Starting Fri., 1/22 - Get To Know Aidan Bradley

[David Scaletti]

Aidan,

I noted your post earlier and the mention of the weekly challenge at the Santa Barbara Muni. Given that the frequency of your golf matches mine....well almost, I usually play about twice a week, I might manage to concede a  shot or two to you. However you have an Irish heritage and many of your country men are sneaky-good when it comes to the Royal and Ancient game. So therefore whatever concession we make regarding handicaps is open for review prior to the commencement of the second round. Sound fair!?

[Aidan Bradley]

David........ the "richness" you mention I would refer to as "saturation". The three images you refer to were all shot using the combination of Velvia film (very strong/rich in the primary colors) and a warming cross polarization filter. The combination of the two gives you the result you speak of. Once you have mastered some of the nuances of photoshop you can create a somewhat similar effect. Photoshop should be used as a tool to ad a few finishing touches to your image and clean up some divots. Be careful not to become over reliant on PS. Prevention is better than the cure..........

[David_Elvins]

David........ the "richness" you mention I would refer to as "saturation". The three images you refer to were all shot using the combination of Velvia film (very strong/rich in the primary colors) and a warming cross polarization filter. The combination of the two gives you the result you speak of. Once you have mastered some of the nuances of photoshop you can create a somewhat similar effect. Photoshop should be used as a tool to ad a few finishing touches to your image and clean up some divots. Be careful not to become over reliant on PS. Prevention is better than the cure..........

Thanks Aidan, very interesting. 

[Ulrich Mayring]

Hi Aidan, I have three questions:

1) Do you use HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging?

2) For a point-and-shooter like myself (taking pictures while playing) lenses, filters, tripod etc. are all out due to time constraints. Do you have a recommendation for a decent allround camera that fits in the bag?

3) Are all your pictures highly saturated? Is that perhaps a kind of personal trademark or just the overwhelming preference of your clients?

Ulrich

[Anthony Gray]

  Aidan,

  First of all, I love your work.

  Is golf course photograghy your only profession?

  Are you the only one in your business or do you have competitors?

  Why do all the dominican weomen ask me if I know Aiden?

  What's next for you?

  You can take a boy out of Ireland. But caN YOU TAKE iRELAND OUT OF THE BOY?

  Nice thread........Thanks.....Anthony


 

[Aidan Bradley]

1) Do you use HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging?

No.

2) For a point-and-shooter like myself (taking pictures while playing) lenses, filters, tripod etc. are all out due to time constraints. Do you have a recommendation for a decent allround camera that fits in the bag?

If it fits in your pocket (given todays amazing technology) I am sure it will be fine.

3) Are all your pictures highly saturated? Is that perhaps a kind of personal trademark or just the overwhelming preference of your clients?

I never thought of my images as being "highly saturated". How are you viewing them? Every monitor it different. Do they look like that when you see them in magazines? Do you like how they appear? I just want to make the images look the best they can be, wherever they appear.

[Eric Smith]

Aidan,

I would love to see an Aidan Bradley coffee table book.  Any plans to do one?

This one has been a favorite since the day you posted it a couple of years ago. 



Keep up the good work. 

Eric

ps Your golf course photographs are primo, but like Ed mentions I find some of your other work to be top shelf ...







Do you think Owen could be the long lost brother of


Johnny Majors?

[Melvyn Morrow]

Aidan

Can you tell us more about your trip to Askernish and can you post any new photos explaining why you have selected them.

Also have you ever been to Windermere Golf Club and taken any shots of the course and its surroundings?

I am still considering whether to take matters into my own hands re the ICE in the glass of single malt and remove it myself or seek to have you charged for Driving a bottle of malt to a glass full of ice, although I expect you may claim diminished responsibility and get off Scott free – yet many feel it’s a crime against humanity and should not go unpunished. Can’t understand it and from a man with a little Irish in him (when he can get hold of a bottle of Bushmills)


Warning Beware of Aidan ’The Ice Man’ Bradley the Malt Destroyer.

