Lisa Marie Plevey: Blog

HDR editing in tricky lighting conditions

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 17:22:48 GMT

I’ve been shooting HDR (High Dynamic Range) images instead of using off-camera flash for some time now. This really is the best way of capturing the character of any interior.

A beautiful, cosy holiday cottage with it’s low ceiling and deep recessed, small window is shown at its finest when photographed with a Nikon Z6 using it’s amazing 14 stop dynamic range.

Bracketed images blended with careful colour correction, contrast and selective saturation show the natural light and also the warmth of the interiors lights without losing any detail, especially the window views.

Winter... cruised

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 04:38:51 GMT

My first winter out on the cut as a continuous cruiser is in the bag. It’s been quite a mild and wet season. Lots of drying, not much thawing. There’s quite a bit of mud in the bag too. A colder winter would have been so much easier but I’ve absolutely loved it. The peace, the quiet, the everything.. even the mud. Starting to dream of warmer sunny times... summer dresses instead of waterproofs and wellies. Evenings out on the towpath replacing snug nights in by the stove. Sweeter dreams.

Oxford - property marketing

Tue, 08 Aug 2017 08:39:38 GMT

It's not often that I deliberately shoot a building on a tilt with flare but it can produce a refreshingly different way of viewing something that has been photographed many, many times before. This is one of a series of images taken to market new apartments in central Oxford.

OxfordScreenshot

Happy New 2017

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 16:16:05 GMT

Here's to the New Year. Wishing peace, love, happiness, health and a little wealth to all good folk. I enjoyed a peaceful few days away on my boat (mine is the 6th one along) moored somewhere on the Warwickshire stretch of the Grand Union Canal. Perfect!

Backpack Replaces Shoulder Bag.... finally

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 16:35:54 GMT

My back started aching a while ago so thinking that other than my age, my old Gladstone Number 10 shoulder bag probably wasn't helping. Whilst fabulously roomy, it just isn't comfortable any longer so I picked this up from National Geographic. I bought it from Manfrotto UK where it's half-price at the time of writing (£104.98 reduced from £209.95). It's the Africa M Backpack and it's truly brilliant. Room enough for everything I need and it's really rather beautiful too. Very recommended.

New Nursery Shoot

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 18:12:09 GMT

I've photographed hundreds of schools over the years as a freelance photographer but these days I shoot my own schools. I was recently asked to photograph a new nursery group. It went really well & was so much fun. Happiness means amazing images. I have set up a secure online ordering system with a great range of products. Happy to take on a few more of these. Lovely, smiley work!

Beautiful sunset - gold glow

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 21:19:33 GMT

Ok, so sunsets are photographed rather very often but there's a reason for this - they are beautiful things. I took this a few days ago on my way home from a walk, had to stop and shoot. Pretty pleased with the result indeed.

Fuji X-Pro1

Tue, 06 Jan 2015 13:47:35 GMT

I bought my l'il retro looking X-Pro1 a few weeks ago from WEX. The body was about £700 and the offer at that time included the 18mm F2 R and the 27mm F2.8 XF lenses which is £688 worth of free lenses! Think I'd have preferred something closer to 50mm rather than the 27mm but I'm not complaining.

I've used her quite a bit for my personal (non-commissioned) work and I really like. She fits in my handbag and is my 'go everywhere' camera which is something I can't do with my Nikon DSLR's.

Yup, she is a bit fiddly to get to grips with and ever so slightly quite quirky but you get used to that, she has personality.

Image quality is super fabbo, it's acceptable to the likes of Alamy (my stock library) which is important and something like the same as my D700.

The movie mode isn't something you can take seriously, as the extra weight of a DSLR is necessary for stability. Quality isn't all that but I bought this for a stills camera so its not an issue.

So, yeah, I'm happy :)

iPhone again

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:34:50 GMT

Following on from my last post about my fabulous new boots :) I thought I'd post again with an iPhone 5 image, which I think shows just how good the tiny little camera can be. This was taken in my back garden and is of the last, and possibly most perfect, rose of the year. It was a farily breezy day, light was starting to fade. I took several shots, with this one coming out best. I'm pretty impressed with the detail and colour and also most pleasantly surprised that it's pretty bang on sharp. Since then, I've been shooting with my new Fuji X-Pro1 which I am falling in love with.... I think... more to follow...

On & Off topic...

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 14:22:28 GMT

I have to admit to having fallen in love with these boots. This image was taken with my iPhone and quickly edited which I think goes to show just how useable smartphone images have become. As always: NO FLASH. Flash will always kill a smartphone image unless you really, REALLY need to use it. Killer Snake Boots

First post... gotta write something...

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 18:40:34 GMT

I'm having some down-time right now so I'm not shooting that often and it's been bugging me that I haven't written anything yet. I've put that time to good use with designing this website and sorting out my winter wardrobe, the most bestest thing I think I bought this week is this coat which I just love love love. I almost can't wait until it's cold enough to wear.