All in Editorial

Thoughts on the Fujifilm X100VI. The last of the Fuji Rangefinders

I’ve been a Fujifilm shooter for quite some time now. The original X100 still sits on a shelf in my office, and I’ve had a total of 5 different Fujifilm cameras over the years. While the original X100 wasn’t my first Fuji camera, it was probably the one I used for the longest. Since then, there have been numerous iterations of this camera, each better than the previous one. I never really bothered upgrading the X100 because my other Fuji cameras pretty much did the same thing, but with the additional option of changing lenses. Now with its latest iteration, is it time to finally upgrade? And what does the X100VI release say about the rest of the Fuji Lineup?

Happy New Year, Plus Two Weeks!

I had this great plan to start the new year with a fresh blogging schedule, and a renewed energy. Of course that didn’t happen. It’s two weeks later and I’m only getting around to writing my “new year” post now. Like many a New Year’s resolutions, they crashed and burned on day two! But now that I have a moment, let me update you on a few things that have been happening, and some plans for the next little while.

Capture One vs Lightroom from someone who uses both – Update for 2023

A while ago, I wrote an article on this blog my perspective on Capture One vs Lightroom, as I regularly use both applications. I tried to present a balanced opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of both. I’ve updated that article since the first version of it came out, and since I last updated it, there have been some significant changes in both Capture One and Lightroom. I feel that these changes require a whole new discussion, and therefore a whole new blog post.

I asked Chat GPT to write me a blog post on the ethics of Street Photography. Here’s what it came up with.

As an experiment, I asked Chat GPT to write a complete blog post. I asked for ideas on street photography and it suggested street photography ethics, which I then asked it to write a full blog post on. I'm sharing the unedited post as it was written by Chat GPT, along with some thoughts on the result. It's fascinating to see what an AI language model can create, and I invite you to read the post and discover what Chat GPT came up with!

The longest I’ve ever gone without taking a photo. Or, Update on the Update on The Update.

I feel like this blog has turned into a long series of me apologising for not updating the blog. In some sense it’s almost become comedic, and if it wasn’t such a pain from my point of view I’d be laughing more (although I’m doing my best to try and see the funny side). I’ve had a crazy couple of months. So much so that even though it’s nearly March as I write this, it still feels like early January. I keep thinking Christmas was last week, not two months ago. So what’s been happening? Well, a bit of a rollercoaster to be honest.

Thoughts on Capture One’s Licensing Plans

In this post, I express my frustration with Capture One (the company, not the software), regarding recently announced changes to their licensing model for perpetual licences that will take effect in 2023. I express disappointment with this change, as I feel that it makes perpetual licences unattractive and forces customers to switch to a subscription, which I previously criticised for being overpriced. I also feel that the company's timing of the announcement, after the upgrade cycle for Capture One 23 had ended, left some customers feeling duped.

How to make a cup of tea (not actually about making tea)

Many, many years ago (sigh) I did a course in Film and Video production run by the local government here in Ireland. It was only ever run once, but it was actually a great course, and I probably owe my entire career to that course. I learned so much from that and much of the experience still serves me today. But there was one class that I always remembered more than any other, and it’s an interesting story, and I wanted to share it, because I think there’s a valuable lesson in it for everyone.

A few updates - Future Website Plans and More!

It’s hard to believe that it’s August already. Here in Ireland it’s technically Autumn now, and already you can feel the change in the air. And speaking of change, you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting very regularly recently, so I want to apologise. As well as being busy with client work, I’ve also been doing some thinking and I’m hoping to make some big changes soon, on the website and in a broader sense.

The Problem with Many Photo Editing Tutorials

Recently, I was trying to record a tutorial on editing landscape photography. In the end, I didn’t publish it because I felt that the edits I had done weren’t dramatic enough for people to watch. In fact, I even had that criticism about some of my editing tutorials before, that the edits I was making weren’t significant enough. This led me to realise the paradox of photo editing tutorials, especially on YouTube or other socially driven platforms. Unless you’re dramatically changing the image or doing extensive edits, people will find it “boring” and not watch or complain. But the reality is, in most cases, restraint will lead to better images.

Why I think the new Mac Studio is the perfect Creator's Mac - Thoughts on the New Mac Studio and M1 Ultra Chip

I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about an Apple announcement as I was this week after Apple’s March 2022 event. And all that excitement comes form just one part of the presentation: the announcement of the Mac Studio. For me, the Mac Studio is the ultimate Mac for what I do, and it is something I think many creators like myself have wanted for a long time.

The Importance of Photojournalism

Over the past few years, or even the last decade, journalism has taken a real hit from the general public. Between prognostications that smartphones and social media would kill off the need for photojournalists, to attacks on journalism in general from political bloviators. But the awful events in Ukraine over the past week show that Journalism and PhotoJournalism are as effective and as important as ever.

Looking back on 2021 and forward to 2022. A Year in Photography Blogging

What a weird year it’s been. This time last year we were all delighted to see the back of a crappy 2020 and optimistic that the following year would be better. In some ways it was, but in others, not so much. I had hoped to see a return to some kind of normality in 2021 but instead we started the year in another strict lockdown, and from then on it was a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

Capture One 22 vs Lightroom Classic 11 – How do the latest versions affect your choice of photo editing application?

One of my most popular Capture One posts on this website is the post entitled “Capture One vs Lightroom from someone who uses both”. I last updated this earlier this year, but since then, a lot has changed. With the release of Lightroom 11 which brings the new masking architecture, and Capture One 22 which adds Panorama stitching and HDR merging. This changes the dynamics of my previous arguments for each, and so I wanted to offer an addendum.

The Content Creation Paradox

If you’ve ever been involved in creating content for a consuming audience, and you’ve been doing it for some time, you’ve probably come up against the following conundrum:

“My content is getting stale, but I’m afraid that if I shake it up too much I will lose my audience”.

You see, there’s kind of a paradox when it comes to creating regular content….

A Quick Update

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t posted regularly in a little while, so I wanted to give you a quick update. I’ve been busy with client work, so I haven’t had time to write or blog for the past few weeks. So here is a quick update on what’s going on and what’s planned.