http://www.brown-family.org.uk/photo/index.htm
Nikon D200 SLR
Nikor 105mm F/2.8
105mm, 1/60 Sec at f/8, ISO200
Processed in Adobe Lightroom V3.3
On a Mac MacBook Pro, OS-X 10.6.6
Birthday Boy
As today was Ethan’s birthday we all had a quick family get together. Ethan was lucky enough to get lots of lego for his birthday which Uncle Martyn was happy to help him put together.
Getting that ‘Photo of the Month’ – Part 2
Well the first attempt to get some decent shots came close, but I felt I still needed to get some more material. There was one idea in particular that I thought would work, but where to go.
How about a trip to our local National Trust Stately Home?
So we packed the car with the Medium Format Camera gear, tripod and once again the Nikon D200 with the Macro 105mm f/2.8 Lens, which is what I was intending to use to get ‘The Shot’ I had in my head.
The weather had potential, light rain, but very dark black skies. There was a hint of potential sunshine breaking through later.
We arrived at Belton House near Grantham at lunch time, shortly after they had opened. The hint of sunshine vanished so I left the Medium Format Gear in the boot of the car, but still took the D200.
Around the Italian garden I got a number of lovely shots as the sun once again appeared.
I also attempted the shot I had in my head as the ‘Photo of the Month’. Did I succeed well as you can see above I did manage some excellent atmospheric photographs.
Tomorrow I’ll publish my Photo of the Month and you can judge for yourself.
Getting that ‘Photo of the Month’ – Part 1
Well with hospital and general ill health, no real photography had been done at all this month.
This simply would not do, so two quick photo trips were planned to try and get that ‘Photo of the Month’.
The first was a quick 30 minute excursion at lunch time on Friday, a quick walk around the Brayford Wharf area of Lincoln with my trusty Nikon D200 and a 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, trying to get that elusive ‘Photo of the Month’.
A few macro shots of flowers, some ants and the odd snap of the building work currently being undertaken were all I managed at first, but then I attempted to sneak up to some black headed gulls that were sat on the edge of the Brayford Pool. I managed a few quick shots before they took off, and I nearly got my ‘Photo of the Month’ as it flew off, it was just slightly out of focus.
I also popped into one of the offices there and shot a few portraits of some of the more interesting characters.
The second, trip well, I’ll tell you all tomorrow.
Photo Tip: Sharpness 2
Sharpness.
Something all photographers worry about, this the second in a series of posts will look at:
Tripods.
Most people own one, but how many of us actually carry one with us. I’ll put my hand up. I certainly don’t use it as much as I should.
A few points to consider, a tripod thats not with you is useless.
Invest in a good one, a good head and get the brackets for your camera.
If your looking at saving money then spend all your budget on a set of legs. Then when you can afford it buy the head later. Then buy the brackets for the camera. If your eager to start using your tripod then buy a cheap head that comes with a quick release platform, but beware you will need to replace it. A poor head design will after a while frustrate you to the point you will stop using your expensive tripod.
If your after a recommendations for legs then Manfrotto and Gitzo are top of the class.
For heads then most pro photographers use not Manfrotto or Gitzo heads but Arca or Really Right Stuff Heads. A warning to you, you can spend over £1000 on a good head. For most of us that is over kill but do consider spending over £100 pounds.
Lastly a brackets for your camera. A cheap quick release plate may do to start , if your using medium format or large format then this may be all you need. For 35mm where you will be switching from portrait to landscape and back, and generally be more active on the tripod you may want to consider custom brackets that will not slip once fitted.
For more information see a previous blog entry here and also Chris Bennet’s blog.
Model’s and TF
TF, used to be called TFP now often TFCD.
It means Time For Print or Time For CD.
Basically the photographer and the model both work for free unpaid, each covering their own costs. Both work hard to get some great images that would benefit both their portfolios.
At the end both get copies of the final edited images for their own use.
Most weeks I get approached by models asking for TF, generally I turn them down. This is not cheap photography, my time, the studio and the editing afterwards, all costs me money. The model must either be something special or I want to test out something in the studio, and this saves me from having to book and pay for a models time.
So models, feel free to contact me for TF shoots, but please do not be disappointed if I turn you down, I only have time for one TF shoot every month or so, but please do contact me again in the future sometimes I might just need a model and you could save the day.
Humour – Does anyone remember Film?
Felt the need for some cheering up and this really does the trick.
This is the review an Amazon customer wrote for the Nikon F6:
Via Petapixel
Nikon F6 possibly the best 35mm film camera yet made. Well maybe except for my Nikon FM2.
Lightroom – Importing Presets
Installing Lightroom presets can be a little tricky but as Mat from Lightroom Killer Tips has recently found out, there is a far easy way; Just Drag and drop the preset file on to your Lightroom icon. Thanks Matt. Another great reason for having a Apple Mac, it just makes things so easy for you.
If you’re a Windows user then double click the preset file. It will most likely say it does not understand the file type. Associate the file type with Lightroom and then double click will install it.
Have not tried it in Windows, as I do not have a Windows machine handy to test it on, only Apple Mac’s, Linux, and Solaris at present. Must rebuild that Windows 7 test machine of mine.
Loading a Hassleblad 120 back
Film: Loading a camera.
A bit of a lost art now a days. Most 35mm SLR users have now switched to digital, and most of the last 35mm SLR’s were auto loading. For users of medium format, large format camera’s, film is still the medium of choice.
For Hasselblad users of the V system, loading a film for the first time can be tricky so heres a very useful youtube video to help you out.
Wildlife and Early Mornings
An early start and I was at the location for just before dawn where I met Chris. Chris being the wildlife photographer while I am more a people and landscape photographer.
We set ourselves up near the lake and waited for the early morning sun to appear.
As far as the weather it started fine but a gentle drizzle soon started.
There was continuous over cast cloud overhead, and good light never appeared, so it was a no go for landscape photography.
As we setup a Heron appeared and settled on its nest on the island in the middle of the lake. More birds gradually appeared but with the heavy cloud cover the sun did little to improve the light levels.
With the cameras set to high ISO (ASA) we practiced our photography but with little hope.
A few Cormorants flew in as did some Canadian Geese, to join the Ducks and Cootes already on the lake.
We spend an hour photographing the wildlife before the rain started to get a little too heavy even for our weather sealed professional lens and bodies so we packed a way and headed for the nearest Starbucks to warm ourselves up with hot coffee.
A shame we did not get any good shots but wildlife photography is difficult and one should always practice when one can. You will never get that award winning shot if you stay home in your nice warm bed. At least thats what I keep telling myself.
If you want to see some better shots check out Chris photos from last week. His shots from this morning are here.