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Sunrise on Harting Down – Part2
- June 1, 2009, 5:39 pm
The concluding part of our early mornings
Today started gloriously and by 5:15am we were back on Harting Down (not unlike Watership Down and with just as many bunnies!). More importantly we had no commitments to be anywhere before 9am :D (You may need to read Part 1 (yesterday) in full to know why such an early start). Basically, this was our second early morning trip out and this time hopefully we had a little more time and continued enthusiasm. We were not disappointed as, once again, the word spectacular fails dismally to describe being on top of The South Downs as the sun rises on a summer morning.Long exposure night photography
Now, granted that our enthusiasm for more practice at night photography and long exposure shooting, seems a million miles away with winter we are certainly not wishing away the summer. It still gets dark but just needs a little more commitment to get those early morning shots! It’s still good ‘off-auto’ experience and a chance to experiment with the camera none the less.
Anyway, we returned today to get those elusive early morning images and can certainly say we weren’t disappointed. We will get them onto the new photo wall for all to see (just finishing the last of the AJAX scripts and testing before release this week). In the meantime we include a shot across Harting Down towards Elsted (east) to whet the appetite.
At this time of the morning there is generally no one around, most of the local wildlife is starting its day and is certainly not expecting company, which made for all the better a trip. We also managed to get some early morning shots of the ruins that can be seen from Harting Down, which we believe to be Beacon Hill? A unique and fantastically picturesque subject backlit as the first rays of dawn hit the ruined brickwork.Still no eye deer!
For the second day running there was no sighting of the herds of deer currently living around the South Harting area but this will keep for another day. Ironically we did see a pair today after researching panoramic locations along the Meon Valley. Specifically we were photographing out around Weston and Ramsdean on the southern fingers of Petersfield. Maybe a few more early mornings with the telephoto lens yet then….- 'Sunrises, sunsets and night photography takes a little more commitment in the summer months.'
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Sunrise on Harting Down – Part1
- May 31, 2009, 11:30 am
The A272 offers some fantastic locations.
The Boeing 737 clawed its way into the sky this morning. Tonnes of metal and electronics climbing away from London Gatwick, undoubtedly packed full of so many expectations of escape and adventure. Unfortunately we were not on it! An early morning start (4am!) for the chance to photograph herds of wild deer seen around the valleys surrounding Harting Down (approximately 4 miles east of Petersfield on the Hampshire/West Sussex border) and the promise of a hot and sunny day meant the bonus of some sunrise shots too.
But photographing deer in the South Downs country park is about as far removed from commercial air travel as you can get. So to explain, at i3m we regularly work with some major airlines, delivering software and media projects around Gatwick and Heathrow. This weekend we needed to be at Gatwick early so were kind of in ‘the neighbourhood’. If you’ve not realised yet though, an early start always gives us the excuse to take in a few sights on the way at times of day that when most people are asleep.
With a no show for the deer and the sun rapidly appearing to the East we left Harting Down and headed into the sunrise, following the A272, which runs through Petersfield, from Winchester and ambles out to Billingshurst and Haywards Heath. Well the road itself ambles but unfortunately its traffic doesn’t! It’s one of those roads that’s heavily used and suffers as a result. However, if you leave enough time on an airport run and it’s the right time of the day, it will be quiet and we can recommend some more locations for some stunning Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex photography. On this particular day it was so quite that the officious morning Rooks were still patrolling the tarmac while this year’s crop of doe eyed baby bunnies adorned the side of every turn mile of the carriageway.
Some stunning locations between Petersfield and Crawley on the A272 (lit beautifully at sunrise may we add):
Midhurst
Cowdray Park at sunrise….
Petworth
Beautiful location. Very old England complete with stunning panoramic views and Petworth House.
Wisborough Green
The village pond by the church (Complete with Heron and Ducklings at this time of year!)
