20mm is the new 24mm
20mm is now far more common than ever for both primes and zooms, but is 18mm the better option for photographers? And why even bother with 24mm? When shooting wider than wide does it make a difference to buy an extra few mm of perspective?
Landscapes
Landscape photography is a specialisation on its own. A demanding travel schedule puts limits on what you can practically achieve with landscapes, but just one really good image can bring a unique context to your destination set.
Get Closer
The most recurring theme for a travel photographer is to seek to understand something about your subject before you photograph it. The first step is towards understanding is physically getting closer to your subject.
Rokinon 14mm DS T3.1 CineLens
A seriously affordable astro photography lens to help you chase stars, auroras and ultra wide landscapes.
Sharing the moment with Tim
I want to share a few words of appreciation for a fellow traveller, just one of many lovely people who help to make these journeys a little bit more special.
Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 - Long Term Review
This is a hard lens to leave at home. It delivers quality and sharpness for landscapes and the night sky, plus has a neat party trick with rear pocket for ND filters. Worthy companion to any full-frame mirrorless camera. (Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN)
The Angle of Light
Cameras don't photograph objects, they photograph light. The key to shooting images that capture the moment is to let the light guide your photography.
The Absolute Best Lens in Nepal
Very rarely a new lens comes along that changes how I think about photography. This is one of those lenses. My priority for glass is always quality over convenience, but this time you get enough of both to make it a hard one to walk past. The newly released "DG Vario-Summilux 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH" by Panasonic+Leica is not only a great lens for MFT systems, but may well be good enough to tempt full frame owners to look seriously at adopting the smaller mirrorless format of the Lumix G series.
Soft Focus and Fine
Shallow depth of field is a powerful technique to have in your creative tool kit. It’s not just about funky portraits either, it’s good for almost every genre of photography.
Take it Slow at the Night Market
Last week I shared a series of stills from the Queen Victoria Market, from the reopening of the Night Market. This time I've gone back with my very modest video rig to capture a slow-motion series using the high-speed ability of the Lumix G9 and a single lens.
Neutral Density Theory vs Chaos
Planning and shopping for a simple solution to my ND filter needs has been a major drama, right up there with renovating a house or planning a wedding. It’s just not nearly as straight forward as it should be. Will magnetic filters be the saviour of the stills+video shooter?
Into The Light
Nothing excites my creative eye more than pointing a lens directly into the sun late in the afternoon. Capturing the shafts, shimmy and seduction of light as it flares across the lens is the stuff of magic.
