Hi!
Well, i had a nice surprise last Saturday!
It had been a fairly busy week; a band shoot on Tuesday, Ruhrtriennale on Wednesday, Kammertheater Karlsruhe on Friday. Saturday was the turn of Theater Oberhausen to get a visit from me!
Imagine my joy when i arrived in the Theater on Saturday to see these beauties hanging!
You can probably imagine, i was pretty impressed by these suckers! 180x120cm ish, and backlight!
Ego-boost ahoy!
Until next time!
Ant
Hey guys!
Anyone who dropped by the shop recently will have seen something new!
For the first time, i’m offering up some Lightroom Preset Packs! That’s right kids, now you can edit in one click - apeman style.
Currently, there are two Lightroom Preset packs available, both containing 5 presets. One set colour, and one set of bangin’ black and whites!
And whats more - they’re at a crazy stupid low introductory price - so get on it, check them out!
Just make sure you purchase and download the packs on a real computer! Phones don’t like that sort of thing!
much love
Ant
Morning all!
I'm still trying to get the second-part-of-the-Multi post together! So if anyone out there actually reads any of this (i know that by now, that number could quite possibly have reached double figures by now), and are expecting that post - it's coming, and i humbly apologise. Big sorry (those two words will be coming to another blog post soon!)!!!
Now, i'll be the first to admit that i'm a bit addicted to instagram. I love it. It's not even really that interesting is it? But still - 10 years ago it was dirty films all day, now it's instagram all day!
I'll even admit, that as i'm out there in the world offering a service (ICYMI - Photography), i have also indulged in a little bit of instagram advertising from time to time. You now? That little 'promote' tab you have next to that picture of your best friends sisters cousins cat? That's the one! Hit it! You'll be welcomed into Facebooks world of advertising!!
On Facebook, it's a pretty pro set-up. It takes time to get an ad together and up and running. After much toil and bother, similar to the process of dealing with google ads, you can enjoy the experience of Facebook sapping money from your bank account on a regular basis in return for little to no results!
These days, everyone wants to be 'Insta-Famous'. The equation is fairly simple: Set up a profile, call yourself an influencer/lifestyle blogger/consultant/evangelist or whatever else springs to mind, take a crap photo of yourself, that looks like the other twenty photos you're planing to post, post that photo, hit 'promote'. Finished.
You're hot to trot now! Bajillions of online dollars and internet celebrity await.
All you need now, is the poor buggers like me, to double-tap that photo to death!
The thing is, i now seem to get (and i have checked) a promoted post from some so-called lifestyle expert or something similar EVERY 5 POSTS in my timeline! And to be honest, the quality of the posts/profile/person in general is questionable.
The first thing i think is not 'oh, follow follow follow, pleeeeese pretty please follow me back!'
It's not even 'well, this seems like a genuinely nice bloke who really has something to offer the world'.
What i tend to think is something more like 'seriously, this donut is spending money on this?'.
It's gotten to the point now where the profiles, or promoted posts are so bad, that i'm double-tapping the shit out of everything!! Why? Well, because then they get charged for their ad being successful! Suckers!
These promoted posts have also now become so frequent, that i thought i'd share some of my favourites. It's a bit mean i know - but these guys are looking for promotion anyway right? So, here it is fellas, free of charge - and do forget - bad publicity is good publicity!
Let's start with Ali Romeo! He's apparently offering a 'product/service' i'm guessing as a love guru - although, he seems to have spelt it wrong, so who knows. I'll let him off of the bad spelling though, based on the lovely way he edits his photos.
Ali, the love nono
Next up! Alex Schwarz. Not just any Alex Schwarz though - no, the OFFICIAL one! When he's not spending all his pocket money on advertising, he's lashing it out down at Snipes.
Nice Rolex. Your dads?
Next, mister whatshisface. A musician, who, with his army of followers is spreading the love of wrist bands an not giving a fuck.
'I don't give a f***'. No? Me neither!
Lastly, for now at least, a fellow photographer. This one hurts. Area51 Photography. The guy is too out of this world for me, and should return, along with his selfies, to the Nevada desert at once!
#followme - Noooo! Follow meeee! Pleeeease!
May god have mercy on me!
Until next time, yours, instagram advertiser, Ant
Hey!