Gatwick itself
Without having your collar felt, proving a nuisance or having to explain yourself to people in uniform the site of commercial airliners leaving and departing at first light makes for some stunning photography.
This list is far from comprehensive but offers merely a taste. However, all of these locations will be included in our 2009 location July round up. So be sure to bookmark and sign up to the RSS to keep up to date!- 'The excuse to get out early and catch some first light, sunrise, photography'
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Clean & dust free camera equipment.
- May 30, 2009, 9:51 am
Cleaning camera and lenses:no embarrassing spots!
Now we all have our list of things that we need to keep clean in life but without descending into a ‘Carry On" sketch about you chaps keeping your equipment clean we are talking camera equipment. You know that old faithful DLSR that we always expect to just get out of the bag and to work perfectly every time.
Unlike pets, people, cars and houses (let’s keep away from the innuendo here) your camera gear, which is generally stashed away in a camera bag, needs very little maintenance. However, regular cleaning will keep your images free of speckles, fluff and smears and ready for your next shoot. Generally and dependant on use, there is no need for a major overhaul every week though. Think car maintenance here; minor and major services.Routine camera and lens maintenance.
Routine camera maintenance is generally limited to external components such as lenses, filters, viewfinders and LCD screens (for DLSR cameras). These are all things that affect the image or our perception of it. All filters and external lens glass should be wiped and cleaned of any materials or oily marks. There is nothing more annoying than going all that distance, on the right day, with the right conditions, snapping your perfect image and then finding out that finger print or a piece of fluff from your embarrassing Christmas cardigan :D has entered the frame. A professional camera cleaning kit, including lens cloth, moist cloths and cleaning fluid, is the best solution and each comes with a detailed set of instructions (these vary from kit to kit so be sure to read them carefully before setting to work on your expensive camera gear!). Amazon do a kit, called the ‘Carl Zeiss Camera Cleaning kit’, which you can find if you click here.More involved camera cleaning: the CMOS sensor
No matter how careful you are dust particles are going to be attracted to your camera’s sensor in the same way that a shower curtain instantly loves you when you turn the water on! You just can’t avoid it. Short of never taking the lens off and therefore never exposing your camera’s vulnerable innards, there is a need to occasionally clean the sensor.My camera has a cleaning setting?
Really, that’s nice. Well done for you. However, cleaning settings come in a couple of guises. Simple mirror locks and whizz-bang actual cleaners. Neither is comprehensive. The first do not actually clean but lock components in place for cleaning and the second, well where do you think the dust goes once they’ve finished cleaning? There is no exhaust system so the particle(s) that were so attracted to your camera’s internals are still there, inside the body. However, a camera with a self cleaner is better than nothing and makes obvious sense as part of a more detailed clean. Neither however can remove stains or marks caused by water (condensation) or oily marks.
A more detailed clean, according to a recent mailshot by Warehouse Express, should incorporate:
A visual check
Is there any obvious need? Inspect the CMOS sensor for signs of dust, dark and marks.
A dry Clean
"90% of the time it's loose dust causing the spots on your photos so dry cleaning is often all you need in the field. It's also vital to remove loose dust before wet cleaning."
A wet Clean
"For the remaining 10% of sensor spots, special formulas have been developed by to be used in conjunction with advanced swabs to remove oil blemishes and stains effectively and safely."
If you are inexperienced or not sure about cleaning your camera equipment then seek professional or experienced assistance. IF IN DOUBT DON’T!- 'No matter how careful you are dust particles are going to be attracted to your camera’s sensor in the same way that a shower curtain instantly loves you when you turn the water on! You just can’t avoid it.'
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ISO explained
- May 27, 2009, 9:10 am
Basic photography principles: Part II – ISO explained
- Building towards some practical examples we continue from the last article, ‘F Stops explained’ and move on to take a look at ISO ratings.
As with so many elements of photography ISO is a throwback to the days when photography was far less automated. You remember, Wagon Wheels were the size of your head and Polo mints could be bought for fewer than ten pence. Even a penny sweet could be bought for, well, a penny!
