Hi-Tech ND Grad Filters (from Formatt)

A while back I bought myself a Lee Filter kit which comprised of a filter holder with an expandable bellows hood.  I also bought a single 0.6ND (2 stop) soft ND grad, and after a bit of faffing a 77mm wide-angle adapter ring.  The cost for this lot: slightly under £200!  Seriously - it's some injection moulded plastic, a bit of machined metal and some carefully crafted polymer without a colour cast.  While I knew this was good stuff, I did believe it was a bit pricey.  So, to get some more filters (a single 0.6ND grad doesn't cut it for all situations), I bought some HiTech filters from Formatt...

5D2 Sensor Cleaning (Scaaaary!)

I've had my 5D2 for 7 months now and while I don't just change lenses every 5 seconds, I don't hesitate to change if them if I need to - dust is a part of life with a DSLR and you just have to learn to deal with it.  Even so, I took a quick test shot at f22 to see what the state of the sensor was, and was quite suprised at how much "stuff" was all over it, so I dug out a few tools and got to work...

New Streetlights in Corfe Mullen

This is a slightly nerdy post, but they've just put new streetlights up (or rather, replaced the old ones) around where I live.  I went out in the rain tonight to take a few pics to capture the differences before they replace the lot and I completely forget what they used to be like!

Sigma 50mm f1.4 - First Shots

My Sigma 50mm f1.4 turned up on Wednesday and I've spent a short time walking around trying to get some shots that get the best out of it.  This lens - like all very wide aperture lenses - has it's limitations, but if you work within those you can have a lot of fun - I'm certainly enjoying it so far!

Wimborne / New Forest Morning (and landscape shooting tips)

A poem:

It was a cold and frosty morning,
and the sun was shining bright,
when I went a wandering and nearly caught frostbite!

Yes, it was very, very cold this morning: -3.5C when I got back into my car in Wimborne after wandeing around in a field with my 5D2, tripod etc.  This post shows some results and has some comments about things I've learnt/am learning about shooting like this.

5 minutes with the 50

I've read loads of posts/articles recently about people making very good use of both shallow DoF and 50mm (standard) lenses.  I was sitting around this evening after a hard day at work, about to chill with the piano for 5 minutes, when I read an article on my phone about 80 inspirational shots with a 50, and I thought I'd have a quick go and see what I could do...

Broadstone War Memorial - A Photographic Study

The war memorial in Broadstone has stood for 90 years, and when first erected it had stunning views over Poole Harbour.  There has been an ongoing campaign by Broadstone's Residents Association to have the vegetation around the war memorial thinned to restore the view, so it's been a topic of a few news stories recently.  Having seen it on a couple of occasions but never really studied it, I thought I'd take the opportunity to spend a short time taking some photos of the memorial and surrounding area as they currently stand, with a view to updating once the work is complete.

More Birds with the 7D - Spring is here!

This isn't going to be a long post - I just wanted to shout about the 7D again!  I'm really, really happy with this camera - the AF is the best I've used by a long shot (I'm comparing it to a 40D as the next best), and the IQ is great considering the density of the sensor - leading to very usable shots, e.g:

Birds with the 7D

This is a quick summary of the 7D and Sigma 120-400OS at lunch time today, taking my 1 year old son for a walk around the local pond to feed the ducks (and seagulls, intimidating geese etc!)

Length vs Quality - Canon 70-200 f4L IS vs Sigma 120-400OS

A few months back I bought myself a Sigma 120-400OS lens - previously, my longest lens was the Canon 70-200 f4L IS, and having gone to a full-frame camera I realised that 200mm was not actually that long.  I was offered an excellent price on the Sigma, which meant the Canon equivalents were coming on for 4 times the price, so in the interest of testing out, I opted for the Sigma.

Early Morning Shoot - Eye Bridge and Broadstone

Dawn and dusk are widely regarded as the best times to shoot - when the sun is just below the horizon the sky is filled with colour, with beautiful detail in the clouds, and just above the horizon it casts long shadows and light everything with a golden light.  Unless it's raining, which it usually is in Britain.  So I thought I'd take advantage of the current nice weather we're having at the moment and get out in the freezing cold to take some pictures.