New Stuff! And Fireworks!

Well it's been a while since my last update - but that doesn't mean I've not had lots on though!

Hopefully you'll have seen some of my fireworks shots on the Facebook page - and I've added one below.  It was great fun to experiment capturing the explosions - I'm not 100% happy with all the results, as I was a bit rushed setting up and the wind was blowing them towards me, but I've learnt a great deal about the best way to set up my camera next time (maybe New Year?)

As mentioned in the title, I've been upgrading some bits of my kit - not least my wheezy old iMac to a much newer Mac Mini. The migration has been quite long-winded, and the transfer of the huge number of images was at times emotional. Apple's own migration assistant was great at moving my user accounts and applications; but my movies, music, and of course my (and clients) photos proved to be a step too far! In the end I used an external drive to move them across in batches. Naturally this is a risky time for keeping files safe, so I made sure that there were at least 2 copies of the files (old iMac, the external drive and ultimately the new Mac) in case anything went wrong! Thankfully, all are now moved, and I'm enjoing the much speedier performance of the new machine!

I've also changed my 'long' lens, I had a very old (1988 vintage) 70-210mm zoom - it took wonderful pictures (like the Meerkat photos in my Nature gallery) but there were a couple of issues with it. It was quite big and heavy, due to the VERY solid construction, it would auto-focus with just one of my cameras, and it lacked vibration reduction technology (really useful in low light situations, like churches.) With a bit of eBay action, I've now got a newer 55-200mm lens with Nikon's VR built-in. It is also much lighter and auto-focuses with all my cameras.

The enquiries and bookings are still slowly coming in - but I've managed to squeeze in a slot for a good friend of mine to do an engagement shot in the Springtime next year.  Really looking forward to doing something for my friends (especially as I'm going to be having fun at that wedding and not shooting it!)

I'll try to get my next update out a little quicker than this one!  Thanks for reading.

Al.

Bookings Bookings Bookings! (and a new project!)

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with wedding  bookings rolling in for 2015, and already some tentatives for 2016 (including the winner of my 20% discount competition.)  I have an August booking for a central London wedding that includes an open-top bus ride and formal pictures inTrafalgar Square – I’m sure that’ll produce some great images!  So with my 2015 weekends filling up fast, if you’re planning on getting hitched next year, get in touch soon to guarantee my availability.

I had a spare hour (and it was only an hour!) last Saturday and I had a quick look at the arboretum in Lincoln near the hospital.  I’d seen it on a couple of road signs in Lincoln and then searched it out on Google maps, thinking it may make a great photoshoot location.  All I can say is what a great spot it is!  With fountains, a bandstand, large stone staircases, a wide boulevard, a mini-maze, ornamental ponds and a giant statue of a lion, there are loads of possibilities for family shoots, engagement shoots and post-wedding trash / cherish the dress shoots.  Here are some of my rapid iPhone pictures: 

In other developments, I have started on a project to build a photo-booth for use at parties or wedding receptions.  The concept is that guests can then enter the booth, and with a remote control take their own picture that will then be added to a slideshow on a projector.  I’ve had a bit of play with my gear, and after lots of faffing with various bits of software, I’ve got a workable technical solution.  I had hoped to use Lightroom for everything, but I ran into a couple of issues: 1 – my laptop was still running Vista (which won’t run Lightroom 5), 2 – the camera I want to use for this isn’t supported, and 3 – the slideshow module doesn’t auto-update with new images as they’re taken.  So, I’ve upgraded to Windows 7 and I now have the tethered shooting handled by a free programme called digiCamControl; the images are then auto-imported into Lightroom.  I then use a free plug-in called ‘Show Biz’ that handles the slideshow element (and supports the addition of images as they’re taken.)  It sounds like a mess, but in practice it actually works seamlessly – the user / customer doesn’t see the workings, just the final slideshow of their self-shot photos appearing!  There are a couple of things I need to now sort – a projector to display the pictures, and then I need to actually build a booth!  I have some plans (see pic) and I think I’ll build it out of PVC pipe for lightness and portability.  I’ll try and document how this little project goes in future posts.

Thanks for reading,

Al.

Who will win? (Plus some MotoGP and a festival.)

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks, firstly - have you entered the competition to win 20% off the price of a wedding package? Just comment on the post on my FaceBook page to be in with a chance - competition closes on 20 Sep.

The next thing is I had some fantastic luck in winning tickets to the qualifying day of the MotoGP at Silverstone. It was a good day - you can see some pics on my Facebook page and there is perhaps my best one of the day on this site - British rider Scott Redding pulling a wheelie after the last session.  I think my long-ish lens wasn't really long enough, to get really close to the action, so maybe I'll rent something next time.

The other event was a 'Fake Festival' held just round the corner. This is a mini-festival featuring a number of local bands, with some top tribute acts as headliners. After talking with the organisers I was kitted out with a makeshift access all areas wristband and filled my memory card up with photos. As I'd not done this kind of photography before, I was keen to give it a go - I've put some galleries of the specific bands up on the Facebook page, and I've started a new gallery on this site. Take a look and tell me what you think - I'm really pleased how they came out.

