Where next for Canon and Nikon?

Around the end of last year there was considerable speculation that Canon would be releasing a medium format camera system in 2014.

Let me state right here I have no insider knowledge on this at all, but I strongly doubt that Canon will take this path.

Canon have invested so heavily in the EOS mount and lens system it is difficult to see them investing millions of Yen on developing a new lens system for a niche camera which would sell, in Canons terms at least, in very small numbers, with no prospect of selling the lens system to the millions of 'conventional' EOS users.

This rumor I think only surfaced as Canon, and Nikon are between a rock and a hard place at the moment with the compact camera market collapsing due to mobile devices, and the rising tide of 'alternative' cameras from the likes of Fuji, Samsung and biggest by far Sony.

Sony are a curios company in terms of still cameras, having none of the heritage in the stills market that the big two have, buying its way into the market with the acquisition of the the ailing Minolta some years ago, and there it may have rested but Sony have been the most aggressive company in terms of coming up with new cameras and pioneering new technologies, not always successfully, but they do keep on innovating and their latest offerings have improved to the point that they can no longer be (unfairly) ignored by the Canon and Nikon fan boys.

Enter the Sony A7 and the particularly interesting, to my eyes Sony A7R which, by dispensing with the mirror, packs the same full frame sensor as used in the the rather porky but excellent D800 into tiny lightweight package, and delivering, according to most tests I have seen, better quality too, at a handy price saving over its sensor sharing cousin.

Not only does it outperform the Nikon in image quality, but from the varied tests on the web I have seen offers considerable images quality benefits over the likes of the Canon 5DmkIII and 6D too.

Where does this leave Nikon and Canon?

In the past they have been able to somewhat ignore Sony but the time has come where they both need new and relevant to the marketplace products, the approach particularly from Canon of producing 'me too' products like the EOS M needs revision and fast.


The danger for Canon is they will rest on their laurels with the Canon 5dMkIII selling in huge numbers, this is great news, but I believe they need to look forward and innovate.

I like many others would like to see Canon make a higher megapixel full frame camera sometime soon.

And what of Nikon?

They have made some interesting product of late in the shape of the Nikon DF(though why has it taken a company with such a rich heritage so long to exploit its fine past, in a digital form?)

The problem for Nikon which Canon does not have is that they are reliant on Sony for their sensors, and somewhat at their mercy, meaning that in all probability Sony are going to get the best out of the sensor with Nikon trailing.

I predict that many more of us will own cameras from Sony, I admit I have started to consider the A7R for specific projects, the only thing stopping me are the last remaining Sony quirks which make it a none starter, such as there in no way to connect via hardwire a cable release and anecdotally(though not verified) tales of limited battery life and battery charging the camera directly from the mains via slow USB cable.


It's a crying shame that Sony have got so close with the A7R but failed to take into account these key details, but as sure as they listened to the market regarding their Minolta flash hotshoe they will eventually get round to fixing these issues.

Not quite the last chance saloon for the old guard but they need to do something and pretty fast too if the are to have a bright future.

RIP John Button

I learned with some sadness that Jenson Button's dad John button, had passed away suddenly this week

I have photographed Jenson Button on several occasions and I've always found him to be a really great guy, the archetypal British gentleman racer, polite and highly professional.

The sad news took me back to the first time I met Jenson and his dad at his very first Formula 1 test for Williams F1 at Jerez in Spain in early 2000.

Much was riding on the test- it was a shootout between Jenson and Bruno Junqueira , whoever was fastest would decide who got the Williams seat.

While Jenson was tied up in team briefings and seat fittings etc I got to spend a little bit of time with John Button.

My memories of him was a very warm, straightforward guy who was justifiably very, very proud of his son and just wanted him to do very well, and who was only too pleased to be photographed with his son while he had his shot at the big time.

The next time I photographed Jenson was when he won the F1 world championship and I actually remembered to take the photograph that I took with me the photo shoot, so often people don't actually get to see the photograph is shot of them - the media just move onto the next thing and promises to send photographs so often forgotten

Jenson was pleased to see it and thanked me - you could see he was pleased 'I shall have to give this to the old man' he said with a smile.

