Posts

This year, help yourself.

Even if that means not helping others. A strangely selfish and cruel statement, do you think? Maybe, but I heard a phrase somewhere that is worth remembering: "I want to do the most good and prevent the most hurt, but I've got to put on my own oxygen mask first." [1] I think a lot of people are worried about what people think, conflicting opinions and interests, making mistakes or maybe creating a reputation that doesn't necessarily reflect who you are. It's likely these reasons that cause many people to put up a facade. Holding the doors open for everybody, laughing and smiling at everything somebody says, providing false information about interests just to appear more interesting. But that's not you, is it? Remember that you have 3 physical entities of yourself: The version that exists in your head, the version that you display, and then the version of you that a specific person has made based on what they've seen and heard of you.[2] It's this...

Thursday Thoughts #1 - Power and influence of music

Do we genuinely make decisions based on the music we listen to? And also what implications and effects does certain music have on a person?  Ever since I first listened to what I can only imagine was my very first Queen song, probably played through my dad's cassette or vinyl player, I have had a love for music. This has yoyo'd between an obsession and a minor past-time, from listening to music on a daily, religious basis, to spending a few months pumping out my own music[1].    We all use music for a varying combination of the same reasons: background entertainment, dance, concentration techniques, relaxing, motivating. There are probably more reasons, but these are the main ones I can think of right now[2]. The first 4 are sort of a given really and each require specific styles of music to suit the situation. But number 5, motivation , seems like an obvious one too, but when you really think about it... How can meaningless, non-targeted words from someone ...

Phone Photography - The Death of DSLR?

Image
Phones featuring photography-friendly features filling the fingers of photographers forever? That's what I'm going to discuss here atleast. The iPhone X. Dual cameras. Portrait mode. Wide apertures and large sensors. High speed video capture.   The Huawei P20 Pro. Triple cameras, each featuring a different focal length. True zoom. Even more precise portrait mode. Intense image processing and stabilization. It's no new news that when it comes to their cameras, smartphones nowadays are getting a hell of a lot better. Anyone can become a self-made photographer in their own mind on Instagram, and being able to capture that perfect shot has never been easier, thanks to the slowly-increasing perfection of digital-processing and choices of phone hardware. But I want to go a bit deeper. Let's talk about why people have decided to put down their dedicated cameras. Why people are succumbing to the likes of Apple and abandoning the warm, soft hold that p...

We all need help sometimes

This post is not about photography. It is about a serious topic that I wouldn't normally share with you. B efore I begin, I want to clarify, this is not a cry for help or attention. I am getting the necessary support from work and home, but it's something that I feel people should be aware of and should understand. As always, I hope that what is said in this post can be reflected upon by others and help them.  Posts like these always used to make me cringe a little bit, because of the nature of the topic, the stigma that has been placed on the subject and the blatant misuse of the term, for whatever reason that may be, but it still stands as a very serious matter that people need to be more open to acknowledging.  Since November 2017, I have had major changes occur in my life, relative to job, lifestyle, changes in home and more importantly, changes in relationships. Moving back into my parents' house, losing that freedom, losing my 9 year long love, losing the love who...

"I can't afford to be a photographer". Bulls**t.

Image
I sold my £1,200 camera setup and replaced it with a ~£100 setup instead. "WAIT! Where's the introductory picture?"  I'm not lying, I sold my pro-level gear for an outdated, cheap substitute. And I don't regret it, mostly[1].  For the past year, I have been using a Canon 5D Mk2 coupled with a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, the most versatile, standalone setup I have ever got my hands on. Crisp, sharp, punchy photos in every focal length, plenty of megapixels for post production, a nice intimidating look that shows I'm serious ... but I wasn't happy with it.  The problem with owning a large, pro DSLR setup is that you don't want to use it for any other purpose. Do you have any idea how hard it is to visit somewhere new and have to trawl a massive piece of kit round whilst simultaneously trying to enjoy your time[2]? It doesn't happen. For that reason, I stopped taking it with me. What sort of photographer decides to leave his camera a...

Why do I shoot?

Image
Nobody asked me this question But I'm going to answer it anyway.  I wouldn't say photography has always  been a passion of mine. Yeah, I've appreciated a good photo and once or twice, I would whip out my phone and try and get a more than sub-par shot with that, but I never really thought any deeper than that.  During my adolescence, I developed an interest in video production, mainly the editing side of things, something that I see as my first stepping stone into the creative world. At that point, I was focussed entirely on the technical aspect; lots of visual effects and very little care for composition and framing[1]. It took a while before I started to notice patterns in what was considered good footage or a good edit, so I naturally started to repeat/mimic those patterns. Sometimes I think this was again, just a technical aspect and that I didn't really understand why it looked good, but I went with it.  This edit was considered a turning poi...

The Lytro Illum: As a DSLR

Image
Let's use it for not what it was made for The universal test of just how good something is. Oh my, I am never going to get tired of seeing that.  So, the Lytro Illum . If you follow me on Twitter, you'll be sick to death of hearing about it and if you know me in person, you'll have already punched me. I keep talking about this camera. It's an innovative idea which, at first glance, seems to work well, something you can read more about here !  If you have read that post, you already know that this camera is made for a specific purpose; moving images. Not like video or cinemagraphs, but panning, zooming and focus shifting on a still image, something that has been proven difficult or near impossible before. But as a camera, we also expect that it should serve another purpose, one that is sort of expected when you buy a camera. To take photographs. [1]  Yesterday, my wonderful better half and I both decided to go on a trip to Scarborough, UK, roughly ...