Thursday 20 September 2012
Monday 17 September 2012
More lake District Photo's
You may wonder why I'm posting so many photos on here which are not wedding related. Well I've only just started taking photos for myself again and I'm loving it. It's took the purchase of one Fuji X100 to bring back the great habit of taking Photo's when I'm not being paid to do so.
Ironically not all are even taken on the Fuji but on my trusty iPhone. But I've always said that it doesn't matter what the camera is, but the shots taken.
You will see below a shot of a bird flying that is like a double image. This was actually a bit of an accident when I left HDR mode on my iPhone switched on. It basicly took 2 shots but the bird was flying so fast it doubled the image and you can see the movement while it flapped it's wings. I'm not sure if I prefer this one or the one where it doesn't show that movement. I'll post both and you can decide.
Ironically not all are even taken on the Fuji but on my trusty iPhone. But I've always said that it doesn't matter what the camera is, but the shots taken.
You will see below a shot of a bird flying that is like a double image. This was actually a bit of an accident when I left HDR mode on my iPhone switched on. It basicly took 2 shots but the bird was flying so fast it doubled the image and you can see the movement while it flapped it's wings. I'm not sure if I prefer this one or the one where it doesn't show that movement. I'll post both and you can decide.
Sunday 16 September 2012
Friday 14 September 2012
Where this weekend
After a venture into the Lake District last weekend I feel the need to venture into the wilderness again. Its crazy that the Lake District is virtually on my doorstep and I have rarely gone into the Lakes if I havent been doing a Wedding out there. Trust me to decide this now as Summer is nearly ending. The pictures I took on my previous post were in a place called Howtown which was a lovely place with a fantastic view of the lakes. Who knows I might buy some waterproofs and some walking boots!!!
Wedding Photography and Portrait photography is great because you get instant praise for your photography from the client. Taking photo's for yourself however I find a strange experience, especialy of landscapes. I may think I've took a nice shot and yet who is going to tell me any different? The trees arnt going to turn round and say thanks a lot I look great in your photo's.
On the whole though I am going to continue on with the personal photography and post anything I do on here. If its good or not, to be honest I have no idea and a lot of it is with an iphone as thats what I have with me all the time. Quite strange doing a landscape in square format as well which is what Hipstamatic uses.
I will be taking my trusty X100 with me somewhere this weekend too so I hope to get some nice shots.
Wedding Photography and Portrait photography is great because you get instant praise for your photography from the client. Taking photo's for yourself however I find a strange experience, especialy of landscapes. I may think I've took a nice shot and yet who is going to tell me any different? The trees arnt going to turn round and say thanks a lot I look great in your photo's.
On the whole though I am going to continue on with the personal photography and post anything I do on here. If its good or not, to be honest I have no idea and a lot of it is with an iphone as thats what I have with me all the time. Quite strange doing a landscape in square format as well which is what Hipstamatic uses.
I will be taking my trusty X100 with me somewhere this weekend too so I hope to get some nice shots.
Monday 10 September 2012
Up the hills
This weekend after doing a wedding in the lake district I promised myself I would go back to the general area to have a nice walk in the hills. I'm going to do this more often although I should have thought of this at the beginning of summer! It was beautiful and was good to go somewhere that I had no idea where I was going. I also took some shots while I was up there to commemorate the event! I'm really not used to taking photos that are void of people but I think they look alright! I must add that some of these were taken using hipstamatic on the iPhone and a couple using the X100. 
Sunday 9 September 2012
Fuji X100 for Wedding Photographers
Yesterday I brought my Fuji X100 on a wedding shoot to compliment my Dslr.
