All Forum Comments
Comment by CMW posted on The Kenley & Caterham Valleys at 24/04/2014 - 10:42
Yes, good to see innovation, even somewhat eccentric innovation. The real problem, entirely foreseeable, is that the sensors were always going to 'age' more rapidly than their attached lens. When the sensor is over the hill, a good lens inevitably follows it into the sunset rather than being available for use on the next body.
Comment by CMW posted on Discovered the GXR at 22/04/2014 - 16:23
This is the place for any discussion arising from this competition (the theme is set out below). As usual, I will not look at this posting again until after the competition has been judged, so remarks made here will not influence the result.
I hope you will have a go..
Good luck.
Chris
I hope you will have a go..
Good luck.
Chris
Quote:
This theme can be interpreted in numerous ways, with the subject of the photograph either literally alone (a single tree on a hillock? a figure on a mountainside?) or alone in the sense of 'different from' (a cottage painted in a colour in a row of limewashed cottages? an old red phone box flanked by some of more modern appearance?)
I look forward to seeing how you visualise the theme.
All the usual applies - entries to be taken with Pentax, Samsung equivalent or Ricoh body and submitted by midnight (BST) this coming Sunday 27 April. There are no date restrictions: submitted photographs can have been taken at any time.
The winner will be expected to chose the theme of the next competition, judge the entries, and provide a brief commentary on each.
This theme can be interpreted in numerous ways, with the subject of the photograph either literally alone (a single tree on a hillock? a figure on a mountainside?) or alone in the sense of 'different from' (a cottage painted in a colour in a row of limewashed cottages? an old red phone box flanked by some of more modern appearance?)
I look forward to seeing how you visualise the theme.
All the usual applies - entries to be taken with Pentax, Samsung equivalent or Ricoh body and submitted by midnight (BST) this coming Sunday 27 April. There are no date restrictions: submitted photographs can have been taken at any time.
The winner will be expected to chose the theme of the next competition, judge the entries, and provide a brief commentary on each.
Comment by CMW posted on Weekly Competition no.354 -- Standing Alone at 21/04/2014 - 12:37
A pleasing shot with those shafts of light crossing the bluebells. I haven't seen any bluebells in bloom yet in Ashridge, so you are in a more favoured part of Herts ... or perhaps I've just taken routes that suit the dog better than my camera.
I'd back the recommendation for the DA* 50-135 - an impressive lens. The DA*60-250 also has many fans, but be certain you are comfortable carrying its bulk and weight.
The DA* 15-50 has plenty of fans and is a logical accompaniment to the 50-135. Also worth considering is the DA 17-70 (or perhaps Sigma equivalent): the Pentax is a good lens and the 20mm 'overlap' is in practice useful rather than redundant.
Zooms these days are often excellent but they are quite obtrusive in certain situations. An FA 31 or DA 35mm would be a good starting point for a prime lens - the former expensive, even second-hand, but quite superb - and you could add other primes as time goes by.
The DA* 15-50 has plenty of fans and is a logical accompaniment to the 50-135. Also worth considering is the DA 17-70 (or perhaps Sigma equivalent): the Pentax is a good lens and the 20mm 'overlap' is in practice useful rather than redundant.
Zooms these days are often excellent but they are quite obtrusive in certain situations. An FA 31 or DA 35mm would be a good starting point for a prime lens - the former expensive, even second-hand, but quite superb - and you could add other primes as time goes by.
Comment by CMW posted on Primes or zooms at 19/04/2014 - 12:25
The use of the photograph in this piece of reportage is surely hard to accept, however expedient it might have been for a (doubtless) hard-pressed picture editor. But its use without acknowledgement that the photo had no direct connection with the story is indefensible in a newspaper
Comment by CMW posted on The Guardian, interesting at 17/04/2014 - 22:08
Smeggypants wrote:
Mainstream Media( MSM ) publishes propaganda shocker.
Half the pictures shown in conflict zones are either fabricated or taken from stock photos somewhere else
Hyperbole shock!!!Mainstream Media( MSM ) publishes propaganda shocker.
Half the pictures shown in conflict zones are either fabricated or taken from stock photos somewhere else
It does happen, but (leaving ethics aside) it isn't worth the reputational damage to a newspaper to indulge the practice. And if the photographer is the fabricator, it is often the end of a promising career.
I do concede that some news outlets have less reputation at stake than others
Comment by CMW posted on The Guardian, interesting at 17/04/2014 - 18:27
bjolester wrote:
.... The ISO upper range of the Pentax is quite extraordinary
Extraordinary is the word. Given that the core use of MF is studio and landscape, both usually on a tripod, I'm struggling to understand the advantage of high ISO levels on a camera of this spec. More useful, perhaps, would have been the ability of the shutter to time longer exposures (?)..... The ISO upper range of the Pentax is quite extraordinary
Comment by CMW posted on Pentax 645Z at 17/04/2014 - 14:13
cabstar wrote:
Looking at what happens with the mail this week and paul wellers children bing photographs and published who can blame the mirror for using a stock image.
Don't know what the first part of that refers to, but almost regardless, yes, I think the Mirror can be blamed for using a stock image in the context of a news storyLooking at what happens with the mail this week and paul wellers children bing photographs and published who can blame the mirror for using a stock image.
Comment by CMW posted on The Guardian, interesting at 17/04/2014 - 12:34
I have never taken a sports photograph in my life, so have no expertise to offer at all. But while glancing at your photographs, it did occur to me that in shot 5 a tight crop around the boy I take to be your son would give the photograph additional focus and drama.
Comment by CMW posted on K3 and DA* 50-135 go to a rugby match at 17/04/2014 - 12:23
I suspect you need to develop further your critical awareness of the framing and content of your shots. Your evident interest in the processing of your photographs seems to be currently outpacing your ability to 'see' the shot worth taking and preserving. As gwing suggests, you are probably not particularly well-served in shots like these by such a wide-angle lens: the foreground, often lacking interesting features, can become a vast no-man's land.