Category: Photography

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Exposure – What is right

I blogged a little while ago about Metering and Exposure.  In the Studio with Studio Flash Strobes a Light Meter is critical.

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When shooting outdoors I do tend to use the expose to the right rule, but this is dependent on the contrast and dynamic range of the scene.

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Whether you use the expose to the right technique, follow your histogram, or clipping warning, what matters is what works for you.  An exposure that is technically correct may not give you the image you want, there is a degree of subjectiveness.

In the studio I follow the light meter, outdoors, well, auto bracketing is my great friend.  The histogram and clipping warning advise, but if you tweak the jpeg settings you can find your histogram and clipping warning change.

Develop a technique that works for yourself.

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Canon’s X Marks the Spot

I am sure all you keen photographers heard about the Canon announcement today of the new EOS 1D X.

As a Nikon SLR user I am as pleased as Canon users to see this camera come out, and I hope it drives 35mm digital photography to new heights, especial with full frame cameras.

Nikon and Canon are in a great race, aways leap frogging each other, depending where you buy in the cycle sometimes Nikon are on top and other times its Canon on top.  Personally, when people ask me for advice, I ways say go for the camera that feels best in your hand.  For some people thats Canon for others thats Nikon.  If you after a killer full frame camera, I doubt you will get much better then this.

As a Nikon user I look forward to the D700’s replacement for my full frame needs.

Panasonic and Olympus are in a simular fight and to a degree are also influenced by Sony with their NEX series.  Currently on paper I have to admit, I feel that Sony have the lead, and as someone who currently has no investment in any small camera system anyone of these three could get my business.  Just produce a camera with great image quality, built in EVA and great fast prime lens.

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A Trip into the Historic Heart of Lincoln

I get to visit Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England nearly every day. They say familiarity breeds contempt, and I sometimes forget what a beautiful city Lincoln is.

Today I went up steep hill and went round the more touristy areas of Lincoln. With a mix of lovely independent shops and the Castle and nearly one thousand year old Cathedral it has some wonderful photogenic areas.

Try going round your own neighbourhood with fresh eyes you may find a picture or two worthwhile.

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Model shoots for this month

There are two shoots I am thinking of doing this month. One an outdoor shoot at dawn, and a second an indoor studio shoot with a cheesy Halloween theme.

So if your a local Lincolnshire Model and fancy either of these let me know.

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iCloud

With the Launch of iOS5 we now also have iCloud.

Having syncing between my Mac Laptop, iPad and iPhone is very useful.  The key features are the Photo Stream for Photographers.  I tested this out this afternoon, where I took a photo with my iPhone, then checked the iPad and there was the photo I had just taken.  Not only that but because I have Lion OS X (10.7.2) on the laptop and the latest version of iPhoto (Aperture also supported), when I got home and fired up iPhoto, there was the photographs I had taken on the phone.  No syncing or any effort from myself.

I also tried updating a spreadsheet on the iPad then accessed iWork.com from my work Windows Laptop and was able to continue to work on it.

Only down side so far has been the time its taken to update to iCloud.  As can be expected, Apple’s servers are under a lot of stress at the moment as the worlds iPhone 3GS and 4 users update, but with a bit of patience it gets there and it can only get better.

As Apple improve there integration between there devices and the web, there making it very difficult for a user to want to move away.

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Post Processing – that extra oomph

Many people comment on the quality of my landscapes.

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My Post Processing general is limited to either HDR or a bit of Negative Clarity from Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom.

Recently looking at some of the people shots taken by Frank Doorhof and some of the sports shots by Scott Kelby, I have been very impressed. There a certain dynamic feel to the shoots, that comes from the post processing.

It’s given me a number of ideas to try.

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Heading towards Winter Light and Wind

We are now getting really into the autumnal feel of the season.

Riding into work today the low sun shining though the red leaves of the trees gave me a number of ideas for some photographs.

It was also quite a windy day so I hope the leaves will last long enough for me to get the shots that are currently in my head.

Always tricky riding a bike in high wind, even more for a motorcycling photographer.  There is only so much I can squeeze into the tank bag and top box.  That really limits what you can take, makes you think what is really necessary.

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Lincoln Cathedral – World Photo Walk

Last Saturday was the World Photowalk, and today I have been finishing my editing, these are a couple of shots that came close but no cigar.

Have to admit, I do have a soft spot for the stone column which is illuminated in coloured light from the ancient stain glass windows.

If you have the chance to visit Lincoln Cathedral and please try as its one of the finest Gothic Cathedral’s in the world.  Some of the more impressing and colourful stain glass is actually Victorian, as during the civil war, those damn Puritans shot out some of the more impressive windows.  Far to ungodly and Catholic for them.  Luckily the Victorians restored a number of them.

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Q – Another Interchangeable Lens Compact

Pentax Q:

 

How many of you remember Pentax’s film 110 interchange lens camera system.  Fun, but the quality was never there with 110 film.

 

 

 

Now we have the Pentax Q, a interchangeable lens compact with a small compact sensor.  With a selection of nice prime lens including a fish eye, and some zooms this looks like one fun camera.

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World Photo Walk – Lincolnshire Day

Saturday was the Lincoln World PhotoWalk.

We were also very lucky in that it was Lincolnshire Day.  That was good news for Photographers.  The Cathedral, Castle and a number of other great sites were all free to enter.

I’ll post a few pictures later in the week but until then here is a quick snap I took of an event that was going on in the Cathedral.