Ok firstly let get a question out of the way that will be on your mind if your a wedding photographer. Will the Fuji X100 replace my Dslr? The answer in my case is no! My D7000 is my main wedding camera and I can be sure that it will not be replaced. However for reportage/photojournalism whatever you want to call it, the Fuji is an amazing tool. The thing doesn't make a sound!!! And because of the size of it I found I was able to take photos that were not possible with a larger camera. People seemed to be much more relaxed and unaware even when I was right next to them. Even the staff at the reception kept offering me food and drinks because they assumed I was a guest. I must also mention how horrible the viewfinder seemed on my dslr after using the Fuji for most of the day. I have to say that the x100 is a pleasure to use and I would never bring my dslr as a camera of choice to any other event other than a wedding. So if the X100 is so good then why do I need the dslr? Well as well as the reportage stuff I do there is a requirement for some group shots. The lense on the Fuji is fixed. I need to take those group shots as quickly as possible and sometimes I have no idea how wide I'm going to have to go in order to get everyone in the shot. You may suggest I get the wide angle conversion lense. This isn't going to be good enough as I need speed from one focal length to another for the various group sizes. The same goes for my posed shots of couples. I need to go from close up shot to wide to waist up, all within seconds. Time is everything on a wedding day and I need those posed shots done and dusted to give me time to do the photojournalist type work. And at that point I will be running around with the Fuji capturing great moments. Back to the amazing viewfinder and why it's important. When I look through the viewfinder on the Fuji I can see everything so clearly and this enables me to get that decisive moment as to when I should press the button. I don't really use the electronic viewfinder much, but I do allow it to play the image through the eyepiece as soon as I've taken a shot. I find this an amazing tool. Now you don't have to fiddle on looking at the back of the camera to see if your shot is great. Instead you know if you have or haven't got that perfect shot you wanted. No guarding the back screen from sunlight as you try to see what you've taken. The main thing I've found about the X100 is that it just begs to be used!! And I can safely say that this is my favourite camera I have ever used at any point film or digital. It's hard to explain but this camera has a feeling to it that can't be explained in writing. The only way you will know is if you had a loan of one for a couple of weeks. It's got quirks you will overcome! No camera is perfect. If you've been thinking of buying a Fuji X100 for a while and your worried about the fixed lense then don't worry. It's a perfect standard lense!!! You may as well get rid of your dslr if your not a wedding photographer or need a variable zoom for other similar professional situations. Your dslr will gather dust if not!!!
Ok firstly let get a question out of the way that will be on your mind if your a wedding photographer. Will the Fuji X100 replace my Dslr? The answer in my case is no! My D7000 is my main wedding camera and I can be sure that it will not be replaced. However for reportage/photojournalism whatever you want to call it, the Fuji is an amazing tool. The thing doesn't make a sound!!! And because of the size of it I found I was able to take photos that were not possible with a larger camera. People seemed to be much more relaxed and unaware even when I was right next to them. Even the staff at the reception kept offering me food and drinks because they assumed I was a guest. I must also mention how horrible the viewfinder seemed on my dslr after using the Fuji for most of the day. I have to say that the x100 is a pleasure to use and I would never bring my dslr as a camera of choice to any other event other than a wedding. So if the X100 is so good then why do I need the dslr? Well as well as the reportage stuff I do there is a requirement for some group shots. The lense on the Fuji is fixed. I need to take those group shots as quickly as possible and sometimes I have no idea how wide I'm going to have to go in order to get everyone in the shot. You may suggest I get the wide angle conversion lense. This isn't going to be good enough as I need speed from one focal length to another for the various group sizes. The same goes for my posed shots of couples. I need to go from close up shot to wide to waist up, all within seconds. Time is everything on a wedding day and I need those posed shots done and dusted to give me time to do the photojournalist type work. And at that point I will be running around with the Fuji capturing great moments. Back to the amazing viewfinder and why it's important. When I look through the viewfinder on the Fuji I can see everything so clearly and this enables me to get that decisive moment as to when I should press the button. I don't really use the electronic viewfinder much, but I do allow it to play the image through the eyepiece as soon as I've taken a shot. I find this an amazing tool. Now you don't have to fiddle on looking at the back of the camera to see if your shot is great. Instead you know if you have or haven't got that perfect shot you wanted. No guarding the back screen from sunlight as you try to see what you've taken. The main thing I've found about the X100 is that it just begs to be used!! And I can safely say that this is my favourite camera I have ever used at any point film or digital. It's hard to explain but this camera has a feeling to it that can't be explained in writing. The only way you will know is if you had a loan of one for a couple of weeks. It's got quirks you will overcome! No camera is perfect. If you've been thinking of buying a Fuji X100 for a while and your worried about the fixed lense then don't worry. It's a perfect standard lense!!! You may as well get rid of your dslr if your not a wedding photographer or need a variable zoom for other similar professional situations. Your dslr will gather dust if not!!!
