http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/articles en mike@mikemcfarlane.co.uk Copyright 2011 2011-07-14T11:32:08+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/son-dynamo-hub-and-edelux-bike-light-review/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/son-dynamo-hub-and-edelux-bike-light-review/#When:11:32:08Z It seems slightly odd to be posting a review of bike lights in the depths of summer, but this is going to be a long term review so I thought I would get started now with some initial thoughts. The review will cover the Schmidt SON XS dynamo hub and Edelux light primarily, but I will also outline my other findings on bike based electricity generation for powering and charging other devices such as iPhones and USB external batteries. (Disclaimer - I am sponsored by Riese und Muller and they have provided me with the SON dynamo hub and Edelux lights as part of my sponsorship. Hopefully the engineer in me will manage to remain objective.) Schmidt Edelux light Despite it being summer, the typical British weather means we are blessed with our fair share of dull days and so bike lights still have their place. And on my little adventures I am often cycling into late evening or early morning. And there is one feature of the Edelux light that differentiates it from most other bike lights and gives it real fit and forget usage. That's the built in ambient light sensor. When the ambient light drops below a certain level the light will automatically come on. And turn off once things get bright again. On very dull days, cycling through a tunnel, travelling through dappled woody shade and of course into the evening as light levels drop the light just does it's own thing giving me light when I need it. It's not only useful and easy, it's a great safety feature as ordinarily I wouldn't bother to turn on my lights in say a tunnel or tree lined avenue, but the light comes on and makes me more visible. Most of the time I just put the light in S(ensor) mode and leave it there. The Edelux also has a useful beam pattern. A small pool of light is cast right in front of the front wheel making it easy to navigate rough roads or tracks. The main beam of light shines a large bright area approximately 10meters in front. (I could of course angle the unit up but the light falls of quite quickly and the front wheel pool would then be in the wrong place.) It's not the most powerful beam and there wouldn't be enough power for fast mountain biking, but for commuting and touring the amount of light is more than good enough. Certainly on a par with my Exposure Joystick light. The construction is solid and reassuring. The Edelux came with a high quality mounting bracket that will presumably affix to a standard mount on most bike frames. However the Birdy doesn't have such a mount, so I fabricated a mounting bracket from a front mech bracket and used this to attach the light to my bike. Not much more I can say at this point. Sometimes a good product is like that, things that just work as desired are often hard to write/speak about as there is little to say other than it works. Schmidt SON XS dynamo hub The Schmidt SON XS dynamo hub (Birdy specific version as the disc brake rotor is on the 'wrong' side on Birdys so a special hub is required that rotates in the 'wrong' direction) is pretty similar. I fitted it to the bike, wired it into the light and iPhone battery electrics and I've barely thought about it since.      It is a little noisy, as all dynamo hubs are, but I've got used to that. On a laden touring bike the extra resistance is negligible. It's ended up quite scratched as when the Birdy is folded the rim of the dynamo hub rubs on a protruding part of the bike. I don't think this is a reflection on the quality of the hub, which is very high, it's just my Birdy has a tough life. It seems to have plenty power. I regularly run the Edelux light and charge a USB battery at the same time without any issues. It's been used in mixed UK weather, nothing too extreme so far to be sure, and has worked fine. Charging an iPhone with a bike dynamo hub This has been a real gear saga, and a bloody expensive one at that. I'm pretty dependent on my iPhone for so many things now that it seemed like a good idea to charge it using the dynamo hub rather than carrying a large USB battery or trying to find power sockets in wild camp spots lol I also thought it would be pretty cool to have the iPhone mounted on my bike. Kind of a gadget lust sort of cool. After a bit of research a couple of options presented themselves: Dahon Biologic iPhone case and battery Busch und Müller e-werk voltage regulator and cache battery I went for the Dahon system as it was a bit cheaper and had a cool handlebar mounted iPhone case. It looked cool, but that was about it. Once the iPhone was in the case it was difficult to access some functions (e.g. volume) so it had to be taken out. The case also interfered with the iPhone light sensor so the screen was always really dark. Pretty annoying. Then there is the warning on the voltage regulator that the voltage regulator must be disconnected from the hub if you are not charging the battery. A bit awkward when the light and the battery system are wired into the same plugs. Then there is the charging LEDs on the battery. It's not very bright so in sunlight it is impossible to see if the battery is charging or not. This wouldn't be a problem, except for the soft touch feel button that needs to be pressed on the battery to turn charging on or off. The button isn't actually soft touch, but it is hard to tell which position the button is actually in. Simply put, it is hard to tell if the battery is charging or not unless you are cycling at night. Then, there are a lot of thens, on the second day of using the system I plugged my iPhone into the battery and it wouldn't charge. Maybe the battery was flat I thought, so I tried my Just Mobile battery which I knew was charged. Still no iPhone charge. I stopped for lunch at a cafe and asked them to plug the iPhone in to the mains using the Apple mains charger. Still no iPhone charge. DEAD. It is unclear if the Dahon system caused this fault, or maybe I had done something else to my iPhone. It leads a hard life in my pocket, but it had been faultless for 18 months and they have a reputation for a low fault rate. However, once I got a replacement (not with Oranges help, bloody useless customer service, but direct from the Apple Store who were exceptionally helpful and significantly cheaper than Orange, think £55 for a brand new phone versus the £180 that Orange wanted) I did not want to take the risk of killing another phone. I have returned the Dahon Biologic system to the distributor for their comment. Next up was the Busch und Müller e-werk system. It's costly, but has been proven on many serious bike tours and being a voltage regulator with settable voltage and current it could be very versatile.                      I expected a slightly higher build quality when I first unboxed it. It feels robust and the fittings are all secure, it just looks a little cheap. The instructions are clear and it comes with many different cables, connectors and plugs so it should fit many phones and USB devices. First use was not great. I tried charging my Just Mobile USB battery, and it wouldn't charge. I contacted Just Mobile, but they wouldn't comment on this usage. Understandable. So I took the plunge and spent another £80 on the Busch and Muller cache battery. BTW to charge the iPhone you need an external battery or other stable and precise voltage supply or the phone won't charge. I love my iPhone, but I wish Apple would stop making it so hard to charge the thing.  The cache battery is well sealed and the charging LED is fairly visible in direct light. I charged it up with a long ride (takes about 8 hours!), plugged it into my iPhone, nada. Checked connections and another battery, iPhone OK. Look on web and find that as of iOS 4.3.3 the cache battery will not charge the iPhone as Apple tightened the charging voltage input spec. C'mon Apple! Apparently Busch and Müller are working on a fix. I could make the system work by plugging the cache battery into the Just Mobile USB battery to charge that, then using the Just Mobile battery to charge the iPhone! Total faff. I decided to return the cache battery (service at www.sjscycles.co.uk is superb) and try a Powertraveller Powermonkey USB battery as it has been used successfully with both iPhone and e-werk according to the guy at SJS Cycles. At £30 it seemed like a cheap experiment. It is also double the capacity of the cache battery and less than half the price. So far so good, battery charges from hub, iPhone charges from battery, well almost.  When I first plugged the Powermonkey in to the e-werk I had forgotten to change the voltage from 5.6V for charging the cache battery to 4.9V for USB devices. (The current setting also needs changed.) The Powermonkey charged fine. Realising my mistake and not wanting to toast the Powermonkey I dropped the voltage to the recommended setting, and no charge. wtf. Turned the voltage back up and the Powermonkey charges. I should really get my voltmeter out and check the e-werk output voltage, but life is short and I'm lazy. At £30 if I toast the Powermonkey with over voltage (it does have protection circuitry built in) then it is no great loss. So, that's where I am right now. I'll update this report once I've had the Powermonkey and e-werk on a proper tour. Like I said above, not much can be written when things work, but when they don't …. If you have any experience with the e-werk I would love to hear about it. Reviews 2011-07-14T11:32:08+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/whats-in-my-camera-panniers/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/whats-in-my-camera-panniers/#When:11:21:42Z I've been a cycling photographer for a few years now, and it has worked really well. The trips for The Wildlife Trusts have forced a bit of a gear rethink as they are typically two to three weeks long rather than the week max I have done in the past, and the work is a bit more specialised for producing 360x180 panoramic VR tours, so I have had to rethink a lot of what I take, and don't take. The bike setup People tour on all sorts of bikes, for me, a folding bike is the tourer of choice. Sure there are a few compromises, but not that many, and the ability to easily get on any train or bus with the bike folded and covered without having to make a reservation makes my travel arrangements more flexible and easier. In fact I would go so far as to say I couldn't do this without a folding bike, the travel is too complex and with over 120 locations to visit in the next ten months I need to minimise hassle.   (Disclaimer - I am sponsored by Riese und Muller although I have been using a Birdy folding bike for about two years before they sponsored me, so it was not an influence on my buying or travel choice.) Birdy Alfine Disc, with Easton carbon bars, Ergon grips, Schwalbe Marathon Racer tyres, Hope headset, Specialised saddle, R&M Expedition rack (rollers removed as they are a waste of time), Chariot tow hitch (for the trailer), SON dynamo hub and Edelux front dynamo light. Carry Freedom small Y-frame trailer. I use a large The North Face duffel bag velcro strapped to the trailer bed and in the rain I use a rain cover over the bag to stop wheel spray getting the bag filthy which would make putting the bag on my back very messy. When I need to get on a train, the wheels come quickly off the trailer and go in a cloth bag which is clipped to the back of the duffel, the trailer arm is stowed along the side of the bag with the trailer bed left strapped to the duffel. The whole lot is then carried as a rucsac on my back. Cateye rear LED flashing light. Spares - inner tubes for bike and trailer, puncture repair kit, disc pads, length of chain, chain powerlink, Topeak pump, Fat Spanner chainbreaker, 15mm ring spanner (for the hub nuts), allen key set, chariot hitch, trailer bearings and axle, trailer spring clip, Finish Line dry lube, velcro strap, Birdy rear pivot axle. My camera bag I started with quite a lot in my camera bag, but it has been quickly reduced to save weight and also to reduce the chance of biking vibration loosening parts in gear I am not using. I started the trips with both my 24mm and 85mm tilt/shift lenses, but I'm just not using them and despite the quality build there is no point risking shaking them to bits. This also means the Lee filters have been removed, they are no good on the fisheye and I'm using HDR so that was another few grams saved. What's left? Nikon D700 - Easy to use, built like a tank with environmental sealing but small/light enough to travel with. Nikon 16mm fisheye - Not the sharpest, chromatic aberration is present (but easily correctable), but it's just the lens I need for the job. Nikon remote release - not totally sure why I bother as by the time I've taken five bracketed shots for the HDR, usually in strong winds with the camera mounted on top of a slightly wobbly panoramic head there is often plenty shake anyway, but it helps. Lakeland e-cloth - by far the best lens cleaning cloths, ever. Turbo-blower. Plastic shower cap - covers the camera in bad weather, not because I think the camera will be damaged by the rain, but it keeps raindrops from obscuring screens and the viewfinder and means the camera is ready to go as soon as the rain stops and the sun comes out. Leica 10x25 Ultravid binoculars - for checking out the wildlife. Panasonic GF1 with 20mm f/1.7 lens - for making supplementary images and video. Notebook and pen - records my ramblings. iPhone charger and lead. Lexar Professional USB card reader and lead. Spare batteries for both cameras and the audio recorder. The Nikon EN-EL3 normally lasts for about a week, the Panasonic DMW-BLB13E9 normally lasts for about ten days. Three 8GB Sandisk Extreme Compact Flash and three Lexar Professional 4GB SD cards. Just Mobile Gum Pro iPhone battery. Moo cards. My lucky little duck - a good luck friend from my wife. Survival whistle - for emergencies. Manfrotto 055MF4 carbon fibre tripod with 460 Mg head. I'd like something lighter but this is a a good compromise that is stiff for the weight and size. I replaced the rubbish central column with an aluminium one from another tripod to allow the centre column to be easily removed for making the nadir shot. My camera bag is a custom modified (by me) LowePro Nova 190 with Ortlieb pannier parts affixed to make the bag into a pannier. I added a Sea to Summit corder raincover as the LowePro one was rubbish. Audio gear I've been through a steep, and expensive, learning curve with field audio recording. I started with a Rode Videomic and Roland R-05 digital recorder, but for quiet recordings, think birdsong in an other wise quiet forest, it was simply not up to the job. Why would it be? Audio pros spend thousands on mics alone, a £200 setup was not going to cut it. A bit of research and forum reading led me to the following combo: Marantz PMD661 digital field recorder. Easy to use, robust and with dual XLR inputs, it's only real downside is a relatively short battery life (about 6 hours). This lives in my camera bag. Sennheiser ME-66 mic with Rode foam windshield and Rycote windgag. The ME-66 is probably a little long in the tooth (according to the forums) but it is a proven and robust mic. I've also constructed a basic sound isolating grip (to prevent hand contact noise as this mic even picked up my knuckles creaking never mind hand movements on the mic body) from 1inch plastic pipe and some bungee cord. The plastic pipe was then covered in a neoprene sleeve to neaten it up and add further isolation. I keep the mic and lead in the robust plastic box that the mic came in which is bulky but it protects the mic. I normally carry this on my back or in the trailer duffel for longer journeys. Beyer Dynamics DT-100 headphones - bulky and definitely long in the tooth compared to newer headphones, never the less they are robust, comfortable, isolate outside noise and they have been good enough for generations of sound engineers, so they will be just fine for me. Besides, a good friend of mine gave me this set as a birthday present, so I love using them. I keep them in a Exped padded dry bag. 2m XLR lead. Panoramic gear I've been through a few panoramic heads over the years including some I made myself in the machine shop. I used the Manfrotto 404SPH for many years, but it is bulky and flexy so I wasn't so sad when I sold. Nodal Ninja NN3 - nice build quality, field serviceable, light, compact and easy to use, the Nodal Ninja gear has a good reputation for a reason. It's not perfect although to be fair this is partly my fault. The main joint slips a bit with a D700 on it, but a D700 is at the upper end of the weight limit for the NN3. I could use a NN5 but it is larger and heavier, so I've roughed up the joint metal/rubber interface for a bit more friction to help prevent slippage. Maplin laser pointer glued into a flash coldshoe - allows accurate positioning of the nadir shot and was a big improvement over doing the alignment by eye. I chose a green laser as according to the specs the green is brighter than red, but in sunlight on green ground a red laser would have been better. Note card with the Nodal Ninja setup dimensions recorded. Again I keep the whole lot in the box the head came in, it protects the head, and it feels a bit James Bond unzipping the case to reveal the custom foam insert holding the head bits. Yes, I am shallow!             Computer setup A key part of my workflow for these travels is to be able to download, organise and select images whilst I am away to I can begin stitching as soon as I get home. Apple 2.4GHz 13" MacBook Pro with 8GB memory and Crucial RealSSD solid state drive. Fast, good battery life and the SSD makes it even faster and more reliable. Also power supply. It won't do the battery any good, but I charge it whenever I get power. Adobe Lightroom, PTGui, Photomatix Pro, Kolor Panotour Pro, krpano, Pages, Numbers, Garageband, Photoshop CS3, Text Wrangler and Cyberduck (an FTP program). This lives in a Tucan neoprene sleeve, then in a Exped padded dry bag. I carry this in a Deuter Pace 35 rucsac on my back to reduce the vibration to the laptop that would occur in a pannier or in the trailer duffel. There is spare room in the rucsac for the days food and water. iPhone I had high hopes for my iPhone use on this trip. GPS logging, flickr uploads and tweets from location, lots of phone calls, bike routes with the iPhone charged by the dynamo via a Dahon Biologic battery. Sadly, and not sure if there is a fault with the Dahon Biologic setup or not, my iPhone died on the second day of bike charging and I'm not willing to chance killing a second with bike charging. I might look into the Busch und Muller e-werk voltage regulator and battery as this has a solid reputation, but right now I'm keeping my phone usage to a minimum, tweets via SMS, wifi/3G turned off, the phone turned off at night and charging via the Just Mobile battery or by blagging power in pubs and cafes when I stop to eat. It's kind of sad, I would love to having all my travels GPS logged and do more conversational tweeting, but it is also kind of good not having the phone on all the time as it can be distracting from the experience of being in these places. I'm using the following apps: phone - duh. messages - keep up with friends and to push tweets. safari - for occasional web browsing. maps - when I get lost. Panovision Panascout - to GPS log and photograph locations. National Rail Enquiries - so useful. GPS2OS - for converting lat/long to OS coordinates. AyeTides - for tidal and sunrise/sunset info. GoodReader - for reading my travel spreadsheet and location info forms submitted by each Trust as a Word doc. Compass. Met Office - it's there, but I consciously ignore it, a bad weather report just depresses me, and will probably be wrong anyway:-) Dropbox - still exploring how useful this is. Camping gear After years of camping and cycle touring experience I should have this list dialled, but it changes every trip and requires lots of thought through every trip. I think I am probably at a bare minimum now, but it still fills the 90L duffel bag. (To be fair that also includes the tripod, head, mic box and panoramic head box and varying amounts of food.) Mountain Equipment summer down sleeping bag. I use a Rab Summit 600 in winter. Thermarest Prolite 3 3/4 mattress. In winter I will put clothes/rucsacs/empty dry bags under my feet to insulate them. Rab Event bivi bag - I'm wondering if I will drop this from my kit bag. It is permanently on the sleeping bag with the thermarest inside, the three items get rolled up and stored in a compressing dry bag when not in use. I notionally carry it to keep my down bag dry from tent condensation, spilt liquids in the tent and from any water ingress into the duffel during wet weather travel but as we get into summer it is becoming a bit warm and sweaty and seems like a slightly useless bit of overkill. I like the idea of biving out, but in practise the risk of getting the down bag wet if the weather changes means I generally always put the tent up. Procrastination, procrastination! UPDATE - I've ditched this from my bag to save space. Trangia 25 stove with a single large pan, frying pan, lid (you can only buy these in Sweden but it was worth £40 to prevent steam condensation) and gas burner. I have been using the highly efficient and very compact MSR Reactor, but I feel the need to cook slightly better food and the Reactor is useless for simmering so I'm trying my well loved Trangia again. It is a bit larger and more awkward to pack, so it might be swapped back. With the Reactor I normally got about 7 days use from a 220g cylinder, so carried one cyclinder for each week away. UPDATE - I am going back to the MSR Reactor stove to minimise weight and pack volume. Spork Tea strainer thing - a little luxury, tea tastes so much better when it is made from tea leaves. Two lighters. Rain cover for duffel bag. Nylon slip on cover for folded bike. Spare merino top, three pairs of cycle shorts, two pairs of pants, three pairs of Thorlo liner socks and dry powerfleece leggings for warmth in the tent at night. Haglofs Syberia fleece - it packs really small, is warm when wet and looks very stylish. Prana 3/4 trousers. Mountain Equipment Firefly Paclite jacket. UPDATE - replaced this and by backpack rain cover with a AGU cycling poncho which is more effective. Berghaus Deluge overtrousers - no point in buying expensive ones as I just trash them. Sealskinz waterproof socks - I hate wet feet. Cycling gloves - Gore full hand for spring/autumn, Roeckl fingerless for summer and Eider Softshell for winter. Buff. Haglofs sunhat. Icebreaker merino beanie - I wear the two hats together on cool days, I'd also carry a fleece balaclava in winter. Gore arm and leg warmers - these are a revelation with their temperature control flexibility. Useful on the bike and on foot. Gore Bike Wear Phantom II soft-shell - I'm not a big soft-shell fan, I personally think it is overrated as it is not that waterproof in the UK damp conditions, but this jacket is showerproof enough, has large back pockets for hats, gloves and lots of camera bits and critically, the sleeves zip off making for a very flexible outer layer that allows me to stay cool or warm on the bike, then zip the sleeves quickly back on when I stop to photograph. Sounds like sales gush, but it works well for me. Shimano MT41 MTB cycle shoes with Superfeet inserts - good performance for the money and like most Shimano footwear these are comfortable (on my feet) and last for years even with heavy use. Trainers with Superfeet inserts - I wear these when I am wandering around as cycling shoes can be slippy and the hard soles of cycle shoes can do a lot of damage to fragile plants if I am spending a while in one spot whilst photographing. Trainers have soft soles, are light and quick drying after I've been photographing in the sea or rivers. Trowel - for digging toilet holes. First aid kit - bandages, Melolin dressings, micropore tape, triangular bandage, ibuprofen, savlon antiseptic cream, spare lighter, Chlorine Dioxide water purification tablets, emergency cereal bar. Pocket tissues - go with the trowel! Dry wash - also go with the trowel! Waterless hand washing. Also a pack of wet wipes. Silva Expedition prism compass. Petzl MYO XP headtorch with spare batteries carried in a film canister packed out with cotton wool for rattle reduction and firelighting. Midgeproof head net. Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, cotton wool buds, dental floss, talc (see practical issues below), lightweight pac-towel. ME Ultralight AR tent with two modified titanium trekking poles - I have also used a MSR Hubba HP tent, but find it a little cold, and the Ultralight also has room in the second porch to stow my folded up Birdy which feels a little more secure. The Ultralight isn't a great tent, it has spent a lot of time on my wife's sewing machine to improve it and it is still not great, but I'd like to use it having bought it and getting my bike inside makes it worth using. The original poles were wrecked in a storm, so I cut down two Leki titanium trekking poles to make strong but light replacements. Kryptonite cable with padlock - a bit lighter and more versatile than the D lock I carried previously. OS Road 1:250 000 maps stored in an Ortlieb map case, the travel locations are marked up with PostIt index stickers. A good book, also stored in an Ortlieb map case. No batteries, every ready entertainment and time filler. Two water bottles, usually supplemented with a 2L bottled water. Leatherman Wave - to be honest a Swiss Army knife is probably lighter and more useful, but very occasionally pliers are useful. UPDATE - heavy, rusts and not that well designed, I've gone back to a Swiss Army knife.                          Food I generally shop at supermarkets for cheapness and to get food that will keep for a few days, and stop at local independent shops for treats like cakes. Much as I would like to do all my shopping in the local shops, they don't usually have foodstuffs that are high calorie, with longer shelf life and that will take being knocked around in my bag for days then be easily and quickly cooked with a minimum of gas. Yes, I could make it work, but at the end of the day it is not that practical. A typical days food will be something like: Breakfast - about 200-300g muesli made with hot water and honey, a large mug of tea. Snacks - chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, fig rolls, a visit to a bakery:-) Lunch - possibly also a bakery visit or oatcakes with cold meat, fruit and chocolate. Dinner - often filled pasta, it's high in calories and very quick to cook. Probably not that nutritious, hence the Trangia stove so I can quickly cook rice or similar with a few more vegetables in. Chocolate. I clean the cooking/eating pan by boiling water in it then drink the soup like water. No chemicals, good hydration. I probably need at least four litres of water a day, but in summer I'm closer to six litres. Bottled water is my dirty secret! Practical things I wash cycle shorts in whatever clean water is going, rivers, streams, reservoirs, supermarket toilets sinks, pub toilets sinks. Wearing lycra a lot tends to make me a bit sweaty, and has led to thrush infections in the past, so I carry a little talc powder for warm days, soap well when I get a shower and have also started wearing cotton pants underneath my cycle shorts as the cotton seems to prevent the stickiness a bit. Notionally a good chamois cream should help, but applying chammy cream in a tent with no hand washing water is generally impractical. I favour merino tops as they can be worn for a week with minimal pong, and I'll then change tops after a week. My Prana 3/4 trousers don't get washed mid trip, so after 2-3 weeks they are 'characterful'. I try to use public toilets for poo, but if none available I have a small trowel to dig a toilet hole. I will probably stay at a campsite once a week to get a shower and battery charge up for iPhone and laptop. Water is a problem. I hate buying bottled water, but sometimes it can be the easiest choice. I will also often knock on house doors to ask for water and this is normally OK and a good chance for a chat. I used to carry an MSR water filter, which in theory removes all chemicals and bacteria/viruses/protazoa but in practise I couldn't face pumping water from some of the water sources I was near - too polluted/grotty. Conclusion Lots of gear, no idea! If you have any tips let me know.  Photography Techniques 2011-06-21T11:21:42+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/a-cautionary-winter-tale/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/a-cautionary-winter-tale/#When:13:08:50Z If you are heading to the hills soon, just remember it is still winter, and conditions are still very serious as my friend found out. Read on. Falling off mountains How close have you come to serious harm when in the mountains ?  Ever had a really close shave ?  Well, I think I had one of those moments earlier in February 2011. Whilst staying in Glen Nevis with a bunch of mountaineering friends from Down South, on Monday I ventured forth up the Glen to traverse from Glen Nevis to Aonach Mor where a few folk were going climbing and could give me a lift back. At Steall Ruins I met another chap heading the same way though intending to return to Glen Nevis directly from Aonach Beag. As luck had it, for the first part of the ascent we had driving snow from the East, then less wind and no snow but thick clagg instead. By the time we moved on from the first summit things underfoot were still reasonably visible, later on though we were closer to white-out conditions. Not completely though, that thin white line to our right marking the end of the cornice was reasonably well identifiable and we kept an eye on it whilst moving about with map and compass. Somehow though, as we neared the upper reaches of Aonach Beag I managed to "loose" that line momentarily. The map appears to show the ridge making a slight kink to the left whereas we continued to walk on my compass bearing straight on. Well, from one moment to the other I found myself sliding down a very steep snow slope. As I had my ice axe in hand ye olde ice axe breaking technique was quickly applied.  However, with the snow being relatively soft this only slowed my fall a little. As I wasn't sliding terribly fast I "gently" put the tips of my boots into the snow. That helped and I came to a stop. To my left and right were equally steep snowy surfaces, the same continued beneath me with no end in sight, maybe just as well, as I think not too far below me was white air rather than white snow. Interestingly, the edge above was not actually that far away, maybe ten metres or less. The adrenalin must have stretched my perception of time whilst I was sliding, making me think I had moved longer and further than I actually did. Meanwhile, Paul at the top shouted, to which I replied "all clear". Given that he was the less experienced of the two of us anything else would have left him in a spot of bother, too. So I rammed the ice axe shaft vertically into the snow in front of me where it found some support from slightly firmer layers below, though not enough to stay in place when I pulled it sideways slightly. Anyway, it had to do and so I slowly stepped up kicking toes hard to get the boots onto firmer snow before moving the ice axe up another step. Given that the cornices we had seen earlier were three metres and more deep, I had chosen a good spot to walk off the edge in that here it was only about a metre deep. When I got just below the cornice I tried to find a reasonable stance in the snow for hacking away at the cornice. It took some time but eventually I had made a gash big and deep enough that I could climb out and over without having to tackle an overhang. Further in from the edge the snow got surprisingly hard even providing a handy undercut hand-hold to hang on to whilst mantle-shelving onto the top. After a piece of chocolate we ventured on and made it to Aonach Mor and the gondola in time as originally planned. Paul had decided by then to join me for the whole tour and get a lift back with the other chaps. We got on like a house on fire so I expect to see him again some time. What surprised me about the whole episode was that I was completely calm whilst it happened despite the fact that I never had to use ice axe breaking in such serious circumstances before, let alone rescue myself in somewhat perilous conditions. Even when I was back on the top did I not "do a wobbly". The next morning in bed was the first time I realised how serious this could have ended, maybe not "under the daisies" but at least in hospital. The morale is probably to back off when white-out persists as mistakes can happen even when generally paying attention and doing all the right things. Maybe the other lesson is that ice axe breaking does work, at least if you have the axe at the ready - unlike the guy who did fall off a mountain recently. Fortunately, this episode won't put me off mountaineering or other hazardous activities such as sharing roads with drivers that find their mobile phones more interesting to watch than other road users. Find out more If you would like to know more about equipment and clothing for winter walking, climbing and photography you can read my winter clothing article. Miscellaneous 2011-03-02T13:08:50+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/macbook-pro-ssd-and-memory-speed-increases-for-photographers/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/macbook-pro-ssd-and-memory-speed-increases-for-photographers/#When:13:05:49Z No self respecting photographer leaves home without their MacBook. (Yes, I know Windows 7 is pretty decent now too, don't flame me.) My 15" MBP from a few years ago is getting a bit long in the tooth and because I now travel everywhere by train and bike, I needed to lighten my load a little and get a small enough packsize to pack camping gear and camera gear into a couple of small panniers and a rackbag. Cue new lightweight Macbook. I want to like the MacBook Air. Lightweight, small, pretty. But as a producer of stitched panoramas and video, they simply lack the processor grunt even with the speed boost that the SSD provides. And when I am away from power sources I will take any extra battery time I can get. And lastly, I like things to last. Everything in the Air is soldered to the motherboard so there is no way to upgrade, or replace SSDs that wear out from high number of disk writes which I am likely to do from moving lots of files around. The SSD lifetime thing is very much still under discussion, and there is probably a lot of misinformation about it, like mine, but SSD lifetime is improving! Even so, on a £1200 (with twinks:-) machine I would rather not take the chance. So 2.4GHz 13" MacBook Pro it is for me. Fast processor, long battery life, upgradeable and, still looks cool in Starbucks. This isn't a MacBook Pro review, it's just an outline and (basic) test report of how I have pimped mine to give a bit more speed appropriate to photographers and videographers. I hope it is off use to others who are looking to speed up their Mac. The SSD advantage Solid State Drives (SSD) offer a lot of advantages over conventional spinning platter drives. Fast reads, relatively fast writes, increased reliability as there no moving parts and lighter weight. I have seen some debate about improvements in battery life, so I won't make that claim and really can't be bothered to measure it. The two main contenders that I considered were the Intel X25-M Mainstream Solid State Drive and the Crucial 128GB Real SSD C300 . I read a few reviews and came to no real conclusions, both seemed pretty good. So I just ordered one, the Crucial Real SSD 128GB. You can find out how to upgrade the HDD in a Macbook on the Apple site or I like this lifehacker article that also describes how to install two drives (this link doesn't always work that well for some reason). Here are some rough numbers relevant to photographers: Boot time: HDD = 32-37s SSD = 25s Not the boost I was expecting, but from reading up, not everyone appears to get the 5-10s boot that some claim. I don't know why. Maybe the Core2Duo architecture in the 13" is not as good as the i5/i7. Stitch a 12 x 70MB TIFF panorama using PTGui: HDD = 9m SSD = 5m 50s That's a good improvement. Keeping an eye on Activity Monitor cpu%user went from approximately 47% utilisation to 90% utilisation which means the CPU was waiting for the disk less when using the SSD. I could also hear the fan a bit more trying to keep the CPU cool under the heavier load. I am just waiting on 8GB of memory arriving to see what effect this by reducing paging. Open the resulting 518MB 16bit TIFF file in Photoshop Elements 9 (first open of PS) HDD = 25-35s SSD = 18s Again, not as super fast as I would have hoped from some reviews, but still a good improvement. More memory I have also ordered a Kingston 8GB memory kit which I am still waiting for. Hopefully this will speed the machine up further by preventing paging. I'll update the performance numbers once I've got the memory installed. Conclusions Overall, I am fairly happy with the gains of a SSD. There is a significant performance gain in my core apps and things just feel a bit snappier. The computer is also a little lighter and it should be a little more reliable being bounced around inside my rucsac or bike pannier. Longer term I might replace the Superdrive with a second drive for extra storage, but that will have to wait. Now, I just need to calibrate the screen. For really in depth info have a look at Macintosh Performance Guide. He's not mad keen on the Crucial Drive, but I can always change it in the future. Buy from Amazon If you want to buy either of the drives mentioned, you can help keep me in shiny stuff by buying through the following links. Amazon is awesome, although I actually ordered the drive through Crucial uk as their service is also awesome.       Reviews 2011-02-23T13:05:49+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/books_for_photographers/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/books_for_photographers/#When:12:00:23Z There are many photography books out there. A search for 'photography' on Amazon UK in 2011 revealed 368 572 books! So which are the good ones? And should you just look at photographers books? My answer is, you have to find out for yourself. I love books, photography, art, fiction, so this article is just a list of books that I enjoyed and that helped me. Go out, buy books, visit the library, learn. I hope you find and enjoy some of the books in my list.  These are all links to Amazon, buying books through these links puts a little extra money in my pocket so I can keep producing new articles for you. Thanks. A lot are now out of print but there is a link at the bottom to a great online second hand store.   My list of favorite photography and art books  < Wild locations and thoughtful text. I think this book also has some of the most incredible landscape photographs I have ever seen, in particular the cover photograph of Split Rock and Cloud is nature at her best.  < A photographers journey through natural beauty.    < I know he is popular and often cited, but his tree studies are amazing. I often pick this book up.    < One of the new landscape masters, this book is a little more subtle than his previous books, but once I had looked through it a few times I was spellbound.    < The definitive photobook for me on how to make the best of soft light and a true blurring of the boundaries between art and photography.    < I have a special attachment for the Cairngorm in Scotland so the words and photographs of Mark and Peter had extra meaning, but they have a lot to say and show everyone.    < A glimpse into the mind of the dreamscape genius!    < I am not normally a fan of Lonely Planet guides as I like to explore by myself, but the photography and text in this book is by fellow explorers and definitely worth a look. Features work by some very famous photographers.    < Slightly erotic at times, always thoughtful with a mastery of colour. I would love to see some original work rather than looking in a book.    < I got this book at a reduced rate, but having read it and watched the DVD it is definitely worth the full price. The DVD alone gives real insight into the mind of this multi-disciplined and interesting photographer.    < I wasn't always a fan of Colin's work, but this book really brought me around to his way of seeing the world and shows what we stand to lose because of climate change.    < I bought these as I thought I should read them and I was interested in the Zone system and how it could be applied to digital colour photography, but I expected most of the books contents to be outdated. How wrong I was!    < John Muir is from a past age and so like Shakespeare, the writing is quite hard work. But, as with the Bard, once I persevered, his messages and journeys were incredible and enjoyable.    < A great resource on panoramic photography.    < Notionally this book is meant to be about Muybridge, but Rebecca's work delves deeply into the American Landscape and the minds of those who live there. Could be hard work, but I found her writing delightful.    < I saw an exhibition of Dick's originals in 2005 and I realised how skillful he was at transferring complex scenes and emotions into very simple spaces and compositions. And you can always read it to the kids at bedtime!    < A collection of writings of some of the true visionaries who love the land, love playing in it and who feel the need to protect it. This is probably one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.    < This is the other most inspirational book. This guy and his friends lived a life that is beyond compare for experience and fun. The chapter describing the first solo ascent of the North Face of the Eiger by Eric Jones is, I don't know, beyond words. To think that Eric is the guy who brings you your tea and bacon buttie in Eric Jones' Cafe at Tremadog is humbling, although it is sadly no longer open.    < Form and light, mixed with beautiful women and men.    < One of the first art books that I read that I understood, coupled with good quality reproductions of interesting landscape and still life paintings.    < Great resource about the Scottish mountains.    < Seemed a bit abstract until I started looking at many of the things I photographed.    < A definitive history of some of the masters, a brilliant read,    < So pretty.    < Less emphasis on images, and more on words, which is really interesting. Lovely images too, what a surprise!    < A who's who of landscape photography, a little dated now, but still good.    < Thought provoking!    < Some of the most beautiful monochrome images. the book plates are sumptious, I can only wonder how good real prints are.     I also find the following 'textbooks' to be useful    < Working as a professional photographer, this book has had a profound impact on my marketing methods and the success of them.    < Colour theory made easy.    < If you are not using Adobe Camera Raw and Bridge, this book will soon show you the light. It did for me. Even in the Lightroom age!    < A kind friend gave me this book. Very useful and the story about the fighter pilot taking 40minutes to parachute through a storm is pretty scary too.    < The definitive textbook on surviving and navigating in the mountains with a technical and useful section on the weather.     