A short update to my last post about Multi.
The first week came to a close with a big event at a sportsground in Oberhause Holten.
The visiting kids were all there, and their guest-families invited too! Bouncy castle, bucking bronco, football tournament and lots of food - no more really needs to be said!
I also had the opportunity to get the drone out again for a bit of aerial work! There'll be more coming in the next post too ;)
Week two has been a little less hectic than the first, with the program not being quite as packed as in the first week.
As we head into the final big event, and the departure of all the visiting kids back home, it's time to start reflecting on what a great and interesting two weeks it's been. Keep an eye out for the next post!
👋🏻
Hello!
For the next couple of weeks i'm out and about, working for the City of Oberhausen, covering their annual student exchange program 'Multi'.
Multi is a program where children between 11 and 18 years old, from 16 different countries, visit Oberhausen to take part in a cultural exchange program, learning from each other and forming new friendships.
I will never EVER again complain about having to organise a group photo at a wedding or something! The kids and team of Multi 2018.
My journey with Multi started a couple of months ago when i was asked if i would like to document the event. I jumped at the chance to be involved, and at that time was unaware of the scale of the program, and the work behind the scenes that make it happen.
speaking of behind the scenes... i spotted myself on YouTube
The children are brought into guest families during their time in Oberhausen, and are kept busy everyday with a well thought out, comprehensive program of activities. These include sports, arts, learning about environmental issues, and much more!
The opening day of the event, and the welcoming party took place at Ebertbad in Oberhausen. If you follow my activities, you'll know that i'm no stranger to this venue!
Ebertbad: The calm before the storm
I'm not sure i've ever seen the place so full!
Including the visiting children, and the army of volunteers behind the scenes, we were nearly 400 people strong!
I was really impressed by how well organised this initial event was. Guest speakers, VIPs, two mealtimes, disco, drinks etc etc, all ran like clockwork! A brilliant example of organisation, and set the bar of what has followed.
Deputy mayor of Oberhausen, Apostolos Tsalastras, opens the event
During this week, the kids have been out and about learning about the city. This was followed by a day of starting projects around the city - these included team building activities, music, sport and a bunch more stuff which will be demonstrated during an event at the cities football stadium on the final day next Friday.
Thursday was surprise day. The kids, parents, and even most of the team wasn't aware of the plan!
During the day, the group visited an exhibition at the Gasometer in Oberhausen and in the evening a fleet of busses ferried everyone, including guests, to Bochum for a performance of the hit musical Starlight Express!
Starlight Express Theater, Bochum
The week has come to a close with a day of activities related to climate change, sustainable living, poverty and other issues being support by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Multi team member Miriam
The coming weekend, and the half-way point of the program. A visit to watch local football is on the agenda, followed by a day of sporting activities on Sunday.
Check out the blog next week for an update!
A couple of weeks ago i had the great honour of accompanying Ann Karin and Boris on their wedding day!
Read MoreHey guys!
It's been a while i know, i've been a busy boy!
Just needed to fire a quick update to you all to let you know that I've been given the honour of being selecting to join the official photography team for the Ruhrtriennale arts festival from 2018-2020!
It's a big thing! And i'd like to send a special thank you to those who have supported me and helped me get to where i am! You know who you are!
x
Ant
Hey,
Last weekend my travels took my east to Kalbe in Saxon Anhalt. This place felt like the end of the earth - no people, no cafes, no takeaways.
Three supermarkets serving the apparent 8000 people that live in this sleepy village!
Anyways, i had time on my hand, so it was time to finally let me Osmo and Spark join forces to make a short video.
Travel light i always say. Travel light i never do.
This also represents the first time i have colour-graded footage, and used Premiere Pro - it's a touch different to using iMovie ;)
Sunset selfie
So, the results of my first foray in to Premiere Pro.....
Time on my hands, so had the Osmo and Spark working together for the first time in Saxon Anhalt. Also a first use of premiere pro. ****Thanks for watching**** It's been a pretty dead time over the last year on youtube for me, and i promise - pinky promise - that there will be more uploads coming, featuring vlogs, how-to's and reviews!
Thanks for reading! Coming soon, more behind the scenes action from the Theater Oberhausen programme shoot!
Until then...:)
Hey!
