For my next trip (video)

Hi folks,

Kind regards,

Leigh

Another day another video (my lighting setup.)

March 12, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi folks,

As the title says, another day another video 🙂 . Hope it’s of use to someone. Note: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS A FEW FLASHING IMAGES.

Kind regards

Leigh

The art of considered packing. :)

March 10, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone, as I guess most of you know I love to get all the gear that I need for a shoot into the smallest lightest bag that I can find to do the job, in this case one of my older Tamrac Digitrek bags, a nice small well made bag which I’ve had for many years now. I’ve fitted my Heroclip to the carrying handle and it’s held in place during transit by one of the two side buckle clips passing over it so that it doesn’t slip around.

The bag is quite versatile and has an outside pocket in which I’ve stored my intervalometer and a most vital (and cheapest) 🙂 piece of kit, a section cut from a neoprene mouse mat which is a really useful if one gets a filter and/or lens hood stuck.

In the front zip up pocket I have stored my tiny Nikon Coolpix A100 with Joby mini tripod fitted, an SDHC card case, an 82 mm lens cap for my wide angle hoods, 2 spare camera batteries, 2 spare AAA batteries for the intervalometer, my GPS data logger and (in the red bag) my grey/white and black cards.

With the cards unpacked.

The inside comprises of a zip up transparent pocket in which I’ve stored several step up rings, a cleaning cloth, some lens wipes and the lanyard for the colour balance cards. In the main compartment I have my E-M1 camera plus VF-4 (right angle adjustable) electronic viewfinder (really useful for low down shots) which saves my old aching legs and back 🙂 , two lenses, my 12-32mm Lumix and my 9-18mm M.Zuiko and, in another one of my small red drawstring bags, two metal wide angle lens hoods to fit my ND filters.

With the hoods unpacked.

The bag is very compact for travelling as you can see from this shot of me holding it.

Using the Heroclip to hang the bag from one of my lightweight tripods both for added stability for the tripod and to keep the bag and its contents off of wet ground or, for that matter, hanging it from anything!. 🙂

This is my heaviest loadout at approx. 4 1/2 pounds but, not shown here, the bag also has two belt loops on the back of the bag to help distribute the weight. Stick my filter pouch into a jacket pocket or on my belt and I’m good to go. 🙂

Kind regards,

Leigh

More ND filter and custom white balance (CWB) experiments.

March 9, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi folks,

To pass some time I’ve been doing some more tests with my K&F concept ND filters, long exposures, noise reduction, my intervalometer and custom white balance. I was keen to see what happened colour cast and image quality wise when I stacked two of my filters, my ND1000 and my ND8-128 set at ND8 giving a total exposure lengthening of 13 stops (10+3). I first set the custom white balance with my 18% grey card and took one shot at 1/15 sec. @ f/3.5 with single autofocus for reference . I then fitted the filters with the custom white balance selected and took a 9 minute 6 seconds exposure with the camera in bulb mode and with the camera’s noise reduction enabled. As previous both shots were taken under identical lighting and at the same aperture and focal length. Note, one cannot set CWB with a 10 stop or greater ND filter fitted as it’s just too dark thus I left it set with the no filter CWB setting.

I think that the shot with the filters fitted is a tad more saturated but it’s extremely marginal and it’s most definitely worth enabling the noise reduction if it’s not already set to on or auto. The downside is that it more or less doubles the length of the shot as it takes a dark slide so I had to wait nearly 20 minutes to view the resulting image. As an additional experiment I repeated this with noise reduction turned off but the result was pretty poor. Enabling noise reduction doesn’t present me with any issues as, given my interests, I’m unlikely to take many extreme long exposure shots.

Custom white balance and no filter for reference.

Same custom white balance setting with ND1000 and variable ND8-128 set at ND8.

Kind regards

Leigh

Custom white balance adjustments to correct K&F Concept ND filter colour casts.

March 8, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I did some tests this morning using custom white balance (CWB) with my various K&F concept ND filters. These were all conducted at the same aperture and ISO and under identical lighting conditions using an 18% grey card to set white balance without any filters fitted and each time I fitted a different filter. I was particularly interested to see if there was a shift of colour cast at each of the variable ND filter settings.

First a CWB shot taken without any filter for reference.

Now with the variable ND 8-128 filter @ ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64 and ND128. Custom white balance taken at ND8 setting and applied throughout.

Now the ND2-32 variable + CPL filter set at ND2, ND4, ND8, ND 16 and ND32 with no changes made to the CPL. Custom white balance taken at ND2 setting and applied throughout.

Lastly the ND1000 filter which is underexposed. I manually focussed before fitting the filter as it was too dark for the autofocus to lock.

