31 Important Features Features For Your New Camera

A few weeks ago I wrote about my old faithful Canon 6D, and asked if I was ready to replace it, and if so what with? I spent lots of time talking about the Canon 6D in that article.

So here are 31 important features features for your new camera. This based on how I have used cameras in the past, and how I am going to use cameras in the future. This is with a lifetime of photography experience. In producing this list you will learn what camera features are genuinely important to me in my work as an architectural, landscape and travel photographer. And which features are by default not important. I hope that this will help you choose your next camera.

I am going to refine this list down to the essential items that I need, which will determine what my next camera should be.

A new camera is a significant purchase in so many ways, so time spent identifying the features required will ensure that the best choice of a new camera is made.

By the way these are all features that will help me to take better photos, which is my number one priority.

Why am I writing this list now?

This list started off when I was writing a previous blog post about my Canon 6D, and brought together thoughts I have been having for some time. The starting point really was what would I do if I broke my Canon 6D – this is an entirely likely scenario as I am

• Intrinsically clumsy, and

• Take photos on live construction sites

• Like putting my camera very close to the bit of land where the waves and land meet.

• Take my camera with me absolutely everywhere

• Seriously I am really clumsy

What has made me think about changing my camera?

So once that thought process had been initiated, the cogs started whirring slowly.

The 3 primary reasons/ concerns/ potential issues

1 – My dodgy old mince pies (like the rather too early Yuletide reference?)

My eyesight is getting worse as I get older. Well we are all getting older of course but I have a bit of a head start when it comes to age – I am already 51.

It is my eyes that are the issue. I have been short sighted for donkeys’ years now. But in the last 5 years my near vision has got worse and worse.

Add short-sighted to losing your near vision and it is a royal pain in the X! Try seeing all those small lights and dials on a camera, and then switch your vision to distance – not easy.

2 – A different way of working

Yes – I am working in a different way now. My Canon 6D is still doing an excellent job with my architectural photography work, but there are other things that I am doing now, travel photography and vlogging. My Canon 6D is not fitting the bill as well for these areas of my work.

3 – I just want something shiny and new

Shock confession. I want a new camera. There – I have said it now. I think that this has become one of those self-fulfilling prophecies. I started writing about not replacing my Canon 6D and find myself here writing this post with much too much enthusiasm!

To be fair to me my cameras tend to last me five years so I am due for something that will take me into the year 2024 – imagine what technology will be doing for us by then!!

Back to the subject in hand - here are the 31 features that I want in my next camera.

These 31 things are in no particular order, and are a list of the things that came to me when I sat down to capture the headings for this article. 31 just happens to be the number of things I came up with – there is no significance to this number!!

1 - Smaller and lighter than my Canon 6D with lenses attached.

I found myself using my iPhone more and more on holiday. I basically couldn’t be bothered getting my Canon 6D out all the time, and really enjoyed the ease of using an iPhone.

I know – its not Canons fault I’m lazy!

I used my Canon 6D for sunrise shots, where it was just me and the sunrise, no on else around and just me to think about. I used my Canon 6D on my travel tripod, the Manfrotto 190 Go.

I would really like something much smaller and lighter that I can take on trips and not be burdened with.

My 6D is not that big to be fair – it is just the collection of stuff together that bugs me. And I know there is smaller stuff out there.

Talking of tripods I also use a Platypod and a very small tripod called the Manfrotto Pixi. If I had a much smaller camera, I would have more options in terms of tripods and other supports which is rather exciting.

2 - In camera HDR

I am going to refer to my Canon 6D as my camera from now on. OK?

My camera has built-in HDR, but this is only to Jpeg files. I shoot in RAW only, so this feature is of no use to me.

Or is it?

Is there a different way of looking at this? Has the technology of cameras, sensors, image capture and image processing progressed to the point where there is no real difference between Jpeg and RAW?

Is there a camera that makes this differentiation irrelevant?

And is there a camera that makes HDR irrelevant as well?

Well it’s a thought.

Can a single image capture be enough?

Or a single image capture processed using something like Aurora HDR.

3 – GPS

GPS is a must for not only my travel photography, but also my commercial photography and the stuff I do on the way to and from shoots.

I have GPS on my Canon 6D which I always use, which I find incredibly useful.

I use the Map Module in Lightroom a lot, especially when I am writing about my photographs on my various websites, blog and also on the Improve Photography website.

GPS is pretty much an essential tool for me.

4 - Wi-fi

I use Wi-Fi to remotely control my camera using the Canon Connect App. I have used this to activate my camera from the top of my painters’ pole in a couple of situations.

Me using the Wi-Fi on my Canon 6D

This photo was taken in a pretty harsh environment, a gravel loading facility next to a live rail siding. I had to photograph the gravel being unloaded by the 360 machine from the train into the gravel bays.

And when these guys are unloading from a train on a live rail network they get on with it!

No time to wait on this shoot with my Canon 6D

The other example is where I want to take a photograph of a building from higher than ground level, like the photo above. Getting to first floor level, which is only circa 3m gives a completely different perspective, and also means that my camera is at first floor level, eliminating the need to correct verticals.

Architectural photography in Hampshire using a painters’ pole

5 - Connectivity as good as an iPhone

In the year 2018 why do cameras not have the same functionality and connectivity that we all enjoy with our phones?

My Canon 6D is an older camera now granted but cameras in general seem to lack way behind phones.

Why can’t I take a photo and share it with a client immediately? I can with my phone.

6 - The functionality of an iPhone

Same point relay but rather than connectivity functionality.

7 - Connectivity to my iPhone (thinking about it)

improving that in a clever way could negate the need for the two points above.

8 - In camera image processing

What do I mean by this? I guess I am talking about Jpeg image capture with more processing, meaning I can use images straight from camera (with the connectivity mentioned above).

9 - Fully articulated screen

I put my camera on a painters’ pole. I also put my camera on the ground, on a Platypod or Manfrotto Pixi tripod. I hold my camera out of windows.

I hold my camera out in front of me to get over things.

For all of these situations a fully articulating screen would be a huge bonus to me – this would genuinely help me taking photos.

10 - A screen I can actually see in normal light and also in direct Greek sunshine

I am getting old. I am (rather tragically) over 50. And my eyes are not what they were.

The screens on my Canon 6D are an issue. The tiny numbers in the viewfinder are also an issue to me.

Photographing the sunrise on Santorini

I have been getting away with these shortcomings mainly by the way I take my photos. I pre-set most of my camera settings so most of the time all I am changing is the aperture and the point of focus.

When I want to deviate from that in any way the problems begin.

And I have noticed recently that all things that I do with my Canon 6D are becoming more difficult. Not just my Canon 6D of course – all things that I do that involve close focus.

And the distance stuff isn’t that great either.

Oh the woes of getting old…….

A large bright screen will help I have no doubt. Going from my iPhone 7 Plus to my Canon 6D screen is like going from my iPhone back to one of the old Nokia phones with the little screen – remember them??

11 - Touch screen with full functionality

This ties in with points raised before, putting all these bits together to get something approaching iPhone touch screen functionality.

The thought of a touch screen that is as user friendly as that on an iPhone or iPad is rather exciting to me.

12 - Ergonomics that make it a pleasure to use

My Canon 6D works for me ergonomically. I have handled some smaller cameras and am not sure how they handle ergonomically – that is a very good reason for going to an actual camera shop and actually holding an actual camera rather then reading reviews online.

The internet will never replace a shop for the experience of actually holding something and getting that tactile experience – that is one reason why it is so important that we all go to shops and buy things, or there will be no shops and nowhere that you can go to hold an actual camera.

13 - Simple logical menu system

Not a lot more to say really – I have heard that other camera manufacturers systems are not as good as Canons, which I am used to. And to be honest I change so little, maybe because there is so little to change, that this is not currently an issue.

This may be an issue if I had a camera with more variables to play with. One to think about,

14 - 4K video with high quality audio recording

I currently do 99% of videos with my iPhone. Now I do have a DJI Osmo Mobile that I need to make better use of but I would like to do more 4K video with an actual camera – my Canon 6D does not do 4K video of course.

My videos are not the best, but on the plus side check out this lovely 6 minutes of sunrise tranqulity on the wonderful Greek Island of Paxos.

15 - Excellent Vlogging/ recording capabilities

I am finding the need to produce more videos, some for my own promotional purposes, some for clients I am working for. At the moment all I am doing is holding my iPhone up in front of me and talking into it using the built-in mic. Whilst the picture quality is adequate the sound is not good enough.

16 - Smaller cheaper lenses offering similar quality

This ties in with my desire to have smaller camera gear especially for travel photography. I have found in recent trips that I have been using my iPhone more and more for day to day shooting, using my Canon 6D for sunrises and stuff like that.

Whilst the iPhone has a remarkably capable camera it just does not compare with my Canon 6D and Canon L lenses, and nor should it to be fair.

17 – High quality sensor

I love the sensor on my Canon 6D, and love the images it captures. This is a 20 MP sensor, and I will not accept a lesser performing sensor.

Another intangible here is how the sensor on another camera will perform, and what will the look be of the images?

18 - Excellent low light performance

My Canon 6D has excellent low light performance. Well I think it does. Again performance needs to be better than that I currently enjoy.

19 - Stuff like time lapse, long exposure and other good stuff etc built in

I want some toys and things that I can play with and have some fun! And I want to be able to use the latest technological developments in my photography. I know it is all about the composition but I have worked hard on that over the last year, and will continue to do so going forwards.

I just want some fun when I am taking my photos and some new things to try out.

20 - A sensor that doesn’t need cleaning

I hate removing sensor dust spots. Hate it.

So a sensor that doesn’t need cleaning will be good. Not an essential but a nice to have.

I do not know if this is even a thing – one of the problems with mirrorless cameras is that the sensor is closer to the bit where you mount the lens as there is no mirror there. On an SLR there is a mirror in-between the rear lens mount and the sensor which must provide some protection.

21 - Interchangeable lenses

Now this is an essential. I want to be able to change lenses, I want to be able to expand the range of lenses that I have in the future as and when needed.

And I want the lenses to be of a similar quality to my current Canon L series lenses.

22 - Tilt shift capability

I have a tilt-shift lens that I rarely use. The truth is I do not like it. It is manual focus, and I have managed for so long without it that I am in two minds whether to get rid of it or not.