Anyway, we digress. Back when it wasn’t all worked out for you and the dark room was the only place to see your results, the ISO rating referred to the speed of the film based photographic media. Higher ISO numbers gave you the ability to take photos in lower light conditions. While it has carried over to our modern digital machines (despite their lack of film) it now relates to the digital sensors sensitivity to light.
As with all cameras, irrespective of media, a lower light setting should be selected for the lighting conditions. On a sunny day ISO 100 is fairly standard as there are high levels of lighting for your subjects. Only in darker conditions would you raise the ISO to accommodate for lower lighting conditions. However, as with so many elements of photography, there are a few words of caution to be heeded and a little knowledge to be imparted.High ISO Noise
The higher ISO settings will add ‘noise’ to your images. Forget audio noise for your ears, this is image noise; a grainy effect as the camera struggles to process what little light levels it can. While this can be significantly reduced post production, in packages such as Adobe Photoshop, you can quite often significantly reduce noise but reeling back the ISO setting. Try the next ISO setting down and see how your photo looks. Experience will give you more of a feel for the best ISO settings for different images.
Also bear in mind that the amount of light falling on the digital sensor of the camera is determined by shutter speed and aperture. This all occurs irrespective of ISO speed. In darker or night conditions lengthening the shutter speed and letting light in for longer, can compensate for lower ISO settings and ultimately reduce ISO noise.But my camera has automatic ISO?
Yes. Good isn’t it! In automatic mode the camera does it all for you. Reads the light levels and compensates the ISO rating for you. So why stray from auto? Well, if you want to get beyond taking snaps you’re going to need some experience and some knowledge. While certainly composition can be learned on with everything on automatic you need to click that dial every now and then if you’re going to go beyond the point and click snap.ISO - A rule of thumb
There are no hard and fast rules to photography as there are so many subjects and variables. Digital photography lets you see what you’ve taken instantly so experiment a little. It’s the quickest way to learn!
As a rule of thumb the following is a good starting point:
ISO 100 - Sunny Conditions
ISO 200 - Cloudy Conditions
ISO 400 to 800 - Twilight, dusk. The kind of time us photographers get a little giddy!
ISO 1600 - Indoor conditions or night photography (beware of noise). - 'As with so many elements of photography ISO is a throwback to the days when photography was far less automated.'
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Practicing wildlife photography
- May 17, 2009, 8:10 am
Practice wildlife photography. Get on your bike!
By 6:45am today the day's photography was a wrap. The best efforts of man's technological know how, scanned from million dollar satellites and processed by state of the art computers, had led BBC weather to promise a wash out weekend. Schools had cancelled fetes and festivities and we were all prepared for a wet and windy 48 hours. They would have been more accurate with sea weed!
The sun rose this morning at 4:45 and slowly trickled a creeping warm glow on the countryside around Petersfield. With no sign of rain and a touch of insomnia, it seemed such a shame to waste it. So armed with the trusty Canon and nothing but a mountain bike for transport, it was off to see what we could fill the view finder with. Why a bike? Nothing to do with global recession, its just that the pace is slower, you are less restricted as to where you can go and you get a chance to look and listen along the way.Get up and out early to catch the best light and best wildlife
Now a quick word to the wise here. The countryside around The South Downs is awash with every persuasion of cyclist at the weekend and good luck to them as they do battle with hoards of motorists and other people using the roads. An early start on a bike, just you, a camera and Mother Nature cannot be beaten. No traffic to compete with, no hustle and bustle and more importantly less risk of becoming a novelty bonnet ornament on a family saloon car!
