Do you use Lightroom and Photomatix?
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
I do and I love them both, Lightroom is great for organizing and processing photos and Photomatix is great for HDRs, now Photomatix has an export from Lightroom function to speed the whole process up, see here for more details.
Tulips - from the air
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
A few great shots of the Dutch tulip fields can be found on the Daily Mail site, see here.
Removing people from photographs in photoshop
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
Just found this great video showing how to quickly and easily remove people from a set of photographs which is ideal for those locations where you want to photograph a building but people keep walking in front of it. Check it out here.
Earth from above
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
I have always been fascinated by photos that are beyond my capabilities both technically and physically and recently came across this great page on Boston.com for the photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand who takes some of the most amazing aerial photographs, do go and check it out here.
Feisol 3441s & QB 30 - Mini Review
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
Before I get into the detail of the review I need to put a disclaimer on this: I am a newcomer to photography and have only ever owned one other tripod (Manfrotto 785B MODO Maxi) which is at the budget end of the market and not really designed for SLRs.
I ordered the 3441s with the QB 30 head directly from the UK distributor (www.feisoluk.com) on Tuesday night and received it on Thursday, very pleased with the quick service and I was given two update emails along the way to say it was being processed and then again when it had been posted. One small way this could have been better would have been to supply the tracking number in the email but I am just nit picking.
Once you get inside the small box you get this:
Feisol 3441s in bag
A smart little bag which holds the tripod, head and a few accesories. The bag is snug, so if you chose a different ball head you may have to chooses to transport it outside of the bag. Once you pull the tripod out of the bag you get to feel the weight (or lack of it) and the size (very compact). See here (I know it isn’t in focus):
Feisol 3441s
Positives
- light, I mean really light
- twist lock mechanism, it may be personal preference but I like this instead of the clip locks once you work out the order of opening and closing (start at the top, undo a quarter turn pull out then re do quarter turn before moving onto the next lowest one)
- very stable for its size and can be used with the included weight hook to make it more stable
Negatives
- marks are already showing on the leg and platform contact points which makes me doubt how long the paint will last
- very stiff to pull it out of the folded down storage mode and therefore slow to put up
- the ballhead has a nasty problem with longer lenses that when you get your camera focused, apply the lock mechanism of the ball head and then let go of the lens, the weight of the lens pulls the ball head down slightly
Overall I am pretty happy with it.
ND1000 - 10 stop ND Filter
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
Another little purchase in my ever quest to spend all of my hard earned cash is my new 10 stop ND filter, a B + W version (about £55 from Warehouse Express). The idea is that it offers 10 stops of light reduction. It is a really tricky beast to use as obviously you need to do all of your composition and focusing before popping the filter on or you won’t be able to see a thing, you also need a really steady tripod and preferably use a trigger for your camera to minimise any movement. Here is an example:
ISO 100 / 4 sec / f5.0
I am hoping to use it to create some really creamy water over rocks look and will post some pics up when I find a suitable location to take the pics.
Ski Photographer Links
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
Some quick links I have found for ski photographers:
http://www.g1photo.com/
http://www.mattiasfredriksson.com/
http://www.whiteroompictures.com/index.php
http://rosswoodhall.com/home/index.php
http://www.pikephotography.co.uk/
http://www.dopeshots.com/
http://www.pallylearmond.com/
http://www.extremesportphotos.com/
http://www.melodysky.com/
http://www.dancampbellphotography.com/
Importing Camera Lighting Equipment
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
I have recently imported some camera lighting equipment from the US as I was struggling to get hold of it in the UK and wanted to share what the rough costs were including shipping and duty as though the dollar price seems attractive for certain items it is roughly the same price as if bought in the UK. The items were purchased from BH Photo Video, and their delivery was brilliant. UPS added on the duty and handling costs of about £70. The middle cost shows the $ amount of the item excluding shipping etc. The last column shows the £ cost including shipping, duty and handling costs.
| Item | Item cost ($) | Cost (£) |
|
Custom Brackets FLASH SCREW
|
5 | 3.27 |
| Avenger A630B MINI MAX KIT STAND | 77.95 | 50.91 |
| Westcott 50″ APOLLO JS | 229.95 | 150.18 |
| LumiQuest SNOOT - LUSQ | 27.95 | 18.25 |
| LumiQuest CINCH STRAP - LUCSQ x 2 | 13.9 | 9.08 |
| Westcott APOLLO SPEEDLIGHT KIT 28″ | 119.95 | 78.34 |
| Manfrotto 026 UMBRELLA ADAPTR | 29.95 | 19.56 |
One view - four effects
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
A single shot of a hillside near my house, taken with the 40d and 10-22 lens. I also used a 3 stop ND filter and then applied some of the default effects from Lightroom 2.
Sepia:
Grayscale:
Cyanotype:
Antique:
Stormy Sky
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
Stormy Sky, originally uploaded by Presidium.
I took this little number while walking my dogs near the house. The weather has been rubbish lately and I am struggling to get any good colour shots but with a little conversion in Lightroom some are looking nice in grey scale.
