Shootnhooton

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John Hooton

United Kingdom

74 creative works found

Remember
by John Hooton

Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D200 / Lens: 18-200mm f3.5 / Focal Length: 200mm / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/80 sec at f /7.1 / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2007 John Hooton Photography
Socialite Elizabeth Hooley
by John Hooton

Socialite and model Elizabeth Hooley. One of my shots showing my style during the 60’s. I have left the banner on in the hopes that this may be considered as a poster. Now it would hardly make a poster without some sort of blurb at the bottom would it!? © 1966 John Hooton Photography
Pappardelle Alla Casa Mia
by John Hooton

These are rather like broad tagliatelle and I prepared the dish like this… / Roast about 10 cherry tomatoes cut in half, in olive oil with 5 garlic cloves and a sprinkle of dried chili for twenty minutes. Halfway through the roasting, add some small whole mushrooms. I used oyster, buna-shimeji and shiro-shimeji varieties. Meanwhile bring some water to the boil, add salt and the pappardelle. After 5 minutes, add a handful of baby spinach leaves and cook for a further 6 minutes. / Serve the pasta with the roasted, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms. / Total preparation and cooking time 25 minutes. Buon appetito! The lighting was overcast daylight (the best diffusser) through my kitchen window. N.B. This image is now for sale as laminated kitchen art! Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D200 / Lens: 12-24mm f4 / Focal Length: 20mm / ISO: 250 / Exposure: 1/125 sec at f /4 / Lighting: Daylight / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
East End Kids
by John Hooton

One of the first street shots I ever took back in 1964 in the East End of London. This was before Playstations, and probably the only ‘toy’ these kids shared between them was a skipping rope. Old bomb sites still held a fascination though as a form of amusement and exploration, as can be seen here. It was taken using a Yashica Mat 120 film twin lens reflex camera that took me six months to save up for. I used Tri-X B/W film and printed on a hard grade of paper to get the punchy contrast, a characteristic of all my early B/W work. This image was photographed digitally from the original print in my portfolio. © 1964 John Hooton Photography
Sir Jimmy Savile OBE
by John Hooton

Taken in 1966, this is one of my favourite images of the 60’s of the iconic DJ, Sir Jimmy Savile OBE. I took the shot when I was 20 during my assistant days at 1:15 am, after a long advertising shoot for a petrol company with my boss, top fashion and advertising photographer John Cowan. I asked Sir Jim if I could run a couple of rolls of film for my portfolio. True gent that he is, Jim said “Sure!” even though every one was pretty tired after the 5 hour gasoline ad session. Anyhow, this is the result and it remains one of my favourite pictures to this day as it shows Sir Jim as he really was and is – a strong and generous human being who did not take himself too seriously. You are a true professional Jim, and I am eternally grateful to you for giving me this opportunity. Technical Details: Camera: Hasselblad 500C / Lens: 80mm Planar / Film: Tri-X / ASA: 400 rated at 200 / Exposure: 1/125 sec at f/16 / Lighting: 5,000 Joule Strobe in perspex light bank. © 1966 John Hooton Photography
Harlequin Ladybird Variants
by John Hooton

Believe it or not, these are all the the same species of Ladybird. They are the notoriously invasive Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia Axyridis, the most invasive ladybird on earth. It is also known as the Multicoloured Asian Ladybird and the Halloween Ladybird. It has a very variable appearance, which can make it difficult to tell apart from our native ladybirds. The harlequin ladybird was introduced to North America in 1988, where it is now the most widespread ladybird species on the continent. It has already invaded much of northwestern Europe, and arrived in Britain in the summer of 2004. I photographed all these variants on my runner bean plants, in South London, where fortunately for the ladybirds, but not for me, there is a large supply of black aphids. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D200 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 800 / Flash: Speedlight SB-800 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/32 Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
Pink
by John Hooton

