Vlogs, photos, tips and photography video tutorials from Photographer and Writer Ian Middleton. Also travel related content and some other occasional fun stuff. More about me on my websites below:
I am a writer and photographer from the UK, and author of several books, including Mysterious World: Ireland and A Practical Guide to Photography. I have written several articles for Landscape Photography Magazine, Total Slovenia News, and many more.... I have travelled around the world, and also lived and travelled for many years in Ireland. I currently divide my time between the UK and Slovenia.
My photography has been published in Mysterious World: Ireland, Lonely Planet, Living Abroad, Bradt Travel Guides and the Guardian newspaper. I also run regular photography workshops in Slovenia and UK
No, because the copyright will appear on the prints too. You can add a watermark after uploading, and you can also add a separate printmark if you want after.
You've cleared up my primary concern about the Benro, which is unwanted movement. Thank you for a valuable analysis. That said, I'm curious to know what camera body you used in this video? I know it's a Canon, but I'm not sure what model. Looking forward to your response...
@@IanMiddletonPhotographyTravel Thanks for the info. I'm currently shooting a Canon R and have been thinking about moving to the R5, but I can't justify the expense at this time. I'm sure the quality of the R5 is well justified by its cost, but I'm just not "there," yet. Thanks again.
Great explanations thank you 🙏 I have a question pls. If I wanted to change my white balance would I do it before the filter or after inc CPL. I’m thinking before but not 100% sure 👍
Great video! Exactly what I do or sometimes try to do during the day when I see nice puffy clouds to enhance the landscape. I have a Canon 6d that I shoot on 'landscape' mode yet my polarizers have no visible effect on the photos like they used to have with Fuji film no matter how I adjust them. Still working on it.
Thank you. Polarisers have more effect when the sun is at a right angle to the scene. If it's directly behind there will be no effect. Also, if you are on landscape mode the auto exposure is probably over compensating for the change in apparent light. Try using aperture priority and put the light meter on centre or spot to measure the light from a more focused source rather than evaluative mode.
@@IanMiddletonPhotographyTravel Thanks for the reply. I have been shooting aperture priority and I do understand the sun angle although I sometimes forget my orientation. My colors have improved since I posted the reply by adjusting the settings(contrast, saturation etc.) with the info button on the landscape mode. Much better. The polarizer is much more effective now.
Thank you for a pleasant to watch review. I’m in the market for a geared head and both brands are in consideration. I’m quite frustrated with Manfrotto and their proprietary QR plates. Everything I have is Arca Swiss. I’ve looked at the possible mods that convert the Manfrotto to Arca Swiss style, but I’m a dude of principle and think if spending hundreds of dollars on a piece of equipment like this, it should work for me out of the box without me needing to modify it. But that’s me, I’m sure some people don’t mind it. I noticed a very slight bit of movement in the Benro when tightened. But I think in this price range they will all have this. I’m guessing we have to get into something like the Arca Swiss branded geared heads to find relief for this problem. But now we are talking at least 5 times the price. So for me, that’s for pro’s or people that are earning income from this type of photography and absolutely need the best to work fast and reliably. I think I can live with the wonky knobs and the mm or so of lens drooping with the Benro. I’ve also looked at the K&F Concepts, but not sure if it’s much better or worse than the Benro. Wish you had that one here with your fantastic review. Anyways, thank you sir!
You are welcome. Glad you like the video. I don't really mind the QR plate, and aside from this geared head never had a problem with any Manfrotto tripod. The Benro does move a tiny bit when you push a tight filter in, but the movement is minimal compared to the Manfrotto, and doesn't affect the composition set as it seems to spring back. The most important thing is that it is solid so will not move in windy conditions. My concern about the flex in the Manfrotto was that it was so loose it would vibrate in windy conditions during long exposures. I've had the Benro on my tripod consistently ever since making this video and it's superb. Can't imagine ever being without it!
Thanks for the reply and info. I went with the Benro and your video helped allot. I find the same pros and cons with it as you do. Those clutches are really a poor design but do work. Other than the rubbish clutches, the head stays pretty still when set. The fine tuning is adequate. I wanted an Arca Swiss brand model but the prices are out of my budget as I’m not a pro. Otherwise that’s where I may have gone. It’s too bad there isn’t more manufacturers making these at a reasonable price. The Manfrotto people have got to get Arca Swiss designs in as I think they are losing plenty of sales due to their proprietary QR plates. Anyways, thanks again for doing this.
@@andyp7787 You are welcome. Glad the video helped. Yes the Benro one is much more stable. I find the fine tuning more than adequate for landscape photography. I never had a problem with the Manfrotto QR plates, when I was just using Manfrotto only. But it can be a problem if you are using another system alongside it. Just a pain having to switch plates, that is all.
Yes it does offer unlimited storage of JPEGs and a few other formats. For RAW, you can purchase an add on. Smugmug is pretty easy to use and setup. I have a number of tutorial videos you can watch. You can see them here: ru-vid.com/group/PL0S8X5gszBvYg_LxlgvrccHAaCAzdJ0Bx
I shoot a lot of military aircraft. Most prop driven planes I shot 125 to 160. We shoot the Ospreys, which are made a few miles from me . Most of the time, 160 sec is good at 450mm.
Thanks. Yes I've shot a few at those speeds too. Not so easy though to avoid camera shake because my L lens is very heavy. But agree, it does also give a more dynamic effect.
@@IanMiddletonPhotographyTravel ok, that’s great, I have the old Lee filters that give great results, but are a bit cumbersome to use, the magnetic filters looks like a great solution, only worry I have is about the magnets getting weaker by time and also that loosing a filter to the ground would if not break, pull a lot of dirt to the magnets!