So, IGTV (Instagram TV) has arrived!
Is it the future???
I've spent years complaining at people shooting video in portrait mode, because we don't watch out tvs on the side do we?
But, it's here, and maybe it's the way forward.
Taking advantage of how we are actually used to shooting video nowadays.
Some things i've been thinking about....
As a failed youtube creator (i think i manage about 4 rubbish uploads a year), will it inspire me to create videos again and more frequently? Well, i did upload already, so maybe the answer is yes.
Will these new longer videos draw people away from viewing instastories, and therefore reduce engagement over my regular instagram account? A big advantage is that the videos can be up to ten minutes long, and don't disappear like instastories - is this a shot at youtube?
Time will tell, but i find the concept and the idea really interesting.
Film-makers, and proper creators now have a new toy - making videos in 9:16!
Drop a comment! What do you think? Is it something we could be doing already via facebook?
Give it a few weeks and see if it sticks!!
Hi,
It's been a couple of weeks, and as i said in a previous post, i will be writing about my recent shoots with Theater Oberhausen, producing the imagery for their 2018/19 programme.
Well, here comes the first in that series.
The shoot for the theater's new programme involved photographing the permanent cast of the theater in various situations, performing 'other jobs' in the local area. We visited a hospital, funeral parlour, and a kiosk, to name just a few locations.
Most of the shoots were carried out at night, in order to take a look in to what people are doing while the rest of us sleep.
Midnight pizza
These shoots presented of course one major challenge; darkness. Something that can be overcome with knowing what you're doing, and a little trickery with lights here and there.
One of the most challenging shoots however was the team photo. All the men and women who work behind the scenes at the theater, who of course deserve their place in the programme, joined by some of the cast who were around on the day.
Photographing 50 plus people and making it look interesting isn't so easy.
Thankfully, Franca, who i mentioned in a previous post, was on hand with some ideas and some sharp organisational skills!!
The plan was: use the main stage in the theater, bring some props in, and get everyone to lie on the floor in some kind of organised way so it looked like they were doing their usual jobs - or somewhere close!
From a technical point of view, figuring out how to photograph the stage from directly above was a bit of a sticky point.
Sending the camera up with the lighting rig was the simplest option. Then firing the camera remotely.
Gaff tape and cable ties. A dream combo!
Instead of using cables to connect the camera to a computer to take the shot, i opted for using my reserve camera, a Canon 6D, and using it's wifi function to connect to my mac and take the shot. Easy right - wrong!
First, the proprietary software which Canon uses to tether the camera remotely is junk! The camera and computer can't see each other automatically like the camera can with Canons smartphone app. You need to first set up an ad-hoc network on the computer, then try and force the camera to see it.
When you are finally connected, the connection drops every few seconds. And you can't use more stable software like CaptureOne - or at least, i couldn't get it to work.
The dropped connection of course could be due to the distance between camera and computer, around 15 meters; but once i had moved myself, and the macbook up into the rafters nearer the camera, the problem continued.
I tried my best to get as close to the camera as i could. This made communicating with the stage difficult.
Franca meanwhile continued to coordinate things down on the stage, with me having to send a screenshot from the macbook over WhatsApp every few seconds. This was of course only possible while the connection to the camera was holding and i was able to see something.
Several test shots later, we were ready to go - and of course, the connection dropped again. Wi-Fi off, Wi-Fi on, close EOS utility, open EOS utility - you get the idea of what a struggle it was!!
We did however get there in the end, and managed to pull an image out with so many things to look at!
The image features on the inside cover of the new programme, and can be checked out online here!
There'll be more stories about the rest of the shoots coming in the coming weeks!
Until then... :)
Hey everybody!
So, after a bit of thought, planning, testing, and other things, I've decided to hit the road and bring my shoots to somewhere near you!
Next weekend, there's two opportunities for bands, artists, actors and business owners to freshen up their promotional material with some new images at a reduced price!
First up, on Saturday 16th June, i'll be heading to Essen to shoot business portraits. These sessions are aimed at entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, online influences even actors and those that simply wat to spruce up their social media accounts.
These Business Shoot sessions are the perfect way to get yourself in front of camera, in a relaxed atmosphere. Locations are free to choose from; from a leafy park, to your office or favourite coffee shop! You're in charge!
