A lesson learnt

mc hammer lives in brislington
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

I generally try and make time to take pictures. Often i'll get stuck into work in the week and decide that I will do take some photos during the weekend in order to feed the habit. This doesn't seem to be working. Surely the perfect balance is to try and weave photography into everyday life. This is the new plan.

Part of this plan if i'm honest seems to be an elaborate  way of justifying getting myself a compact camera that I can sling in my bag and take with me everywhere as my slr is just too big. I think i'm going to get the Canon G10, shoots raw, nice big screen and not too big.

The importance of just having any old camera with me struck me after posting this shot of a local sign to flickr a couple of weeks ago. Its received more views, comments etc than any shot i've posted that have been meticulously taken with expensive kit. The mc hammer shot was taken with a little ixus, the camera is irrelevant, its all about the photo. 

Don't get too obsessed with kit, the magazines will make you think you need all sort of gubbins but you'll be amazed how much you can do with a basic camera and a 50mm lens. If you go out and spank a fortune on a camera that you are too worried about taking out of the house then what's the point?

The best advice that i'm trying to follow is that as a photographer you should have your camera with you everywhere you go. This is great advice. Not only will you never miss an opportunity but you'll be taking pictures every day and as a photographer you'll be indulging your passion. I'm off to the camera shop (again).

Trying something new...

_DSC0428
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

After having been inspired by a recent Chase Jarvis blog about trying something new I took his advice and had a go at combining two great passions of mine, photography and golf.

The shot above is one of many I got from a fantastic evening shoot at a local course during which I was lucky to get both some good light and free reign of a pretty deserted course.

What struck me as I was taking the shots was how I go through a series of steps when taking a photo that I always go through but never really give much consideration at the time.

In the interests of sharing know how i've outlined some important things to consider when you are out with your camera.

1. Choose your composition

I always use a tripod for this type of shot. The problem with tripods is that they are a hassle to adjust. Frame your shot with your camera in your hands then set up your tripod to suit. 

I recently switched from a pan/ tilt tripod head to a ball head and love it. It's so much quicker and easier to use and is smaller and lighter to boot.

2. Check your camera

Check your ISO, white balance and quality settings regularly. You can correct the white balance at home if you are shooting raw but if your quality and ISO are off the mark you could well have wasted a day shooting. 

3. Decide what you are trying to do

The camera allows us to control what effect we get from our resulting photo. If we want to freeze or blur motion we can set the shutter speed to get the effect we want. If we are primarily concerned with depth of field we can control the aperture. This is a key decision.

Landscape photographers as a rule are primarily concerned with depth of field. Typically, we like a wide depth of field which renders the whole scene in focus. This often results in long shutter speeds being required to make a properly exposed photograph.

For the shot above all I was interested in was maximising the sharpness and optical quality of the shot. The sweet spot of any lens is when it is set to f8, so I set the aperture to f8 and adjusted the shutter speed to suit. 

I wasn't interested in what the shutter speed was as the camera was on a tripod and I wasn't trying to get any shutter speed effects like blur or whatever.

One other shot I should have tried is to get a bit more movement in the flag. To do this I would have set the shutter to say 1/30th, tweaked the aperture to give a correct exposure then took a shot to see if 1/30th gives enough movement.

It's all about deciding what you are trying to do and then experimenting until you nail it, pixels are free so play around with different effects. The best way to learn is to stick the camera in manual mode and go from there to make sure that you are making all of the decisions and you can see the results of the decisions that you are making.

4. Review the scene

Rest assured that however you have composed your shot you can always improve it. Check the entire scene for distracting elements such as litter or stray vegetation. Make sure your camera is level by investing in a hot shoe bubble level...only about a tenner but will last forever and you'll use it every time.

5. Try a variation of what you are doing

There is nothing more annoying that after bothering going to a location and doing everything right to get home and when reviewing your photos to think if only I had tried something else with that scene.

When you are in the field just try something else. If just one of these variations works out it will have been worth it. If it doesn't work just delete it, it's that simple.

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Kit shopping list:

Hot shoe bubble level

Manfrotto Ball Head

 

Flower macro lit by flash...

Flower macro
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

Well after a lengthy unintentional sabbatical from this photo blog its time to resurrect things.

This shot follows a couple of weeks of study around off camera flash. The source of knowledge was inevitably Strobist and the catalyst was buying a set of Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers from the guys at London Flash Centre.

I've been following the Strobist blog for years and always meant to get my head down and follow the lighting 101/ 102 tutorials. It turned out that the best route in for me was to get the strobist dvd and go from there. It is a fantastic learning resource and I found it the best way to join the dots of my patchy knowledge.

