Creation of Sadamitsu by S. Nei Fujita from the album cover of Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet
I'm approaching my annual summer sabbatical from landscape photography. Every year I take about six weeks off during which the big camera, tripod and all the other paraphernalia stay packed away
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Having set up the printer from the box and installed ink cartridges, the next step is to make some prints. However there are some significant steps to make before we hit the ‘Print’ button in Photoshop. The major parts of this are monitor calibration and colour management.
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Cod and Lobster - Staithes
I'm halfway through my annual summer sabbatical from landscape photography. Every year I take six weeks off during which the big camera, tripod and all the other paraphernalia stays packed away and I spend time just being with my family.
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The photo world has been full of the new Nikon Z8 over the past few weeks. I’ve noticed a few landscape photographers moving over and last week I was asked twice if I’d be buying one. Will I be handing over my money? Read on to find out.
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Blea Tarn
Last year I reviewed the outstanding Kingjoy C85 Tripod and found that it not only performed as well as my Gitzo Systematic 3 Series but that by the end of the review period I was choosing it in preference on a regular basis. My interest was especially raised therefore when Kinjoy invited me to try out another of their tripods. This time the C83S.
Read MoreI like the look of a minimal depth of field image. I think it instantly creates a sense of depth by virtue of the layers of focused and unfocused elements. This will give at least two layers and if there is some foreground then three distinct layers resolve giving yet more depth.
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This review has been difficult to write, I feel as though I've been swimming against the tide throughout. I've had to force 'head over heart' and analysis over instinct. I've had to forget decades of experience and accept the new.
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The third in this lexicon of photographers' paranoia is FOAD. This is not the FOAD of the urban slang dictionary but rather an acronym for a particular form of paranoia:
Fear Of A Dud
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Normally we would say ‘Cry Foul’ but here we invoke another acronym that describes the paranoia experienced by Landscape Photographers.
Here the acronym stands for
Fear Of Wrong Location
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Cow parsley - Motorola G7 + Snapseed
This is not as you may have thought, a terror induced by Morris Dancers nor being locked in a room with The Spinners. In this lexicon of photography paranoia, FOLK is an acronym for ‘Fear Of Lesser Kit’
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Some photographers are exceptionally fussy about camera bags, others don’t see it as a big deal. I’m fussy. I always have been and probably always will be.
Read MoreI’ve been using the newest Lee Lens Hood for the past few months and since I’m unlikely to be taking it out over the next few, this seemed like a good point to review the progress so far.
Lee Filters have offered a lens hood ( two in fact including the WA variant) for many years. I'd often considered owning one but felt the flaws did not balance the potential advantages. Advances in design, materials and the launch last year of the new 100 holder enabled a very welcome update in the form of this new 100 Hood.
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Whenever we use some form of process for measurement, we need to be assured that it is calibrated in some way. It seems to be that there is a very considerable amount of uncalibrated advice circulating via the internet and television. The written form has needed calibration since the advent of web.2.0 and as YouTube has bloomed, the need has become ever more immediate.
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I've read a couple of interesting pieces this week that concerned themselves with considerations of style and audience. Guy Tal wrote a fine piece on The Pitfalls of Style and David DuChemin’s piece on who to please with one's photography. Both of these landed on a draft for this post which had been sitting and stewing for some time.
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Z7 with 14-30mm
The brand new Nikon Z 14-30mm F4 S lens is finally arriving into circulation. I received mine this week and here are my initial findings. This is a lens with specifications that would have been unthinkable only a decade ago. Nikon have managed to combine an extreme wide angle zoom with compact size and the ability to mount conventional filters. The new Z mount together with ever improving optical designs and exotic elements and coatings have brought a product that sounds like the perfect wide angle zoom for many photographs. Read on to see how successful Nikon have been.
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Landscape photographers in the UK seem to be split into a number of groups when choosing footwear. Those that prefer to wear trainers or other non specialist footwear. Those who choose walking boots and those who prefer Wellingtons. These groups of course overlap according to location and conditions. Are these Hunter boots the best choice for Landscape Photographers? Read on
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Which lenses for Venice?
This is a question that is often asked and even more frequently ruminated upon by those heading off to Venice for the first time. Experience generally informs subsequent trips but only if honest reflection is undertaken and heads lead rather than hearts. There are questions to be answered first of course - relating to the kind of subject matter and images we wish to create. Those indulging in street photography will in all likelihood use the same selection as in any city. Others may revel in picking out the details from a distance and so take along a longer lens. My answers usually follow from the premise that, for me, the landscape of Venice is the main subject. A second and in some ways bigger question is to do with the degree to which we are prepared to compromise the enjoyment of the city by carrying too much weight. Photographing Venice involves a lot of walking and every kg seems to weigh double as the day goes on. For many people the iconic images of Venice are long exposures and in order to achieve this even more extra weight has to be carried in the form of tripod, ND filters, remote release etc. I recently analysed all my ‘keepers’ from Venice and tabulated them according to number of images for each focal length. I rounded all intermediate focal lengths to the nearest ‘recognisable’ prime equivalent. Note needs to be taken that the graph represents focal lengths and not specific lenses. The 85mm length equates to 55mm on my Fuji X cameras. In my analysis this includes the 18-55mm @55mm, the 55-200mm@ 55mm and the 56mm f1.2. The outcome surprised me slightly and is of course influenced by personal style, conditions, time of year etc. It is probably also influenced by whim to at least some extent. The key findings as may be seen from the table is that very wide angle only accounts for 10% of the mages and effectively less than 2% of images are from focal lengths that exceed 85mm. 75% of all the images were, or could have been made with a 28-85mm(FF) or 18-55mm (APS-C).
The information can be used to plan which lenses to carry. An 18-55 (28-80 FF) and something wider would account for 98% of all my keepers. Adding a telephoto as the third lens brings this to 100%. A future blog post will concern itself with a detailed analysis of exactly what equipment I personally carry when visiting Venice. The problem we all face is a perennial one, that of being prepared for the once in a lifetime image that is beyond the popular range of focal lengths. Everyone finds their own resolution to this question but I would prefer to enjoy the days rather than carry too much. A further consideration becoming every greater is that of transporting the relevant equipment by aircraft. The information above refers to my own favourite images from Venice over the past five years. These are partly represented by the Venice Gallery on my website. My solution so far has been twofold. The first part is the use of Fuji X series cameras and the second to beruthless on lens choice, drawing from my own data rather than my heart. The next blog post will be concerned with an analysis of all the equipment that I would usually take on such a trip. This will include my solutions for managing a balance between photography and airline luggage restrictions. If you would like to photograph this beautiful city and improve your own photography, I will be leading a workshop in April 2019 for Aspect2i. The workshop details may be viewed below.http://www.aspect2i.co.uk/intermediate-level-photograph-venice-italy-ID130.html