10 Lenses i'd sell a kidney for

Since taking up photography almost a year ago.One thing i have noticed is just how bloody EXPENSIVE photography equipment is.And I'm not messing around either.Iv had some bloody expensive hobbies in the past but photography tops the lot i think.Especially since buying my first L lens.I'm pretty sure its safe to say i have the L bug BIG TIME !.For example Canons 85 mm f/1.2 L mkII usm.Id probably sell my soul to own it.Not being overly religious myself i think that would be a good deal.But not being 100% sure, I still don't like to upset the big guy up stairs,Just in case. So maybe id rather concider selling one of my nuts or a Kidney or something instead.But this lens does crack in at £1760.00 and a regular Joe like myself who works for a living,I just cant justify spending that amount of wedge on a lens for my already overly expensive camera.Well not until im a proffesianal photographer working for natianal geographic anyway.So that in mind,My (When i win the lottery shopping list) is MASSIVE !......
So i thought id compile a list of my 10 Lenses id sell a kidney for.In no particular order here are a few gems id love to have in my kit bag.

1; EF 85 mm f1.2 L II USM
2; EF 100 mm f2.8 L Macro IS USM 
3; EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM
4; EF 135mm f2.0L USM
5; EF 8-15mm f4.0L USM Fisheye Zoom
6; EF 50mm f1.2 L USM
7; EF 17mm TS-E f4 L
8; EF 28-300mm f3.5-f5.6 L IS USM
9; EF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM
10; EF 600mm f4.0 L IS USM

Surely with this little lot in my Lowepro id be the best photographer on the planet.No doubt if i actually bought this lot id be a single man or a dead man because my wife would fucking kill me.But we can but dream,Hay .

There are other alternatives to some of these lenses,For example the 100 mm macro,Canon do a non L version of the same lens minus the image stabilizer for pretty much half the price of the L.

I did see a Digital rev video comparing the two and the legend Kai Wong did say that there wasn't much in it between the two.So more realistically i will probably end up buying the non L version.

                                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njqTFlMiGLQ

Same goes with the Fisheye lens.The 8-15 mm L version does have zoom from 8-15 mm.But Canon do do a non L, 15 mm fisheye lens again for half the damage of the L version.So again i would probably be saving for this lens at some point for some fantastic fisheye effects with its 180 degree view. 

                                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y-O2AH6Ot

                                                                        

                                                              

The70-200 mm f2.8 L IS USM is a £2000 lens but worth every penny of it.It is a lens for a pro. In fact no pro would be with out this lens.I on the other hand have this lens but i have the more cheap f4 version,Which is still AWESOME in its own right .I use this lens as my main walk about lens,usually choosing this lens over my more expensive 24-105 mm L.

The thing with L lenses are they are just so EXPENSIVE.And even searching to buy a second hand one you would only shave a measly couple of hundred pound off of the brand new price.If you was lucky enough to find one any cheaper it would probably be fucked with fungus or scratches all over the front element with a bit of internal dust to boot.

But if you are looking to buy one second hand a good place to check first would be MPB they have a huge range of second hand photography goods. 

Well,I am holding out to win the lottery so i can buy them all.So until that happens ill just keep dreaming shall i .... :0)

Selective colouring

Selective colouring is a great twist to your photographs.Took me a while to get my head around doing it .But so glad i took the time learning it.You can make a completely non interesting image look great.Like a leaf on the ground .I took this shot in the park across the way from my house .Initially it was the colour of the leaf that caught my eye.But while looking at my shots on the P.C it was bland to say the least,UNTIL i whipped the colour out the shot leaving only the leaf in colour.Turned out to be one of the best shots i got that afternoon.Selective colouring works really well with portraits too.The shot below i got of my children was a nice touch leaving them in colour and turning the rest of the shot to mono.Not only is it good to experiment with post processing like this .Its fun for the kids too.My kids are little buggers for posing for pictures.You can almost see their little brains ticking away when i get my camera out,Thinking to them self's RUN!! dads getting the camera out.Not like me..When i was a kid and someone got a camera out i went into full idiot Zoolander mode,Throwing out every pose i could think of .Its been said before I'm a bit of a show off.That and the fact i like the sound of my own voice. Personally i don't see it ,I just think I'm just very out going .Well, When i start messing around with the image like this, My kids then become quite interested and are willing to sit nicely and have a nice photo taken of them.I suppose its different to them isn't it .Almost like magic ...lol

The dripping tap shot was quite a nice one i thought .shot in shutter priority,Shot at high speed to capture the drip in mid fall.I placed a tea towel on the window ledge so the drip would reflect the pattern of the tea towel.Shot with a Canon EOS 1000D with a 18-55 mm kit lens with x10 macro filter attached .I left the actual drip in colour and made the rest mono.

I have so many ideas in which to experiment with this technique,Yet i don't use it enough.Its not until you sit back and take a look at ya previous shots and think i should do that more often.So by writing about it is kind of my pledge to myself to do more selective colouring shots in the future. 

