Saturday 24 November 2012

Jack Rowberry - Hide Away - Music video


Todays blog post is all about shooting and editing the music video for the Musician Jack Rowberry.




More details below

Thursday 25 October 2012

Monday 8 October 2012

Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 VC USD Full Frame review



The Tamron 24-70mm VC lens is my latest addition to my camera bag and is currently taking the place of its older brother the Tamron 28-75mm.

It may sound crazy buying a lens which is almost the same as a lens I already have and also spending £900 for a lens which didnt really need upgraded. (now around 820pounds)

Let me first explain that the Tamron 28-75mm is a fantastic lens and for its price, I don't think anything can beat it.
It is still for sale for under £350 (as of October 2012) here is a link


That lens is fantastically sharp in the centre, it focal range is great and its macro ability is very impressive.
In the studio it rocks, and it has been my go to lens for weddings. Its f/2.8 is bright appreciated and its aperture ring has been great so that with just a cheap adapter I have been able to use the Nikon version on my Canon cameras for video work.
When shooting weddings i always take a bag full of other lenses but 95% of the time I end up just using the Tamron 28-75, it stays on the camera the whole time, and maybe my backup camera will have a wider lens for more landscape shots.

So why the hell upgrade then?

Good question,  and further more why not upgrade to the Nikon 24-70, surely that should be better?

Maybe so, but lets find out what is good about this lens and how it stacks up against its competitors


First thing to figure out is its PRICE

The Tamron 24-70vc lens is currently available from Amazon for around £820, if you go to any highstreet shop such as Jessops or Calumet you will find it is more around the £1099

Compare that to the rivals
The Nikon 24-70 is £1199 (now up to 1250)
Canon 24-70 mark2 is £2299 (now down to 1800)
Sigma 24-70 is £690(now around 599)
Old Tamron 28-75 is £350

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Canon: Picture style settings



 Although not totally obvious the different picture styles that canon provides in its cameras do have subtle differences which if shooting Jpeg......(ughhh) then they will affect your images.  If you shoot raw then the picture style settings have no affect on your raw file.

more details after the break

Sunday 12 August 2012

Explaning 35mm Equivalent Focal length of your Lenses





Trying to explain the confusion about focal length when manufacturers put in the confusing term of Equivalent into the sales speech. Focal length on all dslr lenses are measured in MM (millimeters) and if it is a 50mm lens on a full frame camera it is still a 50mm lens on a cropped frame camera but the only difference is you see less of the bits at the side making it look like it is zoomed in, but the perspective is not changed so it is the same as putting a toilet roll around your eye, your eye still has the same perspective you just cant see stuff round the edges

please donate to a charitable cause
visit https://www.justgiving.com/DomBower



Sunday 29 July 2012

Do Not Edit Facial Features! Portrait photography editing tip




DO NOT EDIT SOMEONES FACIAL FEATUERS: unless they ask you to. If there is a mole, a birthmark, a droopy eye, a crooked nose etc, do not edit that unless they ask you to. Small wrinkles, spots, blood vessels, out of place hair, makeup etc, yes, but not the elemenst that make up a persons face and which make it unique to them.


Property Video Tips


To see the completed video check this page of my property video companyhttp://www.movingproperty.tv/a/djalexander/16xtn


Dont use auto anything!


Screwing Up White Balance: IN YOUR EYES!

So it seems like my eyeballs have a white balance setting which I can mess up, I can even have one eye see things more blue and the other more red! For this to be more impressive for you do it while outside, it is very interesting





I Just Made a Fricking Planet! With a GoPro






Wednesday 25 July 2012

Sony ECM-DS70P Stereo Mic Review and example

The audio on the gopro hero camera is duff at best. the new gopro hero 2 has the ability to get a skeleton case where you can attach an external microphone to it, I got a little one to fit on the side which is a stereo one from sony. the audio is better but it is still not great, here i show you the benefits and downfalls of it.







Ugly people need to be shot, and Stupid People need to ignored

Firstly to anyone stupid out there. No I am not advocating killling people because of our perceptions of beauty or lack there of. The word shot is in reference to having there photo taken.  Here is the detail in a nice little video for you.



Some of the slower people out there didnt get the message in the video and were to dumbstruck by the words used that they instantly felt offended. Well big deal you were offended. but the shit thing is that as a photographer you are going to have to deal with being offended a lot, and here is my advice regarding that as well.





Saturday 14 July 2012

Fat Photographer No More!

This will be my only post on this site regarding weightloss and exercise.


At the start of this year I hit a worring weight, 102.4kgs (16.1Stone or 226lbs) I was the typical, Fat bald photographer that I didn't think I was. On the BMI chart that took me to 31BMI which is OBESE.  My job as a property photographer requires me driving around a lot and I am constantly needing change for parking.  I would make excuses that I needed to buy a Mars bar so that I could get change. I counted it all up, and I found out I was eating around 1000Kcal extra a day of just junk food. But I was going to the gym, and lifting heavy weights, and I made more excuses that it was ok because I would be burning up those calories when I lift the weights. Wrong.

I had to stop making excuses and take control, stop thinking that I was just big and muscly when in fact I was just very fat with a bit of muscle.

Now I am 84kg (13.2Stone or 185lbs)





Friday 6 July 2012

Headshot: Comedian

Head shots, portraits are all about getting the essence of the person you are shooting, or capturing the essence they want to portray.  For a lot of the time it will be a job of making someone look friendly, strong, sexy, masculine, feminine, mature, good looking, happy, serious, neutral or what ever



Sunday 24 June 2012

Low Budget Wedding Photography Tips

so you are shooting your friends wedding. there is no budget and you just have to use your own kit. And there is not much pressure. Ok well here is a couple of tips to make sure you get some good shots and also please your friends with the images that you capture of their big day.









Tuesday 22 May 2012

I have been testing out the Glidetrack HD Hybrid Slider: From Glide track;
It is the upgrade i have got myself from the hague camslide. The quality difference is very very noticeable but would i think it would make any difference to the shoots?
http://www.youtube.com/user/Glidetrack

In truth there is little difference in the shots but there is a MASSIVE difference in the speed at which i am now able to work, and a big drop in wasted shots from having jittery movement and thus a lot less swearing from myself when i am on a job. workflow is now vastly speeded up as an added benefit the editing is also much faster now.

My advice would be to go for the hybrid slider but with the longer track. a minimum of a meter but best go for the 1.5m length. I doubt you would own it and be disappointed in anyway.

http://www.glidetrack.com/home

http://www.glidetrack.com/products/hd-range/glidetrack-hybrid-slider.html

For more examples of videos using the glide track check out this page


http://www.movingproperty.tv/a/dj-alexander







My new photography book. click below

Boxing Match: Gopro vs Canon 550d

Testing the gopro hero 2 video abilities against the canon 550d in a low light indoors fast sports conditions.

The guy in the red shorts won.








My new photography book. click below