It's nice to say thank you sometimes.


Technical note

Looking at the photograph on the system it once again made me realise how far things have moved on.

I shot on film Fuji100 ISO neg film, and as so often is the case these days when I go through my archive I'm shocked at how 'bad' film was, though in fairness quite a bit of this could be down to struggling with a kettle to process my C41 film in difficult circumstances at the circuit, never mind the scanner which perhaps wasn't the best there was.

I seem to recall shooting the image on a Canon EOS 1 with a 24-70 zoom lens, I lit the shot with a Norman 400b through a Chimera Medium softbox, under exposing the sky by around one F-Stop by the looks of things 

A bright New 2014 - In with the New

I have not posted in a while.

This can only be a good thing, as when I post it tends to be when I have time on my hands - and I have precious little of that right now, with 2013 being probably my most successful in a decade.

How have I managed to pull it off in these hard times?

By following my own advice(see 'Turning Pro') but more importantly I have shifted my attention to shooting images which are more relevant to the way we consume media via the web, tablets etc(I'm not quite ready to go fully public with my adventures in my 'career' but soon I will be)

2013 saw a lull in my Forest series and I look forward with few regrets on this.

In the next few days one of my very biggest projects will be breaking cover, the fruits of a made for TV documentary shot some 2 years ago, which I felt the time had come for to release on the wider world, involving amongst others David Hobby, Jarek 'Arum light', The Bui brothers and Douglas Black Heaton, shot all over Europe.

I will post on this as soon as it is out and about.

So I look forward to 2014 and look forward to further embracing the remarkable age we live in and all the glittering possibilities it has to offer.

Wishing you a brilliant and happy 2014.

Meeting Mandela - The greatest moment of my career.

I'm often asked what is my favourite photo that I have taken.

I cannot easily answer as there have been so many highs (and lows!) over the years.

Often truly amazing things happen and you achieve great things in difficult conditions and there is no photo to show for it.

Or perhaps there is a moment, not captured by you or anyone else on film for that matter.

In the early to mid 1990's I worked quite a bit in South Africa, covering many different issues from political to environmental.

I was in Johannesburg working with journalists Fred Bridgeland and Ross Dunn of the Sunday Telegraph and there was an opportunity to photograph the recently released Nelson Mandela at a press breakfast.

Being a member of the foreign media I was issued with the name badge with my publication and nationality on it, complete with a mini Union Jack flag.

I shot a whole load of photos of Nelson Mandela addressing the press, not the greatest stuff I will admit, but it was an age before wireless flash was really going on (if only....).

I can't think of anything to say about Nelson Mandela which has not been said a million times before, but his lack of bitterness and an openness to reconciliation are lessons we can all learn from.

After the press breakfast I skulked out of the room to the entrance hall, where I was completely alone, leaving the press throng behind me to try and get the rolls of film in order so I could get them processed for air freighting back to the UK (not a pixel in sight...just imagine it!).

I was deep in faffing around mode preparing and labelling my films when I heard the swing doors to the press breakfast room open. I turned around and I saw an entourage of bodyguards with Nelson Mandela at the centre leaving the press room. Camera not in a ready state to use and even if it had I would no have used it, as they walked by I caught Nelson Mandela's eye and smiled at him.

What happened next will live with me forever.

He broke away from his somewhat nervous bodyguards and stepped over to me.

He reached out his hand to shake mine, his grip was firm and powerful and he had a spark in his eyes which was undimmed by the loss of his liberty for 27 years and a smile which radiated a warmth which would have melted the coldest of hearts and glanced down at my name badge.

'Thank you so much for coming to South Africa to tell the world what is happening here....thank you.'

I think all I could manage was 'It's my greatest pleasure'. My response was lost in this special moment. It was over in seconds as his guards politely and somewhat nervously motioned him away.

The moment lives with me beyond any other in my career.

