Snapping the snapper
I enjoy, for some unknown reason, when I see people taking images on the street, I have a urge to photograph them.
Its turned into somewhat of a mini project. Its quite surprising to see the amount of Canon DSLR‘s as opposed to Nikon. It does seem that Canon is the more popular brand. Alot of people are also using camera phones. I’m seeing less and less compact cameras.
Anyway, here is a selection of my favourite Photog on the street images. Maybe out there somewhere, is a image of me, taking a image 
shh, canon user by Michael Thompson
Smile Please! by Michael Thompson
Another Canon User by Michael Thompson
Your In My Shot! by Michael Thompson
Always one that always looks. by Michael Thompson
Bed Racin
Last weekend saw the Knaresborough bed race trundle through the streets of in all its colour and noise.
The theme for the 2012 event was Olympic Nations. Teams can base their bed design and fancy dress on anything connected with that country. Teams used history, culture, geography, landscape, social or sport to get their inspiration.
There was some impressive beds. The poor girls on Float 36 had a bad day. The person building their bed had not turned up on the day, but that did not stop them. They ran around the local shops getting donations of paint, and cardboard boxes and built their float from scratch.
All in all it was a enjoyable day, everyone had fun, despite the occasional shower. I travelled light that day, just my D7000, 85mm 1.8D and a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8. The combination of lenses worked well, 
but I found my self using the Tamron more than any other. Nothing wrong with that lense for the price I paid.
Sunday saw the same kit taken to the Valley Gardens in Harrogate for the 1940′s Open Day. Again I mostly used the Tamron 18-50mm which proved more than caperble on the D7000 body.
It was a fun day, with people walking about in 1940′s style clothing, and various re-enactments. It was a good half day looking around and seeing everyone enjoying them selves
Some of the shots, if I had taken them and given them a vintage look, would of passed for origionals 
As I’ve gotten a couple of emails asking what settings I use when out on the street, I thought it may be a good idea to make a post.
I use a D7000, so some of these settings may be different for your camera.
- Focus / AF
- 9 Point Dynamic
- Auto-Focus
- Continuous Focus (AF-C)
- Camera in A
- Matrix Metering
- Playback Menu:
- Image review: Off
- Shooting Menu:
- Image Quality: RAW
- Colour space: Adobe RGB
- Active D-Lighting: Off (Auto)
- Log exp. NR: On
- High ISO NR: Norm (Off)
- ISO: ISO 100
- Custom Settings Menu:
- a5 Focus point wrap around: On
- a7 Built-in AF-assist illumination: Off
- c1 Shutter Release Exposure Locking: Off (default)
- c2 Meter Off Delay: 8s
- d3 ISO Display: ISO
- f9 Reverse indicators: -0+ (Becaue +0- Just makes no sense.)
- 9 Point Dynamic
- Matrix Metering
- Image review: Off
- ISO: ISO 100
- a5 Focus point wrap around: On
- a7 Built-in AF-assist illumination: Off
- f9 Reverse indicators: -0+ (Becaue +0- Just makes no sense.)
York in manual
So I headed off to York, with one thought on my mind. To fully use my D7000 in full manual mode.
So, my standard street setup was put in the camera, and the dial put on M. Dont get me wrong, I’ve used M many times before, but nearly always found a excuse to revert back to more familiar ground in A mode.
Initially, my mind was more on the scene, than the camera and I overexposed / underexposed some of the shots. Quickly I rememberd to balance the exposure meter.
What surprised me the most, was how much more I was thinking of the overall image. Not just raise the camera to the eye and press the shutter, but actually look at the image. Where normally I’d come away with maybe 100 shots, I came home with under 50 as I was just so much more aware of the image.
I did however find that some of my subjects had finished what they were doing, and moved before I had set the camera up. No doubt it will become quicker the more I do it, but I did get rather annoyed that, in y mind at least, I was missing shots.
I did however enjoy shooting in Manual mode. And have no doubts that I shall not move it off Manual for quite a while.
I’ll post some more shots from my recent York wander as soon as I get round to processing them.
As ever, please feel free to take a wander through my York Gallery.
Sigma 150-500
I got this Monster of a lense a few weeks ago, and hav’nt really used it proper, so I thought I’d head down to the Deer Park and give it a try.
I found a large mixed group of Fallow and Red Deer just off the road. So I set up under the cover of a large Oak. Added bonus was it protected me from the rain I was a good 70-80 meters from the Deer at this point and they where well aware I was there.
Snapping away merrily, they started to move toward me. They got into around 30 meters or so.