Good places to buy books, both new and second-hand Amazon - Perfect customer service, great choice. AbeBooks - A great source in the UK and US for second hand books for books that you can't find anywhere else. I do love good books, so please send me your recommendations too. Have fun and enjoy the looking and reading. Photography Techniques, Reviews, Miscellaneous 2011-02-22T12:00:23+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/cake-for-landscape-photographers/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/cake-for-landscape-photographers/#When:09:00:22Z Sometimes I just need a treat when I'm out photographing. Sat waiting in the cold and rain can be quite tiring, so a bit of good cake cheers me up and adds in some much needed fuel to keep my body warm. A flask of hot tea goes very nicely too. Here are a couple of my favourite recipes, easy to make, super tasty and packed full of energy. Flake and banana loaf I adapted this from Green & Blacks Chocolate Recipes for my own tastes. It's also a good way to save wasting those brown bananas that no-one eats. 125g unsalted butter, melted 175g plain flour, sieved 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 150g caster sugar 2 large eggs 2-4 brown bananas 100g chocolate, I used Flake but anything will do 60g nuts, optional, but good for you and full of calories 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 5. Grease and line a loaf tin. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. In a seperate bowl mix the melted butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Mix it all together and add in the mashed up banana, mix some more. Add in your broken/cut up chocolate of choice and nuts if you are using them. Give it a gentle stir to avoid breaking the chocolate up too much. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1-1 1/4 hours. I prefer to cover the top with tin foil for about 45mins to stop the top burning. Leave to cool then devour.   Malt Loaf I love Soreen Malt Loaf, but it is pretty easy to make my own that is even tastier and packed full of extra energy to keep me warm. The original recipe came from The Dairy Book of British Food: Over Four Hundred Recipes for Every Occasion which is now sadly out of print. However, I modified a recipe from Fast Cakes which is also really tasty. Go easy on the treacle if you don't like too strong a taste. 225g self raising flour pinch salt 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, demerara will do 175g mixed dried fruit, I like to soak it in cold tea for a few hours, or brandy! 2 tablespoons golden syrup 2 tablespoons of malt extract, I use treacle 150ml of fresh milk, plus a bit more as needed to soften up the cake mix nuts, optional to give a bit of bite and more energy  Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line a loaf tin. Warm the milk, syrup and malt/treacle in a pan.  Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add in the warm milk mixture. Add nuts if you like. The mix should be soft, so add a bit more milk if the mixture needs it. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1-1 1/4 hours. I prefer to cover the top with tin foil for about 45mins to stop the top burning. I use skewer to check the cake is cooked in the middle, an extra 15 mins is often necessary with this recipe. Leave to cool and ideally leave it wrapped in foil for a few days before starting. I seldom have this amount of willpower.   Enjoy. Buy from Amazon     Photography Techniques 2011-02-22T09:00:22+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/just-mobile-gum-plus-mobile-battery-pack-mini-review/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/just-mobile-gum-plus-mobile-battery-pack-mini-review/#When:19:15:15Z I love my iPhone. The enhanced connectivity with friends, family and followers is really life enhancing to me. But, like most smartphones, with calls, apps, gps and a myriad of other functionality, the battery is just not good enough. Really I wish that smartphone designers would make their phones a little larger. They would be easier to use and there would be more room for a bigger battery. However …. So an external battery is the next best option. My main requirements are high capacity (at least 3000-4000mAh which would give about 3-4 days heavy use, longer than this and I'm sure I can find a cafe or pub to recharge in) and robust build quality. I've looked at a few in the past including the Powertraveller mini-gorilla which seems pretty awesome. @timparkin recommended another one but I can't find the tweet, sorry. The other day whilst loitering in my local Apple store (!) I found the Just Mobile Gum Plus mobile battery pack for iPhone. Capacity is 4400mAh, versus 6000mAh of the mini-gorilla. Crucially the size is smaller, 99cm^3 vs 174cm^3 of the mini-gorilla, so it will be easier to squeeze into my already bulging camera bag. Where I am going to fit the Nikon 45mm PC-E that I am lusting after I do not know. At £70 it is not cheap, but was worth a try. Opening the box and it actually felt and looked like an official Apple product. Everything is just so. Neat, crisp and functional. The battery has a useful battery charge status indicator similar to the Macbook batteries. The cable connectors are stiff to push in, but then this ensures a solid connection even if the battery is moved about whilst in use, for example, in a camera bag or in your pocket. Cables are short so there is no extra bulk to carry and they won't get tangled up. Even the supplied bag has two pouches, one for the battery, one for the cable. All very shipshape which I like. And in use? I took it camping with me in the Lake District last week when the weather was cold (approx 5-10degC) and wet. I mostly recharged with the battery and iPhone in my jacket pocket as this kept the iPhone handy and also ensured the battery was kept warm. And it worked, as advertised. Nothing else needs really be said about it. A quality product. Reviews 2010-11-07T19:15:15+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/the-cycling-photographer/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/the-cycling-photographer/#When:14:05:31Z A story of being (mostly) car free and running a landscape photography business. In association with Cycle Heaven in York, and Carry Freedom Trailers. I've always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve and tend to act on this. There is no point in talking about something when you can do it instead! As a business and an individual I am concerned with both climate change and the damage that we do to the environment. As a business I try to do my best to minimise my impact by recycling, avoiding air travel, using low energy devices, using environmentally friendly products etc and promote climate protection and the landscape through my photography and charitable donations. My wife and I take similar steps in our personal lives also.  However when I setup this business we needed a second vehicle, and transport has one of the biggest influences on our carbon footprint. (Just use one of the carbon calculators to see your own carbon footprint. Ours was over 80% travel!) I need to get to remote locations. Notionally my wife can get to her work via public transport as it is not actually that far as the crow flies, but due to the area we live in and the slightly erratic nature of some of the buses as well as her sometimes needing to travel for her work it was simply not practical to have one car between us. Even though she cycles there twice a week, there were still days when we both needed the car. Having two cars has always sat uneasily with me with respect to our carbon footprint, and it costs a fortune to run two vehicles! I'll get to some figures in a minute. About a year ago one of our cars gave up the ghost and I was fortunate enough to have enough money to buy a van which I converted into a (basic) camper van. And it was great. It really was. I could drive to any location and have a warm and safe base to work from whatever the weather. I could take as much gear as I wanted and take the dog with me. But that second vehicle thing nagged at me. And nagged. Driving a van as opposed to a small car also didn't help. As a way of comparison the CO2 produced by the van for my mileage was about 4metric tons/year, a small car will produce about 2 metric tons of CO2. (The calculator used for these figures is listed in the Resource section at the end of this article.) A camper van was good though. Eventually however, my conscience nagged too much, and following a odd year as a business when I realised I wasn't really meeting my targets I started to think about how I ran my business. I've set some new goals, and removed some old ones which weren't working. And decided to sell the van!  Back to one small vehicle for my wife (and my occasional use). Using a basic carbon calculator shows the immediate effect this has on our household carbon footprint. With 2 cars and our mileage we produced 12.7 metric tons of CO2/year. With 1 car and an associated increase in bus and train travel our footprint is 6.4 metric tons of CO2/year. By way of comparison the average UK value is 9.8 and the industrial nations average is 11 (source - carbonfootprint.com. The Act on CO2 site values were a UK average of 4.46 which I seriously don't believe is a valid average for the population at large, quickly plugging in values to their comparison page gave a UK average of 12.3 for people in a similar rural situation.) Quite a difference by ditching the car, in fact we halved out footprint. And my conscience feels better. As does our bank account - no more car insurance (although I do now pay 3rd party liability insurance for when cycling), repairs, vehicle license tax, depreciation and no more being subject to increasingly high fuel prices. And I've put some of that saved money towards other things, see below. But, train and bus stations are rarely in remote locations, so how was I going to get from them to the wild places. The answer for me as a keen cyclist was easy - get a suitable bike and gear carrying system. Easy, fun, healthy! It seemed to be a plan, but like all plans, there are chances of failure so I have decided to try being (mostly) car free for 2 years and then review the situation. I guess that my requirements, experience and equipment will change over time, so this is probably the first article in a series. [A first bike camping and photography trip out, in the worst snow in 30years!] Choosing a bike and gear carrying system Most trains these days seem to be bike friendly without a reservation, at least in Scotland and Northern England, I get the impression the South is very different. Also, buses are not at all bike friendly! So this only really left me with the option of a folding bike. Luckily a friend of mine has a decent one that I had tried in the past so I knew they were past the days of cheap and wobbly 'shoppers'. After a bit of reading up the shortlist came down to: Brompton Mezzo Birdy Dahon Bike Friday Airnimal Each of these bikes is unique and has it's fans. I went round a few bike shops and rode some to get a feel for each bikes capabilities and features. In the end it was an easy decision. There was only one whose ride characteristics appealed to me and that was the Birdy by Riese and Müller. It: Rides like a real bike. Has front and rear suspension which is handy off-road. Has a small fold (although not Brompton small, it is close enough). German build quality. Was recently made available with the robust Shimano Alfine hub gear and Shimano disc brakes which improve performance and reduce maintenance, both of which are good things. Has small wheels on the luggage rack to allow the Birdy to be wheeled along behind when it is folded up. These aren't perfect, but they work. Close second was the Brompton. With a very small fold size and practical design they are a great bike, but at 6'2" I found them a little small feeling and couldn't imagine riding one up a farm track or remote bridleway. I had superb buying advice and custom bike build by the friendly and professional guys at Cycle Heaven in York. I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to buy a quality folding bike. [Custom built and resprayed, my Birdy folding bike with disc brakes and Alfine hub gear] There are many ways to load gear up onto a bike. Panniers, new lightweight bike bag systems and trailers are the most common options. Despite having access to super lightweight camping gear, my camera gear is heavy and bulky especially the tripod, so I felt a bike trailer was the best place to start. I also wanted a trailer that I could use for more general duties like shopping or moving framed prints, so two wheels was a must rather than one which ruled out the dependable and popular Bob trailers. Again I did a bit of research, and this time one company stood out above all others - Carry Freedom. These trailers are designed in Britain by Nick Lobnitz who is passionate about getting more people and their luggage on bikes. The trailers are really practical and are designed to take a beating and be repairable in the field. They have another nice feature which is that they fold or pack down really small for storage or transport.  They make two trailers: Carry Freedom City Carry Freedom Y-frame I'm currently trying both. The City packs down very neatly, but the small wheels don't roll so well over rough ground (hence the City name!) and the bag is not waterproof. My preference is for the Y-frame which rolls well over rough stuff, can be adapted to take boxes or my dogs crate and actually packs down pretty small.  [Birdy and Carry Freedom Y-frame trailer. I call my bike 'The Seville' on account of the colour.] One thing to note is the supplied bike to trailer hitch is worth some consideration! Nick has designed a much more robust and easier to use hitch that can be bought separately, but the bracket interferes with the Birdy fold a bit too much, so I've chosen to use the Chariot hitch instead. It's really easy to use and very robust. For gear carrying on trips I am using a North Face Duffle bag as they are dependable, PVC free and can be carried as a rucsac too. I have attached the trailer bed to the bag and they stay attached when the bag is used as a rucsac. Normally the bag is covered by a rain cover, mainly to protect me when I have to put the bag on my back as the bike wheels spray mud and water all over the trailer and bag.  When packed up the wheels are removed, attached to the back of the rucsac and the rain cover goes over the whole lot to make it look like one big bag (to reduce interest from transport staff) and to keep everything in place. [Everything all packed up and ready to go.] Camping gear I'm not going to go into the why's and wherefore's of my camping gear, this article is already getting to long, so instead I will list the items I carry along with any notes: Rab Summit 600 sleeping bag Rab Superlight bivi bag. I put the sleeping bag in the bivi bag before leaving home, and both are stored in a Exped dry bag. Thermarest Trail self-inflating mattress. I tried the foam Zlite which is lighter, but not very comfortable. Highland Military Basha (or tarp). With modified titanium trekking pole for main support, guy lines, spare cord for other pitching options and 7 pegs and I normally pitch it as a trapezoid for maximum weather protection.  MSR Reactor stove. Simply superb as it is very efficient, lightweight and the pan is big enough to actually get enough food in for a hungry person. Spare gas canister. I could just take a new one every time, but I hate waste. Spork Knife Stainless steel mug Dishes brush. Cut down for cleaning pan. See below. MSR Miniworks EX water filter. I'm considering using sterilisation tablets as they are smaller and I only need to filter water in emergencies or if I run out, but this doesn't remove all parasites, chemicals or particulates! Toileteries (toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, toilet paper/tissues, alcohol hand rub, pack towel). Small first aid kit. Bungee cords (x5). Which are used for everything from holding my bag onto the trailer, to building my bivi shelter. Trowel for digging toilet holes if there is no public toilet nearby. Not burying your poo is not acceptable! As John Muir said "Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs". This applies to the rest of my campcraft too. Apart from some flattened grass I don't like to leave any evidence of my stay. Bike spares, lube, tools, inner tubes etc. Map in waterproof case. [My bike bivi setup. Room with a view or what?] Photography gear It's all the usual suspects, just a bit more pared down than usual! They are all stored in a Deuter rack bag [www.deuterusa.com/products/productDetail.php?packID=rackTopPack⊂=bike&tert=bike] which attaches to the bike rack and has a handy shoulder strap for carrying it and also has a rain cover and bottle holder. Maybe a bit big, but I don't want to get started on buying another camera bag. This is what I take on landscape photography trips: Nikon D2X. I'm considering replacing this with a D700 or D700x/D800/D900 or whatever it is when it comes out. Although have also been considering the idea of a Hasselblad ArcBody, yes, that's film! Nikon 12-24mm lens Misc including: remote shutter release, spare battery, spare memory cards, hot shoe spirit level, turbo blower, cleaning cloths, shower cap for covering the camera. Sekonic light meter Lee filter system with 0.3ND grad, 0.6ND grad, 0.6ND soft grad Canon G10 compact as backup and grab-shot camera. Manfrotto 055MF4 carbon fibre tripod with 460Mg lightweight head. Food and cleaning up inc. teashops A big part of riding bikes for me is finding nice little teashops and cafes to sample their wares. And I have no intention of changing this habit. A lunchtime stop fulfils a number of practical issues also: A good meal everyday. A place to get warm and dry out a bit. Somewhere to hijack a wall socket to recharge electrical items if needed, mainly the iPhone. Somewhere to refill water bottles.  A chance to chat with locals and maybe find out useful location info. [Time to refuel. Another teashop stop!] In the evening before or after the shoot, I will prepare tea then a hot meal on my stove. I tend to use good quality readymeals, such as Look What We Found pouch food as it is tasty, nutritious, quick to prepare and there is no extra preservatives or nasties in there. I used to mix in some pasta to bulk this out, but it used a lot of gas cooking the pasta, so I now bulk out and get carbs in with homemade bread. I add some extra water to make it into more of a stew or chunky soup. This stops it burning when cooking on the typically hot camping stove, makes it easier to clean the pan after and aids absorption into the gut of the water. Speaking of cleaning pans, I use no chemicals at all. I tend to wipe the pan out as best as possible with a chunk of bread. I then boil up a little water and let the steam clean the pan. This water is then a very thin stock which can be drunk. No wastage, no chemicals, improved hydration. A winner! [MSR Reactor stove. One of a new breed of stoves that makes camp cooking light and super efficient.] Breakfast will typically be muesli made up with hot powdered milk and sugar and a cup of tea. I will snack through the day on nuts, biscuits etc or find a bakery or similar to get some tasty treats. Public transport I was really worried about this part. I had heard so many horror stories about bikes on buses and trains! But so far the worst that has happened is that I have been asked to put the (bulky) bike in the guards van as it was a bit big for the carriage. I think I have mostly avoided trouble by covering the folded bike with a cover and the trailer is strapped to the bag and covered so it looks like I just have a very large rucsac and item of hand luggage. I also tend to keep out the way of staff and never mention the word bike!  In fact, some companies are quite forward thinking with regards to bikes. Scotrail have dedicated bike racks in the carriages and Cross Country Trains have plenty large luggage space. East Coast are also helpful.  Local buses on the other hand, whilst the staff have been helpful and accepting, are often not designed for large luggage at all, let alone a folding bike. They just seem to want to minimise the individual passenger space with no though for luggage. Some are better, my local company GoNorthEast could do better as they have tiny luggage racks. Staying in touch with the iPhone Not being especially sociable I only begrudgingly had a mobile phone for business use and emergencies. However I have long been tempted by the shininess of the Apple iPhone and having saved a bit of money each month on car insurance I signed up for an iPhone contract. The main justification was that I would be spending long periods of time travelling and would have plenty time to keep up with my email etc. I really hate coming back to hundreds of emails, it takes ages to get through them and I sometimes miss urgent ones. However, the iPhone has brought far more. It's actually made me more sociable as communication is so easy. I phone more, text more, started tweeting, look at silly websites that normally suck up time at home and then there is all the extra apps. Here is a list of my key iPhone apps: 1password. For managing secure details. Tweetie. For Twitter stuff. AyeTides. For tide and sunrise/sunset times. Photocalc. Lots of camera reference data and calculators e.g. hyperfocal distance. Bill Atkinson Photocard. Cause it's fun to send postcards. GoodReader. For storing pdfs, such as bus timetables, with me. National Rail. I love this app. Train times and more. Really useful if you travel a lot by rail. The Trainline. For booking train tickets. iHandy level. For getting my camera level. Flickr. No explanation required. Amazon UK. Looking for new books to read and look at. I read a lot now with all that spare travel time. ebay. Not really relevant here, but useful if I am running auctions whilst away. Yell.com. Electronic Yellow Pages. Kinda useful. AroundMe. Way better than Yell.com, hold this iPhone up and find services near you. A useful application of augmented reality. Met Office. Fairly accurate weather reports. GPS Log and Trails Lite. I like the idea of these, but the GPS kills the battery in short time so I have not really used them much. There are a few issues. Battery life sucks. I have to charge it on trains or in cafes at lunchtime. I'm considering getting an external high capacity battery such as the PowerTraveller Mini Gorilla to get a few days uninterrupted usage. The GPS map relies on an internet connection, which in wild places is unlikely, but at least the GPS itself can be used for geo-tagging. However on balance, the iPhone has been almost a big a revelation as the folding bike. You can follow my cycling photographer Twitter feed at mikejmcfarlane. Getting to and from suppliers and clients Getting rid of the van has actually been slightly more problematic for visiting suppliers and clients. Whether I am dressed smartly for a meeting or needing to move framed photographs, a bit more thought is required. Often this means waiting for decent weather or relying more on public transport. At worst it means using my wife's car or hiring a vehicle for the day. A bit more time and patience are required, but this is no bad thing now I am used to it. So why not totally car free? Ironically it is to go cycling with my friends who live in the next valley. I can cycle there but it adds 30miles to the ride. Also a vehicle is required for some meetings and my my wife and I also have a few 3-4day backpacking trips to Scotland a year in remote areas. Often we only have small periods of time because of work commitments so we need to use a hire car. It's not ideal, but I also don't think a small transgression or luxury once in a while hurts too much. Tax Running a van, I could claim 40p/mile for tax purposes. If I was employed I could do one of the Bike to Work schemes e.g. Cyclescheme. But being self employed the options are different. A quick call to HMRC was really useful. I can offset a fair proportion of the bikes cost against tax. I use the bike roughly 50/50 for personal and business use, so half the purchase cost can go in my tax return next year. Also, I can claim mileage of 20p/mile (for business miles) on the bike. That is pretty good.  