Reaction:: My First Film With The D300s and EX-FC100

Reaction is my first film using the Nikon D300s and Casio EX-FC100. The HD parts are with the D300s and all the slow-motion was filmed on the EX-FC100 at 210 frames per second. Click HERE to see the film at full size on Vimeo.

I've turned on the comments below, so please take the time to post your thoughts on Reaction. If you like the film, please share the link to this post with friends and family and if there's a good reaction, I'll do more.

Marketing Your Brand

It's that time again when the nice man delivers some shiny new transport. So it's as good a time as any for some new marketing. The signs I've had made for the car doors and rear window, match the 5000 A6 double sided postcards that have been printed, which will also coincide with a portrait session giveaway at a local children's nursery.

It's good to keep everything consistent when it comes to marketing. From your logo to the fonts you use and everything in-between. It takes an average of seven points of contact before people take notice of a brand. That could be a website, blog, e-mail, a letter, business card, signs on your vehicle, an exhibition or many other forms of marketing. Getting your name out there is important and if you're building a brand, it is essential.

Your marketing must be focused on the type of photography that you do. Take a look on the web and you will see lots of sites that say one thing, but show another. There are lots of websites out there that say 'Wedding and Portrait Photographer' but most of the photography is of landscapes or cats.... If you don't know what area of photography you want to specialize in, it's time to make up your mind! If you want to do more than one type of work, I would suggest having a different website for each (unless they can be grouped together, i.e. people photography).

Black Rapid:: R-Strap 2 - In Use

I used the double Black Rapid R-Strap on a shoot at the weekend and just had to do an update post. If you haven't read my previous post on my choice of strap set-up, check out Black Rapid:: R-Strap .

Although my weekend shoot was not a long one, I was blown away by just how much of a difference the R-Strap(s) were in both comfort and ease of use. Due to the uncertainty of the weather on Sunday, I wore a waterproof jacket in case of rain. I was really pleased that I could wear the double R-Strap under my jacket and it was both comfortable and inconspicuous (although I was paid to do a job, so I could be as conspicuous as I liked). I wasn't sure if the larger phone pouch and storage compartments of the RS-5 would be too bulky to wear under a jacket, but it was fine. It will probably be a bit big for under a suit jacket, but I'll test that out later in the month.

I would normally have a camera hung over each shoulder with the standard Nikon straps, which makes it slow when changing from one body/lens combination to the next. Hanging one camera over my right shoulder and getting the other from the left takes time and I've missed plenty of shots in the past, or even just not bothered changing. There's been a few times when I've almost dropped a camera too.

The double R-Strap was perfect and it felt so natural! As one camera was going down in my right hand, the other was coming up in my left hand. I had no problem swapping over for just one shot with the 70-200mm and then back to the 17-55mm. The cameras glide up the straps smoothly every time.

I used the RS-5 as a single strap yesterday when out walking, and it performed spot on too. The camera tends to spin round a bit with just a 50mm on it, but I expected that. With all my other lens's though, I can reach down without looking and know exactly where the grip will be.

The R-Strap is a first class product and I recommend it 100%. I have just ordered a FastenR-3 so that I can leave a fastenR on my 70-200mm tripod mount. As the FastenR-3 looks a bit more low-profile than the 2, I'll probably put it on the camera grip so that it fits in the bag while still attached to the camera.