g7uk » digital

What is a ‘professional’ camera?

GS — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:27:21 +0000

It makes me laugh to see articles on photo websites and in magazines that say a particular camera is for professionals and some other camera is just for enthusiasts or amateurs.

Photo mags are all about selling you expensive equipment. The sad thing is that people are led to believe they can’t be creative unless they have some costly piece of kit. The fact is, you can make wonderful photographs with any camera.

Canon Powershot A570IS

GS — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:23:43 +0000

I have a new camera (yes another one).

Strange grey blur and circles on photographs

GS — Mon, 21 May 2007 12:29:20 +0000

These are three photographs that I took on 11 February 2004 at about 6pm. At the time I thought they were rather odd and sent them to a few friends. Now it seems that other people have experienced strange circles and ‘orbs’ on digital images, so I thought I would publish them with some information.

Photographer loses image library in fire — how safe is your audio and visual data?

GS — Wed, 16 May 2007 09:59:53 +0000

As a photographer myself, I broke out into a cold sweat reading how this poor man lost most of his image library in the Lever Street fire. Equipment can be replaced but unique transparencies, negatives and digital images can’t be.

Guardian, Lonely Planet, Hewlett Packard ‘photographic opportunity’

GS — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:40:09 +0000

Fifteen years ago, when I earned part of my living as a freelance photographer, the going rate for a cover shot on one of the small magazines that I worked for was £200. The magazine sold 12,000 copies each month and that payment gave the publisher the right to publish the image one time only.

My photo/video blog kit

GS — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 01:17:50 +0000

I thought I’d write a bit about the kit I use for making videos and blog entries.

Print journalists learn to use video

GS — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:29:58 +0000

The Guardian looks at how print journalists are beginning to use video and asks whether web video could mean a new ‘golden age’ for newspapers.

Chinese New Year celebrations, Manchester (video)

GS — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:03:29 +0000

Visit the page to view the Flash video or download: Quicktime (mov)

I bought a new digital camera on Friday (more about that coming soon) and I went out to test it on Sunday. The Chinese New Year parade was just beginning as I walked up Princess Street, so I shot this video.

AA batteries that recharge by USB

GS — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:37:34 +0000

Here’s a great idea. The top of the rechargeable AA battery flips to reveal a USB plug. You just plug the battery into a spare USB port on your PC and it charges up. Nothing else needed.

I love rechargeable batteries. If you take care of them, they can last for years. I have four NiCad batteries that I bought on Old Compton Street in 1992 (was that electrical shop called Rayners?). I think they cost about £10.

For years I used them in my flash-gun. Now I use them in my digital camera. They must have been recharged hundreds of times and still work perfectly.

Imagine the damage to the environment if I had used standard batteries all this time instead and what would the cost have been? Maybe £500?

There are two types of rechargeable AA battery. The older NiCad type and the more recent NiMH. The secret to getting long life out of Nicads is to make sure you always run them down completely before you recharge. Otherwise they develop a ‘memory’ effect, which means you never get a full charge from them again. Whereas the NiMH type can be ‘topped up’ whenever you like.

In fact, my experience so far has been that, if they are looked after, NiCads seem to survive much longer than their NiMH counterparts.

These USBCell batteries are NiMH and cost £12.99 for two. Which isn’t bad if you get a few years of use out of them.