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside .

Growing up in the coastal country side was boring to say the least.I always had dreams of moving to the city or a big town where stuff actually happened from time to time.Now im a big boy an all grown up i am so happy to live in this boring hole iv winged about for so long.Its in our nature to take the things we have for granted.And not appreciate the things we have until they are gone.Well lucky for me that despite the population growth and influx of Herbert's who seem to populate the streets around my area.The area i live in is still beautiful with hidden gems everywhere you go.As a photographer i have my eye trained on looking for beautiful and interesting things .Just going for a walk with the family while geeking it up with my camera i seem to come home every time with some beautiful images.Well I think they are beautiful anyway,And this is my medium in which i share what i capture with the world,To see if you also think they are beautiful.Giving you guys the opportunity to Crit my work.Maybe give some of your own suggestions and ideas.Feel free to comment below .

Down by the river

Went for a walk along the canal the other day and lucky for me i was geek enough to have my camera with me again .lol.As i was down by the water's edge the birds all came swimming up to me, Pent up with anticipation that i might be there to throw a few scraps of bread in for them.A clever swan would have realised after a few minutes that they were wasting their time with me.And i was only there for my own selfish reasons of taking photographs of them as they swam in the freezing water's of the Hythe canal.I will admit i was a bit scared they might peck me as i was once told a swan was powerful enough to peck your leg in half.So i didnt want to get too close in case the little buggers done me over with its ninja peck of death.But while i was there shooting,I made sure i had a zoom lens on so i didn't have to get that close.I got some beautiful snaps of these ninja birds.I was that happy with these shots i might even go back on my next days off and get some more shots of these gorgeous creatures.

Shooting the moon

As a photographer i look for beautiful things all around me to shoot.I am sometime looking so hard to find something lovely to shoot that i miss cracking opportunity's.Sometimes slowing down and opening your mind is key.You don't have to look that hard to find a beautiful picture.For example, Look up ! Space. It fascinates us from such a young age watching sci fi films etc .Well it did with me anyway.Night scapes can be so beautiful.But sometimes difficult to shoot without blowing the highlights .Even in all that darkness the moon is bloody bright.
A little while ago i was messing around shooting the moon and the settings i was using i was getting some fantastic results.I found that using a tripod is a MUST.Also a shutter release switch is best although you can get away with using the cameras self timer.But i found the release switch better.I was using a sigma 70-300 mm macro lens on a Canon EOS 1000D body.The settings i found best was Manual with ISO 100 for low noise and a shutter speed of 1/250 sec and an aperture of around f11 focal length of 300 mm.I also switched the macro function on to sharpen up the shot to get more detail in.I also cropped the image in,To get just that bit closer in.

Both these shots where taken on different evenings.But I was quite pleased with my results as my previous attempts at shooting the moon were quite poor.Either too dark or highlights really blown.But if you too are new to photography and want to try taking some great shots at the moon try my settings and see what you can come up with .Just remember Use a tri pod otherwise you will balls it up.And try to use a lens of 300 mm or more or use a better camera with a better crop factor.Good luck and happy snapping. 

Tilt Shift effect

If you haven't heard of Tilt Shift photography then i think you should check it out .Tilt shift lenses are bloody expensive,Demanding around a thousand pounds for a cheap one.And almost two thousand pounds for a L grade Tilt shift lens.Serious bucks !.But the effects are AWESOME..Mainly used for architectural photography.Making it possible to change the effect of the image you are wanting to take,Making buildings taller or shorter.They do exactly what they say on the tin. Tilt and Shift,Up and down and side to side .Altering the plain of focus.Another good thing these lenses are good for is making a real scene look like a modal.so the real train station in town would look like you was taking a macro shot of a train set.And its bloody good fun to mess around with different scenes.Here is a video from those genius's from digital rev explaining and showing exactly how these tilt shift bad boys work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HRYlJUwzYA&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLD4F46C9C0CEDE768

If you don't have a spear grand knocking around for a new lens you could have a go at making one.Obviously it wouldn't be as good ,But you would get a slimier effect. I have found a link on you tube of a guy showing you how to build one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0rPecCq1tc

Failing that you could buy a plug in for photoshop called Topez lens effects.it has a tilt shift filter that produces some fantastic effects.You have to mess around with the settings to get the results you are looking for but it produces fantastic tilt shift effect along with loads of other effects like Fisheye,Pin hole,Toy camera and loads more .Its a great plug in and so glad i got it .

This shot was taking in a small town called Hythe in Kent the south of England .The effect always works better when taken from an elevated position.I used a Canon EOS 5D mk II with a 24-105 mm f4 L usm lens.Shot in manual mode at 40 mm for 1/40 sec at F8 with iso 100.

The tilt shift filter in Topez puts most of the shot out of focus to give you the macro looking effect.you will also get a better effect if you boost saturation to make it look a little Un real,Almost modal like .