This shot was really quick to set up and can be done and dusted in 20 mins.

Anyway, the recipe for this shot is as follows.

You will need:

- Subject
- Something to trigger the flash
- Flash with something to diffuse the light
- Camera + tripod etc...
- Macro lens

1) Set up camera and tripod and choose your first composition with your subject.

2) Choose what you want to focus on while the main light is on as once the lights are out autofocussing becomes almost impossible.

Once you've selected your focus knock the auto focus to manual so that it wont shift. For this shot I chose to focus on the yellow "eyes" as they were an interesting feature.

3) Set up your flash and diffuser (I used a shoot through brolly) and position it as close as you can to the subject (from camera left).

4) Check your flash is triggering and that your subject is getting the light coverage you want.

5) Set your camera to manual mode and set the shutter to its synch speed. My D70 will synch up to 1000th sec but I went for 500th sec for this shot. A super fast shutter will leave you with a really, really under-exposed exposure which gets you that black background (without needing to bother using a piece of black card or whatever).

If you cant synch that fast don't stress, your cameras synch speed should be fast enough to knock the background out as long as your environment isn't too bright.

So your shutter speed gives you your black background and to get the narrow depth of field I chose an aperture of f4. The job of the flash is to illuminate the subject. This point of the shutter controlling the natural or ambient light and the flash controlling the light on the subject is absolutely fundamental to understanding how this stuff works.

6) Set the flash to manual and choose a setting to start with. The final setting on the flash was 1/8th power.

7) Turn the main lights out and set the white balance on the camera to Flash. I shot this at ISO 200 and shot raw files as ever.

8) Take a test shot using a cable release or use the self timer. It's probably not strictly necessary for this sort of shot with flash but its a force of habit and good practice I guess.

9) Check your histogram to see how close you are. If you are too dark either boost the flash power or move it closer if you can. You can also open up the aperture if you want but if you want f4 then change the flash to suit.

Whatever you do don't try and learn about the law of reciprocity which explains how this flash/ subject ratio all works because your eyes will bleed.

10) If you don't like the strong shadow on the right hand of the subject just hold some white card on that side to bounce some light back into the shadows.

This kind of shot is perfect for when the weather is too bad for a landscape session or its dark because you're back from work late and you've just got to create something.

Macro tastic

flower
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

After reading Scott Kelbys excellent "Digital Photography" book I felt inspired to apply some of the stuff that I had picked up and spent a great few hours last weekend getting some new macro shots.

The approach of the book is to offer advice as if the author was there to ask directly how to get the shot. What this turns into is the equivalent of recipes for photos, which if you follow you cant help but get something like the picture that they show in the book.

This isn't to say that this photo lark is formulaic but you can't get away from the fact that there's a fair bit of technique going on here that anyone can follow to get some great results.

So following suit I thought i'd pass on the love and follow a similar format here. So in a true recipe format here goes, this is the recipe I followed to get this shot.

What I used:

• window with some diffused light coming through it
• tripod
• flower (go and get some cheap blooms from the supermarket)
• camera and a remote release
• macro lens
• water sprayer (the shower works well if you haven't got one of these)
• black background (I used a suitcase!)

How I got the shot:

• sit next to a window and position the flower so that its getting a good amount of light
• if it's a bright sunny day diffuse the light that hits the flower by putting some tissue paper or a shower curtain between the window and the flower. If your neighbours asks you why you are putting a shower curtain up in your bedroom lie to them!
• set your background a few feet behind the flower so it goes nice and black when you take your shots
• set your white balance on the camera, check you are using the lowest ISO and set the shot up so its all level
• use raw if you can as it gives you much more flexibility later on
• get your camera at the same height as the flower, this nails the depth of field effect if you are shooting at f5.6 or a similar wide aperture
• spray the flower to get some good beads of water
• set the camera to aperture priority and choose what aperture you want (this shot was at f 5.6)
• take a shot (using a remote release or your self timer) and see what you get
• check your histogram and re-shoot until you get some info in the graph up to just off the end of the far right hand side
• take loads of shots at different apertures, you are bound to prefer some more than others once you check them over on the computer

Tips

• keep everything as still as possible, if you can lock your mirror up then do it. If you get comfortable you wont shift about and ruin the shot
• try and get the white balance and exposure as good as you can in the camera, it minimises the time you'll spend behind the computer

I hope this is useful, let me know if it helps you nail any beauties

Three fishermen

fishermen
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

Up by the lighthouse on the beach at Burnham on sea I came across these guys fishing in the Bristol channel. It was absolutely freezing and pretty bleak, the first guy wasn't using a tripod so was just stood there waiting for a knock. They had a gas lamp with them so god knows how long they were staying out for, good on em.

