Friday 4 December 2015

What a difference a month makes...

Well...quite a lot has happened since I last wrote a blog...certainly as far as mu photography is concerned. That change is that I have finally made the move from a DX pro camera to a FX pro camera... You see, one of my Nikon D2Xs bodies broke and those nice people at my insurance company agreed to pay for a replacement. This is where shooting with older, used equipment comes into its own. The policy is a "new for old" policy meaning I have been able to step up in quality and move to shooting with a Nikon D3. now this is still an old body; one that has been superceded by the D3S, the D4 and the D4S; however, the D3 is still a top pro camera well capable of producing great results.  I have wanted one of these for many years, indeed when I made the switch to digital many years ago my goal was always eventually to use FX bodies. For this reason the glass I bought was always FX glass...I resisted the temptation to use DX lenses...finally this has started to pay dividends...

The difference is quite marked...many people will say that it is the gear rather than the photographer that is important...this is rubbish, but and it's a little but sometimes newer technology can make a difference...this is the case here. The newer, larger sensor has better colour, contrast and resolution than my D2 bodies; it performs better in low light and with the option of using higher ISO values I have greater control of depth of field whilst being able to shoot in lower light without a tripod. It suits my style of shooting AND produces better quality images... The first time I used the new camera - virtually my second shot was this...




The dynamic range is astonishing and the clarity likewise.  One of the biggest advantages for me is that I have my wide-angle lenses back again...The DX sensor on the D2 bodies means that I lost some of the image due to smaller sensor...wide angles don't appear as wide as they should (conversely telephoto lenses appear longer).  This allows me to shoot dramatic landscapes with loads of sky (which I love)... The low light capabilities mean I can get out early in the morning and shoot images like these...



















Not a bad start...and living out here in the fens we have BIG skies...so I can now take advantage of those when the weather allows...



































Can you see the difference?  I think the return of the wide angle - and in particular my Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 AFD lens has made the most dramatic difference to my images...




needless to say...I am enjoying this...

As it is now winter...plant and animal life is limited, so maybe landscapes and natural places are more the most beneficial subject...the agency -  my portfolio - continues to pay me for images and my sales are slowly but gradually rising so that is also a benefit.  I shall continue to update Facebook on a daily basis and of course there is also my Flickr page should you wish to check out my latest images there. As a further plug...I have three websites showcasing my work - my main websitemy wedding website and my portfolio website. At each of these you can discover my range of photographic services and skills...feel free to pay any or all of them a visit and let me know what you think.

It's getting towards Christmas and we all think of family...and of course presents! What do you give those family members who live too far away? I tell you what...family portraits make a great present...






...if you want to enquire about a shoot just drop me a line for availability and prices...

And that about wraps it up for me this month...thank you all for looking and reading, whether you are a new visitor or a regular reader, you all welcome.

I hope you all have a great Christmas - peace and love to you all.

See you in 2016...

TTFN





Wednesday 4 November 2015

...and the sky...

...is a hazy shade of...autumn...yeah I know that is the wrong lyric, but we haven't reached winter yet; in fact the temperatures make it feel like late summer...even though it is foggy, misty and damp. Photographically it can be frustrating - sometimes it seems good others not so good...and when do you get the chance to get out? Yep...when it's not so good... ha! ha!... And amidst all that what has been happening for Alex JP Scott Photographer?  Frustrating is a good word...I have had several enquiries that lead to nothing- people phone up, ask about images...look at samples...express admiration for them...like the quoted price...then disappear... I have done some more insurance shoots - not the most exciting photographic assignments but they are regular income...also I am continuing to supply Dreamstime - see my portfolio here... - remember all these images are for sale...In addition, my Flickr account is still going strong - images can be found here. I expect many of you have seen my two websites - this one... or this one. Feel free to give them a visit...

So with that self promotion out of the way - what have I been shooting this past month? Well many landscapes and details from the countryside...




























A selection from the fens around our home...mainly flat arable fields but some trees scattered about...if you look hard enough! Plants and insects are fast disappearing...you have to look for those...







Dark bush cricket...







Common darter...becomes a spider's meal...















House sparrow...




Perennial sow-thistle...














Red admiral...




Of course the rise in humidity leads to dew...and this can lead to...



















...the usual prettiness of autumn...Now, an important development this past month has been my development of a new preset in Lightroom...this is a series of settings used on an image to give it a certain look...It was developed whilst processing an image of a common poppy (seen above). I so liked the result that I have started to use it on a number of images...and revisited older images to see the difference...
















I really like the extra punch given to the colours plus the increased intensity...most of the images in the blog have been treated in the same way - except the dewy webs/grasses...I think it gives my images something extra...

Whilst driving across the fen on the school run we are lucky to observed birds starting to congregate for the winter on the arable fields...They make a great spectacle...





First series - greylag geese...











Second series starlings...











Finally - mute swans and a grey heron...




Always makes the trip more interesting...no matter what your 7 year old is listening to on the stereo!



Finally, I was trawling through my files and found these...they are old scans of slides taken on my now departed Rolleichord TLR medium format camera...shooting on the square format 6cm x 6cm...When you get the exposure right the quality is just unbelievable...these are poor quality scans...the original slides look amazing on the lightbox...I wish I still had the camera and could occasionally shoot like this...










And that is that...hope you like Novembers issue...it will soon be Christmas (after bonfire night of course)...I will leave you with some Halloween pumpkins...

TTFN...