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Close up portraits with Fuji X100
I did worry that the X100 lense would distort close up portraits.
I also worried that with the lense being wider than I'm used to that shallow depth of field wouldn't be that shallow!
I took a couple of sample shots just to show that this isn't an issue at all!
I also worried that with the lense being wider than I'm used to that shallow depth of field wouldn't be that shallow!
I took a couple of sample shots just to show that this isn't an issue at all!
Iphone 5
I am very curious to see what the Iphone 5 camera will be like. I skipped the Iphone 4S as it wasnt enough of an upgrade on the camera. In fact the Iphone 4 does everything I need from a point and shoot. So what would make me fork out on either a new contract or spend about £500.00 on the new Iphone?
Increased Megapixels? Nope!!! The Iphone 4 has plenty and we all know the megapixels arn't the main thing. Better low light capabilities? Yes this would interest me! Better sensor with better noise control? Yeah that would also interest me. Quicker multiple photo's would be good and a real optical zoom.
I think its going to have to be a combination of camera improvements that will sway me to get one. Its definately my carry everywhere camera which is very handy living so close to the beautiful Lake District.
I do use it a lot, not just for photography but pretty much everything else for my business.
I am excited to see in the next month or so what the new Iphone will have to offer. If its not massive leaps and bounds forward from the Iphone 4 then I'll stick to the one I've got for another year or 2. Afer all you wouldn't see someone updating their ipod every year or so.
Increased Megapixels? Nope!!! The Iphone 4 has plenty and we all know the megapixels arn't the main thing. Better low light capabilities? Yes this would interest me! Better sensor with better noise control? Yeah that would also interest me. Quicker multiple photo's would be good and a real optical zoom.
I think its going to have to be a combination of camera improvements that will sway me to get one. Its definately my carry everywhere camera which is very handy living so close to the beautiful Lake District.
I do use it a lot, not just for photography but pretty much everything else for my business.
I am excited to see in the next month or so what the new Iphone will have to offer. If its not massive leaps and bounds forward from the Iphone 4 then I'll stick to the one I've got for another year or 2. Afer all you wouldn't see someone updating their ipod every year or so.
Saturday 1 September 2012
Fuji X100 My thoughts so far
Well I've had a good play with the fuji now and needless to say I love it.
In fact I wish I was out taking pictures with it right now.
I had a little trip to Blackpool with my daughter and got some great shots of her having fun.
I won't bore you by posting Many in here as I'll save those for Facebook.
However I have posted 3 shots below .
I have to say I feared the lense wouldn't be great for portraits with it being slightly wider than I'm used to but it's actually just right. It's a definate all purpose lense. Focusing too close to a subject was the only issue I came across as usually if my daughter ran up to me while I was snapping her portrait I would widen the zoom do she was still in focus. With no such setting on the x100 this did catch me out on occasions. However the positives of this great little camera by far out way this one problem. It's not a carry everywhere camera. My iPhone will always be that, but it is small enough to strap round your neck and forget about it if you knew you were going out to take some photos. This is the replacement for my Olympus Pen and the solid body makes it feel less of a toy than the Epl1. Saying that, I got some great shots with the Epl1 while I used it and I still think that's a great camera too. It just didn't feel like a great camera because of the build quality. Anyway have a look at the shots attached.
In fact I wish I was out taking pictures with it right now.
I had a little trip to Blackpool with my daughter and got some great shots of her having fun.
I won't bore you by posting Many in here as I'll save those for Facebook.
However I have posted 3 shots below .
I have to say I feared the lense wouldn't be great for portraits with it being slightly wider than I'm used to but it's actually just right. It's a definate all purpose lense. Focusing too close to a subject was the only issue I came across as usually if my daughter ran up to me while I was snapping her portrait I would widen the zoom do she was still in focus. With no such setting on the x100 this did catch me out on occasions. However the positives of this great little camera by far out way this one problem. It's not a carry everywhere camera. My iPhone will always be that, but it is small enough to strap round your neck and forget about it if you knew you were going out to take some photos. This is the replacement for my Olympus Pen and the solid body makes it feel less of a toy than the Epl1. Saying that, I got some great shots with the Epl1 while I used it and I still think that's a great camera too. It just didn't feel like a great camera because of the build quality. Anyway have a look at the shots attached.
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