Family, Photography and other misc news
Maybe not exciting for Apple iPhone users but a big update for iPad users. I know a lot of photographers now using the iPad as their in the field back up device. A great way of backing up and reviewing your images, before getting back to the office or hotel room to process them on your laptop.
IOS 4.2 brings all the advances that the iPhone 4 has to the ipad. Available to download today.
Update: Mac Users, don’t feel left out, a Safari update was also released today.
Saturday was a bit of a dull wet morning, no studio photography planned so I decided to chance my macro lens. Pick a pretty local Lincolnshire Village, and have wonder round with my Nikor 105mm f/2.8 macro lens.
I was looking for red berries and dew/frost encrusted spiders webs. A pleasant walk and while no stunning shots, it was a fun exercise, and a reminder how hard it is to get good macro shots.
Next time when I am being a bit more serious, i’ll pack my tripod and macro flash gear, oh and don’t forget that reflector, or try a piece of white card, you will be amazed the difference it will make, hope to show you soon.
How many times have your heard that you must backup, and how many of you actually do so.
For that matter, of those that do backup, where do you keep that backup, in the same bag as your laptop so both can be stolen. Up stairs at home, only the one backup? When did you last test it?
Don’t worry I am not about to tell you a heart rending story of lost data, even though I know of people who have.
Just a reminder, disks fail, and we all live digital lives these days with cherished memory’s sat on our hard disks.
Please backup to at least two independent disks, test them regularly and why not leave one at a friends house, or at you office. Just think, if you house was robbed or burnt down and everything was lost, how would you feel if your favourite digital memories were lost forever.
Oh and please remember it’s the BBC UK Children in Need Day today, join in, or help out at an event near you.
Yesterday morning was the first cold commute of the year. A steady 0°C (32°F) occasionally hitting -0.5° C. With the wind chill factured in thats about -11°C (12°F), I will definitely be getting out the thermals soon, but until then a pair of silk under-gloves and the heated grips were enough to keep me warm, together with my BMW Rallye 2 Suite. This will be my second winter in this suite and while expensive I feel its been well worthwhile
While cold it was a beatiful morning, a clear blue sky, golden sunlight and the farmers fields covered in a white frost. All very beautiful.
This gave me a few ideas for some photo’s. Mornings like these are always good for inspiration, even a trip to the local park or just go into your garden, can have images worth capturing, a dew and frost encrusted spidersweb, those bright red berries on a bush. You don’t need an expensive macro lens for this stuff. Just dig out that old 50mm prime you never use and give it go.
After my visit to Hartshome Park on Saturday, I noticed that my friend Chris Bennett had updated his blog with some great Heron pictures.
I’ll have to have a try next spring when they come back.
Check his pictures out here:
While uploading photographs to my new blog, I have been having a lot of difficulties. The files upload but then I get a http error during the crunching stage. Once uploaded the images cannot be sized, only put up at there original size.
I spent sometime looking at the WordPress help pages but eventually I found the answer here: Just adding the line
AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
to the top of my .htaccess file, fixed my load problems. This file is located in the folder you installed your WordPress to on you host server.
Well as I reported from my iPhone the trip went ahead, more of a scouting trip then an actual picture taking trip, but I got the feeling that my picture will work.
View Larger Map
The low sun and dramatic contrast made metering the scene some what challenging but I got some good snaps and hopefully I can go back when the sun is in the right place and the weather provides a little more dramatic interest!
Note the squirrel, I was all setup slow shutter speed to shoot the landscape when behind me on the bridge a squirrel ran across, I just managed to grab a shot.
Photo’s here taken with my D200 and a Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.
Not a full update, but the weather gods smile and a fine dawn greeted us. A quick breakfast and out to the planned location.
Shot from my iPhone.
Sent from my iPhone.
My photography breaks down into two main topics.
My studio work is very planned. A studio is like a painters blank canvas. When I plan a studio shoot, there is so much to think about.
A studio shoot for me its the ultimate in photography. Everything can be pre-visualised and planned to the nth degree.
I would like to be able to say my landscape and architectural shoots are planned to the same degree but I am afraid not. Generally these type of shoots are taken on holidays, and I just happen upon these views and try to make the best of them.
This is something I would like to change, and the photography course I am booked on in December I hope will bring more planning and pre-visualisation to this part of my photography.
To this end tomorrow, subject of course to the British weather, i’ll be heading out to try and capture an Autumn scene. I have the image in my head, and with good planing, and of course local knowledge and the internet I hope to get the image I want.
So Saturday morning will see the chief photographer of RBPhotograpic heading out with his medium format camera gear and hoping to get the image in his head commited.
Equipment List
I may also take a digital compact, or my iPhone to snap a few reference shots to post tomorrow, to show you what I had in mind.
In case your wondering it involves, a lake, low winter sun, and lots of trees. Heres hoping for good weather.
Commuting to work by motorcycle, and of course the commute back is generally the highlight of our day.
I find the ride really wakes me up, refreshes me, and sets up my day on a high note, while the other commuters in there cages (sorry cars) get steadily more frustrated.
This morning the weather is less then ideal, high gale force winds, always fun on a motorcycle. Remember car drivers, please give TWV (Two Wheeled Vehicles) plenty of space, a sudden gust can easily take them into the verge or into the middle of the road.
TWV’s are not positioning themselves in a way to deliberately annoy you, but to maximise there visibilty of the road ahead and for safety.
Have a good commute!