Dave Benham

Nikon D700, 70-200 f/2.8 VR, 1/320 at f/5.6, ISO 1000

This last week has been Carnival week in Sway. It’s a great community event with everyone joining in lots of events, from treasure hunts and scarecrow making to the fete and carnival procession itself. My team improved one place in the village cryptic treasure hunt this year – second by only half a point! Next year…

For the carnival procession I bolted on my MB-D10 grip to the D700 and used the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens. As it was so overcast I had the auto ISO on, but started it at ISO 1000. I was shooting mostly in aperture priority at f/5.6 which in turn gave me a shutter speed to avoid camera shake. The only problem I had was the focussing distance – people gravitated towards the camera and I couldn’t get the shot!

I’ll put a few shots up from the carnival soon, above are the Carnival Prince and Princess who led the procession. Who needs Rio!

PDN Gear Guide featured an article yesterday on a gadget developed to stop pictures being taken of celebs (or Big Brother contestants) without their consent.

Consisting of a sensor attached to a set of LEDs, the device detects the light of a flashgun and emits enough bright light to wash out the picture. The project is a brainchild of NY University graduate Adam Harvey, who is working to patent the device and reduce the size.

Of course if you’re shooting with a D700 or D3 you could ramp up the ISO without flash and beat the system… for now.

Read the full article at PDN Gear Guide here, and check out Adam Harvey’s site for full details of the project.

Picture above courtesy Adam Harvey / ahprojects.com

Check out this great video from LensRentals.com comparing the different sizes of Nikon telephoto lenses. I’m never going to grumble about the size of my 70-200 f/2.8  again!

To think that wildlife shooters use a 600mm f/4 regularly as well – at least their wallet would be lighter…

Nikon D700, 24-70 AF-S @ 70mm, 1/640th at f/7.1, ISO 200

The New Forest confuses some people in that it’s not just trees. There are lots of wide open spaces to enjoy, often shared with the odd New Forest pony or twelve. A walk on Sunday took us into the forest near our home and presented an ideal opportunity for practising panning.

By panning I don’t mean criticising; there’s enough of that going on at the moment elsewhere. I was having fun with my parent’s dog, chocolate labrador Molly, and a bundle of hair apparently concealing another canine. As they approached I switched the D700 into continuous focus mode, and multiple frame advance in shutter priority mode, selecting 1/640th second. By continuing to track the dogs as they ran past I was able to get four or five sharp shots. This was my favourite, mostly because the mop is in full flight and there are little catchlights in both dogs’ eyes.

A little different from the Red Kites and cricket recently, but another technique that’s good to practice on. Watching a little of the Formula 1 racing this weekend has tweaked my interest in a little motorsport, where panning is really critical. Watch this space!

Nikon D700, 70-200 VR with 1.7 Teleconverter at 340mm, 1600th @ f/4.8, ISO 450

Nikon D700, 70-200 VR with 1.7 Teleconverter at 340mm, 1600th @ f/4.8, ISO 800

Summer’s arriving – which in the sleepy village of Sway in the New Forest means that the sound of willow on leather can again be heard on the village green. Well, the sound of willow wafting at leather anyway.

The second XI were at home to Beaulieu on Sunday, so off I went complete with D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 and teleconvertor, and a monopod to keep me stable. For the second time in as many weeks I was left feeling a little inadequate – filling the frame from the edge of the boundary was proving difficult. This time I was shooting in shutter priority mode, and varied between 1/500th and 1/1600th of a second.  I wanted to make sure the ball was a little blurred to give the impression of motion while the batsmen were frozen in their pose.

Sadly I had to go before Sway’s bowlers began their onslaught, but I’m pleased to say the end result was a well earned 154 run victory. The shots above show top scorers Rick How and Nilantha Atapattu on their way to 74 not out and 52 respectively.