Whilst working today a couple of packages arrived, including an absolute bargain from Ebay, an Canon ST-E3-RT for remote control of the 600EX-RT flashguns. Absolutely mint & fully functioning for not much more than pocket change.
Super Car Day
So today was mostly spent shooting some impressively quick hardware including Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Audi R8s & a brisk Ford Focus RS
Upgrade Time
Time to replace some old 580EXII flashes with some newer 600RTs, I don’t use flash very often, if I can help it, preferring to use my studio lights whenever possible, but sometimes it has to be done, so the 580 will be retired (or stuck on ebay).
New Toy Time
Having had a Manfrotto 055 since about 1981 with the standard 115 Junior 3D head, I felt that it was time to upgrade, I don’t use tripods very often, primarily because the 058 TriAut that I purchased in 2001, is fooking heavy and because the 055 had the horrible 115 head. Anyway doing an interior shoot recently reminded me just how bad the 115 Junior head was, so I have replaced it with a MH804.
The Manfrotto 058 will likely as not remain mostly at home during shoots, but the new head means that the 055 will live in the boot of the car.
Initial thoughts on the MH804 is wow, that is so much better, but then it didn’t have to do much to be an improvement, not as solid as the MH229 that my other ‘pod has, but very definitely an upgrade.
Interior shoot
Interesting shoot today up in Essex, for a company that supplied a lot of the fixtures & fittings for an indoor crazy golf course. Huge variation in light levels so needed several images composited to give a wide enough range from shadows to highlights.
New Graphic
This week was different with jobs in Littlehampton & Portsmouth & then finish work on a new graphic for the Guildford City FC bar. The only problem was that the largest Guildford City crest that I obtain was only 1000 pixels high and needed to be resized to fit the new graphic which is 1300mm x 1000mm, at which point it was full of jaggies (artifacts caused by compression & resizing). So lots of work to get rid of the artifacts & then off to the printers to be printed on 3mm PVC with a matt laminate.
So the good news is that I collected it today from the printers and it is ready to go up on the front of the bar. Looks good. Hopefully get installed tomorrow.
Busy Week, quiet weekend
Just the one job on Saturday & a day of rest!
Second Job of the weekend
Photographing the Surrey Cricket Club’s testimonial event at Weybridge for Jade Dernbach.
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
01/09/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Jade Dernbach Testimonial at Weybridge Cricket Club
Disappointing FA Cup Run
Last weekend saw the end of Guildford City’s FA Cup run with a 1-2 loss to AFC Vardeanians..
More football this weekend & a Surrey Cricket testimonial to cover.
FA Cup Action
Down at the Non-League section of the football pyramid, the FA Cup starts very early in the season, Guildford City’s 2nd game of the season was an FA Cup game against Tooting Bec FC. After some poor FA Cup games in recent seasons City have got through to the  Preliminary Round after beating Tooting Bec 3-2.
Needless to say, there were some happy players come the final whistle.
Busy Weekend Part 2
Endurance Lawn Mower racing to finish the day.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. BLMRA Endurance Race, where teams of three drivers (male and female) compete throughout the night at speeds approaching 50 mph.
Busy Weekend Part 1
First up Brentford v Birmingham in the first game of the season.