Canon 24mm tilit shift lens

I have been planning on using my tilt-shift lens for a prolonged period of time but have never got around to this.

I think that this may be because don’t really want to – I feel like I am forcing myself (potentially) to use a piece of kit just because others say I should.

It is unlike me to do such a thing so lets just park this and say that it will never happen.

That’s tilt shift lenses done then!

23 – Ultra-wide angle lens

This might be an issue with crop factors. At the moment I have a Canon 17-40mm lens on my full frame Canon 6D. If anything I want the ability to go wider than 17mm if at all possible, but without the size and expense of the canon 11-24mm lens – an awesome lens for sure but not what I am looking for at the moment.

This could be a deal breaker for me.

24 - Bespoke programming – Custom Function that works!

I have never got on with the custom functions on my Canon 6D. I think this is my own fault, a definite display of petulance and a lack of time studying this feature.

But to be able to have pre-sets that I can switch to automatically to mix things up is very appealing to me.

25 - RAW Capture

I shoot in RAW, process in RAW and output in Jpeg. But with the new technologies out there is this still a thing? Or has the in-camera elastic trickery made this a thing of the past?

26 – EVF

I have tried various EVFs in shops, and also at Gatwick Airports’ Dixons World Duty Free. The main thing that I do with my airport downtime is look at cameras and marvel at EVFs.

I love the way that you get live exposure simulation in the EVF – such an awesome thing to be able to see.

The EVF however needs to provide the same optical experience as the viewfinder on my Canon 6D though – field of view here is a consideration together with brightness and realism.

And the size of the stuff in the EVF.

27 – Computational photography

I know very little about this, but the advances in technology must be being included in image capture?

I am sure that with the power of processing things like sensor size, mega pixels, noise and stuff like that the gap between high end and lower end cameras is closing.

28 - Focussing in the dark

My Canon 6D is pretty good at this. I have written about this on my blog and also on the Improve Photography website.

And to be honest people have been surprised that I find the Canon 6Ds low light focussing capabilities.

I am sure that newer cameras will have better low light focussing capabilities than my Canon 6D so I expect to see benefit in this area with a new camera.

29 – Weather-sealing

I need a weather-sealed camera. All my photography is done outdoors. And I don’t stop for the rain.

And I work on live construction site which are wet, dusty inhospitable and noisy places. Not that noise is relevant here.

30 - And the ability to output straight from the camera.

Straight from the camera onto the internet. This is a new business need which I will expand on in the summary.

If I could take a photograph with image processing pre-sets that I knew would give me the initial level of processing that I wanted that would be a start. There is of course the question of the metadata, filename, title and description. But I guess they could be added after the event?

I need to be able to add high quality metadata to my images – this is something I am quite fastidious about.

It is the ability to be able to get processed images out of the camera and onto my websites that I am keen to have.

31 – Shiny new loveliness

I have often written that there is too much talk about gear, which I still maintain is true. But this does not mean that I do not want some shiny new techie loveliness now!

And when I get a camera I do tend to use it for a number of years.

But there is a genuine worry here

What if I jump ship to another manufacturer and don’t like it? If I were to get a Canon EOS R, which is a strong contender, I would be staying in the Canon ecosystem. I would know what I was getting, but with lots and lots of bells and whistles in addition.

But what if I went elsewhere and just did not like it – that does worry me.

I need to narrow things down

I need to provide a bullet point list of essentials – I will do this and post it next week, along with any feedback from this post and the one that I published on Improve Photography titled.

Or do I have two camera systems?

Canon 6D

I might have missed a trick here. My Canon 6D works just fine, and still captures great images. What if I got something super small for travel?

Maybe I need two shortlists – one for a replacement to my Canon 6D (and all the other related products) and one for an addition to my Canon 6D.

I think that I have just cracked this particular conundrum – to systems.

Keeping my Canon 6D for my architectural work opens up more possibilities for my other work.

Summary

There is a serious point to this. I have embarked on some new products, one of which I have recently completed.

I have written about this before on my photography blog, but it is wholly relevant here.

I am talking about my new photography website Photos of Santorini. And more significantly the websites I have planned for the future. I want to be able to work in a different way for the next websites I am producing, including having the ability to add photos direct to website pages to speed up production of these websites.

I want to publish images straight from the camera with no further processing required.

This will also allow me to produce new websites whilst out on location which will be massive for me.

If I can add the images I can add the text using my iPad to a prepared website – now that would be really cool and transform the way I work.

So there is a serious point to this.

That and the fact that my eyes are getting old and less useful!

OK I’m done now

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post, and please if you are able to point me in the right direction for my next camera please do so. And one last thing - check out the video that accompanies this blog there on my YouTube channel.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP – Photographer, blogger, website creator extraordinaire

Minimalist Travel Photography Gear – This Is What I Use

Regular readers will know that I have been moving towards smaller camera gear.

Well having got back from Canada how was my minimalist travel photography gear? It was pretty good to be honest. In this post I will tell you all about my much-reduced amount of gear for travel photography, the good, the bad, the annoying and the not needed!

I hope that this post inspires you to take less gear out with you and concentrate on taking photos – this has certainly worked for me!!

First, here is the stuff I took for a weeklong trip to Canada.

Yep, this is all I took for a week long break to British Columbia in Canada, visiting Vancouver, Whistler, Pemberton and all places in-between!

It might look a lot when laid out like this, but this is the least amount of gear that I have taken. And there is some more work to do to get to the minimalist set up I am after. But I am getting there.

Why am I writing about this?

Well this all started last year when I went on a two-week trip to Rhodes, and apart from photographing sunrises I did not get my Canon 6D out of the boot of the car at all. I was basically fed up with the bulk of my gear. Now this is not solely down to the size of my Canon gear, although that is part of it. It is also because I take too much stuff that I do not need.

Is mirrorless micro four thirds gear the travel photography answer?

In part yes. Sure the gear is smaller, but it is not that small that on its own this is the answer. When I stick my 12-40mm F2.8 Pro lens on the front of an Olympus micro four thirds body it is quite a chunk of glass.

Sure if I used the 12-42mm pancake lens I good could get my Olympus EM10 Mk 2 in my pocket, but that is not my lens of choice.

Basically less gear is the other part

I always pack too much gear. For this trip I packed much less gear, and some of it I did not use. I will get onto that later but let’s start with the good stuff.

What did I like about my minimalist travel photography gear?

Well I liked the Olympus OM-D EM10 Mk 2. And the 12-40mm F2.8 Pro lens.

I didn’t use the 40-150mm lens – to be fair other than to make sure that it works I have not needed this lens yet.

What did I like about the Olympus OM-D EM10 Mk 2?

Well it is quite new to me, so there is still the novelty factor, shiny new syndrome. A quick word about the camera and the main things I liked, and I will get on with the rest of the gear.

The size of the camera

As I said before the lens is quite a lumpy thing but that is my choice to use a Pro lens, but the camera is still smaller than my Canon 6D – smaller to make a difference.

The amount of space in my camera bag for other stuff.

I managed to get my camera and lenses in the bottom section of my Peak Design Everyday Backpack, leaving loads of space for other stuff.

I actually had a half empty bag for the flights to and from Canada which was different. And my bag was much lighter and did not have bulging sides.

The Electronic Viewfinder (EVF)

I love the EVF on my Olympus camera. This is the first time I have owned a camera with an EVF, having spent a lifetime taking photos with SLRs and then DSLRs, all of which have an optical viewfinder. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Changing the focus point on the touch screen

I did not know how much I would take to the touchscreen, but it has been brilliant. And I mean brilliant in helping me to take photos. One of the main uses I have found for the touch screen is to change the focus point just by touching the screen where I want the camera to focus.

I do not want technology just for the sake of it – I want technology that helps me take photos.

The tilting touchscreen

Another thing that I really like and will be even better when I get the EM5 with the rotating/ tilting screen.

I like to take photos from unusual angles, high and low, and the tilting screen helped me with that.

The clarity of the screen

Yes the screen is brighter and easier to see. I have not tested it in Greek sunshine yet, but things are looking promising. And next month I will be trialling this little gem of a camera in Greece which I cannot wait to do.

One handed operation

I was able to walk around the Granville Island market in Vancouver and quickly raise my camera, focus and shoot with one hand, which was actually easier than doing this with my iPhone which was brilliant.

This is as close as I get to street photography!

The levels on the camera

Yes the Olympus EM10 has horizontal and vertical indicators in the viewfinder which I absolutely love.

Another word on packing gear.

I took a rear lens and body cap meaning that I could separate the camera and lens meaning they took up even less room in my camera bag.

And what about the other gear?

I also liked the Peak Design cuff – this was a big improvement on the strap that I was using, and this clever wrist strap tightens nicely around my wrist but is easy to remove – another great product from Peak Design!

And my favourite travel tripod

Yes, my good old Manfrotto Pixi is even more at home with my Olympus EM10 on it – I set it up on the top of the Whistler Gondola and recorded the skiers flying by down below – I did this whilst drinking a lovely hot coffee at the summit.

This is the scene, and here is one of the videos. I forgot to photograph my iPhone on the tripod but here it is rested on the window cill before I rememberd that I had my mini tripod to hand!!

Here is the video

What did I not like?

It is not all sweetness and light - there were things that I was not happy with that need sorting.

There always are……

The way the camera sits in my camera bag.

This is something I need to look into. The camera is so small there is no logical place for it to be secured on the top section of my Peak Design Everyday Backpack, which is where I like to have my cameras. My Canon 6D sat nicely in the top section of my bag – well it filled it to be fair!

No GPS

This is something that I really miss – the GPS on my Canon 6D was an invaluable tool, and my Olympus EM10 does not have this. I am going to have to look at how I can sort this when I get the EM5.

There is a work round for now – take photos on my iPhone and I can copy and paste the GPS data into the metadata of the photos taken with the Olympus camera, but this is a faff I can do without to be honest.

This is the main sticking point at the moment that needs to be sorted.

The fact that the widest I could go was in full frame equivalent 24mm – I want wider than that.

I use a 17-40mm lens in addition to my 24-105mm lens. And when I use the 17-40mm lens most of the photos I take are taken at the 17mm end.

So the question is this – do I get the 7-14mm lens? This will give me a super wide 14mm focal length. One for the future methinks.

