Camera equipment for sale

I have started an ebay run of some camera gear. Click on the link below to go to ebay and then have a look at the rest of the items.

A Leica IIIC Rangefinder Camera

How do you get people to relax for portraits

I have been asked this allot, and i will tell you my secret. I let them relax by starting the portrait session at 200mm and end up at 70mm by the time the session ends. Staying along way away from them makes them feel less intimidated. I also say very little, which may sound strange but the more you talk to them the more they realise their having a portrait session. I am now running courses teaching relaxed portraits, give me an email to find out more. rich@pureprints.com

rb

Portraits -Too many rules

There seem to be so many rules in photography and when your learning you are made to feel like you should follow them all. A photographer I know who is an excellent portrait photographer who see's an image and just reacts without following all the rules has just had a panel of his work rejected by the BIPP. I personally follow no rules of composition except one ' If it looks right then it is composed right' The composition is your personal choice and no critic can really tear it apart. Everyone has an opinion but it is yours that matters first.

rb

Switch to Manual Mode

I have used all the cameras i have owned in manual mode for the past 15 years or so, until i started using canon digital cameras. I then switched and started using them in aperture priority AV mode and made adjustments with exposure compensation + or - 1 stop ect. After using Adobe lightroom for all our weddings I have noticed a major advantage to going back to using manual mode for 90% of the images captured at a wedding. I now walk into the church and take a manual hand held reading using a sekonic digital meter. At 1600 ISO the reading is usually 1/30th at f4 for most churches give or take about 1 stop. Everything photographed in the church is based around this reading and i work manually. When these images are imported into lightroom later on it is much easier to consistently alter the images when the exposure was consistent at the time of exposure.

When I photograph the groups I use one manual reading and check the histogram to make sure the brides dress main highlight area is not blown out. As long as the sun has gone behind a 'kind' cloud in the sky the exposure stays the same. The cameras meter is not effected by the groups changing. Later on in lightroom the groups have had the same lighting and exposure and can all be tweaked at the same time with the help of lightrooms syc tool. If you would like to learn more about this technique we run wedding workshops throughout the autumn and winter months.

rb

Canon eos 5D MkII Video/Preview

Canon Eos 5D Mk2 / Mk11 Noise at High ISO's

I have just returned from a great wedding at LLangoed Hall Hotel in Wales and it rained all day. It was very dull all day and I used the 5D at ISO 1600/3200 most of the time. The group photographs had to be arranged inside with very little light bouncing around a large room. The largest group was 15 Guests and the ceiling was about 12 ft off ground level. I thought to myself I wish I had a new Canon eos 5D Mk II with low noise at ISO 3200. But I have got the good old Mk 1 and had to use ISO 1600 with F5.6 Shutter 1/60th and a canon 580ex Mk II with large Gary Fong Light sphere Diffuser. I use this  set up quite allot for winter indoor group shots and it works well. The 5D at Iso 1600 is good and the recycle time of the flash is reduced by the high ISO. The light sphere spreads the light all around the room and makes it look like flat natural daylight. I hope the 5D MkII noise level is cleaner at ISO 1600 than the 5D as this will make a difference to me when using this technique.

rb

Canon 70-200 f4 Is or 70-200 f2.8 ???????

I have used the canon 70-200 f4 lens for the past few years and upgraded to the IS lens a year ago. I looked at the f2.8 version but thought it was to heavy and kept the f4. I was in a camera shop the other week and had another look at the 2.8 version. They said they would give me a good price and it was that good I bought it. I have used the 2.8 version at a few weddings and still think its to heavy for me hand holding the camera at low shutter speeds...but I have now started using a monopod with the 2.8 lens and use it for Bride/Groom formal shots and some groups. The quality of the 2.8 version is different to the f4. When i say quality I mean background bokeh (blur). I love it. Which would i buy.....both is the answer. The f4 for general candid photography as it zooms so quick with the flick of the zoom ring...its ideal for candid reportage photography. The 2.8 is ultimate quality and works well when you have more time to spare...stopped down to 5.6 the lens is amazinglyy sharp and the bokeh is great. I will be keeping both.

rb

Canon eos 5D Mk2 / Mk11 HD VIDEO

I take back everything i said about stills photographers not being interested in the 5D having HD VIDEO Click on the link below to view the quality that comes out of the new 5D MkII with L Series Lenses. I want one........

