x100s action in mono & colour and Nik Software

At an athletics meet in Sydney today, I thought I'd see what the x100s could achieve track side. One of my sons was running in the 1500m race and I waited near the starting gun hoping to catch a few shots. I left everything in Program mode and set the drive to 6fps, and focused using the center focal point. I processed the B&W shot in Nik Software on the PC to bring out the structure and contrast, especially in the sky. I've also included a colour version with a slightly different crop, also using Nik Colour Efex Pro. Enjoy.

f6.4, 1/850th, iso 400, processed in Nik SilverEfex

same as above slightly different crop processed in Nik Colour Efex

The x100 is still a great portrait camera

Even though I sold my x100 for the newer x100s, the x100 is still a great portrait camera, although at 35mm it's not at the classic 85mm to 135mm focal distance. Then again, it's clarity and ease of use is easily enough of a trade off to achieve some great shots. This was taken at Balmoral Beach Sydney, no posing just raised the camera and snapped. Enjoy.

Action shots with Canon 60d and Sigma 17-50 f2.8 OS by the beach

Whilst the harsh Australian sun might be a curse for outdoor photos because of the high contrast shadows, it does have one great advantage........high shutter speeds. With high shutter speeds, because of the extra light beaming through your lens, you can capture some fun and interesting high speed action shots. Usually you'll want to use a shutter speed above 1/1000th second to try and get your subjects as still as possible, but sometime using slower speeds can also be effective for creating some motion blur. The Canon 60d is more than capable of capturing fast moving action, as well when you use it with a non kit lens such as the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 OS. I really like this combination for everyday photography, unless I'm using the x100s which is life changing. Enjoy.

Shadows, shapes & light around the house

Trying to capture some unique B&W (+1 in colour) shadow, shapes and light using the x100s around the house. Trying to make the everyday interesting. Enjoy.

Doorway

Front door tiles look like bricks

Shadowlands

Self portrait

Grain

The first 5 lessons I learnt in photography

Lesson 1 - gear doesn't really matter.

Almost everyone who takes a great photo of friends or family will get the inevitable quote, "what type of camera do you have because it takes great photos". Well yes photography technology has come a long way in the last decade (just check your old file - yikes!), but its still mostly the photographer thinking about light, composition, exposure etc that will determine the end result. Yes I've thought about upgrading to a full frame dslr with the best lenses money can buy, but after a while you realise you can create very good shots capable of reasonable print sizes with some very inexpensive cameras. Like most hobbyists, I make do with what I've got. If I was shooting weddings every weekend and alike I'd invest in gear that made sure I never missed a "paid"shot. But hey, I dont get paid, so for me it doesn't matter. I can get a great shot our of my Canon s95, 60d or Fujifilm x100s - even my iPhone 4!!!! So if you are starting to enjoy photography, think more about investing in your technique rather than a too many cameras. But then again, if you have the budget, and you're really going to enjoy it, that's up to you to decide.

Lesson 2 - learn your camera really well

If you're using your camera in auto mode all the time, no sweat, maybe that's all you need. But if you're seeking more control, start experimenting with the different modes your camera can provide. The great thing about digital photography is the fact that you can experiment for free. So how did I learn? Thanks to YouTube and Google I just learnt via the internet and the knowledge of experts around the world. If you're willing to put in the time, its really not that hard at all. The rest is practice.

Lesson 3 - learn TV & AV mode first

Ok, so you've got the bug, read a blog and want to go straight to full manual control. I would always advise that you start by understand TV - shutter priority & AV - aperture priority modes. This will give you a great understanding of the inter-relationship of shutter speed and the amount of light you let your lens digest.

Lesson 4 - learn manual mode and understand metering

Now you've played and experimented with the relationship between your shutter speed and aperture settings, go give manual mode a go. 

