You see the Go Pro, and in particular the Go Pro HD Hero 2, range of cameras shoot such good quality video for such a small unit, it would be safe to assume that it would work as well underwater. After all, it does come in a unique waterproof housing good for depths of up to 60 metres.

However, the port that covers the lens is curved which prevents the lens from focussing properly when submerged so you end up with frustratingly blurry images. I know I was seriously disappointed when I first tried as I wanted to use this camera for various projects underwater.

Fear not, it wasn’t long before some clever boffins redesigned and modified the housing to replace the curved lens housing with a flat port housing but did this make much difference? You betcha it did!

Check out my review and comparison video using the link below…

Go Pro Flat Port Housing

13 Go Mad in Cumbria!

The whole area is stunning yet renowned for being fairly wet and the UK had been receiving its fair share of rain lately. However, the weather Gods were kind and not only did we get some nice sunshine, but we also got some stunning and moody cloud formations…perfect for landscape photography!

You can read all about our exploits and check out some photos from the trip below:

Lake District Photo Shoot with ATP Members

ATP Members is the private membership section of All Things Photography, the free help site for photographers of all ages and skill level. Members benefit from online photography training on:

• DSLR Training – Beginners and Intermediate (6 hours of video plus online text)
• Stock Photography Training (3.5 hours of training videos on making money from your camera)
• Wedding Photography Tips – Our popular Wedding Photography Blueprint DVD’s online (with over 5 hours of video training and the eBook)
• Business of Photography – A huge training section for those wanting to start a business in photography

All of this for a fraction of what it would cost for any offline course plus you get the super-friendly community and photo critique from a professional photographer. Check us out at ATP Members.

A Nikon D800 Yesterday ; )

Nikon are working on a “permanent solution” to fix a problem on the professional Nikon D4 and D800′s where they may freeze or lock up during use. This renders it useless until you apparently either:

• Turn off both the Highlights and RGB Histogram or
• Take out and re-install the battery

Nikon say that this problem is fairly random which to be honest is worse than if it were prevalent in all cases. You are left with a bit of a lottery when purchasing either camera although I believe Nikon have now halted production on these models whilst the issue is investigated.

If I had been an early adopter in this case, and I have been in the past with cameras and computer gear, I would have most certainly used these cameras for recent weddings and having a brand new camera fail at the most inopportune moment is not good believe me!

Nikon are hoping that a simple firmware update will fix the problem without owners having to send the cameras in. I surely hope that this teaches both manufacturers to test future models a little more extensively in the future because at this rate, Sony will be slowly steaming ahead.

Note: Canon/Nikon…I would happily be a beta-tester for any future releases and can guarantee I would put your new DSLR’s through their paces ; )

You can read some of the original online posts over at Nikon Rumors with one reply worryingly stating:

“Yesterday I had a wedding. I shot with my brand new D4 and D800. D4 locked up 3 times and D800 locked up 4 times in an 7-hour shooting. I didn’t push the cameras to the limit, nor I did something strange. The card’s lamp remained on as well. Only way to continue my work was pull out the battery but VERY AFRAID of losing images since it was still accessing the card.”

Tut Tut!

Here are my pics of the week from the members at ATP Members for the end of April 2012:

(Click to see image and gallery)

I have literally just finished processing a huge wedding shoot from two weeks ago and can honestly say I used some of these tools on almost every shot. For me, Artistic Tools Volume 2 is the set I use the most as it has some excellent actions including Digital Fill in Flash, Smokeless Burn, Daily Multi Vitamin, Lord of the Rings and some very cool black and white conversions.

Check out the full range on offer below:

Kubota Image Tools Sale

Whilst you are in a spending mood, I would also recommend the amazing plug in, Photoshop Autoloader from Mike D. I reckon to have saved a few hours worth of processing time on this wedding alone using this plug in…worth it’s weight in gold for sure!