It’s been well over a year since I last wrote anything on here. We moved house towards the end of 2017, and the joys of home ownership have been all-consuming ever since.
I Lapsed…
I’ve struggled lately to find time to do anything creative for myself. Work has been busy, with students preparing for the final term of the academic year, and I’ve been busy with stuff at home too. So, after helping a student put together a time-lapse video they’d taken of a 3D printer creating their design,…
To The Power Of Ten (Times)
During a clear out at work, we stumbled upon an old microscope. It had two lenses, a 10x and a 40x optic, which I thought might be fun to experiment with, just to see if it may be possible to take images with them on my camera. I did a bit of research, and quickly found…
Stacks Of Fun
Buoyed by the success of my experiment photographing my left hand, I did a bit more reading and found plenty of information online on how to do focus stacking in Photoshop. Focusing stacking is a technique where the in-focus bits from a set of images can be combined into one image, giving the appearance of…
Finger Painting
Almost a year has passed since I first bought the bellows, adapters and lenses required for close up photography and I had a sudden pang of inspiration/urgency with wanting to do something with them. The worst part of transitioning from doing something for a job, to trying to do it for fun again is finding…
Give me convenience, or give me death…
After a year of doing pretty much nothing to grow my own projects, I decided I never use my camera because the equipment I have is specialist, professional gear. This stuff is great for when I know exactly what I’m going to be taking pictures of, and also great when I know that lugging 50+ kilos…
Early Macro Experiments
About a year ago, I decided I wanted to start playing with taking close-up images again. It’s something I’d played with when I studied Fine Art at University, and again, as I started to experiment as a photographer.
Tamron Lens Tests & Reviews
Tamron lenses have long been a popular choice for photographers looking for a better value alternative to their camera manufacturer’s own brand lenses. Tamron’s SP line of lenses have garnered a reputation for good quality at decent prices, and Tamron’s superzoom lenses have become poplar, mainly due to them offering a larger zoom range than…
Sony Alpha Lens Tests & Reviews
Sony took over Minolta’s camera business quite a few years ago now. Even so, Sony have struggled to establish themselves, probably as many photographers switched from Minolta to Canon or Nikon, as Minolta’s 7D DSLR was so late coming to market. Even so, Sony cameras have showcased some interesting technology, keeping the in-camera stabilisation originally…
Sigma Lens Tests & Reviews
Sigma lenses are popular amongst many photographers for two reasons… They either offer a very similar product to what the major camera manufacturers do, but at a lower price point, or occasionally Sigma offer something completely different. Examples of where Sigma offer something different include their extreme wide angle optics and their f/2.8 super telephoto…
Samsung NX System Lens Tests & Reviews
Samsung’s NX system was the first mirrorless compact system with interchangeable lenses to use an APS-C size sensor, promising better quality at high ISOs and improved dynamic range. Samsung have a reasonable range of lenses, although third party manufacturers seem to have steered well clear of this system for now.
Pentax Lens Tests & Reviews
Pentax make some great cameras, but the range of lenses can be a little limited when compared to the likes of Canon, Nikon or even Micro Four Thirds. The greatest asset Pentax have is their K-mount, which maintains compatibility with lenses right through the manual focus era.
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