Your mission, should you choose to accept it…

…This is definitely a "mission possible"!

I was recently pointed towards a great social networking/portfolio site for photographers and would like to share it with you (part 1).

500px.com

This is a great social tool for photographers of all levels of experience. If you have a portfolio of images, then why not show them off - I'm sure you're proud of your best images and they deserve to be seen by as many people as possible. Unlike throwing up a facebook or google+ page though, this is a site predominantly used by other photographers, so their opinions of your work are far more valid and informed than those of your family and friends (who'll love your work regardless).

A basic account is free, and you'll get 2 weeks upgrade to the "awesome" account features as an introductory offer. You can upload your images (full size high res jpegs) right away and start building your profile. These are them available for viewing by other users - and here's how the profile building part comes in.

All images on the site are viewable by other users and you're invited to post a comment and click "like" or set an image as a "favourite". This feedback then adds to your images rating calculated from views, likes and favourites and ranks it with the other site content, so if you post a really popular image, it will be viewed on the first page. As new images are uploaded, they're sorted into the "fresh" listing and there's also an "editor's choice" chart. The content form other users covers every subject you could want, so whatever interests you - there's a place for it! There is some really stunning work on display from users all over the world - I've found it inspirational and I'm sure you will too. In addition, your images will be seen by a huge global audience and you'll get some constructive feedback from people who's opinions you can respect.

So - give it a go! It costs nothing and is a great opportunity to improve your work and get a reputation.

Now for part 2…

I'd love to see some of your work! Why not open yourself an account and leave me a comment posting below with a link to your page? I'm sure other readers would be just as interested in what you're shooting. Alternatively - have a look at my page - http://500px.com/spacemonkeypics - and leave a comment there (be sure to mark it (blog reader) so I know it's one of you).

Any subject - any camera - show me your best stuff! The gauntlet's thrown down - I'm bracing myself to be blown away!

Put you on it…Picturecorrect.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got a link to this blog posting in the mail today and thought I'd share it with you here – if you're ever looking for motivation or a direction, it has some great advice and is definitely worth a read:

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/landscape-photography-techniques-and-tips/


As an aside, "picturedirect" is a really interesting daily photo blog feed that's well worth following. There's something for everyone on there regardless of your subject preference and it has some really great instructional articles and videos covering everything from basic lens choices to the most complex fashion flash setups. Give it a go…

If you're enjoying these posts, why not leave me some feedback - I'd like to hear from you - and why not click to follow.  Good shooting!

Snow white - snow light…

As a nation, we're obsessed with the weather - whatever it's doing, we'd prefer it to be doing something else. If we had a summer where the sun cracked the flags for a solid 3 months (like '76), we'd moan that it was too hot! But the one scenario that has the entire country freaking out is - you guessed it - snow!

I don't know what it is with Britain and snow - it's like we've never seen it before! The rest of the world just gets on with things while Blighty grinds to a halt. This never fails to amaze my American and European colleagues, who wouldn't even class what we have as snow.

It does, however, offer the landscape photographer fresh opportunities on his or her doorstep, as a covering of snow makes everything look different in a good way. Light suddenly comes up from the ground instead of down and by removing almost all the colour, we're able to look at things in a new and exciting way. It's snowed on and off here for the last 2 weeks and as I've been in work, it's mostly been a pain - but with a friday night dump of 6-8 inches, photo opportunities are too good to miss, and I was up and out early to make the most of the scenery, while the rest of the country was either in bed, parked outside Toys R Us, waiting for it to open to find a sledge, or panic buying canned food and candles.

Here's a couple of tips to help you get the best out of the snowy weather:

• Make sure to dress warmly enough - there's a lot of hanging about with photography. A good pair of walking boots with some kind of waterproof liner (gore tex or similar) will keep your feet dry and warm. Jeans are not the best in snow as denim tends to soak up water and hang on to it, so some kind of winter walking trousers would work much better - something with a powder cuff is ideal. Don't forget gloves - if your fingers don't work you can't press the buttons!
   
• Make sure you have enough batteries - they will tend to loose power much quicker as the temperature drops. A spare is a good investment anyway and you can keep it charges and ready to go. No power - no pictures!
   
• Try not to drop anything! Having your photo bag well organized will pay off big time here. If you drop anything into the snow, don't put it back onto your camera without making sure it's really dry.
   
• Use a circular polarising filter to get the most out of the sky and bring out the colour in the snow. ND grads are also good to stop the sky from over exposing the foreground and will add more definition in the clouds. I shot the image above with Cokin P ND 4 soft grad filter.
   