Other things Bike insurance insurance is a must these days. I mean third party liability in case of an accident. Theft cover is probably optional. I use CTC for 3rd party insurance and also because they work hard for cyclists rights. Conclusion So far, this seems to be a winner on all counts. I feel happier and am doing less damage to the climate both personally and as a business. But other things have happened that are a benefit too. Going by public transport is less stressful for the most part and gives me more time to read, sleep, listen to music and stay in touch with friends (the iPhone has been a revelation) or just have some plain thinking time. Although I had some initial concerns about carrying all this gear by public transport the buses and trains are often not too badly setup in this regards. And it feels more natural to wake up in the wild places with the wind in my face than waking up in a van. It's just good! [The Holy Island crossing on a recent trip. February is not the best month for photography, but it is good for testing gear!] Resources www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/ - A fine shop for folding bikes. www.carryfreedom.com/ - Useful bike trailers.  www.ridecycles.co.uk/ - My local bike shop in Newcastle upon Tyne. www.en.r-m.de/products/productfinder/faltgenie/birdy/ - Birdy folding bikes. www.bikepacking.net/ - bikepacking advice. www.adventurecycling.org/ultralight - more bikepacking advice www.backpacking-lite.co.uk/ - get your camping gear weight down! hikinghq.net/gear/tarp.html - ways to erect a tarp or basha. www.ldmountaincentre.com/ - good source for outdoor gear. shoestring-racing.blogspot.com/ - Paul Errington's blog on cycle trips and races. carboncalculator.direct.gov.uk/ - Act on CO2 website with more detailed analysis carbon footprint analysis www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx - quick to do, figures are comparable to detailed direct.gov.uk site Miscellaneous 2010-02-16T14:05:31+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/hyperdifocusissia-the-story-behind-a-landscape-photograph-and-competition/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/hyperdifocusissia-the-story-behind-a-landscape-photograph-and-competition/#When:10:25:44Z def'n - An enhanced state of mind where your eyes won't focus properly and you see only in colour, shape, texture and line. Cause by an exhausted mind and body (from long days in the fresh air with sunrise starts and sunset stops, and creative highs and lows) resulting in the conscious mind being too tired to get in the way of intuitive picture making. Introduction There are many ingredients that go into making a great landscape photograph. Great light, appropriate weather, fine landscape or landscape features (ie the subject), mood, being in the right creative frame of mind, good technique, the right camera (on a tripod!) but the story behind the photograph adds a whole new dimension to how I feel about the photographs I make. I've actually made photographs that were aesthetically and technically pleasing, but there was no story behind them. To me, that reduces their value to me as their maker and to the client. Each photograph I sell, or exhibit, is shown with it's story. Napes Needle I'm not talking about where it was made (although there might be a story or history to be written about the location), or the camera and it's settings or filters used. It might be about the pre-visualisation of that photograph or the message I am trying to convey with the photograph. In fact, I would argue, that having a story about the subject in the photograph is part of the pre-visulisation that all landscape photographers should perform. Unless it is a record shot, then the subject should inspire some sort of feeling in you, and focusing that feeling or the stream of consciousness released could help you to visualise a better photograph and it's print. Two stones, Saltburn - I turned up, the sun came out, I made a photograph, I went home. No adventure, no story! What I am talking about is probably a stream of consciousness. What were you thinking about when you made the photograph? What feelings did it invoke? Where did the subject take your mind, or where did your mind take the subject? Did you have to suffer to make the photograph? What universal truth or personal truth was revealed to you? How did you arrive at this point, or where is it going to take you? Maybe nothing immediately came to mind, but maybe all became clear when you hung the print on a wall! What were you thinking? This is the story of the making of one of my photographs - Hyperdisfocusisia, Napes Needle, Lake District Hyperdisfocusisia To make landscape photographs that resonate with myself and others I need to suffer or have some sort of adventure whilst making the photograph. Suffering and risk help focus my mind. Overly dramatic? Maybe, but it is true, I get bored too easily, suffering and risk keep me awake and alive.  It's not enough to just turn up. I was sat at a famous viewpoint in the Lake District recently eating my pasta and watching the sun set. I'd been out earlier (actually making the photograph this article is about) and was happy to sit and watch the last light with food, rather than a camera, in my hand. I might have got the camera out, but I couldn't see anything worth photographing. Pretty view yes, worthy of being a famous viewpoint, yes, but I'm not sure there is a great photograph in there. (Maybe there is and I'm just not going to be the one to see it.) Half an hour before the sun goes over the horizon, a photographer turns up. Massive heavy camera bag in one hand, tripod in the other, he sprints from the car park to join me and the throngs of people and I watch intrigued, wondering what he will make of this viewpoint which has eluded me. How will a different eye see it? Procedding to open his camera bag, out comes a digital body and a long lens. Onto the lens goes a lens shade. Now I'm really intrigued, and possibly getting a little bitchy from this point as what use is a lens shade at 9pm shooting directly into the sun? Anyway, long lens in hand, he begins shooting. Like a machine gun! Camera on full continuous drive, 'snap snap snap snap snap snap', tripod discarded on the ground, check the screen, 'snap snap snap snap snap snap, check the screen!  Sounded like 1/30sec, maybe even 1/60s so high ISO so lots of noise. Poor old tripod, it would have helped with sharpness, low ISO and focusing his mind. Shooting in all directions for half an hour, before rushing back to the car, probably heading for another viewpoint to catch the pink sky. Maybe he made one, or many great photographs that he liked or that sold well. Only he knows, but I do wonder. Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong and I'm wrong to criticise, it was just so incongruous with the usual slow and thoughtful approach to landscape photography. More like being in the pit lane at the racetrack next to the sports shooters with their motor drives on full!! And what about the experience, the story, the interaction with the landscape? So, whilst this is a personal thing, and a more commercially minded photographer might shoot with this sort of speed and coldness to the land and sky, it is not my way. What about the suffering? Summer landscape photography is full of suffering! In the North of England, sunrise is approximately 04:30 and the sun sets at approximately 22:00. Up early, walk to location (the joys of a camper van allowing a bit of a 'lie in' and avoiding an early morning drive can not be underestimated), find an interesting subject and get set up, wait for the right light and conditions to fulfill my vision, rejoice as it happens or feel suicidal when it, frequently, doesn't, skip or drag my feet back to camper, sleep for a couple of hours then have breakfast, wander around for the rest of the day researching new locations, have dinner, go out on evening shoot, return to van at 23:00 or later, sleep for a few hours, rinse, lather, repeat. Not that I'm complaining, but it is hard work! I love photographing, I love being outside, but it is hard, hard work. After a while the days start to take on a dream like state. The state of hyper-dis-focus-isia. When I am so tired that my mind gets out of the way of my eye and creative spirit. When the peaks of enthusiasm from a great shoot and the lows from a disastrous rainy shoot, or even worse, a morning that starts of promising goes to full blue sky by the time the sun comes over the horizon with the sun going 'morning world' at full blast, drain me. 4 or 5 hours sleep a day. It is then I see only in terms of shape, line and colour. It's wonderful. I normally prefer morning shoots as I'm often still half asleep (in the dreamtime?), not thinking too much so the landscape has a chance to get in my head and inform me about the image that I should make. Evening shoots are often a disaster as I think too much. Too depressing as the day dies! But long trips away, the exhausted state is great. I just see in photographs all day, with the good ones that I should really make just composing themselves in my mind and in the viewfinder. Napes Needle It's in this state that I wander up to Napes Needle on the back of Great Gable for the second evening in a row. Two hours each way from the van, up hard uncompromising man made tracks. My one consellation is a regular one. As I head into the hills in the evening, most people are coming back down from their day of fun. Or vice versa in the morning. I get a marching song in my head "When they were up they were up, when they were down they were down and when they were only half way up, Mike is on his way down!". To have the hills to myself is a treat, especially in a busy place like the Lake District. Lonely too. And scary - no one to look out for me or help in the event of an accident. Being a Luddite I leave the mobile phone in the van consigned to phoning my wife when there is signal, but I've had no signal for days, so neither she, nor anyone else, knows where I am! What a delightful feeling, to be alone and totally self reliant. We are not talking Rob Roy here where I have to battle the English or catch my dinner, but all the same, it is reliant for our times. The path up! And the path to Napes Needle isn't the easiest, crossing steep broken ground contouring a sheep track round Great Gable. That's OK. The scramble to the bottom of Napes Needle up a steep, loose gully then a scramble up the steep rocks raises my pulse a little. I can see where I want to be. I want a photograph of the Needle looking across to Scafell Pike, balancing the statuesque pillar (I have other terms for it) against the bump of Scafell and the cleft of the Corridor Route. All very Fruedian! And so the problems, apart from my dirty little mind. To get to the required viewpoint, requires a bit of climbing (hard scrambling) onto a ledge. On the first night I left my camera bag and tripod at the bottom of the gully to check out the ledge. And I bottled the climb, not making it to the ledge. No rope, alone, wet rock, I don't fancy having to wait for the Mountain Rescue. What to do, I want that photograph? It's with rubber legs I begin the walk up to the Needle on the second night. The sky looks good and the day has been dry so the rock might be dry. But there is still that little climb, just a few moves, but this time with camera bag, tripod and dog! I don't even know if I can do the moves safely, or more importantly, get myself back down the moves. Hence the rubber legs, I was scared and no mistake. But I wanted that photograph. I could see it. The stories of the early climbing pioneers like OG Jones and W Haskett Smith photographed by early mountaineering photographers like the Fishers inspire me, set a standard of exploration to aspire to. So why are my legs shaking and my breathing shallow? I've climbed and mountaineered for years, I know what I can do, and equally what I can't. Trouble is, this is in between, courtesy of heavy camera gear on my back, tripod in one hand and a well trained climbing dog often in the other. Round the corner into the final gully, feet flailing and sliding up the loose scree and mud. Decision time. Up the easier moves that I did last night. I know I can get back down these. Up to the hard move. It's only a few, but the rock is slippery. What happens if I do them and those interesting clouds that are going to play such a dramatic part in my photograph decide they will impart a little bit too much drama on me by raining and making the rock really slippery? The dog stays here where she will be safe. And I get out my secret weapon. A 2.4m nylon belay sling, it's been my friend on many an occasion. That big spike there, over goes the sling. Perfect handhold in place, hang the tripod on the bottom, do the moves and pull up tripod, leave sling over spike to help descent. Job done! Well, it should be. But I'm stood on a tiny ledge trying to set up a tripod as the wind blows and the rain looks ever more likely. How big are my cahonjes? How long can I stay on this ledge not knowing if I can get back down or if the rain will make retreat impossible? Why won't my legs stop shaking? I can see Wasdale Head YHA, will they hear my whistle if I have been a total prat and got stuck requiring the embarrasment of a mountain rescue? I drop the lens cap down the gully below, I have never dropped a lens cap in 7 years of photography! Why won't my legs stop shaking? Stop this, it's OK. OK for what? What was lovely evening sunshine with great cloud formations is now solid grey and black. Will I get the shot? Will I get back down. My mind races. "Stop shaking legs." Round in my head it goes. This entirely personal and self-indulged drama.  Camera's up. The view in the viewfinder matches the one in my head. Stately pillar thrusting to the heavens with deeply clefted Scafell underneath! I owe it more than this. More than this fear. Will I be driven from the ledge in half an hour with a few snaps for my efforts? I sit down and breath. Watch. Wait. Wait. Take it in and wonder about the pioneering climbers, they were bolder than me. What are the clouds doing? Dark dark dark. Light drizzle on the rock. My stomach feels slightly empty and watery. Breath. Wait. Breath. About two hours till sunset. I can do the walk back in the dark, headtorch, map, compass and a clear path for most of it. How long should I stay? Do I want a night walk back? Will my nerves take it? They will take a bit, I'll give it till an hour before sunset, that way I can be off this climb and across the worst of the initial contouring path before dark. Breath. Wait. Breath. Slightly correct my composition as I understand the scene better. Breath. Wait. Breath. I feel blessed sometimes, not necessarily for the things I see or experience, but for the fact that I know what matters to me and when to recognise that my wishes have been granted. Sometimes this is subtle. Love matters and I recognise that my marriage is full of love, despite the lows, I know my wishes have been fulfilled. And so, as the cloud deepens to very dark grey and with a full two hours until sunset, the clouds part for a moment. First lighting the Needle (click!) before darkening again. Wow. I could go home on that! Will it happen again? I watch as a ray of light hits the valley side of Wasdale and slowly, ever so slowly, makes its way up the valley towards Scafell and the Needle. And disappears, to reappear full on the Needle and the Corridor route (click!). It's never going to get better than that (click!). Really. Perfect. Even more than I saw in my head. Oh the dancing light. Click, light goes, sigh. Down. Walk. Down. It's a long way down to the camper and pasta at the tourist viewpoint, accessed by car and road. Sigh. To suffer and survive. Not in pursuit of survival, but in search of beauty and perfection. I wish all my days had an adventure like this. Competition: Would you like to win a framed limited edition print of Napes Needle? Send me a photograph and the story behind it and you could be the lucky winner. I will also publish the story and photograph on this site. The photograph and story need to have a basis in the landscape, whether it is the urban or wild landscape is up to you. It could be a great adventure, a family holiday, a cathartic life changing moment, history of the landscape, a love story, the story behind making that photograph, a wild places conservation project ... It is up to you so long as it involves the landscape. I will select the winner according to the image and story that I like the best and that I think work together the best. For example, it doesn't have to be a fantastic photograph if the story accompanying it gives life to your photograph. Stories should be no more than 2000 words. Images submitted should be a jpeg no bigger than 1MB. Please send submissions to mike@mikemcfarlane.co.uk with the subject line 'Win a print competition'. Please include your name, address, postcode, a daytime contact telephone number, your email address and of course your story and image. Deadline for entries Monday 31st May 2010. Winner will be notified by email and announced on this site by Wednesday 30th June. Please note this is the first time I have run a competition on this scale and so I have probably forgotten something, so I reserve the right to change or amend the rules as appropriate. Photography Techniques 2010-02-08T10:25:44+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/how-to-choose-a-camera-bag-for-landscape-photography/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/how-to-choose-a-camera-bag-for-landscape-photography/#When:15:24:52Z Almost as important as your camera system itself is a way to carry and protect that system. Like many photographers I know or whose articles I read, camera bags are a personal choice and most of us go through many many bags before we find ones which work. I have some that I used only once or twice before consigning them to the attic or ebay! One grubby no-name bag that I picked up for £10 in a bargain bin has been used many times as it is just the right size to fit into my backpacking rucsac and holds just the right amount of camera and gear for wilderness trips. I'm not particularly brand loyal, trips to my local camera shops (like cameras I'm not happy buying these online because I like to actually hold them in my hands, for all the good it does me!) will normally see my looking through many different brands of bags, but I do often come back to LowePro. Whilst often overly heavy due to being overdesigned and coupled often with bad design features (I wonder if their designers actually use or test their bags e.g. they leave really long adjustment straps on shoulder straps which certainly make adjustment easy, but which whip painfully and are a liability to eyesight in 40mph winds!). However their overall design and very robust build quality often makes them an attractive choice, for me. Dreadnought, Shetland - A long walk in needs a comfortable camera bag. As I've said in previous articles I respect other photographers who carry massive loads into the hills and wilds, but I like to be able to move freely. Why have relatively lightweight DSLR systems that are capable of great image quality and are robust workhorses if you can't take advantage of that light weight? And this is where my last camera bag, a LowePro Vertex 200 AW backpack, fell down. "A premium backpack" certainly, but all those straps, adjustments, padding, zippers, handles, covers, pockets and other 'premium' features add up to a bag weight of 3.32kg! That's just the bag. Add in the camera system, then strap your tripod to the suggested tripod carrying point and this is a really uncomfortable pack to carry. It's too short in the back so the hip belt doesn't allow the load to be transferred through the hips (for anyone over about 5'8"), and the relatively heavy tripod is carried at the furthest point from your back, making it feel even heavier. Moving the tripod attachment to the side helps load carrying, but makes it awkward to get in the bag in a hurry. And whilst it is notionally within airline cabin baggage dimensions, when it is full all the straps and bulging pockets mean it will not fit in an overhead locker. Vertex 200, very configurable but too heavy and cumbersome for me. I've tried modifying normal rucsacs to take a smaller shoulder camera bag, but whilst very comfortable, it was a pain