The grip on the camera

The grip on the OM10 is too small for me – I am used to the big chunky grip on the Canon 6D to be fair. When I get the EM5 I will buy the grip that will sort this issue out.

The way that the tripod sits in my camera bag.

An unexpected annoyance was the way that my new travel tripod, the Peak Design Corey, sat in my camera bag. This needs looking at – I ended up with the tripod head either pointing up above the top of the bag or face down getting damaged.

Has this camera changed the way I take travel photographs?

Yes, In a number of ways,

I use it more and noticed that I have less photos on my iPhone. Not good for immediate use but as this is not really a priority to me definitely a good thing.

HDR

I have done more single image captures. This is in part down to having the wonderful EVF. Talking of which.

EVF and live in viewfinder exposure compensation

I used AV mode and exposure compensation pretty much the same way I did with the Canon 6D, but enjoyed it more, especially the instant feedback in the EVF of the image capture.

And what about things that have not changed?

Yep there are things that have not changed which is a good thing - this is not an exercise in binning everything I have been doing in the past after all!

Go to focal length

I still start wide and zoom in when required. So 12mm is my default focal length, as was 17mm with my Canon 6D.

I am going to analyse the focal lengths that I use – after all if I only ever use 12mm I might as well get the 7-14mm Pro lens and give myself room to play in the ultra wide arena.

What gear did I use?

• Olympus OM-D EM10 and 12-40mm Pro lens

• Pec Pads and Eclipse lens cleaning solution

• Spare batteries and charger

• Spare memory cards

• Manfrotto Pixi for videoing skiers on the mountain

• And what gear did I not use?

• My brand new shiny three-legged thing tripod

• My Platypod

• My 40-150mm lens

Did I miss my Canon 6D?

No, not really. I was quite happy as I was.

And I have noticed since I got back from Canada that I am missing some of the features of my Olympus camera which my Canon 6 does not have, especially the EVF and touchscreen.

I know that newer Canon cameras have these features – it is just new to me with the gear that I have.

And some of things have very quickly become instinctive to me. I have started touching the LCD screen on my Canon 6D to change the focus points, but this is not a touchscreen, so nothing happens!

What about my ageing mince pies – sorry eyes?

I have adjusted to the smaller camera just fine, as the screen is much bigger than the one on my Canon 6D, and the EVF is much clearer and easier for me to read.

I should write an article titled “Cameras for the over 50s!” – actually that is not a bad idea.

I was concerned that I would struggle to read the dials and screens on a smaller camera, but this has not been a problem at all, which is a pleasant surprise.

A word about my Canon gear

My Canon gear still works wonderfully well and is still what I use for my commercial architectural photography work. This post is not a mirrorless is amazing/ DLSRs are so last year post. Nor is it an Olympus is better than Canon post.

No – my Olympus micro four thirds camera gives me options which are always good. And having some shiny new (albeit second hand) photography gear does help.

I am not knocking DLSRs or Canon – there is still a big place for both.

Lessons learned for the future

I think that the EM5 Mk 2 with grip will work even better.

Do I need to get a wider lens? I am going to stick as I am for now, and for my next trip I will take the other body with these two lenses.

I did not miss the longer focal lengths, meaning that my choice to buy the 12-40mm lens instead of the 12-100mm lens was the right thing for me.

I will hold the thought that the 7-14mm lens might be my go-to lens,

The one thing that I need to work out is a camera bag. I have contacted Peak Design and asked for their advice – lets see what they come up with.

Update – the good folks at Peak Design have got back to me and advise that I use the lower sections of the camera bag, which is not great as I want the camera to be sat on top of my camera bag so I can access it – one for me to work on.

I do have an idea.

My camera and my iPhone

The other thing which I mentioned earlier - I used my camera more than my iPhone to take photos. This is a good thing – the reason that I started looking for other gear was because I found myself not using my Canon 6D on a trip last year – it sat in the boot most of the time.

Now this is not good for the immediate access to images that my iPhone gives me – this is of course one of the brilliant things that an iPhone does.

But this is not the biggest thing for me, so I can live with it. I am more concerned about capturing the images I want whilst I am away which I can work on when I am back in my office.

Summary

This post is all about the minimalist travel photography gear that I used on a trip to Canada – there is a bit of refinement, but I am on the right road to having just the gear I need with me.

I will write an update in June after my next trip and see how I got on using my new gear photographing a Greek Island with lots of sunrises!

Please check out my post next week which is all about Pinterest, the social media platform which is actually useful.

Rick McEvoy – travel photographer, writer, blogger

How to choose your next camera – 31 features that I want

A few weeks ago I wrote about my old faithful Canon 6D, and asked if I was ready to replace it, and if so what with? I spent lots of time talking about the Canon 6D in that article.

And I got to thinking about things that I would like in a new camera. My Canon 6D is a few years old now, and whilst it performs fantastically well as my working camera a lot has changed since it was released. So - how to choose your next camera? To answer this, I have listed down 31 features that I want in a new camera. This is the nice to haves and the esssentials which I have listed as the start of the process to choose my next camera. I am going to refine this list down to the essential items that I need, which will determine what my next camera should be.

A new camera is a significant purchase in many ways, so time spent identifying the features required will ensure that the correct choice of new camera is made.

By the way these are all features that will help me to take better photos, which is my number one priority.

Why am I writing this list now?

This list started off when I was writing a previous blog post about my Canon 6D, and brought together thoughts I have been having for some time. The starting point really was what would I do if I broke my Canon 6D – this is an entirely likely scenario as I am

• Intrinsically clumsy, and

• Take photos on live construction sites

• Like putting my camera very close to the bit of land where the waves and land meet.

• Take my camera with me absolutely everywhere

• Seriously I am really clumsy

What has made me think about changing my camera?

So once that thought process had been initiated, the cogs started whirring slowly.

The 3 primary reasons/ concerns/ potential issues

1 – My dodgy old mince pies (like the rather too early Yuletide reference?)

My eyesight is getting worse as I get older. Well we are all getting older of course but I have a bit of a head start when it comes to age – I am already 51.

It is my eyes that are the issue. I have been short sighted for donkeys’ years now. But in the last 5 years my near vision has got worse and worse.

Add short-sighted to losing your near vision and it is a royal pain in the X! Try seeing all those small lights and dials on a camera, and then switch your vision to distance – not easy.

2 – A different way of working

Yes – I am working in a different way now. My Canon 6D is still doing an excellent job with my architectural photography work, but there are other things that I am doing now, travel photography and vlogging. My Canon 6D is not fitting the bill as well for these areas of my work.

3 – I just want something shiny and new

Shock confession. I want a new camera. There – I have said it now. I think that this has become one of those self-fulfilling prophecies. I started writing about not replacing my Canon 6D and find myself here writing this post with much too much enthusiasm!

To be fair to me my cameras tend to last me five years so I am due for something that will take me into the year 2024 – imagine what technology will be doing for us by then!!

Back to the subject in hand - here are the 31 features that I want in my next camera.

These 31 things are in no particular order, and are a list of the things that came to me when I sat down to capture the headings for this article. 31 just happens to be the number of things I came up with – there is no significance to this number!!

1 - Smaller and lighter than my Canon 6D with lenses attached.

I found myself using my iPhone more and more on holiday. I basically couldn’t be bothered getting my Canon 6D out all the time, and really enjoyed the ease of using an iPhone.

I know – its not Canons fault I’m lazy!

I used my Canon 6D for sunrise shots, where it was just me and the sunrise, no on else around and just me to think about. I used my Canon 6D on my travel tripod, the Manfrotto 190 Go.

I would really like something much smaller and lighter that I can take on trips and not be burdened with.

My 6D is not that big to be fair – it is just the collection of stuff together that bugs me. And I know there is smaller stuff out there.

Talking of tripods I also use a Platypod and a very small tripod called the Manfrotto Pixi. If I had a much smaller camera, I would have more options in terms of tripods and other supports which is rather exciting.

2 - In camera HDR

I am going to refer to my Canon 6D as my camera from now on. OK?

My camera has built-in HDR, but this is only to Jpeg files. I shoot in RAW only, so this feature is of no use to me.

Or is it?

Is there a different way of looking at this? Has the technology of cameras, sensors, image capture and image processing progressed to the point where there is no real difference between Jpeg and RAW?

Is there a camera that makes this differentiation irrelevant?

And is there a camera that makes HDR irrelevant as well?

Well it’s a thought.

Can a single image capture be enough?

Or a single image capture processed using something like Aurora HDR.

3 – GPS

GPS is a must for not only my travel photography, but also my commercial photography and the stuff I do on the way to and from shoots.

I have GPS on my Canon 6D which I always use, which I find incredibly useful.

I use the Map Module in Lightroom a lot, especially when I am writing about my photographs on my various websites, blog and also on the Improve Photography website.

GPS is pretty much an essential tool for me.

4 - Wi-fi

I use Wi-Fi to remotely control my camera using the Canon Connect App. I have used this to activate my camera from the top of my painters’ pole in a couple of situations.

Me using the Wi-Fi on my Canon 6D

This photo was taken in a pretty harsh environment, a gravel loading facility next to a live rail siding. I had to photograph the gravel being unloaded by the 360 machine from the train into the gravel bays.

And when these guys are unloading from a train on a live rail network they get on with it!

No time to wait on this shoot with my Canon 6D

The other example is where I want to take a photograph of a building from higher than ground level, like the photo above. Getting to first floor level, which is only circa 3m gives a completely different perspective, and also means that my camera is at first floor level, eliminating the need to correct verticals.

Architectural photography in Hampshire using a painters’ pole

5 - Connectivity as good as an iPhone

In the year 2018 why do cameras not have the same functionality and connectivity that we all enjoy with our phones?

My Canon 6D is an older camera now granted but cameras in general seem to lack way behind phones.

Why can’t I take a photo and share it with a client immediately? I can with my phone.

6 - The functionality of an iPhone

Same point relay but rather than connectivity functionality.

7 - Connectivity to my iPhone (thinking about it)

improving that in a clever way could negate the need for the two points above.

8 - In camera image processing

What do I mean by this? I guess I am talking about Jpeg image capture with more processing, meaning I can use images straight from camera (with the connectivity mentioned above).

9 - Fully articulated screen

I put my camera on a painters’ pole. I also put my camera on the ground, on a Platypod or Manfrotto Pixi tripod. I hold my camera out of windows.

I hold my camera out in front of me to get over things.

