Greener Pastures!

I have now moved to a new site at http://www.discreetphoton.co.uk, which allows for a much larger collection of images. Please trot over there now and have a look around. Thanks for all of the continued support.

Power management

Got lots of identical batteries? Don't know which ones need to be charged after a day's shoot, when they've all got mixed up? No problem.

Just grab a set of coloured-dot-type-stickers, and mark them all up in a way that suits your kit. For example, I've got a couple of four-battery chargers, and always use them in sets of four or eight. I've marked mine up in sets of four. That way, I can easily check which batteries I'm using throughout the day. Job done.

The skinny on filters: LEE Vs. Cokin

Something that frequently comes up in online forums is the constant debate about which brand of filter to go with for larger lenses. The two names which tend to come up more than any other (at least in the UK) are Cokin Z-Pro and LEE.

The Cokin option tends to be slightly cheaper (£42 per filter), and this can be a big draw. LEE are the higher priced brand (£56 per filter). Both filters may be used in the same holder. So why the big difference in price?

For starters, LEE filters are made and dyed by hand. The downside to this is that there can be a waiting list in periods of high demand (The 0.9 ND grads are like gold dust around Christmas). However, this also means that they are individually checked, and very consistent. But there's a little more to it than that...


The images above represent two possible scenarios that will be faced when photographing with filters. Both images are of the same set-up, with two filters loaded into the same holder. Each photo has the same exposure, using full, off-camera flash. Manual white balance was set from the white background and fixed for both photos. The only difference is in the position of the flash in each shot.

In the photo on the left, the light was directed from behind the camera, as if the photographer has their back to the sun (135 degrees from the subject). Both filters appear identical, as they are both the same density of 3 stops light loss.

In the photo on the right, the light is placed at 215 degrees, as if the photographer shoots towards - but not at - the sun. Under these conditions, some strange things start to happen with the Cokin filter. As light cuts across the filter, the whole filter appears to take on a magenta cast. This is a well-documented problem with the Cokin brand, but many photographers either do not see it, or are not bothered by it.

With an ND filter, I can see why this may not be a problem, to a degree, as they affect the whole image. The advanced white balance correction in many cameras will largely negate the cast, explaining why it doesn't bother everyone. However, when you use a grad filter, only a portion of the image is affected. This means that you can end up with a colour balanced sky and green frost. (This is what first upset me about the phenomenon). This becomes a litle harder to correct without degrading the image.

But not as hard as the reduction in contrast when compared to the LEE filter:



It's fairly obvious that in the example above, the Cokin filter does not cut down the light to the extent it did when the flash was behind the camera, and the writing is harder to read in the top (Cokin) portion of the image than the bottom (LEE).

This is a significant difference, and my main reason for choosing LEE filters. It's not uncommon for photographers to include the sun as a compostional element in their landscapes, particularly during the "golden hours" around sunrise and sunset. When I choose to do that, I want to know that my camera's taking in the scene as I see it: high contrast, and natural colours.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Now available as a special edition canvas at http://www.discreetphoton.co.uk

Saltwick Bay

Now available as a special edition canvas at http://www.discreetphoton.co.uk

Dalmahoy Hill

Now available as a special edition canvas print, at http://www.discreetphoton.co.uk

Fairfield Horseshoe

Now available as a special edition canvas print, at http://www.discreetphoton.co.uk

Quick fix for loose lens hoods...

If you use lens hoods with plastic fixings, eventually, the bayonet fixings will start to wear down, loosening the lens hood. Obviously, this is bad, as it increases the chance of your hood falling off, and leaving the lens unprotected from all those nasty pitfalls that can befall lenses (like that time I closed a sliding van door on a friend's 70-300).
Rather than replacing the hood, take a bog-standard elastic band (I used a red one here), and wrap it where the hood meets the lens barrel. The extra friction will hold the hood securely, and stop it from rolling off. Job done. Just watch out for van doors.

the launch of pogo shooter

I've just started another blog here, to track my progress on a new project of mine. Cross a sniper scope with google maps, and you're almost there. Please have a look, and don't be shy. I'm looking for some challenges.

Lurking in the shadows near you...

A fellow photographer friend, James Burns of the 4togs blog, is currently working on a challenge of his own, entitled "Twitography." Please take a few minutes to drop by the twitography site, where can find out all about the project, and donate a few quid to Macmillan Cancer Support while you're at it.

I met up with James in Gateshead yesterday by a bit of last-minute location posting via Twitter. We crossed the river and dodged the rain under one of Newcastle's many bridges. It was an entertaining couple of hours, and while I was the intended subject, I felt the need to get in on the act myself with a bit of reciprocal shooting.

On the subject of networking, it's to be encouraged. Eventually, we all get into our own little ruts, and sharing ideas can often lead to something a bit more creative to rekindle the sparks again.

Bonsai ! Place your bets now...

Lately, I've been trying to find new ways to challenge myself, photographically speaking (I can't handle too many challenges at once, so I've moved over to lace-less shoes for a while). I've been doing an awful lot of panoramas to try and avoid producing too much in the way of formulaic work, and this kept me happy for a while, but I've been itching for something that would make me think on my feet.

This came last week in the form of a request from my local Bonsai growers group. If you think photography takes training and dedication, you should talk to some of these guys. Some of the trees I shot were over seventy years old, and have become a cross between family heirlooms and pets.

The set-ups were different for most of the trees, and I was surprised by how much it felt like portraiture. Each tree had it's own distinct character, and had to be lit on a different way. After shooting several of the typical six-inch trees, I was faced with this monster, a 'miniature' yew at a whopping three feet tall! I ended up using four remote speedlights in various combinations, all triggered from the camera by infrared. If you're looking for something a bit different, I can recommend it. I had an average of five minutes per tree, and a constant audience. Great for keeping the pressure on.

Fisheye lenses: not just for vertigo

There's a commonly held belief that fisheye lenses are only good for two things: making sickeningly cute puppies even more bucket-filling, and making the most gorgeous people look awful. The reality is that the fisheye lens is actually a powerful tool that can be used to set your landscape shots apart from the crowd.

In many ways, you have to think of it like a high-end, rear wheel drive sports car. You cover a lot of ground in a short space of time; but try giving it too much, and it will probably get you killed (Point of fact – never, ever point it in jest at the tail-end of someone you can't outrun. It always ends badly).

There are certain things that you have to remember when using fisheye lenses.

1. You can't use graduated filters with them. They would have to be bowl-shaped to fit into the frame. This would be very expensive, and completely impractical. That's why nobody makes them.

2. Only the horizontal and vertical bisectors appear to be straight, because of the extreme barrel distortion. Moving away from the centre of the lens causes lines to bend. You can get software to correct this (DXO is fantastic), but if plan to do this a lot, save yourself some effort and get a linear wide-angle lens.

3. Small movements are greatly exaggerated when looking through a fisheye lens.

4. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT: Everything looks much further away than it really is. Think T-Rex chasing the jeep in Jurassic Park. It's like that, but the jeep would already have been swallowed whole. There are a few urban myths out there about people walking into moving air plane propellers whilst trying to use fisheye lenses. I don't know about this, but it's worth remembering if you're planning to use small rocks as foreground interest.

Obviously, there's a few things that must be considered to use these features to your advantage. The incompatibility of filters means that for landscape work, you're probably going to be working in the realms of HDRI (tricky due to exaggeration of movement, but practicable with a sturdy tripod), or at the very least, using flash to light your foregrounds. Linear (especially man-made) features can look really wrong. Fishyeyes really excel with natural features or circles. In this situation, they can give a very pleasing curve, and help boost your composition.

They aren't easy to use well, but the best stuff never is.

The Benefits of Chimping

It's been a busy few months here, and in spite of some truly awful weather, I've been taking every opportunity to practise whenever I can. It may seem obvious, but it's one of two things that really makes good photographers. The other is careful editing. By that, I don't mean post-shoot photo manipulation, but careful selection of the strongest images from a similar set. In order to do that, you have to be willing to try different settings at every opportunity. And you can make those opportunities for yourself.

Lately I've been looking at different ways to light for dramatic studio portraits. One thing I've realised is that you don't have to wait for the next studio session to try this. The chimp in this photo is only a few inches tall, so a couple of small remote flash units have the scaled effect of a pair of large soft boxes on a person. This realisation gave me ample opportunity to practise in a way that let me concentrate entirely on the technical aspects of the shoot. That way, when it comes to working with live models, I know what is possible with the lights, and can focus on the interaction with my subjects.

Transferring techniques to accessible subjects is a great way to learn, and boosts your creativity. Make small changes, and look at the differences in the results, whether projected, in print, or on the LCD of a digital camera (known as chimping - watch someone else do this, and you'll see where the name came from). This will force you to think more about what makes one photograph more interesting than another, and will help you to get more out of the important shoots when they come along. Learn from the poor shots, and share the best ones. All of the pros have duff images, but it's knowing what not to show that makes them better than the rest.

a new trick for your manfrotto XProB

Bet you didn't know it could do this! Manfrotto don't seem to. I've seen loads of reviews for the XProB series of tripods, and they've all said that a disadvantage of them is that you can't invert the central column for extreme, low-level shooting.
You can you know...