With 1 stop exposure correction

With 1.5 stops exposure correction

I’m quite happy with these tests, the variable filters seem to be pretty consistent in terms of any colour casts across their setting range. There are some fairly minor changes to exposure/saturation but nothing that I can’t live with and one can set a custom white balance for each filter. I’ll happily use auto white balance all the time with the exception of when I have an ND filter fitted. Another thing I was looking for was if there was any noticeable decrease in sharpness and, if it is there, I think that it is minimal to say the very least, I can’t see it.

I should just add that this isn’t in any way a criticism of their filters, I’m happy with them and, in my opinion, they’re good quality filters at a fair price and there are far more expensive makes out there that also exhibit a colour cast. The important thing is finding a reliable method to correct for it, in the field when there’s not anything white in the frame that can be used to sample white balance in post processing..

Kind regards

Leigh

Gear and gadgets video

March 5, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

My first attempt at a video featuring some of my favourite photographic gear and gadgets which I hope you might find of interest. The cable release takes two AAA batteries which is handy, I’m using re-chargeable batteries in it. The Neewer tripod also has 360 degrees marking around the ball head to aid panoramic work and a spirit level. One can download the GPS log files from the Holux data logger to the computer via the USB port and use software such as Geosetter plus Exiftool (both free) to add GPS information to one’s RAW files. It can also act as a mock GPS provider using the built in bluetooth connection to a mobile phone.

Kind regards

Leigh

Nicely designed filter pouch.

March 1, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

For some time now I’ve been looking for a good filter pouch that wouldn’t break the bank. Like all photo accessories one can pay a fortune for something really well made (but not necessarily well designed) from a prestigious brand name or get one as “cheap as chips” that’s tatty and three parts next to useless. I’ve found one that’s really nicely made and affordable 🙂 . This pouch is made by JJC, it holds three filters up to 82mm diameter and has a strap fastening and belt loop. The elasticated neoprene pockets hold the filters securely. I haven’t got any 82mm filters but it certainly holds my biggest filter size, 62mm without a problem. I’ve had ones that are larger and also ones where one has to be very careful that the filters don’t fall out and the mesh-pocketed type can get snagged on filters with “levers” like my variable ND/CPL filter but this one would seem to tick all of my boxes. I don’t have any affiliations with JJC but I do own several of their products including quite a few of their lens hoods and I’ve found their quality, functionality and pricing to be good. Oh, and the price, £8.99 UK. 🙂

Kind regards

Leigh

My long exposure HDR gear selection worked well.

February 28, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in photography, Photography equipment, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

For my trip into Bognor yesterday I took my Olympus E-M5 II, Lumix 12-32mm lens, 58mm fit K&F Concept ND8-ND128, ND2-32/CPL and ND1000 filters. In the end I decided on taking my small Slik Tripod which I’ve modified by changing the ball head to one from a SLIK monopod that I had as it has a quick release plate. I also took my JJC radio remote trigger, a 62mm metal wide angle lens hood and a couple of step up rings.

All of these filters will attach to the 12-32mm lens with the aid of a 37mm-58mm step up ring. The 62mm hood will attach directly to the front of the ND8-128 filter, as it has a 62mm front filter thread, and with a 58mm to 62mm step up ring one can attach the hood to the ND1000 filter. The odd one out is the variable ND/CPL filter which has a 67mm front filter thread for which I don’t as yet 🙂 have a hood.

I chose the small SLIK tripod because it has five position adjustable leg sections and a screw in column extension should this be required. The whole setup worked very well and was reassuringly stable, I even used it, minus the tripod, ND filter/s and hood and fitted with my smaller regular lens hood to take some candid street shots using silent shutter with the lens set to 12mm and the camera triggered by the radio remote release with the camera hanging around my neck. Not something that I’m in a habit of doing but rather as a fun experiment. 🙂

Kind regards,

Leigh

Blog design update etc..

February 25, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re all keeping safe and well. This morning I decided to update my blog design a bit to hopefully showcase my work a bit better. I have quite an extensive body of work which I’d like to attempt to present on my blog in addition to my website, particularly for those that are new to my blog and may not be familiar with my landscape work.

I’ m hoping to get out again soon and get some new shots. I’m keen to continue my experiments with long-exposure HDR. I made a start the other day with my brief visit to the seafront, it’s a learning curve. It was very sunny with a very cold wind on the seafront. I couldn’t really see in the LCD even with my LCD shade fitted and the camera position made the EVF too low down. The wind was so strong it was blowing the tripod around so it’s a miracle than anything was sharp!. 🙂 I also didn’t have a strong enough ND filter with me, it needed a 10 stop ND in such strong direct sunlight and the variable one I had with me only went to a maximum of 7 stops.

