Because photography equipment is so bloody expensive I'm always looking out for good deals on equipment .One thing i have noticed is even the second hand market equipment is highly priced .Especially if you are a Canon user suffering the L bug.L grade glass sells almost as much as new second hand,shaving a fraction off of the new price.So searching eBay for a good deal isn't always a great idea.Unless the seller has listed the equipment in the wrong category then you can pick up a bargain.Or the equipment is faulty,And lets face it,Nobody wants that great lens that doesn't work properly do they.or full of internal dust and fungus .you could always use MPB http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/ as well but i find their prices really steep as well.When i was looking to buy a 70-200 zoom i wanted to get the f2.8 L but wanted to find it as cheap as possible .I found the non IS version on MPB second hand at around £800. Today on the Jessops web site http://www.jessops.com/ I can get that same lens BRAND NEW for £989.Not much of a saving really.Personally i would rather pay the extra £189 and have it brand new .And the great thing about jessops you can get interest FREE finance.AND at the moment they have a sale on on most of their equipment .just check their web site out .some great savings to be had .
Also you can get equipment even cheaper if you go to Digital rev http://www.digitalrev.com/ .Personally i have never shopped from digital rev as i feared having to pay the tax duty on it.You can shave almost a couple of hundred pounds in some cases on some equipment.For example when i bought my 100 mm macro lens i paid £800 from Jessops but i could have got the same lens from digital rev for £615.It defiantly pays to look around and check out your options.Obviously if you have other sources where to buy equipment from i would be grateful if you could comment me the details .
Tuesday 30 October 2012
Monday 29 October 2012
Firework photography
I love taking photos of fireworks .This time of year is great for photography.With the combination of Halloween and firework night so close together,Its a very exciting time to get the cameras out the bag.
when you go to a display this year take your camera along and have a go you might be surprised at what you might capture .Get it right and you will capture some spectacular image's.If you have space and if possible use a tripod.But if not its no biggie you can get some great pics without one .But your light trails will be a bit shaky.But at the end of the day unless you are being paid to get it right .WHO CARES ? Its all about having fun with your photography and creating great images that make you feel happy .If other people like your work as well then that's an added bonus.
Use a low ISO.I use ISO 100 for low noise. Use an aperture of around f8 to f16 you dont need to shoot faster than that as the light from fireworks are very bright.
Also more importantly use a long shutter speed to create the beautiful light trails .No flash is needed .
With these basic techniques in place go out and have some fun and enjoy your evening out .
when you go to a display this year take your camera along and have a go you might be surprised at what you might capture .Get it right and you will capture some spectacular image's.If you have space and if possible use a tripod.But if not its no biggie you can get some great pics without one .But your light trails will be a bit shaky.But at the end of the day unless you are being paid to get it right .WHO CARES ? Its all about having fun with your photography and creating great images that make you feel happy .If other people like your work as well then that's an added bonus.
Use a low ISO.I use ISO 100 for low noise. Use an aperture of around f8 to f16 you dont need to shoot faster than that as the light from fireworks are very bright.
Also more importantly use a long shutter speed to create the beautiful light trails .No flash is needed .
With these basic techniques in place go out and have some fun and enjoy your evening out .
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Portraits
Recently i decided to concentrate on portrait work.I felt that standing in fields shooting sunsets and getting down in the mud shooting bugs holds no future for me if i want to have some kind of professional future as a photographer.Not unless i get a job in the national geographic.(I don't see that happening some how).So i have decided to concentrated on people for a while.My children are so fed up with me .The two boys disappear when i get my camera out.Bless them.But the youngest has no choice hahahahahaha she cant talk yet so she is a my modal.Not to mention my baby girl is beautiful.The reason i wanted to take up photography in the first place was to capture priceless pics of my children.And in the year i have been doing photography i have hundreds of beautiful pics of my children.Pictures i hope they will be proud of to show their girlfriends in years to come.Unlike the childhood pictures of myself i had to show off to my wife .I always seemed to be scruffy in my childhood pics or with dreadful 70s wallpaper and furniture.My baby girl wont be showing off her baby pictures to any boyfriends.Because she wont be having any boyfriends !.I'm a huge believer in (Guns don't kill people,Dads with daughters do).
To start with my issues i was having was confidence to tell people how to pose or stand.After doing portraits for a while now shooting pictures of my children,wife and various other family members.I think in getting the hang of it now.I am starting to see the picture before i have taken the shot.So I'm having to tell people how to stand or where to face.And think my pictures are getting better and better the more i do it.
Another thing i have been doing lately is searching charity shops for bits and bobs i can include in pictures.Last week i walked past a shop in town with wicker baskets as shopping baskets.I thought you don't know unless you ask.So i asked if their shopping baskets was for sale.It was just my luck that the shop was closing down and they was willing to sell everything in the shop.Fantastic !.I bought some really great bits from them that i will be great for baby shots.That evening i got some fantastic photographs of my little girl.Another thing have been doing is looking in the charity shops and boot fairs for wall pictures with lovely frames.For example,A few months ago i found a huge picture with a beautiful frame for £2.The picture was soon removed and thrown out while having my fingers crossed the picture was NOT valuable.I then got all three kids sat on the puffy in the lounge and got some great photos of them.Took the best shot to Jessops and had it printed at a huge 20 inches by 30 inches.Then trimmed the picture down slightly and framed it.its now hanging in my lounge total cost was £11.
