Pointless vanity project of the former Tabascokid

After a busy year of bickering, squabbling and grumbling, nothing clears the air in Westminster better than the annual snowball fight..

Trust Blair to go and start another war…

Merry Christmas and happy 2010, everyone!

Sorry about the the lack of posts recently but I have an 8lb 9oz excuse..

Eight days overdue and after a 45 hour labour involving attempts at a waterbirth, shedloads of drugs, a botched epidural and finally an emergency caesarian with an audience of 15 surgeons, staff and student doctors, Maximillian Mavric-Neal finally decided to show up on Monday morning at 10.58am.

After a number of visits to the new birth centre at the Whittington Hospital in north London, we’d made our mind up that the lovely peaceful waterbirth in a private room with our own choice of music was the way for us.  Who can say the NHS is a bad system when all of that is offered for free?  With the inevitable first baby panic causing a 4am rush to the hospital, we were sent home after 4 hours and I drummed my fingers as Kirsten sat through contractions in the bath.  Eventually, we headed back in and got stuck in to what lay ahead.

With Pethidine and Entinox flowing through her system, we were moved from the peaceful ambience of the birth centre to the “traditional” environment of the labour ward before finally ending up in the operating theatre for a forceps birth which then turned into an emergency caesarian section.  At least we got to tick off the whole set of options in a single pregnancy.

Max has already managed to show me up by having more hair than me and being far more photogenic, damn his speckly hide..

After 5 days in hospital while Kirsten recovered from the ordeal, we’ve finally all come home now and Maximillian is trying to get his head around this thing called life.  I just hope he doesn’t ask me for any advice..

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v10/

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/06/15/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v20/

http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2009/07/10/the-alternative-london-knowledge-v30/

Following on from my three-part guide to the press photography “knowledge” listed above, it’s good to see that others have offered hints and tips from their own fields of expertise.

New additions include a helpful guide from the PA picture desk on the view from the other side..

http://paphotocall.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/the-pr-picture-editors-knowledge/

and music photographer Nick Pickles‘ Festival Edition..

http://www.music-photographer.co.uk/blog/?p=277

Top work, peeps! 

After seeing some of the great shots that came out of the storms at Glastonbury, I realised that I had yet another hole in my photography knowledge that needed filling and last week, I had the perfect opportunity to experiment.

After reaching fatigue point recently, Kirsten and I got the chance to stay at a friend’s apartment in Folkestone for a few days.  While Folkestone may not be a hedonistic nirvana, it perfectly fitted the bill with a stunning sea view and absolutely nothing to do but unwind.  On Thursday, after a day in the pool and a fine feast, the evening entertainment arrived with dark clouds filling the horizon and distant rumbles. While lacking in tripods, monopods or anything other than a 24-70 lens, the fact that it was all so far out to sea allowed me to sit outside on the rooftop balcony in the dry and snap away. Having now discovered the joy of using an ironing board and a box of sultana bran cereal as a camera support, I may never go back to Manfrotto again..

Now I have no idea what the official way to shoot lightning is so I ended up experimenting and found that the most successful technique was to shoot in RAW on bulb, predicting the flashes.  With my aperture settling around the f5.6 mark in the end, most exposures were for around three or four seconds. Scientific stuff, eh?

For a more in-depth and accurate guide, there are plenty of guides online but this one seems pretty good to me.  It’s well worth a go if you get chance.  Just be careful with your positioning and have fun!

Wow.  Do you know how sometimes everything just goes wrong and other times it all just clicks?  I guess I’m on the peak of the rollercoaster ride at the moment (See #12) as I’ve just won the the “Portrait of the Year” category in the Press Photographer’s Year awards, here in the UK.  I’m staggered and exceptionally pleased.

The portrait is of the Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko and was shot during a press conference outside Downing Street, following a meeting with Gordon Brown.  Using the television lights, you could see the scarring caused by alleged Dioxin poisoning during an assassination attempt.

The print will feature in an exhibition of all the winning entries at the National Theatre in London from 4th July until 31st August.

Today saw our second and final scan before the big day in September. All looks well and despite being a decidedly lazy little buggar, the little tinker appears to be all fine and dandy! Huzzah!

With another hurdle passed, we then decided to do our first “babystuff” browsing (rather than shopping due to severe skintness). Prams are currently the point of discussion with various types being the unit of choice until we get our hands on them and find problems. If anyone has a nice bugaboo to sell me for a nice cheap price, you know where I am. I could even throw in a print or two!

For the second time this week, I got to lay my eyes on a new toy heading my way.  This time, I don’t get to touch it for another six months.. 