Look forward to your report and more photos on your Askernish trip

Melvyn

[Ulrich Mayring]

I never thought of my images as being "highly saturated". How are you viewing them? Every monitor it different. Do they look like that when you see them in magazines? Do you like how they appear? I just want to make the images look the best they can be, wherever they appear.

I certainly like them, but I also think that more subdued colors - like in the picture of the Irish gentleman - can produce great images. So I don't think saturated is necessarily better or worse, it's just more or less appropriate for the subject at hand.

I found this picture on your website, which I really liked:



It suggests that the Old Course is not a modern, manicured and eye-candy type of course, but more of a traditional and rough track. So I suspect you do have different styles to please different clients, but was wondering whether most of them go for more saturated and colorful visuals.

Ulrich

[Michael Taylor]

Aidan,

Any simple tips to take a good photo on the course with a pretty average camera?

Pup

[Aidan Bradley]

Any simple tips to take a good photo on the course with a pretty average camera?

Michael...... if you have a few minutes, the link below may be of some help, irrespective of what kind of camera you have.

http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/the_art_of_golf_course_photography

[Aidan Bradley]

but I also think that more subdued colors - like in the picture of the Irish gentleman - can produce great images. So I don't think saturated is necessarily better or worse

Ulrich.........  agreed. When I go to photograph a course, I don't start out with the goal of shooting a "saturated" image. The overall look of your image depends on the quality of the light, the subject matter you have at hand, and how you use your film/filter combination. In post, you can make your images neon if you wish irrespective of whether you shoot film or digital.

If I go out on a Friday night and I am in a mellow mood I might have a nice round soft Cabernet. Then again if I am in a somewhat sporty mood, I could order a red bull and vodka (NOT) but you get the picture.

You might classify this first image as "subdued".....



And this one as "saturated".......



And both of them might appeal to different people at different times. If I was asked to describe the look of my images, I would probably say: "Bright, clean, simple, and graphic". Maybe that is my style and that is for others to decide.

The most important question I ask myself when I step on the first tee box is, who is paying the bill? Then my job is to make sure they are happy with the final images. My job is to make the client look good. In all my years shooting golf courses, no one has ever said: "your images are too saturated or they are too subdued". If the image is strong enough, saturated or subdued should not be an issue.

[George Pazin]

Thanks, Aidan, for a wonderful thread. I hope David will agree to do one, too, maybe in a couple months. I'm putting the pressure on by posting this publicly...

Do you have any photos of your buddies from your Saturday muni efforts, or are those rounds strictly fun?

I should add that a friend of mine has a theory that, if you really love something, you should not make it your job, as you will come to hate it. I am delighted to have both you and JohnV as examples proving him wrong.

[Aidan Bradley]

Thank you George, it was fun and hopefully a little helpful. I look forward to the "David Scaletti" thread. You will have one of the best in the business and a real gentleman (even if want's to haggle over strokes).

Melvyn....... if give me the name of your favourite single malt, I will go to my local this evening, order a wee dram of same, and beg your forgiveness for such a heinous and sacrilegious act. Me culpa........

I an due back in Askernish this year. Will keep you posted and share the new images.

[Dan Moore]

How do you feel about taking photos from vantage points that golfers playing the course will never see the course from?

Dan.......... over the years I have seen golfers hit shots from places I wouldn't even photograph from. As long as you enjoy the image and it creates some sense of the environment within which the course exists, then I have no problem with such vantage spots. From a professional perspective, where I take the image from will depend mostly on who has hired me.

Aidan.

Aidan,  Thank you for the candid answer.  I'm often amazed at how so many beauty shots fail to show the course from the golfers pov. 

A few technical questions. 

How do you achieve such amazing depth of field in your shots?

What filters if any do you use and under what conditions?

What is your favorite lens (or focal length) for your golf course photos?

Which would you rather photograph:  Amy Adams or the Irish Countryside? 

[Aidan Bradley]

How do you achieve such amazing depth of field in your shots?

f16

What filters if any do you use and under what conditions?

