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After crashing and burning with my Canon 5D II body and lenses, which are still in for repair, I've decided to tempt fate and buy a Canon 6D body as a back up.

This will now guarantee that all repairs are complete by 9am tomorrow if my luck is anything to go by.

Harrison Cameras in Sheffield had a decent looking second hand 6D in stock which has 18000 shutter activations, my 5D has 28000 by comparison. I was happy to find out that for some reason, Canon seem to have forgotten the First Law of Camera Manufacturing, which is to 'needlessly change parts of the camera between different models, thereby ensuring the loyal customer is forced to buy a whole new batch of accessories such as batteries and cables that fit the new camera'. I'm pleased that the only thing that seems different is the memory card so that's a definite bonus.

The reviews for the 6D http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-6d seem very positive and I'm looking forward to giving it a test.

Things will have to be very near though, as my only working lens is a wide angle.

I've now discovered that Adobe Photoshop CS5 doesn't have the support for the 6D RAW files but there is a converter which makes them editable. Nothing is simple - maybe its time to upgrade to a newer Photoshop version.

I had a quick test of the 6D out in the field, and the results at higher ISO setting did look less noisy as the reviews had indicated. The Live View level feature was also very useful.



My 5D mark 2 is now repaired - an expensive few days.

Update 18th Nov: My 6D has now stopped talking to my computer - in for repair (not much luck recently)

Alas I've found out the hard (expensive) way that forgetting to zip your camera bag up can be a poor way to test your camera's bounceability.

For those of you who are interested the answer is - they dont. I kind of gave that away with the blog title so I wouldn't make a very good thriller writer.

What I'd hoped was some damage to the casing has turned out to be some cracking to the sensor frame as well. And the lens has decided it didn't need to autofocus after all.

Just enough damage that the cost is still lower than an ebay replacement, just expensive enough to hurt. A lesson learnt.

The insurance will cover it provided they accept the quote. Unfortunately I have to plow on with getting it fixed anyhow.

My advice would be to check your insurance - now my 5D mark 2 is superseded, I hadn't realised just how much more expensive the new model is, if a replacement is needed.

Maybe I should start painting landscapes - the cost of replacement kit must be a lot less. If only I didn't have a complete lack of brushes and paint. Or artistic ability.

A week later and I'm back at home after a very pleasant tour around the Causeway Coast, Antrim in Northern Ireland.

I can wholly recommend the area, the coastline is certainly well worth the visit.

The journey there was a very calm ferry trip from Birkenhead, Liverpool, marred only by my inability to navigate as usual. A driver error (even with SatNav) meant that I had to go through the Mersey tunnel and then turn round and come back again. Possibly the most pointless £3.40 that I've had to spend on tolls when driving.

My B&B in Portstewart was only a 75 minutes drive from the Stena Line docks in Belfast - fantastic. If I lived there then I'd head for the coast all the time.

On the next morning before dawn I managed to lose the Giants Causeway - refer to notes above on navigation skills. I say lose, but the arrangements at the Visitors Centre are very misleading. The few signs around are badly orientated and there is a constant reminder that is costs £8.50 to visit (payable at the Visitors Centre). True, but it fails to mention there is a free route to the Causeway via the underbridge adjacent to the visitors centre. So needless to say, there aren’t any signs of the 'free route to the Causeway this way' variety anywhere.

It also says that its a 25 minute walk down to the Causeway - again, it isn’t and takes about 15 minutes. Bear that in mind if you're planning your photo shoot for a certain time.

I wasn't blessed with great sunsets and sunrises but it didn’t rain either and the sun did make more than one appearance. It was T-shirt weather which isn’t bad for late September.

I think that I basically followed the tourist information brochures for things to photograph but they're nice to visit for a reason. The Dark Hedges was a good example. I've always wanted to visit after seeing shots in photo magazines so I assumed that only a few people who read the same type of magazines would know about them. Wrong. It’s definitely on all the leaflets as a place to visit. For the hour I was there, I suspect there must have been 50 people who turned up as well. Bless those camera phones. To be fair, it was still easy to shoot the trees but I suspect this isn't the case in summer.

I planned to visit Ireland as well and changed some money into Euros. £70 worth, with my usual 'you can't be too careful' approach. In the end, I spent £5.50 on a very bad sandwich and some crisps. I ate so many crisps in a week that I was in desperate need of some fruit and a proper meal or I'd end up getting scrispy - the snack food equivalent of scurvy except in cheese and onion flavour.

All in all, a very tiring week but it would be great to go back and nail those gorgeous coastal sunsets. If only I knew an Irish Weather God. Or at least had his email address.

