Photography

It’s quite simple really, I enjoy taking photographs and always have done. As a student I had a poster-sized photo of a shot I took in the Lake District hanging on my wall and it got great reactions. On a number of occasions people have told me that they really like my shots, but on the whole I have been quite reticent to put my own images forward. I was encouraged to set up a blog and explore my more creative side and get feedback. So here it is, a blog in which I can, amongst other things, include photographs.

So I hope you enjoy what I have to offer and please stop by and make comments as this really is appreciated. I would remind you that this is my work and copyrights apply, so permission is required to use the images on this blog – just use the request form on the copyright page. All images on the blog are taken by myself (John Grant) unless specified otherwise.

Equipment

Finally, I really appreciate people providing details of the equipment they used, so given this I thought I should do likewise. While I recall using my Dad’s heavy Praktica camera, which was handed down to me and is responsible for the Lake District poster shot, the first camera I really remember was the Ricoh KR10. A great SLR film camera that came with a fixed 50 mm lens, my feet being used as the optional zoom.

My old film camera, it took great pictures.
My old film camera, it took great pictures.

Then came the advent of digital and after a while I opted for a Fuji finepix Bridge camera and two more such models followed. Not happy with delay time and the view obtained through the viewfinder (my preference), I then tried a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera. Despite falling off the car roof on the way to my wedding venue, it still works fine. I finally succumbed to buying a full DSLR in 2010, the Canon 550D and I was lucky enough to add a few quality lenses.

So here is the equipment I currently use:

Bridge Camera: Pansonic Lumix DMC-FZ38.

For the light travel
For light travel

I mainly use this when I want to carry around a small light weight camera and not the full DSLR. Pictures on the blog of the veggie patch and sightings up at the ‘Country Retreat’, such as the Spotted Flycatcher are typically taken with this. Bought 2009.

DSLR Camera:  Canon Eos 550D, Canon 5d mk iii

My favourite bits
My favourite bits

So my 550d has now become my backup as I go full frame with my new toy (as from 2014), the 5d mk III. Of course the EF-S lenses cannot be used on this, but boy am I loving it and the ISO performance in particular.

Lenses for DSLR:

Canon 18-55mm EFS kit lens: Sharpness could be better and I now seldom use this lens

Canon Macro 100mm f2.8 USM “L”  – Love using this for macro shots, such as flowers and also portraits as I find I can be at a more comfortable distance from the subject.

Canon EF 70 – 200mm 4.0f USM “L” lens – Carry with me most of the time I have the DSLR for its range and clarity.

Canon  EFS 10 – 22mm lens – My most recent purchase and I absolutely love it for scenic landscape shots, nearly always in the bag when not on the camera.

Canon EFS 50mm 1.4f USM lens – I love natural light and got this lens to be able to work in low light conditions.

In a addition I have a Canon 2x Extender and have just acquired a separate flash unit (Mecabitz52 AF-1), though prefer to use natural light as far as possible. For each of the lenses I automatically put on a UV filter, in part to protect the lens, while also have polarising filters for the wider angle lenses.

MM ☘️

43 thoughts on “Photography”

  1. Hi Mick, I came across your blog in a fairly circuitous manner, but am glad I have arrived. It would appear we have a similar philosophy, if it can be called that, to our photography and writing. I’m primarily a photographer and am working on my writing skills as I write short essays about each of my photos. The writing is primarily to force myself deeper into the meaning of my photos, as I get asked that a lot. I’m looking forward to the journey and inspiration from fellow creatives.

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  2. Loved reading this one…I too love panasonic lumix, I have one thought its a travel zoom category and quite pocket-able. you don’t have to worry about the huge image sizes, on the plus side.
    I’ll suggest you to go for tokina 11-16mm/f2.8…by far the best wide angle for APS-C. I’m using one, its better than canon 10-22, though it’s more expensive! I’m sure you must have a reason for buying canon!

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    1. Thanks Arv, always good to get the opinion of others. I have now also got a Canon 5d mk III which the 10-22 does not fit. Am not wedded to Canon, though it may look like it and certainly open to consider other lenses for the canon fit. So thanks for the comments, appreciated. MM / John 🍀

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      1. I would like to upgrade to a full frame, may be later in 2016. At present Nikon is on my mind although I only know of people in my circle using Canon 5D Mark II
        -They are happy!