• Bracket your exposures to make sure you don't over expose the image and blow out all the white areas. Although snow is essentially white, it has a lot of colour in the shadows that we can employ to increase interest in the image. Check the image histogram (most DSLRs will have this facility) so you can see if the image is over and under exposed and then use your camera's exposure compensation to adjust either way. Also, set up your camera to show and black or white clipping (this is where there are areas of blown out white highlight or pure black low lights) and this can help you add the compensation to get the perfect exposure.
   
• Get out early or stay out late! This is a good rule of thumb with outdoor photography anyway, as the light is softer, more golden, and has a greater effect on the sky. With snowy scenes, early or late light is lower in the sky, so it lends more modelling to the subject by lighting from the side instead of above. You'll get fabulous long coloured shadows at either end of the day. One advantage to morning over evening is that there'll be less footprints if you get there before everybody else and his dog has been through - you want your snow to be pristine, not yellow!
  
  

 So next time it snows - make the most of it and get out there with a camera! As a rule, most people take snaps and then wonder why their images are boring and flat, so with a little extra effort, you can get some beautifully lit snow images and be back in front of the fire with a mug of tea before the rest of the nation has crawled out from under the duvet!

If you're enjoying these posts, why not leave me some feedback - I'd like to hear from you - and why not click to follow.  Good shooting!

Essential kit No. 8…

A good camera bag

 
















The more we immerse ourselves in a hobby, the more money it inevitably costs us! It’s natural that, as you become more enthusiastic and get to form your own opinions and preferences, an endless glittering array of “must-have” toys will start to draw the eye. When it comes to camera bags, there is a bewildering range of designs available to fit any budget!

I started out carrying my equipment in a shoulder bag that I use daily to and from work – seemed more than adequate for the job to me at the time and it wasn’t terrible – but the shortfalls quickly became apparent. It did the job, but didn’t really do it well. For starters, it has 20 years worth of dust, crumbs and fluff in all the internal crevices and this is – as we know – a very bad thing for cameras. It also had no padding, didn’t hold a lot and was uncomfortable when it was filled up. I used it on holiday for 5 days in Barcelona and rubbed all the skin from both my shoulders. On my return, I started looking for a better solution to the problem!

Camera bags come in a huge variety of shapes and designs, with some really useful innovations, but they can basically be divided into 2 approaches:

• Shoulder / messenger type bags

• Rucksacks

Both systems are equally valid and choosing which route to go down is really a personal preference and depends on what’s comfortable for you and the type of shoots you do. For me, the bag had to work in the outdoors, first and foremost, so the rucksack route was preferable. I looked at the whole range available – from cheap to outrageously expensive and no-name manufacturers to the big, well established brands, and made my choice based on a compromise between cost and features, spending around the £50 mark (which is the cheap end for a rucksack). Choice is a very personal thing – I’d suggest that if you’re thinking about buying a bag, maybe try a few out in a good camera shop, but there are some features to look out for.

Comfortable, well designed straps: 

Many of the cheaper rucksacks (and some of the not so cheap) have badly designed straps. These days a basic hiking rucksack will have all sorts of design features to improve the comfort and fit of the bag, but this technology doesn’t seem to have made it over to camera bags in many cases. Look for a bag that’s comfortable and well padded at the back, with well padded and adjustable straps. A chest strap and waist belt are good features to look for here along with webbing you can clip things to.

A nice feature on my bag is the ability to un-clip a strap, tuck it away and carry it using a single diagonal strap like a messenger bag. 

Well thought out access:

There are many “unique access systems” with these bags, with many of them seemingly added just to be different. What seems to work well here is a bag with plenty of protective padding , with 2 basic internal areas so you can keep your camera gear away from your lunch. Look for adjustable interior dividers so you can tailor the spaces to suit your kit. One of the big draws for me when choosing a bag, was the side entry flaps – this is a really useful innovation and I tend to have the camera in the left one and all my filters in the right. It makes finding everything much easier and you can still get into them when there’s a tripod attached. A large access flap to the front and top are also really handy to get to your lenses and other kit.

A good waterproof cover:

This is a really important addition as, with all the fancy access points and zips, your bag will be much less waterproof than a normal rucksack. Look for an integral rain cover to keep your gear safe. I'd always advise bagging everything on the inside as well, if there's any fear of rain, but the spray cover will get the bulk of it.

