April 2019

I've got a bad back this week. So do all the other members of the family - we fight each other for the Voltaren. And the worst part of it is none of the muscular aches and sprains was garnered doing magnificent things. None of us saved the Princess Bride or secured the Arnhem bridge - we sprained ourselves sitting on chairs at work or opening pizza boxes. Painful is worse when it's mundane pain. I mention this because the product for today is designed to prevent pain - both for you as a photographer and for the people who view your work. I'm talking particularly to the videographers. The Three Legged Thing " Trent " is one of those video monopods that can make a fair substitute for a tripod when space and mobility are the prime consideration. Please no protests that a firm called Three Legged Thing is selling a one-legged thing - there's no cocaine in Coca -Cola either. The Trent is headless as it comes from the packet - the second little box is the adjustable foot. It features...

Some years ago I opted for the Fujifilm mirror-less X system cameras and sold off my other equipment. In the move - on I gave up a lens that was absolutely magnificent - a Sigma 8-16mm zoom. I cannot speak highly enough of it as a part of the system I used then. It scooped in big wedding parties, coped with dim, pokey little churches, and was an absolute hoot with the tabletop scenes I create. Hats off to Sigma. Unfortunately, Sigma cannot get the go-ahead codes to make lenses for Fujifilm - and few other makers can either, though I note a few Chinese factories turn out X-mount lenses by the score. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was where was I going to get a lens that would do what the Sigma did - if not a zoom, then at least a decent compromise focal length. The model tabletop scenes could be made to order but the dim, pokey little churches would stay the same...

When to pursue analog photography is a question that really is a way of asking what advantages it has over digital work - and when should one access them. The idea of advantge may not have occurred to some younger photographers. Consider: a. The digital camera is free of the need for film and tied slavishly to the need for electricity. This means the kind of attention to batteries and chargers that young men used to devote to young women and beer. You might be able to hop on a plane without worrying about X-rays spoiling your film, but try hopping on without three chargers and a bag of cords. One chain off, one chain on. b. The analog camera may be a lot less automatic than your normal digital. This might be frightening, but consder how much quieter and less obtrusive the best of the analog machines can be compared to whizz-beep-buzz of your digital trying to autofous on a grey cat in the fog. c. The analog camera limits the number of times you can repeat a pointless shot. At the...

Why is always a good word - particularly if you are a four-year-old and want to torment your parents. You have to judge the number of times you can get away with it before you're sent to your room or smacked. When you are older you have to be even more careful because there may be a set of encyclopaedias in the house and you'll be sent there. If you are very unlucky you'll learn things. But " why? " is a good question for the prospective analog photographer to ask themselves - a clear answer will make the rest of the process so much easier. For instance: a. Why do analog photography? After all we've had 20+ years of increasingly wonderful digital imaging that seems to be able to cover any need or want. Why ditch this and go back in to a dead technology? Well, your answers can be many fold. You may want to use old equipment because it feels right. You may want to get the 'look' of older processes by actually using those old processes. You may...

For years I have been looking at the various Billingham camera bags sold in Camera Electronic - the tan, green, black or brown ones - and trying to think where I have seen the like before. Then I looked my photo souvenirs of a trip the the UK made in 1995 and one of the souvenir purchases nailed it for me. Billingham camera bags are bigger versions of British sporting bags - rather like the ones designated for game - but bearing some resemblance to the cartridge bags used for shotgunners in the field. Or fisher's bags. Here's examples from Farlowes web page. The Billingham camera bags have finer linings than those intended for rough game or shotgun ammunition. They have slots and dividers that will keep laptops and tablets safe. There are internal divisions for lenses separate from the bodies But the basic construction is remarkably similar.   One feature that you might not think about is the back of the bag where it rests against you. Some other maker's bags have complex pockets, bands, and stiffeners that go across this area....