mik & photography

Gloss Prints

2010-09-22T10:40:00.003+01:00

I have tried quite a few Permajet papers in the last few days with my new printer. I will mainly print on matte papers, but because Photo Black ink is installed by default, I tried some glossy/luster prints first. I must say – Claria inks look almost as good as Ultrachrome with test images on Epson Premium Glossy – which is not surprising. Ultrachrome is meant to be much better for Matte printing, especially in B&W. I thought I was getting quite good, neutral B&W prints from my PX700W (using “Greyscale” option in printer drivers), but boy, I was wrong! They have quite obvious greenish cast when you compare it side by side to 3880 ABW (Advanced B&W) prints.
But getting back to glossy papers – I also tried PermaJet’s Oyster paper (luster, very white) – print from 3880 looked absolutely stunning. If I ever use semi-gloss type of paper – I will definitely go for Oyster! It seems it could be good for large, impressive aviation color shots. I have not really tried any other papers (apart maybe from Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss – which is OK) and I switched now to Matte Black. I will give some feedback on matte printing soon.

New printer

2010-09-20T11:49:00.003+01:00

I have been hesitating for some time with my buy of Epson R2880 and I was wondering – why do I feel I should think again before buying this printer? What’s wrong?
I was walking by a window of local gallery and saw some landscape prints. They were big. Bigger than A3, probably more like A2 size. And it got me thinking….Shouldn’t I go for Epson 3880 rather than R2880? Yes, it is twice as expansive and it is a bit bigger (I don’t have a lot of space next to my PC), but allows you to print up to A2. Now this is huge for home printing! Another thing is – you do not have to switch inks manually (Photo Black & Matte Black), and it is TRULY pro range printer. Besides, it is not really twice as expansive – the difference in amount of ink you getting with this printer makes up for initial difference in price. So it looked like no brainer to me. I bought Epson 3880. Wow.

Gallery

2010-08-13T10:42:00.001+01:00

I sold my first photos (see below) in Buzkashi Gallery in Dorking. Hurray!
It looks like I will have my own exhibition there from January to March 2011. I will need plenty of prints… One of the options is to get proper printer and print them myself – tempting, but initial cost is considerable…
Hmmm - Epson R2880? ;-)

Ups! Watch out, snappers...

2010-08-12T16:09:00.001+01:00

Unlucky...

“First” thoughts on Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 G IF-ED DX

2010-08-12T13:16:00.002+01:00

I have been using this lens for about 2 months now, and I must say – I love it. Very is something special about it – you know when you hold in hand a really awesome (and expensive) pro-range photo product – it is exactly the feeling you get when you have a chance to use 17-55.

At first, I was probably a bit disappointed that it does not blow everything away sharpness-wise (especially 18-70 which it has replaced for me), but then I realized it is not only about sharpness. Yes, 18-70 is similar at like 35mm and f8, but it does not mean 17-55 is not better. It is – in almost every aspect. Build quality is top notch (it’s made mainly of metal), mechanically is just perfect, sharpness at 50mm f5.6 is as good as 50mm f1.8 @ f5.6 (I will post test shots later) – what shouldn’t I like about it? Even bokeh is very nice for a zoom lens, so I personally think this one is worth every penny (I bought it for about a half of street price, used). Apparently lenses like 16-85 VR are a bit sharper than 17-55, but they are a lot slower. Ability to shoot at f2.8 throughout the range is really, really something – shallow focus area and amount of light coming in are very useful.

I am usually trying to use this lens in 2.8-5.6 aperture range; it does not get any sharper above that, I would rather say that from about f8 it is getting less sharp – it is obviously optimized for best performance at wide apertures. I also have not noticed obvious sharpness drop at 55mm f2.8 – I think it is about the same as other aperture values throughout zoom range, so I don’t really now how www.lenstip.com got the result like that. Mine observation is much closer to photozone.de test of this lens. I must say I am not afraid to shoot at f2.8 at all – the results are quite remarkable – a bit worse than f4, but still very, very good.

I will post some test/comparison shots soon (hopefully).

Anyway – if you deliberating getting this lens – I recommend you do! It is a pleasure to use.

Blog...

2010-06-11T19:19:00.000+01:00

OK...that's official - this blog won't be updated frequently. It seems like I have ALWAYS something else to do. Life is just too short...