 

Tripod carrying options:

Many bags either come with the option to attach a tripod, or with accessory additions that you can buy to allow it. This was a big draw for me. As I tend to need to walk in to where I’m planning to shoot and carrying a tripod gets old quickly. Also, if you need to cover any rugged country or climb up or down rocks, having both hands free is essential.

Additional features to look out for:

• Webbing points will allow you to attach items to the outside of your bag.
• Easy to use, chunky zips are great when your fingers are freezing.
• Look for some smaller pockets inside where you can store smaller items like memory cards or lens wipes. Things like this make it easier to organize the contents.
• A carry strap at the top of your bag will allow you to hang it below your tripod if it has a hook – keeping it off the floor and adding ballast and stability while you shoot. 
• Look for a bag that conforms to the standard airline hand luggage dimensions - then you'll be able to keep your kit safe with you in the cabin without having to check it. Handy if you're into travel photography or planning any trips or a holiday.

I’ve been using my bag now for almost 6 months and I’m pretty happy with it. It has a lot of great features for the price – more than some way more expensive offerings and it’s made outdoor shoots much easier – at the end of the day, that’s the whole idea. There are a couple of small niggles – the internal dividers are maybe not as well thought out as some higher end bags and I broke one of the zip pulls almost immediately, but in general, it’s pretty good and superb value – I bought mine on Amazon and it’s currently retailing for about £65.

The added security of a snap-lock buckle over both the side pockets means there's no fear of walking off and your camera falling out, which is a nice extra touch. The top section is great for carrying memory, a lens blower and my cable remote - there are some net pockets and some smaller elasticated pouches so there's a place for everything.

Essentially, we could all carry our gear in a black bin bag (you should already have one to hand!), but a well designed and easy to use bag can really improve your experience while keeping your expensive toys safe! It’s a no-brainer!! 

If you're enjoying these posts, make my day and click to follow - the more the merrier!

 

New Year's resolution – of a sort…

I'm determined to get out more this year and build the beginnings of a solid portfolio of work - I've never been one for New-Year's resolutions as nobody ever keeps them, but I hate to waste a day. Working 5 days a week, it's so easy to just blimp out in front of the tv and before you know it, it's monday morning. This year, if I don't get out on a shoot every weekend - it'll be every other, or I've failed!

With that ringing in my ears - I set out to make the most of last saturday by revisiting a site with the purpose of shooting from early afternoon into dusk. I live just off the edge of the Peak District in England, so there are plenty of good sites to shoot relatively near. Last October I took a day off work to shoot out at "the Roaches" - this is a long rock formation that marks the western edge or the peak district where it boarders the flat lands of Staffordshire. It's extremely exposed country with the most dramatic grit stone outcrops - but it also catches all the weather moving east, and although I was able to scout out some good opportunities, the weather basically smacked me about awful! The cloud rolled in and visibility was down to a couple of feet, the wind was gale force, it started raining, I started swearing, I retreated back to the car and drove back grumpy, but determined to return.

Back to last saturday. I got there at about 1.00 pm - it's always windy but the sky was interesting and the light good - I set out to make the most of the opportunity. I bagged some shots, moving locations a half dozen times and the image above was the best of the day - for those with interest, I shot it with a Nikkon 10-24mm lens, set to about 13mm to avoid the filter holder cropping into the frame and an ND8 soft grad filter to balance the exposure and throw out the cloud structure. The final image is a combination of 3 exposures processed for the sky detail, mid ground and foreground, with the sky layer duplicated as an overlay to punch up the colour and drama.

By the way - I'm loving this lens - it was a Christmas present from my wife and it's fantastic to work with - I'll post on it shortly, but if you're a Nikon user looking for a wide lens, this is hard to beat for the price.

As the light dropped into the early dusk, I relocated to a site I'd seen on the first trip, to shoot a beautiful derelict barn at "Roach End". The evening skies were full of colour and very dramatic, and I worked the site until the light left before the long drive home, freezing cold but satisfied. All my processed shots are available to view from the day, on my profile page - the link is up in the top right of the page and I'd love to hear any feedback you'd care to leave. It's a learning curve but I'm happy to be making progress and getting some images that are approaching what I've set out to take - I'm determined to get more and make more progress! Make the most of 2013 and get out there into the light and air.

If you're enjoying these posts, why not leave me some feedback - I'd like to hear from you - and why not click to follow.  Good shooting!

