Well, it has been a while since the last update and I've certainly been busy over the summer (what there has been of it!). Time just seems to have flown by and I can't believe we're heading into Autumn.
The D300 has been getting some serious use over the last few months and I'm really pleased with it - though with the battery grip in place, it certainly does weigh you down! The image quality has been outstanding and I've got to use it in quite a variety of situations. The large file sizes that it outputs though are going to require some careful thought on future storage and backup facilities.
Anyway, back to the subject of the post. After the trip to Canada way back in June, we decided that it would be great to get a photo book made up to illustrate our journey. So, 268 photos and 78 pages later, our book is now winging it's way to us from Switzerland. I really can't wait to see how it turns out and it should arrive early next week with any luck. I decided to use Blurb to create the book and have settled on a 10x8inch hardcover with wraparound dust jacket. If it looks anything like it did on screen then I think I'm going to be really pleased with the result. There's certainly something nice about having a hard copy record of your own photos that you can show around and I think a proper bound portfolio will be soon on the cards!
Assuming all goes well with this trial run, then I can certainly see photo books becoming part of my list of services.
It was quite a time consuming process getting it all ready and laid out - choosing from over 900 photos was a task in itself and then there were the different layouts to choose from for each page. All in all, it probably took about a week's worth of evenings sat down laying it all out until we were happy.
I'll update things when it arrives!
11 September 2008
5 July 2008
Getting used to the new toy!
Well, I finally did it. I've got myself a new Nikon D300 and MB-D10 battery grip!
We were going to Canada in early June and the opportunity arose that was too good to miss out on. It had a great two and a half weeks shooting in western Canada and I'm really pleased with the results so far.
It feels absolutely solid in the hand and the controls are pretty easy to get used to. Having used the D70s for a few years now the controls and settings are in similar places but there are just so many more of them!
The camera was put through it's paces over the trip to Canada and was used in a complete range of locations for photography ranging from the Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, through to the downtown streets of Calgary and just about most places in between!
The 3 inch lcd screen is a real bonus at checking detail of shots and the 51 point AF system is pretty mad too!
I've only had a quick scan through the images I took and processed a couple which are already up on my Flickr pages. I think it's going to take me some time to go through them all and do final edits.
All I want to do is get out there and use it now - all the time!!
We were going to Canada in early June and the opportunity arose that was too good to miss out on. It had a great two and a half weeks shooting in western Canada and I'm really pleased with the results so far.
It feels absolutely solid in the hand and the controls are pretty easy to get used to. Having used the D70s for a few years now the controls and settings are in similar places but there are just so many more of them!
The camera was put through it's paces over the trip to Canada and was used in a complete range of locations for photography ranging from the Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, through to the downtown streets of Calgary and just about most places in between!
The 3 inch lcd screen is a real bonus at checking detail of shots and the 51 point AF system is pretty mad too!
I've only had a quick scan through the images I took and processed a couple which are already up on my Flickr pages. I think it's going to take me some time to go through them all and do final edits.
All I want to do is get out there and use it now - all the time!!
11 April 2008
Competition news
Had a great result this week at my camera club, XRR Photographic Society, when I scored my first 20 out of 20 in our print league competition and got chosen as best print in the set subject of 'Still life'.
My winning shot was of the Gerbera flower below:
Later in the evening I had even more success with my black and white version of my Millennium Bridge photo also scoring a 20. I've been waiting ages for a score of 20 for my photos entered into competition and lo and behold, I get 2 on one night! I've had more and more 19 scores recently but that elusive 20 has been missing. Not so any more.
The result gave me first place overall in the competition on points. Shame it was the last print competition in the league for this year. Still, it gives me added impetus to get out there and get more shots and to get working on next year's set subjects.
26 February 2008
Focus - the aftermath
I visited Focus at the NEC on Sunday and still have mixed feelings about it I guess. It was very useful visiting the show in some ways but in others I didn't feel that it was much different to previous years.
On the plus side I did attend some very interesting talks on Photoshop, ProShow Gold and portrait photography and also got to get my hands on some interesting bits of kit to try out. I also made a few useful contacts which I perhaps wouldn't have made elsewhere.
The lighting for portraits talk given by Mark Cleghorn on the ePhotozine.com stand was very interesting and showed some great examples of working in challenging conditions and details of the set ups used. Jim Mark's talk on celebrity portraiture on The Flash Centre's stand was more of a showcase of his work but again, it was well presented in a fast paced style with good info on how the shots were created.
The downsides for me were that it was really busy after about 11.30 in the morning and for the rest of the day. There also didn't seem to be that much in the way of bargains available but as I wasn't really after anything in particular, that didn't matter too much.
Would I go next year? Not sure to be honest; having now been to the Nikon Expo and SWPP Trade Show, I felt that there was a lot of repetition going on. Still, it was worthwhile for the hints and tips I picked up during the day.
On the plus side I did attend some very interesting talks on Photoshop, ProShow Gold and portrait photography and also got to get my hands on some interesting bits of kit to try out. I also made a few useful contacts which I perhaps wouldn't have made elsewhere.
The lighting for portraits talk given by Mark Cleghorn on the ePhotozine.com stand was very interesting and showed some great examples of working in challenging conditions and details of the set ups used. Jim Mark's talk on celebrity portraiture on The Flash Centre's stand was more of a showcase of his work but again, it was well presented in a fast paced style with good info on how the shots were created.
