Folksy shop

In the last month I've set up an online shop on Folksy. Folksy is a website that lets makers, artists and photographers sell their own handmade art to other internet users, and it's become very popular over recent years. There's also an American version called Etsy. I've been busy listing some of my images on the site over the last few weeks with two fellow artists, Emma and Diana Stickley and our shop name is 'Saltmarsh and Samphire'. We all agreed on this name for our shop as a great deal of our work is inspired by the sea and seaside living. Emma, like myself concentrates mainly on photography, but she is also trying her hand at other craft ideas, and Diana's work is one of a visual artist and printmaker. We didn't expect much of a reaction in the first few months as it takes time to design, photograph and list your products, but we've been overwhelmed and very excited by the response we've received so far. Not only have we sold some of our pieces, but we've also had work showcased on the Folksy homepage and featured on other people's craft blogs. We're now gearing up for Christmas, and hopefully what will be a very busy time for us all. So please pop along to our shop and take a look, the link's below. You never know, you may just find that ideal gift for a loved one this festive season or perhaps fancy treating yourself... (just this once of course).    

http://folksy.com/shops/saltmarshandsamphire

'Maggie-May' - Seaside Art 15 x 10 cm Print mounted in Rustic frame, £20.00

Brett Gardner

Sun, sea and sandcastles, £20.00

Diana Stickley

Lavender Fine Art Photograph 15 x 10 cm Print in 20 x 15 cm double mount, £10.00

Emma Stickley

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'Ooh, you little beauty'

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm shooting a bit of film at the minute, alongside my digital cameras. I have a few film SLRs, eight at present, and I'm starting a project where I'll be shooting with a different camera every month for a year. I still need to find four more models but I have enough to be getting along with for now. The first camera in the project is the Praktica BX20 and I have a roll of film in it at present. Images will be published on the blog in early October as will a little review of it's history, handling and my overall impressions of it.

The majority of cameras have been given to me or been sourced for not much money, the result of the ever advancing digital revolution. Having said that, I have noticed a resurgence in film cameras as of late and the prices are starting to creep back up on the internet and at car boot sales. Some of the more expensive semi-pro and pro models are, in particular starting to fetch higher premiums. A mint condition Olympus OM2 will now fetch well over one hundred pounds and I think that these prices will only rise in the future. However, there was one camera that I had been after for some time, one that I was prepared to pay considerably more for if it resulted in an excellent or mint condition example. I'm referring to the Nikon FM3a which entered production in 2001 and is considered by many to be the last great mechanical SLR. I was searching online for a mint one and these were selling on eBay from anywhere between £500-£1200, depending on condition. I really couldn't justify that kind of money, so resigned myself into thinking that I was never going to own one of these beauties. All that changed a few weeks ago when one was listed from within the U.K. on a seven day auction. It was described as 'new other' and came with manual, Nikkor 50 mm F1.8, cable release and case. Last minute bidding was frantic but I was lucky enough to win it with a bid of £386.00 with just seconds to go. When it arrived, I really couldn't believe just how lucky I'd been. Looking at the camera, I don't believe that it's ever had a film put through it, not a mark or blemish anywhere. This could and should have fetched at least twice the amount that it did, in fact, had bidders seen better images during the seven day bidding period, then in all likelihood it would have done. I can't wait to run a film through it as part of the 12 months of film project, but for now it's on display and in pride of place alongside my other film SLRs.

   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.

Wild Geranium

A close up image of a wild Geranium taken one windy August evening. I probably waited about 20 minutes for the wind to drop sufficiently before I was happy enough that I would be able to record a sharp shot. It's a common little flower found in many gardens across the Country which always manages to bring a smile to my face.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 105mm F2.8. ISO 800, 1/100 sec @ F6.3. Tripod and cable release

'The Dark Knight' ... High ISO test with the Nikon D4

My girlfriend's dad, Mark, is in a band called 'Mervyn and the Starbeats'. It's a four piece outfit based in North Norfolk, playing a variety of golden oldies at numerous venues across the County. I went along to one of their latest gigs the other night to have a listen and take a few images if I could. The band was fantastic, playing for around two hours with many people getting up and having a good old dance. I took along with me my Nikon D4 and various lenses. When I arrived I was told that I could take images but only from the back of the room, a good 80 feet away from the band. It made shooting the band members incredibly tricky, photographing across the length of the room, past many people in very poor light, possibly the darkest I've ever tried to shoot in. I had to use a longer lens than I would have liked so out came the Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8. I had to shoot wide open and crank the ISO up to 12800 to achieve a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action. Occasionaly a small light would catch one of the band members face and I would take a shot, the speed of the camera and lens to lock focus was superb and I managed to capture many keepers. When back in front of the computer, I was simply amazed at how well the camera had managed to capture as much detail as it had. The noise that was exhibited looked like a fine film grain and great detail was retained, all from a distance of 80 or so feet. No wonder the camera has the nickname 'The Dark Knight'.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 @ 200mm. Manual mode, ISO 12800, 1/160 sec @ F2.8

