Photo A Day

The Daily Dragon

I enjoyed a weekend in Sussex visiting Flickr friends who have been participating in the 2008 and 2009 Photo A Day groups. Although the weather wasn’t brilliant, on the Saturday, we enjoyed a photo walk around Chichester, a good lunch and natter, and followed on with a visit to the Chichester Camera Club‘s Advanced Section Annual Exhibition. We saw some really inspiring work, and it was great to catch up with old friends and finally meet some of the folks too.
Here are a few more images from the weekend:
You can see the full set of images in my Flickr Set.
I attended the first Presentation Camp London last weekend and gave a talk on my experiences as a Photographic Judge. I thought I would jot a few points down in case you missed it, or if you are just interested in what a Judge’s life is like!
There are a few skills which are needed to be a successful photographic judge. Some can be taught, others have to come naturally!
As a judge, you will be expected to comment on most of the following points about each image:
The way you make your comments is just as important as what you say:
Good Signs
If you get asked back for repeat engagements, and receive glowing Thankyou letters in the post after your visit, then you know you are doing something right. I’ve had many of both, and have thoroughly enjoyed the last 10 years as a judge. If you would like to hear me judging sometime, why not come along to one of my next engagements and say hello.
So if this has whetted your apetite to become a photographic judge, and you live in the East Anglian region, you can get in touch with the EAF Judges’ Officer, Sue Dobson, and enquire about the next workshop dates for 2010. Places sell out quickly, so don’t leave it too late! Unfortunately, I can’t link directly to that information on the EAF website as it’s built around frames. Argh!
[Picture Credits – thanks to Steve Reid and Peter Crane for their images of me presenting trophies]
I’m not normally a great one for rushing out and buying the latest equipment (for starters, I’d be bankrupt if I did!). But about every 12-18 months I get a new piece of gear which seems to fire my enthusiasm once more. It’s always interesting putting a new piece of tech through its paces, whether that is a camera or new lens. My last purchase was the Canon 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM in March 2008.
My main camera, a Canon EOS 30D is approaching 3 years old now, and my Ixus 850IS compact is even longer in the tooth, having been bought in Feb 2007. I can hear you thinking: “Caz is due for a new bit of gear”.
One of the things that struck me when doing the 2009 Photo A Day review was the fact that I had not used the Ixus once during the 12 months. I’d not even taken it out of it’s bag. I had instead lugged the 30D around with my larger lenses, or at least the 50mm f/1.8 prime. That’s quite a large lump to carry about each day. But I did it probably because, although the Ixus takes decent enough snaps, if that’s all that I had with me during 2008, I was often disappointed in the technical quality if I found a really good pictorial composition.
I wasn’t consciously looking for a new camera, but just before Christmas, a good friend mentioned she was getting a Panasonic Lumix GF1 with 20mm f/1.7 “pancake” lens from Santa. That’s a new format called Micro 4/3rds – a kind of half-way house between the sensors on pro-sumer DSLRs and the tiny postage stamp chips in most compacts. And it has the advantage of interchangeable lenses, although there is no optical viewfinder.
So I did some research and was hugely impressed with what I found in the reviews. It’s a cracking little camera and although quite heavy for its size (I like that aspect, actually) it fells like a properly-built camera of old, not one of the plastic throwaways which are so common now. And the fast f/1.7 prime lens is roughly equivalent to a 40mm lens on 35mm format, so quite versatile all in all.
I was lucky enough to get one of these beauties for my birthday on 1st January, and have been using it more or less every day since. I’ve now wracked up over 1000 exposures, so I guess I have an initial idea of its capabilities and drawbacks, although I don’t feel I’ve more than scratched the surface as yet. You know it must be impressive as it’s the first non-Canon camera I’ve owned since 1987!
The main control dial on top is easy to access, as are shooting modes (single, continuous, self-timer etc). The shutter button is nicely placed on the top plate, next to a small video record button. Yes, it does video too, although I’ve never tried it (and am not very likely to). I was even able to use the controls wearing thick gloves, when I was out and about walking in the recent snow.
There is a huge LCD screen on the rear, which gives you good clear pictures. In the absence of an optical viewfinder, that’s essential, and I haven’t found any problems as yet, even in quite bright conditions.
The thumbwheel at top right also has a push function, which swaps you between various command modes.
As a long-time Canon user, I was a bit worried that I might not be able to find my way around, particularly in the menu system, but so far I have had to consult the rather thick accompanying manual on surprisingly few occasions!
I have been mainly using the camera in Aperture Priority, as if left in full-auto, the settings seem to default to opening up the lens as wide as it will go – and f/1.7 isn’t always what you want, to achieve a big enough Depth of Field.
The reviews do say the camera gets a little noisy if you use it at ISO’s above 800 – so far I have stuck with 400 or below and have had quite acceptable results. It also does RAW, and the results from that are allegedly even better. But I’ve not had time to experiment with that as yet.
Pro’s
Con’s
So there you are, a long ramble and a few first impressions. I will try and write some more in about six months when I’ve had time to really get to grips with what it can do. In the meantime, I will not be far from my reach when I’m out and about for general photography, although I will still take the Eos 30D when going on specific photoshoots.
I’ve finally pulled my finger out and finished off another Blurb photobook from my 2009 Photo A Day project. It’s quite time-consuming to put together, but the end result is definitely worth it. Now it’s off being printed, and I can’t wait to see what a hard copy looks like.
You can see a 25-page preview of the book online, it is a large-format hardback with 80 pages and paper dust jacket. More details on how to purchase are on the Blurb website.
Here are a few pages for you to have a look at: