Micro Four Thirds Purchases

Dear all, Those of you who have been following my blog for some time, or have been on workshops with me, will know that I'm a film shooter only. All of the work you see in my portfolio on this web site was created with a Mamiya 7II system, Hasselblad 500 / 503 system, or a Contax 645 system. I love these medium format systems very much and they all have their own strengths (and weaknesses - which I love, too).

I've owned a micro-four thirds system for some time, but I've never really given it much of a real try out. I tend to use it on my workshops to illustrate compositions, but until recently, I've not had much in the way of decent lenses for it.

So this week, I've purchased quite a few items for my Micro Four Thirds camera:

Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 zoom lens Panasonic 25mm f1.4 lens Panasonic / Leica 45mm f2.8 macro lens Lee Seven5 micro format filter system - hard grads, full ND's, big stopper

It's been a lot of fun, choosing the lenses, because there are so many now to choose from, for this really excellent compact system.

I thought I would go through my reasons for the choices, and also, to bring to light that I feel the days of big SLR's being the king of the photography market is changing. We live in a multi-format society and there is no reason to stick to such a format these days, other than backward compatibility with old 35mm film systems, or lenses.

On a slightly related note: I have been asking that camera manufacturers move away from the 3:2 aspect ratio (it's historical - designed for a film format), and towards systems that can be programmed for different aspect ratios. My preferences are for ratios such as 1:1 (square), 4:5 (rectangle) or 6:7 (a rectangle that is moving towards square).

Camera systems should be getting smaller, and more compact. What I love about the MFT (micro four thirds) format is that the sensor size is just a little bit smaller than APS-C. For such a compact camera, it means the quality of the images is pretty close to 35mm. The only thing that seems to be missing from the MFT format right now, is improved dynamic range and high ISO noise capability like the pro-end SLR's (unless I'm not so informed or up to date on the matter).

Anyway, here's my reasoning for the lenses:

Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 zoom lens

As much as I prefer primes, because primes make you fit the camera to the landscape, and not the other way around, I wanted a general purpose lens for my workshops. One that is on the camera at all times, and that goes all the way down to 24mm (12mm in MFT terms). The cost of buying the little Olympus 12mm was just a little bit cheaper, but reviews suggested it's not such a good performer as the 12-35 zoom. I also feel that primes are great  because they force you to hunt the landscape and work with what you're given, rather than just standing on the spot and zooming in and out until things seem to fit. I would have preferred to have a few smaller lenses than a zoom if I were using this system as a serious contender for my own work, but I'm not. I'm really using it for workshop, and most of the time, I just want to be out on location with one lens on the kit so I can illustrate things to participants.

I didn't really need the lenses I'm going to mention now.... these were perhaps just things I desired, rather than needed for my workshops.

Panasonic 25mm f1.4 lens

If I'm going to buy a dedicated prime for the system, I'd like it to be really fast. The MFT system suffers from too much depth of field because of its smaller focal lengths. A standard lens is 25mm on this system. That means it has the same DOF characteristics of a 25mm lens on any camera system - in other words - it's pretty wide, even wide open at f5.6. As much as I think the Pancake lens is a superb lens and fast, this lens is just a little bit faster. I may still buy the pancake at some point, because it's ideal for leaving on the camera when you just want to put the entire thing in your pocket. The f1.4 is not a pocketable lens.

Panasonic / Leica 45mm f2.8 macro lens

It sounds like a pretty stunning lens. There's not really any other reason for buying this, but maybe in time, I'll be able to share some thoughts with you on this one.

Lee Seven5 micro format filter system

The grads for this system have extremely hard transitions. It's really a must for any system where the lenses are small. Hard grad transitions become very soft when put up close in front of a lens. I often get asked how I'm able to place the grads for my Mamiya 7II rangefinder system - well the truth of the matter is - it's not important to be so precise with this system because the focal lengths are greater than a 35mm system. Hard grads are visible down at wide angle focal lengths, but as you move up the focal lengths, the transition in the grade becomes more diffused as you 'zoom in'. When moving form 35mm to medium format, you more or less double the focal length. What was 24mm for you, is now 50mm. This means that the hard grads become more diffused and therefore less problematic with accurate placement.

Now go down the formats. As you go to MFT format, the focal lengths get smaller, but so do the diameters of the lenses. The optics are really small, so that means a normal hard grad will be too soft.

The seven5 (weird marketing name) should be ideal for this kind of system.

I don't intend to move away from film and I've never understood the phrase 'going digital'. Film and digital are different mediums. They look different, and offer different things. I think it's fun to be able to mess about with both, but I can't see myself being able to focus seriously on both at the same time. I think my little MFT system is really for use during my workshops for illustrative purposes and to allow me to have fun as well (I don't often shoot much myself on my workshops), but time will tell if this system grows into something new for me.

