Nikon D800
Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8
70mm, 1/125 Sec at f/8, ISO100
Post Processed in Adobe Lightroom CC2015.3
On a Mac Pro, OS-X 10.11.2
Last Studio Shoot of 2015
Tuesday was my last studio shoot of the year. Its been a quiet shooting year, some studio work and weddings but not a lot of personal project work. Unfortunately family life sometimes gets in the way.
Shooting four models at the same time is a bit of a challenge in the studio, it really challenges your composition and your ability to direct. Not something I would advice your try until you have mastered the basics of lighting and basic direction of one then two models.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Christmas has now passed but we still have the New Year to look forward to.
Christmas day was a quite day for us, just myself and Caroline with our respective parents at our place for the day.
Boxing day was a little busier and loader. Including Tilly the Dog we had thirteen with us for the day, so with a dog and young children around is was noisy and fun Boxing Day.
Christmas Full Moon
http://go.nasa.gov/1NDhc6Y;
Merry Christmas everyone. This Christmas Day is an extra special one as we also have a full moon. The first Christmas full moon since 1977.
Have a great Christmas everyone.
a Biker’s Night Before Christmas
On the Biking Blog “Ride it like you stole it!” which is sadly no more by Dave Dragon, there was a poem “The Biker’s Night Before Christmas”.
I have posted this before but as it is Christmas Eve I thought I was worth posting again.
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the pad,
There was nada happenin’, now that’s pretty bad.
The woodstove was hung up in that stocking routine,
In hopes that the Fat Boy would soon make the scene.
With our stomachs packed with tacos and beer,
My girl and I crashed on the couch for some cheer.
When out in the yard there arose such a racket,
I ran for the door and pulled on my jacket.
I saw a large bro’ on a ’56 Pan
Wearin’ black leathers, a cap, and boots (cool biker, man).
He hauled up the bars on that bikeful of sacks,
And that Pan hit the roof like it was running on tracks.
I couldn’t help gawking, the old guy had class.
But I had to go in — I was freezing my ass.
Down through the stovepipe he fell with a crash,
And out of the stove he came dragging his stash.
With a smile and some glee he passed out the loot,
A new jacket for her and some parts for my scoot.
He patted her fanny and shook my right hand,
Spun on his heel and up the stovepipe he ran.
From up on the roof came a great deal of thunder,
As that massive V-twin ripped the silence asunder.
With beard in the wind, he roared off in the night,
Shouting, “Have a cool Yule, and to all a good ride!”
Leica firmware – Leica Q Typ 116 firmware update version 1.1-2
Leica being a small company are not always the fastest at releasing updates and bug fixes to their camera firmware but recently we have seen quite a few updates.
This week it was the turn of the Leica Q.
The smaller camera manufactures such as Olympus, Fuji and Leica are very good at releasing new functionality for their older cameras and its something that the bigger manufactures could learn from.
Christmas Party Season is well underway
Last Friday was the official works Christmas party, good food and good company. We have also had a few more small team meals and get togethers over the last week and some of us also went to see old work colleagues from previous companies we used to work for.
We are all now on a final countdown for the big Christmas holiday. Last year I had to work but this year I have Christmas to the new year off but will be squeezing in one Christmas theme photoshoot.
StarWars
I love going to the cinema but rarely find the time now. Its also far less enjoyable, our local major multiplex is soulless and very expensive.
The last film we went that we really enjoyed was Joss Whedon’s Much ado about Nothing which was played at a local college.
I would love to see the new Starwars movie so I am hunting down small local theatres in Lincolnshire that may be showing it.
Sonos add Apple Music Support
I love music, and used to play the guitar and currently play the banjo and piano. I now have my Hifi setup in the end room which has been turned in a music/library/studio room.
I also have some decent powered speakers in my office linked to my MacPro and my iTunes library which mostly consists of ripped CD’s. Where we listen to the most music is in the kitchen which with our love of cooking and baking we both spend a lot our time.
For my birthday last year we have had a Sonos One in here, its pricey for what it is but does perform very well and needs little else to make it work. It came with one years free Deezer subscription which is now coming to an end, and so I was pleased to see that Apple music in beta has now arrived for the Sonos. Once my Deezer subscription expires i’ll give the Apple music a trial and see how that goes.
The think to remember with most of these streaming systems is you need to invest in the time and energy to let the service learn about your musical tastes. Of course once a service is setup how you like its hard to move and go through that again which is what most of them are hoping.
28mm verses 35mm
Fix lens compacts are becoming more common again. In the film days we had a wide choice of small 35mm full frame compacts, but it was Sony with its RX1 that re-introduced this format to the digital age.
Most of the short comings over the original Sony RX1 have now been overcome with the latest version and since the originals introduction we now also have the Leica Q in the game.
The Sony uses a 35mm lens and the Leica a 28mm, I have shot with both focal lengths and generally prefer the 35mm, but the 28mm is growing in popularity, driven by all those iPhone photographs that appear on Flicker and Instagram. The iPhone with its tiny sensor is 28mm equivalent so its a field of view were are getting used to.
When I manage to get my full frame digital Leica M, I may just get a 28mm, it can force you to get closer and try more interesting compositions.