There are other ways in photoshop to pull this effect off but I'm afraid i don't know how to do them .I tried for weeks to do this effect and topez was the easiest way i found to do it  

This shot was also converted in Topez lens effects.while the actual shot of the bridge was shot in manual mode on my 5D mk II same 24-105 mm lens.exposure was 1/125 sec at 28 mm F4 and iso 100.

One other important thing to remember when out and about especially when standing on benches to elevate yourself above the scene you are trying to shoot is ...BE CAREFUL ! .After taking this shot i stepped off the bench that i was standing on and stepped onto the damp sloping bank and slipped,Completely lost my balance and hit the deck HARD doing my best not to allow my camera to hit the floor i took the complete force of the fall to my left wrist and right elbow.I then slid 90% down the bank towards the freezing river.I completely fucked my self up but at least my camera was completely intact with out a single scratch.I always try to carry myself with dignity.And I think i pulled it off well the other day when this happened .I held back my desire to tell the old lady on a mobility scooter to, go get fucked ! for laughing at me for stacking it .There was me wincing in agony while this lovely old dear almost falling off her mobility scooter pissing her self with laughter.It was safe to say we had a very different sense of humor.And i couldn't resist getting a shot of the sadistic old bag as she drives of in fits of hysterics.And Tilt Shifted her arse.

Karate chop to the back of the neck.

After an eventful weekend as an amateur photographer.Been to firework displays with the family.The kids had a fantastic time ( so did the big kids too ) :0) . Was invited along to a martial arts tournament by a friend who wanted me to take a few shots of his mates who was fighting.I get there to discover there is a market for this kind of thing.And some bloke has got this tightly sown up.I instantly clocked the photography corner and like some kind of tractor beam i found my self being sucked over to the camera corner.Maybe that's why he wanted me to come along ...The cheap skate ..lol.. doesn't bother me,I like taking photos.Although wasn't my kind of thing.Not really into close physical contact with other men. nor am i into getting my head kicked in.Being a bloke ,you always think your a bit of a geezer and that you can handle ya self if shit hit the fan.But in all fairness most blokes haven't got 2 minutes good fighting in them.And watching these blokes going at it sometimes for 4 rounds at about 2 minutes a round . Repeatedly kicked and punched in the head in front of a baying crowd,Screaming for their favorite fighter to win makes me sooo thankful i chose photography as a hobby.Its safe to say i don't fancy getting in the ring with them.One other thing i did notice was the official photographer who was selling images of the fights did have a better kit than myself .At that point i did actually wish i did know karate so i could karate chop him in the head and pinch his Canon 1Ds mk3 and 70-200mm f2.8L IS usm.
But as photography is my bag,And i enjoy taking pictures.And  i was thankful for this opportunity to shoot something a little different from the norm.And didn't really care this other bloke with better shit was taking better pictures than me .
Because these fighters was friends with my friend.I gave them my shots for FREE,Posted them to their facebook accounts .Do nice things and nice things will happen to you .(i hope !) Maybe win the lottery so i can buy the nice new Canon 1Dx when it comes out .I don't think i enjoyed this kind of photography as much as my regular style of photography but i enjoyed the opportunity.And it was nice to spend a couple of hours with my friend who i don't see much any more.But if i have learnt one thing about this event.There is money to be made here.When i become a professional photographer.I will be looking into enrolling into a collage course in the new year.Setting the ball rolling towards my new career in this very competitive field we call photography.

Bonfire night.

I took the family to a fire work display this evening .And couldn't resist taking a camera along for the ride .But rather than shooting pictures of my children as they look on in awe at the beautiful lights and explosions in the sky.I was also focused on the sky.The weather was good and the atmosphere was great.It was lovely to see so many people coming together to enjoy the same event.Children waving sparklers and glow sticks, Laughing and cheering between each explosion of light.I took with me a Canon EOS 1000D with a 50mm f1.8 prime lens.I decided not to use a tripod.As it was quite busy and didn't want someone not looking where they was going in the dark and sending my equipment flying.So i went free hand and still got some pretty spectacular shots.I used manual mode and shot at an aperture of f10 for 3.2 sec.And for a low noise shot i used ISO 100.












For this shot i used the same EOS 1000D.Same 50mm Prime.This time in Shutter Priority dialed in at 2 seconds,The camera set the Aperture at f11.I kept the same ISO 100.And again shot free hand .In both shots the only post editing that as carried out was a slight noise reduction and a slight boost to contrast.Then i added my water mark.

When we got home we broke out our own sparklers and i shot a few pictures of my wife and kids playing with sparklers.But this time I shot in bulb so i had more control over the time i wanted to expose the sensor to the light .I told them to draw pictures and write their names with the sparklers .My children who are not the best listeners at the best of times was too engrossed in this wonderful sparkling stick of light. And was just going mental jumping around and waving it all over the place .Which was great,The light trails were amazing but the longer the sensor was open and the more visible the image became and the children was blurry as hell .My wife stood dead still and made beautiful patterns with the sparklers and the shots were perfect with no errors or blurriness.I continued to get the better light trails with my wife and just let the kids enjoy themselves.They loved every minute .It was truly beautiful watching my babies having so much fun.Despite shitting my pants at the same time. Knowing the dangers of sparklers.Being a clumsy kid,I burnt myself every fire works night i think.And  i remember burning your self with one BLOODY hurts.So if you are playing with fire works and sparklers,Be careful and remember the firework code .Have fun and be safe .I would love to get your feedback so please leave me a comment below.Thank you .