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. Woodwork saves CityÕs Goalkeeper Lee Camp
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. Brentford double up on CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. Brentford’s Defender Julian Jeanvier & CityÕs Lukas Jutkiewicz
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. Brentford’s Defender Julian Jeanvier & CityÕs Lukas Jutkiewicz
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma on the charge
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma on the charge
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Dan Crowley
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Defender Maxime Colin & CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Defender Maxime Colin & Brentford’s Defender Rico Henry
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma & Brentford’s Sergi Canos
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. goalscorer Kristian Pedersen
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. City’s Defender Maxime Colin & Brentford’s Midfielder Emiliano Marcondes
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. City’s Defender Maxime Colin & Brentford’s Midfielder Emiliano Marcondes
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Manager Pep Clotet
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Gary Gardner & Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Lukas Jutkiewicz heads on target
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder Jacques Maghoma charges whilst CityÕs Midfielder David Davis watches on
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. An animated CityÕs Manager Pep Clotet
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. An animated CityÕs Manager Pep Clotet
03/08/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Brentford v Birmingham City in the Championship. CityÕs Midfielder David Davisn & Brentford’s Defender Rico Henry
Godalming Town v Guildford City
In the final preseason game Godalming Town v Guildford City in the Bill Kyte Memorial Cup. Guildford won 3-0, unfortunately I won’t be able to shoot the first game of the season as I will be covering the Brentford v Birmingham game
Hard Disk Failure
A hard disk is on it’s way out, it has become very sluggish & occasionally refuses to write, no major drama though, even if it is holding the 2016 to current archive of images. I have ordered its replacement and installed it, now just the process of repopulating the archive from one of its back ups which will take 24 hours.
Remember if you only have a single back up, you don’t have a back plan. Mine is relatively simple I have:
Two hard disks for the Archive installed in my MacPro (which are identical & kept so using “Sync Folders Pro”. Â I also have two external hard disks which are mirrors of the Archive. This is for the on-line (or current stuff) most of the older images are backed up on disks that are no longer in my MacPro but can easily be accessed via a Disk Caddy.
My work flow is that recent images (and stuff currently being worked on are saved to two SSD that are on an Angel Wings X2) and when finished are then transferred to the Archive.
So hopefully I should be covered in the event of a catastrophic equipment failure be able to access the entire archive.
Another Pre-Season win
Four goals scored, could have been more.
Seaside
Nice weather so I spent a couple of hours at the seaside, even got me a stick of rock, but couldn’t find a “kiss me quick” hat!
20/07/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Bognor Regis Coastline photos
20/07/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Bognor Regis Coastline photos
20/07/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Bognor Regis Coastline photos
20/07/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Bognor Regis Coastline photos
A cold one
Need a cold one after a long day in the sunshine that ended with a pre-season football match.
Football Pre-Season
Pre-Season football for Guildford City, seems to get earlier each season. Also needed to do head shots for club website (no lights or backdrop, just straight heads). 16 done in 4 minutes!
GTCR 2019
This evening was spent kerbside for the Guildford Town Cycle Race….
Unusual couple of days
I spent a couple of days in a field shooting with Nikon kit for a client, I have been a Canon user since 1980 and I love the ergonomics. Nikon couldn’t spell ergonomics back in the day yet alone implement it in their designs. Nikon pro kit was always heavy & brick shaped. However they have come a long way, but their definition of ergonomics leaves me baffled. I can live with lenses that focus the wrong way to infinity & dials that do strange things in strange locations. Give me my 1Dx bodies any day. Anyway Nikon’s flaws aside two days of shooting done & I am grateful for a supply of P20 Sun Cream.
Mad Dogs & Lawn Mowers
It could only be in England, that someone would come up with the idea of racing garden equipment.
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Stuart Wright (80) races with Gary Botting (9)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Les Pantry has a moment!
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Running repairs in the Pit Lane
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Samual Relf (80) leads Dean Fuller & Daniel Jones
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Pete Sque (32) leads Glyn Saunders (21)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Daniel Jones (26) & Ross Chalinor battle
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Race Winner Ian Tanswell (56) leads Peter Sque (32) and Stuart Johnson (8)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. . Race Winner Ian Tanswell (56) leads Peter Sque (32) and Stuart Johnson (8)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Race Winner Ian Tanswell (56) leads Peter Sque (32) and Dean Fuller (43)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. . Race Winner Ian Tanswell (56) leads Peter Sque (32) and Dean Fuller (43)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Mike Cresswell (58) leads Graham Tibbenham (123)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Mike Cresswell (58) leads Graham Tibbenham (123)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Les Pantry (12) & Paul Lovett (80)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Les Pantry (12), Richard Davies (17) & Paul Lovett (80)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Les Pantry (12), Kenny Goodesmith (50) & Paul Lovett (80)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Richard Davies (17)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Les Pantry (12), Stuart Wright (40)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. . And theyÕre off.