All is healthy and looking good with the little one putting on a fantastic burst of breakdancing for us as the scan took place.  I was expecting some indistinct blob so to be greeted with this space-prawn doing the caterpillar move in glorious mono was quite a shock!

The poor woman doing the scan had to deal with two photographers asking her to wait for the right moment before capturing the scan images. All measurements were good with the date being logged as September 20th.  Bring it on ( but not the sleepless nights..)

This child had better get used to posing as it doesn’t know what it’s in for..

Not being one that likes to simply forward links, this was one that I couldn’t let slip by..

The fury of the Fuhrer

Easily worth 4 minutes of your life..

When I was handed my mail in the office today, I was surprised to see that the quarterly Nikon magazine featured their brand new D3X.  I have a geekish habit of keeping my eye on the forums and blogs relating to new gear so was really surprised by their casual launch.

It’s only now that I hear a rumour that this was all apparently a bit of a cock-up as the European version of their pro-camera magazine was sent out in the mail too early, pre-empting their official “bells and whistles” launch.  Oops.

For those wanting the specs, knock yourself out on this heap of numbers from the magazine..

The X factor

Ultra-high definition 24.5-megapixel flagship takes DSLR into medium-format terrain

The professional SLR world has been transformed in just 12 months by the introduction of no less than four new Nikon pro SLR bodies. First we saw the D3 and D300. Then there was the D700. Now, with the launch of the D3x, Nikon offers more FX format pro cameras than any other manufacturer. At 24.5MP, the D3x has the highest resolution seen in a Nikon SLR to date.

The new camera shares all of the D3’s features, including Live View (making it the world’s highest resolution SLR with viewscreen shooting); the 51-point MultiCAM3500FX autofocus system; Scene Recognition System; Expeed 16-bit processing; 3-inch high-resolution 922.000-dot viewing screen; and the tough, weather-resistant magnesium body.

The D3x was designed with medium format photographic applications in mind. The ISO range covers 100-1600 with a Lo1 (equivalent to ISO 50) as well as boost settings up to the equivalent of ISO 6400.

But it’s also fast. The D3x can record its high-resolution 24.5MP files at up to 5fps. As with the D3, it has two alternative crop modes: 5:4 and DX In DX crop mode the camera captures 10MP files at up to 7fps.

The MultiCAM3500FX AF system is the same as the D3, and has the largest number of individually selectable focus points available, making this a very effective system for isolating fine details in the scene. The widely acclaimed Autofocus Tracking capabilities are, as you would expect, the same as the D3.

Pixel numbers alone do not guarantee good quality pictures. The D3x Expeed image-processing system is custom-designed to render this detail with levels of tonal gradation never before seen in a DSLR. Its 75MB files are ideally suited for stock photography and extremely high levels of enlargement.

And being a Nikon SLR, its body is much faster, intuitive to handle and ergonomically advanced than heavy and complex medium-format systems.

You’ll have guessed by now that the D3x is armed at photographers whose work requires the ultimate in detail and output quality Where skin tones, fabric textures, crisp edges, and foliage are paramount – in the fashion, commercial and landscape area – the D3x excels.

Beyond the confines of the studio lighting environment, the onboard exposure metenng and AWB systems make the D3x equally at home in less controlled lighting situations where the aim is to capture the atmosphere of ambient lighting.

FEATURES

THE SENSOR
The D3x has an exclusive 35.9 x 24mm (FX format) 24.5MP image sensor with unique OLPF (optical low pas filter) and high-speed channel readout. ISO range covers the equivalent of 50-6400.

IN FOCUS
The widely acclaimed speed and accuracy of the MultiCAM3500 AF system with 51-AF points. Individual selection assumes a new importance in combination with the high resolution: it’s easy to isolate and focus on small details in the scene.

SPEED AND RESPONSE
At full 24.5MP resolution, the D3x shoots at 5fps, 7fps is possible in DX Crop mode. The camera is as responsive as the superfast D3. 12ms start up with a shutter release lag time of just 41 ms (CIPA standard). It writes files to the dual CF slots at about 35MB per second.

IMAGE PROCESSING
The D3x’s 16-bit EXPEED engine is specially tuned to deliver detail-rich, colourful files with low levels of noise and high detail. It is also tuned to minimise the effects of colour fringing with older F-mount Nikkor lenses, and to minimise the effect of unnatural-looking (digital) noise patterns. Vignette (peripheral fall-off) can also be controlled for creative effect.

