photography related « Busy making other plans

Posts Tagged ‘photography related’

Monday, 4 January 2010

Love at (almost) first sight – Canon Powershot S90

I was quite excited when Canoncamerabuzz asked whether I was interested in reviewing some gear for CanonUK. I said I was happy to either trial some pro gear at weddings and write about that over at MTP, or compacts privately and write about those over at this blog.

I must admit that when I received the Canon Powershot S90 for my trial, I was initially a little bit disappointed that it wasn’t, say the 1Ds MkIII, and kind of cursed myself for saying that I’d be happy to trial compacts as well. But funnily enough, within 5 minutes of playing with the S90 on Christmas Eve when I (quite fittingly!) received it, I did a complete 180 and was absolutely blown over.

As it happens, only a little while back I purchased the Powershot G11. I really wanted a near enough compact sized camera, which I could carry around in my pocket and take to music gigs etc, which would have full manual control and the capability to shoot raw. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know that there were other options out there than the G11 (and the previous models) for what I wanted, so I didn’t really even look around for anything else. Well as it happens, the S90 has exactly the same sensor as the G11, only everything is packed into a smaller body (nearly as small as my Ixus), and the lens is faster at f2 compared to f2.8 on the G11. The question I’m asking myself now is: how did I not even know this camera existed?

Obviously being smaller in size, there are less controls on top of the S90 than the G11 (and lets be honest, it’s these controls that are like a siren call to us photographers looking for a compact). But all that is forgotten once you discover the two click-stopped direct control rings on the S90, one of which is at the base of the lens and is SO very satisfying to use – from setting the aperture to any other functions you might want to assign to it. Now, after having used the S90, I feel a little bit at loss with the G11 without the nice ring around the lens, what a silly thing to omit from that particular camera.

There is really no difference in the quality that these two cameras produce. I like to shoot wide open where ever I can, and both of these cameras allow for me to do that, but the faster lens on the S90 does make a huge difference to me. It also means that it doesn’t really matter that much that the ISO range isn’t as wide as on the G11. The only ‘negative’ on the S90 I can think of is the shorter zoom at 3.8x as opposed to 5x on the G11.

Unfortunately I don’t have very many ‘proper’ samples of photos from the S90, as for some reason the battery charger was omitted from my box – and the battery didn’t fit any of my other gazillion canon battery chargers. I did have the camera with me in Finland, and the battery lasted approximately 2 minutes outside in -16C. (So it’s safe to say the camera/battery is not really the best option for ‘extreme’ conditions).

I did manage to snap a few pictures on New Year’s Eve though. The picture below was taken nearly at midnight. It was pitch black, apart from the street lights, but the S90 didn’t really have a problem. These sort of conditions also show what a difference the ability to shoot raw on a compact makes.

In conclusion, and I REALLY hate to say this, I would recommend the sleek S90 over the bulky G11 any day (not to say that the G11 isn’t a GREAT camera – it is, I just prefer the same greatness in a smaller package). If you are looking for a properly compact sized compact camera, with full manual control and raw ability, this camera is pretty perfect. I really wish I would have known about it before I bought the G11, and am now secretly kind of hoping I could exchange the G11 for the S90… :D

Tags: Canon, Canon Powershot G11, Canon Powershot S90, Canon UK, canoncamerabuzz, photography related, technology

Posted by Marianne at 11:33 am in geekery, in review, photography related 2 Comments »

Saturday, 19 December 2009

It’s a big world out there outside of full frame

I started writing this over at MTP, but then decided all this text looked kind of out of place in a photo blog, so thus I moved my ramblings over here. Maybe it’s for the better anyways as God knows this place needs some livening up!

Recently I was invited to attend a round table discussion with Canon UK, which was organised by Canoncamerabuzz. It was an opportunity for me and a few other professional photographers to see the whole lineup of Canon’s DSLRs (including the brand new 1D MrkIV, which started shipping this week) in the same room, and hear about some of the processes behind developing new bodies and lenses.