A picture that helped me become a ‘Featured Member’ for the first time on Redbubble in the Make-Up group, with the assistance of… / Model: Lucy Saunders / Make Up: Lauren Baker Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/9 / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography /
Spitfire Mk IX
by John Hooton

One of the ‘old girls’ showing off at the Biggin Hill air show in 2007. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D200 / Lens: Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5 / Focal Length: 200mm / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/500 sec at f/5.6 / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2007 John Hooton Photography
Paparazzi Snap Fox!
by John Hooton

Last night I found the contents of a garbage bag dragged along the back yard of my South London home, so I decided to catch the culprit tonight after his evening of celebrating. Just gone midnight young Brer Fox turned up. “Who me?” said his look and with a quiet pop he was immortalised by the Fox Paparazzi forever! Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 / Focal Length: 38mm / ISO: 200 / Flash: SB-800 / Exposure: 1/60 sec at f/4.2 / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
Marisa
by John Hooton

Italian beauty Marisa Nitti taken in Milan 1967. Used a 35mm PC Nikkor on this one for extra leg stretch. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon F / Lens: Nikkor 35mm PC f/2.8 / Film: Tri-X / ASA: 400 rated at 200 / Flash: Balcar 1200 with Single White Umbrella / Exposure: 1/60 sec at f/11 / Developer: D76 © 1967 John Hooton Photography
Becky
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD products hair show. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton
Gemma
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD products hair show. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton
Lucy
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD products hair show. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
Robyn
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD products hair show. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton
Sarahlee
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD hair show. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3
"What do you think of THESE then?"
by John Hooton

Taken in my South London back garden, this cheeky little madam seemed to have me confused with some sort of squirrel glamour photographer. When she saw my camera, she seemed intent on displaying her ample squirrel bosom. ;-)) Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 / Focal Length: 400mm / ISO: 450 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/11 / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
Biba Outfit Photographed On The Sussex Downs
by John Hooton

I was a young fashion photographer’s assistant who had also photographed racehorses trained by my father. ITV heard the story and wanted to interview me with pictures of girls and horses. In this picture shot for Biba’s, a world famous boutique in Kensington High Street in the 60’s, I decided to combine them both. I borrowed the 20mm lens and the 250 exposure back from my boss, John Cowan, whose studio was used in the 1966 cult film Blow-Up and set off for Sussex. The 20mm lens had only just been introduced and was the first of it’s kind. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon F / Lens: Nikkor UD Auto 20mm f/3.5 / Motor Drive: 250 Exposure Back / Film: Bulk Ilford FP4 / ASA: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 at f/5.6 / Developer: D76 © 1966 John Hooton Photography
Nikon Loves Lucy
by John Hooton

Taken for a charitable GHD products hair show. Make up by Lauren Baker, Hair by GYI Hair. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 / Focal Length: 120mm / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: Silver Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2008 John Hooton Photography
First and Last
by John Hooton

My Nikon F bought in 1964 with a 105mm f/2.8 lens. I could only afford one lens and the 105mm was my choice as it was great for beauty head shots. Alongside it is the D3 that I purchased in 2008. It is also sporting a 105mm focal length lens. This time a VR macro. Who would have guessed in 1964 that one day there would be no more film. We would be shooting using a bit of plastic that held hundreds of exposures in it’s own memory on a camera that had it’s own computer built in.. Take that man to the funny farm. 105mm is still my favourite focal length for head shots after 44 years, so at least some things never change. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D300 / Lens: Nikkor 85mm f/2.8 PC Nikkor / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/125 sec at f/32 / Flash: Nikon SB800, SB-R200×2 / Flash Mode: TTL / Post Processing: Lightroom 2, Photoshop CS3 Main flash through opaque perspex sheet, and the other two either side of a Dome Studio Light Tent. © 2008 John Hooton Photography
Buon Giorno!
by John Hooton

