I made a massive maitake by joining the local camera club. It was all about sharpness and "judging" by folks with various combination of letters from various photographic societies. Not a single meeting/talk discussed practical elements of actually capturing a half decent image to start with, no talks on equipment and preparation etc. Every image had been photo shopped to within an inch of its life, and I quickly realised I was never going to fall into line. Best decision I have ever made.
I am with you, I tried a camera club twice. It was all about sharpness and "club" photographs. Like you I like to be free to make phographs from the heart.
My cousin is a fabulous photographer and she gave me the same heads up about joining camera clubs (she tried several times, always disappointing). Snooty stuffed shirts running around, telling others the only right way to do things.
Add my name to the list. I am in a photography club now strictly for the camaraderie but I have no interest in competitions, judging, and ribbons. Unfortunately, that is their primary focus.
That is what i always do, photography as a (serious) hobby, and only for myself. Not to please anyone else, but for the love & joy of photography, since decades. Fine video and pictures, as always, Steve ! 🙂
I must talk to you about this video some time; comment on it anyway. The title is so apropos to what has occurred to me within the last few days. But no space or time here. Anyway, you have come away with some very nice images on this outing. I think the effort has payed off. Thanks for posting, Steve.
You do look very lonely and exposed on those treacherous paths and mountains; do hope Wales Mountain Rescue were tracking you. 🙂 Wonderful scenery and shots. Mark
Your Infra-Red shot so beautiful! Strangely I hate , Infra-Red in colour! That small Olympus did well. It doesn't have to have the Red-Dot stuck on with 2 sided sticky tape. Geez! I can say that, 'cause I use and own Leica, when I started, way back when! I prefer SLR. I shoot for me! Mostly! If a portrait etc.be nice! A great video. TX Steve!
I came fir the scenery as always, and the photography of course , the infra red is stunning , living in wales vicariously through you 😊 those cloud 😊 wonderful
Beautiful images and a nice video. That seems like a lovely area of the country to explore . Your work with infrared is intriguing. I have an old Fuji X-T2 that is sitting around idle. I am thinking of having it converted to infrared and giving that a go.
Yes... we enjoyed your ramble / yomp very much. I think you did well to cover the distance in the time you seem to have taken, and with the shots you've got - good conditions, good scenery, possibilities at every turn... i can take hours for a few hundred meters! All the best from New Zealand.
Interesting to see your images in infra red, some very wall-worthy ones for sure. The title of this video is a good reminder, as I often go out with set themes in mind to be used for our camera club later. Count myself lucky my club is active, vibrant and heavy on education, like a big family. I admire how you are able to hike such distances.
Hi Steve, at first I really like your photography and video, thanks for sharing it with us ‼️👍🏻 I’m living in the Netherlands “the flat landscape” but I love the mountains especially the Lake District! I hope to visit it again soon ‼️👋🏻
Great video! This one inspired me to get off my tail yesterday afternoon and take a short outing with my full spectrum body and my 830nm filter and I got an image I'm very pleased with!
Wonderful images Steve. I very rarely use a tripod. Like you I am out for a good walk with a camera most of the time. I’m shooting a lot more pictorial style images these days. I never knew there was a pictorial movement in the 1800”s and came upon this style myself through trial and error. Infrared is great at this time of year especially around Noon as you say. I do enjoy following your journeys through the North Wales landscape. I shoot all sorts of cameras both film and digital so I stayed to the end. A great day you had.
I’m also a big fan of the pictorialists Simon, the moods and atmosphere they were able to impart with such basic equipment is impressive. With the steady improvement in digital imaging it’s nice to see something a bit different and not always sharp.
Absolutely gorgeous images, Steve. Love the composition and placements. Curious as to how many hours you spent on this occasion. Obviously, a lot of effort were put into it. Thanks very much for sharing.
It was a 9hr hike in total, about 11 miles round trip. It doesn’t leave a lot of time to refine compositions so I work very quickly, hence the camera clip and single lens approach.
ahhhhh Steve you redeemed yourself with that film camera, I have to admit that I was hovering over the off button when I saw you pull out the digital infrared.......lol
Outstanding episode as always Steve, full of keepers. Working the day job for the paper I'm constantly shooting to keep the editor happy, on my own time I shoot for myself and the occasional subscriber, hell I don't even have a website yet then again I'm only at the arse end of this mad life so maybe one day. Keep em coming mate loving the IR shots, and the wee Oly is a cracker, I have the 35SP just a gorgeous bit of kit.