A cross polarizing warming filter, 90% of the time.

What is your favorite lens (or focal length) for your golf course photos?

I tend to favour a slight wide angle lens but each shot is different and requires different lens's.

Which would you rather photograph:  Amy Adams or the Irish Countryside?

Are both an option? Having just seen the movie, how about I just shoot Amy with the Irish Countryside as the background. My mother always said I wanted jam on both sides of my bread.........

[Matthew Hunt]

What is the most/least photogenic Irish course/landscape?

Mathew........ it's way past your bedtime.  Least photogenic! No such animal, shame on you. Didn't your parents teach you to find beauty in everything.

What did you think of Law at UCC, its one of the places i've applied to?

I received a wonderful education there. My niece just graduated with her Law degree from UCC. Maybe you can caddy at the Old head while you are there?

Where have I seen that Guinness photo before?

In every decent bar in Ireland.

And finally what do think the chances of Down beating Cork in Croke Park on the 3rd Sunday of September?

Slim and none. Good luck.......

Beatuy in everything, have you ever visted some og the dour town's in Ireland . Maybe I should be asking this in a PM but as i've never actully met someone who has done Law at UCC, how would it compare to the same course at UCD or Trinity, and what life like for a student in Cork? Ps. Down's wining the Sam Maguire this year

[Aidan Bradley]

have you ever visted some of the dour town's in Ireland .

Mathew........... the towns are delightful, it is the weather that is "dour" and that is why I live in Southern California.

i've never actully met someone who has done Law at UCC, how would it compare to the same course at UCD or Trinity, and what life like for a student in Cork?

Academically I can't tell you. You will have to choose whether you want to live in the metropolis or a more modestly sized city. I am not sure how they treat people from the Great County Down in Cork but I am happy to put in a good word for you. My nephew is presently attending UCC. If you want to send me a private email I will put you in touch with him.

Ps. Down's wining the Sam Maguire this year

Wasn't Sam from Cork?

[Brad Fleischer]

I did not know you took that Natalie Gulbis pic . Now that's saturation

Brad

[Aidan Bradley]

I did not know you took that Natalie Gulbis pic

I didn't. It must be Eric's sense of humour....... or maybe he just thought my images needed a little uplift!

[David_Elvins]

Aidan,

I notice you take a lot of shots looking back down the hole with the green and pin in the foreground.   I remember David Scaletti saying that he rarely took photos from this position but most of his featured something like rough or a bunker in the foreground. 

Is it 100% essential to have something interesting in the foreground?  Do you have an example of a good photos that don't feature anything of great interest in the foreground.

[Aidan Bradley]

Is it 100% essential to have something interesting in the foreground? 

Dave........ I don't believe so. I only include something in the foreground if I feel it will ad to the image. Someone said earlier why don't I shoot more from the golfers perspective. Is that in the middle of the fairway and 150 yards out from the pin? Not even the pro's do that on a regular basis. But let's assume that's the norm. To shoot from that spot without putting anything in the foreground and 50% of the image would be grass, negative space with no information. Boring visual.

Do you have an example of a good photos that don't feature anything of great interest in the foreground.

You mean, like these?

[Aidan Bradley]

I notice you take a lot of shots looking back down the hole with the green and pin in the foreground

David........ this is the same hole shot from in front and behind. Who is to say which is right or wrong. They both have a story to tell. Depending on where you put the ball, these are the views you will see.

[Aidan Bradley]

Same hole (The European Club #17) photographed from the front and behind/ with something of interest in the foreground.

[Marty Bonnar]

Aidan,
please stop posting these pornographic images on this website

Of the few things in this world that excite me, currently I have to include Aidan Bradley's images alongside photographs of that very plain actress, Charlize Theron. Let's face it, they're both pretty average....

Aidan, more power to your lens, m'boy. Sheesh, I'd like to see what you could do at Balbirnie!!!! (never gonna happen)

Another Q: Did you ever get into Ektachrome or are you a bit too young for that?

cheers,
FBD.