The wafer rolls provide an explosion of chocolate just before you counteract it with the rich taste of a freshly made cappuccino. Mmm… don’t forget to wipe that cream moustache from your upper lip! Technical Details Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 85mm f/2.8 PC Nikkor / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens White Umbrella / Post Processing: Lightroom 2, Photoshop CS3 © 2009 John Hooton Photography
Sydney Jo Jackson
by John Hooton

Another take with beautiful model, singer and dancer Sydney Jo Jackson, who was a real pleasure to work with. The delightful Nicola Hamilton came over to do the make up at very short notice. Part of the brief was to produce some B/W shots, and as I was after a low key effect with smooth tones, I rigged a black tent arrangement to stop light bouncing around the room and give maximum density to the shadow areas. Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 / Focal Length: 35mm / ISO: 200 / Exposure: 1/200 sec at f/16 / Flash: Bowens / Flash Mode: White Umbrella / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 and Silver Efex Pro © 2009 John Hooton Photography
Cream of Tomato and Basil Soup
by John Hooton

Summer is not too far away and this soup is a great way to consume that flood of tomatoes when you grow your own. Come to think of it, this tastes great anytime, so why wait? Cream of Tomato and Basil Soup 1 Onion / 4 Garlic Cloves / 1 Long Sweet Red Pepper / 12 Medium Size Tomatoes / 2 oz or 50g Butter / 250ml Chicken Stock / 75ml Double Cream / 1 Desert Spoon of Dried Basil / Some Fresh Basil / ¼ Tsp Ground White Pepper / 1 Level Tsp Sea Salt Peel and chop the garlic cloves and the onion. De-seed and chop the long sweet red pepper. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic and sweet red pepper. Cover and simmer gently stirring now and then until the onions are soft – about ten minutes. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half, splitting where the stalk was. Cut out a V to remove the hard stalk remnants and roughly chop the tomatoes. Add them to the other ingredients and bring everything back to a simmer. Add the dry basil, salt and pepper, cover, and let it all stew gently for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and simmer gently for another ten minutes. Remove from the heat and now blend all the ingredients in a liquidiser or with an electric hand blender. Return it to the saucepan, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Stir in 50ml of double cream saving 25ml for presentation. Serve with some torn fresh basil leaves and a swirl of cream. Revel in the taste, consume luxuriously then relax for ten minutes. Take the dog for a walk. Technical Details: Camera: Nikon D3 / Lens: Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 / Focal Length: 24mm / ISO: 400 / Exposure: 1/80 sec at f/11 / Lighting: Sunlight though Venetian blinds / Flash: SB800 bounced off ceiling to fill-in / Post Processing: Photoshop CS3 © 2009 John Hooton Photography
Lighting The Head Shot
by John Hooton

“If God had intended photographers to use more than one key light, he would have made more suns.” Just about every single shot includi…