The Titanic Museum, Belfast:


The Dark Hedges

I was surprised and very pleased to be contacted earlier in the year by Ellen Bowness of Long Valley Books.

Long Valley Books already publish two excellent photography guides to the Yorkshire Dales and The Lake District and were looking to expand their range by publishing a new book - The Photographer's Guide to the Peak District.

The guides are packed full of locations with useful advice to assist your photography trips and have been very well reviewed.

The Photographer's Guide to the Peak District is out now and I'm very pleased to have contributed five images to the new book and am especially proud that my photo of the Salt Cellar features additionally on the cover.

The books are on sale now at Amazon and Long Valley Books

Having just begun to see the Heather turn now (so long for another year) I think I've managed a few more photographs this year compared with 2013. This included a couple of visits to new locations for me, Win Hill and West Nab, which proved to be rewarding trips.

The next photography milestone that mother nature sends our way is the Autumn colours, which is another great time to be out taking pictures.

However, after some dithering on my part I've decided to head over to the Northen Ireland coastline for a break. As usual, I need to do some reading around the area but I'd like to have a look at those little known spots such as the Giants Causeway and the Dark Hedges. I don't think they've been photographed before.

Alright, they have been photographed by just about everybody but I'll try and give them my attempt. If its anything like my recent photos that means I have to get there with the sun in the shot and capture a starburst. I think its in the stephenpricephtography book of kung foo (sorry, book of photo rules).

We'll see how it goes.

Update: my first trip to an outdoor shop for information and maps of Northern Ireland was unsuccessful. Apparently, all of Wales is covered with maps/guides and there are maps of even smallest Scottish island (an 11 hour ferry trip from the mainland) but nothing on Northern Ireland (a relatively minor 8 hour ferry trip away). I've never noticed this before. I shall check if this discrepancy continues in other shops.

Now that we've got through the June and July months, which are great for family holiday but for me not a great time for photography, we've arrived at the summer heather time.

This is a time of year which I enjoy from a landscape photography point of view. The uniform blanket of green and yellow scenary is suddenly enhanced by vivid purple as the heather blooms in the Peak District and other National Parks around the UK.

Work and weather permitting, I'm going to try to make the most of the time of year to make up for a lack of really decent shots from 2013.

A 2 hour trip to Roseberry Topping was a good venture into the heather.

Ok - I admit it. I'm generally old fashioned and grumpy. The only reason that I buy new jeans is because my middle age spread means that my old jeans dont fit anymore (although I tell myself they shrink in the wash).

But, why of why, do I keep seeing young people (anybody under 35 in my book) wearing woolly hats in July. Mid July, mid summer. Its 24C outside for goodness sake. I just dont get it. What happens in winter to these youngsters? Do they wear more woolly hats or will it be fashionble by December to wear pirate hats. I do hope so as that would cheer up up on a winters day day.

Don't start me on summer fashion. Flip Flops. For men. Who was the first British lad to decide 'you know what, these items of beach wear are perfect for a walk down the high street'. Why stop there. Swimming costumes are beach wear and surely those skimpy speedos would keep you cool on the bus.

At least I'm not seeing underpant hanging out of the back of trousers as much these days. How on earth was it comfortable to have the crotch of your trousers round your knees. I've no idea.

Kids eh.

And another thing ....

I've traded in my Canon 16-35mm f2.8 II lens for the newer 16-35mm f4 version which is a tad lighter and should be a sharper lens as well.

There is a good article here http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-16-35mm-f-4-L-IS-USM-Lens.aspx

Interesting to note the comparison of focal lengths (16mm wide angle to 35mm) if you're not familiar with full frame cameras and using wide angles lenses. I like the wideness of the 16mm for landscapes as it really helps with getting in as much of the scene as possible.

It takes practice to use as it tends to exaggerate any empty space in the frame and distort vertical lines if camera is tilted, but if used carefully these wide angle lenses have an important part to play in landscape photography.

As I like to shoot into the sun at the moment, the new lens will produce 18 star points instead of 14 from the f2.8. I'm hoping this isn't an overkill of the star burst effect, but if flare and colour fringing is less then overall it should be a better lens to use.

Actually photos of Stock Cars and Banger Racing was what I was going to write about - I've given up on stock photos. My road to fortune doth not lie through stock photos.

In mid June I headed down to the Buxton Raceway circuit at the edge of the Peak District National Park - http://www.buxtonraceway.com/. Having spotted it the week before I thought it might make a good location for photographs and an interesting way to spend the afternoon, it didn't let me down.

We were treated to some good racing on the tarmac oval on what turned out to be one of the hottest afternoons in June.

