The Intuitive Lens

Silver Efex Pro Version 2 now available

Mike — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:03:49 +0000

Nik Software has finally released Version 2 of its popular Silver Efex Pro application for converting colour images into black and white work. Having used version one for some time, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this upgrade and will be putting it through its paces over the next few weeks. There are many new features in [...]

Capture One Pro 6 Head to Head with Lightroom 3 for Monochrome Work

Mike — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:11:49 +0000

After I completed my earlier review of Capture On Pro 6 in a black and white conversion test with Silver Efex Pro, I had some feedback from several people who asked me to add Lightroom 3 into the mix to see how converting the same RAW file would work out by comparison with the other [...]

Capture One Pro 6 Versus Silver Efex Pro for Monochrome Work

Mike — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:02:54 +0000

This review is a follow on from my earlier ‘First Impressions’ article looking at Capture One Pro RAW processor’s new Black and White conversion capabilities in their latest, Version 6, release. In this fuller review, I’ve compared it directly with an equivalent workflow in Adobe Camera Raw 6 with Photoshop CS5 and the popular Silver [...]

Capture One Pro 6 for Black and White Photography First Impressions

Mike — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:41:03 +0000

Relatively hot on the heels of version 5, Phase One have just released version 6 of Capture One RAW processor. My work is predominantly monochrome at present, so I was very interested to learn that the developers have improved the black and white conversion workflow of this new release. For the first time, the release [...]

Zeiss 85mm f2 ZM Sonnar Lens Review – Revised and Extended

Mike — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:28:46 +0000

This is a revised and extended version of my Zeiss 85mm Sonnar lens review article which was originally published on Steve Huff’s excellent photography blog in December 2010. I’ve included more images and new technical content gained from further research on the lens and also added some full size image download options for those who [...]

Leica M9 with Zeiss ZM 85mm Sonnar Lens Review

Mike — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:11:07 +0000

My initial review of the Zeiss 85mm Sonnar lens for the Leica M9 Rangefinder camera was published as a guest article by Steve Huff on his very popular photography blog at SteveHuffPhoto. His site specialises in equipment reviews and articles on a wide range of cameras, but is a particularly excellent resource for information on [...]

11 Inch MacBook Air and Leica M9 – Perfect Partners?

Mike — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:50:38 +0000

First off let me say that I’m a WinMac LeicaNik guy. What does that mean? That means that, up to very recently, I used Nikon DSLRs and Windows computers running Photoshop exclusively. A few months ago I decided that I’d had enough of lugging two Nikon bodies, umpteen heavy lenses, a Windows 7 computer and [...]

Leica Gallery on iPad and iPhone

Mike — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:49:18 +0000

The Leica Fotographie International Galleries are now online with a recently updated application for both the iPad and the iPhone. The galleries have a very broad range of excellent photographic contributions by photographers from all over the world. It’s a great place to seek or renew your inspiration, whether you are a colour worker or [...]

Taeppas Tump Morris at Wallingford Oxford

Mike — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:01:23 +0000

Ladies Morris teams are a common site in the villages around Oxfordshire. In fact, it is said in some corners that Morris dancing traditions might have been lost had it not been for may dances and tunes being preserved by enthusiastic women archivists work over the past hundred years or more. This is a shot [...]

Plum Jerkum Dancers

Mike — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 11:54:37 +0000

Here’s a Plum Jerkum dancer having a puff after running out of puff dancing at Wallingford Bunkfest in early September. Plum Jerkum hails from Warwickshire, their name being derived from a cider made from the local Drooper plum. Apparently it has the local reputation of ‘leaving the head crystal clear while paralysing the legs’! Here’s [...]

Leica M9 Master Shots at Leica Fotografie International

Mike — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 06:47:20 +0000

For a recently converted Leica fan, there are a very few specialist on-line galleries where you’d want to have your work showcased, and Leica Fotographie International is perhaps the most prestigious. It’s the site I go to most often to be inspired by wonderfully creative images shot by Leica based photographers from all over the [...]

Bronze Envy – Leica M9 at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford

Mike — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:32:49 +0000

Having missed the grand opening of Oxford’s new Ashmolean Museum some months ago, I wanted to see what the project architect, Rick Mather, and sixty million pounds of refurbishment had delivered. There’s no doubt that he has created a wonderfully light and airy space with a stunning, eighty foot high, glass roofed, central atrium that [...]

Leica M9 and Leica 24mm Summilux Lens in Devon

Mike — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:07:59 +0000

Even in November, Devon’s fishermen are still hauling their boats into the sea to make a small catch to sell in the beach wet fish shop. This image was taken on the beach of a little fishing village called Beer in South Devon as a boatman was dragging a heavy steel hawser down to his [...]

Photoshop Tutorial – Aston Martins Race at Silverstone

Mike — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:54:01 +0000

This case study takes a Nikon D300 image, shot at a classic car race meeting at Silverstone, through various post processing steps from the RAW NEF file through to a smart monochrome final image. Along the way we will use Photoshop CS5, Camera RAW, Noiseware Professional and Siver Efex Pro to produce the finished result. [...]

Nikon D300 Goes Racing

Mike — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:57:52 +0000

A pictorial, retrospective review of the excellent Nikon D300 camera body fitted with a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.0 VR telephoto lens and used in the context of a motor racing photoshoot at Snetterton race track in Norfolk. The review discusses why, even today, the thoroughbred three year old D300 is still a great camera for this kind of sports photography and offers some example shots as evidence of its capabilities.

Moulton Morris Men at Towersey Festival

Mike — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:37:08 +0000

August Bank Holiday in England is sometimes a sunny affair, which helps enormously if you’ve spent the last year organising a musical extravaganza. For the past forty six years Towersey in Oxfordshire has held a folk music festival which has become a firm favourite with folk aficionados from all over the country. Always a successful [...]

High and Dry on the Isle of Skye

Mike — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:49:11 +0000

No doubt the result of falling water levels or an extreme spring tide lifting her beyond retrievable, and much subsequent neglect. Taken on the Isle of Skye using a Nikon D70 SLR fitted with a 12-24mm Nikon zoom lens, shot at f10.0 at 1/400th at ISO 200, exposure compensation -1/3rd stop, saved as JPEG; camera [...]

Flying Dolphins in Key West

Mike — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:40:54 +0000

Shot on a day with very poor weather – one of the few during an excellent short break in Key West, Florida earlier this year. It’s one of a sequence taken at the Dolphin Research Center on the island of Marathon. It took several attempts of course because timing was critical so as to catch [...]

Thumbs Up for a Leica M9 Rangefinder Camera

Mike — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:47:25 +0000

When you pick up a Leica M9 for the first time you’re struck by its unexpected solidity, build quality and sheer weight. When a substantial Leica lens is added to the camera the handling changes significantly and you’re very tempted to feel that the camera will roll forward out of your hands and slip to [...]

Canon Compact Cameras can still Impress

Mike — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:03:14 +0000

This little six megapixel beauty was purchased by me in the US some years ago and used for all sorts of quick images – for straight out of the coat pocket and back again kind of shots. It never failed to impress me with its unfussy menu system and ‘grab it’ point-and-shoot utility. When it [...]