Tuesday 4 April 2017

World's Best Travel Camera

One of Australia's most iconic pubs - the Ettamogah
Pretty much tried them all:

Canon
Nikon
Ricoh
Leica
Pentax
Sigma
Yashica

(I even tried Olympus and Sony and am still in therapy over those two).

Guess what! I like them all. They all have their pluses and minuses.
X100 - the Kylie Minogue of travel cameras
But the camera with the most pluses and least minuses for travel is the Fujifilm X100. Now superseded by the X100S, X100T and X100F.

Have I treated my little X100 with TLC. No way Jose!
Its been around the world 8 times, been banged, knocked, stuffed in horse bags and shot in a blizzard in Antarctica. Never complained once. Never stopped performing at the highest level.
And it still pulls out my favourite travel pics, a few of which have stood up for gongs, outpointing all the full frame DSLRs.

Its as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, works brilliantly in low light and is the best conversation starter you can carry other than an effigy of Vladimir Putin in ballet tights. The Fujifilm X100 is the Kylie Minogue of cameras. Always punches above her weight.
Had a cold beer at the Ettamogah - with barmaid Bec!

And the shutter!
Oh the shutter! Quieter, softer and slicker than a stolen kiss at your cousin's wedding.

Runner Up: The Yashica Mat 124G - big old reliable brute. Film camera at its best.




Sunday 2 April 2017

Tunnel Vision Photographers

Tunnel Vision is  a disease where the photographer can only see in one direction. They think there is only one way of doing something. There's just one way to operate their camera.
Miss Wanda +/- = -2

In photography, if you follow these practices, you might have developed Tunnel Vision.
If so you can apply for a Level 4 Boring Photographer Certificate of Competency.



Tunnel Vision Photographers - what they do ….
  1. They shoot every photograph from eye level. (For me that's 5'3")
  2. They shoot every shot in Manual (M) because a 'guru' told them that's for pro's.
  3. Their portrait subjects are posed, passive, and lacking all signs of emotion.
  4. They're too scared to use 6400 ISO because you might get noise (or herpes!)
  5. Most importantly, they haven't studied how light works.
Alex +/- -2.7
So here's what I did. 
First, I found a tunnel.
I checked the next train wasn't due for 12 minutes.Tunnels are great to experiment with your camera.

The reasons tunnels are so good is the subject is lit by sidelight not front light so modelling and 3D take place. At the opening of the tunnel the contract is greatest.
Towards the middle of the tunnel the lighting is even. If you get lucky you may even get a bit of wrap-around lighting.



I sat on the ground for some shots. I got my subjects to sit on the ground for others to change the camera angle. I bumped the ISO up to 1000 and I modified exposure by -2 stops to compensate for light subject/dark background.
Whoops, taking a few risks here. Yep!
Suzi +/- 0
Made a few mistakes as well. Guess what, the sky never fell in (and I didn't contact herpes).

Quiz: One of these portraits was not shot in a tunnel. It was shot in a lane. Which one?

Discover how to see the light, take risks and become  amore adventurous photographer.
Your camera will love you for it! Here's your chance to experiment with the Tunnel of Love rather than Tunnel Vision.

https://www.extension.uwa.edu.au/tutor/39