Family, Photography and other misc news
With the rise of high quality camera’s in phones, now able to replace your typical compact. The rapid adoption of Micro Four Thirds, many are asking where the future of camera’s is heading.
Many are now proposing that basically the camera will be a lens with a sensor built in rather then a traditional body were currently used to.
These idea’s look amazing but I am not sure they are really practical. I have major issues with the ergonomics of most cameras these days.
If your anything like me then you make your camera’s last. Back in the film days, I bought high end secondhand SLR’s, saving my money towards good glass. I expected them to last at least ten years.
Now with digital SLR’s the manufacturers seem to push you to upgrade every couple of years.
With the high cost of digital SLR’s I expect to get a minimum of 5 years out of them.
As technology moves on Compact Flash cards get bigger and faster. The latest cards include UDMA high speed technology, and have capacities reaching 64GB.
The question that often arises is do the newer cards work in older camera’s.
Well I thought I would buy some new cards this week for an upcoming trip.
A bit of research seemed to indicate that cards up to 16GB would work in my five year old Nikon D200’s, if I had the latest firmware but I could find nothing about the speed or if they supported UDMA (they don’t I have since found).
I keep my firmware up to date, but I decided to get some 8GB cards. Having lots of small cards is always better then a few large cards. I have only had a card corrupt on me once, and I only lost the last few images, but its not a risk I want to take.
Well today they arrived, and I am pleased to report they work.
Incase your wondering, the Nikon D200’s are running firmware, A2.01 and B2.01 and the cards were SanDisk Extreme 8GB 400x UDMA.
While browsing the web the other evening, looking for inspiration and photography ideas, I came across a (new to me) photography site. Check out the wildlife photographs of the Eagles.
Apart from needing some very expensive long glass, I think I need to practice my photography an awful lot more before I get this good.
Today was my studio fashion style shoot with the lovely Charlotte who I have not worked with for ages. She was as professional and as pretty as I remember.
We kept things simple just two sets, only a couple lighting variations, but lots of clothes changes.
Camera equipment was simple as well, just a pair of Nikon D200’s and Nikkor, 105mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8.
The above shot was taken at the end of the last session, a single Elinchrom RX600 fronted by a large rectangle softbox. A Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, wide open was used. Focusing on the lead eye has with the lens wide open has given the photo a lovely soft feel.
The Adobe Lightroom companion application, PhotoSmith announced pricing details the other day.
A very reasonable $17.99/£10.99 which if it lives up to the promise is well worthwhile.
Off now to check my camera gear and batteries as I have a fashion shoot tomorrow in the studio.
Well for those iPad and Adobe Lightroom users, the iPad mobile companion app has now reached version 1.0 and has been sent to Apple for approval.
Hopefully Photosmith will be with us soon.
Well, we have had Landscapes, birds and wildlife, and of course flowers. Now its time to get back into the studio and shoot a little fashion and glamour.
Studio is booked as is the model, so just sorting out the details; ideas, poses and of course the clothes.
Hope to post some pictures from the shoot next Monday or Tuesday, as there will be a lot of post production to finish them off.
Saturday’s bird photography was fun but what if you don’t have that long lens, or maybe just a standard consumer 55-200mm f/5.6 or 70-300mm f/5.6. What can you do to get those close up bird shots.
Well you could shoot more in the middle of the day, when there is more light, but high sun does not generally mean good photographs.
You could check out any nest boxes in your area, even put some up in your own garden. While its a bit late this year for the birds to get used to new boxes they will be fine next year.
Try bait. Visit the local lake, put some food out and see how close they come to you.
Lastly visit a local zoo or bird centre.
Photographs from Twycross Zoo
Well this morning it was an early rise, though we decided not to arrive at dawn like last time. Now the mornings are getting earlier, getting to location at dawn is getting much harder. No dedication thats the problem!
Not a serious wildlife shoot but more a test of technique and a bit of practice.
I met Chris Bennett at the car park, at a rather civilised 08:00 in the morning, and we loaded up with tripods, cameras and lens. I was travelling rather light just a single camera and lens together with the tripod. Though I did have spare CF (Compact Flash Cards) and a spare camera battery in my coat pocket.
During the course of the morning, I tried several different techniques and camera focusing modes. I was not expecting any particularly good shots but as you can see above, while not portfolio material there not too bad.
View Larger Map
The limiting factor as always was shutter speed. Due to the light levels and the fact I limited myself to ISO400 my shutter speed was often not quite high enough to freeze the action, thus a lot of unsharp photographs.
But certainly a worthwhile exercise.
Thanks to Chris for allowing me to tag a long, its fun having someone along who knows what they’re doing and knows there birds as well as Chris does.
Remember photography is a skill and a craft. It needs constant practice, even a day where you come back with no great shots is not waste. Time spent familiarising yourself with your equipment so you can use it without thinking means, when the light and that perfect shot becomes available you can concentrate on getting that shot, not having to think about how you use your camera or what mode/exposure it should be.
As you can see not bad results but in no way perfect. Before any of you start blaming your equipment, remember; wildlife photographers have been producing stunning images for decades. What equipment did they have? Now we have far better equipment then then ever did. Get out there and practice. Learn your equipment, your craft and your subject.
Get out there and get that killer shot.
The weather is getting better and spring is definitely in the air.
I have spotted a number of birds starting their mating rituals, and now is a good time to get some great shots.
Tomorrow subject to good weather I am going to pop over to the local park and try to get a few good bird shots.
We will see how it goes.
