Tag Archives: Photography

Photo-Essay, Photo-Technique, Training

Fujifilm X-T50 Review: A Game Changer for Photographers

I don’t NEED another camera. I really don’t, and I keep telling myself that, but it never seems to work! When the Fujifilm X-T50 mirrorless digital camera came along in June 2024, it just tugged at my heartstrings so much, I knew that one day my resolve would weaken… So, I’ve got one, despite the fact that I’ve already got an X-T3 and an X-T5. (And of course, a half dozen or more film cameras).  Overkill, some might say. My self-justification for the purchase, and I suppose, my excuse to finally yield to the temptation came when the price of a new X-T50 camera body dropped from £1299 to £1149. 

Fujifilm X-T50, fitted with an 18-135 f/3.5 – f/5.6 Fujinon lens, and a leather half-case for protection.
Continue reading Fujifilm X-T50 Review: A Game Changer for Photographers →
Commercial Photography

5 IDEAS FOR USING PHOTOGRAPHY DIFFERENTLY

More ideas for businesses to use professional photographs

Compared with many business tools, photography is inexpensive considering the positive outcome it has on the way your business is perceived and connected with customers and of course turnover.

The advertising cliche is “half my advertising works, I just don’t know which half!”, but well created and conceived photography always works.

So here are 5 ideas to get more from your business photography.

Continue reading 5 IDEAS FOR USING PHOTOGRAPHY DIFFERENTLY →
Co. Down, Photo-Essay, Photo-Technique, Training

2010 Mission Hall Project

This project was about evangelicalism in Northern Ireland.  Up to this point, I had been looking at how the secularisation of society had impacted on evangelical beliefs, practices and worship styles, in the evident decline of the mission-hall culture in the province. But how are the evangelicals striking back? There are a number of different answers to that question, but at least in Northern Ireland, one of the most visible ‘attacks’ on secularism, historically and consistently used by evangelicals and fundamentalists is the strange practice of nailing messages to trees throughout the countryside. A number of these placards had been erected around the Ards Peninsula.  

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Photo-Essay, Photo-Technique, Still Life

The Agfa Karat 36

Introducing another of my eclectic camera collection, – meet the iconic Agfa Karat 36, a strut-folding 35mm camera.

This cute little camera is no lightweight, not in performance, and not in bodyweight! Made of metal, the camera was German produced and made to last! It made its first appearance around 1935, and was discontinued in the 1950s. The original Karats used a specially fitting film cartridge, but from 1948 the design changed allowing the camera to use standard 35mm film cassettes. Mine is the latter.

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Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co.Londonderry, Ireland, Travel

River Bann at Coleraine

Well, we’ve been having a November break at the Royal Court Hotel, in Portrush, Co.Antrim – if you’ve never stayed there, make it a bucket-list destination! Right on the North Coast of N.Ireland, across the road from the majestic White Rocks Beach and a short drive from the world famous Giant’s Causeway – and they do a fantastic buffet at reasonable prices… along with an a la carte menu for the foodies..

Needless to say I had a camera to hand – the Nikon F100. loaded with Kodak T-Max 100, a film I’ve never used before. I developed the road for 9 minutes at 20 degrees in FD10. More photos to follow, but for now, here’s a couple of shots from Coleraine (Janette likes to visit the nearby major town for the superb shopping).

R. Bann, Kodak T-Max 100, Nikon F100, f/11 @ 1/60th sec.
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Photo-Technique, Training

Artistic Perception in Photography #1

Artistic Perception in Photography 

A series of short articles practical exercises and notes for new and improving digital photographers. 

A friend posted a nice image in Facebook and remarked that it looked better when cropped. (That’s often the case!) It prompted me to ask the question, why?  Why was the cropped image more attractive than the original photograph. And that in turn prompted me to think and talk about photographic composition; about the elements of design and the way that our minds perceive visual imagery. 

So, in a series of these very short videos and lessons, we’ll go right back to basics, and find out how to compose images that will excite the imagination. Remember, rarely are good images made by accident, they are planned, well thought through, conceived and constructed in the mind even before the shutter is activated. 

This series of talks and notes will be an Introduction to Artistic Perception in Photography.   How to SEE creatively. 

-oOOo-

Part One: Zoom with Your FEET! Continue reading Artistic Perception in Photography #1 →