Vincent Laforet Canon eos 5D HD Video

A good review site

I have been impressed with the reviews from Ken Rockwell on the canon and nikon equipment. Click on the link below to visit his website.

Ken Rockwell Camera Reviews

Adobe Photoshop CS 4 First Impressions

I posted the link below a few minutes ago before I had looked at the features adobe CS4 has to offer. I have clicked on my own link below and found a couple of things that will be of interest to digital artists but mainly photoshop is of no interest to real professional photographers. This may seem harsh and allot of photographers will completely disagree with me on this, but Adobe have produced 'Adobe Lightroom' which is amazing value for money, enjoyable to use, easy to learn and logical. Adobe photoshop cs4 is for digital artists who like to manipulate images and spend allot of time on each image. Adobe Lightroom is for professional photographers who can get an image 95% right in camera and then finish off the last 5% in Adobe lightroom quickly. I will be putting a few training movies up over this winter showing you why adobe lightroom 2 has improved workflow so much for professional photographers.

And finally adobe photoshop cs4 is tooo expensive - Buy yourself a nice lens instead......

Click here to look at Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2

Click here for a great website for learning lightroom online

If you would like to learn adobe Photoshop  lightroom 2 we offer a one to one course email me at training@pureprints.com for more information.

rb

New Adobe Photoshop CS4 Features

Just a quick post. We use adobe lightroom 2 for all our post production now as photoshop is to time consuming for our wedding business. I have just found out adobe photoshop cs4 is being released soon , click on the link below to go to the adobe site to view the new features.

Adobe Photoshop CS 4 new features

Canon eos 5D Mk II First Impressions(update)

I have just looked at the dpreview site and they have reviewed the canon eos 5D MKII beta. It looks like they have sealed the body well and they have even put the seal between the body and the canon 580 mkII. This is good news. They have image samples on the dpreview site that look good.

Click here for Canon eos 5D Mk II Review

Click here for image samples

Canon eos 5D MkII First Impressions

As you know from reading this blog I am a big fan of the canon eos 5D. I have put at least 75,000 images through my 5D and it has been very reliable and easy to use. The new canon eos 5d Mk II has just been released and will be available before christmas. I have looked at the dpreview site and they show the specification. I will not go through the technicalities just tell you what I think. They have a new improved sensor 21 mp compared to 12mp in my 5D and they have improved the noise with ISO upto 6400 in the normal range. This makes me want to buy the camera already as the majority of my images are shot at 1600 - 3200 in dark churches and reception venues. If the new 5D Mk II can produce low noise images with good colour at 6400 then it will be worth every pound of £2300. The body looks the same shape as the 5D 'which is good anyway' and the general controls seem to be in the same positions. Canon say they have improved the weather seals on the camera but I think nikon and canon need to start saying weather you can use the cameras in normal rain in a u.k summer. Just saying the weather seals are better is know good to us, just tell me if i can use it in the rain or not...simple. I have watched photographers using the 1D MkIII in poring rain with an L series 70-200 f2.8 lens the cameras are soaked and they must do this without worrying . The one thing they seem to have missed that we have all been asking for is dual compact flash cards or at least one compact flash and an SD card for backup of images. From personal experience I can tell you I have had at least three compact flash cards (by the top brands) go wrong. They should have put this in. Instead they have spent your money on HD VIDEO capture in camera (see dpreview for more info). This is great and I can't wait to have a go, it is going to be a great new product for my business BUT. 99.9% of photographers who are serious about still images and would spend £2200 on a camera body will have no interest in VIDEO (in my opinion). They should have spent all your money on the 'best stills camera' ever with a completely sealed body including the flash shoe connection to the Canon 580 EX 2. Dual Compact flash cards and a large ISO button. As you can tell I have been waiting a long time for the perfect digital stills camera and this could have been it. Saying that I have not tried it yet and will look forward to comparing it to the old 5D. I can't wait to buy one of these and it will improve my output at weddings, but canon does need to start listening more of the top pro photographers who will tell them what to put in their cameras. If you want to see a ''''photographers'''' camera go and look at the Nikon D3.