For all of these situations a fully articulating screen would be a huge bonus to me – this would genuinely help me taking photos.

10 - A screen I can actually see in normal light and also in direct Greek sunshine

I am getting old. I am (rather tragically) over 50. And my eyes are not what they were.

The screens on my Canon 6D are an issue. The tiny numbers in the viewfinder are also an issue to me.

Photographing the sunrise on Santorini

I have been getting away with these shortcomings mainly by the way I take my photos. I pre-set most of my camera settings so most of the time all I am changing is the aperture and the point of focus.

When I want to deviate from that in any way the problems begin.

And I have noticed recently that all things that I do with my Canon 6D are becoming more difficult. Not just my Canon 6D of course – all things that I do that involve close focus.

And the distance stuff isn’t that great either.

Oh the woes of getting old…….

A large bright screen will help I have no doubt. Going from my iPhone 7 Plus to my Canon 6D screen is like going from my iPhone back to one of the old Nokia phones with the little screen – remember them??

11 - Touch screen with full functionality

This ties in with points raised before, putting all these bits together to get something approaching iPhone touch screen functionality.

The thought of a touch screen that is as user friendly as that on an iPhone or iPad is rather exciting to me.

12 - Ergonomics that make it a pleasure to use

My Canon 6D works for me ergonomically. I have handled some smaller cameras and am not sure how they handle ergonomically – that is a very good reason for going to an actual camera shop and actually holding an actual camera rather then reading reviews online.

The internet will never replace a shop for the experience of actually holding something and getting that tactile experience – that is one reason why it is so important that we all go to shops and buy things, or there will be no shops and nowhere that you can go to hold an actual camera.

13 - Simple logical menu system

Not a lot more to say really – I have heard that other camera manufacturers systems are not as good as Canons, which I am used to. And to be honest I change so little, maybe because there is so little to change, that this is not currently an issue.

This may be an issue if I had a camera with more variables to play with. One to think about,

14 - 4K video with high quality audio recording

I currently do 99% of videos with my iPhone. Now I do have a DJI Osmo Mobile that I need to make better use of but I would like to do more 4K video with an actual camera – my Canon 6D does not do 4K video of course.

My videos are not the best, but on the plus side check out this lovely 6 minutes of sunrise tranqulity on the wonderful Greek Island of Paxos.

15 - Excellent Vlogging/ recording capabilities

I am finding the need to produce more videos, some for my own promotional purposes, some for clients I am working for. At the moment all I am doing is holding my iPhone up in front of me and talking into it using the built-in mic. Whilst the picture quality is adequate the sound is not good enough.

16 - Smaller cheaper lenses offering similar quality

This ties in with my desire to have smaller camera gear especially for travel photography. I have found in recent trips that I have been using my iPhone more and more for day to day shooting, using my Canon 6D for sunrises and stuff like that.

Whilst the iPhone has a remarkably capable camera it just does not compare with my Canon 6D and Canon L lenses, and nor should it to be fair.

17 – High quality sensor

I love the sensor on my Canon 6D, and love the images it captures. This is a 20 MP sensor, and I will not accept a lesser performing sensor.

Another intangible here is how the sensor on another camera will perform, and what will the look be of the images?

18 - Excellent low light performance

My Canon 6D has excellent low light performance. Well I think it does. Again performance needs to be better than that I currently enjoy.

19 - Stuff like time lapse, long exposure and other good stuff etc built in

I want some toys and things that I can play with and have some fun! And I want to be able to use the latest technological developments in my photography. I know it is all about the composition but I have worked hard on that over the last year, and will continue to do so going forwards.

I just want some fun when I am taking my photos and some new things to try out.

20 - A sensor that doesn’t need cleaning

I hate removing sensor dust spots. Hate it.

So a sensor that doesn’t need cleaning will be good. Not an essential but a nice to have.

I do not know if this is even a thing – one of the problems with mirrorless cameras is that the sensor is closer to the bit where you mount the lens as there is no mirror there. On an SLR there is a mirror in-between the rear lens mount and the sensor which must provide some protection.

21 - Interchangeable lenses

Now this is an essential. I want to be able to change lenses, I want to be able to expand the range of lenses that I have in the future as and when needed.

And I want the lenses to be of a similar quality to my current Canon L series lenses.

22 - Tilt shift capability

I have a tilt-shift lens that I rarely use. The truth is I do not like it. It is manual focus, and I have managed for so long without it that I am in two minds whether to get rid of it or not.

Canon 24mm tilit shift lens

I have been planning on using my tilt-shift lens for a prolonged period of time but have never got around to this.

I think that this may be because don’t really want to – I feel like I am forcing myself (potentially) to use a piece of kit just because others say I should.

It is unlike me to do such a thing so lets just park this and say that it will never happen.

That’s tilt shift lenses done then!

23 – Ultra-wide angle lens

This might be an issue with crop factors. At the moment I have a Canon 17-40mm lens on my full frame Canon 6D. If anything I want the ability to go wider than 17mm if at all possible, but without the size and expense of the canon 11-24mm lens – an awesome lens for sure but not what I am looking for at the moment.

This could be a deal breaker for me.

24 - Bespoke programming – Custom Function that works!

I have never got on with the custom functions on my Canon 6D. I think this is my own fault, a definite display of petulance and a lack of time studying this feature.

But to be able to have pre-sets that I can switch to automatically to mix things up is very appealing to me.

25 - RAW Capture

I shoot in RAW, process in RAW and output in Jpeg. But with the new technologies out there is this still a thing? Or has the in-camera elastic trickery made this a thing of the past?

26 – EVF

I have tried various EVFs in shops, and also at Gatwick Airports’ Dixons World Duty Free. The main thing that I do with my airport downtime is look at cameras and marvel at EVFs.

I love the way that you get live exposure simulation in the EVF – such an awesome thing to be able to see.

The EVF however needs to provide the same optical experience as the viewfinder on my Canon 6D though – field of view here is a consideration together with brightness and realism.

And the size of the stuff in the EVF.

27 – Computational photography

I know very little about this, but the advances in technology must be being included in image capture?

I am sure that with the power of processing things like sensor size, mega pixels, noise and stuff like that the gap between high end and lower end cameras is closing.

28 - Focussing in the dark

My Canon 6D is pretty good at this. I have written about this on my blog and also on the Improve Photography website.

And to be honest people have been surprised that I find the Canon 6Ds low light focussing capabilities.

I am sure that newer cameras will have better low light focussing capabilities than my Canon 6D so I expect to see benefit in this area with a new camera.

29 – Weather-sealing

I need a weather-sealed camera. All my photography is done outdoors. And I don’t stop for the rain.

And I work on live construction site which are wet, dusty inhospitable and noisy places. Not that noise is relevant here.

30 - And the ability to output straight from the camera.

Straight from the camera onto the internet. This is a new business need which I will expand on in the summary.

If I could take a photograph with image processing pre-sets that I knew would give me the initial level of processing that I wanted that would be a start. There is of course the question of the metadata, filename, title and description. But I guess they could be added after the event?

I need to be able to add high quality metadata to my images – this is something I am quite fastidious about.

It is the ability to be able to get processed images out of the camera and onto my websites that I am keen to have.

31 – Shiny new loveliness

I have often written that there is too much talk about gear, which I still maintain is true. But this does not mean that I do not want some shiny new techie loveliness now!

And when I get a camera I do tend to use it for a number of years.

But there is a genuine worry here

What if I jump ship to another manufacturer and don’t like it? If I were to get a Canon EOS R, which is a strong contender, I would be staying in the Canon ecosystem. I would know what I was getting, but with lots and lots of bells and whistles in addition.

But what if I went elsewhere and just did not like it – that does worry me.

I need to narrow things down

I need to provide a bullet point list of essentials – I will do this and post it next week, along with any feedback from this post and the one that I published on Improve Photography titled.

Or do I have two camera systems?

Canon 6D

I might have missed a trick here. My Canon 6D works just fine, and still captures great images. What if I got something super small for travel?

Maybe I need two shortlists – one for a replacement to my Canon 6D (and all the other related products) and one for an addition to my Canon 6D.

I think that I have just cracked this particular conundrum – to systems.

Keeping my Canon 6D for my architectural work opens up more possibilities for my other work.

Summary

There is a serious point to this. I have embarked on some new products, one of which I have recently completed.

I have written about this before on my photography blog, but it is wholly relevant here.

I am talking about my new photography website Photos of Santorini. And more significantly the websites I have planned for the future. I want to be able to work in a different way for the next websites I am producing, including having the ability to add photos direct to website pages to speed up production of these websites.

I want to publish images straight from the camera with no further processing required.

This will also allow me to produce new websites whilst out on location which will be massive for me.

If I can add the images I can add the text using my iPad to a prepared website – now that would be really cool and transform the way I work.

So there is a serious point to this.

That and the fact that my eyes are getting old and less useful!

OK I’m done now

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this post, and please if you are able to point me in the right direction for my next camera please do so.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP – Photographer, blogger, website creator extraordinaire

Is the Canon 6d Mk 1 still a good camera? It’s a yes from me

The Canon 6D was released in 2012. I bought mine in 2014. When it was released it was a great camera. When I bought my Canon 6D it was a great camera.
So at the back end of 2018 is the Canon 6D still a good camera? Yes of course it is. In fact no it is not still a good camera – it is still a great camera. My Canon 6D took great photos in 2013, and took great photos last week.

What about progress and technological advances?

Despite all the technological advances that can be found in shiny new cameras the Canon 6D is still a great camera. And just because other cameras have advanced significantly since 2012 this does not automatically make the Canon 6D over the hill, past it’s sell by date, irrelevant or obsolete.

And to broaden this out further

In my opinion this applies to many cameras released in the last, well I don’t know, 15 years?

What did I have before the Canon 6D?

My first full frame camera was a Canon 5D Mk 1. This camera was first released in 2005 would you believe! And I still have this camera, which I am very fond of.

This is an image that I took with my Canon 5D which can be found in my current architectural photography portfolio.

Chideock Manor Library - architectural photography in Dorset

Ok – before I justify my statement about the Canon 6D still being a great camera in 2018 I need to say something else.

Photography is not about gear. Photography is about recording the light. Composition and creativity.

All this technical stuff is really irrelevant.

No one cares which camera you or I have used to capture an image. No one cares about the camera settings, if it was taken in RAW or JPEG?

