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Capturing the punk with Capture One Live for mobile

Explosive energy, loud shouts, authentic voices, and forces of nature converge in the untamed world of live music events. When tasked with capturing the essence of the punk band Alien Chicks, photography students Nici Eberl, Pooja Dua, and Rudresh Arora from London College of Communications (LCC London) embarked on an exciting project that froze the intensity of punk in time. Their exploration of Capture One Live on mobile revealed new dimensions to their craft, pushing boundaries and unlocking the true essence of live music photography.

Entering the final semester of their MA in Commercial Photography at LCC London, the three students were faced with an exhilarating challenge: develop a concept for an on-location shoot and experiment with the capabilities of Live on mobile. Their goal was to showcase how this innovative tool could be seamlessly integrated into their photography practice.

Nici enthusiastically shares, “We were told to show how Capture One Live could be used in our photography practice. So, I thought, in the world of live music, the promoters, bands, PR folks, and magazines would love getting those on-stage photos while the band is still playing.”

Connecting as a team, Nici, Pooja, and Rudresh embraced their individual roles, each contributing their unique expertise. Nici, the designated hero photographer, fearlessly positioned herself at the heart of the action, capturing intense scenes as the band unleashed their wild energy on stage. Pooja, an expert in behind-the-scenes photography, preserved candid and vulnerable moments that unfolded during the shoots. Rudresh, known for his skillful video documentation, embarked on creating a final cutdown that showcased the dynamic essence of Alien Chicks. “While my primary focus is on portraits, I wanted to apply the same approach to my video work,” explains Rudresh.

Live music venues are notorious for their intense working environments. Navigating pulsating crowds and harnessing the electric atmosphere presents unique challenges for photographers. Undeterred, the team embraced a whirlwind of unpredictable moments. Rudresh, mostly experienced in staged shots, boldly dove into the spontaneity of live music with a hint of nervousness.

“Filming in that environment was intense. It’s dark, you know? But somehow, luck was on our side. The lighting magically fell into place, and it was just perfect,” he recalls.

Nici, a seasoned pro when it comes to live gigs, thrived in the electrifying atmosphere. Every challenge was an opportunity for her to capture vivid moments. She beams, “It was a wild, fun gig! I loved feeding off that energy.”

Pooja sheds light on the initial stress of tight deadlines and the crucial need for seamless teamwork. But through their unwavering support, they formed a bond that turned challenges into triumphs. Pooja reflects, “We kept telling each other, ‘You’ve got this.’ It became our mantra, and it helped us power through.”

One of the most exciting aspects of the project was the ability to hand the iPad to the band during the shoot. This allowed them to view the images live, providing immediate inspiration. Nici expressed her excitement about the iPhone app release, recognizing its potential as a game changer. She explained, “I think that is a game changer because everyone always has an iPhone in their pockets.”

Nici also shared a personal moment.. “I was shooting something else over the weekend in the middle of nowhere, and all I could think about was how cool it would be to have an iPad. I wanted to show the imagery immediately, but we had to wait hours until we got home. Editing in the moment is crucial because I want to bring out the captured essence and emphasize the image’s energy and emotion,” she says.

Shooting with Live on a mobile device helped enhance collaboration by enabling real-time shooting, seamless sharing, and instant feedback, all conveniently located in one place. The students could deliver the final shots more efficiently, even while on the move.

Pooja described the experience of working with the images on an iPad as astonishing. She shared, “ It was just the most insane thing watching it happen on an iPad. It’s a cool feature, and I think it will do a lot for the industry and become the new norm.”

Follow Nici, Pooja, and Rudesh on Instagram to see more of their work

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SALT – A dreamlike warning against ignoring climate change

In a not-so-distant future, the world has dried up under the scorching sun and all that remains to keep us afloat is salt. This is the scene that Barbora Lundgren, Ville Niiranen, and Goda Kraštinaitytė lay out in their project “Salt”, which depicts the consequences of ignoring climate change.

“When you’re there, you just feel this weird feeling of apocalypse. For me it feels strange, like being on the moon or another planet,” says Barbora, the hero photographer for the project. Shot on location in the Dead Sea, the team of students from London College of Communication chose the spot for its extra-terrestrial look.

About to enter the final semester of an MA in Commercial Photography, the students were tasked with coming up with a concept for an on-location shoot and experiment with the capabilities of Capture One for iPad.

