Archive for Equipment

Why I don’t need an expensive camera.

On My Flickr Feed, I some times get questions about my use of camera. "Why", it is asked, "do you shoot with a 450D"? I understand the question completely. When I was photographing professionally, I wouldn't have dreamed of using the then-bottom-level camera (the 300D, at the time, I think) even as my back-up camera. The 10D (and later the 20D and 30D) was my the back-up and second-lens camera to my 1D. So how did I end up photographing with the bottom-of-the-range model from Canon only a few short years later?

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Building a laser trigger for your camera

There are loads of reasons for why you could want to trigger your camera remotely - to avoid camera shake, for example, or to be able to take a photograph of yourself without having to rely on a timer. If you want to build more ambitious projects, however, you may have to consider getting more exotic. I recently built a little device which triggers my camera whenever a laser beam is broken - It's about as simple an electronics project as you can pull off, but it's going to form the base of a couple of other cool projects I'll be working on going forward (stay tuned...), so I figured I'd do a quick post explaining how I did this.

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The case for Pentax

When I recently posted my guide to choosing your first dSLR, I was ripped to shreds in the comments for overlooking Olympus and Pentax... Which is quite wrong of me: Pentax have long made some pretty awesome cameras, with features that Canon and Nikon haven't had (like being able to remote control external strobes - a feature Canon has never had until the introduction of the Canon 7D!) Someone who was particularly outraged is the most fabulous John Cavan, who wrote a passionate and well-articulated plea to stop ignoring Pentax - and he's got a pretty damn good case, actually... here's why:

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How to clean your dSLR sensor

So you have spent thousands on your camera and you're wondering how to clean it? Well it's a good question to ask; a dirty sensor will impact every single one of your images, as it is - quite literally - the focal point of all the camera's technology. That's right, your hard earned dollars reduced to the mercy of the elements. Scary thought eh? Despair thee not, young padawan, help is at hand... Well, good news! You are in the right place place to learn how to simply, cheaply, and quickly clean your DSLR and get back to the important part; taking photos.

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Computers for Photographers

If you've dabbled in computing much, you've probably come across Moore's law - basically; as Wikipedia so succinctly puts it, "Since the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has increased exponentially, doubling approximately every two years" All good and dandy, but recently something funny has happened - people seem to simply not need faster computers anymore. This is relevant to photographers, because there's a parallel between computing and photography: Just like you eventually don't need more megapixels in a camera (one group has gone as far as saying that 6mpx is all you need, and - with a few notable exceptions, I think I am inclined to agree), you eventually have all the speed you need from a computer.

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DIY pinhole for dSLR

If you've been around photography for a while, you've probably come across the term 'pinhole'. Basically, it's the simplest form of bending-light-into-the-shape-you-need-it-to-be you can possibly do. A well-built pinhole camera can take gorgeous photos, with incredible depth of field, with a wonderful lo-fi look to them. But what if you can't be bothered getting your hands dirty with sheet film, developing or even having to build your own pinhole camera? If you fancy having a go at pinhole photography while using your trusty digital SLR, then this is everything you need to know to build your first pinhole 'lens'.

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Buying a camera abroad

There's lots of reasons for why you might want to buy a camera on foreign shores - perhaps you forgot to bring your own camera (idiot!), there's something wrong with the camera you brought (it happens), or you're taking advantage of the fact that you're paid in British Pounds, the US dollar has tanked massively recently, so you can get the bargain of a lifetime by buying that sparking SLR you've had your eye on for a few month across the pond. In recent years, if you're looking to buy one of the high-end or mid-range cameras, it has been cheaper for me (living in London) to fly to New York to buy a camera, than to walk down the street to my local Jessops to do the same - so you can either save a bundle by shopping online, or you can get a 'free' trip out of it. Sounds tempting, right? Of course it does - there are a couple of things you should be aware of, though...

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Stabilising a cheap tripod

Tripods are cheap as chips nowadays, but the cheaper ones have a few flaws. Most importantly, they are too light, and too unstable. So what do you do when you are working on macro stuff, and your tripod won't stop vibrating, or the high winds are trying to disturb your photographic peace?

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Sharpening photos in the darkroom

In the past, we've covered why it is important to sharpen your photos, and how you can use the Unsharp Mask tool in Photoshop to make sure your photos look their best. I am a firm believer of understanding how things are done manually, however. If you are to take shortcuts, you have to know the long road to get there first. So... If you have a darkroom, how can you sharpen your images without letting the film go anywhere near a computer? Here's how...

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Lens Flare – and how to avoid it

I get a lot of people sending me images with 'mysterious' problems, and I figured it was only fair if I run a series of articles about how you can alleviate these problems. The most frequent problem is actually a lens-flare related problem, and there seems to be some confusion as to what lens flare actually is. I suppose the first thing we should discuss is just what lens flare actually is. Most commonly seen in photographs, lens flare can appear as bright circles, smears of light or glimmering lines. On some occasions, it can even appear as a thin film over the entire picture that makes the image itself lighter.

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