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Daniel Jones (26) & Sean Tanswell (18)
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Roger Knowlson (70) & Reginald Funnell
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey. Michael Nam relaxes between races.
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey.
22/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Action from the British Lawn Mower Racing from Newdigate, Surrey.
Wings & Wheels
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Solo Hawker Hurricane display
A dull overcast day with 100% cloud cover most of the day & rain for the rest of it, made for a dull set of photographs, so I thought I had better stick some filters into the process.
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Strikemaster display duo.
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Fireflys formation team
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. RAF Red Arrows (minus one due to technical problems)
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. RAF Red Arrows (minus one due to technical problems)
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Army Chinook display team.
15/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Strikemaster display duo.
Day two wasn’t an awful lot better & I bailed at lunch time.
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Jaguar D-Type
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Audi TT
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Chevrolet Corvett
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Audi RS6
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Ford Prefect Hot Rod
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Aston Martin
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey. Ford RAM
16/06/2019 From Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com. Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey.
Bloody Hot Day
Was tipped off about the Hells Angels “Ride Out” last weekend, so trundled out to Hand Cross, for about 0930hrs, having been told that the “Ride Out” would leave Pease Pottage at 1000hrs. I was informed that there would be more than 750 riders. However as the time dragged on, I was told that it would be 1100hrs, then 1300hrs and then eventually they left at 1400hrs.
There was a private event the night before with something like 3,000 Bikers from all over the world in attendance, to celebrate 50 years of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in the UK.
Instead of 750+ there were just over 100, as the Police had insisted that the people who organised it had the riders breathalysed prior to leaving, they had obviously had a bit of a session on the Friday night as many were still over the limit and didn’t take part. So bit of a damp squib.
Playing around
Been messing about again, seeing as there was nothing in the diary.
Damned that’s wide
Decided that it was time to go, super-wide, had a 14mm F2.8L & a 15mm F2.8, but after reading the reviews available decided that I really should have a Canon EF11-24mm F4L in the bag. Got an acceptable price for the 14mm from MPB and a 16-35mm F2.8L and went for it. Damned it is a heavy piece of glass, but feels nicely balanced on a 1Dx, would probably feel a little strange on a 5D or similar without a vertical grip.
I have to say that I am really very impressed with the quality on the test shots that I have done so far.
A revelation….
I just received a near metre long mouse mat, it is a revelation. Why the hell I played around with a 10×8 mouse mat for the last 25 years I have no idea. It covers quite a lot of the desktop, and means that the Magic Keyboard doesn’t slide and the mouse works everywhere on the desk top. Don’t think about it, just buy one.
New Toy Time
It’s arrived, Yay…Hopefully that will be the last acquisition for a while. I decided to bite the bullet & buy the lens that I have been hankering for since the announcement of its release.
The Canon 11-24mm F4L is certainly Canons widest linear corrected zoom lens. It is quite a weighty piece of glass. It is nice to use however the lens cap is a bit of a pain, because of the size of it, it will not fit in a pocket easily so I picked up a Lee Filters fabric cap.
New Gadget
New gadget for times when the ceiling is too high or too dark, will see how it goes over the next few days.
Bluetooth keyboard & mouse
Having upgraded to a Magic Mouse 2, I went the whole hog & also added a Magic Keyboard as well. Specifically the the one without the number pad, and boy does it make a difference so much extra space on the desktop. So fully charged & now unplugged, lets see how long it lasts until it needs charging again.
OK so an update is in order, originally charged nearly a month ago, the keyboard is at 89% and the mouse 22%, quite impressed.
Whoops, A gentle reminder
I was shooting at football yesterday and noticed that the lens mount felt loose, with the 70-200mm on the camera, carried on shooting as I had no alternative with me, and in a couple of frames there was a definite alignment issue. As you can see in the image below, muzzy top right and bottom left.
