Monthly Archives: February 2012
Regular viewers of my work may have picked up the fact that my style of processing has changed over the last few months. I have discovered a real love for a softer, more muted look to my images that in a lot of ways, emulates aged or vintage film.
I absolutely adore this look. I find that my photos are looking more true to life and less artificial in comparison to the clean, bright and contrasty hues of digital processing.
The problem with this approach is that I have never, actually even picked up a film camera, never mind shot with one. How could I possibly emulate the look of film that I really love, without ever having any experience of shooting with it?
So I decided it was time to try film and to buy my first ever 35mm film camera.
After doing some research, I immediately had my heart set on a Nikon FE2, but used prices for these are anywhere between £150 -£250 due to their reliability and popularity. As I wasn’t sure how much I would use a film camera, I decided to go with a fully manual camera, of a similar age, (Mid 1970’s) but wasn’t such a big investment.
Enter my best photography bargain ever, the Olympus OM-2N.
The gorgeous, heavy, all metal, all manual, back to basics SLR is an absolute dream to shoot with. I’m kind of in love with it.
The Olympus OM-2N complete with Zuiko 50mm f1.8, is in mint condition and works perfectly. Every dial and lever feels sturdy and solid. And the best thing is that it only cost £65.00.
Here’s a video of me gushing over the Olympus OM-2N.
What a great looking camera.
I’m about 21 exposures into my first roll of film (Kodak Ektar 100) and I am super excited to see what the images are going look like.…
Just a few short months after making the decision to shoot with only primes lenses, my camera bag looks a whole lot different.
My Nikkor 24-70mm and even my Nikkor 50mm f1.4 have gone to new homes, and have been replaced by the Nikkor 35mm f1.4 G and 85mm f1.4 G.
I kind of want to refer to these as “the twins”. They are almost identical in every way.
The 35mm and 85mm share the same size, weight and excellent solid construction. They are both supremely sharp, colourful, prime lenses with fantastic Bokeh and loads of character.
The great thing about this pair is that complement each other perfectly. The 35mm / 85mm combo has been a favourite of photojournalists and wedding photographers for years.
The Nikon 35mm f1.4 is a great landscape, street photography, group portrait, candid, and general all rounder. Or the other hand the 85mm f1.4 is the sharpest, most beautiful portrait lens I have ever used. It produces wonderful headshots as well as dreamy looking environmental portraits.
It’s like having a 50mm lens, but with option to go wider and also a bit longer for portraits. Both of these lenses together still weigh less than my old Nikon 24-70mm.
I seriously cannot wait to get out and really see what these lenses can do!
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Keen readers of my blog will know that this is the third camera bag I have purchased from ThinkTank Photo. Having already purchased, used and fell in love with the Retrospective 10 shoulder bag, why have I decided to buy its similar, but much bigger brother, the Retrospective 30?
The answer comes from my decision to move to a camera setup consisting solely of prime lenses. Primes, are considerably smaller and lighter than the big f2.8 professional grade zoom lenses preferred by most photographers.
This smaller, lighter setup meant a requirement for a bag that could hold 2 camera bodies, mounted with my 2 go-to lenses, the Nikon 35mm f1.4 and Nikon 85mm f1.4, while not needing to be overly tall or deep for those big, fat f2.8 zooms. It was vital to have a bag that would carry a lot of equipment, but also provide quick access to it.
My current bag, the Retrospective 10, does everything so well, but just wasn’t wide enough to fit in 2 camera bodies with lenses mounted. So I decided that the Retrospective 10 would become my day bag, for when I was only taking 1 camera and few lenses, and the larger Retrospective 30 would be my “everything bag” while still being, light, small and inconspicuous.…
We sometimes take what we have for granted. We become so used to it’s presence we almost expect it.
I feel so lucky to be able to learn and develop my style and knowledge of photography, thanks to the awesome power of the internet.
I love that every hour of every day, I have access to the images, ideas and inspiration of photographers througout the world. It reminds me of how small I am, but also that I am part of something huge.
The amazing thing is that I can see someone else’s work, absolutely anywhere, any time.
I can discover amazing beautiful portraits, or awe inspiring landscapes while waiting for the bus. Or just stumble across the blog of another inspirational, and motivated photographer, while sat at my desk on a cold dreary, winter evening. And I can literally lose myself in websites like 500px and Flickr.
Almost eveything I know about Photoshop, and how to use a camera has been gathered from great photography websites, willing to share all this awesome stuff.
Everything I know about photography, I have learned from the internet. For free.
How amazing is that?!
The downside, is that this explosion of content, ideas and images can be sometimes become overwhelming.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to mimic your idols. You can begin to lose track of who you are. And what type of photographer you want to be.
It’s always a good idea to remember that blogs, and portfolio sites will usually only contain the very best that person does. Nobody ever blogs or shares the things that go wrong!
If you keep an open mind, and don’t become too engrossed, you can find your little photographer’s mind literally overflowing with new ideas!
So, do you have a favourite photographer, or website that just gets you worked up and inspired?…
My very first DSLR was a Sony A200. It was actually the cheapest camera you could buy at the time. It wasn’t until nearly a year after buying the camera that I started to see an improvement in my images.
It took me all of that time to realise the problem wasn’t the camera…it was the lens. Almost ready to pack in photography for good, I put the last of my hope into a cheap, 50mm f1.8. Luckily, it saved the day and reignited my passion for taking pictures.
It was a revelation. It’s at this point that I actually began to learn and grow, to be a photographer and capture images I was truley proud of.
If I could go back in time, and tell myself one thing before getting disappointed with myself and my abilities it would be this:
Ditch the kit lens. Buy a cheap, fast prime and buy nothing else until you learn what photography is about.
That’s it. I’ve spoken before about the downside of kit lenses and the great things about cheap prime lenses. But here’s an overview.
Kit Lenses are named so because they come included with the camera when you buy it. You can spend up to £1000 on a camera, and it will probably come with a kit lens. Depending on the make or model, the kit lens may differ slightly, but they all have a few things in common.
- CHEAP: These lenses are mass produced on a huge scale. All the way from design, to manufacturing, they are made to be as cheap as possible, even if this means compromising on build quality and optics. A kit lens will be almost entirely constructed of plastic, and will be more prone to failure and breakdown. Other cutbacks such as no lens hood, no focus scale and slow autofocus, just make them not a lot of fun to use.
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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.
FEATURED POSTS
- What To Look For In Your Wedding Photographer
Choosing your wedding photographer can be an extremely...
- Fine Art Wedding Albums By Folio Albums
I figured it was about time I did a feature on the...
- Wedding | James & Arjia | Milton Keynes
Way, way back on the 18th of August 2012, I had the...
- Wedding | Natalie And Andrew | Tewkesbury Park Hotel
A Gloucestershire Wedding | St Marks Church, Cheltenham...
POPULAR POSTS
- The 35mm And 85mm
Just a few short months after making the decision to...
- 30 Day Self Portrait Project Finished!
WooHoo! Today I have finished my 30 day self portrait...
- Wedding | Natalie And Andrew | Tewkesbury Park Hotel
A Gloucestershire Wedding | St Marks Church, Cheltenham...
- Why I Switched From Nikon to Canon
I’ll start of by being completely and utterly hypocritical....
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