Setting yourself a challenge

Now that I'm unable to get out and about as often as I used to for my photography, I've found it increasingly important to actively set a challenge for myself. I love photography - the process, the equipment, the satisfaction of a photograph well taken - but without having something in place to make me pick up my camera, it would languish within the camera bag.

Picture info: Lumix GH4, Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm ISO1000, f/8, 1/2000 sec

I got around this last year by setting myself a Photo 52 challenge which, as you may have guessed, means taking a photo a week. I'd undertaken a Photo 365 in 2014 (results here), but thanks to my busy work and increasingly-busy home life, I just knew that I know longer had the time to dedicate to another one. It was tricky enough without a family!

Picture info: Lumix GH4, Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm ISO200, f/1.2, 1/8000 sec

Not only does a challenge make you get your camera out, it also makes you look for shots. And not just the every-day (though occasionally that's all you find you've got on the memory card). You start to take light a bit more seriously, grabbing the moment before it is gone as you realise that it probably won't happen again that week, nor indeed again.

Picture info: Lumix GH4, Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm ISO200, f/5.6, 1/200 sec

Since finishing my Photo 52 of 2017, I've moved offices with work. No longer am I bang center in the middle of Brighton - now, I'm in the suburban dreariness of Hove. This has given me added impetus for another Photo 52, and so 2018 starts with a new batch of photos. Now that I don't have Brighton's characters, architecture or life to play with, before work or at lunch, my shots now have to come from somewhere else. And so the hunt begins anew...

Picture info: Lumix GH4, Lumix G Vario 12-32mm @ 12mm ISO200, f/7.1, 1/320 sec

(attached images are from my Photo 52 2017)

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Lessons from RIAT 2018

Last weekend I got up stupidly early to travel half way across the country to attend an airshow. But what an airshow! The Royal International Air Tattoo 2018! A word of warning - this is going to be a looooong post. Grab yourself a cup of tea and settle down... I haven't been to an airshow, or at least shot aircraft flying since the Goodwood Revival in 2015, where they had a number of warbirds from the Second World War flying. My equipment back then was my trusty GH3 with the first-generation Lumix 100-300mm lens, and my GM5 with Lumix 14-140mm as backup. These performed well as a pair, allowing me to grab take off, landing, and formation shots with the surprisingly-capable GM5, and the longer, single aircraft detail shots with the GH3. At the time, AF-S was used on both cameras, as I didn't trust the reliability of the continuous auto-focus offered by either - bare in mind that at this point, Panasonic had yet to introduce their Depth from Defocus technology to assist wit...

Examples from the PL50-200mm

After I waxed lyrically about it , readers may well have expected a review from me by now of my "recently"-purchased Panasonic Leica f/2.8-4 50-200mm telephoto lens, and I do indeed plan to write one in time. However, I don't seem to be able to find the time to get in front of the keyboard for an extended period. So rather than leave you with nothing, instead I'll provide you with some example shots which I hope provide you with some insight into just how well the lens performs. Some of the images are with the 1.4 teleconverter, which I'll note in the information. I'm heading to Duxford for Flying Legends in a week's time, so will be able to show some images other than nature. Hopefully I'll be able to provide you with a more comprehensive delve into the lens next time I update the site. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these... Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm f/2.8-4 ISO200, f/4.5, 1/1600 sec, 200mm ISO200, f/4, 1/250 sec...

A dark night, and a brace of Voigtlanders

I fell in love with the Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm prime as soon as I mounted it on my GH4 a few years back. It properly sprang to life once I moved over to the Lumix G9 - the higher-resolution viewfinder made it much, much easier to check focus, and I feel that the sensor was able to benefit from the lens more than the GH4's was. Due to coronavirus in the UK, I've left the area where I live on very few occasions. I am lucky in that I have the South Downs to the north, and the English Channel to the south - and both are only a five minute walk away for me. Despite coronavirus, I've ensured that I've kept my Photo 52 challenge up to date. This forces me to get out with my camera so that I at least have one image, no matter how rubbish it is, to show for my week. As the nights have grown longer, the Voigtlander 17.5mm and its 42.5mm brother have both joined me on my evening walks, so I thought I'd show you a few shots I grabbed the other evening whilst traipsing ...

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