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 @ 200mm. Manual mode, ISO 12800, 1/160 sec @ F2.8

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 @ 200mm. Manual mode, ISO 12800, 1/160 sec @ F2.8

    

Shooting Chinese New Year celebrations with the Nikon D3s

I have mentioned in previous blog posts the differences I noticed straight away when shooting with the Nikon D3s and the D4 compared to the older Nikon D200. As well as the fairly obvious ISO advantages that the newer bodies have over the older model, it was the overall alertness and snappy response of the new cameras that probably amazed me the most. They seemed to have the uncanny ability to be one step ahead of me, able to track a fast moving object with ease and when the shutter button was pressed, capture the moment perfectly. My first real test with the Nikon D3s was a Chinese New Year celebration in February of 2012. I was learning how to handle and use the big pro body and this was a great event to attend, plenty of colour, a plentiful audience and some fast moving subjects all vying for mine and the Nikon's attention. It was a very cold day, not much above freezing so jumping around was as good a way to keep warm as any other, and boy, did the dancers jump. The Nikon didn't miss a trick however, tracking the movement with ease and capturing frame after frame of perfectly exposed, tack sharp images. As I said, this was a test shoot, so I wasn't trying to be particularly arty, just seeing what the camera could do, and I sure wasn't disappointed. I coupled the body with the superb Nikkor 24-70 mm F2.8 lens, a fantastic workhorse that is always in my camera bag, and one that I would highly recommend if you can stomach the price tag. It's sharp, even when wide open at F2.8, fast to focus, and built to the highest standards that you come to expect from Nikon.

A young child is confronted by Lion dancers during the 2012 New Year celebrations.
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 24-70 mm F2.8. ISO 800, 1/640 sec @ F3.5 

  

Close up of Chinese Dragon. Nikon D3s with Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8. ISO 800, 1/640 sec at F4 

Close up of Chinese lanterns. Nikon D3s with Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8. ISO 800, 1/400 sec at F4.5 

'Marmalade'

It's amazing how quickly the weather has turned here on the East Coast of England. Two weeks ago I was sitting on a deckchair in the glorious sunshine, watching people paddling in the sea on the golden beach at Wells-Next-The-Sea. Today I have a coat, multiple layers and a beanie hat on, trying to stay upright in the gale that's blowing along the quay front.
This image of the small boat 'Marmalade' pretty much sums up the feel of the quayside at Wells-Next-The-Sea at present. Cold, empty and dare I say it, a little bit bleak... Just how I like it. (except for the cold part)

Over the last couple of months, I have been photographing some of the boats that can be seen dotted all along the North Norfolk Coast. The finished mounted prints are available at http://folksy.com/shops/saltmarshandsamphire and they would make great gifts for someone's birthday or as a stocking filler at Christmas.

The Drifter

A small boat named 'The Drifter' floats serenely in the bay at Wells-Next-The-Sea on a warm, late Summer's day.  

Over the last couple of months, I have been photographing some of the boats that can be seen dotted all along the North Norfolk Coast. The finished mounted prints are available at http://folksy.com/shops/saltmarshandsamphire and they would make great gifts for someone's birthday or as a stocking filler at Christmas.

The image size is 15x10 cm and comes in a signed double mount measuring 20x15 cm. The item is packaged in a cellophane envelope for protection.

'Tie me up, tie me down'

So many photographic opportunities around the seaside, from sweeping landscapes to close up detail shots of boats, chains and fishing equipment. During the busier times of the year there is some great street photography to be had, and I'm looking forward to shooting a few rolls of film over the coming months.

Tranquility.

Awaiting the return of the trawler.

High and dry.

All photographs taken with a Nikon D4 and Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8

'20p View'

If you're going to have to pay for a view, may as well make it a good one. You see these scopes dotted all over the place at popular seaside resorts and Wells-Next-The-Sea is no exception. The design hasn't changed in years, and when I see one it always brings back fond memories.

Fuji X100. ISO 200,  F8 @ 1/450 sec - + 1.3 E.V.

