3rd May 2009 - Reader's Photos

Thanks again to all of you that took the time to send in your photos for humiliation appraisal. Read on to see who gets the much coveted prize of a 25% discount voucher for our shop. (Not exactly the Euromillions jackpot but surely better than a kick in the cloisters!)

Ged Fallows - Cumbria, UK (Sony Alpha 100)

A very eye catching interior shot of what looks to be Carlisle Cathedral. Ged has used the HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique to get this beautiful painterly effect. Taking an HDR shot involves mounting your camera on a tripod and taking a number of identical photographs at different exposure values. These photos are then merged in a software package such as Photomatix or Photoshop to create a finished image . It is very easy to overdo the HDR effect and I think Ged has just overdone it slightly here. This has introduced a little noise in the bottom left of the image and made the light coming through the window appear grey rather than the usual white. However, it is all a matter of taste. Some people like the oil painting effect that we have here, some people (like me) prefer a slightly more natural appearance to the photo. Other than that, the composition is excellent and it really is a very striking photograph. Well done Ged.

Frank Dibley - Poole, UK (Fuji Finepix F50fd, 1/480sec @ f8, ISO 100)

Frank is back with another shot! A very pleasing sunset/silhouette. Frank has got the exposure perfect and has also avoided lens flare which can be a real nuisance when shooting into the sun. For that he must be commended. He's also got the horizon nice and level. There is nothing worse than seeing a photograph of the sea running downhill! Remember that folks... if you plan on sending in some of your shots, make sure your horizon is level. If you send me a photo with a wonky horizon I'll add 50% to the price of your next order!!! So, can I criticise Frank's photo? Yes, of course I can. It could really do with a 15% crop off the bottom to remove that dark area. Other than that, nice shooting!

Andy Carolan - Norwich, UK

"It was taken with a Fuji S9600, Vivitar 283 @ 1/32 power mounted on the hot-shoe with a Lumiquest Promax system (using white insert and diffuser). In post process i split the image down to RGB channels and just used the blue channel as the contrast worked best (for me) that way on the skin tones."

Andy is also back again! (Isn't it amazing what a 25% discount voucher can do?) Andy has taken this very artistic shot of his wife's hands. OK, so they probably don't belong to his wife, they may even be his own hands. If they are his own hands then he won't be getting a prize unless he can prove to me that he has a third arm that pressed the button on the camera. Seriously though, this is good work. This photo wouldn't be anywhere near as good if it were in colour. Andy has used strong directional lighting to show all the lines and wrinkles in the hands and used a nice black background (one of ours I hope?) to further enhance the mood. If I were being ultra critical I could say that I have seen similar shots that were better lit to show even more detail in the fingers, but what do I know? I don't have a photo of a pair of hands in my portfolio yet.

Simon Moody - Warwickshire, UK (Canon EOS 20D, 1/60sec @ f5.0, ISO 400, 17-85mm)

Simon sent in this lovely picture of his granddaughter. I really like the composition of this photo. Simon has done well leaving a space to the left of the frame for Little Red Riding Hood to look into. Without that empty space the photo would look really awkward. This photograph has obviously had some computer work done to it. I may be wrong but the black background may have been added afterwards. It is totally fine to add or change the background of a photo but it should never look obvious. Simon's granddaughter is beautiful and her skin tone looks amazing in this photo. However, the whole shot seems to have that over-processed look about it, as if it has been mucked about with a little too much. It is still a nice image and I have no doubt that Simon's friends and family members love it - that is what matters most!

Jack's Conclusion

I can honestly say that so far I have not seen a genuinely crap shot in my inbox. That means you can all be proud of yourselves. Every photograph that has been submitted has obviously been carefully considered and has had time spent on it. None of them are just snapshots that happened to turn out good. They are all photographs that people have given some thought to.

Anyway, enough waffle, which shot is best? Well, this time I am truly torn between Ged Fallow's cathedral and Andy's hands. They both make you take a second look and they have both had some serious effort put into them. However, I have to make a decision and 1st prize will go to Andy Carolan, simply because I can't really fault the picture in any way. Yes, I know that's the second time Handy Andy has won a voucher but it's all down to his photography skills, nothing else. He's not a lifelong friend, he's not my son (because he's too old) and he doesn't threaten me with violence. Congratulations Andy, 25% is on it's way to you.