Essential free thing!…

The Photographer's Euphemeris – http://photoephemeris.com

I'd planned to write a short "Essential Kit" post about always taking a decent map and navigation compass when you're venturing into the more remote parts of the great outdoors. As you've probably worked out, these posts are aimed at directing towards the small things that can be really useful while you're out shooting, rather than straight camera or lens reviews (I'm not remotely qualified for this so if you're after reviews of lenses and camera bodies - there are plenty of magazines already doing this). My angle is to point out the little things that can either help you get that great image or make the getting of it more comfortable.

The one piece of solid gold advice I do have though, is if you want to capture stunning images - be prepared to actually go places in order to get them! This may sound ridiculous, but most people think they can just stumble into their own yard and shoot something that encapsulates the awesome spectacle of nature - then afterwards, can't for the life of them figure out why their pictures are all crap. If you want great landscape images - go places!

So with that in mind, my advice this post was to suggest that, in planning to visit a site of interest, it's always good to take a quality map (in the UK that would be an OS landranger map) that would both help you to navigate to your site and more importantly - tell you how the light would fall at a set time. For instance - if you drive to the east coast of england to shoot a seascape - a dawn shoot is probably going to be better looking out to sea etc. Then, during the week I stumbled on the free software above that takes all the work out of that for you - introducing the "Photographer's Euphemeris".

This is a really great - FREE - tool that takes the guesswork out of planning where you need to be at what time. It calculates the rising and setting trajectories of the moon and sun for any site you request, and also gives you the times for a set date (you can plan in advance). It even adjusts for seasonal fluctuations.

As I said, it's downloadable free from their site and there are windows (32 & 64 bit), Mac OS, i-pad and i-phone versions available. I took the mac version and it's a great, simple tool to use. You can view the maps as a graphic (think google maps), satalite view (google earth) or a combination of both so you get the 3D view with the place names.

I'm planning a couple of trips to the lake district soon and I'll definitely be pre-planning a few sites using this data.

Ideally, perceived wisdom is that we all visit a site first to "recce" it out before returning to shoot. In the real world, nobody has the time or the petrol money, so any preparation in advance is going to give you a greater chance of success - and this is an excellent free resource - download it now!

PS. Take a map anyway - nothing works better than a map when you're lost!

Tripod shooting tips

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Here's a quick top ten tick list for getting the most out of using your tripod while shooting.  Using a tripod outdoors forces you to take a bit more time and compose your shot in a more considered way than if you were just walking around snapping away.

1. Make sure you level your tripod properly before you start shooting. You may need to set the legs at different lengths on uneven firm ground like rocks – if your tripod has a spirit bubble, use this to get a level.
   
2. Ensure your tripod is as secure as possible. Many have a hook on the bottom of the centre column that you can add a weight to to aid stability. I always carry a plastic shopping bag that I can add rocks to and hang on the hook. Also, you can hang your camera bag on there and keep it off the ground and clean and dry! On soft ground, like sand, you can drive the legs into the ground for added stability. On many high end models you can remove the rubber feet and use leg spikes to help with this.
   
3. Always make sure you lock off any of the adjustment screws and levers before you start shooting, to keep everything tight and rattle free.
   
4. Always shoot with a remote cable release. This will ensure you get vibration free clean, sharp images as you can shoot without touching the camera body. I usually tie a loose loop in the cable near the handset end so I can hang the remote from one of the tripod levers. If you drop your remote release – the cable is usually long enough that it will hit the ground and could break. Also – if you’re stood in a stream, or at the edge of the sea – you’ll be buying a new remote.
   
5. Switch to manual focus before you start tripping the shutter. If you are using slot in filters, the auto focus can sometimes get fooled into re-focusing on each shot and this can be a real pain. I’ve found in practice that it’s far easier to compose your shot and get the focus correct with autofocus if needed – then switch to manual to prevent this. It will speed up your shots so you don't miss that cloud or flock of birds.
   
6. After composing and focusing through the eyepiece – switch to your camera’s live view. Once you’ve carefully set your shot up, you’re usually only looking at the variables in the frame (clouds, light changes, waves etc) to decide when to take the shot. This is far easier when you’re looking at the LCD screen and it will allow you to concentrate on your compositional elements without hunching over the camera. Also, you can stand away and ensure you don’t introduce any vibrations.
   
7. Blank off the eyepiece if you’re shooting using live view feature. Most cameras will come with a capping piece to cover the eye piece over. Slide off the cushioned rubber eyepiece and replace it with the cover blank. This will ensure that no light will leak into the back of the camera body through the eye piece when it’s not being covered by your face. If you don’t have a blanking plate for your camera, you can double over some duck tape or black electrical tape and then tape this over the eyepiece to blank out any light.
   