Remember ,remember the fifth of November..

That time of year is upon us again.The night sky full of explosions and flashes from the fire work displays we all make our pilgrimage's to every year.In celebration of the burning of the dude who tried to blow up the houses of parliament about a million years ago.If someone tried to do that now i'd shake their bloody hand,
Fire work night makes for some beautiful night photography.With beautiful colours and light trails .And they keep the kids entertained for a while too. Everyone's a winner :0).
I bought the kids some sparklers the other day to keep them entertained and couldn't resist getting a few snaps in of them to get me honed into the camera settings ill be needing on the night.
My only worry is if the weather is bad on saturday night.Even tho my 5D mkII is weather sealed.I still don't have the stones to take it out in the rain.The second any unwanted liquid falls from the sky my camera gets put away.Rather daft really as i have seen you tube videos of Kai Wong from Digital Rev using a 5D mkII in a monsoon.And while doing a review of the EF 100 mm f2.8 L macro lens he poured an entire 2 liter bottle of water over the body and lens .Never the less he didn't pour the water over MY 5D mkII.
Well if of course the weather holds out and all goes to plan i will be posting some beautiful shots of my chosen firework display on saturday evening.If you are thinking ,What a good idea, I'm going to shoot some fire works too.Dial in a slow shutter speed,Maybe a couple of seconds to capture the light movement.And make sure you use a tripod otherwise even the slightest movement from you holding the camera will spoil any decent shot you might have got .And if possible use a remote shutter switch to avoid any camera shake while pressing the shutter button.If you don't have a remote shutter switch you could always use the cameras timer release but this can be inaccurate causing you to miss some of the action.I use manual mode.And switch the lens out of auto focus and into manual focus and focus into where the action is going to be ,ensuring the shot will be sharp.make sure you frame the shot right getting the composition how you want the shot to look. At the right focal length.If you have a remote switch you could also use Bulb setting giving you more freedom to end the shot exactly when you got the shot you want.I would be using an aperture of between f8 to f16 and for a nice low noise shot stick to iso 100.
A good tip to keep in mind is to shoot up wind so you don't get the smoke getting in between camera and the fireworks making the shot really hazy. preparation before hand is key.
If you have a remote shutter cable ,And do choose to use bulb mode .Why not try having a piece of black card at hand .And while the action is happening expose the sensor .And when it stops,cover the end of the lens with the black card until the next firework goes off.Giving you more than one explosion in one frame .
Well good luck and happy snapping .Comments below please :0)

Canon L lens for only £449.99

I like to have the finer things in life.Some people might think its being stupid with money.But i'm a huge believer in ,You get what you pay for .Camera lenses for example.If you are going to be passionate about something and invest time,heart and money into it.You are going to want to see good results.
Now you might be saying to your self,An exspensive cooker doesnt make a good cook. And in a way you are right.But lets face it,You are not going to cook the Queen a banquet in a microwave oven are you. NO!! you are not!.You as a photographer need to get the shot right first and foremost .But im bloody sure my pictures i will take with my DSLR and pro grade L lens is going to take a better picture than,Say someone shooting with a mobile phone,Even if ya Nokia has a Carl zeiss lens in it .But,Im Not saying that if you only have a mobile phone to shoot pictures with you are not as good as me or you are crap at photography.I have a friend who has recently aquired an interest in photography.Six months or so back he was selling a Canon EOS 350 D for someone.He offered it to me,But i had no use for it nor the money to be honest.My advice to him was to keep it and use it.Which he didnt.He continues to take pictures with his camera phone.He does have a bloody good eye for a photograph and i would imagine he is kicking himself for not keeping it .Iv seen some beautiful pictures he has taken with his mobile phone.But never the less,Despite how good a phone he has he is still very limited to the options he can use.ISO,Depth of field,Shutter speeds,Auto exposure bracketing.Armed with a proper camera im sure he will make for a bloody good artist.The foundations are already there.He has got the eye.
Anyway getting back to the subject.The finer things in life.In this case L lenses for Canon.With their delicious red ring of love and UD elements.Just holding one gives me a semi.You look and feel like a pro walking around with ya camera sporting L glass.Walking around taking pictures people in general just don't pay attention and walk past,But you can always spot the photographers having a quick glance at ya tackle so to speak.Its like people who are into cars.When ya see a Ferrari roar past you rubber neck a quick look.And considering these L grade lenses are rolling in at around £1000 + you can pretty much pay as high as the moon for one.Even searching eBay for one you can pay MASSIVE amounts for one. In fact they are selling on eBay for almost as much as they are new probably only shaving a couple of hundred quid off of one .Unless you find one with a scratched front element,internal dust and fungus to boot then you might get it at half the original price.Well,Like i said before i like to look for bargains on the net.Now this lens is probably the cheapest L lens on the market.But i found it for even cheaper.Probably only any good to you if you are living in England.And you can find a store with any in stock.Other wise you will have to order it in .
Canon 17-40mm 4.0L U Digital SLR Lens for only £449.99.......
That is bloody cheap !
Normally this sells for around £700 a throw.Argos of all places have got this lens on sales at this price .Saving a lucky photographer a massive 1/3 of the price .Perfect for landscape photographers with its wide angle.And constant f4 aperture and its ring type usm which give a really fast and silent auto focus.
Iv not checked but i wouldn't be surprised if these was more expensive on eBay for second hand.Well there you go,Another great deal.Thanks for reading.please feel free to leave a comment below if you found any of this useful.Or even if you already own one let me know what its like .