So at worse it was going to be early morning panoramas and at best an opportunity to get out and practice some wildlife photography. If you’re new to wildlife photography then there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly, millions of years of evolution have taught anything further down the food chain that the silhouette of a human is generally pretty bad news. They certainly don’t hang about to find out if you’re friend or foe, let alone strike a pose. So while our excursion this morning turned up such wonders as fox, woodpecker, rabbit, grouse and pheasant, none of it hung around to long to find out whether an out of breath cyclist desperately clinging to the controls of a Canon 350D would hurt or not! Even with a good telephoto lens you’re going to struggle. If you’re really serious about photographing wildlife you need to be static and get in amongst it.Location, location, location!
A while back we wrote a blog article about researching locations for your photography (‘Start taking better photos, instantly!’) and we can expand on this when it comes to photographing nature with a pulse. While our fluffy countryside hedgerow friends will run a mile at the silhouette of a human their evolutionary instincts are not as scared of cars (that is unless a tonne of noisy steel is bearing down on them as they get too close to a road!) However, while not the noisiest of machines a mountain bike is absolutely no way to sneak up on our fluffy friends. You will see plenty of them but it’s all off into the hedgerows before you’ve even got the camera out of the bag. Even Tiggles, the domestic feline, scarpers at the first site of you in his hunting ground.The route
So this morning was more early morning bike ride than serious photography shoot. The route took us east out of Petersfield, just as the cows were going in to be milked at 5am, out to a sleepy West Harting and then along the base of the South Downs, through South Harting to Elsted before finally turning back via the village of Buriton. About 12 miles of stunning scenery, excellent first light conditions and some good wildlife photography practice. Not to mention a little exercise too!- 'millions of years of evolution have taught anything further down the food chain that the silhouette of a human is generally pretty bad news!'
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F-Stops explained
- May 13, 2009, 5:46 pm
Basic photography principles: Part I – F-Stops explained
Chances are that if you’re reading this then you are already a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) owner and are starting to move away from the nice comfortable ‘everything at automatic’ setting on your camera. Steady!
If you’re an expert or experienced photographer already then an introduction to aperture and stops is going to be something you’re already familiar with but along with the previous blog ‘Camera modes explained’ this forms the foundation of some forthcoming photography blog articles which we are working on.Stops explained
So, once more into the world of photography that isn’t point and click! Let’s start with Stops (so to speak!) Stops are a measure of the lens aperture and control the amount of light entering into our camera through the lens. Too much light and we get an over exposed image, in which case we need to increase the number of stops in order to reduce the amount of light falling on our cameras sensor. Stops are quoted as an f number, for example f8. The bigger the f-stop the smaller the aperture is set to and hence the less light entering the camera through the lens. All lens manufacturers give their lenses an f rating, which is its maximum.
Basically that’s Stops explained and you can quite happily walk away with this knowledge and no need for anything more technical. Or we can go on to give an explanation of what an ‘f’ actually is and that’s going to require some basic maths! In our example we used an f8 but what is f8? Well, it means that the diameter of the aperture is set to 1/8 of the focal local of the lens. So a 100mm lens set to an f stop of f8 would have an aperture diameter of 12.5mm (100 x 1/8). Well, historically it wouyld anyway. Back in the days when a 100mm lens was a 100mm tube with an element at the end. The fractional f-stop dates back to the days prior to multiple element lenses used in modern DLSR cameras!
So how does this relate to our photography? Well, in automatic the camera will stop down the lens to what it considers the best setting for an average photo. By moving out of automatic we can halve or double the amount of light entering our camera by adjusting through the range of available stops. Different conditions will determine how much exposure we need and what f-stop setting for our lens. In our case we are looking at night photography where we need to set our f stop down, increasing the lens aperture and allowing more light in low light, night time, conditions.- 'Chances are that if you’re reading this then you are already a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) owner and are starting to move away from the nice comfortable ‘everything at automatic’ setting on your camera.'
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The South Downs National Park.
- April 26, 2009, 7:41 pm
As the newest national park in the United Kingdom, the South Downs National Park will ultimately be fully elevated to National Park status by 2011. Stretching from Eastbourne in the East, through Brighton, Arundel, Petersfield and up to Winchester in the West, the fields, woodlands and chalk hills of the South Downs are within an hour of London and in an area where there is considerable pressure on land for housing.