Nelson Mandela was no saint, nor would he have claimed to be but when President FW De Klerk bravely started the process of dismantling apartied to a brave new world of equality Nelson Mandela took the opportunity without bitterness or rancour to help South Africa take its long deserved seat at the 'world table'

I don't often get into politics even though I'm deeply interested in current affairs but I believe that even though Nelson Mandela had retired from politics he was omni present in the conscience of the the ruling ANC party.

The world will rightly miss Nelson Mandela but South Africa will feel his loss even more. With some challenging times in the current political scene in South Africa, the key players perhaps should reflect on how South Africa made a relatively bloodless transition to where it is now. It could not have happened without the great generosity of spirit, forgiveness, selflessness and above all else, love of Nelson Mandela.

May you rest in peace and may we all continue to learn and be inspired by your remarkable example.

Latest Forest Shot -Behind the Scenes Video

Here is the behind the scenes video form the Moose shoot which gives you a bit of an idea just how BIG an Elk (Moose) is, and how much nerve you need to get on one!



I hope you enjoy it.

There has been a potentially sad twist to the shoot regarding the fate of the Elk which I am just checking out now before I post about it.

Have a great weekend

The Elk (or Moose, depending on where you live)

'Being invited to exhibit at the highly prestigious Shanxi province-based Pingyao International Photography Festival PIPF 2013 was my incentive for shooting what may be the final image in what may be the final phase of of my Forest Series.  

I wanted to finish with a spectacular image -- one that had, in all probability, never before been attempted.

That is not to say I decided to embark on this shoot as on a whim. The seeds had been sown some years before when I first contemplated shooting (photographically) a moose as part of the forest series.

I had made some inquiries and all evidence pointed to them being potentially dangerous animals, so I did not pursue them as a subject.

Then early this year, while researching an unrelated shoot, I discovered that someone in Sweden had trained Elk that could be ridden.

Elk? I thought we were talking about Moose?

Swedes refer to Alces alces as an Elk, whereas Canadians and North Americans refer to Alces alces as Moose (a North American Elk is an entirely different animal Cervus canadensis)

As much as I like America, Sweden is also a much more appealing location too, for one simple reason - it is drivable, all be it very long drive across six countries, for a total of some 2671 kilometers (1660 miles)I thought that this would be a great opportunity to explore the depths of my iTunes collection and the amusing and thought provoking audio book ‘This book will save your life’ by Neil Strauss.

Driving is key because I’m carrying a very large amount of gear, both photographic and camping, this was done on a budget.

The countries I crossed were key too as passing through Denmark (home of Phase One) and Sweden (home of Profoto)

I picked up my new Phase One IQ280 back in Copenhagen and I dropped into Profoto’s HQ in Stockholm to try out one of their latest offerings the Profoto B4.

Though I have played with Profoto I have never actually used one in anger on a shoot and I figured this could be the perfect opportunity to do just that.

The distances in Sweden are not to be underestimated and once you get to Stockholm it is still a 7+ hours drive to Umea (only a 3 hour drive south of the Arctic circle) with strictly and wisely, enforced speed limits. Added to that, the danger of crossing Elk dictate a sensible approach to progress.

Sweden is a lovely place if you like trees

The schedule meant that we would have just two days in the quirky and cool city of Umea, one day to check out the location and prep gear and another to do the shoot.

We met former World champion cross country skier Christer Johansson at his Älgens Hus Elk centre some one hour outside Umea.

All it seemed was set but Christer did have some doubts about the way the Elk would take to the soft box and they did react in a somewhat nervous manner. 

So I came up with a plan to get the Elks used to the lights, I left one erected outside of their enclosure over night, just so they would get used to it (I have used this method before to habituate thoroughbred race horses to a potentially ‘frightening’ light)

Elk are very interesting animals with certain qualities. Think of a skittish, highly strung and nervous cat trapped in the body of a very big(up to 2 metres tall) gangly primeval animal and you will not be so very far off.

They also have the uncanny ability to sneak up on you, silently and unseen, which can give you quite a fright.

