go and watch and/or take pictures of kitebuggy racing is do it! I’ll be heading out again that’s for sure

It was great to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones. I was asked if I fancied getting back into it again……hmmm how to approach the subject with my wife!

Herne Bay Festival, Kent

The Duck — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:25:44 +0000

Been insanely busy over the last couple of months, hence the lack of new posts here. This past weekend I was covering the first weekend of the Herne Bay Festival in Kent. Which saw everything from crab catching to a full blown parade through the streets entitled ‘Bolly Bay’ a great family weekend. loads of events happening during the week ending with a full weekends programme over the bank holiday.

Festival Time

The Duck — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:30:22 +0000

I covered Lounge on the Farm in Canterbury last weekend here are a couple of images from that

Testing, testing – pack shot photography that’s not boring

The Duck — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:51:51 +0000

I don’t normally post much about the product stuff I do. Basically its not that interesting looking at images that the only aim is to take a clear, well lit shot. Sometimes however I do get the opportunity to get creative. I am working with a new cosmetic company called Thea Skincare (http://www.theaskincare.com/) and here are a couple of test shots that I have been working on. Apparently the labeling will change when I come to shot the final images. Product photography doesn’t always need to be boring!

How long can you go?

The Duck — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:23:04 +0000

I’m a sucker for panned shots I just love them. So when a few weeks ago now a fellow photographer Ross Ianson (you really ought to check out his work on www.speedhunters.com as its very good indeed. Particularly his British Drift Championship stuff) posted a shot of his on Facebook where he was trying, and very nearly succeeded to achieve a 1 second panning shot.

So the challenge was set just how long could you go to achieve a usable panning shot?

Shot one
ISO at 160
Focal Length 70mm
Apeture f/29
Shutter Speed 1/40 second

Which gives a sharp usable image, very nice. But I still feel I can go slower. However I have one problem which I am up against. I am shooting in the middle of the day on a pretty sunny day. But never the less lets see how far we can go.

Shot Two
ISO at 100
Focal Length 81mm
Apeture f/25
Shutter Speed 1/30 second

Now there’s not much difference here as the ISO and aperture changes has balanced out the shot its the shutter speed that is really starting to make a huge difference as now we are fairly and squarely in tripod territory. I’m not sure I like it as its neither here nor there in my opinion. But I still wanted to see how much slower I could go.

Shot Three
ISO at 100
Focal Length 91mm
Apeture f/32
Shutter Speed, 1/6 second

Now this one has an altogether different feel, almost a dreamy other worldly look to it, yes its all blurry but you really get the feeling hes moving fast and that’s what its all about. These settings were basically as slow as my kit would allow me to go given the environment. The only way I could have gone slower would be to use ND filters or welders glass. One bit of advice when you start going this slow forget looking through the camera instead practice holding the camera in front of you it will a lot steadier.

So there’s the challenge guys if you take pictures why not give it a go and see just how slow you can go I’d be interested to see what people can do.

Gumball 3000 2011

The Duck — Fri, 27 May 2011 10:27:09 +0000

Yesterday saw the Gumball 3000 Rally set off from London headed for Paris on the first stage of a 3,000 mile trip. Finishing in Istanbul in a week. The display of super and hyper cars taking part was quite breath taking. So enough of my ramblings here’s a selection of pictures.

One of the first cars past us was this Bentley in the outside lane and completely missing the slip road to the Euro Tunnel, he wasn’t the only one!

The guys in the Orange BMW M3 GTS were the first to hit Paris. Well done guys.

The ever awesome Bughatti Veyron, even winding down it still sounded as if it was going to devour anything around it!

A truly stunning Ferrari 599 GTO finished in chrome. Yes you read right CHROME!!!!!!!

The guys from Team Galag (http://teamgalag.com/) all the way from Saudi

This has cause a fair amount of discussion. I think its based on a Renault V6 chassis and engine. In a classic Renault 4 shell wow!

A Gumball honeymoon! congratulations and good luck guys

Awesome paint job (if you can call it a paint job!) on this Bently Continental

Don’t forget to check out my other images at www.rubberduckdoes.com/Gumball3000 . Also all the info on the rally on the offical website www.gumball3000.com. Also the best unofficial site www.gumball-3000.com which is full of everything Gumball.