As I guess you all know, I absolutely hate tripods and lumping them around on foot. Even with the relatively lightweight one that I took with me my left shoulder and neck were pretty painful the following day. Next time I’ll take my Gorillapod which I’ve had for some years now and hardly used, and try and find something to rest it on or attach it to. At least it’s very light and compact and if I don’t end up using it then I’m not carrying something heavier around all day just on the off chance I’ll end up using it 🙂 . As my camera gear is small and lightweight then it’s well suited for the Gorillapod. I’ve also just taken delivery of a K&F concept combined variable ND + CPL filter which I’m keen to try out ASAP.

Kind regards

Leigh

Two hoods are better than none but one hood is better than two. :)

February 19, 2021 by Leigh Kemp - UK-based "Paintographer" in Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

If you haven’t seen my previous post then the title will not make any sense at all. 🙂 . I’ve found a better solution for attaching one of my 58mm variable ND filters to my Lumix 12-32mm lens without vignetting. I attached a 37-58mm step up ring onto which the 58mm filter fits and then my 62mm metal wide-angle lens hood fits on the end of the filter. Simply unscrew my normal hood and screw on this arrangement instead, very quick and easy. 🙂 . The hood takes an 86mm lens cap and I can still leave on the 37mm protection filter on the lens if I choose so less fiddling about. Another advantage is that I can rotate the hood to rotate the filter which make adjustment quicker and easier.

I hope that I’m not boring too many of you with these kind of posts but, as we’re still in lockdown and I cannot get out I don’t have many new pictures to work with. I like passing on my finds as someone out there might find them of interest. After nearly four and a half months virtually confined to home, I’m chewing the carpet in desperation to get out, anywhere, preferably scenic, will do!. 🙂

Kind regards,

Leigh

As I sit here looking at my modern digital cameras I’m reminded of my first camera and, in particular, the first photograph that I ever took. Nowadays we take cameras and camera technology pretty much for granted but when I was a child I can’t remember many photographs. The only time our camera saw the light of day, and it had to be the light of day, as there wasn’t a flash, was on a few family occasions, the usual thing, school sports days, birthdays, etc.. My interest in photography didn’t start until my grandfather “loaned” me his camera to take with me on a week-long school trip, sleeping under canvas, in Snowdonia, North Wales. It was a somewhat battered old twin-lens reflex camera in which one looked downwards in to the viewfinder when taking a photograph.

I remember being very excited at being entrusted with the family camera, film wasn’t cheap and I had very little to no idea how to use it. The experience must have made some kind of impression on me as, after all these years, I still remember taking my first photograph. The coach stopped en-route at Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill and it became the subject of my first photograph. Although, sadly, like my other photographs from the trip, it has long since disappeared, however, I really don’t need the photograph to remind me as the experience is indelibly etched on my mind. I wonder if this is perhaps where my interest in landscape photography stems from but that’s probably too much of an assumption. As far as I remember I was the only kid on the trip to have a camera, that’s how different things were, nowadays, just about everyone has a camera of some sort built in to their mobile phones. It also taught me to be disciplined to the point of being frugal when taking photographs as the trip was for one week and I only had a 12 exposure black and white film in the camera.

Some years later I really got the photography bug and bought my first camera, an Olympus OM-1 35 mm film camera and I went on to own their OM-2 and OM-4ti cameras and a range of lenses. Film was still pretty expensive considering I earned about £20 a week in my first job so I got in to developing and printing my own black and white and, later, colour films to help keep the costs down and make things more affordable. Not only did this experience teach me an awful lot about image-making start to finish, many of the techniques and skills that I learned in my makeshift darkroom, a small room adorned with genuine World War 2 blackout curtains fitted to keep out the light, another hand-me-down from my grandfather, these skills would re-surface and be invaluable some years later when I started working on processing my digital images.

I put myself through University as a mature student and I badly needed the money so I had to very reluctantly part with all my photographic equipment, but needs must. After I graduated I bought my first digital camera, a small fixed lens Kodak compact camera, reduced in a sale. It had, by today’s standards, a laughably small maximum image resolution of 640×480 pixels or, to put it another way, a stunning 0.4 Megapixels!. For all of this and further equipped with screw on wide angle and telephoto lens attachments, it proved to be a fabulous little camera which I took all over the place with me. Put simply, digital photography was a revelation, to me, no requirement for film, no real running costs and a lot of image capacity on a small memory card which I found absolutely liberating.

A few years before that I had discovered some free graphics editing software on the cover disk of a computer magazine and that started off my real passion for working with graphics and, ultimately, photo processing. So I then had all the tools I required to develop, pun intended and further, my interest in digital photography. Processing is where the magic starts for me, I am totally absorbed in and fascinated by the range of options that digital processing affords me. It encourages me, if, that is, I ever need encouragement, to constantly experiment with new styles, new techniques and is such an important part of my enjoyment and interest in photography.