“If God had intended photographers to use more than one key light, he would have made more suns.” Just about every single shot including the food and still life shots in my portfolio was made with one light. One light in the right place. You won’t need any more except possibly to light a background. In this case make sure that they light the background, and do not spill back on to the subject. Use barn doors or large black sheets of card if necessary. Very early in my career I learnt that light bounces around all over the place in a white studio. This is unwanted light. When I worked for top food photographers and fashion photographers like Barry Lategan, we actually blacked out the studio with drapes or black screens. Great for glassware too. I ordered funeral drapes to cover an entire studio when I was asked to light a “Finish” (the dishwasher stuff) TV commercial in Milan. The essential shot was of a glass. How do you get a glass to look sparkling clean? Answer, outline it in black, make it totally transparent and have one clean reflection of light on it. How do you do that? Black out the studio; this creates the black edges which are the walls reflecting in the edges of the glass. Use one ‘window’ type light. In this instance I used a 6×4 sheet of opaque white Perspex and stuck some halogen floods behind it. Result – one clean reflection of soft light, no glass to be seen, just the black outline of one. It looks as clean as a whistle because the glass is invisible! The actor doing the demo in the commercial looked good too, with a similar lighting quality to that in my stills. The cameramen were two old hacks from Rome who scoffed in bemused wonderment at this 22 year old kid who had made the studio look set for a funeral. The drapes were all that the three funeral companies could provide. However, the results were crystal, the client was thrilled, I was a hero for a day, and I got more work from the production company who shot the ad. This lighting style was often copied after that, and is still the basis of many British commercials today. So where were we? Yes one light. One light in the right place. At John Cowan’s studio, I persuaded John to have the entire walls of the studio painted black to which he agreed. Why black? So that the light does not bounce all over the room filling in shadows where you want shadows. To start with black and then paint with light gives you much more control over your lighting. It makes you the master of it. It gives you the contrast you want without having to print on grade 4 paper, thus allowing more detail in mid tones. I painted my studio in Milan black, and would do the same today. It gives you a quality that is sharp and precise. OK so where does the One Light go? More or less above your own head and slightly above the subject. This will slim the face by putting the cheekbones in shadow if the model is facing you head on. Take a look at the head shots in my portfolio and look where the shadows are. Then figure out where the light is. Above the camera, maybe slightly to one side. This should be the side the model faces if the shot is three quarters on or the shoulders are three quarters on. When you have set up, always use a tripod to establish your camera position and then adjust the light until it is exactly where you want it. Don’t run around the model with your camera in hand. It may look good in the movies, but it will look crap in your contacts, with no consistent lighting whatsoever. Just one more thing, what sort of light you may ask? The light should be intense but soft, so a single umbrella is fine, a soft box is fine, and a bowl light is excellent. This is where the flash head is reflected into a shallow bowl and the head is shielded. If the bowl is then opaqued by a thin sheet of plastic, you will get the same quality as some of the Vogue photographers. It is a very flattering light. You can tell when it has been used by top photographers. You will see the circular highlight with a black center reflected in the model’s eyes. OK folks so that’s how I light head shots (and many of the top guys I have assisted). Give it a whirl and see if you can take some shots that stun you, the girl you are shooting, and the horse I rode in on. ‘til next time – John
How Not To Photograph A Wedding
by John Hooton

Many moons ago when I was a young assistant to top London fashion photographer John Cowan, Frank Buck, John’s senior assistant introduced…