No one apart from other photographers that is.

All people care about is the photo itself. That is all. Let us not forget that.

OK – so back to the gear….

I know. I complain too much about gear talk. But here I am not talking about new gear. I am talking about gear that I already have, and have learned to use inside out.

And when I say talk I do mean write of course – it is just that I type as I would talk, as things come into/ out of my head.

Lets start at the beginning. What do I like so much about my Canon 6D?

Firstly, it just works.

Day in, day out. And having used it for so long I know how it works inside out. I can operate my camera in the dark with no problems. I can change lenses in the dark. Once I have found them that is!

Ok – so now for some specific features, in no particular order.

Back button focus

I know that this is by no means a unique feature on the Canon 6D, but I still love this feature, and the way the Canon 6D does it.

Why do I use back button focus?

Simple. I compose my image, and then decide where I want to focus. Then I choose an appropriate aperture. And then I press the shutter button, which meters for the scene and starts the self-timer.

I have separated focus from exposure and image capture. I take the vast majority of my photos on a tripod.

This just works for me.

The sensor and the image quality

These to me are one and the same. I love the images that my Canon 6D produces. I love the look and feel that the RAW files give.

I like the details that the sensor captures.

I like the tones.

I like the range of shadows and highlights, lights and darks. And with the way I take the photos I like the way I can take bracketed sets and put the bits together in Lightroom.

Focussing

Note the Canon 6D has 11 focus points. The Canon EOS R has 5655 focus points. You might want to read that again.

• The CANON EOS R HAS 5655 FOCUS POINTS.

• THE CANON 6D HAS 11 FOCUS POINTS

I have found 11 focus points just fine. To be honest I tend to only need to use one at a time. So what would I do with the other 5654 focus points on the Canon EOS R? I’m not quite sure (but I am looking forward to finding out!).

The way I take my photos I focus on one part of the composition, typically around 1/3rd into the scene.

And another thing about the focussing on the Canon 6D – it can focus in ridiculously low light. I don’t know how it compares to other more technologically advanced cameras, but it does focus down to ridiculously levels of light, or darkness

Do I need to be able to focus in near darkness?

Yes.

I take a lot of photos pre-sunrise and post-sunset but rarely have a problem with focussing.

I compose with Live View and focus without Live view – this woks just fine for me.

How it feels in my hands – Ergonomics

The Canon 6D fits in my hands and the controls are all in very familiar and to me logical positions. I have never wished that things weren’t where they are. Not that the camera is perfect, it is just that we have grown close to each other over the years!

It’s a bit like having a favourite pair of shoes, they mould to you over time and end up being irreplaceable.

I know – I am getting worryingly sentimental here. Having said that we have been through a lot together.

Wi-Fi

I use the Wi-Fi to take photos in unusual locations and from unusual viewpoints. This is an essential part of my work.

OK the Canon Connect App is hardly cutting edge, but most of the time it works fine and allows me to do what I need to do.

I have not used the Wi-Fi to view photos remotely – the way I work I only want to look at photos on my big calibrated monitor in my office. This is changing though, and I find that more and more I would benefit from instant access to viewing photos on my iPad Pro.

This is something that I need to look into with my Canon 6D and Canon Connect App – that and transferring Jpeg files for instant publication and sharing.

GPS

Another invaluable feature. I do a lot of travel photography – much more than I ever did, and also have other websites about specific travel photography locations.

I need GPS, and the Canon 6D has it. I use the Map module in Lightroom a lot, which enables me to erm, tell where I took photos from.

Santorini photo locations from the Lightroom Map Module

I also have been known to stop and take photos when travelling – anytime I see something I like I stop and take a photo, and the GPS tells me where I took the shot.

So an invaluable feature that I would not be without.

And I use it on my various websites and for writing articles about my photography work.

It’s not all sweetness and light - there are things that are not perfect! What do I not like about the Canon 6D?

The viewfinder and my dodgy old mince pies

I am 51 years old. I am struggling with the viewfinder I’m not going to lie to you. I have a dominant eye. And a lazy one on the other side of my head. And I am short sighted. And my near vision is much worse than it was.

I never know which eye to use when composing through the viewfinder.

The future of viewfinders – the EVF

I have recently been trying out EVFs on the cameras in display in shops and at airports.

An EVF is an electronic viewfinder by the way.

That is how I spend my time waiting for flights – trying out EVFs and wishing I had one! And then realising even in holiday mode the airport is not the place to buy a camera. I nearly cracked once and would have made an expensive mistake but thankfully I saw sense.

Now when I find one that is actually working I find these to be a bit of a revelation. I tried an Olympus EVF the other day that was absolutely remarkable.

This might be the thing that takes me down the road to mirrorless cameras – my age, my short sightedness and the blurry distance vision I can get from time to time.

Yep getting old has its drawbacks, my eyes being a pretty big one.

Getting back to the point - pleaese forgive my digressions!

I struggle to focus close then distance. My contact lenses correct for my short sight, which I have had since he age of about 13, and now also give me assistance with close vision.

These contact lenses need light to work properly, so at times using the Canon 6D is a struggle. Sometimes I cant read the LCD panel on the top, even with the (faint) light turned on.

So it might be ageing that forces me to buy a new camera - I really hadn’t thought about that until writing this!

GPS woes

The GPS. If I do not manually turn off the GPS when I turn off the camera it is still running and drains the battery. Completely infuriating and there is apparently no fix for this. I actually asked Canon people at the Photography Show.

I hope that the Canon 6D Mk 2 and other newer models have had this problem sorted as it drives me up the wall. And for no reason that I can think of.

The LCD screen

The LCD screen is quite frankly rubbish. Rubbish when compared to my iPhone 7 Plus screen that is. Having said that I can’t see my iPhone screen in full Greek sunlight anyway!

But no the screen is much too small. To get round this I have had to buy a Loupe Viewer – this is what it looks like.

I had to stick a small plastic window on the LCD screen, onto which I can attach the viewer quickly whenever needed.

I use the LCD screen to compose images all the time, which would be very difficult, even impossible in some lighting situations with just the small LCD screen on the Canon 6D.

And add the problems with my ageing eyes and you will see that the screen is a serious issue to me.

So much so now that I have written about it that I might have to consider replacing my Canon 6D to get over my ageing eyes!

Custom Functions

I don’t get them sorry Canon. It seems such a convoluted way to customise my camera that I have never really used it. Sure I have set it up but find it so un-user friendly. Maybe I should give some more time to this feature and see if I get can get my head around it properly.

I did try it but when I saved the settings I was no longer shooting in AV Mode, which confused me so I gave up.

HDR Merge

There is in-camera HDR merge feature on the Canon 6D, but rather bafflingly this only works with JPEG files?

Why can’t any camera, and not only the Canon 6D just do the HDR thing automatically in-camera? With RAW files that is. It is only a case of taking three exposures and merging them together. Why do I have to do this in Lightroom?

And why doesn’t the in-camera HDR work on RAW images?

If the Canon 6D did in-camera HDR with RAW files I would only ever need the RAW HDR file which would save me so much time.

What is the working life of a Canon 6D?

Shutter actuations are the key thing here. The shutter after all is the major moving part and rather critical to the workings of the camera.

The Canon 6D shutter has a shutter rating of 100,000 actuations. How many shutter actuations have I made with my Canon 6D?

No idea.

I could get some software that will give me a number but it is unlikely to be accurate.

No I will go with the number of images in my Lightroom Catalogue. Of course that will not include images that have been deleted, but I don’t think that this will be significant knowing the way I work and how few images I delete once they are in Lightroom.

This will give me a good enough idea.

22,422 is the number from Lightroom. Not too bad and not a concern. Not as much as the state of my eyesight that is!

Lets not forget 100,000 is a number to provide an indication of the working life. To me this number is only of use when I am comparing one camera to another – the number gives me an idea of the relative robustness of two cameras.

A much more relevant factor is how many times I have dropped my camera, how many times I have got it wet.

Basically how badly have I treated it?

• Dropping it

• Well there was the big drop in the National Trust office at Corfe Castle – this resulted in an expensive repair.

• And lots of small drops. Mostly onto rocks at sunrise.

• Water damage

• Splashes by the sea.

• Letting the camera roll down in rock into a shallow puddle.

• Being rained on.

• A quick spray of Mythos (the Greek beer for those who don’t know!)

• General wear and tear

My camera has been with me every day everywhere I go. Every day I put it in the boot of my car, and every night I take it out again. It has been crammed into tight spaces on planes, buses, trains and boats of various types.

The working life of my Canon 6D is from now until is stops working!

Enough waffle – what about some photos taken with my Canon 6D?

Here are five photos taken over the 5 years I have had my Canon 6D

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

What lenses do I use with my Canon 6D

I just have four lenses these days.

• Canon 24-105mm F4 L

• Canon 17-40mm F4L

• Canon 70-200mm F4 L IS

• Canon 24mm Tilt shift lens

These are all I need to be honest. I use the 24-105 for travel photography, and the 17-40 for most of my architectural work.

What would my ideal focal lengths be?

12-300mm is the range that I would like to cover, ideally with 2 or 3 small lenses.

What would it take for me to change to another camera?

I would like something smaller and lighter.

That would mean the Canon EOS R and one of the new, smaller lenses. Yes I find that quite exciting.

I am on the press waiting list for a body and lens to review on the Improve Photography website.

Will getting my hands on a Canon EOS R change my views on newer gear?

I don’t know. There is the stubborn grumpy old get taking pride and satisfaction from using an old camera to take photos. But there is also the bloke who has shiny new thing syndrome.

I think once I get my hands on the new Canon EOS R I will want one.

Would I change to another camera manufacturer?

Yes. And no. I have used Canon cameras for years and years now. The only other manufacturer I have used is Fujifilm – my first “proper” camera was a Fujifilm (film) SLR.

I don’t want to go to a new manufacturer, but would necessarily not rule it out. I have an open mind on other camera systems. I like the look of Olympus and Fujifilm’s current offerings – this is based on a pretty superficial look at them in camera shops and some stuff I have heard – nothing too scientific or exacting.

Would I go back to film?

No. Why ever would I do that? Why do people do that?

Do I not want something shiny and new?

Yes of course I do, and after all that talk about how much I hate gear and the time spent talking about gear I would love to have a new camera.

