April 02nd, 2021

Phil Punton (1st April 2021)

Our guest last evening was Phil Punton. Phil is a North East based professional photographer who although covering most genres specialises in weddings, portraiture and corporate photography along with family and children. He also offers photographic training.

Phil is happy to support local charities such as the Bubble Foundation based at Newcastle RVI to whom Phil offers his services for free.

This evening Phil was to deliver to the members what can only be described as a ‘master class’ in how to use off camera lighting.

The example Phil used was how he lit his photoshoot ‘Vikings Invade Tynemouth’ in which local actors, many who have appeared in such dramas as Vera & Beowulf, dressed as authentic Vikings including fake but realistic blood and posed for action shots on Tynemouth Beach.  

Phil went into detail describing the equipment he used for this shoot. The type of flashes, soft boxes, modifiers and reflectors etc.

Phil then showed some of the startlingly realistic images from the shoot, some taken by him and some by friend John Brown. Some great images taken at Moorforge Viking Centre in Cumbria followed.

Phil then went into the finer intricacies of how his camera, a Nikon D4, and the lights, both off camera strobes, led’s and speed lights were setup to achieve the desired lighting effect. Among other things Phil suggested that setting the camera flash to rear curtain was best and explained how rather than changing camera or flash settings, sometimes just moving a light a small distance away from the subject succeeded in getting the correct lighting balance.

Although there was some technical and scientific content in Phil’s tutorial this was nicely balanced by his explanations and his interesting and informative delivery.  One important point we can all take from Phil’s tutorial is that there is no substitute for knowing how to use your photographic equipment. And the best way to learn is practice, practice.

This was an excellent tutorial delivered by Phil which was greatly enjoyed by the members and we look forward to Phil joining us in person later in the year at the club, restrictions permitting.

Many thanks to Phil and thank you to the members for their participation.

Bob Finlay (President)