I was impressed by the organisation and the rapid turn over of races in the all classes, which ranged from the Junior 10-16 year olds in their 1.3 lts cars, up to the big bangers with their 3 lts race engines. We had about 17 races in the afternoon, pretty good going.

The racing was tight, nose to bumper stuff but very fair. It put a lie to my preconception that it was just an excuse to smash cars up. Much more interesting than Formula 1 from a spectator point of view.

It took my camera along and snapped away until I needed to rest my arms. As a result I missed the best full roll over crash which I'm pleased to say, resulted in no driver injuries. Just goes to show, you need that camera out at all times.

Enjoyed the day racing and I'll definately head back there at some point.

Since I started my website for landscape photography, I've always wondered whether I should have a snappy logo.

Generally this thought process is hampered by my incredible inability to think of anything artistic (being an engineer).

Engineering generally involves thinking about things that go in straight lines. We leave all the curvy, interesting bits and ideas to Architects. And then we try and turn them into some resemblance of straight lines so we can build their masterpieces. I do roads. It couldn’t be much straight line than that.

So as long as my Logo could look that the M1 or the B1138 to Lincoln, I'll be fine.

In the meantime I'll keep on using my NoGo until I have a brainwave, or at least find someone who can draw a brainwave properly for me.


__LOGO__________________
____ StephenPricePhotography

I enter a few photos into the competitions on www.photocrowd.com and I'm pleased that my Millennium Bridge photo was Commended and in the top 25 of the Expert Choices from the 613 entries. This is on the River Clyde in Gateshead, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

https://www.photocrowd.com/c/61-bridges-crossings

If you look, I'm in there near the end.

The Expert Review was kind enough to say that out of all the Millennium Bridge entries this shot "stood out for me for a number of reasons. (I) liked the nice contrast of colour temperatures between the warmer bridge lights and the sky with its reflection in the water."

If only I hadn't left the pesky building on the left hand side, it "may have made it into the Top 10". So near, yet so far.



Saved in Photos of Architecture

I've popped out for a few photo trips since my visit to Pembrokeshire but I've been having a funny week.

I booked a hair appointment at a Rastafarian barbers by mistake. I'm dreading it.

For some reason the man in the butchers bet me that I couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf. I didn’t take the bet. The steaks were too high.

People have been saying I'm paranoid. Well they don’t say it, but I know that's what they're thinking.

My friends 7 year old is off to Scotland. He asked me if he would see any men wearing quilts.

Goodbye and Goodnight. I'm here all week.

I braved the Bank Holiday traffic and naively got caught up in many queues on the way from Yorkshire to Fishguard. I tend to forget that there are people in the outside world doing the same thing I'm doing. Taking landscapes at 6am is generally a solitary affair.

My hotel in Fishguard was the Cartref which I admit wasnt the most expensive. I work on the theory that I'm out most of the day anyway. First impressions of reception were that the place was a cross between a jumble sale from the 1950's and a hoarders paradise. I got slightly more worried when the landlady needed WD40 to make my room key work in the lock. I had visions of locking my camera gear in the room forever. I bought some WD40 myself. Just to be on the safe side.

On balance I kind of warmed to the place. Despite its fading glory, the room was clean and had all the cons (not exactly mod-cons although the shower was new and worked well) and to be honest they served the best tasting sausage I've had with breakfast.

The weather was the kind your mum would say was very nice, all warm with hazy, white blue skies. I wasnt really rewarded with great sunrises or sunsets but I made two early starts to catch the sunrises anyway.

I didnt realise that the coastal paths that I'd decided to have a look at, actually run round the tops of the beaches and coves. There were pretty big cliffs between me and the beaches and even I'm not brave (or daft enough) to try climbing down them. This limits my options until I learn to fly a helicopter.

The Green Bridge of Wales was a good example and I glad I made the effort to see the sunrise behind it. Most the the Pembrokeshire coast points west and isn't great for sunrise. Should have realised that before I went.

The drizzle started on Sunday which was reason to head home a day early to recover and to miss yet more Bank Holiday traffic.

A tiring few days and I think that maybe next time I need a trip to Wales again, I'll head further south.

As an alternative to landscapes so far in April, I've popped out into Sheffield City Centre in the evening to photograph some of the cities better features - the Peace Gardens and the Station Entrance.

Both are great for lighting and for water features which are a super combination for a photographer.

I've found that the best shots at this time of night are about 20-30 minutes after the sun has set. This is known as the Blue Hour and is great for bringing out colours, even on what may have been a dull day. Its a mistake to think that night shots should be when its fully dark - this just loses the details and colours in the sky which make a photo a winning shot at this time of day (or night as it were)

At the moment have a look in Latest Work

A play on words there but I do like Rhubarb Crumble.