I'm looking forward to trying out the MFT system in a more 'professional' way, but above all, I just think it will be a lot of fun too.

Iceland September trip - 1 space free due to cancellation

Dear all, I'm traveling in Bolivia right now. I've been on the altiplano for about a week, and my Hasselblad cameras have been behaving really well since I got them serviced :-)

I just thought I would write today about a recent cancellation I've received for my Iceland trip this September. This means there is now 1 space free for anyone who has been wanting to come this September. The dates are September the 23rd to October the 1st. If you wish to find out more, or even book, you can do so here.

I hope to write more over the next few days about my trip's progress in Bolivia. Speak soon, Bruce

Lofoten February 2013

I'm just heading off for South America today.... by tomorrow evening I shall be in the Atacama at the top of Chile, where I will acclimatise for three or four days before I head off into the Bolivian landscape. But before I go, I thought I would share with you a selection of images that I made in the Lofoten islands of Norway this February with my two groups. I've still got a backlog of images to work through, but thought it would be nice to end on some images before my departure for south america.

It's always nice to look at new images. It can give one a sense of enthusiasm and satisfaction - as creative people, we all need to create. If we don't, then we feel stuck.... it's so nice to see some of these images become realisations, as I'd lived with them in my mind for so long, and just didn't have much free time to work through what I've shot.

I still have many more to work through, but right now, this feels like a decent distillation of what I encountered last February. Each of the trips I ran had very different weather. The first week was particularly calm with perfect reflections most mornings, while the second week was perhaps more unsettled, but dramatic all the same. I'm now feeling as though I could really do with visiting the Lofoten at a completely different time of year now. And it has to be said that I think it's now time for me to visit some places new, for my own personal creativity. Lofoten is like an old friend to me now.

I'm delighted to say that I will be in Japan in February 2014 for a few weeks, as part of a new project I'm working on, and I have plans for somewhere else in December too. I feel it's time to reach for some new places and with it, new inspiration in order to keep things fresh.

I do feel I've found a very beautiful photographic-friend  in the Lofoten islands and I will be back there next January to explore the more northerly regions of the islands.

Wishing you were here (speaking figuratively about my pending destination of the Bolivian Altiplano!)

Further to this original posting, Erik (see below) wrote to me about his concerns about the lonely tree edit. I often feel it's not so obvious any errors or things that can be improved upon an edit until some time has passed. So it was interesting to see Erik point out something that was not working for him. Here is my rather quick correction to this image. I feel it works better, and would still require a few more days for me to sit on before I know for sure I am happy with the edit:

The value of photographic clubs

Over the past four or five years, I've had the pleasure of visting many photographic clubs throughout Scotland to give talks on my photography. It's an immensely enjoyable experience to present to an audience (once you get over your initial nerves of doing so) and I often find the process gives me a chance to appreciate what it is that I do, and how much others can gain something from the presentation.

I think photographic clubs are great venues for people of all abilities and levels of interest to attend. I would say that although most clubs differ in some subtle ways, they are full of social people who like to meet others.

I feel that it's often easy to feel daunted by the effort to visit a club where you do not know people and where you may feel like an outsider upon initial contact. But every photographic club I've been to, is really eager to get your attendance. The sad truth of the matter is that they find it hard to attract members. When I meet club secretaries and chair people, they are often selfless in their aim to keep the club going. Often having to organise day out events, inter-club competitions, presentations and it's very time consuming for them to keep looking for speakers to their clubs as this is often done as a part time activity outside of their working lives.

The thing that strikes me most about every photographic club I've visited, is that there are usually not many young members there. By young, I mean 30 year olds. If I didn't know better, I would take the demographic of most clubs as an indication that photography is of interest to people who are more advanced in their years and that photography is not of interest to people in their teens, 20's or 30's. However, this is not the case. Photography is going through one of the biggest growths in interest it's seen ever. Everyone has a camera these days and cameras have become so cheap and ubiquitous, that people of all ages have the kinds of image capture quality at their disposal that a 17 year old in the 80's would have dreamed of.

So why are clubs failing to attract members?

I think there are many reasons for this. Firstly, with the availability of high quality information available now on the internet, a lot of budding photographers are staying at home and finding and sharing ideas through websites, blogs and forums. I also would dare to suggest that since photography is a predominantly male activity (yes, women like it too), a lot of men would prefer to find out information on a forum than attend a club. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a lot of people assume that clubs can or are very competitive and that you may have to be very good to be a member.