Lesson 5 - composition counts

So we've now got some fundamentals down on exposure and field of view, but what really counts? To me a picture is a painting. What you choose to shoot, the light, whats in the frame etc is what really counts. really look around the viewfinder when your taking a picture - notice all that's going on around your subject. Are you cutting off someones head, arm etc? There's a ton of information all over the web on great composition in photography, for me you just have to find what works for you - don't over think the rule of 1/3rds.

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 os with 1.5x extender tube - great lens

There's a ton of comparisons online regarding the famous zoom length of 70-200mm lenses. Yes the native versions are great, but I've found my Sigma 70-200mm lens f2.8 OS (optical stabilization) works extremely well in many circumstances, even on my crop sensor Canon 60d. Because its a cropped sensor camera the actual focal length is magnified by 1.6x, so in affect we have a 120-320mm reach. Using the extender tube 1.5x it extends the reach further by 0.5, so in effect I was shooting the picture below at circa 500mm. When you add the extender tube you lose an f stop, so the maximum I could shoot at was f4. The shot below was actually taken at f7.1 at 1/500th shutter speed because the available light was so good. I was at least 150m's away from the action in this shot. I think the clarity and colours are great. My point is that Sigma lenses are a really good step up from the kit lenses most people use. Sure there are more expensive alternatives that have the brand cache, am I'm sure they are excellent too.

3 great tips for mobile photography - whats yours?

The iPhone has probably changed photography forever. Its so portable and easy to take great pictures on the run when you don't have 'gear' hanging around your neck or shoulders. My 3 tips for using the iPhone to take great pictures are:

1. Remember to hold it steady & compose the shot
2. Download ProCamera - its just sooooo good
3. Download Snapseed for edits on the fly - unbeatable value

Below are a few differently proceed pictures of the same shot taken today. Anyone with a little imagination and creativity can produce great photos on the run. Seriously this is just so very easy. Let me know what your tips are. Enjoy.

iPhone 4 still rocks for street photography

I cannot believe how good the iPhone 4 is for most types of photography, especially just street pics on the go. Besides the fact that it is a computer as well, the convenience is just so cool. But how often do we forget that we don't need expensive camera gear to take great photos. Yep, been there done that! Now I love expensive camera gear, and if I had an eternal budget, I'd be buying Leica's and full frame dslrs like there was no tomorrow. Back to reality. My favourite app on the iPhone 4 is ProCamera, which allows you a huge amount of control from your phone. Set focus and exposure points, timer, histogram etc etc - just check it out on iTunes. Its great. Easy to use too. Here's a few random shot from my whereabouts today. These are straight from the iPhone 4 without any processing using ProCamera. Enjoy.

Graffiti in East Sydney - I like the brick contrast

Same photo as above with Nik software neutral density and sharpening

Table number in Lane Cove - virtually no light

Cafe in Lane Cove - again its dark which you can tell from the camera shutter speed blurring the cafe worker 

Canon 60d and Sigma 85 f1.4 capture weekend sport

There is much said about the Sigma 85 f1.4 being a great portrait lens, which is true, but depending on your distance from the action, it's also a handy lens to capture weekend sports. The lens is a prime lens, fixed focal length with no zoom. The 1.4 aperture allows the lens to capture lots of light allowing for fast shutter speeds at most apertures. I always use mine with a hood and uv filter to protect the lens from accidental bumps and knocks. I know different people have different views on Sigma lenses, but I've generally thought that these are great. I own the 30mm 1.4, 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8 and extender tube. Occasionally the compatibility with Canon cameras means you can get either front or back focussing issues, which in Australia the distributors fix for free. Optically they are neck and neck with native brands. Just my experience, others may disagree. The Canon 60d was my step up dslr from the Canon 400d, which was also a great camera - it still is. I shot sports on the 60d with the centre focal point selected and use the AF button on the back to keep continuous focus to get more actions shots that are keepers. These were all shot jpeg and processed slightly in Snapseed on the iPad. The day was very contrasty and bright, so excuse the shadows. Enjoy.

Cooper in action

Pele

quick!

