Monthly Archives: December 2011
I have written about my rather turbulent and indecisive camera owing history before, but at the start of 2011, I had made my mind up. I planned to buy only the best, so as to start my journey into professional photography with the best possible equipment.
It was exactly a year ago that I made the move to Nikon, and purchased my now loved (and well used) Nikon D700.
The D700 is a truly wonderful camera, and I can honestly say it has been more than just a camera to me the last 12 months, it has been my companion.
My camera has been drenched in rain, and covered in snow. It has been subjected to freezing temperatures and even had a couple of close encounters with rather some sloppy mud. It has gone everywhere with me, but it has taken everything my life can throw at it, and has continued to capture thousands of wonderful images, day in day out.
The D700 is versatile, hard wearing and reliable. My Nikon has helped me capture some of my very best photos in the last 12 months. It’s everything I could ever want from a camera.
However, comparing it’s specifications with some more recent cameras, the D700 looks prehistoric in comparison.
It’s 4 year old, 12 megapixel sensor now losing ground to the new generation of small, light mirrorless cameras with more megapixels and more features, like HD Video recording.
But the D700 isn’t about gimmicks or features; it’s about making the absolute best of the photographer’s vision and knowledge. The Nikon D700 is a tool, and a great one at that. It just lets the photographer get on with taking pictures.
Oh, and it can create fantastic images even at 6400 iso. Trust me, that feature never gets old.…
(See below for a bigger version of this screenshot)
1. Twitteriffic - It took me a while to catch on, but Twitter is really important if you are a photographer. Being able to catch up with other photographers from all around the world is a lot of fun, and it great way to network and market yourself too. I’ve tried so many twitter apps, but Twitteriffic is my favourite. It’s clean, straight to the point and full of features. [£2.99 App Store]
2. Flickery - I love the community of photographers on Flickr. But I really can’t stand the awful disaster that is the Flickr website. This awesome app allows me to put a nice clean interface on the Flickr experience. It does everything you can do via the Flickr website plus a whole lot more. [£6.99 App Store]
3. iTunes - Photography is my first and foremost passion in life, but music is certainly a close second. The music you listen to can have a profound impact on you mood and levels of creativity. I try to listen to as much new music as I can so my mind is always experiencing new ideas..and stuff. [Free]
4. Evernote - Oh, wow I love this App. Together with iPhone version, I can keep track of links, webpages, images, even movies wherever I am. It’s essential for keeping track of all of my To-Do lists! When I tick something off as finished on my iPhone, it instantly syncs it back to the app on my Mac. Its super useful, and it’s completly free! Yay! [Free]
5. Inspiring Wallpaper - Ok, not technically an App, but still one I couldn’t live without. I change my wallpaper pretty often, but it always contains my goals for the month or other inspiring messages, right where I want them, and importantly where I will see them often.…
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“The best camera in the world, is the one you have with you”
Luckily, I’m mad enough (or sad enough) to carry my Nikon D700 with me pretty much everywhere I go. But sometimes it’s just not convenient to whip out my huge big DSLR to take a quick snapshot. Which is why more and more, I rely on my iPhone to be my “emergency” camera. I say emergency, because you just never know when you might come across something worth photographing.
Of course, there are technical limitations to the iPhone’s camera, but these are nothing compared to the unique benefits of iPhone photography. No other camera, compact or professional DSLR, will let you take, edit and share a photo within a matter of seconds. It’s this genre of quick, dirty and social photography that I love, and no app does it better than Instagram.
Instagram is a completely free app available for the iPhone, which allows you take, edit and share photos with other users. The unique selling point of Instagram is the range of quick and effective filters available to add to your photos straight after taking them. The filters are fantastic, and characterful, and are made to emulate the low-fi classical rustic film look, that actually works really well with the images the iPhone captures. The app also gives you precise control over a tilt shift effect, making for some unique retro images. And finally, Instagram offers some of the best social features ever, allowing you instantly share your photos with friends on twitter, facebook and other services in flash.
If you have an iPhone, check out Instagram. It’s a lot of fun. You don’t even have to be into photography to like it; my girlfriend uses it all of the time to post random photos of well, anything!…
It’s taken me few months, but now I’m starting to realise the obvious. My Adobe Lightroom library is 10,000 images full, and over 90% of them had been taken with my cheapest, smallest lens, the 50mm f1.4.
Regular readers to my blog will know I have a bit of a love affair with my 50mm. It’s the perfect lens, that suits my style of quick, candid, and bokeh-ed up photography. Mean while, my heavy, tank like 24-70mm f2.8 stays in my camera bag.