I love new tech gear. I am very excited to get a new iPhone when my contract allows (January 2019).

And every time I use my Apple Airpods they make me smile.

But I must not forget this

I still enjoy using my Canon 6D, even after all these years.

But yes I do browse new kit at airports and in camera shops and do have those background gear lust feelings.

So what about all the gear talk?

It just feels that there is too much talk about gear and not enough talk about photography.

Photography hasn’t really changed – photography is after all making photos.

Lets not forget that – photography gear is just that – gear. Tools of the trade. The equipment we use to capture what we see in front of us.

If I get a new camera will I take better photos?

No.

I will have additional features that will give me better opportunities to capture better image but no, fundamentally no.

My Canon 6D won’t last forever though?

No it won’t. What would I do now if I broke or it just expired?

What would I replace my Canon 6D with if I had to replace it right now?

There are things that I would need to have in a camera to convince me to change from my good old Canon 6D.

What about the Canon 6D Mk 2?

The Mk 2 version has some very cool features. It is a general evolution of the 6D Mk 1 into a generally more advanced camera.

As well as all that the 6D Mk 1 has there are also some cool new features.

• An articulated screen. And a touchscreen at that!

• More resolution (but not too much) – 26 Megapixels

• A (slightly) better sensor that the 6D Mk 1

• Built-in time-lapse

But to be honest these things did not excite me enough to make me upgrade. My 6D Mk 1 is still working just fine thanks.

But the Canon 6D Mk 2 is a great camera. And there would be no problem with all my lenses and other bits of kit. And there is the familiarity of sticking with Canon.

I am digressing now

This is drifting into 20 features I want in a new camera. I might as well make that next weeks post! I just need a snappy Google friendly title and I am good to go.

Tell you what – head back to my photography blog next week where you can read the next post in my series, which will be called something like

20 features I need in a new camera to replace my Canon 6D (by the time I had completed this post I was quickly up to 25 things!)

Summary

Blimey. I can go on sometimes. Still it is good to get these things out of my head and out into the wonderful world of the World Wide Web.

You may have noticed that on more than one occasion I have used the terms “it works for me”. Well that pretty well sums it up.

The Canon 6D works for me.

I hope that you have found the new format of my photography blog, with less frequent but much longer and more in-depth posts useful and more interesting.

Next week I will expand on the things I want in a new camera should I need to get something to replace my Canon 6D.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP – Photographer, photo blogger, writer

21 tips for photographers that will actually make a difference

This post was republished on Friday 8th March 2019 with a new title and introduction - 21 Photography Tips That WIll Actually Make A Difference.

Rick McEvoy Photography

10 reasons why I love my Canon 6D

My Canon 6D is the best camera I have ever owned. Without question. I have it for a few years and still use it all the time. Sure, I use my iPhone more for day to day stuff but for serious photography I always reach for my beloved Canon 6D.

I bought my Canon 6D in 2013. A long time ago….

To back up my claim that my Canon 6D is the best camera I have ever owned here are the 10 things I love about my Canon 6D.

And you can read my guide to full frame photography on a budget on the Improve Photography website which features the Canon 6D.

1 – Image quality

Sunrise in Paxos taken on my Canon 6D

This is my starter for 10 with a camera. Image quality. It is all about this. If the image quality is poor, then everything else to me is pretty much pointless.

I love the look and feel of images created with the Canon 6D.

2 – Ease of use

It just works. I have had plenty of Canon cameras in the past and am used to the Canon set-up and menu system.

For me the camera is just a logical, well thought out piece of equipment that I use instinctively and intuitively. I can use my Canon 6D in complete darkness.

And I can easily use the camera even with my ageing old eyes!

3 – Reliability

I have taken over 22,000 photos with my Canon 6D. I took over 12,000 photos with my Canon 5D Mk 1.

That is 22,000 photos taken faultlessly in a variety of locations and environments.

Without a single murmur from my camera.

4 – GPS

GPS is an essential feature for me. I take lots of photos out on location. And I also take photos on my way to and from locations.

This was one of the reasons I bought the 6D and not the 5D Mk 2.

I need to know where photos were taken. Check out the screenshot of the Map Module in Lightroom.

Fantastic eh!

5 – Wi-fi

I am not saying that the wi-fi in the Canon 6D is that good. It has been a bit hit and miss over the years but seems to be working fine these days.

And the wi-fi is nowhere near as good as the connectivity on an iPhone, although I am not sure why not. Proper connectivity as good as in a phone should be a given with higher end DSLRs surely?

Why is wi-fi so important to me?

Simple.

How else am I going to take photos with my camera stuck on the end of a painter’s pole 5m above ground level?

More to the point, how do I compose an image when my camera is stuck on top of my large painters’ pole.

Check out these two photos, showing me and my painters pole in action using the Canon Connect app connected via wi-fi to my iPhone.

Architectural photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy

I could not have got either of these shots without the wi-fi feature.

The first image was taken in a live rail siding facility. These are fraught places to work at the best of times. I was tasked with photographing the gravel being unloaded from the train in the rail-siding.

But no-one told me that the excavator would be sat on top of the gravel. I was not allowed to climb up a pile of gravel, so had to use the painters pole.

This is photo of me in action – ok I am posing as it was taken by one of the guys using my iPhone, but you get the idea.

And for this picture of the rear of a house I had a problem, the garden has a rather steep slope meaning that I had to get my camera up to ground floor level using the painters’ pole – I actually hooked it in a tree for extra stability. Without the wi-fi I would not have got this shot.

I use the painters pole a lot in my architectural and industrial photography work, so the wi-fi capability is essential to me.

I will not buy a camera for my commercial work without wi-fi.

6 – The sensor on my Canon 6D

The Canon 6D has a full frame sensor. I have written on my blog previously about sensor size and DSLRs – you can read this post here. But the actual size of sensor is 36mm x 24mm.

The point of a full frame sensor is that is larger than an APS-C, conventional mirrorless and micro four thirds cameras.

DLSRs with full frame sensors are more expensive than cameras with smaller sensors. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, larger sensors are more expensive than smaller sensors. That makes sense. The sensor is an expensive part of a DSLR. It stands to reason that a larger sensor costs more to manufacture.

And as the sensor costs more money it means that cameras manufacturers put these sensors in higher end cameras – cameras packed with more technology, higher specifications and higher quality build.

Enough about sensors.

I love the sensor on my Canon 6D. I love the sensor and the way it records the scene I am photographing. So much detail, so accurate and such a nice rendition.

When my Canon 5D died I had to get another camera rather quickly. My choices were the Canon 6D and the Canon 5D Mk 2. When I looked into these cameras the Canon 5D Mk2 was much more expensive, and a very similar sensor to the new Canon 6D.

Basically, you cannot tell the difference between an image taken on the Canon 6D compared to an image taken on the Canon 5D Mk 2. Sure, the 5D Mk 2 had many more features, but did not have wi-fi or GPS – these are both features which I have found invaluable, which you can find in my top 10 favourite things about my Canon 6D.

And the other features on the 5D Mk 2 I was not that bothered about anyway.

7 – Durability

I am rather clumsy. I have to admit that I do not look after my camper as well as I could. It’s not that I throw then around – not at all. I keep my camera in my Peak Design Everyday Backpack.

This bag is put in the boot of my car every day and taken out every evening. And it also goes with me everywhere.

Quite literally I take my 6D with me everywhere I go in England and all over the world.

It is a very well-travelled and well used camera.

I put my camera down on my mini tripods on the beach, immediately above lapping waves. I have stood in the sea to take photos, as well as rovers.

I have taken my Canon 6D on endless construction sites, harsh dry, dusty environments. Let’s just look at this photo again!

Industrial photography in Dorset with a Canon 6D on a painters pole

And I have dropped my Canon 6D more than once. Only once did I need to get it repaired. This was the time I dropped it from height onto the polished slabbed floor of the National Trust office at Corfe Castle in Dorset – that was a big impact that needed a repair to be done at a Canon authorised repairers, Lehman’s. And it has been fine ever since.

Durability – check!

8 – Battery life

I only have two batteries. The batteries the 6D uses are LP-E6N batteries. I don’t use a grip. I take most of my photos with my camera firmly sat on a tripod.

I have a third battery which is not. Canon original battery, which I keep in my backpack as a backup. I have used this a couple of times only, so good is the battery life of the Canon 6D.

Even when shooting in Live View amusing wi-fi with the GPS on I have never been short on power with 2 + 1 batteries.

One complaint about the Canon 6D if I may – I have to physically turn of the wi-fi every time I turn the camera off or it drains that battery even when turned off.

I actually asked a Canon chap about this at the Photography Show one year but there was no fix for this – a strange and annoying anomaly.

The Canon 6D has excellent battery life, which can’t be said for some other recent camera offerings.

9 – The Canon 6D is still relevant in 2018

The technology is hardly cutting edge. You can get faster cameras with more mega pixels and higher ISO ranges. It has been 6 years since the Canon 6D was unleashed on the world.

But let’s not forget one thing – the Canon 6D was a great camera when it was released, and still is today, here in September 2018.

I hate the obsession with gear – notwithstanding the fact that I can’t wait to try out the new Canon EOS R that is!

But no, I am happy with my Canon 6D and will replace it when it falls over.

10 – It’s overall excellent design and ease of use

The Canon 6D is such a well-designed DSLR. It fits nicely in my hand, and I basically love using it.

It produces great images day in day out.

How long will I continue using my Canon 6D?

Until Canon give me something else or it falls over. I have no need to change, and no intention of spending any money at the moment.

Summary

As you can see I love my Canon 6D. It was hailed at the time of release as an excellent, high-quality full-frame DSLR.

And it still is.

I know it is not the best camera you can get, but that is not the point.

The Canon 6D works for me and has performed faultlessly ever since I bought it.

Rick McEvoy Photography – Photographer, photoblogger, writer

Video of me taking a photo with my Canon 6D in the New Forest

Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Hampshire Photographer

What does DSLR mean in photography?

I thought I would start my series of photography questions with a fundamental one – what does DSLR mean in photography?

DSLR translated into actual English is digital single lens reflex camera.

So, what does this mean?

I will explain this in this blog post, as well as digressing all over the place with related photography stuff!

Back in the day

Basically, in the days before digital photography cameras used film. Yes film. You used to buy a roll of film from a shop, with either 24 or 36 exposures, open the back of the camera, put the film in, pull a bit out and attach it to the spool then close the back and wind on. And getting the prints was even more long winded.

