Monthly Archives: June 2011

27Jun

Camera Shutter Actuations

Posted in FAQ, General, Photography 101, Tips-Tricks | 1 Comment

Image from Photo-help.com

Have you ever wanted to know exactly how many times your shutter has fired? Invariably your images receive a filename partially based on a 4 digit number starting at 0001 and rolling over at 9999. How many times has it rolled over at 9999? Whilst I can’t speak for Canon users, on my Nikon’s I can go back to my external HDD (Hard Disk Drives) and laboriously search for DSC_9999.nef (.jpg) and work out there are say 12 of those thus the camera in question has fired at least 12,000 images. Time consuming and hardly accurate if you have deleted a few 9999 shots, or if you have backed up to DVD and deleted sets.

If you are familiar with EXIF tagging, at least on my Nikon’s, the total overall shutter count is recorded within each image. So how do you check that camera’s mileage?

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26Jun

Happy 50th Björn.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Björn, 5th from L in green top.

We think of you, Judy, Connor and Angus often. Wherever you are,  we hope you have a happy day and hope that one day we may be able to reunite and celebrate it with you.

Harvey, Christelle, Alexander and Georg.

16Jun

Lunar Eclipse – Compilation

Posted in Astrophotography, eShop, Gear, Hardware, Mirror, No Metering, Photography 101, Portfolio, Print for Sale, Tips-Tricks, Tripod | 4 Comments

Despite 4 hours of standing outdoors in the freezing Highveld winter near Jo’burg, it was fun! What photography isn’t? Thanks to my friend Wayne for letting me shoot on his plot and keeping the coffee, red wine and conversation flowing! I eventually lost the feeling in my feet, it was so cold. The joys of outdoor photography :)

Lunar Eclipse 2011 06 15 © HarveyG Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How was it shot? See my technique here:

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15Jun

Lunar Eclipse – 2011 06 15

Posted in General, Photography 101, Software, Tips-Tricks | Leave a comment

Some readers might be interested in astronomical events, so please take note of the lunar eclipse on Wednesday evening, June 15, 20h22 to June 16 00h02 CAT (GMT +2)

Here is a link to NASA’s PDF with all the relevant eclipse info.
The WITS Planetarium has more as does a story by ABC.

For photographers this is a unique opportunity. If you are into landscape, seascape or astronomy, I strongly recommend you try Stephen Trainor’s Photo Ephemeris application. You will need to install Adobe Air first and then Stephen’s app. Both can be obtained here or a link via my Free Web Browser Toolbar. I am using a Vivitar 500mm f/6.3 Mirror Lens, on my D90 (750mm with the 1.5x crop factor) mounted on a Manfrotto 393 Gimbal and 190XPROB Tripod. Tonight’s Lunar Eclipse can be found, tracked by & the application shows the following:

Photo Ephemeris – Lunar Eclipse 2011 06 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This application is hugely useful for any ‘scape photographer. It is free (Donateware) and there’s also a paid iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch application and Android (ETA: Google Play) to take with you on the road.

It is extremely useful to get Sunrise and Sunset data as well as for the Moon. If used with the location tool, you can set yourself up for these type of shots…with a little planning and effort :)

The Mortal Moon – © strangeghost aka John Rummel – Click Image for a How To Shoot

A Night to Remember – © Shadowi6 aka Steven Fraser – Click Image for a How To Shoot

Places you can go in safety, get a meal & get advice from astronomers & clubs:

JHB Planetarium
Astronomical Society of SA, Pretoria
Taal Monument, Paarl
Soutpansberg Astronomy Club, Makhado
Jive Media Café Scientific (Pietermaritzburg)
Hermanus Astronomy Centre
Aloe Ridge Hotel (Muldersdrift)
Mongena Game Lodge (Hammanskraal)
Casalinga Ristorante Italiano (Muldersdrift)
The Cradle Restaurant (The Cradle)
Hugo’s Place Restaurant (Kyalami)
Hoogland Health Hydro (Northern Gauteng)
Mount Grace (Magaliesburg)
River Place al Fiume Restaurant (Hennops River)
Melon Rouge Restaurant (Magaliesburg)

Contact me for tuition and tours as well as event photography!

Gear I use: Bodies: Nikon D-SLR’s / Lenses: Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar
Filters: Hoya UV & Polarizing / Flash: Nikon Speed-lights / Bag: Lowe Pro
Tripods & Heads: Manfrotto / Grips, Triggers, Timers, Batteries: Phottix
Editing Plug-in: Topaz Labs Noise Reduction, HDR, B&W Conversion & more!

15Jun

Nikon VR Lenses – Using them on a tripod/monopod

Posted in Camera, FAQ, Image Stabilisation, Photography 101, Tips-Tricks, Tripod, VR (Nikon) | Leave a comment

Nikon VR Cutaway on the Nikon Coolpix 8800 (Image from www.digitalreview.ca)

I’ve done a lot of research online and yet to come up with a difinitive solution. When I do I’ll post it here.Generally I was of the opinion that one should NOT use VR “On” with a ‘pod as it can confuse the VR. But with VRII that has changed somewhat.

In the interim here is the official position of Nikon with some of their VR’s when used on a tripod.