Got home later that day & checked, and all four of the lens mount screws were loose, not just a little bit loose either. I usually remove and reinstall them with some thread-lock when I buy the lens, but I appear to have missed this lens. So tightened them all back up & then thread-locked each one in turn. Whilst was at it I checked all of my other glass, without finding a problem, which is good news, as they are all transported and used in the same manner.
SO if you haven’t recently checked any screws that you can access are done up correctly, now is the time to do it.
Not too shabby
Not too shabby, considering it has taken 512,000 photographs in it’s life-time & still on the original shutter. Hope I am not tempting fate, but the camera still sounds and works as well as it’s much less used siblings, one with 90,000 frames & the other with 109,000
Wow, Just Wow!
Guildford City went to top of the league Sutton Common Rovers yesterday, after 28 minutes they were drawing 1-1, but down to 10 men. They went on to win 4-3.
It’s been a while…
It has been quite a while since I have printed photographs, most are shipped electronically, however as Guildford City have an end of season bash coming up, it seemed like a good idea to print some off for the players. Hadn’t thought that it would mean 22 A4 prints though. Anyhoo all done now.
Always nice
It’s always nice to be thanked for doing a job, today I received 12 of these from a client, thank you very much.
Been Playing Again
Sitting around whilst listening to Totteringham getting all “Spursy” I thought that I would have a go at a style of photography that I have never tried before, essentially floating product shots. I am not a huge fan of playing around with Photoshop, other than to crop/balance & other basic edits, but this type of work requires the building of images from multiple layers. This is a simple composite of two images, one the background & the other of the light meter. I certainly won’t be doing anything like this tomorrow during the football, as I will be glued to the Arsenal v Newcastle game.
Having Upgraded…
To a Magic Mouse 2, I went the whole hog & also added a Magic Keyboard as well. Specifically the the one without the number pad, and boy does it make a difference so much extra space on the desktop. So fully charged & now unplugged, lets see how long it lasts until it needs charging again.
New Mouse
Having had an old Apple Optical Mouse  (A1152) for a number of years, and on average having to clean the little scroll wheel every few weeks, I finally decided that I would go the wireless route again, (having had an Apple Mighty Mouse for a while but hated it) and purchased an Apple Magic Mouse 2 (A1657). The first impressions are very good, with luck it will have a long enough battery life to be usable. According to Apple it can recharge in less than five minutes to give enough charge for an 8 hour day. Pairing the device couldn’t be easier, plug it into a USB port on the machine you want to use it on, and  the Bluetooth pairing is done.
Great Location
What a great location for a job, the Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge.
Important job coming up
SO time for sensor & lens cleaning session, sensor cleaning is relatively painless, a quick wipe with Fairy Liquid & a pan scourer, obvs not the steel type, but the nylon ones. Lenses will be polished with windolene, the only downside is that it turns crusty & when wiping off and needs a lot of canned air or the close proximity of a powerful vacuum cleaner, the kind that the EU have now banned, so fire up the 10 year old “enry”.
On the other hand, seeing as I have some of this stuff knocking about …
Should only take about an hour to do three sensor cleans & 8 lenses (although only 4 will probably be used), including test photos & re-cleans. Then charge & condition the camera batteries (best do all of them) and charge the Eneloops and the Turbo also. Pack all the gear into the motor & actually do some work!
F*ck that was tough
That was bloody hard work today, with winds gusting at about a zillion miles an hour it made it very difficult shooting football, in a stadium it can be awkward, but when you have no shelter from the wind it is bloody awful. Probably shot the fewest frames in a football match ever because you simply couldn’t predict where the ball would land. If a clearance went 15 feet up, it could come down either where it was struck or 30 yards forward or back or to the side.
If you have a Manfrotto Magic Arm
If you have a Manfrotto Magic Arm and it makes a horrible clunk & or grinding noise when you lock it in place then you have a problem, not an insolvable one, but a bit fiddly.