New toy – Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8G IF-ED DX

2010-05-18T15:26:00.004+01:00

For the last week or so I was playing with my new lens, Nikkor 17-55mm. I will post some samples soon and give first impressions, too.

end of April already....

2010-04-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

Yeah, it's kinda hard to believe, but April is almost up. I might have some more time to take pictures in May (I hope so!) because this month wasn't good at all...well...
Below are some pics I managed to get last week:

Canterbury

2010-04-16T19:58:00.004+01:00

We visited last week, on our way back from Poland. What a place! I don't necessarily mean only the cathedral. Whole old town is really amazing, you can easily feel the spirit of old, atmospheric place. Below there is one of the pictures taken in the cathedral - I will upload more when I go through them properly.

D300, Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/50, f5, ISO 1600

D300, Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/25, f4.2, ISO 1600

light is here…

2010-04-14T11:46:00.002+01:00

Now - it is springtime, no question about that. Finally there is enough light in the morning & late afternoon to take some pictures…
So...I will try to post at least one photo per week, with the little description (story) behind it.

The very best ones (which are not guaranteed to materialize every week, unfortunately!) I will still upload to my web page, and not here, so check it out regularly at www.mikphotography.com.

Let's start then!

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 75mm, 1/400, F5.6, ISO 360

Taken in Poland in Kaszuby area (Northern Poland) which we visited for Easter. It was lovely warm afternoon in the middle of nowhere, and with sun very low I took three pictures and merged them into this panorama.

it's almost springtime!

2010-03-01T15:20:00.000Z

Time of the year is still not that great for photography (still quite dark before and after daily job hours) but spring is coming and one can still find some interesting pics in the drawers with 2009 year on it…

If winter is good for any kind of photography, flash photography must be one of them:

New gadget.

2010-02-08T12:56:00.008Z

Just got very useful (I suppose) thing for everyone doing any post processing on his computer. A tablet – Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch. I only started to use it yesterday, so can’t say how useful it really is, but first signs are very promising. Will post some detailed views on it in few weeks.

p.s. Pressure sensitivity is not working with Lightroom adjustment brush on PC – it apparently works on Macs (damn!). But it works with PSE/PS. It is still much more natural to use any kind of brush with tablet pen, so I think it is worthy addition to any post-processing station, anyway.
Correction - pressure sensitivity actually works, but it needs Flow to be set below 100 - 50 works best for me!

Nikkor 300mm f4 with TC-20E III shoots Kingfisher

2010-01-27T22:46:00.004Z

I was pretty excited about performance of Nikkor 300mm f4 with teleconverter x2 (TC-20E II). Now pictures with the new version of this tc appeared on the net (dpreview forums) - and I am blown away - again!

This combination could work after all....amazing!

Global warming?!

2010-01-27T14:15:00.004Z

With snow gone (and not coming back....probably) we might look forward to upcoming spring. But wait...it is still like -3 at night. South East UK, Surrey. Large parts of continental Europe are totally frozen with temperatures dropping to whooping -30 at night.

Global warming? What are they babbling about?

It's got nothing to do with photography though, so I better shut up.

Very, very white winter moment

2010-01-10T17:18:00.004Z

It does not look like winter is going anywhere - it will be cold & white for at least another week (correction - it will finally melt away in the next few days)

These views are pretty unusual for South East UK.

I hope fellow photographers are enjoying themselves out there!

Nikkor 300mm f4 and TC-20 - big surprise!

2010-01-08T15:42:00.001Z

I just found something quite astounding.
I know very well how difficult it is to shoot with Nikkor 300mm f4 with teleconverter – (I failed many times doing it) – and this guy just shocked me how good his pictures are. …and he was using TC-20!. OK, monopod helps (if you mastered using it), but still… one would think quality should plummet with teleconverter x2 but it looks like 300mm f4 is worth every penny – you can get pro results with consumer lens.
Great job, mate!

New Year, new website layout, new blog...

2010-01-06T23:54:00.000Z

Yes. Finally.
It looks like my website is all but ready. I did not realize how much time it would actually take - but it was worth it. Was it though? There are still things which have not been finalized yet, some glitches which hurt my eyes every time I see them. But more or less, it looks like it was supposed to.
So please have a look - again.
my website