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5560662/Trail/searchtext%3ECANON+LENS.htm

WOW !!! What a great deal !

In this time of the hard up and lack of cash everywhere these days .Where THE MAN is bleeding us dry every second of every day.Tax hikes and heating and fuel cost forever on the rise.Its a wonder the honest hard working people can afford to even eat these days.We have fallen upon hard times people and we need to look out for each other if we are gonna come out the other side of it .I haven't had a pay rise this year and if I'm honest with you .I wouldn't bet my life I'm gonna get one either .Its getting to that point where i think if the government could,They would go the other way and give the working class a pay deduction rather than a pay rise if they thought they could get away with it .
Well the other week i was going through my usual websites i normally look at....No !! not porn.
Photography websites ,After all that's my bag isn't it .I look for a good deal on various different sites and the other week i found one .Compact flash memory cards are NOT bloody cheap.But while searching amazon i found 8 GB Sandisk ULTRA 30MB/s for only £17 including postage .Considering i paid almost £60 for my 8GB Sandisk EXTREME 60MB/s. At first i thought to my self ..These are gonna be a bit shit aint they. Half the speed of the extreme.I bet its well noticeable .But i thought Stuff it ill give it a whirl.After all i am a bit skint at the moment and I was getting rather pissed off with running out of memory card space as i only had the one 8 GB CF memory card which my Canon EOS 5D mkII takes .17 quid and a 5 days later my memory card turns up and to be bloody fair ...I don't notice a difference in performance.In fact i would have to open up the flap and check which card is in the slot because i wouldn't be able to tell.The cheaper Ultra modal keeps up with my photography NO PROBLEM.In fact I'm so happy with my purchase that on pay day i might even buy another one.After all its always handy to have a few to hand .day trips out with the family,Holidays,Even intensive photo shoots.If ya lucky enough to get some big bookings that is . ;0).So i feel as i got a bit of a result the other day.And because I'm a top bloke.I feel its only right to share the love with the masses and keep you informed of the good deals i come across on the Internet.And i do come across some bloody good deals from time to time .And as you guys are good enough to spare a few minutes of your life to read the ramblings of a bored man sat at his computer.It accrued to me only 20 minutes ago i should offer you something back.So if you want a compact flash memory card,Get yourself on amazon and get the 8 GB Sandisk ULTRA which is only £17 including postage .you will not be disappointed .

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0007QU74Q/ref=sr_1_4_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1319928249&sr=8-4&condition=new

I got an idea .

With nothing much to write about today.spending my entire day off work watching DVDs.I have had a pretty unproductive day.But my wife did ask me to get some shots of our baby girl. Photo op !!. She didn't have to ask me twice to get my camera out .I love playing with my camera.I got quite a few shots but nothing to jump up and down about .Obviously they were all beautiful shots being of my baby daughter,But this shot i REALLY did like.Such a simple shot but without a doubt one i will treasure for ever.She is actually watching the tv here.She gets that from my side i think :0).I have actually been looking on facebook at some other photographers baby shot work .Some that i follow on my photography page specialize in taking baby portraits with knitted hats and bonnets and producing shots so lovely that some of the shots even make me broody for more kids.I totally intend to get some lovely baby shots of my little princess.But my god its hard work .The second we try to pose her she wakes up and has different ideas.I will have to do some research on the net on how to pull these beautiful baby shots off perfectly.I see a huge market for baby portraits like these.If i didn't take this shot here of my baby girl id totally pay myself a million pound for this .Give or take a couple of quid anyway ..I shot this with the Canon 5D mkII using 70-200 mm f4 L usm lens.
focal length of 200 mm at f4 with a shutter speed of 1/200sec ISO at 250.The camera was in shutter priority .Seems just lately my Favorite shots I'm getting are of my children.Maybe this is how i will make my millions.I'm not too optimistic am i..lol
One of my ideas i have been toying with is to visit local charity shops and purchase props for my art.Lovely soft throws,Blankets in brilliant white, wicker baskets etc anything i can find to make my photographs stand out from the rest.I don't think it will take long to get a selection of props together.Then instead of doing what i have been doing,Which is offering my services out at £50 a shoot.Which i think is bloody cheap for the amount i have spent on my photography equipment.People don't realise how much photography equipment costs.I have a new plan.Do the shoot for FREE !!. You must be must be bloody mad i hear you say.No, Not mad there is a method to my madness.Do the shoot for free,Edit a selection of the shots i think are the best.And then stick a huge intrusive watermark right across the image.Place the images in an online pass worded album,so only the customer can see the images .And then let them choose the shots they like and charge them per image.Then get the images printed professionally as my printer is crap..
I can hear you saying to your self ,Is this bloke a fool or something ? This is how photographers do it all over the world ..Well this maybe the case and i'm the first to admit it. I'm not the sharpest tool in the box .But at least i get there in the end .After all i am very new to photography, I have only been doing it since January just gone.If you have any advice for a beginner trying to make it in this very competitive field i welcome any advice you can give me.Anything you can suggest on how i can turn my art into pound notes would be awesome .
If you would like to come and follow me on Facebook,I have a photography page on there which i have been posting images since ...Well January just gone . You can find me under Darran Anthony amateur photography.
Come and see what you think.Or just leave me a comment below if you cant be bothered to find my page on Facebook.Well thank you for reading,I hope iv entertained you for five minutes if nothing else :0)

