Price hikes!

Thought it was my imagination at first - but just had a quick look at camerapricebuster.co.uk to confirm and photographic equipment prices are going up again.

Looks like we picked the right time to buy Toby - lowest prices last year and everything is shifting up again now. SB600 for example: best price currently is almost £180...I got mine for less than £150 at least two years ago now.

D300 with 18-70, not even VR, is now more expensive than what I paid for mine with the 16-85VR.

Assume it's thanks to the weak pound and Yen - plus recession woes.

Suspect I won't be investing in anything new for quite a while if prices continue to do this!

Cheers - Tom

Posting problems?

Struggled to post those last three - at first would let me open the upload photos dialouge window, but when I picked a photo and clicked upload, then got an error message. Then wouldn't open the dialogue window at all...had to cut and paste HTML code from old messages in the end and swap in the new Flickr address.

Anyone else had problems?

Cheers - Tom

Portrait challenge - #3 - messing about with flash

What's in the box Sammy? It's the SB600 in remote mode. Advice would be, once the subject starts actually playing with the flash, stop taking photos. SB600 does bounce (and not in the photographic sense), I've discovered.

Can't decide which of these two I like most, so here's both.

Both pics: 50mm, f6.3, 1/60s, spot, ISO 400

Portrait Challenge - Tom #2 - high-key attempt

From one extreme to the other. High-key try...not as successful as low-key, in my opinion - but harder to cobble together set-up I found. In the end Sam sitting in front of window, exposure set to blow out as much of the background as possible, flash set to try and fill his face. Photoshopped pretty heavily to emphasis effect - background burned out more and face dodged back in a little.



50mm, f8, 1/5s, ISO800

Portrait Challenge - Tom #1 - low-key attempt

Finally settled on the first as my favourite, but also liked the other two in black and white. Trying to get a low-key style portrait, fairly pleased with outcome, especially as it was a more or less instant set-up and a fast-moving, impatient model!

(and apologies for cliched subject - I've only two potential models in the house and it's difficult pinning either of them down!)



16-85@65mm, f7.1, 1/60s, +1EV, spot metered, ISO 400



50mm, f8, 1/60s, +1EV, spot, ISO 400



50mm, f8, 1/60s, +1EV, spot, ISO 400

Portraits: Toby #1

Have been trying to come up with interesting angles/subjects, but not having much luck. Here's a standard blurred-background head-shot continuing the wife-in-hat-and-scarf theme.

F1.8, 50mm, 1/1250sec, ISO400.

Portraits - Kevin #1

We went for a walk in the freezing cold just before it started snowing. I took along my camera just in case.

I quite like it although she doesn't.

50mm f/1.4 ISO 200 + highlight tone priority