@@gryphongryph I've had the K9 holder and magnetic polariser with it for several years now and the magnet is just as strong as when I got it. Also dropped it a few times, but it didn't pick up a lot of dirt.
Very informative video special the examples that show the impact of lower speed.. This video deserve much more likes. Thank you for your advise. Subscribed.
No need for any apologies Ian. I noticed in your other videos there was that guy who never once gave you a thanks but simply demanded part 3.....what a jerk. Your time in doing these is greatly appreciated; just want you to know there are some of us who soak up the information you are sharing like water in a desert.
You are amazing! The more I watch, the more I'm convinced I should purchase the Elementor Pro. Once I make that decision I'll be sure to use link. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge!
Yes, as I showed later in the video, there is a tiny bit of movement but it's negligible and nowhere near as bad as the Manfrotto one. The main concern about the Manfrotto for me was that it would not be steady enough in windy conditions. The Benro has proven to be a rock in comparision.
Thanks Ian, you were right, this is so much easier than the other (non-existent) methods out there, specifically for wind sounds (I'm at a seaside location with strong winds)
If you sell through your Woo Commerce rather than FAA do you have to manage printing and shipping the prints yourself I'm assuming? If so, what do you use to get your prints?
If you do the direct selling through Woocommerce then yes you need to organise printing yourself. You can still use FAA to fulfill it, but need to go in through your own account, place the order and ship it directly to the customer. You could also choose another printer to fulfill the order for you. The other option is to make the Woocommerce product an affiliate product, then link it to the product page on your own personal FAA pixels site. Read my article for more links to places where you can sell and get prints made: blog.ianmiddletonphotography.com/2020/12/05/how-to-make-money-with-photography/
Thank you for the video. I'm just having trouble with this because on my smaller images even though I have the printmark set to the bottom right, it's showing more in the middle and going through my image. I hope i don't receive it like that in the mail. :( Do you have any tips for this? Thank you.
It may be that you need to upload a smaller printmark for the smaller images. Send me a link to an example on your website and I can take a look. Send it to info@ian-middleton.co.uk
Hi Ian, A follow-up question/comment for you - With most blogs (I think) when you post something new, the folks that follow you, get notified that you have done a new post. Is there some way to do this with the SmugMug blog that I missed somewhere. This, to me, would be a show stopper if it can't be done. If folks don't get notified when you post something new what's the point. It puts the onus on them to manually check your blog which a lot of folks won't necessarily do with how hectic everyone's lives are these day. Thanks
Unfortunately not. As I said in the video, Smugmug has no blogging system, and what I showed you was just a workaround by manually creating pages for articles and setting the links manually too. The only thing you could do is setup a newletter mailing list with someone like Mailchimp, and link people to a signup page there. This way you could send out a newsletter when you add a new article.
@@IanMiddletonPhotographyTravel Thanks, Ian. I will take a look at Mailchimp. I am getting into more things that I haven't dealt with. Oh well, gotta keep the mind active. 🙂
Hi Ian, It may be a daft question, but what pixel size image do you recommend to upload to the site. I was thinking about 6000 on the long side from Lightroom Classic.
Hi Alan. Not a daft question at all. When uploading for web it is important to keep the file sizes low for faster page loading. However, the advantage to Smugmug is that you don't have to worry about that, that is all done for you. SM optimises the images accordingly. You can also place your own limits on the maximum size that can be shown on any page, within the gallery settings. As for uploading, SM also acts as personal storage for your full size JPEGS, so you can upload the full resolution files and they will be stored for you. Ideal in case you ever lose anything.
Hi Ian, I'm just in the middle of watching your SM videos to build my own site, and took a break and on looking through your other videos, I came across this one. I think I must have had my tripod in the same position as yourself a couple of weeks ago. I tend to stop in various positions on my way down from the top of West Hill. Also I find East hill is a good place for the sunset. I don't know if you've tried that. I love Corfe Castle and all the Jurassic Coast area. Alan.
Thanks Alan. Yes, it's good to look around as most people do tend to just head blinkered to the top or the classic viewpoints. I haven't managed to get over to East Hill, but am aware of it and imagine it's ideal for sunset. I would imagine it's also good to shoot from there in the early morning to get some side light.
Great tutorial. I have been using Wordpress for a small blog, but never seemed to get the layout so that it looked like my SmugMug account. I have watched this multiple times and I think I understand it enough that I am going to attempt to create a blog using SmugMug and then moving the posts from Wordpress to SmugMug.
Thanks for the upload. I've been shooting for many decades and never quite liked Manfrotto gear. It's the small things with their equipment that lets it down. The professional geared heads are have much tighter tolerances but are expensive and heavy. The Benro is a good compromise.
I used to like Manfrotto, but I have a feeling they’re falling behind. Heavy, not innovative, sometimes questionable quality. I now have a Sirui tripod and put the Benro geared head on it.
@@nicola6323I've always used Manfrotto tripods and heads. The first tripod had really bad levers for locking the legs. That was improved on the next model I bought, and still have. The levers are still good after many years, and in general the tripod is still good. The only problem I had was the centre column fell apart when tried to pull it out once (I never really use it anyway). I managed to put it all back together and won't touch it again. It's not carbon fibre, but is not that heavy to honest, and aside from the centre column problem, it has always worked well and is very sturdy. The three way head though, did have a problem with the grips breaking and I ended up having to use a spanner to adjust them. I now have a Benro 34clv carbon fibre levelling tripod, which so far has been superb. And I have the geared head and a three way. The Manfotto tripod is now a spare.