Autumn is upon us

Its the time of year when the leaves turn golden and fall from the trees.Sunsets are much earlier in the evening with beautiful colours.Where there is a beautiful picture pretty much everywhere you look.Just lately me my wife and children have been going for walks in the evenings.Gets us all outside ,expands the lungs and gives me the perfect opportunity to get the camera out .I'm loving the light from the Autumn evenings.
The only trouble i have,Like iv mentioned before.with in walking distance of my house, Everything that is remotely interesting i have snapped dozens of times over.I am looking for a new project to shoot.So i think on my first day off i get.I will be dragging the family along to the nearest woods for a walk to shoot a few beautiful Autumn forest scape's. I have a few other destinations up my sleeve, local castles will make for a fantastic days shooting as well.And all these trips out make for great family time together.I would welcome any ideas people reading this could offer .Any interesting locations in the south east of England.If you have any ideas please leave a comment below.I am fully open to challenges as well.for example if there is something in the area you like,And think it could be a good picture.Leave me a comment and details and ill see what i can do.Please people Inspire me,Challenge me see what i can do.
Im going to share a few pictures i have been snapping in the last few days.

I captured this yesterday on a walk with the family.I have no idea what the tree or berry is.I don't even know what made me shoot it .I just looked up and took the shot.Thought nothing of it until i viewed the pictures on the computer and this one just spoke to me.I really quite like it .I shot this with a Canon EOS 5D mk2 using a 70-200 mm f4 L usm lens at 104 mm's.The aperture was set at f5 with an ISO of 400 and a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second.I done a quick noise reduction and slightly sharpened up the image using Windows live photo gallery.

This is an example of the awesome colours the Autumn delivers.Not a particularly great image but the colours are outstanding.And using the 70-200 mm f4 L lens delivered quite pleasing bokeh.Again using a 5D mk2 with 70-200 mm L .Aperture was set at f4 with ISO of 200 the shutter speed was dialed in at 1/800 sec with a focal length of 70 mm.No post processing applied here.

The autumn provides great portrait back drops as well.Here i took this shot of my son.

Using an aperture of f5 delivered a nice creamy bokeh but not too blurred to obscure the fallen leaves.Was shot at 200 mm with an ISO of 400 and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec.Post processing was done using Windows live photo gallery,A quick noise reduction was done and image was sharpened up slightly.Then i done a mono conversion again using windows live photo gallery.If you have any thoughts or ideas for me please leave a comment below.I look forward to hearing from you .So until the next time take care and happy snapping .

I want to be inspired

Just lately I'm feeling a little uninspired.And i want my mojo back .Maybe because iv been a little preoccupied lately,Having 3 children to look after.And the fact i have nothing to shoot.I live on a flat marshland where pretty much NOTHING goes on EVER!.I have photographed pretty much everything that is remotely interesting within walking distance from my house.And to be fair kind of bored taking the same photos over and over again.I want something different to shoot.But what ? that is the question.I am interested in urban exploration but i don't know of any abandoned hospitals or derelict buildings in the area.Another thing that interests me is macro photography.I have been looking around for my next lens.sometime in the new year i would like to buy a 100mm f2.8 macro but another huge question that faces me is L or non L ? I have seen reviews on the net from the Digital rev guys.And Kai Wong from Digital rev says there really isn't much between them.obviously the L version does give you a slightly better quality image and it does have image stabilizer for those hand held macro shots.I would also like to put a EF 15mm fisheye on my wish list .But this all cost money.And photography doesn't seem to earn me a lot of money.I need to start promoting my self a bit more.letting the world know im here to take their picture.I have lots of ideas in my head as what makes a good photo and quite capable of creating a piece of art for anyone who wants it .
For now i will have to stick to the equipment i have until that starts to make me some money to pay for its self .And then i will expand.After all you don't need a true macro lens to take macro shots.There is ways around it.Close up filters,extension tubes,macro bellows and turning your lens around the other way.You can get some pretty good results from this to. This spider was shot using a Canon EOS 1000D with 18-55 mm Kit lens with a X10 close up filter attached .      