It goes something like this: You are standing in the forest and you look around to see if there are any Elk nearby, coast clear, you look into your camera bag to sort out some equipment for a few seconds, you look up and there will be three Elk, quite close by watching every move you make. I'm not quite sure how they do it but they do it, perhaps something to do with them being brilliantly camouflaged in the forest.

Why shoot this is late August? Simple. I wanted to photograph the Elk with full antlers, so we chose late August as the antlers are there largest then and I was able to shoot the Elk with full antlers but before they shed their lovely velvet.

We may not have ended up actually using the tent on the trip but as you can see the guy ropes, pegs and mallet were rather useful.

We got an early night in our humble little cabins on the outskirts of Umea all set for a shoot at first light.

Why first light? For many reasons but it gives a whole load of lighting possibilities particularly when shooting with the Phase One camera and it’s leaf shutter lenses.

Also the location, even with the very best will in the world, does become strewn with equipment and possessions, if you shoot at dusk you will never find your stuff in the dark....I know this from bitter experience.

When we arrived it would seem the Elk had indeed become accustomed to the lights and they were a little too friendly. As a result I switched to a battered old Chimera medium soft box instead of using a loaner Profoto soft box which could be  ruined with one swipe of the antlers leaving me with some explaining to do, can you imagine the conversation....

Ah the Profoto lights, what did I think of those?

I borrowed 2 Profoto B3 lights and 2 of the very latest Pro- B4 lights.

The new Pro-B4 has a nicer interface than the B3, based on the 'see, touch, feel' principle which Profoto has, using analogue switches and dials for all the key inputs, rather than relying on 'deep' digital menus, which we all know can be clever,but confusing.

I like this interface very much indeed.

Other key points of the Pro-B4 are an impressive 1/25000 sec flash, up to 30 flashes a second, a charge time of only 45mins, and if you plug it into the mains you can use it as a studio pack.

Profoto gear has never been the cheapest, but you really do get what you pay for, some really great features in a superbly built package.

Buy one of these and your bank balance would feel it, but you would have a pack which would go on and on for many, many years.

Next task was to set the lights up in an array, so the Elk could be walked into the frame and I could get the shot, this is a technique I have employed many times in the forest series.

The terrain we were working on was rocky and boggy, which meant setting the lights up took some time.

All was ready and good to go but we hit problems straight away, the elk kept moving out of the influence of the 4 light set up, which meant I was always adjusting the lights instead of shooting, the lighting was simply not going to plan and it looked less than good. Added to this the previously nervous Elks came flocking and got between the camera and Janina.

The Elk may have been a problem but the truly amazing Janina(pole dancing teacher, model and truck driver) certainly was not, climbing up onto the simply enormous moose with great poise and confidence, and believe me it is along way up onto the back of a adult bull Elk.

I was looking down the barrel of failure of some 3500 mile-8 months of planning-one week of my life proportions.

This needed a radical rethink and fast.

First distract the other Elks which ended up blowing a lot of the food supply of bananas(Elk love them), luring our 'star' Elk (biggest with biggest antlers) further into the forest where there was a whole load of natural light flooding in, this meant I could use this as the backlight and just concentrate on one light, if the Elk stood in the wrong place we only had one light to move, not four.

There was then the issue of the wind, this was causing huge problems for James who was on smoke machine detail with the truly excellent Mini Rocket battery powered smoke machine from Peasoup.

The wind kept changing so when the smoke was drifted in, it frequently did not go where I wanted it to go, so this took many attempts.

As a foot note, I have since discovered you can make the Mini rocket a little more affordable(saving around £100) if you choose to delete the battery and cradle -neither of which I use anyway, as I just attach it to a car battery. It also makes the machine tiny - perfect for shipping.

I shot in the new location with one light using the sun as the backlight and picking up some ambient light at 1/60sec.

The lighting was excellent but I stared to realise, that though I was getting something it all looked static and stiff, rather like a taxidermy example, after all for the sake of safety, the Elk could not be moved.

The food supply ran out, the shoot was over and I did not have the shot.

