Stock

For a number of years now, I have been submitting a wide variety of photographs to various stock agencies. For people who aren't familiar with these companies, they basically allow you to upload your images to their database, where clients can search for, and buy pictures which are needed for their book publications, magazines or websites, (subject to quality control). I have sold numerous images to these sites and most have been fairly run of the mill and not particularly inspiring. I have come to realise that the more ordinary the image, the more likely it is to sell. This goes against everything I have learned to look for as a photographer, and whenever I venture out to take stock photos, I have to bear this in mind. That doesn't mean to say that the image can be poorly exposed or out of focus, just that anything and everything sells. Alamy is my preferred stock agency and they are fantastic. Images sell for good money and they really know how to push your work. They also have an international presence and a news section, where you can upload any breaking news stories.

This rather simple crossword image has so far sold twenty times through various stock agencies, and was shot with my Nikon D200 and Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro lens on a manfrotto tripod.

I have to confess that this isn't my image, it's my girlfriend Emma's. (Although I did edit it). This has sold three times through Alamy so far, and has netted over $900. Nikon D90 with Nikkor 18-70mm lens. You can follow Emma over on her blog,   www.organdie.wordpress.com

Panoramas with the Fuji X100

People who've read some of my previous blog posts will know that i'm a bit of a Fuji X100 fan. I won't repeat myself on the reasons why I love this camera so much, (please check out some of my earlier entries), but I've recently discovered another function which makes me love it just a little more. I'm referring to the panorama shooting mode, which is buried away in the menu settings, and which at first I thought was a bit gimmicky. It has some major drawbacks, but used carefully, it produces some fantastic results which could easily be given to a client, included in a photographic package or sold as a fine art print...

So, the drawbacks. Firstly, It only shoots panoramas in jpeg. This isn't a massive deal, it just means that you will need to expose the image with the brightest part of the scene in mind, careful to avoid blown highlights which may be a struggle to recover in post. Secondly, the inbuilt ND filter cannot be used during this mode, which means that if the scene is very bright, no matter how hard you try, some brighter areas of the image may blow regardless of F stop, shutter speed and ISO combination. Why should this be the case, surely the shutter speed can be increased to accommodate this? Well no, there is a slight issue in doing so. If the shutter speed is above 1/200 sec, unwanted banding can sometimes be seen across the entire image. Dropping the shutter below this speed seems to rectify the problem almost entirely, so correctly exposing a bright scene with a high dynamic range whilst controlling the shutter, while tough, becomes essential. Thirdly, images sometimes struggle to stitch if there is a great deal of detail to capture, or is far away. Sticking to fairly simple scenes similar to the panorama in my previous Skegness post, can produce stunning results. It really is a case of trial and error, but stick with it and great results can be had. So get out there, set the camera to full manual mode and start snapping, you never know what you might capture.

A scene that really tested the camera. Quite dark on the right hand side of the image and brighter on the left. I exposed for the left hand side of the frame which gave me a reading of F11, 1/125 sec @ ISO 3200. Handheld 

A more evenly lit scene so easier to expose. F16, 1/125 sec @ ISO 320. Handheld

Skegness

I recently visited Skegness for the first time in many years, and it hasn't really changed at all. I mean that in a positive way, as it brought back many happy memories as I walked along the promenade. I used to work at Our Price Records, both in Skegness and Lincoln during the 90's, which has long since vanished from the Highstreet along with many other well known retailers. During my lunch break, I would quite often walk along the seafront or have a quick ride on the Pirate ship, something you just can't do in most town centres, and something that makes Skegness just that little bit quirky and special. It's quite a tacky place in the Summer months, but if you can embrace the bright lights, loud noises, and the smell of cheap doughnuts,  you can have a whale of a time. Skegness is a great place for some serious street photography, it's just sensory overload. Lots of garish colours and strange looking folk everywhere, you have to take a step back and slow down, otherwise there's just too much information for your brain to take in. Once you do start clicking away however, the memory card can quickly fill up, so be prepared to carry extra storage and batteries, just in case you get a bit carried away. The weather was pretty filthy, cold and windy, pretty standard for the East Coast, but you know what, I loved it. I'm going back soon, this time with extra layers, and a flask of tea... oh and of course, a Kiss Me Quick hat.