I went on to own several DSLRs but, as I got older I began to find that they were simply too heavy and bulky. I switched over back in 2013 to Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses. My choice of MFT system was heavily influenced by my experiences with my Olympus film cameras, maybe it was, in truth, part based on nostalgia that I decided on their OM-D system. As a landscape/travel photographer I have to carry my gear around all day and the weight and bulk saving is highly significant. I’ve been very impressed with the image quality of my Micro Four Thirds equipment, it has traveled with me extensively, never let me down and I have never had cause to question my decision to go over to that format.

So my 50-plus year photographic adventure has led me from twin-lens reflex and single-lens reflex film cameras to digital cameras, from stumbling around in a dimly-lit darkroom to working with my images on my computer. I’ve heard it said on occasions, including a comment I read some while back by a very famous photographer, that cameras being so much an every-day item now and available in mobile phones etc. devalues photography. I feel quite the opposite, I firmly believe that it empowers everyone with affordable technology to take photographs and enjoy photography and that, in my opinion, is fantastic. Although I’ve very much enjoyed my personal photographic journey I do confess to feeling a slight tinge of regret that the technology wasn’t available when I started out but one can’t put the clock back and I intend to keep on embracing all these great technological advancements, experimenting and enjoying my work.

Cameras:

Olympus: OM-D E-M5 Mk II (titanium) & HLD-8G grip, OM-D E-M1 Mk I (black) & HDL-7 grip, OM-D EM-5 Mk I (silver) & HDL-6 grip, PEN EPL-5, PEN EP-5 (silver) +VF-4, PEN E-PL8 (Silver) +VF4, Tough TG-5 (red), PEN-F (silver), Canon Powershot G10, Nikon Coolpix A100

Lenses:

Olympus: M.Zuiko: 12 mm f/2, 17 mm f/1.8, 25 mm f/1.8, 45 mm f/1.8, 30 mm f/3.5 macro, 9 mm f/8 body cap fisheye, 15 mm f/8 body cap, 9-18 mm, 12-50 mm, 12-40 mm f/2.8 PRO, 14-150 mm II, 40-150 mm II, 12-45mm f/4 PRO, MCON-P02.

Sigma: ART 60 mm f/2.8.

Samyang: Manual focus 7.5 mm f/3.5 fisheye.

TT Artisan: Manual focus 17mm f/1.4, 23mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4.

Panasonic Lumix: 14 mm f/2.5, 20 mm f/1.7, 12-32 mm x2 (black and silver), 12-60 mm, 14-42 mm II, 35-100 mm, 45-150mm.

PEN E-P5, 9-18mm,12-32mm, 40-150mm II. A lightweight kit with virtually continuous coverage from 18mm wide angle to 300mm telephoto.

OM-D E-M1 I, 14-150mm II, 12-40mm PRO. . Heavier than my other kits but with complete weather-sealing. Coverage from 24mm wide angle to 300mm telephoto with some overlap for backup.

OM-D E-M5 II, 17mm, 35mm, 12-60mm. A balance of two fun manual focus lenses with a weather-sealed body and zoom lens.

PEN E-PL5, 9mm, 15mm, 25mm, 60mm, 12-50mm. Another lightweight fun kit with a zoom option.

TG-5, OM-D E-M5 mk1, 7.5mm, 12mm, 17mm, 45mm, 30mm macro. M-CON.

PEN-F, 14mm, 20mm, 12-32mm, 35-100mm. Probably my favourite lightweight day-to-day kit. Two fast primes and two zoom with almost continuous coverage from 24mm wide angle through to 200mm telephoto.

Software:

Corel: Paintshop Pro Elite 2020 & Video Studio 2019.

Skylum Software: Aurora HDR 2019, Luminar 4, Luminar AI and Luminar Neo.

DXO Labs: PhotoLab 5 Elite, Viewpoint 3, NIK Collection 6, Film Pack 5 and PureRAW.

Anthropics Technologies: Landscape Pro Studio 3 and Portrait Pro.

EyeQ: Perfectly Clear

Topaz Labs: Studio 2, Sharpen AI, A.I Gigapixel, AI Clear, AI Adjust, DeNoise AI and Various legacy plugins.

Adobe: Lightroom.

GreenScreenWizard Studio Pro.

Serif: Affinity Photo

Microsoft: Image Composite Editor (Free).

Darktable (Free).

Olympus: Olympus Capture, Olympus Workspace and Olympus Webcam (Free to Olympus owners).

Sony: Movie Studio Platinum.

Lighting Gear:

Godox TT350o flash, Godox X1T radio flash trigger, Godox Lux Junior flash, LED ring flash, GVM RGB LED light, Olympus MAL-1 Macro Arm Light. Two Godox LED36 lights, Godox Litemons LED6R light. Three Bowen studio flash heads, barndoors, honeycombes, umbrellas and flash meter.