I love the detail I can get from my camera

Posted on 08/01/2013 by cliveflint

Upgrading a camera is always a time for reflection. Is the new one worth the extra money or should I just continue with what I already own.

Having owned a Nikon D700 for a while I was interested in the new D800. I was then disappointed in what I saw. 36Mp is rather large (over 42Mb images when shooting RAW), ISO up to 6,400 as standard – same as my D700, two different card slots – I normally use CompactFlash but now need an SD card as well.

Various buttons have moved as well to make room for the video setup. Now video is one area I was interested in using. It was sorely missing from my D700.

Having weighed up the pros and cons of the new camera I decided to stay with my D700 for the foreseable future. It could print to A3 at roughly 300dpi and low light shots up to 3,200 ISO looked fantastic.

Then a friend kindly lent me his D800 for a week. That was not a good idea. I was able to investigate the camera and what it was capable of.

Damm. It’s good.

36Mp allows me to print up to A2 at 300dpi. I love printing large. The dynamic range is quite high at 11 stops. The level of detail you can get from the sensor is fantastic. It shoots better at 6,400 ISO than my D700 did at 3,200.

Some people say it’s not fast enough but for my purposes 4fps is fast enough. I mainly shoot at 2fps and have done for many years. Just think how fast you’d fill a memory card rattling off shots at 8fps.

Here is a photo taken last week showing the full 7630 x 4912 (36Mp) resolution available.

French Horn Full size

and this is the equivalent D700 file size at 4256 x 2832 (12Mp).

French Horn D700 File size

If you click on the links you’ll see the size difference.

This camera is made for detail and whilst you have to be careful in how you take a photo you can get some lovely images out of it.

View from behind the orchestras at the last concert

Speakeasy Three featuring the Swing Ninjas

Posted on 03/12/2012 by cliveflint

I was asked to take some photos of the Speakeasy Three during their video single production. I think it’s possibly the best Sunday taking photos I’ve had for a while. The singers, band, dancers and extras all looked the part and the production crew did what they do best and put it all together.

Speakeasy Three in action.

The dancing was choreographied by Lindy-Lizzie Abrahams who has a dance group trained and ready to swing.

Production Crew in action.

Everyone gave their time for free and it was amazing how many turned up to be a part of this.

More photos are available here with a slideshow here.

Summer Jazz Night

Posted on 20/07/2012 by cliveflint

Picture the scene, A darkened room, tables with guests sitting around having a drink whilst relaxing. Colourful lighting on stage and some music stands and chairs which promises an evening of music at the Summer Jazz Night.

Big Band singers and rappers

This is what we had last night at The Old Market in Brighton. The Big Band played, the singers sung and the rappers did what they do best. The sound in the hall was clear and not too loud and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I hope the musicians remembered to enjoy it as well.

Big Band

I would certainly recommend coming to see the band when they are next playing. Check out the BHMAS website for more details.

Some more images from the evening. The full set of photos are here.

Waiting to perform

Rappers on stage

Blowing your own…

Singing his heart out

This is what happens when you ask about shooting in the dark

Audience at The Old Market

Singing

More singing

Rappers

The full set of photos are here.

Wizard of Oz

Posted on 18/07/2012 by cliveflint

I was lucky enough to be involved in Harlequin Studios’ production of The Wizard of Oz.

The dance school did a wonderful job and the production was lively with some great acting. The main characters were animated and delightful.

Dorothy and friends enjoying a moment

The dancing was fantastic with some wonderful choreography especially for the tornado sequence.

Tornado dance

All the dance groups had various routines throughout the show which were amazing.

Emerald City Guards

Everyone enjoyed the witch and cat sequences with many a humorous moment as the cat got the better of the witch.

Wicked Witch of the West and her Cat

Of course Dorothy gets the better of the witch in the end but it seems they are the best of friends when not performing.

Dorothy and the Witch

A lot of effort goes into one of these productions starting many months in advance and a large amount of people are involved both on stage and behind the scenes. Janice received an extremely large card that was taller than herself from the young ladies who were leaving as a thank-you for all she’s done.

Click here to view all the photos.