Some great mono infra red shots there Steve! I’m like you in loving that Kodak HIE film look (grainy, glowing and surreal looking) which you seem though to have replicated rather well! I’ve not tried and digital IR photography as yet but I must give it a go.
I think the only film I truly miss from the old days is Kodak HIE. Every other material can be replicated to a large extent but shooting the Kodak with a deep red 25 filter was something special.
I have been using a Sigma SD Quattro for IR photography and it is a very rewarding experience, especially when it is a bright sunny day with distinctive clouds. The beauty of this camera is removing the IR cutting filter from the body takes a couple of seconds with a pair of tweezers, so you can be doing IR photography one minute and normal the next.
As always Steve a fabulous video. The images are superb, the IR worked really well and certain images looked like they were from some far off planet. More using the IR please, weather permitting of course. What are your thoughts on using IR when the sun isnt shining? I for one love it. Many thanks for sharing, i really enjoyed this.
Many thanks Dean. I like the look of IR in the winter but I usually go with straight B&W as there’s plenty of drama already. In flat light IR often lifts a scene just enough without being obvious.
You didn't loose me! I'm still exploring the world of infrared with a converted Panasonic GX7 and really enjoyed your use of it on this walk. More on IR please :) All the best
A simple Wow, for the images! I really enjoyed them and the setting! I imagine all then people that have walked that ridge over the centuries past! It looked like some interesting geology as well as the old stone structures! very nice work!
Love IR Photography and glad to see you are having fun with it. Really like the grain and wood effect on your photos - beautiful imagery. After many years of using IR and full spectrum converted cameras, this year I finally decided to go down to only a single 590nm converted Sony A7R3 camera. I seem to prefer the latitude of choices in post I can do with 590nm. If I want more IR, I just add my favorite filter, the Heliopan 780nm, onto the lens.
There’s definitely more scope for false colour with the lower cutoff filters Martin, my full spectrum G5 was initially used with a 650nm filter for this reason.
Thanks Steve, absolutely beautiful images. Wonderful scenery really enjoyed this one. I really do love infrared photography as always looking forward to the next one. Cheers from down under.
Really enjoyed that one (well - I enjoy all of them - just decided to mention it this time). I've been curious about getting an IR converted camera one of these days - the images look so surreal. Thanks for taking us along.
Absolutely lovely images, superb in infra red. Looked like hard work and it's made me quite tired just looking at it, goodness knows how you felt after that amount of climbing and walking. Always enjoy your videos Steve, thank you.
Hi Steve, I personally don't know what to do with infrared images. I would never make one myself. Every photographer has to decide that for themselves. The title is therefore absolutely correct.
Great photos, magical. I did want to ask though, some of those trails, particularly around 5:15 or so seemed really sketchy. Were they really that precarious or did the camera angle make it seem so? I'm a pretty good hill walker here in the SE U.S. but that section gave me the shivers. I'm not certain I would have made that section.
Fantastic video, Steve! I love the infrared landscape photos. I've just had a Panasonic G3 converted to infrared 830nm and am looking forward to getting out and taking some landscapes with it. The scenery and landscape in north Wales is phenomenal. Any idea of how many km/miles you hiked for this video? Your stamina and hiking skills (in addition to your photography) are an inspiration.
I think you’ll like you converted G3, Micro 43 is the perfect device for infrared in my opinion. The walk was a very tiring 11 miles, largely due to the direct sun and heat ☀️
Brilliant and a fabulous message. Celtic tripod - must get me one of those. Do they do a travel version? 😁 Off topic, would you recommend the walking poles you are using? If so, what brand and model are they Steve? I want to narrow down my choices for when I can afford some. Cheers.
I definitely recommend using poles for hill/mountain walks, not only for safety but also to reduce fatigue. I use Leki, the cork handled model and would definitely buy another pair when they eventually fail (or I lose them 🙂).
A good outing Steve with very interesting pics from the IR - but it's definitely not for me. I'll stick to the 35RC shots for my personal taste. Thanks for showing the combination - much appreciated.
I was going to leave the moment you said "digital" and I assumed CMOS-sensor digital (CCD would have been quite ok)... but then I realized you also said "infrared" so I finally stayed (just joking of course!)
@@SteveONions I have seen some shots from Z6's converted to IR and my GX1's just look as good, its not everybody's cup of tea, I post on a forum and some peeps just do not like or agree on what are great images taken with IR, like you say steve it takes good sunshine in the right direction and works best with green foliage and stone work.