With 85% of the National Park being managed farmland it is criss-crossed with well managed public footpaths and byways and represents some of the best panoramic and nature photography locations in the south of England (As well as a plethora of enjoyment for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and those just looking for a scenic day out!)
This weekend we had the pleasure of getting out and about on the South Downs (around Chalton, Clanfield and The Meon Valley), which provided some fantastic locations. Bluebells are well and truly out in the Woodlands, Rapeseed is turning a beautiful Yellow and this seasons Lambs are going from strength to strength. The South Downs provide a fantastic location to get some practice panoramic shots, depth of field trials and some excellent wildlife shots. Try Hampshire’s biggest country park, the Queen Elizabeth Country Park for some excellent opportunities to get up close and nature with minimal effort. As with the rest of the Downs there are areas for all, from children to the grandparents and of course, a million potential location and wildlife opportunities for the enthusiastic photographer! 20 miles of trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders (according to their web site anyway!).- 'Bluebells are well and truly out in the Woodlands, Rapeseed is turning a beautiful Yellow and this seasons Lambs are going from strength to strength. '
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How to find tranquillity...
- April 13, 2009, 7:23 pm
Yesterday we wrote a blog article about starting to think more about locations for your panoramic shots ("Start taking better photos, instantly!"). Today we have some more resources for those of you determined to get out and photograph the UK’s flora, fauna and beautiful panoramas.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published some ‘Tranquility Maps’ back in 2006 and we recently used the CPRE maps for the South West of England to plan a weekend photo shooting around Devon and Dorset (Heading up to the North and Yorkshire next!). You can get hold of your free copy of the CPRE: maps by clicking here. If you want to take a look at how all England looks for tranquillity then a map of England is available by clicking here- 'The tranquillity map was created following consultation with 1,300 countryside users and visitors across England on their perceptions of tranquillity. Views mostly revolved around three themes – landscape qualities, the impact of man-made noises and the presence or absence of lots of people. Factors contributing to feelings of tranquillity (such as sweeping views of open countryside) and factors detracting from those feelings (like busy roads and large man-made structures intruding into views) were also taken into account.'
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Start taking better photos, instantly!
- April 12, 2009, 7:51 pm
We all own numerous camera equipped devices nowadays. The prevalence of digital photography means we are inundated in opportunities to snap away far more than ever before. Out with friends, family occasions etc. Are now readily snapped and the internet and email means we can publish and distribute our pictures to anyone, everywhere.
But being able to take millions of snaps doesn’t make us photographers though. “I might know the words to candle in the wind but it don’t make me Elton John!” to quote Alan Sugar.
The difference between a snap and a photograph? Planning and composition. So, how can we plan and compose quickly? Like all skills it does require a little time and practice. There’s always a fair amount of luck too! Being in the right place, at the right time helps but you can considerably reduce your reliance on luck with practice. Digital photography gives you the opportunity to shoot, review and recompose as necessary.
Over the next few weeks we are going to take a look at how to take better everyday shots and focus primarily on panoramic photography by exploring shot planning, lighting and composure. Today we give you a few ideas about planning panoramic shots.Planning your scenes
Television and film companies use individuals whose job is to plan locations that fit a particular scene. They have to interpret the script and production requirements to deliver the right locations that fit the requirements. Where would “The Lord of The Rings” Trilogy been without New Zealand for example? While we are not planning movies here it does help to start looking around in terms of potential shots. Start paying attention to what’s around you. One tip that we use, where time allows, is changing your chosen GPS Satellite Navigation device to ‘Shortest Route’ (Motorways are not good for planning shots as there’s too much to concentrate on and even if you find a scene it is illegal, not to mention downright dangerous, to stop just to take a photo!)