Before you do this, a quick disclaimer. If you damage your camera using it like this, it's not my fault. Be careful, and remember to lock the column in the normal manner. Otherwise you'll drop your camera on its head. And there's a slight possibility that the safety button will be dented too (I don't actually believe that part, but I have to cover my bases). If it is,then that won't be my fault either. However, mine is undamaged, and has been for the last year and a half that I've been using it like this.

The first step is to remove the central column. To do this, raise the column up to its maximum height. Push the button at the end of the column, as if you are about to swing it to the horizontal position.


Push hard enough, and the safety button will retract enough to slide through the pivoting collar.
Otherwise, use a finger to push the safety button down, while pulling the column straight up. You should be able to remove it quite easily.


Now, swing the column upside-down, and align it so the the safety button lines up with the collar notch. Make sure the collar is in the vertical position. Push and hold the safety button, and push the column into place. Release the button when it passes the collar.


You are now free to use the column in the inverted position. Simply reverse the steps to return it to the upright position. It may seem fiddly at first, but with a little practice, the process is quite quick, freeing you up to lie face down in the mud to get some really low angles.

Supplementary lighting for macro

I was recently asked about a comment I had made on using flash for my most of my macro shots, by someone wanting to know if they would have to spend lots of money. The only means of flash at their disposal was the built in flash unit. They used canon kit, but I don't. Here's how I answered:

I very rarely use my on-board flash. I try to approach my macro work as miniature portraits, which usually means low fill-flash (it can be okay for this sometimes), and side/ backlighting. I try to keep it as low as possible though, and mostly use ambient light. The flashes are really there to make things sparkle a bit, or pick out some of the textures.

I'm currently using the Nikon SB-800, and the R1C1 kit, which I think equates to the Canon 580EX II and Canon MT-24EX. I think there are couple of cheaper options, but the key is being able to get the flash unit away from the camera. Unfortunately, that's the massive benefit of using nikon: wireless is fitted as standard across the range. For yourself, you'll need TTL cables or a transmitter. Cables are a bit of a faff, because if you move, the flash comes with you, but they're definitely the cheaper option.
If you haven't got one though, get yourself a five-way diffuser/ reflector. They are amazingly useful, and I know someone who uses one almost exclusively. She's got some of the best fungi shots I've ever seen, so you don't need to go all out on complex flash set-ups. Here's some of the ways I use flash in my photos:
Two R200 flash units. One at rear right for rimlight, -3.0EV. One at front left through diffuser, -1.7EV. Note that the lower-powered flash is closer to the subject, so light looks brighter, but falls off very quickly.

No flash used. Fill-light from gold reflector

Two R200 flash units. One at left for definition, -1.3EV. One at front right through diffuser, -1.3EV.

SB-800 mounted on camera, -1.3 EV for fill. Stofen diffuser dome attached.

one R200 flash unit to the rear right, 3 stops below ambient for rimlight (-3.0 EV).

SB-800 mounted on camera, -1.3 EV to freeze movement. Note that this could be done with built-in flash, but light would be harsher because of smaller flash.













Full flash (no ambient registered). One SB-800 bounced from front right off gold reflector.














No flash used. Fill-light from gold reflector


















The tricky part will always be figuring out what lighting suits what subject. That will depend very much on the situation, and the background effects you want to produce. Trial and error is a huge part of this. So in short, it's worth spending a bit of money if you really want to improve your results, it doesn't have to be too much in the grand scheme of things, but a dedicated macro light rig will certainly open up your options.

What's it all about Alfie?

Well, actually, it's David.

I've started this blog as a means of sharing some of my experiences as a photographer. It's intended as a reference point, working on the theory that if I write things down as I learn, I might remember them. That's the plan anyway. If others can benefit from my learning curves, then it's a bonus.

I think honesty is important. We've all been to friend's weddings, or popular locations, and run into a photographer who mocks us with our inexperience and cheap equipment (it's all relative, after all). I don't want to be that guy. The only way I've developed my skills is by talking to other photographers (because most of the greats are a friendly bunch), and doing my homework. I don't mind sharing that knowledge with others, as it always seems to open doors. So feel free to look around, laugh at my mistakes, and take what you can from them.