Everyone else, please get off your backsides and email me your best photograph. You have nothing to lose apart from being ridiculed in front of the entire world wide web. Please email your shots, comments and ideas for the blog to:

27th April 2009 - Red Squirrels!

The red squirrels have almost completely disappeared from England & Wales, driven out by Dr. Evil the grey squirrel. Scotland still has a large population but it is under threat. Thankfully, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight have remained virtually untouched by the grey, no doubt due to the grey squirrel's poor swimming ability.

To get a great shot of a red squirrel you will need:

• Camera gear
• Nuts (hazelnuts are luxury but peanuts will do)
• Patience

I got up early in the morning and went to a local wooded area that is known to have a healthy squiggle group. Find a suitable spot, place handfuls of nuts in photogenic areas and sit with your back against a tree and wait. Usually it will take about 15 minutes for the squirrels to make their first appearance. They'll be nervous at first and will wag their tails and make strange whooping noises as they suss you out. After a while, the smell of the nuts will drive them crazy and they'll rise up on their hind legs and sniff the air like the kids from the old Bisto adverts. Let them get comfortable feeding then start to take a few shots. I managed to get the following photos on my third visit:

The shot of the squirrel eating the hazelnut earned me a runner up prize in a nature competition in The Times newspaper.

It's easier than you think. You don't need thousands of pounds of camera equipment. You should be able to get good shots with a camera and a telephoto lens with a focal length of 200mm or longer. The gear I used was my old Canon EOS 350D, a 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens and a 300mm f4L IS lens. I also used one of our Op/Tech Pro Straps to bear the weight of my heavy lenses.

So, the next time your neighbour's dog wakes you up at 6am on a Sunday morning, don't go round with a poisoned pork chop... get that camera out and head for the woods! It is surprising what you will see. If you get any good shots, send them to:

*Special thanks to my friend Gary Ireland who told me the whereabouts of his favourite location for the squirrels.

21st April 2009 - Reader's Photos

Well, quite a few of you have sent in your photos for appraisal. Many thanks to those of you that made the effort. In my email newsletter I originally said that I would award each photo with a mark out of 10 and give a discount voucher to anyone getting the ultimate 10 out of 10. I have since had a better idea. I won't give a score out of 10 as I think some people may get offended if I were to award them a low score. Instead, I will just leave my comments and I will simply pick my favourite shot out of each batch of photos and award the winner with a discount voucher. I hope you understand my reasons for doing this. Please read on to find out who is the winner out of this first selection of customer photographs.

Andy Carolan - Norwich, UK (Fuji Finepix S9600 1 sec @ f2.8, ISO 80)

This shot really appeals to me. I love abstract photography and this is no exception. It makes the viewer wonder what it is (my guess is the cover on a microphone). The red and blue light blending together in the centre of the shot is perfect. Getting in close to fill the frame with the subject really works here. I can't think of any way to criticise this photo which is a good sign! Well done Andy!

Douglas Hill - Twickenham, UK (Nikon D80, 1/90sec @ f4.8, ISO 100)

Everyone loves a shot of a cute cat and Douglas has done well to get it nice, sharp and well focused. I think the shot is a bit overexposed. Dark coloured subjects like this will fool your camera into overexposing and can make a black cat (or dark grey cat) look lighter than they really are. To compensate for this, set your camera's exposure compensation to -1 stop (or -1 EV) and try again. Also, Mrs Moggy is looking out of the frame. As a general rule, when taking a profile shot of a human or animal, try to compose your photo so that the subject is looking into the frame. For example, in this shot, Douglas could have left a space to the left of the cat. All in all, a good effort.

Frank Dibley, UK (Nikon D80, 18mm, 1/40sec @ f8, ISO 100)

A lovely chocolate box scene capturing the beauty of autumn in the UK. A sharp shot and perfectly exposed. I love the colours of the trees. A good autumn photograph is something that is missing from my own portfolio so I must make the effort myself later this year. There's nothing much to criticise here. For absolute perfection, the park bench would look better if it was more to the right of the frame. But... changing viewpoint may not have been possible at this location. Apart from dragging the bench and risking a heart attack and/or a fixed penalty notice there was nothing much Frank could have done. Great shot! Well done Frank.