We have found some fabulous locations and scenes (not to mention reducing the journey miles!) by doing this. However, a word to the wise; the shortest route can often involve single track country roads so be aware of your vehicle limitations too!- 'I might know the words to candle in the wind but it don’t make me Elton John!'
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Start photo editing with free software!
- April 5, 2009, 11:45 am
If you need to perform a basic image re-size or some simple photo editing then there is a free of charge photo retouching, image composition and image editing software package called GIMP, which provides one of the best free photo editing packages around.
While it is no Adobe Photoshop it does take you significantly further than the entry level Microsoft Paint program supplied with the Windows operating system.
GIMP will happily handle pcx, pdf,png,ps,psd,svg,tiff,tga and xpm files and there are versions for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X.
You can find a link to the GIMP download site on our links page and a free online manual at wikibooks.- 'GIMP offers excellent image and photo editing software for you photographic needs; and distributed under the GNU license it's free too!'
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Nikon or Canon?
- March 31, 2009, 11:34 am
- Which are you? If you’re just starting out with digital photography and in particular considering your first entry level Digital Single Lens Reflex (DLSR) then you may be at that junction asking yourself just the question. Chances are that is you are already snapping away then you’ve made that choice already. Can you remember how or why? You see every now and then we get asked “Which is best Canon or Nikon?”.
Personally we use Canon. Why? Well, now you come to mention it…. I am sure we thoroughly researched all of the available models and manufacturers at the time but this far down the road? We can’t honestly answer you.
Now in our case the road of photographic learning is long and never really ends. Our first entry level DLSR didn’t stray much off of automatic in its first year, while f-stops, depth of field and anything other than point and shoot remained on the periphery until much later. In fact, to this day, the decision to trade up the entry level Canon 400D and 450D (D40 and D60 if you speak Nikon) for the 1000D remains hard to justify. After five years shooting with the entry level Canon there have been few limitations to justify the outlay. Faster shooting in RAW format? Spot metering? For the dedicated Pro maybe but our entry level 350D quite happily churns out RAW images; albeit at 8 Megapixels.
However, noobies beware. While the cameras seem to evolve apace the big investment is in the lenses. These expensive pieces of kit are backwardly compatible across manufacturers’ models but not necessarily interchangeable across different brands. The Canon EOS lens, we are told, will not fit the Nikon body. So, while it is your own choice as to which camp to join beware that once you pick your sides you will probably never go back. Again the progression to different types of lens comes as you push the boundaries of what you are trying to achieve but let’s face it, if you wanted to point and shoot then you probably wouldn’t be considering a DLSR the first place! Most models will ship with a standard 18-55 lens and if you’re new to digital photography then that’s plenty to get to know some of the cameras functions.
So, which do we recommend? Canon of course but for no other reason than we have never owned a Nikon! - 'While there are other brands; Sony, Olympus, Sigma etc. the one we all get asked about most; “Nikon or Canon?”.'
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Camera modes
- March 8, 2009, 8:44 pm
- Just a quick note on camera modes for Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) and automatic digital cameras this week:
MANUAL MODES:
M — Manual mode gives you full control over both aperture and shutter speed.
Av or A — Aperture priority; you control the aperture and the camera calculates the shutter speed for best exposure.
Tv or S — Shutter priority means that you control the shutter speed and the camera calculates the aperture
P — Program mode. A more advanced form of an auto mode. The camera calculates both the aperture and shutter speed,. This doesn’t affect settings like ISO or flash.
AUTOMATIC MODES:
Auto — Full automatic. Everything, including ISO, flash and image quality.
Portrait — Aperture set large to shorten the depth of field.
Landscape — Smaller aperture setting to gain greater depth of field.
Sport — Higher ISO setting for faster shutter speeds.
Night portrait — Longer exposures combined with in-built in flash.
