I am starting to seriously love Sunwayfoto equipment. It's not a new infatuation as I have had various bits and pieces from their factory for years ( even before Camera Electronic decided to stock it...
A great deal of photographic equipment is novel - at least it is the first time you see it. And some items are frivolous - mere mechanical bagatelles. Not so today's featured device. The box said Manfrotto 405 New Geared Head. I'm glad it was on a low shelf because I would not have liked to lift it down - it was a heavy box. The camera head inside turns out to be the closest thing to a naval cannon mount that you can buy commercially...
I've been watching too many gangster movies. The dialog is starting to rub off on me. If I don't stop it soon I'll be running for federal parliament...
Landscape photography is a wonderful art - if you find people make you uncomfortable but are quite willing to be cold, hot, tired, thirsty, and sore. And far away from home. Heck, with attractions like that you might as well join the Marines...
Putting a bracket on the universe sounds like rather a large undertaking - daily we are being told that it expands ever further from our comprehension - rather like federal taxation reform and the GST. Stephen Hawking understands the universe but has thrown his hands up on the other two...
Were you a Meccano builder as a child? Do you enjoy Chinese wooden block puzzles? Do you like untangling coathangers in the closet? Well have we ever got the product for you...
I am in an excellent position to write on this subject as I have served a long apprenticeship in the trade of buying - and in many cases I have bought junk. Like most people who have done this, there were a number of factors that entered into it: a. I have had money that was burning a hole in my pocket. b. I have felt a vague need for something. c. I have not thought sufficiently about the design of something - or the materials - or the construction. d. I have not had any experience with the goods in question. Only the last in the list had any real validity - the rest were somewhat of a shame on me. But once having gone through the process of buying the junk, and finding out all about it, I could eliminate this in the future. Let me help you out with one little matter from our photographic accessories in the shop - the business of the cable release. In this case it will be specifically the mechanical release. Look on your camera and see if there is...
Sunrise, Sunset...
Some photographers are luckier than others - they get more bites at the cherry. Whether this means they break their teeth on the stone in the middle is another matter, but every good thing has a bad side. The shooters who do not get that second, third, or fourth bite are the ones in the sports, news, and wedding trades. What they see, whether it is at a car-race track, a political riot, or a church aisle is seen once, and needs to be captured at once. They can sometimes increase their chances of getting it by using a camera that will shoot quick bursts of continuous shots - they sort it out later on an editing desk, looking for the peak action moment. But even given this technical help, nearly all the successful ones will admit that there is a great deal of skill in the timing of what they do. Note: The equipment they use plays a vital role in whether or not they can actually get the one-off shot. It must be capable of fast multiple shots, as we said,...
If you are a dedicated landscape shooter - or and architectural fan - you don't even need encouragement to place a wide-angle lens on your camera and leave it sealed there for a year. You probably do this anyway. But play along with me and then you can tell other people of the advantages of the idea: a. The lenses may be smaller than the other choices - but not necessarily. Some professional wide-angles with fast apertures are substantial tubs of expensive glass. They need care with carrying and deployment as their front surfaces can bulge alarmingly. b. The lenses will make sharper - looking pictures, on the average, than their longer counterparts due to the smaller image placed on the sensor. Oh, you can still shake them into failures, but it is harder to do. You'll be able to get away with hand-holding at slower shutter speeds and lower ISO's. c. The lenses may be surprisingly inexpensive for the smaller sensor lines. But beware: a. The lenses may also be surprisingly expensive for the larger sensor lines. This is known as " the rule...