The pile of sand in the foreground is from where these guys had been digging for bait, lugworm I guess. Its either that or where some poor bugger has sunk into the killer quick sand that seem to be all over this beach, I nearly lost my boots at one point.

New years day was pretty bleak and there was so little colour in the image that it was definitely one to be converted into black and white. I like the result, it conveys the mood of the day.

A good recent discovery is that the guy who presents many of the fishing programmes on discovery is also a photo journalist. His name is Henry Gilbey, check out Henrys site.

Details:

f5.6
1/60 sec
iso 200
nikon d70
50 mm 1.8 lens
handheld

Lily macro

lily_soft
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

For the sake of a couple of quid a bunch of lilies provide a great macro subject. They have now all fully flowered and have stunk the flat out but have lasted ages and are still bloomin after a week indoors.

I set up a macro studio, using my strobist budget jobbie and lit it from either side using some desklamps. These flowers give you so many shot choices from the stamens to more abstract shots using colour and limited depth of field.

After playing round with various compositions I settled on this shot, varying the depth of focus on the funny little bobbly bits that come from the petals. I preferred this on at f2.8, not only to satisfy my obsession with limited focus but also to try and take something a bit more original that the classic shots.

Details:

f2.8
1/15th second
tripod
105 mm macro
iso 200
remote release
raw
nikon d70

Flood deposits

shells
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

I spent 10 minutes or so fishing alonside a pile of debris that had been dumped by the flooded river avon. I had a poke about in it as the barbel weren't playing ball and found all sorts of things.

The most surprising find were loads of snail shells amongst the broken bits of wood and seeds. I thought they'd make an interesting shot and once i got the tripod level I got some nice macros to record the details in the deposits.

A pretty straighford shot really but just shows how much stuff our rivers transport around the place and then dump elsewhere to germinate. It also makes me think how many snails get washed into the sea......gutted!

f22
1/2 sec
iso 200
nikon d70
macro 105mm
tripod
raw

Macro mania

fungi
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

After toying with the idea for what seems like months I finaly took the plunge and invested in a macro lens. I justified it on the basis that (a) it was christmas and more importantly (b) i wanted one.

I plumped for a Sigma 105mm 2.8 as I have read various good reviews of them and after trying one put the other week it was simply a matter of time.

Overall its an impressive lens and i've been really pleased with the results given that i've no real idea how to use it yet. It's so much easier than playing round with extension tubes and metering through the lens saves loads of messing around.

My last day before work started again was spent at Lacock Abbey. After failing to catch a barbel from the swollen river Avon I resorted to a macro mission and found a few interesting things to shoot. It's amazing with these lenses how many shots you can get in a small area of land. I need to learn to look again, these lenses make you think in a very different way, its great as there wil be thousands of shots to take on my doorstep that i've never thought of before.

This was taken at pretty close to lifesize. I played around with a few versions with different depths of field but plumped for this one at 5.6.

Details:

sigma 105 macro
nikon d70
f 5.6
iso 200
1/10 sec
tripod
raw

light up bristol...

10
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

It was one of those nasty winter evenings that you want to sit in and drink tea but I knew id regret not going down to college green to take some pictures.

I had had a look in on the way back from work and I dont think i've ever seen such a concentration of photographers in one place before. After popping home to pick up my kit I spent a good few hours trying to get something a bit different to the shots id already seen of it on flickr.

I stuck the lens on f8 to get the best from my lens and used exposures ranging from 15 to 30 seconds. The magic of seeing a shot with such vibrant colours is fantastic and really rekindled my love for night photography.

This shot is as we speak one of the most viewed from my flickr account so I thought it was worth a blog posting. The lights in the trees were amazing and were as much of a spectacle as the projections themselves.

I focussed on infinity and tripped the shutter with a remote release to leave the camera untouched. Details as follows:

70mm
f8
20 seconds
iso 200
tripod
raw
d70
remote release

Babe Ruth...

ruth
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

We met my new niece on Saturday and here she is. I've been spending a couple of evenings properly getting to grips with rawshooter and its pretty darn useful. I think from here on in its gonna be raw files all the way so I will be mostly investing in bigger cards and some more backup storage.

Speaking of backups I think its time to back everything to somewhere safe...these guys at databarracks could be useful!

Anyroad, this shot was another in my unplanned series of shallow depth of fielders and although some may argue a touch cliche I really like it. I converted it into black and white in rawshooter as I still dont have a de facto method in photoshop. Im finding myself following the Andy Rouse philosophy of minimising time spent at the pc, thats gotta be a winner. The fact that I can do everything in rawshooter except final crops and levels tweaks is premier league.