But we survived. Well we didn’t know any better!

A bit more about camera film – trust me this will all make sense

There were a number of different sizes of film, but the most common camera film was called 35mm film was 35mm.

SLR cameras, single lens reflex cameras, used 35mm film. A 35mm film negative (i.e. the actual bit of film on which the image was recorded) is 36mm x 24mm.

And this is the strangest of evolutions from film to digital SLRs

Why is a full frame camera sensor the size it is?

The size of a 35mm film negative is the same size as a sensor on a full frame camera.

If you ever wondered why a full frame sensor on a digital camera is the size it is now you know.

And the question I have always asked myself is this – why? Why would the sensor on a DSLR be the same as the film on an SLR?

Why not is the answer. Evolution of familiar sizes.

Anyway, back to the camera – why the mirror in an SLR?

A single lens reflex camera basically has a mirror which allows you to see through the lens. Press the shutter and the mirror flips up and the image is exposed on the film behind.

This is a picture of my Canon AL-1. This was a film SLR that was the first of its kind to have assisted focussing - when you got the manual focus correct a green light came on!!

And with a DSLR exactly the same happens, except that rather than film there is a digital sensor.

That is SLR cameras in a nutshell.

Why does a camera need a mirror?

I believe that the fore-runner to SLR cameras were twin lens reflex cameras. Why two lenses? Simple. You looked through one, and the other took the picture.

The only problem with this was you were not looking at exactly what you were capturing. So, the SLR was a technical and optical improvement, with the clever use of mirrors and prisms allowing the user to see exactly what was going to be taken.

With one minor exception

Taking my Canon 6D as an example, the actual view in the viewfinder is only 97%. I am not actually seeing all of the scene I am trying to photograph.

My Canon 5D gave me a 96% view, as did my Canon 60D.

The Canon 1DS gives 100%.

All is not quite as it seems, as is so often the case.

What other types of cameras are there apart from SLRs?

Back in the film day there were lots of other camera formats.

110 – lower standard cameras with a cartridge film. I used to have one of these. And compared to an iPhone they were quite rubbish.

APS cameras, where you could manually change the format of the image. These cameras came with a special film and the processed negatives and prints were provided in boxes – all rather interesting. I still have some from a long old time ago!

Twin lens reflex cameras

I never owned one of these, I am not that old.

There are also medium format, large format 10 x 8 format – lots of formats. Basically, 35mm was for SLRs until DSLRs.

And now what other formats are there?

Mirrorless cameras – more about these in a separate post

Medium format – very expensive

Micro four thirds – a format I know nothing about. Yes, I know - I will have to find out all about it and write about it here.

Were SLRs the best cameras in film days?

• SLR cameras were viewed as being higher quality, professional/ semi-professional cameras.
• SLR cameras typically had interchangeable lenses, which was not normally the case with other types of cameras.
• SLR cameras had more control of image capture, with manual exposure possible setting the aperture, shutter speed and film speed.
• SLR cameras bridged the gap from consumers to pros. There were more manufacturers of SLR cameras in film days, including
• Canon
• Nikon
• Pentax
• Olympus
• Minolta
• Fuji (my first ever SLR was a Fuji)

About manual mode

Now I have a thing about all those people who preach that to be a photographer you should shoot in manual mode. Nonsense. That is going to be the next question I ask.

What about mirrorless cameras then?

Mirrorless cameras don’t have a mirror. It really is that simple.

You don’t look through the viewfinder and the actual lens via a mirror – no - instead you look through an electronic viewfinder. And at some pint in the future DLSRs will be come obsolete, and I expect that we will all be calling our mirrorless cameras something different – cameras!

And there are other mirrorless format – micro four thirds?

I guess that after manual mode I need to jump straight into micro four thirds – to be completely honest all I know about this format is that the sensor is smaller than a crop sensor,

No let’s do this the other way – camera formats explained or something like that.

Hangovers from the film days in photography

Writing this brought back some thoughts I have had for some time that I will digress briefly not now.

I find it interesting that there are quite a few things which are hangovers from the days of film that we still have.

Sensor size

The same as 35mm film – why?

ISO

The new name for film speed (it was also called ASA back in the day) – why do we still have this now we are in the world of digital photography. Surely it is time to get rid of ISO? If we were to start again with ISO, Aperture and shutter speed surely there would be some other way of getting the exposure.

Mirrors.

Yes, it seems bizarre with the things that we do with our phones that high end cameras still have actual mirrors that flip up. Think of the iPhone the capabilities built into what is a phone.

What about the future of DSLRs?

Basically, the future of DSLRs in my opinion is short. Canon yesterday announced its new mirrorless cameras, Nikon did the same last month. And apart from Canon and Nikon everyone else is producing “mirrorless” or “micro-four-thirds” cameras. Well virtually everyone.

Let’s think about phones for a minute

Do you know the aperture your phone uses when you take a photo? Off the top of my head I don’t know the aperture my iPhone 7 Plus uses.

Shouldn’t I know this?

I don’t really care to be honest – it does a pretty amazing job.

And ISO on my iPhone? No idea.

Sutter speed – nope – don’t know.

And the iPhone 7 Plus takes great photos.

Sure, this can be replicated on a DSLR using one of the Programme Modes.

But isn’t it about time we updated the way we take photos?

I think once DSLRs have died a death and mirrorless cameras rule the world there may be a reduction in the elements of the exposure triangle

The technology is so advanced these days that surely there is going to be more involvement of computing power in photography.

Summary

Well I started off explaining what SLR and DSLR stand for in photography. And I ended up writing about the death of SLRs and mirrorless cameras ruling the world. I see this happening. I see a future where the cameras we use are a different shape and form factor.

There are constraints of course – physics and optics – but technology is advancing so rapidly I see great changes.

The final word on SLRs/ DSLRs.

I will always have a soft spot for SLR and DSLR cameras. I started with a Fuji SLR - if only I could remember the exact model but to be fair it was about 37 years ago! I then moved into Canon SLRs, and Canon DSLRs.

What cameras do I use?

Whilst I love my Canon 6D I find myself using my iPhone more and more, especially for my travel photography work. Sure, when I am photographing a sunrise I will use my Canon 6D and tripod, and also for a commercial architectural shoot. But that is work. I rarely get my Canon DLSR out if I am not working, unless there is something that I think I can sell or use in a commercial way.

And that is where I am heading – I want to replace my DSLR with something smaller with the connectivity of my iPhone.

My iPhone has pretty much retired my Canon G11 and G13 – not that they were bad cameras – technology has overtaken what they can do and how they do it.

Summary 2

I started my photography life with SLRs and use DSLRs for my commercial work. But I expect within 2 years my Canon 6D will be sat in a cupboard somewhere.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP – Photographer, photoblogger, writer

​Photography Quick Tip 4 – How to get the best from your photography gear

Buy the best gear that you can afford.Buy the most appropriate gear that will enable you to get the images you want – I am talking here about camera bodies and lenses.

And then learn that gear inside out. Practise with it, try out all the things your gear can do.

Once you have exhausted the capabilities of your camera and lens(es) buy new gear only if it will help you take better images.

Rick McEvoy Photography - Photographer, photoblogger, writer

HDR Merge in Lightroom - how I do it

The next job is to merge all the bracketed sets of images in Lightroom.

Remember these three photos that I posted on Friday?

Well here is the fourth image - the HDR Merged image.

The caldera of Santorini by Rick McEvoy - photographer in Santorini

This is the new file, which is the HDR merged image.

How I do this? Well its quite straightforward.

First - how do I take the images?

Firstly, I take three photos using the auto-bracketing function in my Canon 6D.

• The first images is the correct exposure - 1/40th second, F22, ISO 400
• The second image is two stops under exposed - 1/160th second, F22, ISO 400
• The third image is two stops over exposed - 1/10th second, F22, ISO 400

As this is all about processing images in Lightroom I will this here for now - the point is that I want to capture more of the lights and darks than are in the original image capture.

How do I do an HDR Merge in Lightroom?

According to Scott Kelby, and he should know, the way Lightroom has been desigend you only need to merge the under and over exposed images. There is no point in using the correctly exposed image. Try it and see.

The new images are exactly the same.

So I select these two images, and use the Lightroom keyboard shortcut Control H (H for HDR - nice one Adobe).

And this dialogue box appears.

There are a couple of options here.

Auto Align - I leave this checked. It does exactly what it says it does. Even though I take most of my photos on a tripod I still leave it checked.

Auto Settings - If you check this box Lightroom will give you a preview of the processing it thinks the image needs.

You can see the difference with Auto Settings checked.

With the first image I try both ways, and go with what works for. More about doing this to more than one image in a minute.

Deghost Amount - I leave on high. Any areas where there is movement from one image to another will have a red mask over it. This is things like trees that have moved in the wind - we all want them sharp after all.

I always leave the Show Deghost Overlay selected - as there is no red on this image there is no deghosting, so I should turn this to None.

But I don't - this doesnt do any harm to an image (as far as I am aware), it just takes longer as Lightroom has more work to do.

The last check box is Create Stack - this is a new feature in Lightroom that I have not used - I stack the bracketed sets of images when sorting them out after import, and add each new image to the stack. As I am only using two of the three bracketed images if I select this option it puts the new merged photo in a new stack, leaving the original image on its own, so I do this manually - it doesn't take long.

And then I had a thought - this new feature could work for me.

I said before that you only need to use two of the three images - if I use all three images I get exactly the same results, and if I use Create Stack this will put all four images in a stack. And this is one less thing to do.

And yes I have just tried this and it worked nicely. And Lightroom even collapsed the stack after - that is two things less for me to do.

Sorry for the digression - back to the creation of the first HDR Merged file

The message "Photo Merge added to tasks" appears, and Lightroom creates the new image in the background. I wait for this message so I know that this is happening.

Once I am happy with the first image, this is what I do to the rest of the images.

How to HDR Merge lots of images quickly in Lightroom

This is the good stuff. There is a not so well known keybaord shortcut

Shift, Control H

I select the next two images, use this keyboard shortcut and guess what - Lightroom starts the HDR Merge process in the background using the last settings. There is no dialogue box. It just gets on with it.

And once you have done that - as I said above - I wait for the message "Photo Merge added to tasks" - select the next two images, hit the shortcut again and Lightroom starts working on the next HDR Merge.