The problem seems to be a bearing that jumps out of its runner so it needs to be put back in its place.
You will need an allen key, you may need some grease as well, if it has been doing it a while there may be bits of ball bearing floating around, so you may also need a replacement bearing set. Which are available from our friends Manfrotto Spares in Dunsfold .
Firstly loosen off the silver allen bolt a couple of turns, this will free up the locking handle end so that the handle can be removed by unscrewing it. Make sure that you keep the assembly together in your hands as you will otherwise be hunting for the 9 ball bearings on the floor. Once the handle has been removed you will see the three seats for the bearings.
Simply place one bearing in each seat, and re-assemble, takes all of 5 minutes. Job done, no more grinding.
Good luck , as with most things, Don’t try it if you are not confident that you can manage it, as I shall not be answering individual requests for help (probably), and don’t try it if you are in the warranty period, also accept no responsibility for you getting bearings stuck up your nose or any other orifice.
Found my old avatar
He has been missing for a number of years (probably more than 10) but he has been found, and cleaned up and may be re-used
Focus Stacking
Yesterday afternoon I decided that I would have a little experiment with Focus Stacking, to be honest, it wasn’t really something that was on my radar until recently, I it seemed like it was something rather complex & requiring of special software, but a bit of research & some experimentation and some trials (none too scientifically done, largely kind of finger in the air, seat of the pants stuff) but with a little practice I think that I can nail it. I have a project that I am thinking of using it on  in the not too distant future.
It’s not perfect but this was my first attempt, gladly receive any pointers from anyone with some experience.
Finished Focus Stack
The final image is a composite of 22 images, whilst not perfect it is, I think close, I shall have another go later in the week. The images were shot on a Canon 100mm Macro lens at 39cm at F6.3, the amount of DoF at that distance at that aperture is very little. The image below is the first in the sequence. Continue reading
Woeful Performance
Not a good day at the office yesterday as City lost 1-4 to AFC Hayes.
Just a few….
Just a few pics from a gig on Saturday night, when Five Chambers Full played in Guildford. Had to desaturate the images as the LED effect lighting was overpowering.
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Five Chambers Full
Chinese Imports
The power supply on my Old Apple Cinema 30 monitor went bang a couple of weeks ago & you can’t buy them from Apple anymore so it was either take a chance on ebay for a Power supply that is as old or possibly older than the one that has failed, or look further afield.
Today, my new PSU from China arrived & it is completely indistinguishable from the original supply, except for the tape hiding the Apple logo, plugged in & switched on & all is right with the world, except for the snow, outside, not settling.
It had to happen..
It had to happen eventually, last week I had my first ever SanDisk CF failure, first time in nearly 20 years since I moved from Lexar cards. The card was shipped  faulty, it formatted fine the first time, but couldn’t be written to in camera & wouldn’t mount on the desk top in a card reader, however myMemory turned around a replacement in pretty short order.
Another Good Win
Guildford City played Colliers Wood at the home of Frimley Green (as the Spectrum is still not available) City move up to 5th in the League.
Murder on the slow train
Police cordon was in place this afternoon at Horsley, a couple of train stops from Guildford. No one has been arrested yet, and there is a search on going in the Clandon area.
04/01/2019 Police Cordon in place at Horsley Tran Station after a man was stabbed to death on a train from Guildford to Waterloo
04/01/2019 Police Cordon in place at Horsley Tran Station after a man was stabbed to death on a train from Guildford to Waterloo
04/01/2019 Police Cordon in place at Horsley Tran Station after a man was stabbed to death on a train from Guildford to Waterloo
04/01/2019 Police Cordon in place at Horsley Tran Station after a man was stabbed to death on a train from Guildford to Waterloo
Christ
I had forgotten how shite floodlights at Non League level were, 12800 ISO just to get 1/1000 sec & F2.8. On a Saturday afternoon, guess I have been kind of spoiled by Premiership & Championship footy, anyone lend me an image intensifier?