to get at camera gear in a hurry resulting in missed shots. So what should you consider when looking for a new camera bag? An upcoming trip (involving a flight and already having a lot of other gear to take) got my cogs whirling again and I started looking at combined backpacks and camera bags (looks like a rucsac with a gear compartment in the top and padded camera compartment in the bottom) e.g. LowePro Rover AW II  Kata DR-467 Tamrac Adventure 9 Backpack Crumpler also make some, but I hate their styling, no matter how good their camera bags are. I spent a long time looking at these online, but a looming departure date and a need to handle and see these products took me into my local camera shops. My criteria for selecting a new camera bag for lightweight landscape photography where: Lightweight - this means a minimum of extraneous features. Long back - a properly fitted rucsac should have the hipbelt going round the hips, not round the waist. This allows the efficient and comfortable carrying of heavy loads by transferring the weight through the hips, not your shoulders. Minimum space for the camera gear that I carry, see my Single Speed, Single Lens article. Basically extra space encourages the carrying of 'junk'. Easy access to camera gear - more on this below. Good amount of load space for mountain gear including waterproofs, survival bag, headtorch, map/compass/GPS, food and drink. Raincover. Tripod attatchment was not actually something that I was bothered about. My Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod has a comfortable rubberised carrying handle (good in sub-zero conditions) and I didn't really want any extra weight on my back. However, I thought it would be useful to have some sort of tripod attachment if I was crossing rough ground and needed both hands free so basic tripod attachment was a must. Laptop compartment - I don't need this, but you may. Sortability - Having your gear well organised where you can find it on a shoot is essential, even in the slow moving world of landscape photography. Missing that critical cloud formation or waning light because you are hunting for the filter adapter is annoying, and expensive! However, given that I have reduced my current gear to a bare minimum, then I need less customisable compartments than in the past. Like choosing any backpack, trying it on my back is the final decider. Whilst the above backpacks are still a little short in the back, keeping the camera gear weight down (and carrying my tripod) coupled with careful adjustment of the shoulder straps so the load is not pulled up my back made this acceptable. The LowePro Rover AW II fulfilled all my criteria reasonably well, but like most LowePro products the lack of attention to real usage details (like overly long straps that whip about in the wind) necessitated some customisation. Customising a LowePro Rover backpack for landscape photography. I made the following changes to my LowePro Rover backpack: Whiplash straps - All long straps were adjusted to a typical position then the excess tails were Duct-taped to the main part of the strap (with a little excess for small adjustments) so they wouldn't take my eyes out in the wind. Take it on the chest - a chest strap reduces the strain on your shoulders by keeping the shoulder straps in the correct position on your shoulders. However, for some reason LowePro have fitted the chest strap on very loose sliding loops that allow them to slide to the bottom of the shoulder straps so that clipping the chest strap on requires sliding the chest straps back up into place every time you put the backpack on again. When LowePro go to so much time and effort to produce what is mostly great gear, it escapes me why they fail to get little details like these right is beyond me. That said, I would much prefer to make customisation like this myself than some of the overdone adjustment features that are found on their premium products like the Vertex making them so heavy and cumbersome. A bit of needle and thread time fixed the chest-strap to the shoulder straps in a reasonable position. More space for cameras! - Finally, despite my recent article on carrying a single camera and lens, the reality is that a backup body is a must in many locations, and it may as well have a lens attached to allow quick grab shots. The Rover camera compartment has enough space for a pro body with lens attached (e.g. Nikon D2X with 12-24mm lens) and various accessories like filters, cleaning cloths, blower and binoculars), but a second body will just not fit. I considered buying a good compact like the Canon G10 which is getting such good reviews, but I wanted to make the most of the gear that I had and a DSLR still produces much better results than a compact for large prints. A second visit to the camera shop got me a Think Tank Digital Holster 20 which easily holds my Nikon D300 with 17-55mm lens and either affixes to the hipbelt for a quick draw (very cowboy) or fits in the main body of the backpack. A final customisation with a pair of scissors and some Duct-tape opened up the hip belt attachment loops to allow the Digital Holster's attachment strap to attach to the Rover's hipbelt without sliding around. UPDATE - it's a continuing saga, another bad buy! The Think Tank Digital Holster is a great bag, but it is too bulky when carried in the rucsac to leave much space for mountain gear. I found a Exped Crush Dry bag at LD Mountain Centre that is padded enough to protect the camera, but has very little bulk. Perfect! Probably! My perfect lightweight landscape photograph camera backpack. I'm really pleased with this setup and the LowePro Rover. Not only is it comfortable for all day use and feels light, but easy access to both cameras and the tripod in my hand means I can quickly get a camera set up to catch those fleeting moments of light in the landscape that used to elude me. And the rest of the pockets and load space are just enough for other outdoor kit. So, four out of five stars for the LowePro Rover AW II camera backpack from me. It would get five, but the need for modifications that the designers should have considered reduces the score a bit. Oh, but I do wish I had bought the larger version, the Rover Plus AW. I can't quite get all my sandwiches in without crushing them! UPDATE 2 - since drafting this article for the new site and the site going live I have sold my camper van and am now travelling around by bike and bike trailer. Guess what, not another new camera bag! I went back to the compact Cobra bargain basement bag that I use for backpacking. Oh dear. Look forward to a future article on photographing by bike. I hope the above guidelines will still be useful in helping you chose a bag. Reviews 2010-01-31T15:24:52+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/single_speed_single_lens/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/single_speed_single_lens/#When:16:25:12Z With Christmas approaching and that last minute present buying rush approaching, ask yourself, "Do I really need another lens or camera"? It's a bit of a ramble, but here are some thoughts on simplifying your camera bag. Simplification I'm all for simplification in my life. Clearer personal and business goals, a simpler aesthetic in my photography, it lets the fun shine through. I used to do a lot of cycling, but for a number of reasons I fell out of love with the sport. I enjoyed being outside with friends, exploring wild places and tearing down twisty rocky trails hanging on by the tips of my fingers, to explode off the hill all smiles and giggles. But the increasing complexity of modern mountain bikes started to intrude into the experience. Sure a modern bike (like a modern car) will flatter even a bad rider, but with increased complexity comes more to go wrong and more maintenance, but worse, the technology becomes a buffer, it gets in the way of the experience. Is it obvious? I bet you are thinking, I know where this is going, here comes the Luddite proposing a pinhole camera or making my own glass plates with potato starch. Well, maybe, that is up to you. Single speed bikes I recently bought a Cotic Roadrat bike, a hybrid bike, a bit of a jack of all trades and as it turned out also a master of quite a few. The beauty of a hybrid bike is it is good for anything, good on the roads, good off road. OK, you won't be doing the Tour de France or riding sick downhills on it, but I wanted something that I could use for exploring with - "I wonder where that track goes ........?" It really worked and I kind of got back into cycling again, discovered the joy of moving fast through the green, brown and blue. And it got me thinking about mountain biking again, but I just couldn't be bothered with the hassle, all those gears grinding away and needing constant maintenance, distracting from the pleasure of the trail. As it happened, my mountain bike was also in a bad way with lots of bits worn out and having just bought the Cotic I couldn't afford to replace all the bits anyway. I'd read in a few bike magazines about singlespeed bikes - no gears, often no suspension - the idea being there was less to go wrong and you were apparently more connected with the bike and hence the trail! The latter sounded slightly unlikely, but less maintenance sounded good and it was the only type of bike I could afford to build anyway. So I built up this simple singlespeed. I wondered about the sanity of biking in the hills with no gears! Sounded like hard work, an aesthetic ascetic for the sake of it. Trouble was, it was damn good fun. A highly efficient drive means I get up hills easier. More direct connection to the drive means indeed better connection to the bike and hence better feedback from the trails, as well as not having to think about which gear to be in, you simply ride the trail. Fun, fun, fun and emotionally loads better. Now you see where I am going. Less is more. How it all ties together There is a real danger of moralising here. And that is not the idea. What you need to understand is your own personal goals and the barriers to achieving them. Maybe your goal is not actually to be a great photographer, but to be a camera collector or always at the bleeding edge of the technology so always buying what's new. That's great, if that's what YOU like. But, having a Nikon D3, Canon EOS1Ds Mk111, Leica M8 or Hasselblad h2D just won't make you a better photographer. It might make your life easier and hence your photography better. Or it might buffer you from the real experience. I totally disagree with the preposition that 'Your camera does matter' at the Luminous Landscape. Easy to counter with an example of the architectural photography of J Michael Sullivan. Architectural photography, surely the preserve of the view camera? Look through the photostream. Sure there is sweet high end kit, but there are also stunning photographs made with rangefinders and compacts! I think what J Michael Sullivan understands is that the image is everything and that just being there with any camera allows you to make great photographs. Simplicity of equipment means less time thinking about what equipment to use and more studying, and enjoying, the subject and the experience of the photograph. Read his artist statement! He calls it 'looseness'. This is a major lesson in my landscape photography workshops. People turn up with everything from compacts that they have just bought to a camera bag full of trick gear that they have used for years. Teaching them just to look with their eyes, not the camera, and it is soon apparent that the camera they use does not make a good photograph, it is the photographer that makes a good photograph. Yes, I've done it. Convinced myself that I needed a new camera and lenses when I set up my photography business. I still do it with some commissioned work, thinking that a new lens would help. Well it might, dependent on what the client wants. You do need the right tools for the job, just remember a master craftsman can make a beautiful piece of furniture with rudimentary tools. And this is quite landscape specific. If you are a nature or sports photographer, sorry, you are going to suffer with big lenses. But, how many of them do you really need? How this applies to my landscape photographs Staggering around the hills and coast, laden down with my Über camera bag, chock full of Nikon's shiny stuff. And it was just hard work, just no fun. Well, in some ways no pain no gain. Ansel Adams needed a mule train to carry all his gear, Colin Prior staggers into the hills of Scotland with a giant 617 camera, all the gubbins to go with that camera and then his camping and survival gear! Well, if I'm out for a few days, I'm still going to be doing the staggering under a weight of camping gear, but do I really need ALL the other stuff camera stuff? Probably not, and probably not on normal days out. And when I went through my camera bag, I realised that I didn't use a lot of what was in there. So now, one main camera body (Nikon D2x), one backup body (Nikon D300) and one lens (Nikon 12-24mm lens) along with the basic odds and ends like spare cards and batteries. On a commission I might carry a longer lens to increase the range of shots I can make, but a couple of well chosen lenses is enough. And what about filters? I used to carry a full set of Lee hard grads, a full set of soft grads and a few other random filters including a polariser. Well I hate polarisers with a passion, so getting rid of that was easy. Looking through my notes on filters used, I normally need a 0.6ND hard grad, sometimes a 0.3ND hard or a 0.9ND hard or a 0.6ND soft. So I carry the 0.3ND and 0.6ND hard and the 0.6ND soft. Combining these where necessary covers all the bases that I need, but takes a lot less space and weight in my camera bag. But what do I know? Only about me. So I'm off with my single lens into the wilds to find some grins. The exact contents of my camera bag: Nikon D2x Nikon D300 Nikon 12-24mm lens Lee filters - 0.3ND hard grad, 0.6ND hard grad, 0.6ND soft grad Nikon remote release Spirit level Spare battery and cards iPod Touch for tides, sunrise and music Flare buster Leica 10x24 binoculars Manfrotto 055MF4 tripod with 468MGRC2 hydrostatic ball head Headtorch Survival bag Compass Whistle Food & a flask of tea. Lens cloths and Turbo Blower Warm jacket Miscellaneous 2008-12-16T16:25:12+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/iphone_and_ipod_touch_apps_for_the_landscape_photographer/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/iphone_and_ipod_touch_apps_for_the_landscape_photographer/#When:16:09:51Z In my previous article Top 5 photography gadgets I listed the Palm Pilot as my number one gadget in my camera bag because it provides so much useful information such as sunrise/sunset and tide information. However, my Palm Pilot has finally bitten the dust and I simply don't like the new Palms, a triumph of form over function in both hardware and OS design, and not terribly good form at that! Can an Apple iPod Touch or iPhone fill the Palm's boots? Maywick, Shetland - When working by the coast it is critical to consult accurate tide table. I'm also trying to reduce the weight in my camera bag, read more about this in an upcoming article, and wondered if I really needed the Palm Pilot at all. I used the Palm for quite a lot of stuff from diary and address info to photography and location info, but it didn't really seem relevant to a single day out photographing. I can remember enough about hyper-focal distances to get by and important phone numbers are in my mobile phone, which generally doesn't work as I'm in locations with no signal :-) But I missed sunrise/sunset and tide information as it is really key to a lot of my coastal photography and sometimes I simply forgot to check the internet before I left home. This was a bit of a problem on longer trips. The excellent paper based Quicktide tide tables are one solution, but you need a few to cover the whole country. At least they don't need batteries or charging though! The recent introduction of Apps to the Apple iPod Touch (and iPhone) had me quite excited, being a bit of an Apple fan-boy and gadget fiend. But I was actually quite disappointed when I first went to the App Store - lots of games and social networking apps. Not really me and not that useful for me, but there are some good ones if you are into that kind of thing. Not much for photographers though which was no real surprise at the launch, and certainly not if you weren't near a wifi network for the app to do that, rather useless, cloud based computing thing or had an iPhone. So I left it to see what developed. A few days with man flu whilst on a trip to Shetland gave me some time to play around and there are now (as of August 2008) some really useful Apps. Useful in functionality, and useful in that they work standalone so you don't need a wifi or 3G connection for them to work. PhotoCalc PhotoCalc is a complete reference for every photographer. It includes calculators for: Exposure Depth of field Hyper-focal distance Flash exposure calculations And a reference section that includes: Sunny 16 rule (not sure how useful this is in the age of super accurate matrix/evaluative metering and integrated lightmeters) Ansel Adams Zone System Filter types Film types Glossary Sunrise/sunset (see below) This is a great little App. Being able to accurately calculate the hyper-focal distance and the limits of focus when I'm using wide angle lenses close-up to the subject is really handy for maintaining depth of field from near to far, and I've recently started doing a bit of monochrome photography again, so access to the Zone System descriptions is very handy. The sunrise/sunset calculator is the one fly in the ointment. An iPod Touch or first generation iPhone tries to find it's current position by triangulating against known wifi hotspots. Great in US city centres, oddly not so useful on a remote Scottish coastline! This would be OK if you could set your current location manually, but you can't so you are likely to get the sunrise/sunset time for Washington (the default current location). Not really the developers fault, but other App developers bypass this and add a location list you can select from, but PhotoCalc doesn't at present. However the developer does say this is in the pipeline. Great App. 4 out of 5 stars, 5 out of five when the location database is added with sufficient locations - the sunrise/sunset of London, Edinburgh and the north of Scotland (all UK) are very different. AyeTides PhotoCalc gives me useful info, but the fundamental info I needed to get was sunrise/sunset and the tides. There are a few Apps that provide either of these bits of info, but they are all US centric and/or require you to be online or suffer from the current location problem. Then I found AyeTides which allows you to select a location and doesn't need to be online to work. But £8.99! Wow, that's expensive for an App and the slightly clunky developer website with the comically named desktop software version called Mr Tides didn't fill me with confidence. There is also no mention of which locations the App covers, so it could have been US centric with few UK locations making it next to useless. However I was desperate, and the developer very kindly gives away for free the desktop version (sorry Mac only) so I thought I would try the desktop version to give me a flavour of the iPod/iPhone version. Wow, plenty locations worldwide, and good tide and sunrise/sunset info. So I ponied up the £8.99. Heck, it's only 8.99 not 89.99, iPod Apps are very cheap, maybe too cheap, but that's another story. The App is just as good as the desktop version, which is itself very useful and well designed. You select or search for a location, called Stations, which you can optionally add to a favourites list if you go there a lot and you then have access to: High tide/low tide, for the current date or any day you select (see below for a warning for the uninformed in the UK) Sunrise/sunset times Moonset/moonrise times Latitude/longitude of the current station One cool feature is if you are on the station information page, if you hold your iPod/iPhone in portrait orientation then you get text info, if you turn it to landscape orientation you get a graph view of the tides and the sunrise/sunset times. Fabulous! One slight warning if you are in the UK, there is a difference between BST and GMT and I was ignorant about this difference. I checked the calculated tides against local tide tables and they looked like they were approximately an hour out with high/low tide times, but the actual height appeared reasonably accurate. I contacted the App developer about this and he explained that the App uses BST (British Summer Time or daylight saving time) and the reference site I look at uses GMT. Before his help I wasn't particularly aware of there being a difference but it is worth knowing about and understanding if the time of high or low tide is going to be important to where you are going. As ever, if you are going somewhere that the tide will be critical or there is a risk you could get trapped in a location by the tide then check the local tide tables too. Customer support was fast, friendly and fun! AyeTides gets a definite thumbs up and 5 out of 5 stars and is well worth the cost of £8.99. Simple and useful. If you still think it is expensive, think of it as getting a free desktop version with the App. Conclusion The iPod touch and the iPhone aren't as good a PDA as the original Palm Pilots because entering data with the Palm stylus and Grafiti was so easy, but that ship has sailed. But the PhotoCalc and AyeTides Apps make the iPod Touch and iPhone really useful tools to the serious and professional photographer, especially landscape photographers. And I can take some music, films or podcasts with me to remote places to keep me company. Now, about that solar panel for charging ..... Reviews 2008-08-24T16:09:51+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/nikon_d300_mini_review/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/nikon_d300_mini_review/#When:21:23:54Z I meant to write this review in a timely fashion after getting the camera when it was still reasonably new and the review may have been of more use to all camera buyers. However, time is not been on my side recently, so here is a belated Nikon D300 DSLR review, with a slight bias towards landscape photography, comparing to the Nikon D2x and an overview of 14 bit RAW files. I'm sorry there are no comparison photographs as web images simply just don't show the subtle differences between the D300 and the D2x. (Nikon D300 on test - monochrome's are lovely) Why? I bought the D300 for two reasons. Firstly as a backup body for my Nikon D2x. The D2x is built like a tank, but after three years of sand, seawater and sunshine it does give occasional cause for concern, for example, when the battery cover corroded onto the body making it difficult to change the battery in the field. (I've solved this with a little Teflon dry lube from my bike on all exposed metal parts. Sure to invalidate my warranty, but the camera still works and there is less salt build up and corrosion.) So a backup body seemed like a good idea. Secondly, my Panasonic LX2 which I used as my grab shot camera just doesn't work quickly enough or produce image quality that I am happy with. The smaller (than a D2x) body of the D300 with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens was meant to replace the Panasonic compact. In practice what has happened is I still carry the smaller and lighter compact for family/fun shots, but the D300 is used on photographic trips when I really need the higher image quality. A DSLR is just not a compact and is too heavy to carry everywhere. Why the D300? I have a reasonable investment in Nikon equipment and I like their exceptionally intuitive user interface (buttons/dials/menus), so I wanted to stay with Nikon (and the new 24mm tilt/shift lens sounds very nice), and the environmental sealing and good build quality of the D300 are important to me as I spend a lot of time in the sea and/or the 'weather'. The new innovations like liveview and a larger screen were neither here nor there in my buying decision. D300 vs D2x 12MP vs 12MP! £3200 vs £1300! Old tech vs new tech! I was intrigued as to how the image quality would compare and I'm not dissapointed. But neither am I impressed. Using both Adobe camera raw and Capture NX, to my eye and with my subject matter the D2x still resolves a bit more detail, a bit more micro-contrast. But, the RAW file from the D300 has a certain something that I can't quite put a finger on, a little more contrast, a bit more snap, crackle and pop that makes a scene really sing. Neither of these things make the blind bit of difference after ten minutes in Photoshop, D2x images can we twinked, D300 RAW files sharpen really well. A print on the wall is fab from either camera with masses of detail and subtle tones, only I can be blamed for a bad photograph! 