Olympus TG1 a great waterproof camera

Last Christmas I took the Olympus TG1 on holidays to Broadbeach for the convenience of taking some in and underwater shots. I usually take the Canon S95 down to the beach and try as best a possible to avoid sand and water, but you also miss many shots being so careful. Not with the TG1, it just goes where you go and is one tough camera. The quality of the images is fair, and probably on par with the Canon S95. If anything they are a little flatter than the Canon, but yell, I can take this in the ocean and the pool! Enjoy.

Cooper & Oliver make sandcastles

Cooper aqua

Oliver aqua

How passionate are you about photography?

I met a great guitarist today in Hyde Park named Gavin. I'd walked past him a few times a week on my way to the city, and he is always playing and creating as life strolls by. Well today I decided to talk with him about his playing and technique as I too play the guitar, just not that well. It turns out he used to work in Holland as an engineer, but felt so strongly about his guitar playing that he gave everything up to play and busk on the streets. Now that's passion and commitment. Even though he is an amazing player, all he kept saying is, "I have so much more to learn". And he claims to have only taken up the instrument in the last 6 years. I recorded a short clip with his permission for you all to enjoy below, and to think about what passion is about. Are we all taking our photography to a level like this? I'm not. Funnily enough whilst I was shooting this on my iPhone 4 there was a photographer with a Nikon d800e taking shots, good to see. Enjoy.

x100s turning day into night with flash

Yes the x100s syncs to 1/4000th of a second. Why? Well unless you are shooting extremely fast kids on a regular basis with a flash gun, you can use this feature to turn day into night to get some very interesting affects. This is a simple demonstration using a small child's bike, but the shots you can get from portraits is stunning. Maybe I'll do a post on this soon. So what gear am I using beside the x100s? to trigger the flash I'm using a Wein Sync-Link Flash Trigger that is easily mountable on the hot shoe  and takes 2 AA batteries with a simple on/off switch. This sends a IR pulse to the slave flash of your choice - not sure if its TTL. The flash I chose is the Yongnuo YN 460-II as its acts as a slave and its very inexpensive. I'm very happy with this flash and actually find it better than my Canon equivalent because its easily switched in slave mode - I use S1 mode. Switch the x100s flash into C mode and the Wein will fire the flash - and sync up to 1/4000th of a second. Importantly turn on your ND filter - it acts to darken the scene and trick the camera to get the night affect. Yeah! Enjoy.

x100s with Wein Sync Link and Yongnuo flash

Wein Sync Link - uses IR pulse to fire external flash in salve mode

Yongnuo YN 460-II flash in S1 slave mode

Reference shot in full sun Program mode

Shutter priority f2 iso 320 nd filter 1/4000th

Manual f2 iso 500 nd filter 1/4000th

manual f2 iso 800 nd filter 1/4000th

Manual f4 iso 800 nd filter 1/4000th

Manual f4 iso 1000 nd filter 1/4000th

x100s with Nik software - OMG!

Well I thought I'd try the x100s with Nik Software, so I downloaded their free trial, went and found some architectural subject matter. See for yourself what happened. Yes that's right, amazingly sharp and high definition pictures. Nik Software and the x100s seem to be made for each other. I especially love Silver Efex Pro 2 and its B&W rendering. Enjoy.

St Marys Catherdral Sydney - x100s f8 1/800 iso 200, Nik software tonal contrast

Crooped from above shot

St Marys Catherdral Sydney - x100s f8 1/800 iso 200, Nik software tonal contrast - sharpened

Cropped from above

X100s still rocks with Perfectly Clear

Ok more pics from home but this time I've been using the jpegs straight from the camera with Perfectly Clear app on the iPad. Now comparing this camera with a dslr is a little difficult, however I still think a dslr with a good prime lens will produce better shots if used correctly, but not by much. In fact the results are very close. Enjoy.

X100s at the Art Gallery NSW

Today I had a spare hour so took a stroll to the art gallery to try out the x100s. All pictures were taken without a flash ISO between 400 and 3200, not that you could tell. Used a mixture of B&W and colour. All jpegs, no raw required. Enjoy.