Because we have recently had a new baby girl we have been offered professional photo shoots with offers of a free photo with no obligation to purchase.Great we will have some of that.We had one pro photographer come to the house which was great because i was bending his ear about photography.seeing what he was doing and taking notes.He see the picture i had taken of the kids and was really impressed with the picture instantly asking "wow where did you get that done" ?.When i said i had taken it he then seemed to get a bit edgy thinking he had been called on a wind up shoot.And assuming i too was a pro photographer.when i said "no its just my hobby".He couldn't quite get his head around the fact that being into photography myself i had arranged for another photographer to take pictures of my daughter.DERRRR !!! FREE PHOTO ....lol
Well,A week later after his editing session he returned with his laptop to show us his pictures.Being into photography myself i found myself very judgemental and a little unimpressed with his work.But this wasn't the clanger.We chose our free picture and then had to sit there listening to his spiel about prices and trying to make our excuses that we wasn't interested in any of his other pictures.He became very shitty with us telling us what pictures he liked and how we should buy them for Christmas presents for family and friends.He gave us an example price comparing against the picture id taken hanging on the wall.Bearing in mind the picture on my wall is 20 inch by 30 inch.He offered us a 20 inch by 20 inch unframed for .....................£175. I couldn't believe it.I am so glad i choose photography as my hobby.Meaning i will continue to capture beautiful images of my family and friends for a small fraction of the cost pros are charging.I know this sounds a bit hypercritical of me considering i want to be a pro photographer myself.And maybe it is.But £175 for a smaller unframed shot which i thought was shit anyway takes the piss.And feel that its preying on people who love their children when all they want is a lovely photo of their babies.Remembering that not everyone has the ability to take a good picture.After all photography is all about having a good eye for a photograph.Its not about having an expensive camera.A good cooker don'tdon't mind paying.But for the time being I'm more than happy to continue doing photography as a hobby.Because what a beautiful hobby photography is. There is nothing quite like capturing a shot and finding its a cracker of a shot.A quote i once read and its spot on...was from Imogen Cunningham (Which of my photographs are my favorite ? The one I'm going to take tomorrow).I find i am for ever looking to take a better shot than i have ever taken before.Which is good because i am forever trying to better myself .And who knows one day i might be the King Kong of photographers .....
To start with my issues i was having was confidence to tell people how to pose or stand.After doing portraits for a while now shooting pictures of my children,wife and various other family members.I think in getting the hang of it now.I am starting to see the picture before i have taken the shot.So I'm having to tell people how to stand or where to face.And think my pictures are getting better and better the more i do it.
Another thing i have been doing lately is searching charity shops for bits and bobs i can include in pictures.Last week i walked past a shop in town with wicker baskets as shopping baskets.I thought you don't know unless you ask.So i asked if their shopping baskets was for sale.It was just my luck that the shop was closing down and they was willing to sell everything in the shop.Fantastic !.I bought some really great bits from them that i will be great for baby shots.That evening i got some fantastic photographs of my little girl.Another thing have been doing is looking in the charity shops and boot fairs for wall pictures with lovely frames.For example,A few months ago i found a huge picture with a beautiful frame for £2.The picture was soon removed and thrown out while having my fingers crossed the picture was NOT valuable.I then got all three kids sat on the puffy in the lounge and got some great photos of them.Took the best shot to Jessops and had it printed at a huge 20 inches by 30 inches.Then trimmed the picture down slightly and framed it.its now hanging in my lounge total cost was £11.
Because we have recently had a new baby girl we have been offered professional photo shoots with offers of a free photo with no obligation to purchase.Great we will have some of that.We had one pro photographer come to the house which was great because i was bending his ear about photography.seeing what he was doing and taking notes.He see the picture i had taken of the kids and was really impressed with the picture instantly asking "wow where did you get that done" ?.When i said i had taken it he then seemed to get a bit edgy thinking he had been called on a wind up shoot.And assuming i too was a pro photographer.when i said "no its just my hobby".He couldn't quite get his head around the fact that being into photography myself i had arranged for another photographer to take pictures of my daughter.DERRRR !!! FREE PHOTO ....lol
Well,A week later after his editing session he returned with his laptop to show us his pictures.Being into photography myself i found myself very judgemental and a little unimpressed with his work.But this wasn't the clanger.We chose our free picture and then had to sit there listening to his spiel about prices and trying to make our excuses that we wasn't interested in any of his other pictures.He became very shitty with us telling us what pictures he liked and how we should buy them for Christmas presents for family and friends.He gave us an example price comparing against the picture id taken hanging on the wall.Bearing in mind the picture on my wall is 20 inch by 30 inch.He offered us a 20 inch by 20 inch unframed for .....................£175. I couldn't believe it.I am so glad i choose photography as my hobby.Meaning i will continue to capture beautiful images of my family and friends for a small fraction of the cost pros are charging.I know this sounds a bit hypercritical of me considering i want to be a pro photographer myself.And maybe it is.But £175 for a smaller unframed shot which i thought was shit anyway takes the piss.And feel that its preying on people who love their children when all they want is a lovely photo of their babies.Remembering that not everyone has the ability to take a good picture.After all photography is all about having a good eye for a photograph.Its not about having an expensive camera.A good cooker don'tdon't mind paying.But for the time being I'm more than happy to continue doing photography as a hobby.Because what a beautiful hobby photography is. There is nothing quite like capturing a shot and finding its a cracker of a shot.A quote i once read and its spot on...was from Imogen Cunningham (Which of my photographs are my favorite ? The one I'm going to take tomorrow).I find i am for ever looking to take a better shot than i have ever taken before.Which is good because i am forever trying to better myself .And who knows one day i might be the King Kong of photographers .....
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