 

Bugs are great to shoot macro with .Another good subject to shoot is to go raiding through the kids toy box and dig out some suitable subjects like iggle piggle..

Will this be how i find my inspiration? playing with my childrens toys ? who knows ? even if it is,Is it a bad thing ? after all toys are fun.My kids love them.Well i think i know what i will be up to tomorrow on my last day off work.Watch this space to see what i come up with.

The sunny 16 rule.

This evening i learned a handy new tip called the Sunny 16 rule .It is a fairly simple rule to learn and very handy too .It was use in the olden days before modern technology of digital cameras .way back when the world was black and white an you had to start ya car with a cranking arm at the front of the car,like the 60s,70s and 80s .

Basically when photographers was using this stuff called film.Photographers had to carry light meters around with them where ever they went .Now days the DSLRs do that bit for you .But lets say you didn't have time in the olden days to take a light reading and you just wanted to shoot .Photographers had to devise formula's to get around this problem .the sunny 16 was one of said formula's.Its simple and very useful  even in today's digital world .

On a clear sunny day at an aperture of f16,you will get a evenly balanced shot if your shutter speed is inverse to your ISO speed.

For example;On a sunny clear day you have f16 and a ISO of 100 your shutter speed should be 1/100s.

Or if you are using f16 with ISO of 400 your shutter speed should be 1/400s.But if you want a fully focused shot you might need to select a higher aperture such as f22.the formula will still work.But for every stop up you go you need to bring your shutter speed down by one stop.for example ;

f16, ISO 100, 1/100s.

f18,ISO 100,1/80s.

f20,ISO 100,1/60s

f22,ISO 100,1/50s

Its all about getting the right balance .its a simple formula.But this does not  mean that this only works on a clear and sunny day .there are other formulas to this .

The snowy/sandy f22 rule

The overcast f8 rule

The slightly over cast f11 rule

The heavily over cast f5.6 rule 

The sunset f4 rule

Like the saying goes. You learn something new every day !




On putting this theory to the test I have come up with the conclusion its either a load of bollocks or harder than it looks .I was getting dark under exposed shots .Especially when i tried to apply the stopping up to f22 procedure ..
Not impressed !
Maybe with a little more practice, I might nail it on the head .If so ill give me verdict .

Regarding the dead pixels/hot pixels

I posted last night of my despair of finding my new Canon 5D mk II had issues regarding dead/hot pixels .I found a you tube video.Basically the same as what i was doing only slightly different .Well the difference seems to have made a HUGE difference .I think i have fixed my pixel problems.Just in case anyone else is having the same issues and you have stumbled across my blog, Ill share with you the video and wish you the best of luck that you to fix your problem.Apparently its a problem for the EOS 7D as well so it wouldn't have made much difference if i had chose to buy the 7D.Well if you are having these issues take a look at this video really simple steps.Good luck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJBuGhMnvFo

Darran Anthony Photography

Sitting at my computer board,while the kids where watching Sponge Bob square pants i have a genius idea to google myself as Darran Anthony Photography.I was surprised to see i wasnt the top of the list.A 27 year old Canadian photographer by the name of Darren Anthony Photography.We are total opposite ends of the spectrum to each other .He spells his name with and E while mine is with an A.He uses Nikon while i use Canon.We have different styles in photography too.Its accruing to me that,Will i have troubles with this man in the future ?,Sharing the same name and sharing the same passion for photography,After all if i do make it as a photographer and make my passion my career this will be my name of buseness.Can there be conflict of interests being the other side of the world to each other?.My plan of action is to stay under the radar.Not make and issue of it .Hopefully this man isn't as vain as me and don't google himself.If he does and gives me shit ill have no choice but to hop on the next flight to Canada and get him in a head lock until he agrees to change his name by deed pole ..lol
Or maybe not ! If this does cause problems ill have to think of a plan B . Maybe (Photography by Darran Anthony) .Chances are this man will not even give a shit .And these ramblings of a board man sat at his computer on a Wednesday morning while his children watch Sponge bob square pants are just what they were set out to be.Just something to write on my blog.It doesn't really matter what i write here because from what i can gather no fucker reads it anyway.I have 2 followers and one of them seems to be me.I am very grateful to the other person who took the time to click the follow tab.Maybe I'm just doing this whole blog thing wrong .If I'm honest with you i thought a blog was a website.I tried setting a website up and my god i found it difficult to do .So i found this link and decided to blog it up.So here i am .I don't know how to get my blog out there for the millions to see it .I have a gob the size of the grand canyon and have a whole lot of shit to chat about .so in theory this is a great idea and saves me chewing the ears of the people i love.God bless them .It has been mentioned in the past i am a bit of a chatterbox .I struggle to see it myself ..lol.But i will wrap this up now and make my wife some breakfast and a cup of tea so until i got something different to write about toddles !.