Sunday 17th June brings me back to my roots - music!
If you're in a band, or are a performer in the Cologne area, then this one is for you!
If you need new promo images for your bands website and social media feeds, then drop me a line!
Again, locations are you're choice, what ever fits your style!
Both shoots are accompanied with a chat before-hand to get the ideas out there and make a plan!
For more info, check out my facebook page. To book, drop me a mail to info@ape.photos - it'll be great to see you there!!
Ant
Hi all,
Food. It's good stuff right!
Well, photographing the stuff is obviously a key ingredient (pun totally intended) in the marketing of any business that's involved with it!
Dan, a friend of mine in Cologne has been quietly growing his business selling Cornish Pasties to the locals, along with a few other tasty products from the homeland. He's been in the process of moving to a new, larger location, and asked for my help with some photos of his products.
Of course, I was happy to be involved, for anything else, the opportunity of free food. Oh, and english Cider - alcohol is also currency after all!
Now, photographing food isn't something i've done an awful lot of. Photographers all go through the phase of deciding we're going to make a fortune from micro-stock photography and start photographing the entire contents of our kitchens. Even i'm guilty of that one - i'm sure there are still one or two pictures of chopped-up garlic cloves knocking around on shutterstock!
Here's the set-up. It's pretty rudimentary, and although i had an arsenal of lighting kit with me, decided to use just one bare flash, bouncing off the ceiling behind (and point away from) the camera.
Yes, i know that tripod is totally unsuitable for the weight it's holding (feel free to gift me a new one)!
The plank of wood we ended using as our background was part of a seat outside the shop. It needed a bit of a clean, but ended up looking pretty nice!
I got wood
We had decided that we wanted to shoot with a pretty narrow depth of field. In the end, perhaps a little too narrow. So narrow that only part of the front of the pasties was bang sharp. It still looked good though, for sure. Maybe something to think about in the future. Although, like i said, it was what and how we decided to shoot from the start.
Tether-time
We had a bunch of different pasties to shoot, and shot 6 in the end. You can imagine how much we ate during that shoot!
And the best thing was, we shot on a second day - this time CAKE!
The new shop is due to open today (June 1st), and a couple of days ago the images returned from the printers and were mounted in the windows. More will follow for inside the shop, and we do have another shoot planned when Dan gets round to polishing up the next chunk of wood!
Looking tasty (pasty)
Check out Dan's website here - and if you get the chance, pop by the new shop at Mauenheimer Str. 28, 50733 Cologne!
I'm off now to start my new (latest) diet.
Ant x
Hey!
You may remember from one of my recent posts, that i had a few late nights running around with my friends from Theater Oberhausen.
We set off on a project to complete the photography for the 2018/19 programme magazine, photographing all of the cast individually in alternative workplaces.
The general theme was that they would do jobs that are generally carried out at night. We had a few late nights, and a few early starts. Some delays, some re-edits.
But....
....this afternoon, the magazine finally went to press!! About 40,000 copies are being produced (i think). Crazy seeing something being printed with so many different photographs in, that were all taken by me!
The magazine is released mid-June! So expect another post (or two)! And i will also be posting a series with a look behind the scenes from some of the shoots!
Much love!
Ant
Hi!
Last week took me down south on a first visit to Karlsruhe. I know the football team, but given the fact i thought the city was somewhere near Hamburg just shows how much i actually knew about Karlsruhe itself.
On the agenda, shooting a rehearsal for the Kammertheater Karlsruhe. The production, Gut Gegen Nordwind. Adapted from a novel by Daniel Glattauer, it's kind of a similar take on 'You've Got Mail', just without so much of a happy ending (i won't say more).
A piece played out on stage between two actors. In this production, both known for their TV work in Germany; Ralf Bauer and Gisa Zach.
The drive down to Karlsruhe was fairly uneventful. A bright, sunny, hot day, with the usual bad drivers and roadworks every ten minutes.
Approaching Karlsruhe, the sky was getting darker!
Arrival - dark skies and thunder overhead - from my instastory @leapesportif
I'd made a quick google search before heading down there on what i might be able to do or see in the little time i had before the rehearsal was due to start.
