Andy Moor Photography

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...

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 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  I'm not lying, I sold my pro-level gear for an outdated, cheap substitute.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...

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...

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 ...

The Lytro Illum (First impressions)  So you have your hobby, your job, your daily activities. You have your way of doing things; a set of mental directions and guidelines that you have developed over the years. But imagine that one day, something happens. You start mixing your whites in with your coloured wash to improve your wardrobe. You go back to pen and paper because Word doesn't have enough font choices. You introduce golf clubs into your local football club because you feel your hands are useless. Now imagine someone took your camera and did that, giving it a whole new purpose. That's exactly what Lytro did. Looks good sat on top of a granite chopping board.  In 2014, Lytro introduced the Illum. Although this may look the lovechild of your typical DSLR and the loins of Tron Legacy, it is not your everyday camera. This is another page in the book of Light Field photograph technology. It's a hard concept to explain, but an easy one to understand, so ...