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      2. Given some of the lenses I already had, it was a no brainer for me to stay with the Canon in going full frame – Differences would have to be quite sizeable and important to me to have made the brand switch.

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      3. Since APS -C lens don’t work well with full frame. I can think of switch. but it’s just a thought!! Btw the world is moving to mirror less, which kind of makes me rethink about full frame DSLR.. It’s still expensive!!

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  3. Hi MM 🙂 I see you changed your blog. I like it…well sort of if you don’t mind me saying. The way I follow people is by links to their blogs and now I can’t find your most recent posts. 😦 Is there somewhere on your site I can link to where it will show me the most recent? I’d appreciate it.

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    1. Hi Laura, just thought I’d try a change but am thinking of switching back for all the drawbacks have been confirmed – the widget areas are confined to the bottom. I decided not to include the list of recent posts as they are there on the front page – it seemed like double counting. Will let you know when I switch back…many thanks Laura and hope your mobility is right back up there now… MM🍀

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      1. You’re welcome MM. Yes, those darned drawbacks. It’s why I have a separate photography website and just provide links to WP and vice versa. Maybe you can have a link at the top called blog and then put things there? Just a thought. 🙂

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    1. Elekes, thanks for your interest and stopping on by. Having now started to take on paid work I also have a new body too – a 5d Mk iii and I love it. Still playing with it, but the low light performance is so much better. Just love it. MM 🍀

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  7. Thank you for your reply. I think macro is definately something I want to start experimenting with, I find I can feel a little frustrated whilst taking photos that I can’t get close enough or get the crisp detail that I want. I will lookout for the photo plus magazine, sounds very useful! It’s quite daunting knowing where to begin when spending a lot of money on a lens. Thanks for your advice, it’s very much appreciated! Sabrina.

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  8. some very nice equipment here! I am wanting to get a new lens for my canon eos 1100D. I have been looking at the efs 55-250mm f 4/5.6 IS telephoto zoom lens, would this kind of lens be good for macro shooting?

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    1. The best lenses for macro shooting tend to be prime (or fixed length) lenses, typically 50 or 100. My own is a 100mm lens. So you really need to think what it is you need the lens for. With the kit 18-55 lens the 55-250 would give you a great complimentary lens, but if you wanted to concentrate on macro it isn’t what you really need. My advice would be to go out and get a magazine – personally I get PhotoPlus canon which purely considers equipment suitable for canon cameras, but not exclusively canon products. Feb 2014 edition has budget macro zooms, but most of these will have min focusing distance of close to a metre. My advice would be to subscribe to something like this and you will learn a lot and work out what you want before spending lots of money. Best wishes, MM / John

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  11. Thank you for sharing your equipment. I always find it interesting to see what other photographers use and what their preference is, very insightful. Your photography is beautiful and inspiring!

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      2. I love it – I don’t really like the 18-55 kit lens I have to say. No qualms about it at all except if I move on to a full sensor camera, being an EFS, it could not be used with it. Apart from that it is brilliant. My favourite lenses are the 100 macro and this one! All my more recent landscape images are taken with this lens. 😃

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      3. Yeah i’m thinking about replacing my 18–55 with a 15-85, i’ve read reviews and they say it’s one of the best “general-purpose” lenses out there.
        If i had enough money i’d buy both of them haha 🙂 the 100mm macro must be really nice to use! 🙂

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      6. That should really depend upon what you photograph most. The 10-22mm is not going top be any good for portraits, street photography, but if you mainly shoot landscapes I’d plump for it. So the question is “what do you want to shoot?”.

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      7. I mostly shoot landscapes, the thing is, i’d rather buy the 15-85mm because it’s a wide angle lens but also has a pretty nice zoom, i think that i’d probably use this one all the time. If i bought the 10-22, i’d still find myself using the 18-55 quite a lot. I have 3 lenses, the 18-55, a 50mm and a 70-300mm, but 85% of the time i use the 18-55, that’s why i’d rather replace it 🙂 Of course the best thing to do would be to buy both, but right now i only have money to buy one.

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