I was well pleased with the lense performance. It was almost every shot was acceptable in sharpness, even streched out to 500mm, where this lense is reported as soft. Not as sharp as a £1500+ nikon of course, but for this price, I cant complain.
It focused stupidly fast, thanks to Sigma‘s HSM motors.
Background blur was pleasing to my eye at least.
I certainly dont regret getting this lense, you just have to learn its moods, at what aperture it works best at, and its speed. ISO adjustments are definatly your friend with this lense. I had vibration reduction off for these shots, as I was shooting off a Monopod. But I did use it when I photographed at Leeds Airport. It worked well, but I would always tend to use a lense of this focal length on a monopod or tripod.
Its a very heavy long lense that gets very tiring hand holding incredibly quickly.
All in all, a great lense, and fantastic buy for a budget.
I called it quits when a group of kids came in from the left, making a hell of a racket, walking toward the Deer, which caused them to scatter.
A Quick portrait shoot
So Sunday, I picked up two willing subjects for me to practice Portraits. We trundled down to the local park, and did a few shots. We all had fun and I learnt a lot from playing around with my Nikon D7000.
First off, I broke out the 85mm Nikon 1.8 and tried a few headshots, the sun was high, maybe on reflection I should have waited until later in the day.
1/1250 f/2.8 ISO 100
Just look at those shadows. Looks like panda eyes. I really should have had the reflector out and bounced some light into there, or at the very least of got some fill flash going.
We did a few shots like these, and I think the ones of Lauren came out somewhat better.
1/500 f/2.5 ISO 100
The lighting was a bit better here.
Still a bit of shadow in the face area, and a little too bright on the right hand side of the image.
But these are all things I now know to look out for, and slowly climbing the learning curve. One of my issues is that I’m always in a rush to get the image, I always forget to check for something.
We next did some dual shots of both Holly and Lauren together, and I experimented with a bit of DoF.
I particularly like this image, the distant look on Laurens face, the rather straight look on Holly’s face, with just the hint of a smile is just making the image. Neither of them where expecting the shot, and I prefer this to the “Concrete” poseing.
1/200 f/4.5 ISO 250
So we continued, and the girls getting into it now, Hollys nerves where starting to calm down, and getting used to the people who took an interest in what we were doing. I actually think they both enjoyed the attention
But this, I think has to one of my favourites from the day, a moment, just stolen where she had no idea I was photographing her, just got her whole personality, Bright, bubbly and absolute gem after getting over her nerves, the moment of a laugh as Lauren stuttered on the curb.
1/1000 f/1.8 ISO 100
The smooth bokeh of the background, the way she’s positioned in the frame, and the way she is looking all work well for me. I thought the processing works especially well for the image.
A few fun shots later, where the pair where just themselves, worked well and captured some good moments.
I had fun, and learnt a lot, and the girls had fun, which was the important thing
1/1000 f/4.5 ISO 250
More images available here
A Leeds Wander
So I decided to have a little street photo session and headed off to Leeds. It was busy, but there was’nt a lot going on. So I just plodded along looking for people that I found interesting. I was shooting with my D7000, and a Nikon 85mm 1.8 I’d just picked p from the Girls at Jacobs. I’d gone into Jessops and asked if they had it in stock, and they asked if that was a filter or camera! Luckily the staff at Jacobs know their stuff and no stupid question…
This Guy was watching a live music performance near albion street. I found his face interesting.
So On I wandered. Missing a few shots here and there, and then this young woman crossed my view finder, and there was no way I could have not pressed the shutter. She was so unique, with her purple hair, big hat and rather unique dress sense.
Some stupid errors with camera settings saw me drop a few images and kick myself, but I came away with some, what I consider good, images.
I walked round for hours, yet people where just not interesting, I could not find anyone displaying any emotion, or anything else. So it turned to just who I found interesting. My street photography still requires some practice…
See the rest of my images over at my photosite..
Scarhouse
So yesterday saw a quick walk up to Scarhouse Dam, to do some photography, and just get out for a little while.
Scarhouse is the second dam on the Nidd Chain, just after Angram and before Gouthwaite. Towering over the river at 55 meters, It’s also one of the younger dams. What I find interesting is the architecture of the dam, it wasn’t built purely for function, but was built to be pleasing to the eye. With its detailed carvings along the tops, castle-ettes and catchment ponds at the base of the outflow. 1 million tonnes of masonry were mined from the surrounding hill to build the dam, and a railway line ran from Pateley Bridge bring other materials up. Wheather the architects where thinking of tourism, or just wanted to make a mark I don’t know, but they certainly achieved something with this dam. It does attract 150 thousand people a year, however hard it is to get to
If there was any doubt we are having a dry summer, it’s confirmed by looking at
the levels in the reservoir, I’ve never seen it so low. It’s a good 12-15 foot below the overflows.
