Bags update

First post since May? That's not exactly blogging, is it? Sorry.

So, I will be posting some images soon, I promise. In the meantime here's an update on the bag situation. I have gone back to the CompuTrekker AW Plus. The Fastpack 350 has been slightly relegated to hold all my flash stuff. Why? One word: Comfort. The CompuTrekker is simply more ergonomically betterer and gooder. Fatter padding on the shoulder straps, wider straps, much better sternum strap, better lumbar support, and the handle is made of nice pliant rubberised material rather than hand serrating webbing. And I was able to carry a tripod in one of the side loops that I never realised was there before. I didn't think these things could make so much difference, but they do. Also, when it poured with rain before I left the Arts Centre for home after a day shooting parkour leapers (very cool people - more about that soon, too), I was able to pull out the CompuTrekker's integral waterproof cover and keep all that rain from moistening my gear.

Food Photography

chili

Originally uploaded by ...esther.

Elaina, who has been on several NAC courses and has become quite a photographer, dropped me a line:

"Mark, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the last course at the NAC and am looking forward to the next one. I've volunteered to do some photography for a recipe book for my school, so any hints and tips you (or anyone else) can give me would be very welcome! Elaina"

There was a really interesting piece on Radio 4's Food Programme the other day about food photography. Paint instead of cream, pulling out mashed fish from fish fingers with tweezers and replacing it with beautiful flakes of cod. You can listen again here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s54dg

Meanwhile, for the rest of us, any tips for photographing food?

Here are some fantastic images and ideas from the readers of strobist.com, inspired by an assignment set by lighting guru David Hobby.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/07/boot-camp-ii-assignment-2-results.html


Read the comments to see the controversy caused by the winner, and remind yourself that diversity of opinion is a GOOD THING!

But the big rules of thumb for food photography are: get onto the same level as the food, fill the frame, and light it from behind and above with a big, diffused light source. A window with net curtains or a thin white sheet might do the trick. Oh, and use a tripod. Don't kid yourself that you can get sharp images at 1/30!

Good luck. Send us your results!

Exhibition

I've been away in Japan for a month, and I'm only just getting back into the groove. So to ease in, here's an image from the exhibition that I meant to post while I was away, but didn't get around to.

Photo Revolution @ The Forum - more info

Here's the flyer for the Photo Revolution exhibition/workshop/project that's kicking off on Monday at the Forum. Looking forward to it, and I hope to see people who have been on NAC courses coming along and putting their images up.

Photo Revolution @ The Forum

If you're in the city on March 29 or 30th, pop into the Forum and head for Fusion. Fusion is the huge screen near the BBC (you have to go past BBC reception to get to it, don't let that put you off). I'll be there for two days with a load of digital compact cameras and Apple Macs loaded with Photoshop.

The idea is we're going to build a spectrum of colour across the enormous screen, made from hundreds of pictures that will be taken by anyone who fancies having a go. If you have images that are dominated by a colour, bring them along and we'll put them on the screen. By the end of the two days, we'll have filled the screen with images that will reveal a spectrum of colour. Spread the word, anyone can have a go. Hopefully, there will ben email address you can send pictures to. I will post here when we know.

Bags

I'm going away in a few weeks and I'm going on an aeroplane. I want to take my laptop and my c amera, three lenses, a flash gun and a trigger. Oh and some clothes and stuff like that. My current bag, the vast CompuTracker AW plus is just too big to sneak on as hand luggage. So I've been e-shopping. Endless hours spent hunting down the state of play in the photo bag world led me to the LowePro FastPack 350.

It looks pretty good, I like the natty way you can slip it off one shoulder, open up the bag and have access to your camera. I also like that you can watch YouTube videos of people showing you how it works.

It should arrive in a week, I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here's one of many YooToob vids about the bag. I like his moustache.

The Moon

This image was the runner-up in the Galilean Nights Astrophotography Competition.

Shot with an Olympus OM1 at ISO 100, 1/60, f/5.6, in Bogota.

Check that out, 1/60! ISO 100! And near an airport.




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