A set back :(

Posted on by
Reply

I had a big set back with my equipment today. I’ve been away for the weekend and out taking lots of photographs. Today I was at the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgenorth and had been taking some shots of the steam engines at the station. I’d decided to change lenses to get a particular shot and was just about to mount my beloved 50-135 f2.8 onto the camera body when – you guessed it – I dropped it. I’ve no idea how I managed to drop it apart from my obviously not having a good enough hold on the lens, but down it went. It landed on my camera bag which was a pretty soft landing, but then somersaulted onto the asphalt platform. The drop from the bag was only a few inches and I thought I might get away with some cosmetic damage, but it wasn’t to be.

Rear lens element

Rear lens element

This is the rear lens element (the last piece of glass at the very back of the lens). The white/green streak pointing towards ten o’ clock is a fracture in the glass. The lens still works but any bright lights in the view produce massive ghosting, blobs and streaks on the image. There may be other damage that I can’t see but if so, it isn’t obvious. This lens is ruined.

Apart from the obvious problem, I need this lens for next weekend. I have three different events to cover and this lens will get used at two of them. I’ll enquire tomorrow, but I severely doubt that I can get a repair done within 4 working days. I hate to think what the cost will be too. I might rent a lens but again, no idea on the cost yet. At the end of day I’ll probably end up having to buy a new lens. Yes, it is insured but the cost of the insurance premium increases over the next few years for making a claim will probably be more than the cost of a new lens.

I know this is my fault for being clumsy and dropping the lens. C’est la vie.

Black kitten in a coal hole….

Posted on by
Reply

Every month I get to shoot a burlesque and cabaret show held in central Leeds. Due to the size and layout of the venue the best position for me to photograph the performers from is the far edge of the stage. Although not ideal I do get a good view of 80% of the stage (the DJ booth is in front of me which restricts the view a little) and I am pretty close to the performers. Sometimes you can get almost too close – I have been sprayed with shaving foam, covered in glitter, been hit by pieces of burst balloon and even felt the draft from the tip of a cracking whip before now!

The performers are great – they know how to entertain a crowd, all have lots character, can hit some great poses, posses some amazing skills and can play to the camera a little to provide some great shots.

Anna Fur Laxis

Anna Fur Laxis - great performer and knows where the camera is.

This is all well and good, but as usual there is a fly in the ointment. The stage is lit with typical stage spot lighting – mainly straw and red coloured gels which is tricky to expose for. I choose to shoot with the available light rather than use flash which is very distracting to both the performers and the audience. My camera is good enough to provide good results but the venue ambiance casues problems. The stage floor is painted black, the side and back walls are black and even the ceiling is painted black. This is a proverbial coal hole! For some reason, many of the performers wear black outfits, have black hair and use black props. Now I’m shooting a black cat in a coal hole (or as my title alludes, a black kitten in a coal hole!).

Luna Rosa

Luna Rosa

The extreme example of this was a recent performer, Scarlett Daggers, who wore a black body suit, a black gimp mask and used a large black balloon for her act. Thankfully the shots worked, but it doesn’t get a lot harder than this especially as it is a live performance, so no setting up poses or second chances!

Scarlett Daggers, a black kitten in a coal hole....

 

Shooting in the cold

Posted on by
Reply

It all started with a photograph I saw posted in a photography forum. The shot was of Ferrybridge power station at night with light trails of cars on the M62 in the foreground. I’d never seen this location before and it was easy to work out where it was – only 10 minutes away from my workplace. I knew I wanted something similar and realised that at dawn, the rising sun would illuminate the vapour from the cooling towers of the power station. In perfect conditions, that would make a great picture. Perfect conditions meant a cloudless sky on the horizon where the sun rises and almost no wind. At this time of year dawn is shortly before 8am. On a weekday - If I got up early - I could get to the location, get the shot and still be at my desk in time to start work.

I started taking more interest than usual in the weather forecasts, waiting to see a prediction that matched perfect weather for this shot. After a few days there it was: clear sky and no wind between 6am and 9am the following morning. I set the alarm for 6am, got the camera gear ready and went to bed. The alarm went of, so I looked out of the window to check conditions. Despite being dark it was obviously heavily overcast with no hint that it would clear anytime soon. I went back to bed. Later, on the way to work it was still heavily overcast. The weather did not break and I was right to have made no attempt to get on location. That night, same forecast for the following morning: clear sky and no wind between 6am and 9am. Alarm set, camera bag ready, off to bed. Alarm goes off, check conditions and again, almost totally overcast. Back to bed. Third night in a row and the same forecast for the following morning: clear sky and no wind between 6am and 9am. For the third time: alarm set, camera bag ready, off to bed. Alarm goes off, look out of the window and…. clear skies! Game on!

