Tabo’s gotta brand new bag!
To celebrate an endorsement from the wonderful people at Thinktank photo, I have a chance to thank you for reading this blog. Who’s up for winning a free Thinktank Urban Disguise 35 v2.0, worth over £120? Having used Thinktank gear for a few years now, it’s a real pleasure to say how great their gear [...]
2011 – my baker’s dozen
Following my hijacking of Phil Coomes’ BBC “News in Pictures” blog last week, I thought I’d put my slightly revised selection from 2011 on here to continue the series that I began last year. I’m obviously tempting fate as I have one shift left for 2011 on the 31st, so calling these my favourites of [...]
The Nikon “1″ J1 and V1
Having owned my Panasonic GF1 for just over two years now, I figured that technology had moved on enough to warrant investigating a new small-form camera for days off and secret squirrel assignments. With Panasonic’s follow-up models being too consumer-based with added touch-screens and gimmicks, while still utilising the same sensor, I’d waited eagerly for [...]
Anton Hammerl
Yesterday, I got an email from London photographer Teri Pengilley, regarding her decision to attempt to raise some money for the family of freelance photographer Anton Hammerl who was killed in the Libyan desert while covering the recent fighting. Here’s what Teri has to say about her plan; “Next Saturday, September 3rd, I am going [...]
Set antlers to stun!
As the saying almost goes, what happens on stag weekends, stays on stag weekends. However, following the wedding last week of good friend Carl de Souza, I thought I’d stick some of my favourite (and non-incriminating) shots up. Being aware that I should travel light, the whole thing was shot on my beloved Panasonic Lumix [...]
Caution: This post may contain flashy images
I was recently sent a parcel of goodies to review/torture and while some items won’t be of use to me as a press photographer, one item stood out as being of interest; the Godox PB820 Propac battery pack. To those of you who work in press, wedding and entertainment photography, you’ll already probably own either [...]
Mirrored? Single? Manoeuvre!
Having always trusted my digital archive to a random variety of techniques, I recently decided to bite the bullet and sort it out once and for all. Up to now, I’ve always gone for the very risky technique of storing my archive on a single disk until the end of the calendar year. At that [...]
DIY Trumpet-blowing for beginners
After baring my soul in the Royal Wedding blog including all of the lows of the day, it’s time for some straight good news; I just won second place in the NPPA Photojournalism 2011 awards: “Olympic Features” category! Whoop! Big congratulations should also go to AFP colleague Carl de Souza for his Honourable Mention in [...]
Dolly does Denmark
Following on from my recent blog on the discovery of Dolly, I thought I’d share a few more frames from recent days. Joining Kirsten for a portrait shoot in Denmark, I braved the x-ray machine at Gatwick airport and left the big toys at home. Like my earlier post, these shots haven’t been edited at [...]
The day I shouted at a Wizard
***** THIS IS AN OFFICIAL WARNING – DUE TO TECHNICAL CONTENT, THIS POST WILL ONLY BE OF INTEREST TO PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO USE POCKET WIZARD TRIGGERS WITH THEIR NIKON CAMERAS – ANYONE EXPECTING THE USUAL STUFF PLEASE ENJOY A POST FROM THE ARCHIVE ***** Following a mind-destroying battle with technology to get my new Pocket Wizard [...]
Hello Dolly!
When I visited my parents’ home for Christmas this year, I came away with something more than a bag of gifts and an extra stone of bodyweight. After looking through a few old photo albums, I asked if the negatives were still around anywhere and was handed a carrier bag full of unmarked envelopes and [...]
My Sweet Sixteen
While finalising my entries for this year’s photography competitions, I realised that I never look back on the year’s output other than during the hunt for prizes. In light of this, I decided to put together a somewhat belated collection of my personal favourite images from 2010. These aren’t necessarily the ones that I’ve entered [...]
Canon f2.8 16-35mm mk1 lens for sale
UPDATE: This lens has now been sold. Feel free to read on if you like lovely still life images of lenses and a top lesson in salesmanship. After getting a considerable amount of attention after offering the lens on twitter, I’ve decided to sell my Canon 16-35mm f2.8 L series mk1 zoom lens via my [...]
Workflow-a-go-go
I recently discovered that there are quite a few photographers that do not have any real system of filing their images for easier archiving. With this in mind, I thought I’d share my thoughts on how to make life easier when it comes to organising your digital diamonds. When I first arrived in London, a [...]
Olympic Parlour Games
Just a quick post to both shamelessly promote myself and to push a great photographers resource called the Photography Parlour. Aimed at sharing hints, tips, information and galleries among photographers from all areas of the industry, they’ve linked to my Olympic blog here with an interview coming as soon as I get time to answer [...]
UPstrapped for cash
One of the biggest annoyances among photographers who have to carry cameras over both shoulders during their working day is the need to constantly do the Les Dawson-esque bra-adjusting manoeuvre as they recover the camera straps back onto their shoulder. As a news photographer, trying to run while laden with cameras involves a unique position with the [...]
Westminster Rumble!
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!
How to make a ‘millian in 9 months.
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 [...]
The knowledge continues to grow..
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 [...]
Nature’s flashgun
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 [...]
File under “Good week”
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 [...]
I love it when a scan comes together..
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). [...]
New toy lacks manual
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. [...]
Apparently he wasn’t just a vegetarian painter..
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..
