My Camera

Why Olympus?

My first Slr camera was the Olympus OM1 (I still have it) it is a fantastic camera. It is reasonably lightweight and fully manual, I used it avidly for portraits of my kids, my life, for college, through Uni, for weddings for everything. It was reliable and easy to use I had great results from it. It is now over 30 years old and I can still pick it up and use it with ease. It has many features and many lens (which were reasonably priced). Having complete control over exposure, shutter, aperture had me using all my photographic knowledge of these things to produce some excellent results. Even now i read situations in manual mode, looking at light, thinking of exposure, apertures etc... It became second nature to focus and set the exposure i wanted very quickly especially when working with children.

One of the features is the ability to do double triple or more exposures on one frame (it's 35mm) which was great fun! Seriously I used this feature to produce a ghost like shot of my daughter, another feature was the abilty to leave the shutter open (B setting) and let the camera record my daughter moving slowly away from me, the result was brilliant! It appeared that she was morphing from me!

Anyway i digress, my Olympus OM1 camera was ideal, even in a world where of Nikon and Canon dominated the photography scene, it was used in astrophotography, scientific- medical and even by famous photographers ( David Bailey).

After many years of using my old Olympus I finally moved into the digital age. I had used a compact digital with some good results (way back in 2005) and wanted to try out the Pro SLR Digital. So in 2006 I finally bought a digital SLR, ironically the Olympus available did not make the grade, they were slow in the development of the pro digital Slr and I went for the Konica Minolta Dynax 7d.
Why?
Because after spending considerable time reading reviews and trying out other brands I found the 7D not unlike the OM1 in that in manual mode the controls were very similar, the camera felt good a nice weight (I prefer a heavier camera) easy to locate and use controls, auto focusing was great ! I used it for all my work at home in the studio and out and about. The results were brilliant! getting used to knew things was a challenge (white balance, colour balance etc) but rewarding. Sadly Konica stopped producing camera's but fortunately Olympus' range had evolved and the new E3 arrived !

I did look at other brand names in camera's and read lots of reviews but once I actually went to try out the E3 i was hooked!

Follow the link to Olympus to see for yourself. It is again comfortable in your hands, just the right weight, easy controls, the menus at first are a bit daunting use the manual to navigate through them at first. The results are fantastic.

Why Olympus ? Because quite simply it is a fantastic camera, with practice you will get great results and I for one am not in anyway disappointed with the E3.

Buying a camera is very personal, go and try before you buy get a feel for it, read up on it, ask yourself what do you want from it.

Once you have one use it ! try out its features experiment, use it manually and really get to grips with your photography.

You are never to old to learn !!

Weddings, Facebook & Paparazzi

Las Vegas Wedding

Weddings are a special day for a bride and groom to share with family and friends.  As a photographer it is my privilege to be part of the celebrations whilst also recording the days events.  It's my job and I love it, I enjoy meeting new people, seeing how the day unfolds, capturing the moments that will become only part of the memory of that day.  Part of the excitement of getting married is being presented with your photographs.  There is always an element of nerves for me (will they like them?) even after many years of doing wedding photography.

There are new elements for photographers to expect nowadays, digital camera's, phone camera's and Facebook ( and other sites too numerous to mention).

Often at weddings in days gone by I had the exclusivity on the photography, since the digital boom that has changed.  Once they were maybe one or two guests with camera's at a wedding now we often are faced with a paparazzi of guests with pocket camera's, phone camera's and SLR camera's.  

I have no problem with people taking photo's around me, I have been known to use guests camera's and phones to take a shot for them!  I only ask that I am allowed to do my job after all I am being paid to be there.  Nowadays I have to ask the bride and groom to be aware that we need chance to 'set the scene' and ask guests to allow us to do our job.  I do all this with an open mind and keep my sense of humour after all sometimes I get in on the shot (above)   

Not all photographers are so obliging, it is not unusual for a photographer to ban all other camera users from taking the shots they have set up, or even ban other camera's whilst they are there...In some ways I can understand this (I will discuss this shortly) however often is helps too as whilst a bride and groom pose for someone else we can capture them perhaps more relaxed than posing for the official camera..Also we can capture guests with there camera's....

Photography has changed and photographers too. Now we can share our images instantly across the globe, view them on the camera, phone or PC.  Then there is Facebook and other sites for people to upload there photo's.  It's fantastic that I can now share my photo's almost instantly with my family in America and Australia. 

However this brings me back to exclusivity and why some photographers may ban camera's at a wedding.  It is this very thing that has changed, when viewing photo's often my clients have seen numerous photo's taken by their guests shared on facebook.  It can be a bit disheartening knowing that I have spent time moving my clients into a particular spot to get a better shot and it then being shown by another guest before I have had chance to edit and prepare my work.  Still I am not tempted to ban all other camera's I just ask that I am given the space to work and share the day together to make all photo's from the day relaxed, fun and lasting memories for all of us.