Many moons ago when I was a young assistant to top London fashion photographer John Cowan, Frank Buck, John’s senior assistant introduced me to a firm of photographers in the East End of London that specialised in weddings. Frank was making a few extra bucks (ha, ha, that was his name) and suggested I might do the same. This became my ‘Saturday job’ for a while. We had to go equipped with 2 and 1/4 square format cameras, no Nikons allowed here. Frank took our back up/fail safe/last resort Rolleiflex, and I took my Yashica Mat which was a cheaper Japanese copy of the same thing, and a couple of light tripods. We would split up at, or near our destinations which were separate weddings in separate churches, but usually fairly close together. As the Saturdays mounted up, I got to know the churches, the same four of them. Now this wedding photography firm was a factory. I never actually set foot in the place so I can’t tell you what the premises were like. Noisy, sparse, stinking of hypo crystals and full of busy cockney accents I would guess. That’s how I used to imagine it anyway. I usually started work right at the church and would get there about 20 minutes early. We were supplied with two rolls of black and white film each by a biker, and that gave us 24 exposures in total. If we were lucky, he dumped a couple of Metz electronic flashguns on us too. These had quite large battery packs and were about as unwieldy as the first ever mobile phones. On the first Saturday I ever worked, I was also handed a list. The List. This told me exactly what to do with the 24 exposures with no shots to spare and no room for error. If the bride blinked, too bad. See, I told you it was a factory. Yep, that it was. 24 exposures and we were expected to create 24 masterpieces according to The List! 1st shot, Groom and Best Man Walking to Church. 2nd shot Groom with Best Man Standing Outside Church. 3 Shot Bride Arriving and Getting Out of Car. 4th shot Bride Walking up Church Path with Father. The Bridesmaids fitted in here somewhere, shot number 5? This was in the days when weddings were a bit more solemn, so no pictures were allowed to be taken in the church, but 6th shot Signing the Registry was a must. After that, it was all breathe a sigh of relief, me especially if I had nailed it so far, throw some confetti, and get down to the serious business of taking the posed groups. First of all we shot exposure number 7 of the Bride and Groom Outside Church. Then it was The Bride and Bridesmaids – 8. Shot 9 was Bride On Her Own and then it was down to the Groups proper. First of all, do all the in laws and outlaws, in other words bride with her Mum and Dad. Groom with his Mum and Dad. Then bride and groom together with both Mums and Dads. Then one would start dragging in other relations. Grand parents were pretty high on the list, so Bride and Groom with their Mums and Dads and their Mum’s and Dad’s Mums and Dads. This was now the second roll of film and I would be checking the list to make sure I had not missed any shots on the first roll. It was nerve racking stuff. From here more and more relatives would join the affray, Shot 14, as 13 but with added bridesmaids. Shot 15 was as 13 but with added brothers, sisters, small children and the really small ones, ah yes babies. At each shot, I would be moving the camera further and further away, turning round occasionally to make sure I would not fall over a tombstone or worse still, into an open grave. Shot 16 is about cousin’s time with aunts and uncles next. There were usually still quite a few people standing on the side lines, so with the help of the best man, these are moved into the next shot according to rank. One would have to start checking things pretty carefully at this stage because as I said, only two rolls of film and you had to make sure you had saved a couple of frames for the reception. But before that, the grand group finale, Everyone! At this point, somehow or another, everyone would squeeze in to the shot, some sitting, some standing on steps, and some sitting on walls. Wherever you could put them, they would be put. This was the final shot with plenty of cheese and these group shots had to be good, because they were the ones that guests would buy later. Then hey ho everybody, it’s off to the reception and at this point I would usually bum a lift as I had no car of my own. As soon as we got there, there were two more shots to go. Shot 23 Bride and Groom Cutting Cake. This was mocked up of course, as the B & G were a long time from actually cutting the cake. Shot 24 wasn’t mocked though. Bride and Groom Raising Bubbly at last. That was it! Pack up quick and wait for biker who would whisk me back to the same church for the next wedding! The biker would take the exposed rolls of film for the darkroom staff back at the mill to process and print. Just over an hour later 10×8 proofs would be pinned up at the reception, ready for the bride, parents and all the guests to order. I rarely ever saw the pictures except on a couple of occasions. To my relief the exposures were about right and I had covered the lists. It was not my job to follow up with the picture orders. Somebody else did that. It was my job to make sure I didn’t mess up. A couple of essential shots missed were enough to make sure you were not asked to come back for more hire! These future invitations were relayed by the biker when the boss, who I never met, had seen what you produced and passed judgement. We got paid the princely sum of £3 for each wedding and I usually managed two each Saturday. £3 was a days pay at assistant rates, so to polish off two weddings in a Saturday afternoon was 2 days pay for half a days work in my eyes, and well worth the trip to Leyton. Frank and I would usually meet up and travel back together in his MG sports car, swapping details of our weddings and their guests on the way! Epilogue: This was never my idea of how to photograph a wedding. I was there for the overtime and had to do what the ‘firm’ required. It was pretty fast and rough but the formula was fairly standard in the mid sixties, and the whole idea was that prints were whizzed back to the reception to take advantage of guests being there for sales on the spot. All you needed was the shoot list and the ability to operate a 2 and 1/4 square roll film camera. However, the experience of handling people and believe it or not, the Wedding Photo List, were the foundations of far more creative wedding photography to come. Looking back, it really was a very good basic training ground that would earn me a lot more than £3 in the future. Next time – how to do the job properly!