Prom Photos

Posted on 06/07/2012 by cliveflint

Prom Photos

See the full set in my store.

Despite the gloomy weather today I didn’t think it would affect the Patcham High School Prom. Luckily I was right (phew!). Having been asked to take some prom photos for a parent we ended up at the Amex Community Stadium with all the lovely young people waiting to party.

Becky and a couple of friends, Graham Roberton and Natalie Steel all looked lovely.

My friends daughter, Becky, looked stunning in her pink dress as seen here with her brother Matt at the Ladies Mile pub.

So after a quick stop to get a photo with her brother Matt they were whisked away to the party.

Everyone seemed to have dressed up and some even came in unique modes of transport including a tractor, a DHL lorry, a group of mini cars, an Aston Martin and not many limos.

Everyone seemed happy including the staff.

Click on the images to see the rest of the photos.

West Side Story at Patcham High

Posted on 29/06/2012 by cliveflint

Patcham High have produced West Side Story this week. After months of rehearsals show week finally arrived.

I was lucky enough to photograph the production from both front of house and backstage. The students were great, the acting brilliant, the set fantastic. With the lighting and music it made for an enjoyable evenings entertainment.

Chance coffee meetup in Brighton

Posted on 24/06/2012 by cliveflint

Chance Meetings

It’s funny what can happen when you wait for a film to be processed at ColourStream in Brighton. As all the tables were taken in the local coffee shop I inquired if I could share a table. After a few minutes I was asked which way the seafront was. We started chatting and it turns out that my table mate was over from Dublin, Ireland looking for somewhere to stay when she studies at Sussex University.

This is Catherine having coffee. I hope you enjoy it.

Charlotte at Brighton Media Centre

Posted on 16/06/2012 by cliveflint

I was lucky enough to photograph a friend this week with the help of Bryan Jay at Brighton Media Centre. Bryan has the task of getting the basement studio used more often. There is an infinity cove, used here. Infinity coves are useful in getting rid of corners in photos. I wish I could carry one around with me.

Here are the results. Many thanks to Charlotte for putting up with Bryan and me for the afternoon.

Film Scans – Brighton Fashion Week 2012

Posted on 11/06/2012 by cliveflint

Digital is great – It’s instant, no developing and printing costs, large capacity cards means you can shoot as much as you like.

Film on the other hand is not instant, costs money to develop, 10 shots to a roll means bulging pockets and you have to scan your film afterwards, which takes time.

But

Film, especially medium format allows you to rescan a negative at higher resolution than digital. My Nikon D700 is limited to 4,256 x 2,832 pixels which is fine but if I wanted to blow up a part of an image I’m suddenly down to not that many pixels.

The new Nikon D800 is much better giving 7,360 x 4,912 pixels which is quite mind blowing from a 35mm camera.

My film camera shoots on 120 film at 6 x 7 cm image size. Depending on the resolution of the scan I can get 20,000 x 24,000 pixel images. My preferred size is 10,000 x 12,000 for printing large.

The printed image should be sharper as I can keep the ppi (pixels per inch) higher so you can get closer to look at the image before it starts breaking up into individual pixels. The film, Kodak Portra 160 NC appears grainless even at high resolutions. In fact, it’s down to the quality of the lens that affects the final image when zooming in.

Here’s a 6 x 7 scan. The resolution is at 50% as WordPress couldn’t cope with the original image. Click on the image for a full size copy.Here is a crop of her face.

Martha close up taken from same negative as previous image

The image shows no visible grain (that I can see). Click on the image for a full size version.

For comparison here is a similar crop from my D700 on a similar image. As you can see the image is much smaller.

This is 184 x 230 image taken from my D700

So Digital has it’s place, but so does film. I use both when I remember and the need arises.

Here are some more film scans from Brighton Fashion Week.

Enjoy.

Brighton Fashion Week: Zeitgeist Show

Gallery

Posted on 08/06/2012 by cliveflint

This gallery contains 27 photos.

Last Thursday saw the Zeitgeist Show at All Saints Church, Hove as part of the Brighton Fashion Show. Here are some images from the show. Each designer put on a wonderful show with their designs, the models did their part … Continue reading →