14bit RAW What's it all about then? Like most reviewers I'm a little perplexed, but I did find differences between 12bit and 14bit and I would agree with most other reviewers who recommend using it for future RAW converters and displays that may make better use of the extra info. Taking any old exposure and adding or subtracting 3EV in the RAW converter showed no discernible difference in the quality of the image. However, when I looked closely at shadows or highlights there was a smoother transition through the tones in 14bit. This isn't apparent in all images, but if there are a lot of tones expected in the shadows or highlights, for example charcoal on a burned tree, then there are differences. At first I thought 12bit actually showed more detail, then thinking about it I realised that due to less data in the shadows subtle tonal transitions are forced into step changes of tone. With 14bit, tones and details are a little smoother. I reckon if you have the option to save 14bit RAW, then go with it. Other stuff, grins'n'groans The one thing that really bugs me about this camera is they have slightly changed the sequence of button presses to delete all images that makes it slightly slower than the D2x. I also really miss the portrait grip when shooting handheld. Sure I could buy the extra battery pack, but give it a try on a tripod with a medium to large lens. Major wobbles! No thanks, I'll do without. I think once you are spoiled by a pro body with their improved usability from extra space for buttons and extra displays, you are spoiled for life. Other little features like the built in viewfinder curtain help improve exposure accuracy. Camera's like the D3 and 1DsmkIII are designed for the busy pro who can't miss a shot and for my use I will happily pay the extra money for that usability. Landscape photography certainly isn't fast like say sports or photojournalism, but if you have to think about your camera, you are not thinking about your subject, you are distracted and you will miss things. As a backup the D300 is perfect, but when my D2x goes to the great junkyard in the sky it will be replaced by a D3 or similar. The D300 viewfinder is big and bright. As is the 3" screen. Both are very worthwhile. Liveview is pretty pointless unless you have a manual focus lens, or until Nikon makes the screen a flip out and swivel design so you can use the camera at waist heigh or above your head. AutoISO is really useful. I didn't think it would be any use, but for grab shots, it has proved itself a few times. Capture NX I tried Capture NX when it first came out and couldn't really see any compelling reasons to introduce any more software into my digital workflow which is now very simple with just Lightroom and Photoshop. The control points are certainly clever, but nothing that can't be done in Photoshop with some simple masks and curves etc. However, when trying to get the best out of the D300 to compare images with the D2x I decided to give the bundled (well done Nikon) version another try. And I'm glad I did. You need to try it for yourself to see if you like the results, but to my eye there is a lot more detail revealed in any RAW file and shadows/highlights are handled a little better with smoother transitions compared to the slightly painterly results from ACR. Not a huge difference, but good enough to make me want to spend the extra time using it to convert portfolio grade images rather than in ACR. Worth a try. Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC HSM lens On paper and in online reviews this lens scored well. It's effectively a standard lens on a reduced frame DSLR and is a really useful focal length to carry. It's compact, good build quality, it's SO bright it's untrue, and the bokeh is ever so lovely and creamy. On the D300 and the D2x it's good, but it doesn't capture anywhere near the detail of high end Nikon zooms/primes and the barrel distortion is going to need work in Photoshop. I don't normally care about these things, but they are very obvious on this lens. And Sigma needs to go to usability school. Everytime I use a Sigma lens they seem awkward - lens caps and shades don't quite click into place without looking, just little things that distract and detract. It's an OK lens, but unless cost is your primary factor, stick to Nikon branded lenses. Conclusion Solid, sealed and quality build with great image quality and ease of use. A worthy back up body or upgrade if you have an older DSLR. I don't think it will tempt the Canon camp, but that's OK, it's plugged an obvious gap in the Nikon lineup. Bundled CaptureNX is also a star. A worthwhile piece of kit in any landscape photographers bag, but if you can afford the D3 or a closeout D2x they may be worth the extra money depending on your criteria. Do I sound a little underwhelmed? Well I kind of am in the way you are when you buy something that performs exactly as you want and expect. The D300 just works, it doesn't give any cause for concern, it's ever so easy to use and it produces great image quality. I just forget I'm using it and get on with making photographs, so in considered conclusion, a great camera. Sample RAW files can be downloaded at www.rawsamples.ch or at raw.fotosite.pl. I also found the following reviews helpful at dpreview and at Scott Kelby. Reviews 2008-05-28T21:23:54+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/realviz_stitcherpro_55_review/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/realviz_stitcherpro_55_review/#When:16:03:37Z In a previous technique article, Howto Panoramas and Digital Stitching, I discussed a variety of digital panorama stitching methods and software tools including Realviz Stitcher and PTAssembler (based on the open source PanoTools). And it was PTAssembler that I recommended for the amount of control, high quality output and value for money that it offered. I had tried Stitcher in the past and found it slow with a limited file output size. Well nothing has changed with PTAssembler, it is still a great piece of software, but a steep learning curve for complex projects, or relearning curve when I had not used it for a while and encountered problems, forced me to review other alternatives during a recent commission to produce panoramas for a client with a planetarium show. Basically I needed something easier and hence quicker to use. Looking at a number of other reviews of panorama stitching software, including Panoguide , it appeared that Realviz Stitcher was still very highly rated so I downloaded the 30day trial version (registration required) and gave it a go. 1-2-3-4-5-Panorama My experience of first using Realviz StitcherPro was very similar to my first few weeks with a Mac. Being used to Windows and it's applications I expected to have to do things a certain way and Stitcher threw me for a loop as it is so simple and intuitive. The interface is shown in Image 2. (Image 1 - Realviz Stitcher interface after loading images (the images can be magnified with mouseover, like the Mac Dock)) Those five icons are all you really need. Load images - load jpegs or TIFFs (8 or 16bit). Automatic stitch - stitches the image. Automatic align - sets the horizon automatically. Equalize all images - roughly sets the brightness for each image to be similar for a smoother blend. Render - performs final stitching and blending to output jpeg, TIFF or QTVR.   (Image 2 - Realviz Stitcher in use (note the image preview)) And that's it. Each icon does give you more options if you need them, for example, to manually stitch your panorama or render a different panorama projection, but for the most part it really is just 1-2-3-4-5 clicks for a normal panorama. There are some interesting other options, for example the ability to output the panorama to a website and georeference the panorama to Google Earth, and for landscape or city photographers who often curse moving objects messing up their stitches there are stencils that allow you to isolate and remove moving objects in overlapping frames. The software also feels quite fast on both PC and Mac, probably a little faster than Panotools, although I've not run any objective tests, but with either set of tools you have time to go away and make your dinner once you queue a large multi image render. The time to produce low res proofs is very fast for most panoramas allowing you to quickly check the final output or produce client proofs. StitcherPro 5.5 is not yet a Universal Binary, but I haven't noticed a significant speed difference between the the PC version and the non-universal binary Mac version. I hope that a universal binary version will be released soon for the Pro version, but if you are desperate for the extra speed then the StitcherPro 5.6 Unlimited which adds HDR functionaility is available now, at a higher cost. Stitch, blend and general image quality were all first rate with only minor Photoshop work required to tidy up the finished image. I have no issues at all in using the rendered images for commissions or gallery prints. Other things There are a few little things which tripped me up, so I thought I should mention them here in case they are catching you out too. The render dialogue box only shows a pixel size upto 10 000, but if you want a larger image, you can enter a larger number. The first few renders I produced didn't show the full image height, but this is easy to fix, as what is shown in the main screen is what is rendered, so if you want to render the full height then you need to zoom out so that you can see the full height of the image on the main screen. It is also worth turning the preview on as this allows you to see what the rendered panorama will look like. Initially I was running the Windows version, but my increasing dissatisfaction with this platform saw me looking around, first at Ubuntu Linux then at Mac OS X which is now my computing platform of choice. Luckily Realviz are switched on enough to realise that people like to switch platforms so any license bought can be easily transferred cross platform for free. Well done Realviz. Finally, one of the few bugs I found was that the default rendering method, which is Nearest, does not produce straight horizons for 360° pans. Changing the interpolation method to another method to another type is fine, I use Lanczos5 as it produces the highest quality results but does take a little longer. The interpolation method can be changed in the Render dialogue or in Preferences. (Image 3 - Newcastle Quayside - a commissioned shot for use in a planetarium) Conclusion Realviz StitcherPro 5.5 provides an ease of use that is quite outstanding. I think the shortness of this review reflects the ease of use of the package, to pinch the Mac slogan, It just works. Whether you are producing large TIFF files for printing or QTVR files for web use, this is a great piece of software. Not cheap at £205 for a full version, or £140 for an upgrade, but if you make your living from producing panoramas then the time saved will quickly pay for the software. And if you make pans for fun, then you can concentrate on being creative and let Realviz Stitcher produce results that match your vision. Idealised conclusion? You bet, but I love this piece of software. Reviews 2007-10-21T16:03:37+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/today_is_not_a_good_day_to_die/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/today_is_not_a_good_day_to_die/#When:10:47:40Z (This is an old post from my flickr account on 21st March 2006 which inspired a lot of my flickr contacts and raised a few interesting thoughts so I wanted to share it again here.) Really, I wasn't meant to be there. So why was I there? Driving up the road this morning, bound for Newton by the Sea, I was thinking about old friends, friends who I had lost contact with and I was wondering what had become of them. Pulling off the A1, I felt an urge to go to elsewhere rather than Newton, something about the sky above my new intended area. A ripe sense of drama just waiting for me to commit to a vision. A dark brooding sky it is. Passing a man, something strikes me as odd, not the time of day that he is out, but something about him. I see him a few more times, and each time I feel a little unsettled by him. Partly I felt odd because I thought he may be the landowner for the area I was in, and possibly shouldn't have been, and was expecting a telling off, but there was something else. To put my mind at rest I set off in the direction that I last saw him. Finding him, atop the cliffs, all is not well, the whiskey, the knife, the crying, the threat to jump off the cliff into the sea. So, I am his new friend for a while, talking to him, trying to calm him, relaying my own experiences of depression and doubt hoping to give him hope, trying to understand him so that I can say or do something that will bring him back from the edge, both in his mind and the the cliff. I left him just once, to call the police. The policeman on the end of the line was helpful and calming, but very concerned for my safety he was very non-commital about what I should do till the police and coastguard arrive, which given our remote location could be a while. (It has only just struck me now, as I write this that I have never been thankful for owning a mobile phone before, this is the first time it has shown any real use to me.) What should I do, sit and wait for the police or return to the man and continue talking to him? Despite the knife, I couldn't leave him there, alone. So we talk for a while, both now freezing having been out in the rain atop the cliffs for well over an hour. Fortunately the police aren't too long, quickly getting there in their 4x4s. He gives up easily now, the drama, the madness has gone out of him. Despite their apparent brusqueness, they are ever so gentle with him. Would he have jumped or did he just want to be noticed? It's an odd place to go, so very lonely, to get help. I can't quite get my head around the whole thing. I couldn't quite believe it at the time. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been to follow him, but what if I hadn't? For some reason, I don't really feel any need to answer these questions, possibly because there is not a definite answer. Mainly what I am aware of is that I am emotionally wide open when I am out in the wilderness talking photographs, looking for inspiration. This event hit me full in the chest, I felt so tuned in to it, all I could do after the police had left was cry. I've spoken to the police this afternoon and they tell me he is in hospital, being treated physically for exposure, but mentally, time will tell. The photograph is one that I took first thing, before all this happened, somehow that sense of foreboding in the sky seems all to relevant now. (The title comes from something he kept saying, that 'today is a good day to die.' I didn't feel that the print really expressed any of the pain involved, so I have scratched into the print with a sharp edge the words. The print shouldn't be perfect, damaged like people who self harm, cut like people do to themselves.) Just how tuned into the landscape am I? Was this coincidence, fate, synchronicity? The thoughts of friendship, old and new. The inspiration to go elsewhere despite having made firm plans to go somewhere else. These are my questions. I stopped for a while afterwards, with the sun shining down from a blue grey sky, and took some photos of the sandy beach. Nothing special, just a little sun and sand. Always special. (In case anyone wonders I have left out some details like his name and the location, just to avoid any possible embarrasments.) Note added 22 March 2006I got a call from the coastguard last night, just to say thanks for my help. How nice of them was that? Overall I was so impressed with the police and coastguard. When all we get from the news/media is reports of bad policing, I was almost surprised that the police who attended were prompt, kind, efficient, courteous ... Well done guys, I for one am impressed. Miscellaneous 2007-10-18T10:47:40+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/professional_photographer/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/professional_photographer/#When:13:38:23Z In a previous article I discussed two common questions I am asked about improving photography, but I am also often asked about how to be a professional photographer. This article will discuss a few aspects of how to become a professional photographer, more importantly, how to start a photography business. There is a slant towards landscape photography, but I hope some of the lessons can be transferred to other photographic careers. It is also worth noting that there are many ways to skin a cat and this is just my route. Further, there is so much knowledge beyond that discussed here and I'm also assuming that you aren't coming from a photography degree or assisting an existing photographer, which is also an excellent way to gain knowledge and experience. A visit to your local bookshop or business advisor will provide a wealth of information on running a succesful business. But I hope this article provides a start. (Photograph 1 - Commissioned work as part of an advertising campaign in Dubai Airport) I'm just starting out, so my viewpoint is very limited. It is a great life, and each good day will be a joy, even bad days when you work for yourself have a certain satisfaction. However, I've found out the following: I was told that you need to realise that 'you are now in the business of photography'. This is great advice. You need to be sales, marketing, PR, finance, IT and tea person all in one, and a photographer. Never fear though, there is plenty help at hand: - Business Link - Banks business advisor - Professional organisations (www.swpp.co.uk, www.bipp.com, www.thebfp.com, www.thempa.com) Extending this, you are now a business, and the goal of a business is to make money. Cynical? Nope. Without profit and cashflow you will go nowhere, so forget any romantic ideals of I'm doing it for the art or my love of the land. When your business has money, then you can go where you want, follow the projects you want, buy the trick gear you want, pay your mortgage and put food on the table. On the subject of trick gear, starting a business doesn't mean you will need to buy lots of new gear. If your gear is reliable and meets your chosen market requirments then you will be fine with the gear you have, to start with. Have a good business plan with achievable and measurable goals. Refer to it regularly. Yes, you might think it is boring, I did at first, but it is invaluable. I went on a week long course at my local Business Link that covered business plans and other key areas of starting a business and found it very useful. Sure a lot of the content was aimed at plumbers and hairdressers, but the lessons are easy to transfer. You've got to be sociable and sell yourself. I find this really hard, I would rather be out in the hills by myself for a week than smoozing in a gallery or design agency, but it has to be done and once you find that people are actually into what you are doing, it is good fun. I enjoy finding out about them. If you can't do the social thing, get an agent or a sales rep! It's a cliche, but it's not what you know ..... Have your fingers in lots of pies. Galleries