~rb~

Photo.net Preview the 5D

Adobe Lightroom Course

I am putting together a new adobe lightroom 2 course. I have found that combining our back to basics photography course with a adobe lightroom 2 course helps you understand photography/digital imaging. 

New Wedding Photography Blog/Site

I have just started a new wedding photography blog. Its going to be a blog/site combining our wedding photography business with wedding projects. 

www.pureprints.com/blog

Learning the basics first

A have just completed a back to basics course, we run for anybody who would like to understand photography. It made me realise how important it is to master the basics before moving on to using more advanced techniques using a digital slr camera. Apertures, Shutter Speeds and ISO may look complicated to learn, but are the most important things to learn first. I am happy to hear from you if you are confused by any digital camera. We run a 4 hour course for £100. One to One Tuition

Rich 01684 593388

~rb~

Distortion in Zoom Lenses

Just a quick post. I have always used prime lenses in the past fifteen years and only bought a zoom lens a year ago. One thing you need to look at before buying a zoom lens is distortion. I can not believe how much distortion there is in a £600 - £700 lens. I have found the Canon 70-200 f4 IS lens has very little distortion at 100mm - 180mm andso I use this lens for all portrait and engagement shoots. My Canon 24-105 IS lens does suffer from distortion at the 24mm-35mm end of the zoom range but is O.K at about 85mm. I use this for close portraits hand held indoors at 1600 ISO. So go out and get your zoom lens and photograph a brick wall. You will see what I mean by distortion.

Portrait Lenses 2

A good start is to use a zoom lens zoomed to 70 - 85 or 105 and approach your subject. Most people will want to run a mile as you will be very close to them if you are trying to capture a head and shoulders crop. Professional models will not be worried but the average person would rather you go back and be further away until they are comfortable. I have found most people to be happy when you are at between 135mm and 200mm on a zoom lens, they relax more and you are able to produce more natural images.

Camera Canon eos 40D
Lens 70-200 f4 set at 189mm
Shutter 1/1000
Aperture f4
ISO 800

Which portrait lens to buy? I would go for the 135mm on a full frame sensor<5D>, or the 85mm 1.8 on the cropped sensor <40D> or just buy a 70mm-200mm zoom lens.

Portrait Lenses

What lens should I buy for portraits? I about to buy a portrait lens and thought I would share with you my thoughts on the perfect portrait lens. I have used different lenses 85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.8, 75-300mm and have found that it is not the lens that matters so much its the person you are photographing.

Focal Length 105mm
Camera Canon eos 5D
Shutter 1/80th
Aperture F4
ISO 1600

Canon eos 40D Settings

The canon eos 40D is a good camera and I thought I would share with you a few tips for setting it up. I use RAW setting all the time with the PICTURE STYLE set to NEUTRAL 0.0.0.0. I have also been using the HIGHLIGHT TONE PRIORITY which works well if it is a very bright day. You can use the 40D from ISO 100 to ISO 1600 with good results (not as good as the Canon eos 5D at high ISO 3200). For 99% of the time I use one shot auto focus as I find for even the fastest moving bride and groom the camera can keep up. I do use AI SERVO MODE outdoors when they are walking towards me. The AI SERVO tracks very well and is very accurate. I only use one focus point and thats the center one. I use AUTO WHITE BALANCE on the camera and because I use RAW I can change this in ADOBE LIGHTROOM during post production.