Remember to enter the 20% discount competition - I select a winner on 20 Sep!  

Al.

Lightroom Migration, New Website Design, and a Meerkat.

The great Aperture to Lightroom migration continues!  I think I’m about ¾ of the way through, as I’m being quite careful in weeding out duplicates and other images that I have no interest in keeping.  Bearing in mind there are pictures going back to 2002 there’s been quite a lot of fine-toothed-comb scrutiny!  I’m also glad that I’ve maintained my Aperture picture library during the process, as I’ve made a few errors that I’ve been able to rapidly put right – I ensure that my images exist in at least 3 places so I can avert disaster!  I think another week or so and I’ll be able to delete the Aperture library and free up some much-needed disk space; the last few hundred images are mostly personal bits and bobs that don’t really deserve their own collection or folder, so they may well get swept up in some broadly-themed general folders.

I have however begun to use Lightroom’s editing capabilities and I’m really impressed so far, there seems to be some really useful tools that just don’t exist in Aperture (at least not natively) – I especially like the lens profile corrections, and in particular being able to rapidly get rid of chromatic aberrations – purple fringing that occurs around high contrast areas.  This was supposedly easy in Aperture, but I never really got it to work, certainly not as easy as the Lightroom method, and the PTLens plug-in wasn’t really great as you had to export as a TIFF or PSD and then re-import to Aperture, so you’re not working with the original RAW file.  Now I'm always working the original image, maintaining as much detail as possible.

Those repeat visitors amongst you will have noticed yet another website re-design.  I really liked the last template on the whole, but I wasn’t a fan of how the galleries were presented – you couldn’t click on each image for an enlarged view.  So, I had a trawl of the other templates on offer, and chose this new one, and I’m much happier with the galleries.  I’ve also taken the time to include direct links to the client galleries, so clients don’t have to remember the exact URL to find their pictures – the galleries are still password protected, so only those who have the password can get access to those memories.  As with all my packages, these galleries will remain on-line and accessible for a year after the event, and I always archive my assignment images for indefinite storage offline in case the worst should happen!

On a personal note, the family and I had a great day out at the Cotswold wildlife park near Burford over the bank holiday weekend – you may have seen my new image ‘Sergei’ in the ‘Nature’ gallery.  I got a some great shots, including another Meerkat – perhaps this is Oleg?

View fullsize

Software Switch!

Those of you who are photography enthusiasts and Mac users, will no doubt have seen the reports that Apple has stopped development of it's pro photography application 'Aperture'.  This has left me with a dilemma: do I hang on to see what will come along to replace it, or jump ship to something else?  The problem I have with waiting for the 'Photos' app Apple have announced is two-fold: there's no guarantee that this new app will have the same level of sophistication as Aperture does now - just look at the furore over Final Cut Pro when the new version was released; and 'Photos' will only run under the new version of Mac OS X Yosemite. Sadly my old Mac won't run anything higher than 'Lion' so until I upgrade, that's a non-starter. (Upgrade plans are afoot though!)

So, after much research and procrastination, I've decided to go the mainstream route and buy Adobe's Lightroom. This has a number of advantages as I see it; it's the industry standard, there are millions of plugins and presets, and with the purchase model Adobe uses, I get the latest version of Photoshop thrown in too.  I did have a bit of trouble activating the software though - and it took some operating system file tweaks to resolve.  This was entirely my own fault though, as I'd previously attempted to err, 'extend' the free trial period...

I'm now in the half-way house phase, I've got both Aperture and Lightroom installed and I've begun the process of migrating my photo library between the two.  Whilst there are 20,000 photos to move, this looks like it'll give me the chance to weed out unwanted pictures and the many many (many) replicated images. 

If anyone is going through the same process, I'm happy to offer help based on my experience so far.

Thanks for the continued support! 

Hot hot hot.

Not too much to report this week relating specifically to photography, but I’ve been busy nevertheless.  I have recently completed the required work for an Engineering Masters degree, and last week my wife and I travelled down to Portsmouth to attend my graduation – to say it was a hot day would be an understatement, and I can heartily recommend not wearing a suit and tie with black graduation robes in July!

I’ve then had a week in London (to do with my ‘day job’) and again, suit and tie on the underground wasn’t fun!  I did however very nearly bump into the film maker Phillip Bloom in Richmond, sadly he was passed me and halfway up the street before I realised it was him and could say hello; a very 21st-Century chat on Twitter followed though.

Those of you who follow me on social media (icons at the bottom of the page) may have seen a few tourist snapshots – think I’ll plan things a bit better next time I’m down there to get some night shots – I’m a fan of the long exposure and I want to do some Thames river-traffic stuff, and maybe something around parliament square.