I found that Karlsruhe has an amazing castle and park, with botanical gardens, right bang in the city centre! Even better, just a short walk from the theatre!
What an amazing amount of open space to have in the centre of a city!
This place looked a perfect place to get my drone up in the air and have a look around!
So, i arrived, and thunder was already rumbling in the distance!! I headed to the castle, unpacked, and got the drone up!
Within a minute, the lightning was every few seconds - time to land, and quick - just the one photo shot!
The only shot from the bee. The palace, with rain already falling over the south of the city. © Ape.Photos
As i landed, the rain came down. And not just a shower, but full monsoon stuff!!!
The ten minute walk back to the theatre, with several shelter stops in between, left me looking like i'd actually swam there!
Shelter stop number 3. Back-werk. Coffee was definitely needed!
Simone, the PR officer from the theatre was waiting for me, and as i had a now watered-down coffee in my hand already, got me a towel instead!
No matter how un-stylish you may feel, doing one's jacket up in heavy rain really makes sense!
Meeting the rest of the team there, and the cast, was a really nice experience! A great little venue, and an entertaining production!!
Stage - Set
I'm already looking forward to making another trip down there, and hopefully getting to have a proper look around!!
Oh, and the drive back - wet!
Here's a few images from the production. For more info, visit the Kammertheater Karlsruhe here.
'til next time!
Ralf Bauer © Ant Palmer/Ape.Photos
Gisa Zach. © Ant Palmer/Ape.Photos
Ralf Bauer and Gisa Zach. © Ant Palmer/Ape.Photos
Gisa Zach and Ralf Bauer. © Ant Palmer/Ape.Photos
Wow! Second blog post within a month. It's been a while since i managed that!!
The last few weeks have seen me once again out shooting for Theater Oberhausen. This time has been a little different to the usual production shoots though!
I've been working with the theater to produce the photography for the 2018/19 program. This involved photographing all of the actors and actresses contracted to the theater.
The theme of this years program was to photograph the actors doing jobs that are usually done at night. So, the shoots, of course, took place at night too - with the exception of a couple in the early evening, and a few far too early in the morning!
Hanging out at the bakery early in the morning. Smelt good!
Together with the theaters' head of marketing and PR, Franca Lohmann, we shot 19 separate shoots, including a rather challenging team photo involving all the stage engineers too!
The laptops view of the preparations for the team photo -. this will (have to) be covered in a separate post!
The theaters cast were given the opportunity to decide on what kind of 'job' they'd like to be taking on. The first assumption many would have was that we'd be spending our evenings shooting at petrol stations or fast food restaurants; that couldn't have been further from the truth!
It's best not to ask! *not a real corpse
Ok, so not every shoot was as wacky as this one. But a funeral parlour really was an unusual place to be shooting!
We also shot actors in some less high-brow occupations: a dj, market trader and a forest ranger (i got eaten alive by mosquitoes on that one!).
Life in the gutter.
The actors were photographed performing their chosen jobs, and then a portrait in the same environment was made. After each shoot, we mirrored the first images using the actual person that does the job.
The new program is released in the middle of June, after which, there'll be some posts going into more detail about each particular shot - especially that team photo!
A great project to work on, with some wonderful people. And all of the people we met along the way that welcomed us into their workplaces were fantastic!
I can't wait to share more after the release of the program!
Until then! Thanks for reading!
I've been pretty busy lately. Who hasn't I hear you say? Busy is good right?
A big chunk of my recent work has come from a new customer. A theater in Oberhausen. How this relationship started is very random - a real case of 'right place right time', but i won't go into that right now.
Part of the process of promoting a production is of course taking pictures of it. Not just of rehearsals, but also a preview photo. An image that the theater can put out into the world to whet the appetite of it's patrons.
Last week, my theater colleagues and I headed out to shoot a promo photo for an upcoming production.
The location had been found already. Some old workers houses, with street lanterns attached to the wall, to give the photo the feel of the period in which the production is set (WWII).
Problem was, arriving at the location, all of the houses with lamps attached had cars parked nose-to-tail in front of them. An actress in a 1930's costume, in front of a house from the last century with a new mercedes wouldn't really work!
We scouted the area and found a house with no cars, but no lamp!! Time to improvise!!