And then I just keep on going.

I can do more than 30 merges at a time.

I tend to select as many bracketed sets as I can and then go for a cuppa or a beer and leave Lightroom to it.

When I get back I add the new image to the original stack - this is quite quick - select the four images, click on the newly created new file, which has the extension -HDR.dng, then use the shortcut Control G and the four images are in the stack with the new image at the top! I do this for all the images, it doesn not take long, and that is HDR Merge done!

That is what I wrote before I realised that if I use the three images, and the new Create Stack feature, I don't need to do these two last things - Lightroom does them for me!

Summary

I hope that this helps, and that you now know how to use HDR Merge in Lightroom - please ask any questions in the comments box or email - check out my home page for details.

Rick McEvoy Photography - How to use Lightroom

And the last image in my architectural photography portfolio is The Beacon in Ferndown at night

Blimey. The last image in my portfolio. The Beacon, St Mary's Church, Ferndown, Dorset.

A night shot pocessed when Lightroom was at its worst. I remember that now. Thankfully all that is now behind me/ all of us Lightroom users.

How I got the shot

Taking the image was fine - I just had to get the lights left on and wait for cars to stop pulling into the car park! It was my third visit, so I knew which shots I wanted to get. And I knew that cars pulled in on the right, headlights shining straight on the facade of the building.

Be prepared - which I was. I took these images during a break in the traffic!

A word on composition

This was the only location from which I could fit in the whole of the sign and the extension - the critical parts of this photo for the architects, Etchingham Morris Architecture Limited.

And what you can tell from this photo is that there are loads of trees that I was stood amoongst to take this shot. If I moved back the trees appear in the shot.

Somtimes compostion is nothing more than moving around to get the right image, like in this case.

I compose my images carefully, and rarely crop an architectural image. This was pointed out to me in my BIPP portfolio review, which I had not noticed or thought about before.

My application for Associateship of the BIPP was successful, hence me posting my entire portfolio in my photography blog. Well it is my blog after all so why not??

Technical Stuff

Three exposures, 1/4 second, 1/15th second, 1 second, all at F8, ISO400.

Canon 6D, Canon 17-40mm lens at 17mm, Manfrotto 190 Go tripod.

Back-button focus, 10 second self timer.

Processing

Images merged together in Lightroom, processed in Lightroom and cleaned up in Photoshop. As I like to say, no layers required!

And that is that - portfolio done. Well not quite. I am going to post a couple of videos on my photography blog whilst I reflect on how I have evolved a photographer over the period of the images in my portfolio being taken.

In the meantime, you can view the 40 images on my architectural photography portfolio page.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Photographer, photography blogger.

Architectural photography in Dorset at Sopley Mill - portfolio image number 38

It's called the blue hour for a reason. And I love this time of day. Just look at that lovely natural blue light, which perfectly offsets the lights shining out from the mill.

This was the effect I was after, and also what my client, Etchingham Morris Architecture Limited, requested.

You never know what you are going to end up doing on a shoot. On ths one I had to go round the enire mill and make sure all the lights were on, which was a challenge considering that people were setting up for a wedding the next day. Once they had finished in a room the good folks would turn the lights off - meaning I had to leg it back up there and turn them on again!

And I had to wait for people going in and out of the building with all the stuff needed for a wedding!

But these are just things that we photographers have to contend with - all part of the job.

Sopley Mill is a wedding venue in Dorset - and this is as close as I want to get to wedding photography!

A bit about the image capture.

The first exposure was 0.3 second, F8, ISO400. The second image, the two stop underexposed image, was captured using a shuttter speed of 1/13th second. The third, two stop overexposed image, was captured using a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds.

This is called HDR bracketing, and I do this to capture a wider dynamic range than I can in a single image capture.

Basically I get more of the lights and more of the darks.

Once you have got your head round this it is great to use, and now that Lightroom is much better merging the files together in Lightroom is really slick.

Here are the other things that you might want to know about this shot

Camera - Canon 6D

Lens - Canon 17-40mm lens

19mm focal length used

Manfrotto 055 tripod

Taken at 4.55pm one November day

Rick McEvoy - Architectural Photography in Dorset

Architectural Photography Portfolio Image 35 - just a barn!

Architectural photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy

This is the gear I use on most commercial architectural shoots.

Canon 6D

Manfrotto 190 Go Tripod with geared head

Canon 17-40mm lens

Architectural photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy

Architectural Photography Portfolio Image 33 - a stunning house with a cool water feature

Sometimes I wish my legs were longer. They were just long enough to get this view - handheld straddling the water channel right below me.

Taking the shot was ok - it was the getting back up that was challenge!

Thankfully the Canon 6D with Canon 17-40mm lens are quite small and lightweight!

Country house photographer - Rick McEvoy ABIPP

Architectural Photography Portfolio Image Number 26 - A major building refurbishment in Hampshire

This is one of those photos that tells the whole story in one image.

The story is this.

The complete refurbishment of this building at Horndean Technology College in Hampshire, and the provision of a new garden which is very prominenet in the foreground. And very important to the users of this building.

The vapour trail of the plane was really there.

And the white van in front of the building to the right was removed using Photoshop. Obviously you can't see it now, and neither can you tell that it was there at the time!

This was an HDR image captured using my Canon 6D, which was placed on top of the corner fence post, with the compostion done though me peering through the not so great LCD screen on my Canon 6D in Live View mode.

I was stood on top of a low wall.

And the shot is one of the best construction shots that I have taken. This is down to a combination of factors.

• Timing
• Light
• Composition
• Viewpoint
• Technical image capture

Which all combine to give an image that has received so many positive comments.

The client for this project was Hampshire County Council, the architect was Kendall Kingscott, and the main contractor was Raymond Brown Construction, now known as Knights Brown.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Construction Photographer in Hampshire

​A few thoughts on the interior photos from my architectural photography portfolio

That was the 20 interior images from my architectural photography portfolio – what have I learned?

I was meant to provide a bit of a break after the 20 interior images in my architectural photography portfolio. I missed that but no matter, I will do that just now after image number 25. Lets just pretend that I did this 5 days ago…..

Why am I posting my Architectural Photography Portfolio now?

As a reminder, I submitted 40 images to the BIPP to support my application for Associateship Membership, which was successful.

My interior photography

I really enjoy photographing the interiors of buildings and have been very fortunate to photograph some very special buildings for architects and property owners.

There is something about photographing a lovely room in a classic English Country house which I just love. And processing the images is a joy too.

And my recent work gave me plenty of interior photographs to chose from.

My evolution as a photographer

I will write a full post about my evolution over the 7 years that it has taken to create the images which constitute my professional architectural photography portfolio. I will do this after I have posted and written about all the 40 images on my photography blog.

Back to the interiors

For now, I want to focus on the interior images, and give a few thoughts on some of these 20 images.

The first image in my portfolio was captured in 2011.

This was a bit of a landmark image for me. I was commissioned by the architect Andrew Stone to photograph a private library which he designed and oversaw the construction of. The library was an extension to a stunning Dorset country residence.

This shoot, and the set of images that I produced, really got me wanting to do more of this kind of photography work. This was the beginning of me starting to find my way. The beginning of starting.

And this photo was taken with my Canon 5D, still a great camera even now. Don’t forget that if you want a full frame DLSR but are on a budget.

And the wine rack

We were waling down one of those lovely streets in Lucca, and I spotted this fantastic wall to wall wine rack, so I walked in, took the photo and walked out!

This was another photo taken with my Canon 5D.

And this picture was the beginning of another thought about a way I could go forward commercially with my photography.

And this is the only personal shot in this collection of 20 interior photography images – all the rest are paid commercial work.

Photo of a luxury kitchen in Sandbanks

Well when I say paid commercial work the next image should have been, but things did not work out as planned. I met the agent at this stunning waterside property in Sandbanks in Poole, took a few test shots, discussed the brief then it all went pear shaped.

This photo was taken in 2014, using my recently purchased Canon 6D. I replaced the 5D with the 6D after a problem caused entirely by me with the Canon 5D.

The next two images were taken for the architects Kendall Kingscott.

This is a rest area at the University of Southampton. I was photographing two entirely refurbished floors of one of the University’s buildings in Southampton City Centre – this was my favourite shot. I find shots of small parts of a large space are often more interesting than the big open plan wide shots that everyone wants, and indeed needs.

And now for the brightest classroom in Poole!

And this is a photo is of a new classroom at a school in Poole, constructed for the client, the Borough of Poole.

I wanted to capture that big bright sun in a shot, which took two return visits to achieve – one of the problems of photographing recently constructed buildings which are rapidly handed back and turned into use within days of completion.

Thankfully I am used to this.

And the rest of the images in my interior set

The rest of the images in the interiors half of my photography portfolio are taken from a single commission for the architects Etchingham Morris Architecture Limited. When I first met Adrian and Mike they did not have a website, so they commissioned me to photograph 10 of their projects for them. In the end it was 11 projects – there was a late addition early in 2018.

Again, this commission gave me access to some fantastic, special buildings. I cannot say any more about the properties, as client confidentiality is very important to me, but the images hopefully speak for themselves.

I won’t include all the images in this post – there are in my daily blog posts. You can also view all the images on my portfolio page – insert link

My professional photography qualification - ABIPP

Tomorrow I will be back to my architectural photography posts. I have said it before but I will say it again – I am tremendously proud to have achieved the designation of Associateship in the British Institute of Professional Photography – this is why I am posting my portfolio set in celebration.

I qualified as a Licentiate Member in 2014, and deferred my application for Associateship last year as I was not happy with the set of images.

Why I submitted my application to the BIPP for Associateship when I did

It was when I set the targets for my photography business for 2018 that I decided to pursue my application again. I cunningly set myself the target of achieving my ABIPP in 2018. That worked, giving me the metaphorical kick up the you know what that I clearly needed.

Well this and the fact that I had lots more images to a much higher standard that I was much happier with.

So that is what I did. Goal achieved – ABIPP. Insert logo to the right

ABIPP is defined by the BIPP as

“A high standard of craftsmanship and creative ability”

Yep – that is me now. How utterly excellent.

OK I will shut up now and tomorrow it is back to the portfolio for another 15 days.

Rick McEvoy ABIPP - A high standard of craftsmanship and creative ability