……Is the one you have with you. These images were all taken with my phone, the Nokia N8, which I have had for nearly 2 years now. Its camera produces 12MP images sometimes capable of rivalling a compact camera, with a constant F/2.8 aperture wide angle zoom Carl Zeiss lens. It is capable of macro shots, and reasonable low light shots. Important things like ISO, exposure compensation and white balance are adjustable on the camera (albeit through the touchscreen menu). More and more people are relying on their phones to take photos, and the technology is rapidly meeting the demands of the market. The newest incarnation of the Nokia N8 series has a 41MP sensor! Of course the images will not rival a DSLR for technical quality and detail, but often enough, I cannot be bothered to carry or take out a whole DSLR and lens kit with me, so I’ll happily take the shots with my phone. As you can see below, I have captured some reasonably decent pictures with it. For sure, the images aren't perfectly crisp, and they have been edited and enhanced, but the basic composition and perspectives were taken at location. Often times, I took the image knowing that I could enhance it later in post. Many of these images will easily print to A4 size; if I wanted anything larger than that I would probably unsheathe the DSLR. I hope that this goes a little way to reassuring people that they don’t need the most expensive camera to take the best photos. The best photos are the ones that you take when you see and imagine them, and the best camera to use is simply the one you happen to have with you, even if it is your phone.
You know, it really is a test for a photographer to come up with evermore different or creative shots from a location that you’ve pretty much shot to death. But those shots are there to be found; you simply have to look. So Jena, Kevin and I took advantage of the beautiful clear night and ventured down to the South Bank to claim some more images. Along the way, Jena and I were graced by the tones of a singer wowing the crowds with her voice. As dusk fell, we grabbed some shots of the projections onto the Houses Of Parliament, before eventually calling it a night.
A few weeks ago, just before the Farnborough Airshow, I visited the magnificent RAF Museum in London to practice photographing aircraft on display. I have been to this museum a few times and it never ceases to impress me with its scale and the quality of its exhibits. The fact that it is free to enter is remarkable, given what is on display. Modern and older aircraft are both represented within their huge exhibition halls. And everyone form the nice lady at the entrance gate to the staff inside are friendly, helpful and informative. Even if you are not interested in planes, there is an abundance of history to be learned. Indeed, the history of the United Kingdom would be very different were it not for the amazing Royal Air Force. I would definitely recommend that everyone pay this museum a visit.Below is a selection of my images, shot from a variety of angles, and some rendered black and white, to make them more interesting. I used mainly my Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8, and also my 35mm and 50mm primes for some closer shots.
Another shoot around Tower Bridge last night with Jena as the weather was slightly better. We had dinner near Waterloo and took a couple of shots there around the fairground before moving on to Tower Bridge.Having shot the place so often it does become a challenge to find new and interesting compositions, but this is all part of training one’s eye. There are always new ways of looking at something.Partly for this reason, and partly to lend more dynamism to the images, I use a tilted and low angle quite often. This also brings a sense of scale and overhead vastness to some of the shots, more so than a static horizontal shot taken at eye-level.Once again there are a few HDR images in here, mainly because I felt like trying something different, and I have labelled them accordingly.I used my 35mm prime and Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8, but I also had my 18-200mm in the bag so I used that for a couple of shots - decent enough lens but it doesn't get used very often. Anyway, I hope these are different enough (some are quite similar!) to previous images that you will enjoy them.
...Something I was determined not to jump onto, hoping in fact to leave the country while the rest of the planet came here and made the city a human zoo. But a decent shot is any photographer's Achille's Heel, so I eventually relented on the opening night of The Olympic Games.I got to Tower Bridge, by way of a short stop in Hays Galleria, and waited eagerly and patiently for a promised fireworks extravaganza. When it finally happened nearly two hours later, it was barely a minute long, and a paltry show! I then traversed over to the Houses Of Parliament, which was being used as a screen receiving projections of images from past Olympic Games. That was actually a lot of fun.Anyway, I'm still mostly indifferent to the entire event, but at least I managed a few shots to post here. Enjoy.
