Photo Editing in 1900s - Before Photoshop - Darkroom Photo Manipulation

Photo Editing in 1900s - Before Photoshop - Darkroom Photo Manipulation

 

I was contacted recently by someone selling a postcard of Berengrave Lane Rainham on Ebay that was virtually identical to one that is on the Rainham History site. Nothing strange there you might think - except on closer inspection the majority of photo is completely identical - all the people are in the same poses and same positions but with the addition of 2 young lads in the foreground.

There are a couple of possibilities. Firstly that 2 shots were taken and the lads wandered into one shot. The other that the lads were added or removed in the darkroom at a later date which looks to be the more likely possibility as everything is identical otherwise between the shots!

Have a look and see what you think!

Samsonite Photo DF50 Colt Camera Bag Review

The Samsonite Photo DF50 Colt is a compact camera bag suitable for entry level cameras such as the Canon 1000D, 550D or 600D. Due to its copmact size it is not suitable for larger cameras such as the Canon 5D or 1D series.


Canon 600D Case
Camera Cases

The Canon 600D fits snugly inside the Samsonite Photo DF50 Colt giving a good level of protection against knocks and scratches. The bag has some very useful pockets to the front and the side that allow you to store a spare battery and memory cards when you take the camera out.

Overall the Samsonite DF50 Colt is a very handy compact DSLR bag that is ideal for carrying your Canon 550D or Canon 600D to protect it from knocks and scrapes but without taking up masses of room or being very bulky to carry unlike some other bags.

Canon 600D Case 

Camera Cases 

Canon 1DX Shutter Speed Test - Sound of the 14fps frame rate continous shooting

Hands on the Canon 1DX to see how fast the frame burst rate is in real use. The speed of this camera is amazing! Not only can it shoot at 14 frames per second but it can also shoot at up to ISO 204,800 which is a level that was unheard of for digital cameras

Canon 1DX Hands On - The Shutter Speed and High ISO King!

Yesterday I got my hands on the Canon 1DX to test in London. Unfortunately we were unable to get images from the Canon 1DX to test the high ISO performance and image quality at ISO 204800 but the ISO range on the back of the camera settings is phemonenal. To see an ISO range that goes from 100 to 51,200 in normal mode and with H1 and H2 settings of 102,400 and 204,800 is incredible. This is certainly one area where digital has now surpassed film by some considerable margin.

Canon 1DX Hands on - incredible frame rate and shutter speed

Canon 1DX High ISO - massive ISO range to 204,800

Canon 1DX hands on testing

The Canon 1DX is released in the UK in March 2012 so we still have a little time before we can get hold of this camera for use in the field or the studio

STS (Stage Theatre Society) Les Miserables Rainham School for Girls

Stage Theatre Society Drama at Rainham School for Girls- Les Miserables - I Dreamed a Dream by ...

I Dreamed a Dream by Gemma Scholes from Les Miserables

STS (Stage Theatre Society) will be performing the musical Les Miserables at Rainham School for Girls from 26th to 29th October 2011

This promotional video was shot on the Canon 5D Mark 2 with the Azten external microphone for Canon DSLR. 

Canon 1DX - The Megapixel race is over?

Canon have announced the new Canon 1D X DSLR camera to replace both the Canon 1D Mark4 and Canon 1Ds Mark 3. Interestingly the new Canon 1D X has 18 Mp replacing the Canon 1D4 that had 21Mp.

We will be having a hands on look at the Canon 1DX this week and will post a review of the findings plus hopefully a few photos after the event.

Despite the numbers the actual difference in pixel count between 18Mp and 21Mp is minimal so it could be a good sign that finally image quality and noise performance are more important than the headline grabbing mega pixels. Does this mean that the megapixel race is finally over and features other than the sensor pixel count are starting to be more important. Certainly from a photographic point of view an ISO range up to 200,000 is of more use than a few extra pixels especially for low light wedding shots and the massive files generated by big pixel counts are a negative for long term storage.

Does this mean that the Canon 5D Mark 3 will feature less pixels than the Canon 5DII? As the 1Ds3 featured the same sensor as the Canon 5D2 we could speculate that this new 18Mp sensor will find its way into the Canon 5DIII when it is released.

Composition: The Importance of Backgrounds

A Lesson in Composition and How to Avoid Poor Backgrounds in Your Photos

I was at a competition recently where a few images show had issues with the backgrounds and the judge commented that a slight movement would have vastly improved the images by removing background clutter. This gives some advice on how to remove background objects from your photos.

It is crucially important to always look at the background behind the subject not just the subject themselves. A slight change in position to the left or right, up or down can often make all the difference to a photo looking professionally composed or being just a snapshot.

The two example shots below show how easy it is to recompose a shot to remove background clutter and to give a nice neutral out of focus background to your photos.

shots were taken with the Canon 600D and the 35-80 USM lens.

 These shots of our cat were taken in the garden at home. The first shot above shows the legs of the children's climbing frame that are distracting and ruin the shot. The shot below was taken from a very slightly different viewpoint by raising myself slightly up thus giving a different angle towards the cat. This mean that the climbing frame was no longer in shot and all the background behind the cat is a nice soft neutral colour.

shots were taken with the Canon 600D and the 35-80 USM lens.

So as you can see above it is very easy to adjust the position for taking a photo that will vastly improve the background and make the subject stand out as they should. These shots were taken with the Canon 600D and the 35-80 USM lens.