If there is one thing that I've noticed with the little Fuji X100, it's that it will always tend to under expose. Now I know that elements within the  image above are very bright especially the telescope itself, where the white paint reflecting the sun's light may trick any camera's light meter into under exposure. But I've noticed that even with fairly standard, evenly lit scenes, that the Fuji will err on the side of caution and expose to the left, trying to protect the highlights. I normally set the exposure compensation dial to +1 as a matter of course whenever I shoot with it, and the images are normally spot on. Anyone else shooting with the Fuji X100 or X100s have their own particular "go to" settings?  If so, I would love to hear from you.

'Love-In-A-Mist'

The beautiful Nigella flower is often called 'Love-In-A-Mist' because of its tangle of ferny, fennel- like foliage that seems to form a mist around the flowers. It's a very fragile little plant which sways in the merest of breezes, the flower head itself probably no more than the size of a 20p piece, and it is both delicate and very intricate.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 105mm F2.8. ISO 200, F11 @ 1/20 sec - Tripod and cable release 

Always Be Prepared

Whenever I leave the house, I always take a camera with me. If i'm travelling light, it'll be the little Fuji X100, or if I think that I may be photographing landscape or macro, then in all likelihood I will carry some Nikon equipment. One of the reasons why I do this is because I always want the camera to be an extension of myself. I don't want to take the camera out of the case and for a split second be thinking, now what does that button do again? By keeping a camera with me at all times I am always familiar with it's functions and settings, and quirks in the case of the Fuji X100. Sometimes this can result in a photograph being captured that I may have missed had I been fiddling with the camera's settings and wondering where everything was. A case in point is the image you see below. This was from a recent wedding shoot where I had about 10 minutes with the bride to capture a nice full length portrait and some detail shots. Most people who have taken a portrait photograph will be aware that when asked to pose, the subject can become stiff and the smile forced, leading to a slightly false looking image. There are ways to overcome this though. Getting the subject relaxed is of course, a very important step in helping create a lovely natural pose, but I also find that by cracking a joke just before I press the shutter can also do the trick, the resultant smile or laugh looks completely natural. Sometimes catching the subject unawares can pay dividends as well, as they tend to be more relaxed thinking that they're not being photographed at that exact second. The image you see here was actually captured before the bride thought I was taking the shot. The other shooter, Julian, was busy preparing the position of the dress and sorting out the reflector, so I asked the bride to just stand in the position I wanted the photograph to be taken and wait while we moved the equipment out of the way. I told her to look towards me as I wanted to check composition and exposure details through the viewfinder. As she turned, there was a lovely natural expression on her face, 'BAM', I took the shot, quickly altering the settings on the camera as I went. The resultant image, pose and expression, almost gives the photograph a fashion shoot look and one that I hope the Bride and Groom would be happy with, framed and on the wall.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200 F2.8. ISO 200, F4 @ 1/500 sec, + 0.7 E.V.

The bright sunshine hitting the wall behind the bride was tricking the camera in to underexposing so I quickly altered the setting just before I took the shot. The more you use your cameras, the more you get to know how they will react in tricky lighting situations. The little Fuji X100 would have metered this scene so as to almost cast the bride as a silhouette. I reckon a setting of + 1.3 E.V. would have been needed to correctly expose the bride with that camera. Always keeping a camera by your side, practising as you go, helps you see the world as a camera would, and helps you react that much quicker when you really need to capture 'that shot'. 

Shutting up for the night

It's lovely to see poppies pretty much growing anywhere during the summer months. They don't mind a poor quality sandy soil and are just as at home on run down building sites as they are at a fields edge, where they certainly add a splash of colour. They can be tricky to photograph if you're outside and not shooting in a studio. They are so delicate that the merest hint of wind tends to rustle their petals and the deep red of the flower can be difficult to expose for, especially in bright conditions.

This particular poppy had been enjoying the sun all day long and was just starting to close up for the night, so the only option I really had was to shoot from above looking down into the flower head, careful to avoid any clutter on the ground.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 105mm F2.8. ISO 800, F7.1 @ 1/160 sec, Tripod and cable release

Even though the camera was tripod mounted, a faster shutter speed was employed simply to avoid any blur caused by the breeze. I was waiting patiently for 30 minutes before I was happy that the wind had died down sufficiently to take the photograph. Depth Of Field is minimal when shooting from just a few inches, even with an aperture of F7.1 so focus becomes critical. I just love the way that the spiny stem blurs into the background the further away from the flower head it travels.

