Aug

06

2013

Stephen Banks Photography

astrophotography

Stephen Banks Photography

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/

http://500px.com/DorsetScouserPhotography

Stephen banks 001

Stephen banks 002

Stephen banks 003

Stephen banks 004

Stephen banks 005

Stephen banks 006

Stephen banks 007

Stephen banks 008

Stephen banks 009

Stephen banks 010

Stephen banks 011

 

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?

 

Nikon D800 with Nikon 50/1.4, Nikon 20/2.8 and Samyang 14/2.8. Fuji X100 for street photography.

 

 

What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

 

I love the resolution and low-light performance of the D800. Pushing it to 6,400 ISO with such little impact on the noise in the image is very satisfying. The Fuji X100 is a trickier beast. I love its design and the quality of the images it produces. But it is very fiddly and seems to have a mind of its own sometimes!

 

 

What is your favourite lens, and why?

 

Surprisingly the Samyang 14mm, despite its complex distortion patterns. It’s massively wide field of view makes it perfect for impactful landscape astrophotography, which is what I love. Plus it lets a lot of light in at f/2.8, but stays sharp throughout the picture. It really is a great lens for £300.

 

 

When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?

 

Everything I can fit – I have a large bag, so it’s usually all of my gear. However, when walking around the streets of fishing towns in the Algarve on a recent holiday to Portugal, the X100 performed admirably.

 

 

What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

 

I do a lot of work in Adobe Lightroom 5, as well as stitching and the occasional bit of HDR in Photoshop. A good deal of time is spent editing the astro images I take to bring out the clarity in the Milky Way and other celestial features.

 

 

How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration? How do you take your pictures?

 

I have been taking pictures for some ten years now, and properly got into it at university when I was 18 (now 24). Only got into the stargazing stuff in the last year or so, after making two time-lapse movies (Bridport by Night: http://youtu.be/cbjeXWMNZ5s and Dorset by Night:http://youtu.be/tpqcRqhDjFY – feel free to embed these). I find inspiration from the Dorset coast that surrounds me. We have so many iconic landmarks, usually set in rather dark skies – the perfect mix for astrophotography. I take my pictures by driving to these locations (usually early in the morning) and not getting much sleep, as you can probably guess!

 

 

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

 

I like landscape astrophotography because it gives me the chance to portray iconic and well-known scenes in a way that very few people have seen before.

 

 

What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

 

I am aiming to win Astronomy Photographer of the Year and it’s going well so far – I’ve made the shortlist for 2013’s competition!

 

 

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? Please provide a link to the picture.

 

It’s hard to choose because whenever I go out, I seem to shoot better and better pictures. At the moment, my favourite is ‘Archway to Heaven’ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/8960710721/) because of the clarity of the Milky Way, the successful lighting up of the door, and the fact that it is probably my most favourite spot in Dorset.
Does your work fit into any one or more distinct genres (nature, landscape, long-exposure, black-and-white, infra-red, urban, artistic, macro, vintage, vernacular, social, street)? If other, please specify.

 

I’d say landscape astrophotography, or general landscapes during the daytime. I try to be out as much as possible to have the best chance of capturing extraordinary weather conditions.
Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

 

Flickr and 500px, as I have accounts on both. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetscouser/ and http://500px.com/umboody

 

 

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

 

Persevere. If something isn’t quite going to plan, keep shooting anyway. It will be different to what you anticipated and could well be better!

 

 

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

 

More astrophotographers!


Aug

01

2013

Rui Palha Photography

Street/Social

Rui Palha Photography

http://www.ruipalha.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruipalha/

http://1x.com/member/5005

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Photography-by-Rui-Palha/159632290717501?fref=ts

 

Rui Palha 001

Rui Palha 002

Rui Palha 003

Rui Palha 004

Rui Palha 005

Rui Palha 006

Rui Palha 007

Rui Palha 008

Rui Palha 009

Rui Palha 010

Rui Palha 011

Rui Palha 012

Rui Palha 013

Rui Palha 014

Rui Palha 015

 

 

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use? 

 

Nikon D800 with a Nikkor 20mm f2.8 and a Nikkor 35mm f2.

Sony RX1.

Fujifilm X-PRO1 with a Fujifilm XF 18 mm f/2 R X-Mount.

Fujifilm X-100.

Leica DLUX 5.

1 spare battery for Nikon.

10 spare batteries for RX-1.

4 spare batteries for Fuji X-PRO1.

4 spare batteries for Fuji X-100.

2 spare batteries for Leica.

1 spare SD card Extreme 32 gb.

2 spare SD card Extreme Pro 32 gb.

2 spare CF card Extreme Pro 16gb.

Lens cleaning paper.