I leave the house at 7am and by 7:30 I am on location. The access was easy and just as I arrive I see another great photo opportunity: freshly ploughed fields providing lead lines with uninterrupted views directly toward the power station. I make a mental note to try that shot another time – I already have today’s shot in mind and it involves the M62. I park the car and get out with the camera bag and tripod. It’s cold: the temperature gauge in the car is reading -5C. I take a quick walk around the location and pick the spot for my photograph. I get the camera out, set it up and fire off a few test shots. Everything is looking good so I just have to wait for the sun to rise.

The cars on the M62 rushing past below are oblivious to me standing in the cold dawn glow. Apart from the noise of the traffic it’s quiet. Nobody else is around. I check the camera and wait, trying to keep warm. It’s really cold. An elderly couple appear from nowhere across the fields, walking their dog and wrapped up in the warmest coats, hats and gloves they probably own. They give a cheery “hello” and eye me curiously as they walk past, no doubt wondering what is so interesting about a motorway and a power station. The sky is getting very bright in the East and suddenly a deep red, fiery sliver of sun appears over the cloudless horizon.

As the sun rises it lights up the vapour from the cooling towers of the power station, making it glow bright oranges and pinks. I fire off several frames and adjust the composition slightly after looking at the image preview on the back of the camera. It looks pretty close to how I imagined the shot to be. I check my watch. It’s 8:15 and I need to go. I pack away the camera and tripod and walk back to the car. It’s really, really cold. According to the car the temperature is still -5C and I have been out for 50 minutes. It’s worth it. I have the shot and I’m at my desk in work on time. There’s still those ploughed fields to go back another time for, as well………..

Ferrybridge power station and M62

Dark nights

Posted on by
Reply

With Winter comes shorter days and long periods of darkness. The weather is often poor, fewer animals are around and the trees are bare. On the face of it, there is little incentive to go out to take photographs and if you do, there seems little to take photographs of. There are, however, many reasons to do so:

Two of the best times to take landscape photographs are dawn and dusk. In the Summer months, dawn can be around 04:30 which is a pretty unsociable time to get to a location and be set up ready to shoot. In mid December, dawn is a more reasonable 08:15 which means you’re not tired out for the rest of the day if you go and capture a sunrise. Likewise the sun sets around 16:15 so you can get a sunset shot and still be home in time for tea. It’s also easy to pop out again afterwards to take light trail images of roads and motorways too!

M62 Westbound, Junction 27

Through Winter the sun is low in the sky throughout the day which means landscapes are always sidelit, giving shape to the contours of the land which makes for a more attractive image.

Winter also produces some good storms which gives the opportunity to capture  dramatic skies or crashing waves if you are lucky enough to be near the sea. Gales provide the chance to use some slow shutter speeds to capture movement of tress in the wind. Lots of rain means wet paths and roads which give great reflections in urban scenes at night. Of course, when it snows everything looks different and gives an entirely new perspective to well known views. Even foggy conditions can produce good shots.

Middleton golf course. Snow & fog.

In the Winter wildlife looks very different to Summer with birds changing plumage and migratory animals making an appearance. It’s well worth overcoming the often poorer light to get some good images of animals. As a bonus, the lack of foliage on trees often makes them easier to spot!

Sometimes the weather is just too bad to go outside with camera equipment. When this happens it’s an ideal time to get creative indoors. Almost every room of the average house provides a wealth of photographic options from fruit, veg, spices, pans and crockery in the kitchen to cushions, ornaments and perfume bottles in the bedroom.

As much as Summer is nice for warm weather and long days, I prefer Winter for all of the reasons above.

New toy?

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been keeping an eye on the newly announced Panasonic GX1 micro 4/3 interchangeable lens camera. As a user of the GF1 I was disappointed with the GF2 and GF3 – Panasonic dumbed down the later iterations of the camera and made it more appealing to new users of digital cameras. This was essentially because they took away some of the controls needed by more advanced users by implementing a touchscreen interface instead of dials and buttons. I can understand why Panasonic did this – a need for following the trend of others (primarily the Sony NEX range) and giving the camera more mass-market appeal.

The GX1 appears to be a reasonable update of the GF1 (newer sensor, better video, faster response) but I was troubled to see that it also implements a touchscreen. Digging further, it seems that you can pretty much avoid the touchscreen if you want as most of the important controls are still available with buttons and dials. I’m open to the thought that the touchscreen might enhance these controls so I’ll be interested to get some hands-on experience with one and see how it really handles.

Of course, whether I actually need to replace my GF1 is another story. It’s still a very likeable camera and does everything that I want it to very well. If anything does happen to it, though, at least I know there is potentially a viable up to date replacement for it!