Dead pixels and hot pixels

Before choosing my new camera i remembered reading something about the Canon 5D mkII having firmware issues.I assumed this had been sorted by Canon as this camera modal was 3 years old now.I had joined groups on face book and not seen any negative comments regarding this.Also when deciding if to buy the full frame monster 5D mkII or the crop sensored 7D.I did my homework and read customer reviews .Nothing mentioned about this subject.On receiving my new camera i was delighted with my purchase.My photography had come on leaps and bounds since i got it.A couple of days ago i started to notice a red dot on my new LED computer monitor.I was 2 seconds away from ringing up PC world to go mental about the duff monitor they sold me.When i  decided to check the facts before i make a pleb of my self on the phone.The red dot moves !!!!.

What ? It couldn't be ? Could it ? Not my new camera surely something isn't up with my pride and joy new toy ? IT bloody is ! I did a bit of research on the net and found that its still a problem.Dead pixels and Hot pixels. GUTTED !!!! to say the least.I found a site on the net that boasts it can fix this problem . to check you have dead or hot pix .Turn the camera on, Leave the lens cap on and dial in a 30 second exposure and fire .Repeat this at different ISO's.If you find you are suffering from said problem an easy way to fix this is to set the camera to perform sensor cleaning mode manually (NOT AUTO) for one minute.You only execute the function<Not exactly performing the whole sensor cleaning procedure.Magically,The sensor cleaning task should  shake the stuck pixels off,If not,Repeat a couple of times more until it does .If still no joy its time to call Canon.I have tried this procedure 4 times.i have read also that its only seems to be a problem in jpeg not in RAW.I have tested again in Raw and I'm still suffering .The annoying this is its not every picture i get this problem .and i never really noticed the problem till a couple of days ago.And while i thought it was a problem with my £120 monitor it didn't really bother me that much .Now i and fully aware its a problem with my £2300. camera i am to say the least pretty pissed off.I will continue to try this procedure and hope for the best.I will also continue to research this problem to see if there is a firmware update that fixes this problem .If not i will call in the guys in white coats at Canon .

 

 

    

Dungeness

While doing the dishes this evening i looked out the window and see the sunset was quite beautiful.After helping  put the kids to bed i decided to go out for a while armed with my camera.I drove to Dungeness just a few miles away from my house.Its a baron place with not much there apart from a few wooden houses a couple of light houses and a nuclear power station.If you are into fishing it has a fantastic fishing beach which is abundant with fish.well lucky for me the sun hadn't gone down when i got there.I decided to shoot into the sun and capture some HDR images of the long approach road to Dungeness.I set my tripod up and positioned myself in the middle of the road.I took a load of shots and got some fantastic results for my troubles.

I merged the bracketed images i got using Photo matix pro 3.I tried a few different angles to mix it up a little.I then went into Dungeness and found a few likely subjects to shoot.One of my favorites as its a piece of local history is the house of the late Derek Jarman,Film director who died of aids in 1994.Who directed such films as The Tempest and War Requiem

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/comeonyouirons/
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FOR SALE

I am selling a Sigma 70-300 mm, f4-5.6 DG macro zoom lens,Canon fit.I have had this lens 3 months.It is in mint,Like new condition.I bought it to use with a canon 1000D.I have since bought myself a Canon 5D mk 2 and wish to put my money towards a 70-200 mm f4 grey L lens.So i have a genuine reason for sale.The lens comes complete in box with documentation.This lens provides a beautiful clear,sharp photo with nice pleasing Bokeh.The only down side to this lens is no image stabilizer.The macro function is nice with very pleasing results.This lens cost me £170 three months ago,I am after £120 or very near offer.If you have not already noticed i live in New Romney in the south of Kent .I can post this lens if need be,But postage cost would need to be met by the buyer.payment can be made like e bay via either personal cheque,cash on collection or via paypal.please feel free to message me if you have any questions regarding buying this lens from me .This shot of the bee was taken with this lens and hand held so the lack of image stabilizer does not make too much difference.

The memorial garden

This is a memorial garden outside my local sainsburys in New Romney .One of the ladies who worked there was tragically killed in a car accident.The staff at Sainsburys had this memorial garden built to remember their friend and colleague.A few short weeks later somebody defaced the memorial garden and pulled up a small tree planted in her honnor.The memorial is in a lovely position and when the light hits it just right it looks very lovely.I was lucky enough to have my camera with me this one evening.I used a litter bin outside the store to keep the camera steady while i took 3 shots at different exposures to create this high dynamic range shot.In the digital darkroom i merged the 3 images using photomatix pro 3.i then made the image sepia giving it the old fashioned look.I used a Canon EOS 5D mk2 with a 24-105 mm L lens.