Thomas is a professional fine art photographer and writer specialising in photography related instructional books as well as travel writing and street photography.
All in Editorial
Just a quick follow up on the recently released Nik Collection 4, which I posted about recently. Since its release I’ve been trying out the various applications, with the intent of writing a review, specifically of Silver Efex Pro, which is the main application I use in the suite. Since the release, and my initial post, I’ve noticed a couple of things.
It's easy to get caught up in various discussion online about all things photographic, both technical and artistic. Some of these discussions are useful, but many are frankly nonsense. Some of the photography tropes that have become accepted in some quarters are doing active harm to the art of photography. The biggest of these is the notion that quality doesn’t matter. I see this over and over again, and while I’ve discussed this before, and why it does actually matter, I wanted to talk about the non-abstract real-world effects of this. The quality of photography used in professional settings is declining, and it's leading to a drop in quality of magazines and books and other publications of all types (not just photography related.)
Last week I started having some weird things happen to one of my Instagram accounts. Instagram suddenly started sending me emails for my “Streets of Dublin” Instagram account in Russian. At first, I thought it musty be a hack or someone had breached my account, but there is a whole thread on Reddit about it from people having the same problem.
I like coffee. A lot. It’s probably one of my biggest obsessions after photography. I have about 10 different methods of making coffee, including three different coffee machines. I like all different kinds of coffee, and I’ll make a different type depending on the time of day and my mood. At this point, you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with photography, but bear with me. It’s a bit of a journey, but we’ll get there.
Having used Fuji X-Series cameras now since the original X100 (which I still have) and the X-Pro1 (Which I don’t) I’m always following what the company does, even if I don’t always agree. Today, Fuji announced the X-T4 and its interesting because I think it represents a maturing of the line.
This is kind of a more personal post than I usually write, but it's something that I've wanted to get down on (virtual) paper for a while. Lately, I’ve been reminiscing about how I got to be doing photography as a full-time occupation. My journey to photography was something of a long-winded one, and it wasn't something I considered doing full time until later in life, but my roots in the art started at an early age, though.
As we start a new year, and end a decade, and I wanted to reflect a little on what has happened in terms of this blog, and my photography over the past ten years. I wasn’t really thinking about it that much, but when looking back through my photo archive, I realise that I did accomplish a lot over the past ten years, and a lot has changed.
I have a secret. I little secret that I’ve kept for so long. I’m so ashamed and the guilt is tearing me apart. I just have to come clean… Actually, none of that is really true. It’s not really a secret and I’m neither ashamed nor do I feel guilty. You see, when I’m taking photos, I check the shots on my camera’s screen. There, I said it! I’m one of those people. I’m a chimper. And I couldn’t care less.
So I had a scary experience earlier today. I went into Dublin City to get some photos to finish off a video I was working on for my YouTube channel. I had taken out my camera to shoot some photos, and just as I was walking down the street, some guy on a bike came up behind me and started giving out to me for taking photos of someone, and then proceeded to grab my camera and push it into my face.
I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who purchased my new Capture One guide for Fuji shooters. I was taken by surprise by the demand, and for the first 24 hours I was afraid that my store wouldn’t handle the traffic. So a genuine and heartfelt thanks to everyone who bought a copy.
I’ve written a good bit about Capture One for Fuji shooters, including a whole book about it, but I think it’s something you should consider if you shoot Sony too. While the advantages aren’t as clear cut as they are for Fuji shooters, given the problems that Lightroom has with details and Fuji RAW files, there is one big benefit for Sony Shooters - the colour is better.
Last week Canon launched the latest iteration of its popular G7X series of compact cameras. The Mark III looks to be a really great camera for vloggers in particular, adding a microphone input and 4K recording to a camera already popular with the vlogging community. Except for reasons that escape me, Canon has inexplicably removed the ability of the G7X III to record in 24p. This isn't the first time either. Canon seems to be systematically removing 24p from it’s lower end lineup, and I really can’t understand why.
I've made a conscious effort this year to try and avoid some of the incredibly stupid things that are said about photography on the internet. It was part of my new year's resolution, and while I've tried to stay above the fray, every now and then someone comes out with something so ridiculous that it has to be called out.
If you’re into photography at all, unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock (or stayed off the internet) you can’t help but have read about the recent “price hike” on Adobe’s Photography plan. Site after site reported that Adobe had “doubled” the price of its photography plan, which lead to cries and consternation from all corners of the internet. I was really in two minds as to whether to write about this or not, because I know this will be unpopular, and I will get lots of hate mail because of this. I was really angry and annoyed about this news. Not because of what Adobe did, but because of the way it was reported and the crazy carry on afterwards.
A few weeks ago I read a post on a fairly popular website from someone arguing that photography as an art from was being ruined because its become so accessible. The author was decrying the fact that anyone can take a photo now and anyone can call themselves a photographer. They believe that this has diluted the purity of the art (I’m paraphrasing) and are ruining it for the “real photographers”.
I love reading about the photography industry, whether it’s about the market, new gear or so on, it’s as much an interest for me as taking photos itself. In the industry, there is a lot of well-known pundits, whether they are from magazines, blogs or YouTube. As with everything, there are those I like and respect, and those that I don’t have much time for. But even taking that into account, over the past few months especially, I’ve noticed some real credibility issues for industry observers. Why? Let me explain...
“Image Quality”. It’s a term that is used all the time, yet the definition of it can be somewhat nebulous. Whether you’re talking about a camera’s sensor, or evaluating a specific photograph, the term “image quality” often can mean a wide range of things, and different people use the term in different ways.
So what is “image quality?” What does it actually mean? How do you define it?
Being a creative person can sometimes be draining on your mental health. I had a pretty crap December, spending most of it at home recovering from pneumonia. I missed being out taking photos, but I also realised how important health is, both physical and mental. I also realised that the two of these are not separate items, and working in the creative industry can be a strain on both. Everyone has their own pressure points, and discovering those, and learning to work around them is part of dealing with it. One of the issues that I realised gets me too worked up is when I read some stupid nonsense written about photography.