In the image below, you can see what i'm trying to do: balance the ambient light so that it's still visible a little, bringing in some soft light from across the road to light the subject but not cause to much shadow, and a flash from above mimicking a street lamp similar to the other houses. The next consideration here is keeping the aperture small enough to make the new street lamp look like a burst of light, and not a flash gun, while still achieving some kind of balanced exposure!
Balance the ambient, flash from front with as little shadow as possible, and a street lamp from above - easy right?
The final image below was a bit of a funny one to edit. It's pretty much as it was in camera, from an adjustment point of view not much has happened. Trying to decide what to do with our new street lamp was the problem!
Anna Polke
I added several vectors of street lamps in photoshop. I even borrowed some street lamps from other images i found on the web. Nothing looked right, or better or more realistic that what came out of the camera.
It almost looks like a street lamp. And the stand it's on is not really dissimilar to the ironwork of the actual lamps on the other houses.
To the untrained eye, thats looking at the subject, it looks fine.
To me and you, it's a flash gun on a stand being held above a guys head who's hiding behind the house :)
For more information, click here.
2017 is on it's way out!
To celebrate the start of the new year, we're giving you the opportunity to get a 50% discount on a Promo / Live / Album shoot!
This offer is available to all bands working with us for the first time, anywhere in western Europe, booking a photo session BEFORE the end of January 2018! The discount will simply be deducted from the final cost of your shoot! AWESOME!
Get in touch quick! The calendar is already starting to fill up!
Visit the contact page, and send your details!
Happy new year!
P.s. you shouldn't always pay attention to Trump, but in this case, you should!
A couple of weeks back, i received an e-mail from Saal Digital asking me if i wanted to take part in an offer to review one of their products.
I took them up on the offer of a photo book up to the value of €40. It's free, so why not.
After they approved me, i received an offer code to use on their website. The €40 covered the cost of a standard 26 page hardback book, with padded cover and delivery.
Creating your book should potentially be straight forward. Downloading their software was of course easy, and the software itself is full of templates for various designs. The designs are fairly standard. Baby, family, holiday, etc etc.
I went for a completely empty template which is where i had some issues. Photos could be easily aligned with each other on opposite pages (you know, blue lines pop up when the photos are level with each other), however, on following pages you can't line photos up to the photos on previous pages, or at least i couldn't find out how to do it.
The outside padded cover
Delivery was quick. I ordered Wednesday night, and the book was dispatched the following day, arriving Saturday morning.
All in all, a decent product. Although a little expensive, the quality is very good.
*i ordered a standard sized A4 hardback with a padded cover and matt paper.
May took me off on my jollies once again with my friends from Mottek. This time, the boys headed out to Kosovo to play two shows for the German military based in the country.
Flying out from Cologne, via Zurich to Pristina, we were greeted by hot sunshine (sunburn quickly followed) and ice cold beer, and lots of it!
With a round of drinks and a pack of cigarettes coming in at under €10, our first evening was spent mainly in the bar!
Day two, and the band's equipment arrived on the scene. Stage and lighting arrived at Film City NATO base in Pristina for the bands first performance that night.
The outgoing contingent of troops received their medals that afternoon, and following that was beer, food, more beer and then showtime!
The following day, Saturday, the Bundeswehr packed and loaded the bands kit and shipped it over to the barracks in Prizren, about 80km away. Unload. Soundcheck. Repeat. Another rocking night of beer and fun!
Kosovo is an unusual place. Still rebuilding following the war there, the beautiful landscape, with snow-capped mountains, is punctuated by half built houses. Lots of them too! The motorways have zebra crossings (dangerous) which no-one really bothers to use to cross the carriageway (even more dangerous). Commerce in the country seems to revolves around three things: petrol stations, furniture stores and fake goods! Every second building is a petrol station, and it seems right next door to every one of them is a furniture store.
If you're in the market for a new Rolex, Kosovo is the place to go! You'll pick up the latest Submariner and have change from a 20!
Four flights, a great weekend, great friends, two great gigs, far too much beer! Looking forward to going back at some point in the future!!
Check Mottek out near you! www.mottek-live.de
Here's some pictorial evidence from the weekend!
British x-factor winner James Arther rocked Cologne this week!
Here's some pictorial evidence that he, and I, were there! Enjoy!