'He's behind you', Fuji X100

Hypnotised by the smiley flower, Fuji X100

Bracing Skegness, Fuji X100

Solitude, Fuji X100 

Nikon D200

Nikon D200 with Sigma 50mm F1.4

I've been shooting with the Nikon D200 since 2006 and I still use it on most assignments. Although the Nikon D3s and D4 are used for the majority of my wedding and corporate work, and the Fuji X100 is carried on street photography outings, the D200 still has a place in my camera bag. The images it produces have a unique quality I really love. They are sharp, slightly desaturated, and have an understated look which really rocks on certain shoots. Couple it with the Sigma 50mm F1.4 lens and the D200 really sings. The high ISO settings aren't great, in fact they're pretty rubbish, 400 is starting to push things, and while not slow, it's certainly no Usain Bolt. But get everything right, and those 10 million pixels produce beautiful images which really deliver and shout quality. With the Sigma 50mm attached,it can produce lovely portraits with shallow depth of field and gorgeous bokeh. Images can be taken from slightly further away with this combo than would be possible with a full frame camera, and this can help put the client at ease and result in more natural portraits. It's been through many scrapes over the years and showing a few signs of wear now. The rubber grips are starting to perish and come away from the magnesium alloy body and the LCD cover needs replacing, but I enjoy shooting with this camera so much that I'll be ordering new parts in the not too distant future, and foresee many more years of happy shooting and fantastic images.   

At the Races

I mention in the 'about me' section on my homepage that I have two passions. The first, and the reason for this blog is photography, and the second, and the reason that I remain sane, is riding bikes. I have been attending the Lincoln Grand Prix for a number of years, each time with camera by my side. The first year, back in 2007, I was lucky enough to be one of the official photographers for the event, complete with migraine inducing fluorescent, yellow bib. I loved the day despite the weather, and came away with some fantastic shots. I captured many great moments and witnessed Rapha Condor Cycling totally control and bully the race from start to finish. Dean Downing won that year, and I will never forget the commitment etched all over his face as he rounded the last corner to take the win. Road cycling is a brutal sport and not for the faint hearted. It requires total dedication to get to Elite level and plenty of pain and suffering. These really are hard men. I've trained on the famous Michaelgate climb, and while not particularly difficult, it's a 1 in 6 gradient, the fact that these guys race up there thirteen times in total, all the while having their fillings rattled loose by the slippery cobbles, deserves huge respect.



Left. 2007. Richard Wilkinson powering to the finish, his work done. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8
Right. 2007.  Dean Downing rounds the last corner on his way to a superb victory for Rapha Condor in the 2007 Lincoln G.P. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8 

2007. Maximum effort. Dean Downing about to win the Lincoln G.P. Nikon D200 with Sigma 120-300 F2.8  

 This year, I wanted to try something a bit different. I'd been taking a big Dslr to this event for a number of years, so decided this time to pack light, firstly to enjoy the day a bit more, and secondly, so I didn't have to lug a camera and accompanying lenses around for several hours. I wasn't getting paid for this gig, so I decided to relax and soak up the atmosphere a bit. Step in, the Fuji X100. I really thought that this little camera would be well and truly out of it's depth on a day such as this. It's not renowned for it's ability to continually track an object or be as fast to lock onto a target as a Dslr. And guess what, it's not. But that made me think about the situation in a bit more detail. If you're not careful, with a modern Dslr you can become complacent, just shoot away and expect to get decent results. I believe that this can adversely affect the quality of your work. Quite a lot of the time I shoot in aperture priority mode at Weddings, this suits me and my shooting style well. I'm usually an F4 shooter, following in the esteemed footsteps of World renowned Wedding photographers, Damien and Julie Lovegrove, but I couldn't rely on this technique at the race. I decided to shoot in full manual mode, choosing a smaller aperture of F8-F11 and a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. This resulted in an ISO of 1600 which I knew would be well within the capabilities of the Fuji's sensor. This did two things. It gave me a correct exposure on the riders themselves and it also helped to freeze the action. By employing these settings I was able to portray the agony and torture these guys go through during the length of the race, and boy, do they suffer. The more I shot, the more I loved what I was seeing, and I felt as long as I got close enough to the action, the camera would deliver. As the race drew to a close the weather turned for the worse, and people started to dive for cover, trying to protect their cameras and themselves from the rain and wind. I decided to call it a day also, so I took the Fuji from around my neck, put the lens cap on, and tucked it away in my jacket pocket. Job done.  