Therefore ,I have decided to make the transition to a camera bag full of primes lenses, before I waste any more money on big, fat, expensive zooms I just won’t use.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way to “do” photography, and what equipment you choose to use is entirely a personal choice and down to you. No one says professional photographers have to use “professional gear”.
I plan to buy the Nikon 85mm f1.4 in the New Year. After this, I will then sell my nikon 24-70mm to fund a Nikon 35mm f1.4. So hopefully, by the summer, my camera bag will look like this:
- Nikon D700
- Nikkor 35mm f1.4
- Nikkor 50mm f1.4
- Nikkor 85mm f1.4
- Nikkor 105mm f2.8 Macro VR.
And I can’t wait. A 35mm prime is going to live on my camera, I just know it. And the 85mm, that going to be my new favorite portrait lens.
And double teaming them both on two camera bodies, the 35mm/85mm combo is going to rule for my first wedding next year.
I’d love to hear from other photographers, could you live without a zoom? Any other all prime shooters out there?
It’s probably a quite obvious truth, but photography is all about things that look good. Whether it’s a beautiful portrait or a stunning landscape, the thing all great photos have in common is that they are attractive. Visually appealing.
But that’s on its most basic level. There can be so much more to the process of capturing a photograph. Aesthetics can be more than just a flat, attractive representation of what something looks like. Taking a photograph should be all about what it feels like.
Take an apple. When I look at it, I don’t just see a piece of fruit. That’s what it is. Instead, show me an apple, and all of these words and ideas pop into my head.
Green.Vivid.Fresh.Round.Light.Curved.Hard.Smooth. Colorful.Natural.Sweet.Juicy.Healthy.Tasty.
…..this is what an apple is all about.
I’m seeing the apple, but also what it tastes like, what my experiences and memories of apples are, what I relate to it when I see it. I can even recall and describe how it feels in the hand without actually touching it.
As a photographer, you should be capturing emotions, ideas, messages, and experiences in single image. Give the viewer more than just something pretty. It’s your creativity, emotions and ideas that will create an entirely unique and personal perspective on a moment.
And that what’s I love about photography. No two photographers are the same, and certainly every person who looks at your photos will find something different out of each one.
I think it’s really important to understand the aesthetics of what you are shooting, whether it is a candid moment captured between two strangers, or even the shapes and lines of simple every day object.
Whatever it is, just try your hardest to capture what it feels like, instead of just what it looks like.
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Today me and Helen visited the lovely city of Worcester, to see the little Christmas Market and buy the last few presents we needed to get for family.
Naturally, I took my camera with me. I’d planned to do a bit of candid street photography while we there, but the streets were so full of people it was impossible to get a clear shot of anything!
So instead we did our shopping, grabbed a coffee and spent some time inside the nearby Cathedral. I also got a quick images of some cute little Owls that were there too.
As always, I’m just happy to have some time with my camera, even if the shots I took weren’t want I had planned to get. I just loving taking photos, even if it’s while doing a bit of xmas shopping.
All of these were taken with my Nikon D700 and 50mm f1.4. Please let me know what you think…..…
WooHoo! Today I have finished my 30 day self portrait project!
Every single day in November, I have taken at least one self portrait of myself, ranging from traditional portraiture, to umm..slightly more abstract images involving parts of my body. (It’s not what you think!) .
The goal of the project was to force myself to think about portraiture more often, and to approach photography more organically; to spend more time experimenting with ideas.
In most ways the project has been a success. I now feel more confident about taking, and editing portraits. I’ve also spent more time practicing and experimenting with Photoshop; I’m really starting to see what amazing things Phtoshop can do, even if i am only scratching the surface.
Concentrating on a particular theme for the last month has also been a nice break to my usual daily photo routine of landscapes or still life.
But I know I could have done better. I had some great ideas, but often being on my own during the week, it’s been very difficult to plan and find time to set up a tripod or lighting to get the shot I wanted.
I look forward to doing another self portrait project in the summer, when I’ll have more light and more time in the day to try out some of my ideas.
So, here are my 30 self portraits!
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
This is the blog of Chris Scuffins, a hardworking, creative photographer from Gloucestershire.
With years of experience in landscape and commercial still life photography, his focus now lies on capturing creative, natural and beautiful fashion and lifestyle portraiture, as well as a fun, relaxed approach to photojournalistic wedding photography.
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