ACTIVE D-LIGHTING
The D3x features a new Extra High Active D-Lighting setting, designed to better manage extremely high-contrast scenes, especially tonal gradation in highlights.

SCENE RECOGNITION SYSTEM
Information from the 1005-pixel RGB sensor with diffraction grating is used to recognise the subject position and colour prior to capture. The results are then used by autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance.

LIVE VIEW
The D3x is the highest resolution digital SLR yet to offer Live View. Allowing photographers to compose and shoot via the 3in monitor instead of the viewfinder brings a variety of practical advantages both in the studio and on location. Two modes are offered: Handheld and Tripod. Contrast-detect autofocus is available in Tripod mode.

MONITOR
3-inch wide-angle (170deg) rear viewing screen, with 922,000 dots, is ultra-high definition, and proven to exhibit extraordinary levels of damage resistance.

THE INTERFACES
USB 2.0 downloads images off the camera fast when tethered, and flexibly when connected with the WT-4 wireless transmitter. With both HDMI and AV/Out ports GPS data can be captured into the EXIF as before. The new, compact Nikon GP-1 GPS unit can also be attached via the 10-pin terminal and mounted in the hotshoe, or clip on the camera strap.

POWER MANAGEMENT
The D3x uses the same high performance lithium-ion battery (EN-EL4a) as the D3. Thanks to efficiencies in the camera’s onboard EXPEED image-processing system, battery performance is comparable with the D3.

THE BODY
Extremely durable magnesium construction with economically optimised and weather-sealed buttons, dials and LCD displays. Extensive use of high-grade rubber grips means the body is comfortable to handle for long periods of time, and in a wide range of temperatures.

Being the selfless martyr that I am, I know that the best birthday present to give anyone is the one that results in you also getting to enjoy it.  As I was pretty sure that Kirsten wouldn’t be too impressed with a Nintendo Wii, I opted to book a weekend in Prague.

Thanks to the wonderful mrandmrssmith we managed to get the Yasmin Suite at the fantastic Hotel Yasmin near Wenceslas Square.  Never having used the company before, it was a rare pleasure to arrive at a hotel and be automatically upgraded to the largest suite and given a complimentary bottle of champagne to wash away any travel stress.  Before you fire off a mail branding me a snob, I have to point out that not only do I still say “bath” rather than “barth”, but thanks to the twin-edged sword that is the credit crunch, there are real bargains to be found out there.  With the balance of power now tipped in the favour of those willing to spend, it’s amazing how far companies are prepared to discount now for a chance to get at your closely-guarded savings.

One of the reasons why Prague was so appealing was to try and get into the festive Winter spirit rather than London’s traditional drizzle spirit that lasts for most of the year and thankfully, on arrival, we were greeted with a blizzard that forced us into a restaurant for our first Czech meal.  Having been warned in guide books that the local cuisine is essentially sausage and potatoes, it’s a relief to find that while this may be true at the street vendors, there are plenty of places that can offer something a little more exciting.  Celnice and Cafe Louvre both provided great food and drink with the latter also having the added benefit of a traditional billiards hall.

Prague seems to be settling down into it’s own place in the world now after a turbulent last two decades.  Having ditched Communism in 1989, the 1990’s saw the country swinging to the opposite extreme by becoming a stag party destination of choice for many.

Thankfully for residents and visitors, the city looks like it’s finding the comfortable middle ground now with galleries and museums living comfortably with the bars and clubs.  It is inspiring to see that the population doesn’t attempt to forget the past and is proud of it’s achievements as a country with statues and plaques for the victims of Communism along with somewhat less official reminders of their recent fight for improved standards of living.

Even though we were only in town for two nights, it’s easy to get to see a good percentage of the sights on public transport and by foot.  The underground system in Prague has just three lines; A, B and C with 24 hour passes allowing travellers unlimited use of the underground and bus systems plus the more memorable tram system.  Despite buying tickets, we could never work out what we should do with them so travelled everywhere without showing them to anyone.  Trusting bunch, those Czechs..  On the subject of transport, we did find that while a cab firm at the airport offered a rate of about £20 to make the 30 minute journey into Prague, the hotel could only offer “special deals” that worked out to be much higher so it’s worth finding a company when you arrive and taking their number.  We used AAA who were fast and efficient but I’m sure there are many others.

Another plus point was that despite wearing a flashing “TOURIST” light on my head as I scratched my head on street corners while browsing my map, we were never hassled or bothered by anyone.  Coming after Cuba, it’s quite a relief to be able to ask someone directions without feeling the need to just hand over money for no real reason.