  

2013. Early in the race and already the pain is reaching unbearable levels.

2013. One lap on and the same guy, this time on the far side, looks as though he would rather curl up and die than carry on. Strangely enough, the guy closest to the camera looks surprisingly chipper, or possibly psychotic.

           

2013. The sweet ecstasy of  pain... (and a nice bike).

2013. 'Comin' through' The lady in the pink jacket very nearly got a face full of agitated rider. 

Nikon D3s (a.k.a. The Beast)

I've been shooting with this monster for about 15 months now, so know my way around it pretty well. What can I say, it's an absolute joy to use. Rugged like you wouldn't believe, fast as lightning and just wants to go and go. I work with the Nikon D4 as well and use both bodies side by side. I will be writing a comparison between the two at a later date. I had been using a Nikon D200 exclusively before purchasing the D3s, and as soon as I started using the new camera, I felt as though my creative ability had been set free. That's not to say that the D200 is a bad camera, far from it. I love it and still use it on a regular basis. The images have a certain understated, soft quality which I find fantastic, especially when paired with the Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM EX lens. Where it struggled was in the ISO department. I didn't like to take the ISO above 200 if I could possibly help it. No such issue with the D3s. Absolutely astonishing. Where is the realistic limit with this DSLR? Well, at the first Wedding event using the new camera, I was regularly shooting at ISO 12800, and when I looked at the images at 100% on the computer I was simply amazed. No detail lost, punchy colours, and fantastic dynamic range. There was of course some noise, but unlike earlier cameras which exhibited blotchy colour noise, this was more reminiscent of fine film grain... lovely. Images captured with this high ISO made it in to the final Wedding book, and they looked fantastic. What about the pixel count? People kept saying to me, "Brett, 12 mega pixels isn't enough if you want to print big", and nothing could sway them from this belief. What they fail to understand is that it's the quality of those pixels and the amount of light that each one of them can capture, which is the most important factor.  C&G Photography have produced banners 2 metres tall which look absolutely fantastic, every single detail can be seen on close inspection, so no problem there. I give all my cameras a nickname, (told you I was a geek) and the D3s' is 'The Beast', drop it on the floor and it would probably crack the pavement. It really is an amazing bit of kit, and the fact that 'Photography Monthly's' recent list of the 50 greatest cameras of all time had this camera placed at number two, just behind the Kodak Brownie is testament indeed.

Thank you very much for spending the time to look at my blog. I'm passionate about all things camera related and would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to look at some of the ads on my page. They're related to the stuff I blog about and you may find some great deals. I use a number of companies which advertise on my site when purchasing gear, and find them all to be fantastic, reliable with quick delivery.

Bank Holiday sunshine

We were blessed with some lovely Summer Sun over the early May bank holiday weekend. It's prime Fuji X100 weather. The camera is small, quiet and light, which means it's a pleasure to walk around with, as it doesn't leave a whopping great big camera strap indent in the back of your neck.

People lounging about in the warm sunshine. I don't want to know what the bloke was doing.

Fuji X100, 1/320 sec @ F8, ISO 200, EV +1



















I used a bit of fill flash for this shot. The Fuji's inbuilt flash is superb at mixing with ambient light to give a natural looking photo.