Last time I was up this way on a 2 day back pack around Upper Nidderdale, it certainly wasn’t that low. So it is dropping quite fast.
I had my new Solmeta N-1 GPS unit attached to my camera, and it worked wonderfully, all images are tagged, accurate and fast start-up. It’s a fantastic bit of equipment and will be permanently in my kitbag without question.
New Nikon D3100
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
Important Edit
I might of got this just a little wrong. The D3100 is’nt a D90 replacement, the “D95″ is’nt expected to be released for a little while yet.
The Nikon D3100 is the replacement for the D90, which is now 2 years old.
Will I upgrade? No way. for several reasons.
- No drive motor. Which means less lenses can be used.
- No top mounted LCD Screen
Point 1 is critical. That would kill off a good few lenses, including the Nifty Fifty, 105mm Sigma macro in my case, and a huge number of other exceptional lenses.
Point 2, I’ve come to love the top mounted LCD, its so handy to glance at without having to press buttons to get into the menu, find which item you want. Its just a quick glance at the top LCD to get the information you need.
Those two points alone helped me decide the upgrade from the D80 to the D90.
It has a larger sensor, but only by a couple of MegaPixels, nothing to really worry about, a improved Expeed processor, and most of the other improvements are for Movie mode, which has absolutely no use to me. As I pointed out in a earlier rant.
To me, it feels like a sideways step, with a loss of balance backwards. Its really not worth the upgrade. My D90 has many many more shutter releases to come, and I’m sure I’ll be using it for years yet.
Related Articles
- Nikon D3100 DSLR goes official (slashgear.com)
- Nikon D3100 camera – hands-on preview (telegraph.co.uk)
- Nikon D3100 DSLR hands-on (engadget.com)
Live movie modes
I’m not a fan of live view on Nikon, even less so of movie mode.
Movies should be left In cam corder land. And stay right there. There is no place for it on a DSLR however the Market is clearly shifting toward sticking it on what ever they can.
Live view however, does have a use. Using the camera in awkward angles, up high or down low. But without those fine grained controls gained through the viewfinder, I’d much rather lie down on the ground to get the shot than use it.
I like prime lenses
I like prime lenses, and my collection has steadily grown over time.
I now own:
- Nikkor 50mm 1.8
- Sigma 30mm
- Sigma 105mm Macro
I love each of these lens for a specific use. All can be used for different subjects, but they all excel at portraits.
The 50mm gives some fantastic soft dreamy effects, and a great tame animal lens. Here’s my 50mm gallery on Flickr
The 30mm I havent really used in any great way. It’s currently mounted on my D90, and I plan to leave it there for awhile. Heres my 30mm gallery on Flickr
The 105mm is a superb lens, extreme detail, 
excellent colour and superb macro performance. My only gripes with the lens is the screw in hood, and rather slow and noisy focus. But apart from those minor niggles, its one of my favourite lenses, and will be staying in my fave list. 105mm gallery is here
Using prime lenses forces you to think more of the picture and your position, as there is no zoom, the need to get into your subject and really think of composition overrules everything else. Primes also, due to being constructed for one focal length only, often give superior pictures to Zoom lenses, having less glass in them, and better construction. But zoom lenses are coming on so much in terms of quality, it is nigh on impossible to tell images apart.
Primes come in on their own, for their extreme light weight, creativity potential and cost.
Zooms have a well deserved place in my camera bag, but I will always carry a few primes.
Todays Random flickr post
Sunset Over Arran
Nikon D90 with Tamron 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 30 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Taken from the Garden of the Parkstone Hotel
Photography
It’s one of my hobbies that have been sadly neglected of late. Today I dusted off my Nikon D90 and went to do a few test shots down Thruscross. As much to get out of the house as much as anything else. Looks like I rusted a bit. I was never in the high league, with some people on sites like flickr and smugmug who photography I really look upto.
Maybe my upcoming trip along the dales way will give some opportunity for some good shoots. But the thought of lugging my heavy DSLR along the dales way dies make me a little nervous. These cameras are built to last, but it still makes me a little nervous having it in my pack.
But I will persevere with it and churn out the photos and playing with them in my asset manager of choice, lightroom.
Walkers on the Holy Island Causeway
I just love the Sigma 10-25mm lense. It is exceptional for landscape shots, and exaggerating perspective.
This is one of my favourite shots from my trip to Holy Island.
