Wide Boy

I thought I'd try a different format for this post.

Got The TS-E

This weekend I picked up the third of the three lenses that I wanted to buy after switching to Canon (for a while anyway), the 24mm ts-e. A couple of weeks ago I purchased the 100mm F/2.8 USM Macro from Nottingham-based wedding photographer and all-round nice guy Jon Rouston. This weekend I got the tilt-shift lens from a photographer in Calne, Wiltshire.

After collecting it I just couldn’t resist popping it onto the 40D and having a play. With all of the tilting and shifting controls there is lots to see and do. As it was a glorious sunny day (at last, Spring is here) and because we didn’t particularly feel like going home we went across to Avebury to see the stone circle there. If you haven’t been it really is worth a visit, the 4500 year-old creation inspires awe and the surrounding area is outstandingly beautiful.



First impressions of the lens are that it is VERY well built, solid, heavy and has reassuringly stiff focussing and lens movements (complete opposite to the 50mm). There are locks to hold the lens in place when shifted or tilted but the lens does not even hint at slipping even without the locks on. The tilt direction is perpendicular to the shift direction, something that can apparently be easily changed by Canon so that they move the same way. There is a handy option to rotate the whole lens while attached to the camera in 30 degree increments to alter the axis of the lens movements. While it is not intended for the photographer to use the lens movements while shooting handheld I couldn’t help but do some experimenting to see the effects on depth of field and perspective.

Wherefore art thou 5D II?

My 5D II has been on order from Amazon now since the beginning of February. I contact them mid March to find out what was going on, only to get a couple of generic emails apologizing for the unusually poor service and informing me that I can cancel the order if I so wish (convenient since it had gone up by £300 since placing the order). After trying to find out a possible date to expect it, I discovered that Amazon had pushed back the date now to April. In the meantime I had no DSLR as I had sold the Nikon kit in preparation.
A look on ScamBay revealed a few that were available (how is it that no-name, independent sellers can get them but Amazon can’t?!). So I contacted one of the sellers within a reasonable distance, asked if cash-on-collection was O.K. and if it was a U.K. model etc. etc. Yes, he replied, all good. So I won it.
When I went to collect it (from a different part of the country), a guy brings out a carrier bag with a camera box inside covered in Japanese stickers, I opened the box to find no warranty card. The guy calls the seller (who turned out to be in another country) who then apologized for clearly trying to mislead me and offered to get me another one in a couple of days. Forget it I said and left. As much as I wanted the camera, there was no way I was going to part with nearly £2000 for a dodgy import, what a waste of time.


So, while waiting, I've picked up a lil' somethin’ to use in the meantime. Since I had already bought the lenses and flash it had to be Canon - I went for the 40D. First impression are very good indeed. After the initial culture shock switching from Nikon I have been putting it through its paces. Shooting while out and about and in the studio, I'm really pleased with the results and the general usability of the camera. More to follow.

Making The Switch

No posts for a couple of weeks, mainly because I have been moving - moving from Nikonville to Canonshire. Never before have I used Canon cameras but the prospects of HD video AND 21 MP as offered by the 5D II are just too good for me to refuse.
I have been quite disciplined and forced myself to sell the Nikon gear BEFORE buying the Canon setup. It has to be said that I suffer from acute G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome, although Tanya would probably say it means something else). A local dealer had promised me a 5D II body at cost price but by the time I sold the last of the Nikon stuff he didn’t have any left so I’ve been without a DSLR for a couple of weeks. The Canon body is currently on order from Amazon (est. del. date 2012).
While waiting, I have been doing a spot of research on what glass should accompany the body when it arrives. I quite like the look of the 24 mm TS-E and the 100 mm Macro but to begin with I’ve bought a standard 50 mm F/1.8 as this was one of the lenses that I had in the Nikon setup.

When I got my hands on the 50 mm I was shocked - by just how plasticky and toy-like it feels. It is sloppy, has no distance/ depth of field display and even has a plastic bayonet! For a while I did think what have I done, come back Nikon all is forgiven. The Nikon equivalent of this lens is completely superior in build quality. Even Canon recommend that you don't try to focus the lens manually when set to AF for fear of shredding the gearing.
I am hoping that the quality of the results are better than the build or I may need to invest in some “Ls”.