I didn’t really have any expectations for the evening, apart from getting to fiddle with the 1Ds MrkIII (which was very satisfying indeed – I still definitely cavort over it more than the new 1D MrkIV). What I came away with was a clearer understanding behind Canon’s decisions for their line-up and who the average end user actually is (i.e. not me). As professionals, we tend to have a bit of a skewed perspective on what the next camera models should do and what kind of features they should, or shouldn’t, possess. Add to that the fact that for someone like me, coming from a film background, it’s hard to get my head around the fact that the majority of dSLR consumers these days have never even used film, which was kind of clarified to me when I was questioning why the 1D MrkIV isn’t full frame. As it goes, the market for full frame isn’t as big as I would have though. For me, it’s the only sensible thing to do but, as product specialist Mark Burnhill from Canon UK explained, the majority of dSLR users are of an age that have always shot with a crop sensor, and that’s what they find ‘normal’. To me, that seems completely perplexing! When I started my move to digital, via an EOS 350D and 20D, I felt restricted, not only in what I saw through the viewfinder, but in the fact that I couldn’t use my lenses to their full effect. So when I finally got my hands on the 5D, and subsequently the 5D MkII which I now use, it literally felt like I could breathe normally again. Until I now heard Mark rationalise the issue for me, I couldn’t for the life of me understand why someone wouldn’t want a full frame camera.

The other interesting fact was how infinitely bigger the market is for the lower end models, the pro end of the line is practically a drop in the ocean when it comes to Canon’s dSLR sales. Obviously that is going to have an affect on what the development efforts will be concentrated on. Interesting no? Perhaps this has always been obvious to everyone else, but I’ve never really even considered all of this when scratching my head about why there are so many crop sensor models, and a dizzying amount of different lower-end models with only marginal differences, about. A shocked shiver went through the room when Mark asked us what we thought of the possibility of coloured dSLR bodies, apparently that’s the latest demand from the Japanese market. Uh huh. Give me a pink Ixus to slip into my pocket any time, but please leave that sort of gimmicks out of the ‘proper’ cameras I say!

After all these ‘revelations’, my position hasn’t really changed. Ever since I started using SLR’s in the early 90’s Canon has, and always will be, the manufacturer for me, and in my opinion their lenses are head and shoulders above the rest. And the fact that even after looking at the realities of ‘where the real money is’, they keep on developing new and exciting pro gear for us to play with is a testament to Canon’s dedication to quality picture-making.

How was that for sounding like a real Canon fan girl (which of course I am)? :D

I know, I know, I need to blog about what’s been happening on the house-hunting front, about Cornwall and all the other stuff that I haven’t had time to blog aboout. Soon, I promise. Well, perhaps not a firm promise, but at least a promise to attempt!

Tags: Canon, Canon UK, canoncamerabuzz, photography related, social networking, technology

Posted by Marianne at 6:45 pm in geekery, photography related, social networking 0 Comments »

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Monthly round-up and a bit of a slump

The Autumn somehow creeped in from around the corner while I wasn’t looking. Suddenly the days are getting shorter and the rain wetter. I’ve just realised that’s it’s now pretty much a year since I started my photography business. A year of 13 hour days and working all weekends. I think I’ve had about 5 days ‘off’ in the last year. If someone had come to me with this sort of proposition at the beginning of it all I would have laughed and ran away pretty promptly. But somehow, when you’re in it, and you have to do it, you just get on with it. I’m glad I have a two month break from weddings now, even if my weekends are still filled with other kind of shoots and business-related work. It still feels a little less crushing than the pressure weddings, and editing them etc., puts on you. I do love shooting, no doubt, but unfortunately running a business is probably about 20% shooting and 80% of all the other gubbins.

I am pretty amazed and happy about what I have managed to accomplish in just a year, and how quickly I seem to have established my business. I have a healthy amount of weddings booked for next year, and currently get more inquiries than I am able to accommodate. People keep telling me how ‘lucky’ I’ve been, getting my business established and actually making some sort of profit so quickly (I did make a pretty big loss in the first financial year, mind). I do believe you make your own luck though, by trusting your gut feeling and your abilities, being honest about who you are, and by working bloody hard. Luck alone gets nothing done unless you put the hours in.

At the moment I find myself in a bit of a slump. I think it’s because I’ve just realised that the summer just whizzed by without me even noticing. We’ve also started looking around for somewhere to buy, which is demoralising to say the least. Prices are astronomical, and no amount of working or saving seems to get us anywhere closer to a deposit for anything decent. I’ve just moved from searching for two bedroom sh*tholes onto searching for one bedroom sh*tholes. Cheery. I miss our flat in Finland.

I guess there’s nothing else to do than to keep your head down and plough on, and hold on to the faith that it will all be worth it in the end.

And since it’s become a bit of a routine, here are a few images from last month.

Magali & Jeff got married.

Had a blast shooting Sophie & Henry’s engagement photos.

I made a bit of a departure by doing a jewellery shoot for Melanie Eddy.