Lastly if you do capture me (tag me) I hope it is showing my good side!

Not my backside!

Great Expectations!



Growing Bump !


Our latest New babies got me thinking about the whole baby photography thing.  Like many parents I have hundreds of photo's of my children as babies, mostly taken on basic film camera, back in the day when you had no idea how your images would turn out and there was little chance of improving an image or editing slobber, milk spots etc..

I have to say now these photo's even the blurry ones are often the best, they are the permanent memory of your child, something to take you back to those times when you child was cute, funny, crying....

However Studio baby photography has a whole different look feel about it, also the expectation of every new parent (to be) is different.   I always encourage parents to express their own ideas for their photo session, some are happy to just go with the flow, some want more structure or direction to the session either way like home photographs I want my clients photo's to be a lasting memory, show something of their personality and tell the story of their journey as parents.

BUMPS !

All pregnant women are beautiful, it is a wonderful experience.  Having a your bump photographed is not only a record of your growing bump but a future reminder!   Before we even pick up the camera I like to talk through the options \ ideas for your bump photo. There are lots of great ideas out there however it is your body \ bump and you have to be comfortable with being photographed.  It is a great boost for your self esteem too ! Often when I have shown my clients their bump photo's they are thrilled and realise just how fantastic they look. 

Be confident in expressing your own idea's for your bump shoot, talk it through with your photographer, be brave and try a few different idea's.  Ask for arty, natural, side light etc.. you will get so much more from it.  Do be prepared for somethings not to work, often I set something up only to find it didn't look how I expected it too.  Relax enjoy your session !  The more comfortable you feel with your photography the more relaxed you will be.  Don't forget your partner, often men feel uncertain about what to expect on a bump \ baby shoot so make sure they have an input too...

Babies !

Again expectations of a studio photography of babies varies.  As I have said, work with your photographer, talk through any ideas and most of all enjoy your time in the studio.  Remember though that if you are planning a particular shot:

Some time is needed to position, adjust light & backgrounds and test shoot for these shots.  Careful planning will help keep things relaxed( however I am quite spontaneous and if something comes to mind I will ask \ try it out) So be prepared !!  it is possible to arrange a couple of sessions just to do one or two well planned shots.

A babies first year is so important, they change so quick.  It's always great to see how much a baby has changed and developed, I am lucky that each time i photograph a baby over the first year I see how they have changed physically and how there personality is developing.  even small babies express emotions which soon become part of their unique personalities.  I personally think a photography session should reflect these emotions.  so whether grinning or frowning , laughing or crying all this is part of the story of your babies first year of life.

Sleeping - many newborns sleep through the whole session!

Watching !

Sleeping even when your big sister is around!

Thinking!

Just plain bored!

Playing!

with the family!



Laughing!

Whatever your expectations of your photography session and whatever you plan, be ready for the unexpected and enjoy!





Portaits of Children - what to expect!

Check

A recent comment made me think about what people generally expect from a portrait shoot which involves small children.  Having photographed children (including my own) for quite some time, I have seen a major shift in styles etc..  We are influenced by the world around us and "the new style portraiture" available today.   For a long time a "professional shoot" meant posing by appropiate backgrounds and a pot plant. 

More recently a more relaxed and candid style is all the rage and this is where it makes me think... 

Come to the studio, children in hand and let them run around, jump, explore, play Great! 

The downside is you actually have to let that happen and be prepared for photo's (Han - above)  back to the camera, clearly more interested in the balloons, relaxed and enjoying the session.  For me that photo says a lot about Han, he is relaxed in the studio, he is blissfully unaware of the camera and over the session his confidence grew to actually engaging with the camera ( more looking at how it works \ his picture on there).  And I know his Mum agrees she actually encourages the kids to play etc and doesn't focus on the camera.

It's important to know your child and how they may react to being in the studio, the most confident child may be shy, talk to your photograher, let the kids talk too, let them explore their own idea's, you will get more relaxed kids and better photo's.  Luckily Hans brother has no problem with posing, however he does have his own ideas and some of the results are beautiful:

"Han sit on my back"  - Dylan says not quite prepared!

This to me (and Mum) shows the relationship between the boys and for her these photo's are "a portait" of her boys, boisterous, funny and cute!

  Patience and a sense of humour are key to working with kids.

----- you see we did get one !

or two.....or three.....

On the rare occasions kids have bad days and sometimes it may not be the day to get great photo's.  I always offer to reshoot as I know that often once the child has a least seen the studio etc.  This means that next time they know what to expect and with encoragement have a great time!