Barbora – who is originally from Czechia – has spent time living in Israel and was inspired by the unique landscape of the area and especially the barren nature and salt crystals formed by the Dead Sea. Using the project as an opportunity to revisit the location and explore a topic close to their hearts, climate change, the team decided on a dystopian, futuristic look for the models to warn against what we might have in store if we don’t take action.

“I found these silver suits that reflected, I think, the alien feel I wanted to have. So, you’re not sure if you’re on this or another planet,” Barbora explains about the costumes they chose.

“You have to protect yourself if the planet’s going to be 50 degrees, and that’s the kind of clothing you would wear, I presume.”

Outfitted with a camera, a tripod, a cable and an iPad, Barbora and her team were able to travel lightly into the salt covered landscape and move around without being held back by heavy or ungainly equipment, while still being sure that their images would come out perfectly.

“Especially somewhere like that, where there’s very bright light, you’re unlikely to see any kind of issues you may have if you’re just looking at the back of the camera,” says Ville who was capturing the behind-the-scenes action together with Goda during their shoot.

“You can avoid a lot of tears afterwards by being sure about the quality of the work.”

Taking their concept one step further, the team set up a collaboration with London-based jewellery designer Hollie Paxton to shoot her “Rubbish Jewellery” collection featuring gold and silver gum wrapping broaches, earrings made to look like torn off pieces of plastic packaging, and twist tie rings.

Using Capture One Live, the team had Hollie join them remotely from the UK while they were shooting, giving feedback to make sure her work represented what she wanted and make the first selections of her favorite shots.

Watch the video to see how they used Capture One for mobile to take the studio on the go.

Follow Barbora, Ville, and Goda on Instagram to see more of their work.

Are you a student? Register here to get 65% off Capture One Pro

Kayla Connors is making moves

Kayla Connors isn’t afraid to go out of her way to get the right shot, whether that’s crafting a story about her subject or finding higher ground. “If there’s really something I want to do, I’ll figure it out. If I need to climb a tree, I’ll climb a tree.”

We spoke to the up-and-coming fashion photographer, whose work is featured in the new Capture One for iPhone campaign, about what gives her the freedom to move.

“I think what first drew me to photography was that it feels like you can step into someone’s world for a minute,” says Kayla, speaking to us from her apartment in London accompanied by her black cat, Munch.

“There’s an element of fantasy in fashion photography that I love. A familiarity of your mom giving you clothes when you were a kid or wearing your grandmother’s bag.”

Growing up in Switzerland, the now 25-year-old moved to the UK in 2017 to pursue her photography dream at Central Saint Martin. Last year, she graduated with an MA in Fashion Communication and since then, her work has been featured in publications like Dazed and Another Magazine.

Kayla tends to center women in her work. For her, having an emotional connection and a story in her head about her subjects is paramount to help her get the expression she is looking for. So much so that she tends to create a narrative for every shoot she does.

“In order for the team to be on the same page and for me to have a clearer story, I like [the model] to become like a character. So, we’re not just shooting pretty dresses in a pretty location,” she explains.

Her work, a lot of which she shoots on film, radiates with a feeling of softness and an introspective view of her subjects.

“I think a lot of myself is in my work, so it’s going to be a female perspective. Even if I’m shooting men, I’m going to shoot them as a woman.”

Yet, she is conscious about avoiding what she describes as “female gaze photography”, explaining that she feels that this is overdone. Instead, she likes to opt for a more subtle way of drawing out the experience of being a girl. With recurring themes in her work being sisterhood, motherhood, and the feminine urge to run away with your best friend, she wants the women she shoots to not look overly sexualized or passive.

“I think there’s always strength there because that’s how I see women. But it’s not a conscious decision. I think that just comes through naturally.”

Preferring to shoot outdoors, Kayla says her work has brought her to just about every location in London. But when out on location, trying to get the movement and space she needs for her work with a lot of equipment is not always practical.

“If we’re shooting outdoors and I can’t have an Eizo on set, I still want a way for my clients and for my team to just be able to see everything and make changes from,” says Kayla.

Having had the chance to use Capture One for iPhone ahead of its release, Kayla has seen some of the ways the app has given her the freedom she needs to create her images.

“When I’m doing smaller editorials, I’ll look at the screen on my digital camera, especially when I am also shooting film, because I use it to test for lighting,” she says.

“But sometimes, if it’s super sunny or if it auto adjusts the brightness on the screen, it can affect how I light for my film. Whereas on my phone, you can see it more clearly and I can just zoom in quickly so I can see that it’s the right lighting and say ‘Let’s go for it’,” she says, noting the relief of being able to go through and make selects on her phone and sharing them with her team to make sure she has the right shots by the end of a shoot.