Kenneth Money - Thetford, UK (Fuji S5 Pro, 200mm, 1/228sec @ f8, ISO 100)

An absolutely cracking shot of a Sea Eagle. When I take pictures of birds in flight, I always aim to freeze the action. Here, Kenneth has managed to capture some of the movement in the wings whilst keeping the bird's head and eyes in sharp focus. This is very difficult to do, and whether it was intentional or not, Kenneth needs to be congratulated. JACK TIP!: When taking a photograph of any living creature (including people), the eyes must always be sharp in focus - that is a golden rule! The rest of the subject can be thrown out of focus but as long as the eyes are razor sharp the picture always looks great. There are very few exceptions to this rule so always put that focusing point right over the eye of your subject. Great shot Kenneth, very well done indeed.

Jack's Conclusion

Even though I only had 4 photographs to choose from, I found it very difficult to choose a winner. If I had to choose one to hang on my wall, I may just lean towards the photo by Andy Carolan but it was a very difficult call. So, to show my appreciation for their effort I am going to award all four people a 25% discount voucher off their next order from Jack the Hat Photographic. The rest of you, get your fingers out and email your best shot to:

Keep reading my blog regularly for all sorts of tips, advice, news, reviews and competitions. Happy shooting!

17th April 2009

UK Videographer makes a fool of UK police

Today, I came across this funny but sad video clip. This is a clip of UK Videographer Darren Pollard (almost certainly from the Birmingham area judging by his accent) who gets challenged by a pair of police officers for filming them questioning a member of the public. Mr. Pollard is standing well within the boundaries of his own property whilst filming. Whilst I have no idea of Mr. Pollard's original reason for filming, I do despair at the lack of knowledge of the police officers. After so many similar stories hitting the news lately, I do think it is about time that police officers are educated properly on the legal rights of photographers.

If you are a member of the police, I would love to hear your comments. Likewise I would also be interested to hear comments from anybody on this and similar situations that have been in the news. I'll gladly post your comments on here. Send your comments to:

15th April 2009

Welcome to my new blog. Unlike most commercial websites, I won't be writing endless piffle about how great our products are. Neither will I try to brainwash you into buying every item we stock. I'll write about my latest photographic exploits, show you a few photos and offer some advice. I may review a few products (not necessarily ones that we sell) and I'll gladly post up some of your photos with comments and criticisms. So, feel free to email your best shots to: and prepare to be congratulated or humiliated (in my gentle, non-patronising way of course). I'll update the blog as often as I can and my initial target is to update it once a week.

Well, let's start with some good news. I've just discovered that one of my photos was published in a UK national newspaper last week! The agent didn't tell me which newspaper but after some private detective work (including a stakeout with lots of doughnut eating) I think the newspaper was probably "The Guardian". So, if you're a schoolteacher or you have a long beard you may have seen it in print. If so, let me know.

Here's the photo they used:

This cute chap is a European Grey Wolf. I took this shot a year or two ago at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig. It's a really fantastic place to go to practice your wildlife photography skills. The animals have very large enclosures and many species roam free in the large safari style park. Thankfully, the wolves were behind wire.

For the techies out there, I used my trusty old Canon EOS 350D camera with a 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens. This just goes to prove that you do not need a professional camera outfit to get your work published. If the photo is good, that's all that matters. You don't need a 50 megapixel camera to see your photographs in print! The Canon EOS 350D is one of the most basic digital SLR cameras out there and, although I have since upgraded to the Canon EOS 5D MkII, it served me well for five years.

Time for a JACK TIP! If you're trying to photograph something (like a wolf) though a mesh fence, you can make the fence wire magically disappear! Get your lens as close as you can to the wire fence, select your lens' widest aperture (f2.8 on my lens, other lenses will have a maximum aperture of f5.6 or f4) and start shooting. The wide aperture will throw the wire completely out of focus and make it almost disappear, as if by magic! The wider your lens' aperture, the better the result. Unfortunately, telephoto lenses with really wide apertures are expensive (and heavy) but you can still get this magical effect with the cheaper consumer zoom lenses. Sometimes, the out of focus mesh can lower the contrast of your image. You can correct this in any basic software package.

Well, that's my first ever blog entry done and dusted. If you have any suggestions or requests please email me and I'll try my best to oblige. TTFN!

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