Frequently Asked Questions…
From time to time I get asked questions whilst out shooting.
Here are a few of the questions, and some answers.
Before the advent of digital many people got in to photography with a simple 35mm compact camera, for me it was a present from my parents and it started a life-long love affair with the ‘still’ image.
Over time I progressed from a compact camera to na SLR as my skills developed. It was still a hobby for me at that time and it wasn’t till 2001 that I started working part-time as a professional photographer whilst still working as a software/graphics developer.
It wasn’t long before I went full-time and now I have the pleasure of travelling around photographing people at events up and down the UK.
I’ve never been someone who sticks 100% to a single make of camera, preferring to use whatever camera is best for the job I’m doing.
Over the years I owned cameras from various companies including; Minolta, Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm. I currently use Nikon DSLRs and the Fujifilm X-T2 (each with a host of lenses).
The X-T2 has been getting a lot of use lately mainly due the silent shutter which is invaluable when shooting stills or speakers at an event as there is no ‘CLICK’ of the shutter to disturb anyone.
I also take photographs with a infrared converted Nikon D90. I removed the original filter in front of the sensor and replaced it with a new filter that only allows infrared light to pass through it at 720nm. You’ll see some of the photographs from this camera in the galleries.
That’s quite a list… I started with a Halina compact camera when I was about 14 years old. I think it was a red Halina AF810, but it got me hooked on photography.
Then a second hand Pentax ME Super and a Minolta SR-T 101 both of which I still own and they still work!
Next, I upgraded to a modern SLR… well… modern when I bought it as new when they were first released – Minolta Dynax 7xi. I had that for quite a few years until I switched over to a DSLR. Minolta didn’t have and digital offerings when I was looking to upgrade so I switched allegiance to Canon.
— The Minolta Dynax 7xi was still working until a couple of years ago when the circuit board fried. I was halfway through a film and suddenly smelt burning. Had to turn the camera off and removed the battery otherwise I think it would’ve burst into flames!
So, I moved to Canon and bought a 20D and a collection of lenses. That was a great camera and it was at that time I started doing more and more photography work, from Weddings, Portraits and Events. As I got more work I realised that I needed to go full-frame so I started to look at what Canon had to offer and I was disappointed by the noise levels shooting in low light with Canons offerings so I took a look at what Nikon were producing.
That ended up with me selling all my Canon gear and switching to Nikon. A D3 and the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Nikon lenses – Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 G AF-S E, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8E AF-S ED VR and the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8E AF-S FL ED VR. I also bought the Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR for macro work.
Then the Nikon D800 was added to my collection so I could shoot with two bodies rather than keep swapping over lenses at events.
After a few years I sold the Nikon D3 and bought a Fuji XT-2 (it’s a lot lighter!) and various lenses.
Other cameras include: Bronica SQ-A, Yashica-Mat and a much used Lomo LC-A+.
The simple answer would be Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop for the majority of my work. I’ve been using Photoshop since it was first released in 1989 which is kinda scary as that was over 30 year ago and that makes me feel old!
Yeah, I’ve been colourblind all my life. My particular form of color blindness is called Deuteranopia. This means that I am green-blind, which makes green’s look redder. It also affects some shades of brown, grey and pink!
Does it affect my work?
Not really no, my computer/monitor are calibrated for ‘normal’ vision so what is displayed is colour-correct. I can trust the calibration to display the correct colours, which basically means that the finished image will be correct for people with normal vision!
BTW – Dogs also see in deuteranopia!
Yes. I do get asked this quite often, I guess it is a bit of an unusual name! The next question is normally, Where does that come from?
Fenris (or Fenrir) originates from Norse Mythology, it the name of one of the children of Loki (who you may have heard of from the Marvel films). He had several children, one of which was a giant wolf called Fenris.