12 Months Of Film

I've been shooting digital since 2004 when I bought the rather excellent Nikon D70. I sold this camera a few years later and now wish I hadn't as since then I seem to have started building a small but rather sexy collection of SLRs, both digital and film. Before 2004, I had been borrowing my dads Praktica BX20 film camera and used it whenever I went on holiday. It took some excellent images even though looking back, I don't think I really had a clue what I was actually doing. For some reason, buying in to the digital system allowed me to understand camera basics in a way that I could never quite grasp whilst using film, and over the years my photography has improved massively. If there's one problem with the new digital bodies however, it's that they're almost too good. That can be fantastic when i'm shooting at a wedding and I just need to capture a candid image with the right exposure and composition then quickly move on. Over time though, I believe this can lead to carelessness and you can inadvertently become sloppy, almost complacent. If you're not careful, sub par, unimaginative images can result. I have found that by carrying an old film camera alongside my modern kit when I'm out shooting for fun tends to slow me down and makes me consider the shot in greater detail. Is the composition strong? Is the light coming from the right direction? Is there a distracting background? With digital this doesn't seem to cross your mind quite as much. One look at the LCD screen after image capture will give you most, if not all of this information, and if you don't like the look of the photograph, just delete it, no cost. Film does cost, somewhere between 30-40p per shot with processing fees, so messing up becomes an issue. Most of the old film cameras I'm using are fully manual with relatively slow fastest shutter speeds, somewhere in the region of 1/750 - 1/1000 sec. This can cause problems if you're running a reasonably fast 400 asa film in bright conditions and want to produce a photograph with shallow depth of field, as the image will tend to overexpose quite considerably unless filters are used. Shooting with a camera that has greater limitations slows you down, you have to problem solve, you have to consider the scene in more detail. This has definitely benefited my technique when shooting digital. I have found that I now take my time a little more, scanning the scene through the eyepiece and checking things like composition, background clutter and looking at the direction of the light before I press the shutter button. I have found that I capture more 'keepers' now, and have far fewer images to trawl through at the end of a session by adopting this new technique. Above all this and perhaps most importantly of all, I'm now taking more beautiful shots than ever before.

So that brings me nicely on to the nature of this post. I've noticed a few blogs feature interesting articles where the author shoots with a different film camera for one month over a period of a year, twelve cameras in total. I have decided to do the same as it sounds like fun. There are no real rules, only that they have to be film SLRs and one film per camera which can be shot across the entire calendar month. The project has just started as of the 1st September and the camera I have chosen for the first month is the Praktica BX20, simply because I am most familiar with this one. The film will be processed at the end  of the month and I will publish some of the photos on my blog as well as my thoughts on the camera, ease of use,handling, picture quality and look, as well as a little bit of it's history.  

Five of the film SLRs ready to go.

Seven cameras are in the line up at present, five of which are shown above. So far I have,

Zenit TTL
Olympus om10
Pentax P30
Praktica bx20
Miranda MS-3
Fujifilm Fujica STX-1N
Pentax ME

Five more to find over the coming months. I would love to add a Nikon FM3a to the list but it is a tad expensive. I will keep a lookout, you just never know. Check back in early October for the first blog post in the series '12 Months Of Film'.

'Powering home'

The small port of Wells-Next-The-Sea has a thriving fishing industry, and alongside the many families to be found crab fishing or eating fish and chips along the quay front , you may spot dozens of fishing trawlers hastily sailing back towards the harbour after a successful trip out at sea. The ship's catch is unloaded shortly after and ends up in the local restaurants and take aways before the day is out. You won't find fresher produce anywhere.

Fuji X100, ISO 200, F5.6 @ 1/800 sec, +1 E.V. 

  

'Small Fry'

Over the last few weeks, as well as photographing weddings, editing the images and helping produce the bride and groom's finished book, I have also created some of my own fine art pieces. The most recent of these has been my portfolio of six images depicting insect and flower interaction. They are now for sale, mounted and framed from £90 each and limited to 100 pieces only. They can be found in the gallery section.

I am now photographing in and around Wells-Next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk Coast where there is an abundance of beautiful landscapes and nautical detail shots to be had and it's very inspiring. I have started a fine art photography and craft shop on Folksy with two other artists who are both based in Norfolk. The name of this venture is 'Saltmarsh and Samphire' and in due course I will provide links to their personal websites and to our Folksy shop. For now though, I have uploaded one of my first images in what I hope will become a successful partnership, captured over the weekend whilst taking a stroll along the quayside.

'Small Fry'  Nikon D90 with Nikkor 50mm F1.8, ISO 200,  F2.8 @ 1/1600, + 1 E.V.