POTD - First Cherry Blossom

Lockdown has given me the chance to revisit my Nikon one Kit, and I’ve spent some time playing with my telephoto 1 Nikkor VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 attached to my V2 camera.

Last week was just pure sunshine, which was a welcome reprieve from the freezing cold of the last few months. While out for my daily stroll round the block at sunset, I noticed the first gorgeous sign of spring finally showing its head. The beautiful Cherry Blossom. Just the one tree, it was just such an uplifting sight. Here are a few photos 

Nikon 1 V2 33.9mm f/3.8 with 1 Nikon VR 30-110mm f3.8-5.6

Nikon 1 V2 110mm f/5.6 with 1 Nikon VR 30-110mm f3.8-5.6

Nikon 1 V2 110mm f/5.6 with 1 Nikon VR 30-110mm f3.8-5.6

Nikon 1 V2 47mm f/4 with 1 Nikon VR 30-110mm f3.8-5.6

 

The Lake District - Some Iphone Photography

I had a wonderful trip to the Lake District last week. I had a chance to take a vast array of shots with 3 different cameras:

Nikon V2 with 1 NIKKOR 18.5mm f1.8
Nikon D600 with 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 AF-S G ED VR
and last but definitely not least my Iphone 4s which proved essential in getting quick shots going up the mountain.

Needless to say The SLR and V2 performed well, but what shocked me the most is how well my Iphone performed when I needed to take a quick shot. Here are a few snippets from my Iphone shots:

(all shots taken with apple's camera app on IOS 7 which now has panorama mode)

Lake Grasmere

ISO 64 4.3mm F2.4 1/120s

 The Woodsman - Grizedale Forest

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/12304s

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/5025s

 Climbing Silver Howe

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/167s

Grasmere

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/493s

 Silver Howe

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/1416s

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/375s

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/986s

ISO 50 4.3mm F2.4 1/358s

The Panorama Feature on Iphone 4s with IOS 7

ISO 80 4.3mm F2.4 1/1004s

ISO 80 4.3mm F2.4 1/1004s 

The HDR function on the Iphone 4s' camera is absolutely great for shots where there is a high dynamic range between highlights and shadows, it really saves time and I'm so impressed by how well the shots have come out! It definitely won't replace the SLR but it can prove essential when your rushed or want to pack light, all you really need is adequate light!

The Photography Institute Course - Module 2 First Creative Submission

Module 2 was all practical, the main focus points were ISO, Aperture, shutter speeds and depth of field, and how all of these relate to one another, each assignment challenged us to play with these settings and observe the changes, nothing completely new, but it was nice to actually test higher ISOs on my camera, something I haven't done extensively just yet, I will leave the details for a more technically themed post. Anyway on the fun stuff:

With module 2, came the first chance to submit some artistic work, yay :)

The brief was very open, we had to choose an object, any object, and firstly visualise an artistic way to photograph the subject. Think about the composition, lighting, type of shot etc before even picking up the camera. I'd never approached a photograph like this before, I actually struggled with the selection, and I ended up picking three different subjects in the end. so I ended up with the following selection, from which I must select one:

all the photos were taken using Nikon D600 and AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens and Nikon SB - 700 Flash where stated.

ISO 250 50mm f3.5 1/60 flash unit side lit

ISO 250 50mm f3.5 1/60 flash unit side lit

ISO 250 50mm f1.4 1/20

ISO 100 50mm f1.4 1/60

ISO 100 50mm f1.4 1/80 -0.3 EV

ISO 100 50mm f1.4 1/125 -0.3 EV

ISO 100 50mm f1.8 1/20 -0.7 EV

The Photography Institute Course - The Course and Module 1

As I mentioned in my first post, I've recently commenced The Photography Institute's course.

What attracted me to the course
- the fact that the whole course is based online, where I receive an extensive module handbook for each section and then complete the assignment and submit online. With full time work, I really dont have the time to attend any classes, this course lets me work at my own pace, and although I'm only on module 2 I'm really enjoying the course and already learning a lot!
- the course has both practical and theoretical elements
- the course is aimed to beginners and more advanced users, though having recently completed the first module, I would really recommend some prior knowledge of working with SLR cameras (although you can complete the course with a compact camera if you dont own an SLR which is nice)
- you can contact your tutor via e-mail whenever you need help with anything on the course
- you receive extensive feedback on each assignment, and the tutor is very encouraging!

First Module
The first module is mostly theory based, this may be a little gruelling to those who want to get straight in hands on, but I found the module to be very informative and the language is pleasantly straight forward. It gives you a succinct technical understanding on the history of cameras, it also goes into basic aspects of photography, different format cameras, different lenses, filters and their uses etc. It's a great introduction if you're just getting into photography.

The assignment consisted of several hypothetical situations, where you had to select from a rather nice extensive list of kit (if only I had so many lenses) which pieces of equipment you would use for each scenario and why.

I have to admit some of the scenarios were completely new to me, and although I found the assignment challenging I was very pleased to get 9/10 on the first module.

you can find more info on the course and download a prospectus from here. I will try and do a more extensive review once I finish the course, and I'm sure I'll continue to share my opinions and some of the work I've submitted along the way.

Hello

Hello and Welcome to my blog.

Photography has always been a massive hobby for me, and although I've uploaded various projects here and there around the web, I decided it was finally time to try and gather all my work together in one place. A month ago I decided to enrol on The Photography Institue Course, and I thought now would be a good time to start chronicling my journey through this blog.

I'm hoping to use this blog to showcase some of my work, and hopefully encourage myself to dedicate more time to photography, I'll also let you know my thoughts on the course I'm doing and why I chose this particular course.

I'm hoping to feature some reviews and features on technical aspects, and I will try to give as much info as possible on the shots I upload, I've got a back catalogue of about ten years to go through, so its going to be a bit of a mix and match of old and new shots.