Fuji X100, 1/125 sec @ F8, ISO 200, EV +1, fill flash

Pretty Panache

It's always a good idea to try to get to know a few local businesses who may have similar interests to your own. It can provide a vital source of networking, information and contacts to help you and your business grow. We had the opportunity to work with local business 'Pretty Panache' recently, one of Lincoln's premier Bridal Wedding dress an accessory shops. They provided pretty much everything we needed, models, dresses, accessories, and for once the weather was pretty much on our side. We decided to shoot around the historic part of Lincoln, both the Cathedral grounds and the Usher Gallery. Unlike a Wedding day assignment, the pace of a fashion shoot, while brisk, is a lot more relaxed. We try to pose the models and manipulate the light, something that can be very difficult and completely out of our control during a Wedding couple's big day. Jules and I try to use natural light only, with the aid of reflectors to bounce light back towards the subject. We do sometimes use speedlights if we feel we need to inject some light into the scene, and we do use small softboxes to diffuse the light where necessary. A combination of full frame and DX sensor DSLR cameras were used, a Nikon D3s, D700, D300 and D200 with 50mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm Nikkor and Sigma lenses. We all had a great time throughout the shoot and drew quite an audience at one point. The models loved dressing up, and we loved photographing them. 

The final image in this set is courtesy of Julian Clune. It has been used by Pretty Panache on their flyer at Wedding Fayres and has certainly given www.candgphotography.org some extra publicity. 

    









Never work with animals or children

You're always looking for new angles and locations when photographing the Bride's big day. When the bride in question mentions in passing that she owns several horses, and the evening reception is being held in a field right next to the paddock, you just know that the two elements have to be combined somehow. When I suggested to the Bride the idea of photographing her and a horse together, she was well up for giving it a go. As we walked towards the paddock across the muddy fields, cameras and reflector in hand, I kept telling myself that Jules and I would nail a shot, all the while trying not to look at the beautiful white Wedding dress taking on a disturbing brown hue, as it was being dragged through the mud. At this point, I have to mention that it's quite a good idea to ensure your Wedding couple have downed several glasses of Champagne prior to embarking on mad ideas like these. It really does seem to help. We climbed into the Paddock and waited for one of the horses to trot on over to us. Of course, it had to be the largest of the beasts, all 25 hands of him. ( Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but he was huge ). It's at this stage that all posing ideas go out the window. You may be able to direct the bride, but the horse, forget about it. It was quite late in the evening and the Sun was low, casting lovely soft, warm light across the Bride and the horse. Off camera Flash was a big no no, we couldn't afford to spook our furry friend, so a reflector was used, just to push some ambient light back towards the subjects and lift any shadows. Then I started shooting, waiting for the one moment when it would all hopefully come together. When the horse tried to eat the bouquet, and failing that, the dress, and with the Bride in fits of hysterics, I pressed the shutter and knew I'd nailed the shot. Images like this can't be posed, they just happen, and I have to be in the right place at the right time to capture them. This is why I'm a photojournalistic Wedding Photographer, and why I love my job. "Never work with animals or children"... I couldn't disagree more.  

Never work with animals or children

        

Nikon D3s

1/2500 sec @ F4, ISO 800

Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 @ 70mm

The Nikon D3s has such exceptional high ISO performance that ISO 800 is considered a very low setting. This allows very fast shutter speeds to be employed without losing quality or dynamic range in the captured image, perfect for fast moving equine subjects. 

'Gigi'

 Gigi looking fantastic on her Wedding Day last September.

Nikon D3s with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 mk2 @  F3.2, 1/1000, ISO 800 at a focal length of 160mm. I was the second shooter at this moment as Julian was taking the main image to my right. Some times the candid shot seems to work that little bit better, and this was one of those occasions. Gigi's attitude is fantastic. It was bright but overcast so we had lovely soft light for the majority of the day and there are lovely catch lights in Gigi's eyes. I love shooting wide open, especially with longer focal lengths as this causes shallow depth of field and really draws the viewers eye towards the sharpest areas of the frame.
                

Fun in the Park

Fun in the Park

We could all do to be a little care free at times.  Sun, warmth, and a lovely park certainly help, as too, so it seems, does a rope.