Macro — Large aperture to create a softer, blurred, background/ - Posted in: photography | comments: off | filters: on (remove filter)
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The sun only shines…
- February 21, 2009, 9:38 pm
At last! It’s true what they say about the weather in England. If you don’t like it then just hang around for a while! Today, after the blizzards and then the rain it was finally, finally, a glorious sunny day. Even the flora and fauna were convinced that it was time for spring!
For us it meant only one thing. Our first experiments with the Infrared filter and the excuse to get out into the countryside. We’re quite lucky at i3m as our offices are on the edge of the South Downs, so it was hiking boots and the Public Footpaths around Butser Hill for us.
Ditching the car in the picturesque village of South Harting, on the West Sussex/Hampshire border between Chichester and Petersfield, we ascended the South Downs. Now this sounds like an easy task when written in the blog but believe me it’s more than hard work! Our ascension was slow and well, painful!
Anyway, some early experimental shots were committed to flash disk and the one thing that we definitely need to brush up on is our f-stops, ISO settings and exposure times. It was a bit ‘hit and miss’ to say the least. Tomorrow we’re out again and hopefully we can give a good ‘getting started’ account early next week.
- 'We are compiling our first experiments, settings and feedback to give a ‘getting started with infrared photography' article. Once we’ve caught our breath!'
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All hail the Hoya R72 lens!
- February 20, 2009, 4:19 pm
Yes, it arrived in super quick time thanks to the gang over at Surrey Photographic and we have managed a couple of test shots already (just basic set and test stuff). The good news is that with the Canon 350D set in BW mode we are get some good initial results. Without doing the English Tourist Board out of anything we just need a little sunshine and the excuse to get out into the English countryside. Today? Overcast…..
We will keep you posted and hope to have a tutorial and some examples very soon. In the meantime the general advice is set all the camera controls to manual. Set the image type to Black and White (It will be a red image if not) and mount the camera onto a tripod to compose your image. Once composed fit the Infrared filter. Your exposure time should be in the region of 10-40 seconds depending on the conditions (The sunnier the better!) Initial ISO tests recommend 100 ISO but we have not tweaked that far yet. Oh, if you are a Canon 350D owner and you want a copy of the Canon 350 owners manual (pdf format) then click here for your free copy.- 'For those that asked, the filter in question is a Hoya R72 and the Canon 350D uses a 58mm lens.'
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Infrared Photography
- February 19, 2009, 12:07 pm
- As ever it’s all busy, busy, busy here at i3m. Preparation to modify the web site in order to allow the publishing, filtering and archiving of articles and resources are moving along nicely. Not as quickly as we had hoped but on schedule. As we don’t run adverts or have a premium member service on the site (yet!) this has to take a back burner to the creative projects that do pay the bills!
Anyway, let’s talk photography for a while. We are eagerly awaiting some new IR filters (infra red) for our cameras to do some experimenting with this side of photography. There does seem to be some debate as to whether a modern digital SLR is set up for such photography as they have inbuilt IR filters which are basically designed to block incoming infra red light. If that’s all that the filter on the lens will pass then we may have a stalemate! Short of permanently removing the internal IR blocking filter (thus rendering the camera useless for conventional photography) there is no certainty as to the outcome. Said filter should be here in the next couple of days and then some clear weather (that means no snow and no torrential downpours here in the UK!) and we’ll be letting you know the results.
If you have experience of IR photography with digital SLR cameras then please drop us a note. We’ll be sure to let you know how our old Canon 350D takes to the challenge! - 'Infrared spectrum photography is nothing new but will a point and click generation digital SLR be able to handle this classic look?'
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FREE stock photography online!
- July 21, 2008, 2:11 pm
After several requests the i3m stock photo library will be available online from early August 2008. We have been busy coding away to allow images and photos to be linked from our archive to the main i3m site, thereby allowing new and exisiting customers fast, instant, access to our vaults.
- 'We are granting some of the lower resolution photography to be licensed free of charge. This is primarily to give resources back to small web developers who have no need for large, high definition photos, more akin to the print industry.'
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