Then the magic happened, the Elk walked forward, which was potentially tricky for Janina, so she had to jump off into Christer's arms pretty damn quickly.

Just before she jumped I got the shot - The majestic primeval Elk walking with a slightly unsure Janina riding it, pin, pin sharp, with a hint of movement on the moose which I'm very happy about.

I have not mentioned the Phase One IQ280 so far, and I suppose I'm saving the best till last.

Do have a look at the detail in these 100percent crops, in my opinion, it is the very pinnacle of what can currently be achieved  photographically.

I intended to use the WiFi and iPad setup which works so very well, but I had no time before the shoot to set this up-at all. So in trying conditions I reverted to a firewire cable and laptop (I have used the IQ280s Wifi since and I have to say it is child's play to use, fast reliable and simple, something which often is not the case with WiFi, right?)

If you have ever previously considered a medium format back and not quite pulled the trigger, this might be worthwhile looking at. It is the best, most complete, fantastically engineered medium format back ever built.

So next week I travel to China to hang the Elk and all his friends at PIPF 2013 in China, a great honour and big deal for me, I feel it has all been worth it.

'Why did I shoot the forest series?' asked Johan after the shoot.

I can't remember what my answer was, but thinking about it, I did it because I could, because I wanted to do something exceptional, which will perhaps outlive me.

Photography should be about adventure and discovery, that is why I chose photography as a profession 35 years ago.

'Never say never' as they say, but the moment I'm leaving the forest behind, for a while at least, and may never go back there again.

What next? I have always been about reinvention and I'm in the process of doing that right now, it will still be photography,but in a completely different genre, which has been driven but this remarkable digital age we live in.

The shoot could not have happened with out James Mitchell, Jan Christiansen, Micke Johansson, Christer Johansson, Kristofer Lönnå  

, Johan Gunséus, Lena Öystilä, Guillaume de Basly, Sara Ingman, Janina Näslund  

I also wish to thank everyone else who contributed to this series, all over the world.

The Deer

I had long wanted to shoot one of my forest pictures in a bluebell wood.

This year was particularly difficult though as the unseasonably cold spring made the bluebells late, and somewhat stunted.

I was still determined to press on as I knew it would be my one and only chance to shoot the image before the Pingyao International photography festival in September.

   

The forecast was a little iffy to say the very least, and for this shot I needed the sun, something you cannot count on in the UK, so I bought something along which would give the sun ‘look’ for the back light.

Lighting out put is not the problem but height and angle of the light is, I needed a tall light stand, an exceptionally tall light stand.

I ended up using a stand which is not actually a light stand but a camera stand.

The Manfrotto 269HDB-3U a truly spectacular stand which extends to over 7.3metres(24 ft) in height which with a small amount of tweaking(using a brass spigot which screws on top) will take a Elinchrom Ranger flash head. I used the light stand at its full extension and held my breath(It actually does ship with guy ropes but I had a small crew for the shoot so be didn’t get round to using them)

The key light, camera left, was an Elinchrom Ranger too with a Chimera medium soft box.

I originally was going to do the shot on a longer lens, a Phase One Schneider 240mm LS on a Phase One IQ180, to get some degree of compression on the bluebells but the way the trees and the blue bells were it did not work out and I ended up shooting it on a Phase One Schneider 55mm LS.

I never cease to marvel at the quality from a Phase One back.

Here is a 100percent crop.

I mentioned the unseasonably cold weather and that on the day was the very biggest challenge. Katie really was an exceptional model but she struggled with the bitterly cold weather as you might see in the video, all very well for the rest of the crew who were warmly bundled up in many a layer.

To get every element working together, the deer, the light, the smoke and the model was particularly challenging this time and in the end it came down to one frame where everything worked out.

In the frame I chose the deer is spot on with just a a little wind in the models hair.

The shoot was over in a relatively short period of time, well under an hour, there are limits when working with live animals and cold weather conditions.

Stay tuned for the grand finale which will be posted just before I depart for China to hang my work at the Pingyao International photography festival.