Check out this behind the scenes video by Vincent Laforet and here's a link to the final video. It was shot using a pre-production version of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR - in a similar vein to the new Nikon D90. But for me, the question has to be why? Why do you need to have video on a high end DSLR? It cheapens the whole thing in my opinion. I mean if you shoot video, then you use a video camera right? And, if you're a stills man (or woman), then you'd use a stills camera. I just don't get it...

Now to kit, my favourite choice of topic ;-). I just got a very jazzy email from www.lensbaby.com which will appear here shortly (though this page doesn't work in Chrome, Firefox or IE7!). Basically they've re-launched the range and added a new product called the "Composer". The words smooth & precise "describe focusing the new Composer selective focus SLR camera lens. With this lens, you don’t compress to change your focus. The Composer’s ball and socket design allows you to just tilt and then rotate the barrel focus ring with one hand, providing an unprecedented level of ease and precision."
The Original Lensbaby, 2.0, and 3G have been reintroduced as the Muse and the Control Freak, updating our classic lenses with the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System. The optic swap system "lets you change your optic to get the look that fits your creative vision. When you want to change the look of your photographs, simply pop the optic out of your Lensbaby and drop in a new view. The Lensbaby Optic Swap System includes the Double Glass (the optic from Lensbaby 3G), Single Glass (update of the Original Lensbaby optic), and the all-new Plastic and Pinhole / Zone plate Optics." .
I've long been an admirer of the Lensbaby products and the results that these remarkable lenses can produce, but I've never actually gone down the path of owning one - though I think that may be about to change!! For more info, go here

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I've been a bit remiss on the blog posting front lately I'm afraid, but hopefully I've got time for a quick one this morning before heading up the M6 again...

I stumbled across the work of Chase Jarvis the other day, and I was really impressed. He's been a pro since '96, and is inspired mostly, ironically by painters! Chase's images breathe a compelling freshness - sometimes technical or conceptual, other times authentic or raw. Some of Chase's clients are Apple Computer, American Express, Helly Hansen, Kodak, Microsoft Corporation, Nike, and many more. He was voted a Hasselblad master in December 2007 and reportedly uses an H3D - check out his work here - www.chasejarvis.com

Another photographer who's recently caught my eye is Zoriah Miller. Zoriah is an award winning photojournalist whose images of conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan, The Gaza Strip and Lebanon have been widely published. His style of dark and moody imagery has become a trademark and he often releases feature stories containing graphic imagery of war, disease, social issues and strife which are considered both powerful and compassionate. His main site is at www.zoriah.com - but be warned - you could be there a while! I've been going back for days now, and I still haven't been right through all his work.

Finally, if you've not yet upgraded to Lightroom 2, then check out this article on DPS. It's a concise list of the main selling points, and yes the upgrade is really worth it. Though I was a bit miffed that $99 mysteriously transpired into about £90 (I'm sure the exchange rate is better than that - couldn't be Adobe trying to make a few extra quid out of us poor Brits could it??)

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Still no further work of my own to post on here yet I'm afraid. Although I have put some time into formulating ideas for my next project. I've decided that it's going to be along a "Still Life" theme - I've never really done any "proper" still life before, one of the reasons being is that it doesn't really float my boat to be quite honest. But I figure that you never really understand something until you actually give it a serious attempt. I've been looking at quite a lot of work in this area lately, especially the earliest stuff - the work of Florence Henry, Berenice Abbott and Irving Penn. Some of which I was really quite taken with. Here are some examples:
Irving Penn - Cigarette No. 37:

Berenice Abbott - Soap Bubbles, 1940s

Karl Blossfeldt - Poppy Seed Heads

Florence Henri - Composition with ball and mirror, 1930

I'm particularly impressed with the work of Florence Henri, and considering how long ago she made these and how many images since draw references from her work, they really are seminal works.

Finally a couple of news items.
If you're a follower of Scott Kelby or any of the NAPP guys, then you can't failed to have noticed that the PhotoShop World expo is on at the moment. Whilst there, Adobe have started teasers for the new CS4 suite. They're going to do a special webcast on Tuesday 23rd September, and you can sign up here.
If you live up North (in the England), then "Ways Of Looking" - a new media festival kicks off in Bradford and Leeds this weekend coming. There's a whole raft of shows scheduled to run right through to January next year - Check out the schedule here.

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Apologies for the current irregular posting schedule. I knew that life was gonna get pretty hectic when this new webdev contract kicked in, but I don't think I quite realised how busy I'd be. But I never seem to get enough done! Anyway I'm in the process of fine tuning details of a project I'm going to get started on in the next fortnight or so, but more of that later this week.... I'm also about to start on a new workbook, basically a photographic "stream of consciousness". I'm going to include workings / thoughts for the projects I'll be working on, and also some notes of the more relevant information that I come across on the web or in books, or from exhibitions. I've learnt a lot from doing the last one, and have a much better idea how to improve on my technique. I think that this can be an invaluable tool for any artist and its a great way of consolidating your thoughts and ideas.
In the meantime, a few links for you.

1) Joe McNally is writing a new book due out in December titled "The Hot Shoe Diaries, Creative Applications of Small Flash". "Basically, it will be an irreverent brain dump of my whole history using small flash, back from when I first got my hands on flash powder to the SB-900. There will be sections on buttons and dials, batteries, flash attachments, light shaping tools from gaffer tape to umbrellas, and sketches" ... sounds like it'll be a useful resource and undoubtedly a right riveting read. - Read more about it here

2) Photopreneur have done an interesting article, "Put your Picture on the Cover of a Lonely Planet Travel Guide". The goal is obvious, but the methods are more interesting. The service the article is trying to promote uses geo-tagging (which I've yet to get into) and was released into beta last year. Pikeo is a "photography site for people on the move" and is currently running a competition in conjunction with Lonely Planet with some cool prizes on offer. Read more here

3) Scott Kelby's guest blogger last week was David duChemin who contributed a great motivational article about what he would say if he could have a heart to heart with a 14 year old version of himself just at the time he was getting into photography. It's a great article - read it here.

4) On the topic of project ideas, Thomas Hawk has written in detail about his $2 Portraits -  a great idea if ever I head one - check it out here

5) Finally, if you occasionally read articles on sites like Strobist, but often struggle with some of the jargon (What's the difference between a snoot and a gobo??) , then Beyond MegaPixels have compiled a list of the most popularly used terms and what exactly they are - check it out here. 

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