Photos Photo of the Day

And another from Iceland:

Upto the sky! by Sam Masters, on Flickr

Sam

 

I can thoroughly recommend a Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM, Nikon Fit. It's a fantastic lens for wide-angle. Pair it with a Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Macro C, Nikon Fit and you're about set. A Sigma usb focus checking tool can be used to ensure focus is good. It's a bit of a faff and takes a bit of time, but only needs doing once to double-check the lens then you're good to go. Two lenses to cover most shots. The only other one I'd consider would be a nice fast prime, f1.8 fixed lens. It depends what you want to take pictures of though.

 

I've stood in that very cave, and watched people run as the sea came in and nearly washed them a way - amazing place.

 

Thanks all for the input - much appreciated and some good advice to mull over there .

Have been doing some research based on what you guys fed back and have a few further questions, if anybody could indulge:

What sort of compromises are we talking here? I do know from a more experienced chum than I that at the far end of the larger zoom lenses like the 200mm+ jobbies, you can end up with some barrel distortion. I did also notice the same at the low end (18mm) of my current one the last couple of weeks, which I'm not sure I've ever picked up on before (although haven't yet checked any of the shots to see if this was an issue). Are you meaning that to have two overlapping focal ranges means you don't push them to the limit, but switch them out?

Sam - that's ace, thanks a bundle mate. Had a poke around on the website and it looks rather decent. Better for me to be experimenting at these sort of prices than with brand spanking (plus stops things going to landfill). Once I've decided what I'm going with, I'll hit you up for the voucher as suggested, if that's okay. Cheers for the f-stop info as well - have been learning exactly about the effects of this over the last couple of weeks; it was more the techno-abbreviations I was after ie. ED, G etc. but I've since found some sites that list all that (bizarrely, the Nikon site wasn't as forthcoming when I checked) so have done the appropriate reading up.

This sounds interesting. I'm still thinking of going with a single lens for convenience when travelling, like...

...this, but that first option sounds interesting as an experiment, now that I know they can be picked up cheaper from Sam's website. I looked at this one which was the Nikon equivalent (I think) to the 300mm. Is the Sigma comparable/reputable? I'm going to see if there's such a thing as a 14/16-240/300ish mm, that would be ideal as a one-stop solution at this stage!

 

@ModSquid , Take a look at this review:


And yeah, absolutely, Anyone is welcome to send me a PM for the link to mpb.

Sam

 

Oh aye yes, their 18-300. It can be a bit soft at each end from what I've read but still, it's a one-stop shop for all your requirements, and you'd need to be printing large to notice anything particularly/negatively soft imo.

 

That third one!

Can you put these up anywhere as a "commons-usage/give me pennies" type affair?

 

Cheers Sam - will have a look today
@The_Crapman - is it worth contacting whatever tourist agency is local to that third photo to see if they want to use it in their literature? Might be a few quid in it for you if they do (that's not me offering, by the way)...

 

Okay. Pants. I'm going to do it. I'll put myself out there. What do you reckon to some of these?

Edit: I think I need to make a flickr a/c or something...can't upload directly... Think I've sorted it now.

Trying this:

 

Good effort there Mod Absolutely give Flickr or Smugmug a go (Flickr is owned by Smugmug now, It was Yahoo until last year I think)
I prefer Flickr to Instagram, Photo's aren't lowered in quality, and i find it easier to share to groups and social media.

Here's my latest effort:

Spinnaker Sunrise by Sam Masters, on Flickr

No edits on this, taken straight out of camera.

Sam

 

And another from this morning:

Sunrise by Sam Masters, on Flickr

Sam

 

Cheers Sam! I'll look at setting up an account on Flickr in that case - any tips?

Those colours behind the Spinnaker are well worth getting up early for, clearly. For some reason, I prefer the wider shot - without trying to sound too pretentious, the contrast between the oranges/reds and the grey of the wider sky gives off major emergence vibes, exactly like the new day is actually doing.

That or an accidental nuke drop over the horizon...

 

Imgur is exactly the same. BB code is only available on desktop version of the website.

 

Yeah, I do prefer the Pano myself, the Vertical would be really good as either a Displate, or a Canvas, and I am tempted to get a Canvas of it.

I've been scanning around on ukdigital, mpb and e-infinity for a new lens or 3. Whilst my 18-55mm is a great kit lens, I've got a wedding later in the month, so looking for a Prime for that. Iceland and France in August, and I'm looking at a wide angle prime (And a telephoto to hire)
So, my shopping list contains:
Sigma 56mm f1.4
Viltrox 13mm f1.4
Fuji XF 100-400 f4.5/5.6 (This I'll hire)

Who said photography was cheap? Thankfully, No one

Sam

 

Aren't thunderstorms great!

Lightning by Sam Masters, on Flickr

I need more practice with Lightning.

Sam

 

Pink Flowers by Sam Masters, on Flickr

Sam