 

I never use tripod nor flash.
What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

 

I don’t like the size and height of the Nikon D800, or any other DSLR and I don’t like the slow auto-focus of the fuji cameras.

 

 

What is your favourite lens, and why?

 

 35mm, just because…
When you travel, what is in your essential kit bag?

 

 Sony RX-1 and Fujifilm X-PRO1 with a Fujifilm XF 18 mm f/2 R X-Mount, 4 spare batteries for Fuji X-PRO1, 10 spare batteries for RX-1, 1 spare SD card Extreme Pro 32 gb, Lens cleaning paper.

 


What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

 

PaintShopPro 8.
How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration?

 

 Since I was 13 years old. I find my inspiration in the streets in the middle of real people.

 

 

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

 

Street Photography, because It’s always different … people is always changing…
What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

 

I am always looking for “THE” moment I never captured and probably I will not capture.

 

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? (Please provide a link)

 

I don’t have any favourite.

 

 

Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

 

1X, Flickr, Fineart, etc.

 

 

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

 

Know better the world and myself.

 

 

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

 

Rui Pires.


Jul

30

2013

Michael Breitung Photography

Landscape

Michael Breitung Photography

http://www.mibreit-photo.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Breitung-Photography/367883468540

http://500px.com/mibreit

 

Michael Breitung 001

Michael Breitung 002

Michael Breitung 003

Michael Breitung 004

Michael Breitung 005

Michael Breitung 006

Michael Breitung 007

Michael Breitung 008

Michael Breitung 009

Michael Breitung 010

Michael Breitung 011

Michael Breitung 012

Michael Breitung 013

Michael Breitung 014

Michael Breitung 016

Michael Breitung 030

 

 

What kind of equipment (camera body, lens, filters, flash, tripod, cleaning equipment other) do you use?

I use a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, most of the time in combination with the Canon 16-35mm lense or the Tamron 24-70mm lense. A sturdy tripod and a Induro 5-Way head are also very important for my photography. Moreover I use a set of Lee GND filters.

 

What do you like and dislike about your equipment, specially your camera, and how would you improve it?

The Canon 16-35mm lense could be a bit sharper at the edges. Usually I have to employ focus stacking to get a completely sharp frame, which means additional work. I think in the future I’ll have to invest in the Canon TSE-24mm lense to get perfect sharpness.

 

What is your favourite lens, and why?

I use both the Canon 16-35mm and the Tamron 24-70mm lense a lot and it’s hard to decide about a favourite. When it comes to shooting into the sun the Canon delivers a perfect sunstar, which no other lense can do. So for sunset or sunrise the Canon is my favourite. Most of the other times I prefer the Tamron.

 

When you travel, what is in your essential photographic kit bag?

Too much 🙂 It’s hard to leave anything at home because if I do you can bet that I’ll need it.

 

What kind of software/tools do you use for post-processing, if any?

I use Lightroom 5 for raw processing and Photoshop CS6 for the final processing of my photos. For those interested I have a complete start to finish video tutorial describing my workflow and post processing available here -> http://mibreit-photo.com/blog/?p=963

 

How long have you been taking photographs? How do you find inspiration? How do you take your pictures?

I started with photography in late 2008. A lot of inspiration I find on the internet through the photos of other landscape photographers or by just being out in nature.

I take my pictures with my camera on a tripod 90% of the time. I like to take my time and I prefer a controlled workflow. A tripod helps with this and also makes sure that I can properly set the focus and have no vibrations, which lead to a blurry photo.

 

Which style of photography do you like the most, and why?

Colourful landscape photography with a bit of a painterly feel to it.

 

What goal are you working towards within your photography and when will you know you have reached it?

My goal is for my photography to be recognized as mine. I don’t know, if I’ll ever reach it. Today it’s not so easy to develop your own style.

 

Looking at your own work, which piece is your favourite? Why? Please provide a link to the picture.

Currently my favourite piece of work is this one: http://500px.com/photo/15074993

For this photo everything fit together: right location, right time, right weather and light. And as the icing on the cake a little boy walked into the frame and selected the perfect place to hold out for a time and look across the sea.

 

Does your work fit into any one or more distinct genres (nature, landscape, long-exposure, black-and-white, infra-red, urban, artistic, macro, vintage, vernacular, social, street)? If other, please specify.

Landscape and travel photography.

 

Are there any photography websites that you visit regularly?

To get inspiration and find out about photo locations I visit flickr, 500px or 1x.com a lot.

 

What is the one most important lesson that you have learned since you started taking photographs?

Even if you are in the most spectacular location on the world and have the perfect composition setup for your photo, only the right light and weather will make the photo exceptional.

 

And finally, what other interesting photographers would you like to see in this blog?

Andreas Resch, Rainer Mirau, Elia Locardi to name just a few.