I find this a real shame. Because clubs are excellent places to meet others who like photography in your neighbourhood. It's very hard to find others who share the same interests in photography because by nature, photography is a solitary activity.

Through my own workshops, and even my two book launches where I had around 20 workshop participants attend, I found a few of them established friendships and continue to go out together to make photographs when they can find time in their professional lives. I know of three participants for instance, who met at my two book launches who I sometimes meet up with (Hi Joe, Niall, Omer!).

Photographic clubs are keen to have people come along and join. Many of them have been going for decades and have been run by very friendly and supportive people where the club is everything to them, and without it, they would feel a hole in their lives. I think by attending clubs, you can only benefit. It's just a case of trying a few out to find one that feels right for you.

By the way, I have been a member of Midlothian photographic club for a few years. I haven't attended in the past year because of work commitments, but I will be going to see them on March 18th 2014 to give a talk, and to catch up with the members. It's been a while since I saw them last, but there are some special characters to this club (which is perhaps one of the reasons why I joined in the first place).

If you're considering joining a club, or feel a little daunted by going along to one, what might be a good idea is to offer to come along and give a talk on your own photography. It will help the clubs by introducing new speakers to their yearly syllabus, and it will also benefit you also by getting to visit the clubs and find out more about them, and whether they are right for you and what you are looking for.

Is confidence a requirement to making art?

I believe very much, that when we create art, we do it for ourselves and everything else comes as secondary to that purpose. To do it for other reasons, is to lose one's way and soon, we are floating on a sea of uncertainty.

I had an interesting discussion with my good friend Niall today in which he felt that for some, creating art requires a sense of confidence in order to do it. I've often heard many workshop participants tell me they don't know if what they're doing is right or not, and some have also brought up the idea that confidence is lacking in what they do.

I can understand a degree of uncertainty at times. I think this is natural and when we're new to any new hobby or passion, we don't often know which way to go. What equipment should we buy? What is good light? Am I being ridiculous trying this out? This is simply a case of going outside of our comfort zone. But maybe for some, maybe for you - the act of creating anything at all is a new thing in life? If so - I would love to hear if you feel that creating something requires confidence?

I've always thought of creating art as an expression of freedom. It is a place where our minds are allowed to roam, unconstrained from timescales, pressures or limits. By placing the concept of confidence on our work, I believe it to be another form of writers-block - in other words, a barrier we have put up, to prevent us from taking chances. Because when we take chances, we are opening ourselves to the possibility of failure.

There should be no constrictions places upon creating things. No boundaries or rules. There are no rights or wrongs. There is just the act of doing what we feel we want to do next. And enjoying that freedom. Creating art should be a freeing thing to do, not something that we get tangled up in and frozen into a state of inertia.

I'd love to ask you if you feel your photography is bounded by your own confidence in what you do?

My friend and I continued our discussion, and he being from a scientific background, suggested that most of his life has not entertained too much creativity, and so for him to go out there with a camera and make images, he sometimes feels as if he is a 'fraud' in what he does. I can relate to this very much if I look at my sports experience while at School: I was terrible. Always the last person to be chosen for a team because I had two left feet and I would only hold a sports team back. Since then, I've always felt a lack of real confidence to get involved in most sporting activities. It doesn't sit well with me. On the other side of the coin, if I look back to my childhood, I was always drawing and painting. I was an arty kid. So I guess through being creative since an early age, I have never experienced the  'lack of confidence' that my friend is talking about, because I've always been creating things from my very earliest of memories. Creating art feels natural. Perhaps to some, it doesn't?

Back to my first paragraph: I believe very much, that when we create art, we do it for ourselves and everything else comes as secondary to that purpose. To do it for other reasons, is to lose one's way and soon, we are floating on a sea of uncertainty.

That uncertainty is what kills our creativity. Doubt is introduced, and when doubt comes along, we lose everything.

I'm very aware of this myself, because with my own photography business, I could get sidetracked into creating work that I think will interest you as a reader to my blog. I haven't felt any pressure to do so, nor have I ever pandered to the idea that my work is for the consumption of others: I do what I do, for me, and because I am driven to do it.

I think it's a shame if the 'confidence' required to create art is because one feels they do not measure up to another's work, or whether we feel we must prove our validity to others. I think this is why I've never really been interested in competitions as such. Art is not a competitive thing for me, but I can understand and appreciate that competitions give some a sense of validity and encouragement to what they do (heck, I'm sure I'd be delighted if I won a competition!) But really, I think we have to please ourselves first and foremost.

We do art because it's what we saw and what we felt. If we do it for those reasons alone, we can't go wrong. I would love to hear your thoughts on confidence when creating art.