Speaking of Andy Rouse he has started a blog on his site...its well worth a read...

traffic lights

traffic lights
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

this shot caught my eye with the three colours of leaves and seemed to definitely have some potential as it reminded me of some sort of autumnal traffic light...

The star of the shot is the Acer again, ive no idea what the species is that make up the yellow and green leaves but i loving the colours.

Another shallow depth of field shot, am now wondering what all leaves would look like sharp but hey ho, theres always next autumn...

f1.8
1/500 sec
iso 200
raw
handheld
nikon d70

backlit leaves...

yellow
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

After mooching around westonbirt with a bit of a cold it was a relief to have a bit of sun in the woods...

I had a great tutorial fresh in my mind and wanted to get some backlit shots to show both the colours in the leaves as well as their veins.

I shot most of the pictures using very shallow depth of field...this was at f1.8..I think I just spot metered from the leaves and went from there...

The weather is rancid now in Bristol im so glad i got down to westonbirt to get these shots! It proves that no matter what, its always worth getting out and amongst it...

f1.8
1/750 sec
handheld
iso 200
d70
raw

yellow glow

yellow glow
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

thats enough sunsets for the time being..

I managed to get to westonbirt before the monsoons started and had a fantastic afternoon in the woods. I think this is an Acer, they were the best value, loads of mad colours.

I seemed to shoot most things at f1.8 to get a bit of sharpness and loads of blurred colour in the background.

details for this one:

f1.8
iso 200
1/40th second
tripod
nikon d70
raw

swirly

swirl
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

well its been a while...

anyroad...more from Clevedon..

This one has seemed to get quite a bit of attention from my flickr set.

Not too much to say about it other than its another with the grey grad filter which allowed me to hold th esky in the shot whilst still getting the detail in the foreground seaweed.

seaweed sunset...

landscape
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

To continue yesterdays theme (as i've got a load of these!) here's another shot from the sunset at Clevedon.

It was a tricky one to meter due to the dark foreground and a bit of strong light in the sunset but the histogram helped out loads. Thank god for digital.

I think it could do with a boat or something in the background to add a bit of interest as the sunset wasn't at its most majestic. The movement in the foreground adds the best elements of the shot for me.

details:
f22
24mm
1.5 secs
iso 200
0.9 grey grad

last chance saloon...

spike
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

After an amazing weekend of early winter weather i took the opportunity to go and shoot a pretty spectacular sunset down at Clevedon.

This was the last shot of the day, mainly because the battery was nearly dead and the card was full....I took three shots and deleted the first two to make space for this...keeping an eye on the histogram to try and get a nice exposure...

I took a spot reading from the sky and dialled that into the camera in manual mode. After checking the focus, I slid a 0.9 grad filter to the horizon....got a boot full of water then tripped the shutter....checked the histogram then legged it up the beach/ rocks!

shutter - 6 secs
aperture - f22
filter - 0.9 grad
tripod
lens at 22mm
raw

I'm well chuffed with it...

wedding break' off

36
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

I took some pics at my mates wedding at the weekend. An unexpected breakdancing competition presented an ideal opportunity to try out my new flash.

I think these guys had previous as they were pretty good dancers with some windmills and headstands making an appearance. I got these shots by dialling the shutter down to 1/10th and shifting the flash to rear curtain...

light trails at the arc de triumph

arc_trails3
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

ok so a break from the macro, one from the archives showing that if you are prepared to duel with the Paris traffic you can get some great shots.

This was one of many of my shots that I wouldnt have got without a small pocket triopod which in this case was balanced on a traffic beacon. I set it ti f22 and let it work out the rest....probably using a timer as cable releases keep getting taken off me in airports!

This was taken on Ilford black and white film..back in them old days when you had to take 24 consecutive shots in b&w...well not strickly true but you catch my drift...

lily macro...

lily
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

yep, more of the macro with the new extension tubes. After playing around with various compositions and depths of field this was one of my favourites.

I've just bought Ross Hoddinott's digital macro book which looks pretty good after an initial flick through. In addition to this check out the following for great macro resources and stuff on using flash.

Ross Hoddinott's website
Digital macro book by Ross Hoddinott
Ken Rockwell on Nikon flash

mellow yellow

yellow
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

Another macro from the weekend which when i saw it in for the first time I nearly wet myself as it looked so much better on the laptop than it did on the camera.

I like the petals off to the right of the shot...a vertical crop would make an interesting abstract..

One thing I did notice was the difference it makes when you get the exposure and white balance spot on by using a grey card. The custom white balance in the d70 worked brilliantly for these and using the histogram you cant fail to get the exposure nailed.