When I got home I realised I’d not actually done any low-light / long exposure shots in a while and decided to pop down to Brayford Pool in Lincoln around sunset.  I’m quite pleased with the picture I’ve called ‘Lightside vs Darkside’, take a look in the ‘Places’ gallery. (Instagram version below.)

I’m pretty sure I need a sturdier tripod though, and one that is a bit taller; I was having trouble keeping some of the railings around the shoreline out of shot.

To wrap the week up, we had a nice family day out on Sunday to the Rand Farm Park, and amongst the many pictures of cows and pigs, there was a fairly lucky shot of a sparrow stealing some cake, and one of a grinning Alpaca that was doing its best to escape - take a look in the ‘Nature’ gallery.

As ever, thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!

Busy busy busy...

A fairly busy time recently, with the Airshow, a Wedding and quite a few enquiries about bookings. 

So, first things first; you may have noticed a few new pictures finding their way into the 'Aviation' gallery.  I'm quite pleased with the 'Sharkmouth' picture; the aeroplane was actually a sandy-brown colour and didn't really leap out, I think the change to black and white helps a lot.

I was also trying out the fisheye lens I'm borrowing - and I got quite a nice shot of the loud end of a Typhoon.  Seems quite odd when everyone else with a camera is using the longest lens possible, I'm using the shortest!

This weekend saw me attending a good friend's wedding. As I was involved with the day I didn't have a great deal of time to take pictures, but I got a few (always good to practice in different environments and lighting types.)  This was also the first time I'd tried out my new Sigma lens - and on screen I can really see a big improvent over the 'kit' lens I had covering the same zoom range. Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

I've also been getting a lot of interest from the Facebook advertising - so I'm definatley going to be staying busy!

Thanks for reading, please like / share if you're feeling kind! 

Chip 'N' Pin

Just a short update this week, but I thought it would be useful to let you all know that I am now able to accept card payments - as well as the current cash / cheque / bank transfer / PayPal methods.  I’ve taken delivery of a PayPal Here chip and pin reader – which allows me to process most payment cards (except American Express).  This all ties in with my PayPal business account for invoicing etc so keeps things all together and logical.

Also, this coming weekend is the RAF Waddington International Air Show, so I hope to have a few more images in the ‘Aviation’ gallery next week – assuming the weather holds out!

As ever, please take a look at the rest of the site, I tinker with the layout every now and then and I’m trying out a different way of organising the galleries which I think works better for mobile screens, but still looks good on a standard computer.  Let me know if you like it. 

Advertising!

As mentioned in my last blog post, you'll see some pictures I took at a friend's wedding recently (only took a few as I was busy enjoying the day!) I'm especially pleased with the pictures of the little bridesmaid.  I've got another friend's wedding next month, so no doubt I'll have a couple more shots from there!

I've also taken a few pictures for my brother - he is a mechanic with his own business he's getting off the ground and hoping to expand. Search for SHA Services on FaceBook for his contact details - and as a shameless plug I can personally guarantee the quality of his work (he's helped me out more times than I can count over the years - only fair I help him out a bit too!) From this shoot I got a couple of nice shots of him welding:

The title of the post is "Advertising!" and that's because I have started some targeted advertising of my FaceBook page - and it appears that for a relatively small outlay I've been able to target a great many people who may want to use my services. Certainly seems better value than the deal Yell.com seem determined to sell me with their never-ending phone calls! In just a few days I've had over 20 new 'Likes' and several enquiries about bookings. If you are one of my new 'Likers' then welcome and thanks! 

Staying on the advertising theme, I've just today received my first batch of business cards (through Moo.com)  

I purposely designed them to match the website - relatively simple and clean, but with the required details very clear and easy to read. Whaddya think?

Other photo stuff, I'm looking to enter a couple of pictures in some competitions - mainly landscape stuff, but variety keeps me interested! 

Remember to check out my latest prices and packages if you'd like to book me, and if you have any questions or want to tweak anything, just drop me a line and we can tailor things to just how you want them. 

Thanks, 

Al.

A wedding (attending not working!) and an odd booking request.

The new job is taking up a fair bit of my time (and my Mac is still yet to be unpacked!)  However, I've got some updates.  Firstly, my long-awaited and much-desired Nikon Pro User membership card has now arrived!  I can barely contain my excitement!  I'm sure, with this piece of plastic in my pocket I'll be the most envied photographer in all of Lincolnshire!

As the blog title mentions, I had the pleasure of attending a good friend's wedding this weekend - I took the camera and got a few good pictures - however I was there primarily to enjoy myself! (I did have a bit of banter with the official photographer though - filthy Canon user!)  Once the happy couple have vetted my pictures, I'll pop a couple up on the site.

Finally, I had a bit of an odd inquiry through the website, asking if I'd do some photos for a personal injury claim - not what I originally had in mind, but I've given them a price and we'll see what comes of it - I very much doubt I'll be putting the pictures on the site though!