Photography - How Easy Can It Be?

Polaroid, the company that brought photography to the masses, made a camera back in the early 70s with just one control. The same knob was used to control the “brightness” that was used to take the picture. That was it. You adjusted the flash output by moving yourself backwards and forwards.

So targeted was the design of the camera (although with a name like Super Swinger its questionable who it was aimed at) that there was a red square in the viewfinder that was used to judge your distance from the portrait subject by using it to cover their face. That way you knew that you were about 4 ft. away and that the flash would give you an adequate exposure. No need to consider the inverse square rule here!

How things have changed.

Getting Hyperfocal

No I’m not referring to a higher state of consciousness, this is a photography blog remember? I’m talking about taking pictures when you don’t have the time to focus, when you are shooting in the dark, when you want to take landscape shots where everything from the blades of grass under the camera to the peaks on the horizon are in focus. Sure your camera may have a depth of field preview - try using that in the dark!
The hyperfocal distance is a special number, it is the distance at which you focus the lens to get the absolute maximum depth of field. Everything is sharp from infinity to the nearest point of sharpness. There are tables that give you the nearest point of sharpness and the hyperfocal distance for your particular lens, camera and aperture combination. Just do an online search for hyperfocal distance and you should be presented with a plethora of links - http://dofmaster.com is a good place to start. There you can download a utility (Windows only) that will allow you to print your own charts. If you are a member of the I.O.C. (no not the International Olympic Committee, the iPhone Owners Club silly) then you can use the oh-so-handy App - PhotoCalc. By selecting your camera, focal length and aperture you are presented instantly with the hyperfocal distance along with the nearest point of sharpness.
Once you have set your lens to the hyperfocal distance then leave it. Resist the temptation to focus nearer when you look through the viewfinder and see that near objects are not so sharp. The viewfinder is showing you what your photo will look like at the widest aperture, not at your shooting aperture. Take a picture and look at it first if you need reassuring.

One of the great things about setting your lens to the hyperfocal distance is that you don’t need to worry about focusing from that point on, you can then concentrate on timing and composition - ideal if you are doing a spot of sport/ action/ street/ photography where you don’t have time to wait for the camera’s A.F. system (and select the right A.F. mode/ segment).

Rankin Recreates

In this unmissable program on BBC4, Rankin, the London-based fashion/ celebrity photographer talks about seven of the photographs that changed fashion and attempts to recreate them. In the process he doesn’t just copy the composition and lighting he also uses the same equipment including a Sinar Norma 10” x 8” and a Rolleiflex TLR. He talks about photographs from Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and others. There are appearances by Heidi Klum, Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Ray Harwood (Beaton’s assistant) and David Bailey!

There are no surprises about his choices for the photographers who have had such a huge impact on fashion photography. The particular photographs that he chose to recreate are those which he has a personal affinity with and, I think, those recreations which would make for good t.v. viewing.
I have long been an admirer of Rankin’s work and I have several of his books. I love the grittiness, the nowhere-to-hide aspect that he puts into his celebrity portraits. His photos are as in-your-face as celebrity itself. For years he has defined cool portrait photography in the U.K. and plenty of his photographs can be found on album covers for the artists with whom he has worked.
I have to say that I was immensely grateful and excited that he had agreed to make this program, to bare all to the t.v. cameras. At the same time I was a little disappointed by seeing him at work. There just wasn’t the skill, the charisma, the craftsmanship that I had imagined he would have, or at least it wasn’t recorded in this program. What was recorded though was his honesty - something that his work in turn has been so good at portraying.

My favourite quotes...
“One thing that hasn’t really changed I do get my assistants to do everything”.
“Because we’ve got absolutely no idea what images we’ve got or if they’re any good or not we’re actually reverting back to digital”.
“We’re not quite sure what the exposure will be so we have to kind of guess at it”.
“Before the photographer got there, everything was ready to shoot” at which point Rankin’s assistant replies with “which is exactly what happened!”.
Essential viewing. More, more, more.