JM Photographer

Buyer Beware! - Camerabox.co.uk

2009-11-14T12:22:00.006Z

I recently decided to sell my HD camcorder and replace it with a DSLR with HD video capability. I opted for Canon's budget 500D camera body as I only use the videos for YouTube etc, so couldn't justify splashing out on a 7D or 5Dmk2. Stills are my first love, and I'm more than happy with my 1Dmk3.

Anyway, I checked with several companies, and nowhere seemed to have just the body only in stock. There was no point in me buying the kit, as I have more than enough Canon lenses. The only place that did have it in stock was Camerabox. I'd never used them before so I did a bit of Googling to see if they were reputable. Most review sites seemed to give them either 1 star or 5 stars, but there was one review that caught my eye... It said that since using Camerabox, his card had been cloned. Seeing as they were the only company to have the camera in stock, and being as impatient as I am, I went ahead and ordered it.... after double checking I had fraud protection on my credit card!!!

3 days after receiving the camera, I've received a phone call from my credit card company listing a whole load of transactions I know nothing about. Now normally I wouldn't like to jump to conclusions... but... I haven't used this particular card in at least 6 months other than this one purchase at Camerabox, therefore I'm 99% certain, especially as others have had the same problem, that someone there is cloning the cards of their customers!

The card company are currently building a case before going to the police.

My advice to anyone reading this, is to check who you're buying your equipment from, and to make sure you are protected.

More Hasselblad testing...

2009-11-14T12:17:00.003Z

Spent a day in London doing some more tests with the Hasselblad H3D II. This time I got to use the 50MP Beasty...

Hasselblad

2009-10-28T20:13:00.003Z

Was at the Canon Pro Photo Solutions show today at the Business Design Centre in London. Whilst there I had a good chat with my good friend Mark, who works as part of the Hasselblad marketing team. He encouraged me to have a play with their H3DII 31 Megapixel Medium Format Digital camera. I've always known that the image quality from medium format is far superior to the 35mm professional body I'm currently using, but I didn't realise by how much until today!

Firstly, there's the image size.... The images are big! Really big! I've posted an image below to show the detail you get. On the left is the full image, and on the right is a 100% crop (click to see it full size)

Then there's the tonal range. The images are so silky it's unbelievable! With really beautiful skin tones and ultra sharp definition.

There's way more info on their website so I won't bore you anymore, but to cut a long story short... I want one!

Dear Santa....... ;)

Max Power Greece : October 2009

2009-10-22T14:55:00.002+01:00

Got my work on the cover of the October issue of Max Power in Greece.

New Website : Keeping things Fresh!

2009-10-21T15:14:00.005+01:00

It's important to keep things fresh, and because I'd had my previous website design for around 18 months, I thought it about time for a change and revamp!

The first thing I wanted to do, was make the new design instantly different, so opted for white instead of black. One of the criticisms I had of my old site was that there wasn't enough of "me" on it. Commercial clients hire photographers not just on their ability to create consistently good images, but also how they work with others and come across as a person. Based on this, I've added a Bio page and also put an embedded video on the home page to enable clients to build a better idea of who I am and what I'm about.

For the portfolio pages, I wanted to keep that large images, but I didn't want to use flash galleries this time. This is partly because I'm an iPhone user and flash is still currently unsupported.

Finally, to fit in with the new design, I've changed the template for this blog, and also updated my Twitter background.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank a few people who helped with the new site....

Nick Cannons An awesome designer from my Art College days
Sean McCormack My first port of call for anything Lightroom related
Karen @ Mimique Digital A great webdesigner who helped code my site... she rocks!

Redline : November 2009

2009-10-19T20:39:00.002+01:00

The latest issue of Redline magazine is out this featuring some of my work.

A couple of months ago they were giving away free laps of the world famous Nürburgring circuit. I was asked to cover a trip to the Ring to show people using the free laps.

I've also got photos from my coverage of Trax @ Silverstone from back at the beginning of September.

Gemma Massey

2009-09-28T01:18:00.004+01:00

Had a great shoot last thursday! Gemma Massey called me because she had use of an Ice-Cream Van for 1 night only before it was crushed. I'm not one to miss an opportunity, so I headed down to Wembley.

The shoot was so much fun and we got some great shots which are up for sale.

Jenny Laird

2009-09-28T00:18:00.003+01:00

Back in August I took a trip up to Birmingham to shoot Jenny Laird for GIRL Syndication. She was a great model and worked hard! Check out the pics and the behind the scenes video!

Performance French Cars

2009-09-27T20:41:00.004+01:00

Whilst at the Nürburgring back in June, I shot a Peugeot 205 for the latest Performance French Cars magazine cover.

Also got the centre spread poster!

Max Power : October 2009

2009-09-27T20:17:00.003+01:00

The latest issue of Max Power went on sale a couple of weeks ago with 2 car features and a show report of mine.

Aly Paul

2009-08-06T19:38:00.002+01:00

They say things happen for a reason.... well last tuesday we had a photoshoot arranged for Girl Syndication. The model had been booked a week in advance to arrive at 5pm. Well at 4:15pm she decided to cancel the shoot because apparently it was going to take her too long to get to the studio. As you can imagine, we weren't overly impressed by this, and as the make up artist was already en-route we tried to find a stand in model.