With new tools and technology designed to automate and simplify parts of a photographer’s workflow becoming readily available, Kayla believes that the future is bright for photographers who manage to bring emotion to their work.

“I’m really not scared by AI or all the other new technology. I think if you can bring something creative to the table, no matter what technology can do, there’s always something beautiful about being human made. Right?”

“That certain time at a certain place with a certain stylist, a certain feeling, and all of that, even with whatever’s happening politically, socially, on that day will come through in the image somehow.”

“I’m just excited about all of the new possibilities.”

See more of Kayla’s work on her Instagram.

Download Capture One for iPhone here

“I am alive, these are my days.” Wika Wójcikiewicz is rebranding aging

Frustrated by the way aging in women is seen in Polish society, Wika Wójcikiewicz has set out to debunk the myth that life ends after 50.

“What is the difference between my body and a woman who’s 70 years old? It’s literally just wrinkles,” asserts the soon-to-be photography graduate Wika Wójcikiewicz.

Having spent a good part of the past six months on the road, Wika has travelled across her home country Poland to capture the inner lives of four women in their 70s who are not satisfied with being contained to an outdated view of what it means to get older.
Her finishing project for her bachelor’s in photography at London College of Communication “Life is not boring, you are”, goes beyond what is normally seen of “women of a certain age” and documents their colorful lives.

“Many young people consider age as something that we should be scared of, as something lonely, boring and full of limitations. We are told that our minds and bodies are the most beautiful in our 20s, hence we should enjoy it until we can, indicating one day it will finish,” she says, adding that older people often feel forgotten by society.

She was first inspired to investigate the way women in the later parts of their lives are seen after seeing a music video by Polish singer Maria Peszek featuring older women floating nude in a lake.

“It was shocking, because you don’t really see much nudity in my country because it’s Catholic.” She explains that nudity in general, but in particular by older women, is expected to be kept inside the house and not out in the open.
Not being able to get the video out of her head, Wika decided to reach out to some of the women who were featured in the clip to get to know more and propose a new project.

With two women from Peszek’s video and two from her own network deciding to join – each of them having different reasons for being in the project – she underlines that her focus was not necessarily to show nudity but to use photography as a tool to connect to another generation.

With her all-female crew, she has traveled around Poland, staying with the four women and getting to know their routines, quirks, and desires. Each shoot reflects an idea raised by one of the women who would co-direct the team to reimagine their living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms as spaces that could embody mantras about freedom, confidence, and playfulness.

“It was just genuinely a fun time,” says the 22-year-old photographer.

Chapter one

As a stand-up comedian, Ms. Basia is used to the limelight. She admits that she loves the camera and constantly looks for lens-based opportunities and a chance to work with young people. Wika describes her as “fire”.

“Do we always need to find a bigger purpose? I am participating in this project because once an opportunity comes my way, I cannot say no to it,” says Ms. Basia.

“No one knows how much longer I will be on this planet. I want to enjoy it as much as possible. My happiness is the most important to me.”

Chapter two

“She loved it,” Wika recounts about her interaction with Ms. Ewa. A retired psychologist and a photographer herself, now has the chance to be in front of the camera. Living in a catholic country, she points out the double standard of what is seen as acceptable.

“We live in a prudish society. People do really horrible stuff and it’s dismissed. I am showing a bit of my nudity and people see it as inappropriate,” says Ms. Ewa.

“I am 70 years old; I cannot look like 20 years old. Give me a break!”

Chapter three

Currently fighting a tumor, Ms. Dorota is not ready to give in to her illness. She wants to take the bull by the horns and enjoy creative processes as long as she can.

“Through deep analyzing of myself, I have finally started liking myself. I feel the most confident now,” she says.

“However, you all have to remember that confidence is something that has to be built.”

Chapter four

Ms. Gosia is Wika’s aunt. Today, she spends time taking care of an older relative, but in her youth, she was a musician. “She has a beautiful voice,” says Wika.

Wishing to take part in the project to feel beautiful again and to vary her everyday life, Ms. Gosia reveals that she has never felt as peaceful and confident as now.

For Wika, seeing the confidence and enjoyment of life that the women have has put a new perspective on ageing and she hopes it will for others too.

“They had an entire life to like themselves and this is the time when they finally do. That’s also the reason why they participated in that because they love themselves. I think it’s beautiful.”
“They definitely made me not be scared of getting old.”

Portraits by: Wika Wójcikiewicz
Behind-the-scenes images and video by: Edyta Mielewczyk and Ita Litwiniec