Drove west to see my dear friend Sally this past weekend, with whom I did a spot of hiking through the hills, forests and mud of the beautiful Cotswolds. The annual Berkeley Skirmish was cancelled due to waterlogged fields, so we resolved to have our own adventure instead. The weather was great, the views were stunning, and the hike was exhausting. But the food was rewarding!We found some interesting treasures, like the opening of the Sapperton Canal, the longest canal tunnel in the world, and awaiting restoration since 1972. The Painswick Beacon overlooked the plains of Gloucestershire, as far as the Severn River, and offered some amazing views. The Milky Way was shot from Sal's garden, from where the clear skies are always carpeted in stars.Not many photos taken, and some just snapped quickly with my phone, but I have presented a broad spectrum of our exploits here. Some of the images I chose to bracket and blend to HDR, which I'm not a big fan of, but there we are. Thanks, Sal, for another great adventure!
A couple of days ago, I attended this year's Farnborough Air Show with my friends Jena, Bizhan and his wife Linda. All of us were armed with cameras, and all of us were on our feet all day looking upwards to capture what shots we could of the amazing aerial displays above us. I had been to the Biggin Hill Air Show a few years ago, and the aircraft and their displays here were very similar, so there was a slight sense of deja vu for me. The Red Arrows display, however, was a first for all of us and that was truly sublime.Jena, Bizhan and myself were each armed with a 70-200mm zoom, while Linda had a 70-300mm zoom. I used a 1.7x teleconverter for a few shots, but the autofocus was a little hit and miss so I mainly shot with out it. Jena and myself also used the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 to capture some of the ground-based exhibits.Even though the rain thankfully held off all day, the skies were overcast and the lighting wasn't always great, so for a few shots of the exhibit aircraft, I bracketed some shots into HDR composites. I have indicated below which images are HDR. Despite achy legs I think we all had a good time and managed to get some satisfying images from the day. These are a selection of my own shots, except the very last one of Linda and Jena which was taken by Bizhan. Enjoy!
Just wanted to celebrate the 4th of July holiday for my friends across the pond by way of paying tribute to one of my heroes, a great American, President Ronald Reagan. Last year I had the privilege of seeing a statue of the late President unveiled outside the American Embassy in London, with many dignitaries present. But I have also had the great privilege of visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, a breathtakingly magnificent place overlooking the jaw-droppingly beautiful Simi Valley. In this post are just a few of my photos from the Library, made possible thanks to my wonderful friend Lisa driving me all the way there to help me realise a dream. Why a hero of mine? Well, politics aside, Ronald Reagan was born into poverty in a single rented room above a bank, in a small town with a population of less than a thousand, where people still commuted on horseback; he suffered from poor eyesight and poor hearing, and his father was an alcoholic. During his lifetime he bore witness to the dawn of the automobile and highways, to television and radio, to transatlantic flights, two world wars and Man’s visit to our Moon. He became a radio announcer, actor, corporate spokesman, governor and then, in the sunset of his life, the most powerful man on Earth. As President, he changed his party, changed his country and changed the world. He did so with great humility, and largely with just the power of his words. Some may scoff and mock, but considering his humble beginnings and subsequent rendezvous with destiny, I believe it behoves the rest us to ask of ourselves that given the resources we have available today, what excuse do we have not to change the world? On that note, please enjoy the photos below and maybe make your own visit to this amazing monument to a great man. As President Reagan himself might say: “Go out there and win one for the Gipper!”
A few months back I went on a falconry experience at The Birds Of Prey Centre in Biggleswade. The experience was both enjoyable and educational, and the staff at the centre were really both very helpful and knowledgeable about their birds.As well as having the privilege of holding these magnificent birds, I managed to photograph the wide variety of birds of prey that resided at the centre. The owls were not as boisterous as the hawks, and devoured their lunch (little chicks) whole, while the hawks tore them to pieces. We saw birds in flight and perched, and they brought out a baby Andean Condor, the bird with the largest wingspan. All in all, a great day out with some wonderful experiences. Highly recommended!
Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, is a small but charming city replete with beautiful architecture and picturesque harbours. It is known, of course, for the Little Mermaid and Hans Christian Anderson, but Copenhagen has many other treasures. There are many beautiful churches, in particular the Marble Church and The Royal Palace, and terrific views of the city can be seen from the top of the Round Tower (Rundetaarn). Cultured tourists can take in its many museums, and I had the pleasure of visiting the Carlsberg Museum, with its terrific collection of fine art, sculptures and artefacts. Christmas is a great time to visit the city, not simply for the terrific lights and markets, but the famous Tivoli festival with its wonderful illuminations, rides and eateries. Most of these shots were taken during my second fleeting visit, and since Copenhagen is a very walkable city, I managed to take most of these within a single day and evening. I also spent half a day at Copenhagen’s excellent zoo, one of the oldest in Europe. I took my usual travel complement of the Nikkors 18-200mm VR, 50mm F/1.8G, 35mm F/2 AF-D, and the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8. Enjoy!
My sister recently returned from a trip to Poland, where she took in the three main cities of Wroclaw (aka Breslau), the capital Warsaw, and then Krakow. She also visited the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of one of human history's worst atrocities. Amazingly, she also managed to find a statue of my hero, President Reagan!Fortunately the weather held up, and typical of Canon compact cameras, hers metered very well and produced accurate exposures. Proof that you don't need bulky DSLRs and lenses to get decent shots. I sifted them through Aperture to give the colours a little bite.
The last couple of days saw me attending a conference in London, which was unremarkable but for being hosted opposite Westminster Abbey and the Houses Of Parliament. Needless to say, I took my camera with me and sneaked out at lunchtime and in the evening to steal a few shots of the prestigious surroundings.I particularly enjoyed seeing the Union Jack flag everywhere. Patriotism and pride in one's nation is good, and helps to anchor a nation and galvanise its citizens to come together. Whenever I travel abroad, I am always reassured to see the national flag of whatever country I'm in flying high.The flower photos were taken in nearby St James's Park. For all these shots I used just two lenses, the Nikkor 50mm AF-S F/1.8G, and the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8. The flower and bee shots were all taken with the 50mm at around F/2 to defocus backgrounds.The rich colours were helped by using a polarising filter (although not on the Tokina, which has no filter attached).Anyway, I hope the photos remind you of what an amazing place London can be, especially when the weather is good!
Jena and I, and her friends, attended the Red Bull Empire Of Dirt event yesterday to see the worlds finest BMX riders compete on a terrific course laid out at Alexandra Palace. Like the Red Bull X-Fighters, the riders were both daring and extremely talented at their sport, and they provided us with some great shots. The agility they displayed, the heights they reached, and the control they had were just awesome. Presented here is just a tiny selection of the hundreds of images I got. All were captured with the Nikkor 70-200mm F//2.8 VRII.I will present Jena's shots on a separate post soon. Enjoy!
Boston, although terrific by day, is also stunning by night. The lights of a big city are as vibrant here as anywhere, and the wonderful buildings glow and shimmer in the dusk.Once again, I give eternal thanks to Lisa for allowing me to shoot so much in the evenings; even when she was starving hungry and light-headed, she would still patiently wait for me while I got my shots. Her kindness has no limits. We took in the skyline at the harbour, both up close and from a distance, the Christian Science Museum and the mighty Prudential Tower, from where the views of the city are stunning. In fact, Lisa helped me take many of those shots, remotely firing the shutter for me while I held the camera with both hands tight and still against the reflective window.Some of the shots are also from the beautiful marina at Quincy outside Boston. The places and opportunities for shooting at night are endless, and I hope I get the chance to do it again one day :)For now, enjoy the vibrance of Boston Nights!
Boston is one the most beautiful cities I have visited, and I was fortunate to spend some time there a couple of years ago during my amazing vacation with Lisa. I owe her much gratitude for taking me around the whole city and showing me all the terrific sights. It was an amazing experience.Boston has many historical landmarks, and even a section of the Berlin Wall. There is a truly aesthetic contrast between the old and new, and I have selected a mere snapshot of my photos here to share, which hopefully convey the vibrance of the city. The people are warm and friendly, and there's a Cheescake Factory there to die for!Lisa and I also went on an incredible whale watch into the Atlantic, where we saw two humpback whales feeding with their calf. We also took in the aquarium, with its amazing central column tank extending up several floors.I will add a post of night shots from around Boston at a later date. For now, please enjoy these photos!
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