8. Use the lowest possible ISO. A good stable setup will allow you to use as long an exposure as you need, allowing you to use a low ISO and capture maximum detail while keeping a lid on noise.
   
9. If you’re setting up a shot where you want maximum depth of field, go for a small aperture, but steer clear of stopping your lens down all the way. Most lenses start to add varying degrees of lens aberration at the extremes of aperture and focal length, so if your lens stops down to say f/22, give f/19 a go – it will give great depth of field but avoid any colour fringing where dark items meet light – for instance, where rooftops meet the sky!
   
   
10. Always wash down your tripod when you get home to remove any mud or dirt. This is especially important if you’ve been shooting on a beach as sand will grit up the internals on your tripod’s sliding legs and salt will quickly destroy both steel and aluminium. Wash and dry everything so it’s ready to go next time!

Essential kit no. 6…

Hot shoe spirit bubble - stay on the straight and level!

This may look like a useless gizmo, but if you shoot outdoors with a tripod regularly – it’ll save you a lot of heartache and photoshop fixing later.

 

I was trawling through the internet a few months ago, looking at other photographer’s images and I found a site for a Canadian photographer. His images were well composed, full if colour and interest, but in almost every frame the horizon line was out of true. The images were all dropping to the right by 10–15 degrees and in one really obvious case the sea ran at near to 45 degrees.

I was at a loss to understand why someone would take the trouble to put up an extensive gallery of their work but overlook so obvious an error. As they all dropped to the same side – I suspect he was shooting hand held and muscle memory was getting the better of him.

Anyway, we’ve all taken an image that’s a bit skewiff from time to time and the usual fix is to rotate the image to square in photoshop before re-cropping to square up. The down side to this is that you will be making your image slightly smaller, and the more it’s out of true – the more you have to crop off to fix it. If you’re badly out, it will impact on your composition.

Hence the spirit bubble! Slide one of these into your camera’s flash hot shoe and you can instantly double check the alignment. 

I’ve seen these in various configurations – 1, 2 and 3 bubble versions – the 2 bubble made sense to me as you only really need to check for horizontal and vertical alignment.

They're on sale at various prices ranging from £2 to £15. I got mine from Amazon and it was around the £6 mark. It works great and does what it says on the tin. Fit it and forget it! Don't use it if you regularly use the camera's built in flip-up flash as it will prevent it from deploying, but this really doesn't factor if you're shooting outdoors in natural light.

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Essential kit no 5…

Remote shutter release

Strictly speaking, there are a few ways to get around not having a remote release – setting the self timer is probably the best – but a good remote shutter release will make a huge contribution towards capturing that great landscape shot. You really shouldn’t be without one.

I purchased a Chinese third party manufactured version of the factory Nikkon item and have had no problems with it at all. There are plenty of options on Ebay for all camera brands and at substantial cost savings over the original equipment versions. Mine is very similar to the one above and is suitable for Nikkon and Canon, but cost me only a thirs of the OEM version. The only down side I’ve found is a lack of an on/off switch, so I have to take out the 2 AAA batteries at the end of each shoot – no biggie, but a bit of a faff.

Of course, if you want the assurance that own brand goods offer, go for the more expensive branded version. Either way, the ease of use that a remote release offers will allow you more time to compose your image to perfection and get pin sharp results every time (combined with a tripod of course).

The main issue when using your camera mounted to a tripod, is that you waste the stability advantage that a good tripod offers, by introducing vibration when you depress the shutter. By using a remote, there’s no need to touch the camera body at all, so your images will be immediately crisper.

Many camera manufacturers also offer infra-red remotes to trip the shutter – these are good, but are far less flexible than a good programmable cable release, where you can access your camera’s bulb setting for really long exposures. Also you can part-press the shutter button to activate the auto-focus if needed.

Top tip - the cable on these is usually pretty long and you don't want it swinging around or falling into the sea/mud/cow poo/snow etc. that you're standing in, so I've tied a loop into mine near the remote end so I can hang it over the pan adjuster arm of my tripod. Keeps things up and out of the way!

If you’re regularly using a tripod and don’t have a cable remote, I would seriously consider it your next kit purchase!

As always, please let me know if you're enjoying these posts - I see there are a lot of followers from the USA, so I'd love to hear your feedback!