The downsides for me were that it was really busy after about 11.30 in the morning and for the rest of the day. There also didn't seem to be that much in the way of bargains available but as I wasn't really after anything in particular, that didn't matter too much.
Would I go next year? Not sure to be honest; having now been to the Nikon Expo and SWPP Trade Show, I felt that there was a lot of repetition going on. Still, it was worthwhile for the hints and tips I picked up during the day.
22 February 2008
Focus on Imaging at the NEC
Well, the weekend has finally come round and one of the largest camera events in the UK is about to open at the NEC in Birmingham.
Focus on Imaging has been around for a good few years and has gradually built in size and following. Having already been to the SWPP Trade Show earlier this February in Hammersmith, it will be interesting to see how this year's Focus lives up to expectations.
There are a few stands I'm looking forward to visiting to see how they can take me forward with my photography - particularly on the event side of the business. Dye-sub printers are featuring now quite high up my desired kit list. The offerings from Mitsubishi and FujiFilm are definitely the front runners at the moment.
No doubt some other stands will grab my attention too! Just wondering if anyone will be offering the Nikon D300 at the sub £1,000 mark yet!! I can wish I suppose!
Focus on Imaging has been around for a good few years and has gradually built in size and following. Having already been to the SWPP Trade Show earlier this February in Hammersmith, it will be interesting to see how this year's Focus lives up to expectations.
There are a few stands I'm looking forward to visiting to see how they can take me forward with my photography - particularly on the event side of the business. Dye-sub printers are featuring now quite high up my desired kit list. The offerings from Mitsubishi and FujiFilm are definitely the front runners at the moment.
No doubt some other stands will grab my attention too! Just wondering if anyone will be offering the Nikon D300 at the sub £1,000 mark yet!! I can wish I suppose!
Shoot London and HDR photography
A few weekends ago I went into London with a fellow photography friend. We spent the day travelling around looking for suitable subjects to cover.
First stop was Speaker's Corner by Hyde Park. I've not been there before and it was quite an experience! Seeing the different speakers up on their soap boxes with the crowds gathered around was a great photo opportunity and kept us busy for an hour. Next stop was SoHo and Chinatown where the Chinese New Year decorations were up in preparation for the big event later that week. We moved on down to the Embankment before heading down towards the GLA building and Tower Bridge.
Luckily we were at the GLA Building for one of their weekend openings so we got to head up to the viewing platform to take in the sights. The best opportunity for shots though seemed to be inside the building on the way down the long spiralling staircase. As the light was fading, everything was lit up and gave us some great shots. Below is an example looking back up from where we'd come down:
We then headed across Tower Bridge to get some shots from the north embankment. My friend got me interested in taking some HDR (High Dynamic Range) shots which I gave a go. Not having tried the technique before I was keen to see what I could achieve. So, setting the camera in bracketing mode and firing off 3 shots on the tripod at 2 f-stops either side of the regular meter reading, I ended up with my photos ready for the post processing.
Back at home and using Photomatix pro software, I ran the HDR generate feature and ended up with the shot below. Not bad for a first attempt I think!
First stop was Speaker's Corner by Hyde Park. I've not been there before and it was quite an experience! Seeing the different speakers up on their soap boxes with the crowds gathered around was a great photo opportunity and kept us busy for an hour. Next stop was SoHo and Chinatown where the Chinese New Year decorations were up in preparation for the big event later that week. We moved on down to the Embankment before heading down towards the GLA building and Tower Bridge.
Luckily we were at the GLA Building for one of their weekend openings so we got to head up to the viewing platform to take in the sights. The best opportunity for shots though seemed to be inside the building on the way down the long spiralling staircase. As the light was fading, everything was lit up and gave us some great shots. Below is an example looking back up from where we'd come down:
We then headed across Tower Bridge to get some shots from the north embankment. My friend got me interested in taking some HDR (High Dynamic Range) shots which I gave a go. Not having tried the technique before I was keen to see what I could achieve. So, setting the camera in bracketing mode and firing off 3 shots on the tripod at 2 f-stops either side of the regular meter reading, I ended up with my photos ready for the post processing.
Back at home and using Photomatix pro software, I ran the HDR generate feature and ended up with the shot below. Not bad for a first attempt I think!
The technique allowed me to capture pretty much all the detail that would have otherwise been blown out in the highlights or under exposed.
Elinchrom's in use
Well I've done a couple of shoots using the new Elinchrom Dlite 2's now and I've been very impressed.
My first go at using them properly was for a family portrait shoot just a few days after getting the lights. Everything was really easy to set up and I was up and running pretty much straight away.
As the shoot was in a regular sized living room of someone's house, the lights were barely set above half power for the settings I needed to use. I can see that these are going to get more and more use over the coming years.
Below is one of the photos that I took on the day and has had a bit of post production applied.
The clients are really happy with the images I captured on the day so hopefully this investment in new kit will pay off soon.
My first go at using them properly was for a family portrait shoot just a few days after getting the lights. Everything was really easy to set up and I was up and running pretty much straight away.
As the shoot was in a regular sized living room of someone's house, the lights were barely set above half power for the settings I needed to use. I can see that these are going to get more and more use over the coming years.
Below is one of the photos that I took on the day and has had a bit of post production applied.
The clients are really happy with the images I captured on the day so hopefully this investment in new kit will pay off soon.
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