Trinh & Alastair got married.

Had an engagement session with Heather & Mark.

Took baby portraits of Jodie…

…and Alice.

Tags: my life, my life in photos, photography related, wedding photography

Posted by Marianne at 5:07 pm in my life in photos, my life in words, photography related 4 Comments »

Tuesday, 12 May 2009

Just roll with it

Days in the office are starting to feel almost like ‘down time’ to me, funny that. :D I shouldn’t really complain though, as I do feel really fortunate to be as busy as I am. Sometimes the physical and metal exhaustion just gets the better of me and makes me turn into a little whiner. :P And sometimes dragging myself to a shoot after a full day at the day job feels like too much. But then when I get there, and when it’s good, it’s really good. I had a brilliant engagement session last night with a couple who’s wedding I’m covering next month. They were just so nice and sweet that I know the wedding is going to absolutely kick ass. So today I’m feeling pretty excited.

I’ve got two sessions to edit by the end of this week, but tomorrow I’m having a night off to go see Lisa Hannigan at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Yay.

Here in the office it’s not actually the worst time at the moment. After months of re-design work, we’re finally working on the June issue, which will be the first new look magazine. And we have at last migrated to InDesign (hallelujah), which makes life so so much easier. So it’s pretty much as ‘exciting’ right now as this job is ever likely to get.

Oh I don’t think I ever mentioned anything about the Miles Aldridge exhibition I went to last week. It was pretty awesome and inspiring, even though the prints displayed could have been a bit bigger! But then the prices would have probably climbed out of reach for everyone. Personally, if I did have an extra £1800 lying around, I so would have bought a picture then and there. :D Now I’ll just have to try to find the new, freshly published book from somewhere.
p.s. Sooz took this sneaky shot as my mobile was being too loud for any sort of espionage!

Tags: Lisa Hannigan, Miles Aldridge, my life, photography related, wedding photography

Posted by Marianne at 11:03 am in my life in words, photography related 0 Comments »

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

This is me

I’ve been thinking about things like branding and online identity a lot lately. Or rather, they have been issues that have come up over and over again in various conversations in different contexts, with people such as Jonas and Cathie to name but a few. And for a while I was struggling over how I should brand myself/my business in order for all the different messages to be clear and not get muddled up by all the noise.

The thing is, I am interested in a lot of things. I am what could be called an enthusiast in a lot of different fields, and often those areas don’t necessarily relate to each other. So what do you do if you don’t want to alienate anyone? Is it possible to relate to everyone? While this really wasn’t such an issue before, it was something I had to get my head around when setting up my wedding photography business. It was quite clear that the business needed to be a separate entity from everything else – it makes no sense for a bride to be reading about gadgets or trips to the hairdressers. But then again, I had quite a widely spread online identity as mnoo (from dA to pretty much every other service there is), and mnoo.com was pretty established at that point in terms of showcasing my personal photography, so it would have been a waste not to use that presence to drive traffic, and more importantly, to allow for a more in-depth picture of me. And why is that important? Well, because in any business, which is built around you and your skill, and where you deal with the end customer directly, you are effectively selling yourself. You want to attract clients who can relate to you and your personality, and your clients need to feel like they ‘know you’, and thus, can trust you.

There are people out there who are very suspicious of laying it all out online. I think, in this day and age, there is really no place to hide. If you want to make the most of your opportunities, you just have to be out there. As transparently as possible. And wouldn’t you want to be the one in charge of how your identity is perceived in any case?

Right, did I have a point in my head somewhere when I started. I guess what I was thinking about today, was how my wedding customers reading my Twitter might get confused about what I get up to. And how those people coming to this blog for pretty pictures of flowers might get bored by the gadgetry things, and the gadgetry people by the wardrobe silliness. But the thing is, this blog, and especially Twitter, is just purely all the things I am about. And it’s not thought-out or aimed at any specific reader, it’s just about me putting it out there – regardless of whether it’s ‘of value’ to anyone. I am interested in a variety of things and get excited over different non-related events. And I couldn’t for the life of me edit myself down to just one clearly branded – soberly positioned – identity, with one specific interest. It’s all me, and if that’s confusing to some, then so be it.

This is me: photographer, wife, magazine designer, Finn, internet addict, cinema lover, gig goer, technology enthusiast, fashion fun (for everyone) advocate, gadget twiddler, social networking fiend, traveller, lover of words…. who loves colours, pretty things, reading books in one go, weddings, open mindedness, meeting new people and chocolate.