I'm planning to head off to the Pembrokeshire area of Wales to see what the Uk's only Coastal National Park has to offer. A bit of research will be needed but, by the looks of things, Strumble Head Lighthouse could make a nice subject (see what I did there with the title).

Then a quick trip to Rhubarb Lighthouse and the trip is complete. I'm kidding of course. Rhubarb use in lighthouses was banned in 1812 due the requirement of the Napolionic Wars when it was a vital ingredience of gunpowder.

There you have it, a completely rhubard story.

So, between now and then, I need to track down some nice areas to visit and keep my fingers crossed for nice Welsh weather.

Can't beat being at the coast.

I work at Mott MacDonald which has offices around the country as well as oversees and we run a global photography group.

Happy to report that out of the 250 entries for this months 'sunset/sunrise' my shot below claimed first prize.

I'm now setting off for an all expenses paid, month long lecture tour of all Motts offices in the world (with first class travel) to talk about photographic techniques to an avid audience of fellow employees.

I wish. My photo gets put up in head office for a while (which is nice). Hope they remember to add my website details.

Its official - my body isnt as young as it used to be. The hair is more interested in blocking the plug hole than staying on my head, my thigh strains itself at the thought of running for a bus.

Still, I get the urge to venture out and manage to drag my weary to the top of hills in search of photographs. Why do they always insist on putting the good views at the top of hills?

With one such effort in mind, I set off early to head out to Macclesfield Forest having tried to pick the route to my destination that had the least out of vertical climbing. Parking near to Trentabank Reservoir, I ventured out through the forest (surprising uphill) and half an hour later crested the last rise at the top of Shutlingsloe (more steep than the forest and with half an hour plodding already behing me).

I had a feeling that the sunrise might make the trip worth it and it didnt let me down.

At the moment have a look in Latest Work

All that was left was the downhill walk back to the car, past the hill runners going uphill. Runners! Uphill! Taxi for Steve if you ask me.

With some unusual longer term planning from me I'm off to Bulgaria later in the year. It look likes a great country for landscapes as I'm looking forward to that. Autumn colours and scenery make for some great photographs.

Unfortunately I don't know much else about Bulgaria except he was in charge of litter picking in Wimbledon Common.

You can follow my itinerary with the map below - starting at Sofia, heading south and then east.

I expect plenty of time to rest, lots of sleep and spare time. No, not really.


View Bulgaria in a larger map

I'm back from a very hectic Slovenia workshop - at times I sped round faster than a snowy owl.

Despite my pre-trip worries the weather gave us a break and the first winter snow fell the day before we arrived. The temperature was never greater than 2 deg C and mainly in the region of -2 deg C. Generally I didn't feel the cold and pretty much everything I took with me proved effective at keeping the cold at bay. Except for my feet. Poor old feet. I eventually found a combination of socks and a heatpad that seemed to do the trick.

The scenery was fantastic with the covering of snow and hoare frost and the forests looks particularly amazing. The locations were varied, some new and some old and all worth a visit. An afternoon was spent on a 3 hour hike up a snow covered ski trail on a mountain in Austria until we reached the summit at around 7500ft. It was like walking up the Empire State building whilst being punched around the legs and kidneys by tenacious flyweight boxers. In the end, my body felt like the boxers had won.

So with early starts and late finishes the trip was a hectic one. One night was spent taking a star trail photo when the temperature was about -11C at midnight. And this was before I discovered the optimum sock combination. Poor feet.

During the trip I became the creative force behind 'Priceys Hot Pants' which I'm sure you will be seeing in all good retailers in time for next winter. Unless they exist already. Or unless nobody wants them. Or both.

At the moment images will be located in Latest Work and in time they'll be in Photos of Slovenia

Pleased to say that my night spent freezing my low lights off at Solomans Temples taking stars trails was deemed worthy of first place in www.ephotozine.com Low Light competition.

http://www.ephotozine.com/competitions/vanguard-competition-week-7----low-light--217

Thanks to all the judges who picked my shot from all the entries which was a great surprise.

So as they say - Watch the skies, everywhere, keep looking. Keep watching the skies (film quote bonus for 10 - send entries on a sealed down envelope)



This image is located in Photos of the Peak District

Update:

The legs arrived today so thanks to ephotzine and Vanguard for the prize. There Auctus Plus 323Ct legs and my first impression is that they are well put together and on the heavy side. Hopefully this adds to stability and is better than any flimsy lightweight models.
I'll try and have a field test and see what they're like in action.