OK, Steve. I'm convinced. I bought a Nikon D600 with the intention of converting it to IR. What wavelength do you recommend if B&W is what I want to do? BTW, how long was that walk?
I have done this for decades. Almost no one sees my photos. Even my family sees very few of them. I just shoot what catches my eye. When I shoot film... it is almost a surprise what comes back because I don't rush through a roll.
love the start of this shooting with a digital camera today i have found myself shooting more digital the last year as film has gone up a lot in price i love shooting film and still do a bit but with a family and bills you don't have so much free cash and digital is free to shoot good video and photos.
The thing I like most about infrared is that there is always something familiar and something unfamiliar in the images. If I were to illustrate a book on dreams or a book on a visit to another planet, I think infrared is the way to go. On doing your own thing, I am reminded of Ricky Nelson's song, "Garden Party". Some people will pooh-pooh anything digital. Some people will pooh-pooh anything film. But why throw away half of your toolbox, if you want to do the best work possible? Every tool has a job for which it is well suited. You won't catch me using a butter knife for a screwdriver. ;-) Two RU-vid bloggers (Art Jaaksi of "Shoot On Film" and Nicole Small of "One on One") have a tendency to build their own cameras and to use their own weird chemical processes (such as developing with coffee) in their photography. They get excellent results, so why not? To me, the experience of photographing is one of the very important steps in creation of art. Thomas Heaton uses digital and film. Ben Horne uses a digital camera at times, though it seems clear he prefers large format film. Chris Darnell uses digital and film. One cannot deny the fabulous results obtained. If I am going to buy a framed image to hang in my house, the question of what sort of equipment was used will never arise. I care only about the beauty of the image.
I’m really neutral when it comes to equipment and technique, sometimes I like high quality digital images and other times grainy film. I’m also surprised how partisan some people are about their choice of tools which is fine until they try and impose their approach on others!
sorry, just a bit 35RC biased here .. on a more serious note, that was definately a wonderfull hike with some beautyfull photographs.:-) thx for the video :-)
You know what, you have really piqued my interest in IR photography (previously I kinda liked the images but wasn't really that into it) but these images - wow! I have soooo many "redundant" digital cameras now its a bit of a no brainer to get.a conversion done.... And as a fun bonus addition you have also reminded me just how good the little Olympus is - must dust mine off for an upcoming trip.
Thanks Alan. It was a good walk for sure, start at Rhyd Ddu and straight up Y Garn. Follow the tops to Craig Cwm Silyn but I’d advise not descending to the Cwm Pennant valley as I did, horrible rocky section and a real slog down. I’d retrace my steps back to Trum Ddysgl then follow the lovely ridge down to Beddgelert forest.
Thanks for warning about digital infrared camera, for me only videos about medium format Kodak E100 rated at iso 75 with 2 stop soft grad at twilight will do. just kidding, good video
Haha Ive never been accused of better looking before! Still not sure about infrared. The image at 12:52 is a bit overwhelming for me. The last one at 14:32 was my fave. More subtle effect but subtle enough to give it that spiritual feel.
Sounds like many of the people replying had bad choices in camera clubs. I belonged to one that was very instructional and went out on group photo shoots. Had guest speakers. Yes there was judging of photos but also were very inciteful critiques.
Do you have any advice for what to do with the photos once you’ve taken them? I find that the majority of the fun I have with film photography is the experience of actually taking the picture. I’m in a rut with what to do with the images when I’m done. The photos are incredible and the video content is very refreshing.
Print and plaster your home with them. Aside from actually taking photos, it's the best part. Being surrounded by what you love and created over the years.
@@MarlonSardini I need to get in the habit of printing them instead of just letting them sit on my computer. Something about physically holding the photo.
It’s a very good question. Not having an outlet for your work can make it feel pointless at times but I find RU-vid a good way of getting stuff out there for others to see.
Absolutely no way to take a bad photo. If photog likes results, it's a good photo. If one stranger likes photo its a good photo. I can handle people saying I would shoot that differently. Someone says you shot that wrong. That's an issue. The worst is when someone says one needs the lastest and greatest. Id say, well look at Steve's film photos(awesome by the way). Proves you wrong. Look at Ansels photos. Proves you wrong.
If you are shooting photos for yourself why would you put them up for sale. Shoot the photos and put them on your wall and not ask people to buy them I don’t understand you logic.