amipal photography

Wow! July 2019? Is that really the last time I updated this blog? I can only apologise to anyone who follows my ramblings. Life, as they say, has a habit of taking over. I've still been getting out with my camera, though mainly to ensure I have shots to submit for camera club competitions, as well as getting my Photo 52 done. ISO200, f/7.1, 1/125 sec, 17.5mm Aside from the usual work commitments, I got back into my old Amiga computers in April of last year, and have been documenting it on my YouTube channel . I never really appreciated quite how long it takes to shoot and edit even the shortest segments... but I can certainly vouch for the video capabilities of the Lumix G9. The camera is extremely capable in that regard. So what is my plan with this blog? Well, I still want to write articles for it as and when I'm inspired to. I haven't lost the passion of photography. If anything, because I so rarely get out to new and exotic locations to shoot, I apprecia

After I waxed lyrically about it , readers may well have expected a review from me by now of my "recently"-purchased Panasonic Leica f/2.8-4 50-200mm telephoto lens, and I do indeed plan to write one in time. However, I don't seem to be able to find the time to get in front of the keyboard for an extended period. So rather than leave you with nothing, instead I'll provide you with some example shots which I hope provide you with some insight into just how well the lens performs. Some of the images are with the 1.4 teleconverter, which I'll note in the information. I'm heading to Duxford for Flying Legends in a week's time, so will be able to show some images other than nature. Hopefully I'll be able to provide you with a more comprehensive delve into the lens next time I update the site. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these... Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm f/2.8-4 ISO200, f/4.5, 1/1600 sec, 200mm ISO200, f/4, 1/250 sec

Around this time of year, a sometimes get a nice bonus. This typically goes on camera equipment, as I rarely buy anything for myself the rest of the year.  I am fully aware how lucky I am to get this money in the first place. Last year when it hit my account, I rushed myself up to Park Cameras and bought the Lumix G9 . This year wasn't going to be a new body, after all the G9 is still a lot of camera, even after a year since its launch. No, this year was a lens-spend year, and I had many an idea formulate... Number one on my mind was that my Olympus M.Zuiko 9-18mm no longer provided the image quality that I've come to expect (I blame that with walking around with a clutch of primes these days). It had to go to a better home. But what to replace it with? Well, I had aspirations for the Panasonic Leica f/2.8-4.0 8-18mm ultra-wide zoom. I'd hired the lens when I headed up to Canary Wharf , and I couldn't fault it. Excellent build quality, fast focusing, brilliant

In January, I traveled up to London with my erstwhile friend for an evening's shoot around Canary Wharf. I've walked around there a couple of times during the day, and captured a few architectural shots (as well as processing a bunch in a science fiction aesthetic ). The purpose of our visit? The Canary Wharf Winter Lights festival. My friend had previously want to head up for this, but for various reasons it never happened. When he announced that he was booking a day off work and going up regardless, I jumped at the opportunity to join him. I didn't really know what to expect. I'd been told that there would be a variety of art installations which had the creative use of light as their medium. How well would this translate to photography? And what compositions could one shoot without the photo ultimately being a record of the artist's work? The works were colourful and varied. Some featured audio background to them, which lent some of them a very eerie atmosph

And so 2018 has been and gone, meaning an end to my Photo 52 for the year. When I look back at it in it's entirety, I'm quite proud of the work I've accomplished. Photography isn't my job: it is my hobby, and so it is primarily something which I do in spare time (what little I have). The purpose of the Photo 52 project is to ensure that I pick up my camera at least once a week - a difficulty considering a busy family life. This maintains my ability to tweak-settings, and keep my muscle memory and general composition up to speed. More often than not, a photo for the week occur within the local vicinity. Only six out of the fifty-two weeks feature shots from places outside of the greater Brighton area, mainly trips to London (though also my first airshow in years). I really value and appreciate the opportunities to travel for photography, not least because it gives me some fresh subjects to shoot but also because I more-often-than-not do so with a friend of mine wh

The week just gone was competition night at the club. "Man-Made" was the subject which, as you can imagine, can be pretty much anything as long as it isn't natural. This of course meant a lot of head-scratching, as the possible entries were so wide. Today I thought I'd share not only the photos I entered into the competition, but also the issues that I deal with when printing them, as well as the selection process itself. Let's start with selection. I make use of Lightroom's Collections so that I can easily group images without removing them from their original locations. This is simply as case of creating a new collection (in this case called "Man-Made - PRINT1"), and then going through my archives looking for things that may be suitable. Simply selecting the image and hitting the B key adds it to the collection - and then move onto the next image. In the end, I have a "virtual folder" of candidate photos for the competition, some of wh