Enter Aly Paul... I've known Aly for many years and shot her a couple of years back. She hadn't modelled properly though for nearly 2 years due to various personal reasons. That said, she was awesome!!! She totally rocked the place and I'm sure we ended up with way better images that if we'd used the original model!

Just goes to show that good can come out of any situation!

Samantha Vale

2009-07-23T20:09:00.003+01:00

Samantha Vale, who I blogged about last year, is running the London Marathon next year and needed some shots of her in her running gear to try and gain sponsorship. So, on a very wet tuesday morning, we went out to play in the countryside near her home.

The shoot went very well, and we got some great images, but the highlight of my day was learning I have the ability to run backwards and still take photos!!!........

Modified Motors : July 2009

2009-07-21T10:53:00.004+01:00

Here's a quick pic from my photoshoot with Emma Louise, featured in the July issue of Modified Motors in Ireland. Emma is one of the Max Power Babe Squad and we thought it would be cool to get her posing on a mountain of tyres!

Max Power : August 2009

2009-07-07T21:50:00.002+01:00

The latest issue of Max Power goes on sale this week with a whole load of my work in it!

Driving Sounds

2009-07-06T21:54:00.004+01:00

Following my earlier blog about shooting for issue 1 of a new car audio magazine, I'm pleased to say that it's now all in print! I was commissioned to shoot all the features for the first issue, which included cars like a Ferrari F50, Mercedes CLK and Porsche 964.

Nürburgring

2009-06-22T13:01:00.005+01:00

A few weeks ago I went off on a trip to Germany to the world famous Nürburgring circuit to do a magazine feature. Was an awesome 4 days and I can't wait to go back.

Check out the video for some of the fun and games we had. My mobile uploads folder on facebook has some more insights into the trip. You can add me via the link on the right.

Superbike

2009-06-22T12:53:00.002+01:00

A few of my photos are currently featured in the latest issue of Superbike magazine.

Max Power : June 2009

2009-05-13T12:37:00.002+01:00

Max Power's June issue is on shelves today featuring my first major automotive cover. Xquisite's bright yellow wide-arched Honda Civic shoot took place back in March after I shot the X2C Newbie Meet (see below for that feature) at the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent, UK. I lucked out with this shoot as Bluewater has colour coded carparks and we happened to be in the yellow carpark, which really made the shoot come together.

Following her feature in Modified Motors' March issue, my Lydia Yap shoot also got a page in Max Power.

Max Power's new Babe Squad will be attending numerous shows this year. I helped Phil Steinhardt shoot their feature and posters back in March.

X2C are car club who hold an annual meet for new members to get to know the regulars. Max Power hired me to cover the event before shooting Xquisite's Honda Civic for their cover.

Modified Motors : March 2009

2009-05-13T12:26:00.003+01:00

Here's a quick pic from my photoshoot with Lydia Yap, featured in the March issue of Modified Motors in Ireland. The shoot spanned 5 pages and also included another shot on the cover.

Learn: How to Make Fake Blood

2009-04-11T02:21:00.004+01:00

Here's a quick video from a recent shoot where I had to make some fake blood. Hopefully this will be the first of many tutorial videos.

R32ESSION BUSTER

2009-04-04T23:03:00.004+01:00

Here's some shots and a video from our "R32ESSION BUSTER" Photoshoot. The idea behind it was that an £8K Nissan Skyline straight off the boat from Japan has the potential to beat a £160K Lamborghini LP560-4 in terms of power and speed.

We had to get up very early for the shoot as we were relying on ambient light for the entire day and wanted a nice low sun for the majority of the exterior shots.

Four : Porsche 964

2009-03-15T12:30:00.003Z

Another mag shoot. This time for issue 1 of an industry car audio magazine. They wanted something appropriate to the car and their target audience so I opted to shoot this using only available light. I darkened down the sky using quite a harsh ND grad filter to help add to the moodyness.

So far this is only a prototype. Hopefully the first issue will be in print pretty soon!

Gemma Massey pulls faces for Red Nose Day 09

2009-03-10T16:53:00.004Z

In an attempt to do our bit for Red Nose Day, we got together with Gemma Massey to pull faces and generally act like idiots for this photoshoot. All proceeds from the image sales are going to Comic Relief.

It was a lot of fun! hehe

Morgan Lees

2009-03-09T16:47:00.005Z

Did a shoot on wednesday for GIRL Syndication with Morgan Lees. Kept the lighting really simple for this one. Used a single light on the background to turn the back wall of the studio into the only light source. This combined with an aperture of f/4 gave a really nice soft back light. I used the modelling light from a second strobe to focus.

The Google Way — and How It Devalues Photography

2009-03-06T13:32:00.003Z

Just read an interesting blog by Paul Melcher on Black Star Rising and thought I should share it as it raises some interesting points.

"Google has become a standard that everyone follows and copies. Most photo agencies these days emphasize the size of their archives and the speed of their search results rather than the quality of their content."

"Creativity is trumped by productivity. A photographer producing more has more chance of being sold than one who has great talent."

Although it's focused on the stock photography industry, I think there are a lot of parallels within commissioned photography too.

Click here to read the full blog post