and cards/calendars alone won't pay the mortgage unless you are shifting large volumes. Consider selling stock, commisions, running courses ..... Be a specialist. Nobody wants to commission a 'jack of all trades'. Expect to take 5-10 years to get established! Pricing is always hard. Your business plan will tell you how much you need to make to pay the mortgage and have some pocket money for beer, and business costs. Where are you wanting to sell? How much volume can you produce? How many business areas can you cover? Be realistic. I identified 5 key areas for my first year and achieved three. Everything takes time by yourself. Don't be afraid to delegate to other businesses e.g. think you might save a few pounds by framing your own work? Go see you local framer and discuss volumes. I will guarantee that you can't beat his prices on the raw materials alone, never mind the fact your time can be better spent elsewhere, like taking photographs, which is more fun too. Your prices must also reflect the market. No point in setting hundred of pounds for each photo with expensive custom frames if you are wanting to sell in local gift shops, equally if you approach a top gallery with photographs selling for twenty pounds in Ikea frames, neither they nor their customers will touch your work. People expect a certain price that is not necessarily what it cost to make - cost and value are very different. Your client isn't the market. They are a person and a business too. What can you do for them? What problem do you solve for them? You need to be helping them and give great service. Remember you have to make a living. Your business plan will help here, but just because you can make a print and frame it for £10, doesn't mean you can sell it for £15 and think you are quids in. How many miles did you drive to get that photograph and how many visits? What about replacing the car in a few years time? How much time did you spend at that location? How much did your camera cost and what about replacing it in two years when the next latest and greatest has come out? How much is the mortgage? What about the cost of a computer and software? A business plan and proper market research are the best ways to help you decide on prices. Guess what, you probably aren't going to make a fortune, but it will depend on your photographic/business/social skills, the type of photography you do (fashion photographers can earn good money, landscape photographers probably wont) and luck. We can't all be David Bailey! On the subject of making a fortune, whether you make £1 or £1million, you are probably going to have to pay tax. The business advisors listed above can help with this or speak to HM Revenue & Customs or an accountant. I don't use an accountant as my finances are quite simple and online tax returns make the process very very easy. Don't shirk paying tax, we all have to do it and it helps the economy. Did I say have a business plan? You need to understand your market. (Photograph 2 - A photograph can have significant value to a client, the above photograph in the Port of Tyne terminal.) Conclusion Work hard, ask for help when you need it and good luck. You might find the following useful: www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/techniques/view/50_tips_to_grow_your_business_marketing/ www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-on-5-hours-a-week/ www.danheller.com/bizfaq.html Business 2007-10-17T13:38:23+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/landscape_photography_tips/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/landscape_photography_tips/#When:12:11:35Z One of the great things about showing my work at exhbition and on the web is that I talk to a lot of other photographers, many of whom are beginners and want to improve their art. I'm often asked for landscape photography tips such as "how can I take better photographs?" or "is there a good course/tutor?" or that holy grail question "I want to be a professional photographer, how do I do it?". I will try to answer the first two questions in this article, and the last about professional photography in a seperate article. (Photograph 1 - One of my first photographs) These seem to be common questions, and I too feel the desire to improve all the time, so I thought I would share a few of my more common answers to these questions. The best answer though, is always the this. Take more photographs and learn to understand and like your own work and it's style. Just because another photographer does something in one way, doesn't mean you have to do it too, or give them the right to criticise (or even critique) your work. In fact the opposite is often true, look for ways to make your work your own. The second answer is that you will need to be prepared to work hard. Very hard, if you want to be a professional. Sources of knowledge (Photograph 2 - One of my first landscape photographs) Find out if your local college runs any photography courses. I did a City & Guilds in Level 2 in Photography and found it really useful and interesting despite the fact that there was little direct landscape photography content. A degree course can also be interesting and relevant if you want to work as a pro in some areas, but they can be more art theory and discussion than hands on practical. I was really lucky with my course tutor (at South Nottingham College) as he wanted to nurture us, rather than inflict his own or contemporary art theories on us. There are many famous photographic courses www.lightandland.co.uk run very good courses, as does www.charliewaite.com and www.leefrost.com from what I have heard from those who have been on them. Have a look in the back of Outdoor Photography or other magazines and websites for local tuition. Local photographers can be just as good as the famous tutors, indeed they will possibly have better knowledge of an area, and they may well be cheaper. You could try local camera clubs if you want to be with like minded people. Some club members can be very guarded with their knowledge, but I was always lucky to join friendly and nurturing clubs. Look through photography books, art books, websites, visit galleries and exhbitions. If you are looking for critiques of your work (unless there are obvious technical problems) I think you may also be disappointed if you go on courses and I would suggest that any course leader who critiques your work too strongly is not a good tutor! The only person who can really critique your work is you and any tutor who is too strong in even positive criticism is imposing his artistic will on top of your own. A good tutor should open up opportunities, both in terms of locations and in your creativity. Your own style is important. Just because another photographer you know or a famous photographer takes photographs in a particular style doesn't mean you have to. What is on your doorstep? Get out a map, look on www.flashearth.com or Google Earth, go for a walk, look in local galleries, ask friends and colleagues about their favourite local viewpoints, look in local interest magazines, go to the library. What opportunities are nearby? Maybe they aren't the Lake District or Yosemite, but you will have a great time and be improving just by going out and looking and making photographs. My advice is to go out and takes lots of photos. Leave it a week and go back to them. Look through them. Which ones do you like? Which ones don't you like? And then figure out why you like or dislike certain ones? Think about what you learned next time you look through the viewfinder. Make prints and lots of them when studying your last day out. Even cheap 6x4s from Boots are fine for this if you don't have a printer. Lay them all out on a table or the film on a lightbox. Mess with the order and try to find patterns and themes in your work. Can you build these into a series? I am mostly a paperless office, but when it comes to photographs, there is no substitute for laying all your work out and seeing it all together to sort through. And then, when the big trips come, you will better prepared, less rushed, more knowledgeable, more in tune with your artistic vision. Ugh, it's the alarm, what time is it? Be prepared to get up early or stay out late. Landscape photography is selfish. You can't sneak it in when out with the family! Other things To use the oft quoted Ansel Adams - there is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy concept. What do you want your photograph to say or express. Before even getting your camera out, look around, what do you see? What do you want to make into a photograph. Get that camera on a tripod. Not only will this make your photographs sharper, but it allows you to study the composition through the viewfinder and keep studying it until you are sure, then release the shutter. The first photograph may not be the best, keep studying your subject and your interpretation/composition, do they match? For landscape photography, unless you want to use large format cameras, there is not a lot of technical information to learn. Mostly it is patience, empathy, style and perseverence waiting for the right light to bring your composition to life. Read (well look at) lots of photography and art books. Not howto ones (which miss the artistic viewpoint and only teach the mechanics), but look at the work of the masters and photographers whose work you like. What do you like in their work? What do you dislike? Go to galleries and exhibitions. Not just photography, but all art forms, to expand your creative horizons and composition, colour and lighting skills. Heck, you may even enjoy what you see. Learn to read the weather (and tide tables if you want to work on the coast). (Photograph 3 - My first exhibition) Put on an exhibition. Maybe the local galleries won't give you a show (although you never know till you try, just remember they are businesses and don't have time to waste so ask them about their submission guidelines) but local libraries and other public spaces are often keen to show local peoples art work. The experience and confidence you gain will be invaluable and a visit to IKEA will get you some cheap frames and other props to use for a starter event like this. Conclusion I hope you have enjoyed this article which has outlined a few ways to be a better photographer, whether you are into landscape or other forms of photography. If you have any other suggestions or experiences that have molded your creativity then please let me know. The next article, So you want to be a professional photographer? - Business Series #3, will introduce you to some of the concepts of being a professional photographer. You might find the following useful: www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/techniques/view/composition_for_photographers/ www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/techniques/view/top_5_photography_gadgets/ www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml www.rawworkflow.com/making_pictures/01/index.html Photography Techniques 2007-10-17T12:11:35+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/mikes-favorite-links/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/mikes-favorite-links/#When:11:30:23Z Much as don't want you to leave my website, there are a lot of other great sites out there. This lists some of my favorite links and other useful Internet resources. Photographers and other artists Joe Cornish - a master of wide angle large format landscape photography. Roy Fleming - superb monochrome work. George Barr - fine digital monochrome photography. Oleg Micheyev - fine fashion photography, and an amazing website. David Taylor - my friend and trip companion. Stephen Coll - delicate mono photography. Marc and David Muench - America in full colour! John Paul Caponigro - digital art and photography resources. Mark Gray Panoramas My flickr page - McF_photo Photography, technical resources BBC Weather for the NorthEast. BBC Tides for the NorthEast. LinkedIn - business relationship site. www.luminous-landscape.com - an amazing resource. Scandinaviandesigns - website builder extraordinaire. Google maps - how to get there. Flashearth - what it looks like. GoNShoot - Really useful location info. Why not become a contributor like myself? Suppliers WarehouseExpress - great range and service. Dabs.com - great service and prices for all things IT. Wyvern Bindery, London - for that special portfolio case. Silverprint - photography supplies. Robert White - friendly camera shop and supplier of high end photography pr()n. On-line paper. Abebooks - a great site for second hand books. Miscellaneous 2007-08-14T11:30:23+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/50_tips_to_grow_your_business_marketing/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/50_tips_to_grow_your_business_marketing/#When:10:51:08Z This is the second in my business series of articles. The following top 50 marketing tips were presented at a talk about marketing photography businesses that I attended a couple of years ago. I think the tips are really useful and I hope you get something from them too. The third article in this series will have a more in depth look at marketing and publicity applied to photographers and artists. This is will be based on the notes from an interesting and informative talk that my wife, who works in marketing, gave to my artists network. Clearly identify your market. Ensure that you are properly financed. Set objectives, budgets and goals. You are now in the 'business' of photography. SWOT your business yearly. Carefully manage cash flow. Have a great website, market it. Have a prominent phone number. Be listed in directories e.g. yellow pages. Be proactive with PR and editorial. Think twice before placing adverts. Become the local expert. Know your competition – be different. Offer a wide range of services, try not to turn people away e.g. offer some other service. Always have a pre-wedding consultation. Offer a free engagement sitting. Treat all guests as potential customers. Fun pictures sell, get people to look happy. Don't overshoot, especially if digital. Have a top service that no one books ie. if given a choice A, B or C, most people go for B, but you may get some A. Wedding exhibitions can be effective. Develop relationships with suppliers e.g. sample albums in hotels. The images are the most important thing, people need to see the images, display as much as possible. Exhibit your pictures on and off line. Keep sitting fees low or free (or deductible deposit.) Use a best poses album i.e. have an album of successful poses. Offer plenty of choices. Family sittings should be most profitable. Pets are big business especially dogs. Competitions are worthwhile i.e. publicity, must shoot specifically for comp. Charge realistic prices, you need to make a living. Offer unique products. Try leaflets, with a tempting time limited offer. Don't have children at the viewing. Project images into frames. Maybe project images onto clients wall with digital frames. Show portrait albums. Have gift cards and vouchers. Become a specialist. Pricing is important. Use a photography agent. Use direct mail brochures. Go the extra mile as most clients will last for years. Awards, enter them. Time management is essential. Learn to delegate e.g. get images framed professionally. Customer service is so important. Computerise as much as possible e.g. Quickbooks, client list. Establish a quality control system. Run promotions at the right time e.g. during a quiet period. Work with a charity. Direct mail can work wonders. Don't work from home (long term). (Photograph 1 - The Biscuit Factory preview evening) This talk was given as part of an introduction to Fuji Envisage which is a marketing support initiative aimed at UK-based professional photographers and is designed to enable photographers to take greater control of their businesses. Well worth checking out. Business 2007-08-14T10:51:08+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/howto_avoid_online_scams/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/howto_avoid_online_scams/#When:20:52:23Z This is my first Business Series article. I'm going to try and concentrate on issues that affect the professional photographer, rather than general business advice. There is a lot of good general advice out there, and I have never been afraid to ask for it when I need it. Business Link and your banks business advisor are a great place to start. Introduction One of the downsides of being a professional photographer is that you go from being a photographer to being in the business of photography, that is you are now a business like any other and subject to the same highs and lows - emotional, financial and ethical. You put yourself out in the world for all to see, and in some cases, for the more unscrupulous members of society, you become a target. The trick is to not become a victim. Having received some dubious email orders recently that I recognised as scams, I thought it might be useful to provide a summary of the information I read and the advice I was given on avoiding scams. I hope it will help you out. If you have any more information to include, please let me know. The best advice is that at all times your common sense should apply to any sale or deal, online or otherwise. Signs of a scam The customer uses a free web based e-mail address. The customer writes in poor English and may not make him/herself completely clear. The customer does not ask to see work before purchase and the order may be for a large number of art works or high value items. The customer wishes to send a cheque for the full payment as soon as possible. The customers cheque may be for a larger amount than you invoiced for and they will ask you to refund the difference. The customer may be reluctant to give you a physical address. The customer requirements may be unusual or different from your normal customers. The customer will ask to arrange packing and shipping themselves. The initial contact email may begin with ‘hi’ and not have your name included. Types of scam (Photograph 1 - An explosion of light, Easington) There are too many to list here, but two common ones are: Nigerian scam - there are a few variations on this, but basically you will be sent a cheque or money transfer for more than the invoiced amount and asked to refund the difference, often to another source from the original sender. Phishing - an email that looks like an official request for information, for example, say from your bank asking you to reapply for online services etc. The purpose is to gather your bank details and other personal information. Most banks allow you to report these abuses on their website. DO NOT respond to any such email requests that ask for your personal/business/bank details. Cheques Have a look at safefromscams.co.uk/chequescams.html. Do not accept any cheques from people you do not know and trust. High value cheques from abroad are especially dubious. Even if funds clear into your account, the issuing bank can claim any fraudulently issued funds back from you at a later date if you accepted the cheque. If the issuing bank was American, they can claim funds back up to 6 years later! Keep your cheque book safe and report it’s loss to your bank ASAP. If any of your cheques are used fraudulently, providing you reported the loss to your bank quickly, then they will normally refund you. Spam Uninvited bulk sent email. Often for sex or performance enhancing drugs, but can also be from other normal businesses. Ignore and delete them. Often if you respond asking to be unsubscribed you are simply validating this email address as valid. Many internet service providers scan and remove spam, but if not your email program may have a junk (or spam) mail filter. Safer ways to receive payment As a business the buck often stops with you and banks/credit card companies will try to reclaim any losses from you! Internet and telephone banking normally allows safe transfers. Ask the customer to use their credit card on your website if you have e-commerce. Not totally safe either, but better than a cheque as you have a little more protection. CHAPS payments can be arranged by your bank. There is a small charge for these, but they are secure and payment is same day. Speak to your bank and see what they recommend or will protect you against. What to do if caught out? Notify your bank ASAP. Notify the police ASAP. (As of April 2007, your bank should deal with this due to a change in the way crime is reported, but not all banks are up to speed on this yet.) Other sources of information Canal Museum - general advice, whilst not relating to art, the advice is useful. safefromscams.co.uk - a lot of info on scams. Google - Google the persons name and email address. AxisWeb - Use/search artist’s blogs for mention of scams. Experian - Consider using a credit check service like Experian. It is expensive at £6/month, but if you do a lot of online shopping or e-commerce, a service like this will notify you immediately of any changes in your credit rating that relate to identity theft or misuse of your details. Legal disclaimer This document is not a definitive text and no liability is accepted for the included information by the author. Prepared July 2007. Business 2007-08-13T20:52:23+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/has_digital_photography_made_photography_more_of_an_art_form/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/has_digital_photography_made_photography_more_of_an_art_form/#When:13:41:56Z There were a lot of accusations of cheating and excess manipulation from photographers when digital photography first hit the mainstream. Indeed, just the other day (2007) I was chatting to a 70+ photographer (who ran a camera shop) and he reiterated the view that digital photography is not an art, but traditional film photography is an art. Why? Does a definition of art help? Wikipedia states that: Art is a (product of) human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind and/or spirit; thus art is an action, an object, or a collection of actions and objects created with the intention of transmitting emotions and/or ideas. Beyond this description, there is no general agreed-upon definition of art, since defining the boundaries of "art" is subjective, but the impetus for art is often called human creativity. Clearly from this definition, both traditional and digital photography and anything in between can be art. Even straight documentary photography 'stimulates the senses', so could be classed as art, although the idea of hanging say Don McCullin or Philip Jones Griffiths on my wall seems a little distasteful. I think the above photographer, like many who spent a long time in the darkroom learning their craft, felt threatened by the ease of digital. They projected the craft or the science of photography as being the art, not their creative input. Ansels Adams Zone system is pure science, but his photographs are pure art, there is something of his and his subjects soul in each of his photographs that triggers emotions in all of us. It's an odd point of view that film photography is art. I've given a number of talks to photography clubs where I have asked the question of them "Do you consider yourself to be an artist?". Most photographers asked did not consider themselves to be artists, but as I discussed with them and the above definition proves, any and all of their work could be considered art. My conclusion though is that digital photography has made photography more of an art form than ever. It has democratised photography, removed the technical and scientific barriers that stood in the way of a person truly expressing themselves through a print. Digital and computers have made it easy, and not only to produce a high quality print, there are now many ways to convey your vision - digital projection, print on T-shirts, light boxes. Just as any person can walk into an art shop and buy brushes, paints and a canvas and make a mark, now anyone can buy and use a camera to make their chosen mark. And the results are all around us. The quality of photography today is amazing. From the sports pages of the newspaper, to the revival of alternative processes (of which normal film is now one!), to prints on a gallery wall, there is not only a level of technical excellence but a level of creative and intellectual excellence that includes and surpasses for many people anything that happened before. Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier Bresson will always be masters because of the strength of their creative vision. With technical barriers removed, maybe the rest of us can concentrate on getting there to and being artists, or at least have fun trying. But then, 'artist' is only a label. Miscellaneous 2007-07-14T13:41:56+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/composition_for_photographers/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/composition_for_photographers/#When:13:10:38Z Starting out as a photographer and artist I could find very little information on photographic or artistic composition. Some fine artists refer to rules of composition as formal structures which is perhaps more appropriate. Were there rules of arranging subjects in my photographs that I should follow or should it be done more creatively, more intuitively? As a former engineer I still need a few rules to work within, although rules are there to be broken. Artistic vision and intuition are more important, however when I am struggling with a composition, then I find some of the rules can help to create a composition that is more in line with my artistic vision. Detailed references are given at the end. Thank you to all who took the time to produce these sites.   (Photograph 1 - Thirds Rule of Thirds The simplest rule of composition and one that many photographers know. A subset of divine rectangles, placing important subjects on the intersections gives them visual strength and dominance. Divine Proportions Divine proportions (also called golden proportions) are the stuff of life. If you’ve read/seen Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code you will have had an introduction to the Fibonacci series and the golden number 1.618. Mathematical hocus pocus? Read the references, look at my examples then take a good look around you, divine proportions are everywhere. I was amazed when I started applying these compositions to my work. Suddenly compositions that I am struggling with snap into place, or photographs which I liked compositionally, but didn’t know why, made sense. The principle is that by placing subjects on the intersections and lines achieves a natural sense of harmony.   (Photograph 2a) - Divine rectangles, (Photograph 2b) - Divine triangles, (Photograph 2c) - Divine spirals     (Photograph 3) - border Borders Placing your art in a good mat (mount) and frame makes a world of difference to the perception and interpretation of your work, but subjects/objects themselves can be used to frame the main subject in the photograph itself. Sometimes the frame created (or composed) is the subject of the photograph! This photographic frame draws your eye to the main subject or holds the main subject into the photograph. Equally the lack of a frame can imply space outside the photograph.   (Photograph 4) - the bottom border Personally, I find borders difficult to deal with in landscape work. They are often simply as they are, but the concept and it’s implications are worth bearing in mind. They can be made to work, as in Photograph 3. The Bottom Border Simply, this is the objects/subjects that you place along the bottom of the frame. I use the bottom border a lot, to provide a base and stability to my compositions. Colour Composing with colour? By understanding the relationships between colours and our perception of colour, it is possible to create relationships within the photographs space. Colour theory is a huge field, more than I can possibly cover here. The references at the end include links to a few very interesting sites.   (Photograph 5) - colour     (Photograph 6) - a sinuous curve Analysis of beauty I’ve not had much of a chance to explore this yet. Use the reference at the bottom of this article to find out more. WYSIWYG Simpler can be better. Rules are there to be broken. Spend a while studying the scene in front of you. Maybe, as recommended by John Blakemore, sit down, close your eyes for 10 minutes, then look again - what you see will probably look different. After you have studied your subject, look through the viewfinder and compose with your intuition and instinct - put subjects where you want them. What do you want the photograph you are making to say? Oh, one final thing. Western viewers will read the photograph left to right, eastern viewers top to bottom, generally speaking! So, the bottom right of the frame has a position of visual strength. In practice   (Photograph 7) - window mounts and overlays The only way to understand these concepts and how they apply to your own practice is to try them. To understand colour better, I went and and just took photographs of colours and brightly/attractively coloured subjects, looking for colour relationships between adjacent objects. To understand the formal structures I cut some windows in pieces of mount card. The windows were in the aspect ratios of the common photographic formats (3x2, 5x4, 6x12, 6x6 etc.). I used sheets of clear acetate to produce overlays for each window with the formal structures drawn on the acetate. See photograph 7. By looking at the scene through the window and overlay, I could compose a scene that expressed what I wanted and I then transferred this composition to the camera viewfinder. Conclusion   (Photograph 8) - Infinity, Saltburn Pier. Look at other photographers work. Study paintings. Listen to some music. Drape yourself over some sculpture. Look around at the natural and man made world. All these things were composed, all can provide inspiration, and even, enjoyment. There is no right or wrong way to compose a photograph or other piece of art. There is only your subject and how you want to express it. But express it you must. As Ansel Adams said “There is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy concept.” References Divine proportions: http://goldennumber.net/ http://www.powerretouche.com/Divine_proportion_tutorial.htm http://milan.milanovic.org/math/english/golden/golden1.html Borders: www.rawworkflow.com/making_pictures/index.html Colour: www.worqx.com/color/index.htm www.adobe.com and search for ‘color theory’ (they keep moving stuff, but it is worth the time to search) www.colormatters.com www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml Analysis of beauty: www.cichw.net/pmanalysis.html Other: http://photoinf.com/ Photography Techniques 2007-05-12T13:10:38+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/dxo_optics_pro_elite_42/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/dxo_optics_pro_elite_42/#When:12:50:31Z DxO claim that DxO Optics Pro is “Designed for advanced amateur and professional photographers, DxO Optics Pro is a "must have" accessory for supported DSLRs and high-end digicams.” Is this true? Is this software a necessary part of the digital RAW conversion workflow? Well, for me, and your mileage may vary, it is a love/hate relationship! I love the image quality produced and there are good commercial reasons to use the software, but I hate the software's workflow. There is a lot more functionality in DxO Optics Pro than I will discuss below. These are my conclusions based on using the functions that are relevant to me, but I hope you will find them useful before you decide to buy or trial the software. So what does DxO Optics Pro do? (Photograph 1 - Spring bluebells, St Bees Head, Cumbria According to the blurb DxO Optics Pro will: Eliminate distortion, vignetting, & lens softness through specifically developed camera/lens modules. Remove camera noise & purple fringing. Optimise exposure & dynamic range. Optimise colour. Correct for perspective. Convert RAW files and recover highlights in the RAW files. I can do a lot of that in Photoshop, but where DxO scores is that it will do the corrections quickly and automatically saving me time. Weaknesses If you want to use DxO as your complete workflow, then you will probably get on better with the software and use all of the above features, but I don't use all the features as I like to use Adobe Bridge for my initial edit and keywording, Photoshop for my exposure blending and other manipulations and then iView Media Pro for cataloguing. DxO just can't compete in these areas and this is where the program starts to fall down. Many people like to edit and keyword in Bridge (or Lightroom), partly because it is part of Adobe Creative Suite and partly because it is quick and effective. But, DxO doesn't recognise the .xmp files created by Bridge so image edits, keywords and copyright information are lost. DxO doesn't work on .dng files either, although it will output them. So, once you have processed the files in DxO, you have to reapply the xmp data. There is a way round this using Exiftool but you need to be fairly computer literate to make this work. The other method to transfer the xmp data is to Save Metadata Templates in each files File Info box and then apply the template to each processed file, but this is slow and not much fun when you have hundred of files to process for stock or a client. If you need to blend exposures or use HDR, then the workflow can also be a problem. There is a function called DxO Lighting that can increase the effective dynamic range of an image, but to my eye the results are not as good. It is certainly not as large a dynamic range as HDR. It is a case of suck it and see. Lastly, the DNG RAW file produced by DxO is a linearised file so you can still open the corrected RAW file in your RAW converter of choice, but a lot of the RAW conversion choices have already been made by DxO. I don't mind that because the RAW file is now great quality, but the DNG files swell from approximately 10MB to approximately 40MB which is not so good from an archive point of view. I archive the original RAW file and a DNG created with Adobe DNG converter. This is smaller than the DxO DNG file and provides a degree of future proofing in case either DNG or NEF files are not supported in the future. (Note. DxO will only process original camera RAW files such as NEF or CRW. It will not process a DNG file produced by Adobe Camera RAW, so don't trash can your original RAW files.) Strengths (Photograph 2 - comparison before and after of lens distortion reduction function.) Having got the bad points out the way, it's time for the good stuff, the stuff that despite the program being a pain to use makes it a keeper. The automatic corrections of chromatic aberration, noise and lens specific distortion is the first strength. Even with professional lenses and bodies, the micro-lenses on a digital sensor can cause chromatic aberrations (or purple fringing) throughout the frame, lens distortion will occur and in high ISO shots noise can be objectionable. Generally I tend to shoot ISO 100 on a tripod so noise is never a problem and I don't find the other problems to bother me too much. However I do like to know that I am producing the highest quality print/file, so some correction is performed. There are a wide variety of tools and techniques for removing these problems, but I am going to use DxO for the Lens Softness function discussed later, so I may as well automatically remove these problem in one easy step. And it does a great job, see Photograph 2, especially on my favoured ultra-wide angle lens. The killer function for me is the Lens Softness correction. I think the comparison in Photograph 3 tells the whole story. (Photograph 3 - comparison before and after of Lens Softness function (100% crop)). To my eye this is how a digital image should look, unfortunately most cameras use a Bayer filter which reduces detail captured. I want to produce the highest quality file that I can and DxO Optics Pro allows me to reveal all the detail that I saw. Stock photography DxO can be a major help with files to be submitted to image libraries. Most libraries do not want any sharpening applied to digital files, partly because some people have poor sharpening skills and partly because sharpening is output specific. The sharpening required for a fine art print on matte paper using an inkjet printer is very different from the sharpening required for a photograph in a glossy book printed using an offset litho press is very different to a giant billboard poster. But an unsharpened RAW file is often really soft and the un-sharpened image does not give a fair representation of how the final image will look. What to do? DxO Lens Softness function saves the day. Set a value of 1 and see the detail emerge in an unsharpened file. Micro-contrast is improved, detail is improved, but no nasty sharpening halos. I'm a lot happier to submit this higher quality file to a library as the client will receive a better looking image. Conclusion From a workflow point of view, integrating DxO Optics Pro into an existing workflow using a number of software tools is problematic and time consuming. If you want to use DxO as a complete solution from conversion to a print ready file you may get on better. However, the quality of the processed files is incredible and worth the time for my hero shots to ensure the very highest quality print or digital file is given to a client. 5th July 2007. I've moved to Adobe Lightroom for a variety of reasons, mainly that it simplifies my workflow dramatically. Files are imported from the camera and backed up automatically, keywording and rating can be done easily, off line drives can be cataloged and searched, and basic photograph adjustments can be made, all in one application. I finish the photographs off in PS, especially sharpening which I do with the fantastic Photokit Sharpener Photokit Sharpener. Bye bye DxO. See another review here and here. These are for slightly older versions, but the fundamentals are the same, although arguably the interface has got worse! Version 4 added some more distortion correction functions e.g. perspective correction. Reviews 2007-05-12T12:50:31+00:00 http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/top_5_photography_gadgets/ http://www.mikemcfarlane.co.uk/photography-tips-and-articles/view/top_5_photography_gadgets/#When:23:02:35Z Expecting lenses, cameras, funny little flash reflectors. Not to be found here. These are the little 'utensils' that I always have with me, that I use day in day out and allow me to concentrate on the photography, not being distracted by the technology or the camera. The things that let me concentrate on the art of my work and what I want my photograph. The things that let me get on with my business and being a professional photographer. I had to think long and hard about this list. In my book, the mark of something really useful, is that you use it and forget it! (Photograph 1), Shippersea Bay, Easington The thistle was 30cm from my lens, the cliff 300m. Using my Palm Pilot allowed quick calculation of the hyperfocal focussing distance. And the versatile Manfrotto tripod allowed reasonably accurate camera positioning on a steep narrow path. Starting off in the number 5 slot, a buff. What is it apart from a 1pence piece of material that you pay ï¿¡12 for? Well, it’s a hat, a neck warmer, a sun hat. It can also be a bandana, a hair scrunchy, a sling, a headband and so on. I’ve got a couple and always have one in my pocket. I didn’t buy one for years because I thought they looked useless, but I’m off a different mind now. Not a substitute for a proper woolly hat, but great when you forget to pack the proper hat or if it is just a little chilly. (Whilst you are in the outdoor shop buying this, it’s getting cold again now so buy yourself a nice cosy pair of Powerstretch gloves. Like the buff, they aren’t the answer when it is really cold, but they make a big difference when it is chilly.) I talked about my number 4 item in my article on composition, composition cards. Made from offcuts of mount card, they allow me to compose a scene without wasting time getting the camera out. Simple, cheap and effective. Make some and try them today. Binoculars at number 3. OK, I don’t use these as often as I should, but they are always in my camera bag and when I do remember they are there, I find them really useful. Investigate a distant scene to avoid walking there, pick out a path in the distance, watching birds or even just kicking back and watching the world go by. Like the brand addict that I am, I bought some Nikon ones. A friend had some Leica ones. The Nikon ones are good, but yes, the Leica ones are a lot better, like looking through a f/2.8 lens as opposed to a f/5.6 kit lens. Pick something light and waterproof and keep the lenses clean. My tripod, oh my tripod, how I love using this piece of gear. I picked a lightweight Manfrotto 440 carbon fibre tripod as it was lighter and stiffer than the aluminium model. Initially I used a Manfrotto 440Mg head, but I switched to a 468Mg hydrostat ball head which is a lot more controllable. After starting to use a longer lens I had to remove the centre column and attach the head directly to the tripod to stiffen the whole assembly up and prevent camera shake. Even with a cable release and mirror lock up, the shutter in a D2X causes a reasonable amount of vibration. Anyway, back to the story. Why is a tripod in number 2 position? Basically, it allows me to get the shot that I want. It’s lightweight and small so is easy to carry to remote locations. Once the camera is on the tripod, not only are my pictures more likely to be sharp, but they are likely to be better composed as I can spend more time with the camera in the same position to fully study the scene in front of me and through the viewfinder. And the top reason, why is this particular tripod good? The legs can be opened out nearly flat. If I want a low viewpoint or need to get out the wind or I’m working on a slope and need the legs at different angles, then the legs can be set where I want them to get the shot that I want, not the one that is dictated by my equipment. Yes I know Gitzo (and other brands) do this, I’m sure I would love one of their tripods too I’ve got a few other tripods too, including a monster Manfrotto 028B Triman which goes up to nearly 2.5metres high and necessitates me carrying a stepladder to see through the viewfinder. Useful for landscape work? You bet. I just need to be feeling fit to carry it. But, the carbon fibre model is a long serving faithful friend and deserves the number two slot. And the winning gadget is, a Palm m505. “This is my #1 life gadget and I’m pleased as anything that it is also my #1 photography gadget” said Mike. It is also a long serving friend, I’ve been using a Palm for about 10 years since the Palm III. It’s a diary, it’s a phone book, it’s a notebook, it’s a to do list. All the things that a businessperson needs. All the things that a scatterbrained disorganised individual like me needs to look like they are organised. And for the photographer? DOFMaster. Easy calculation of depth of field and hyperfocal distance for any film or digital camera. Tidetool. Tidal information, both times and tidal range which can be displayed as a table or as a graph. Also shows sunrise/sunset times which handily is superimposed on the graph. I have a UK database installed. The software and the underlying Xtide code have a bug that means either your tide times or your sunrise/sunset time is about an hour out during BST. I set it up so that the tide times are slightly out as an hour wrong with the tide is generally here nor there, but missing sunrise by an hour is annoying! Drop me a line if you want to know more. Cesium. If you have trouble getting up in the morning or knowing what the time is in Japan then this clock and alarm software is for you. Handy. So there it is, my top 5 photography gadgets. I like my Nikon D2X, but hey, it’s just a camera! The above gadgets are my friends in the land, the tools that I use and never think about or acknowledge. Here’s to you guys. Got a different list? Let me know. Photography Techniques 2007-05-11T23:02:35+00:00