Gary Ayton - always searching for the light and inspiration

My take on Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, at the southernmost region of Croatia, has rapidly become one of the leading tourism destinations, thanks in no small part to it being a key feature in the Game of Thrones series which highlighted this old fortified walled port city.

Indeed the thousands of tourists who arrive every day by cruise ships (except Sundays I believe) have adversely impacted the enjoyment of the city itself…

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III and rumors that Olympus may sell its imaging division

Yesterday, the internet was hit with a rumor that Olympus may be selling its imaging division within the next 12 months – I do not have any contacts with Olympus and I do not know if this rumor has any truth in it or not.

ALL camera manufacturers have been hit hard by the sustained downturn in camera sales and we are in the midst of a major change of dSLRs to mirrorless full-frame which is…

Venice re-visited with a tilt-shift lens

Venice has to be my most favorite city to stroll around and photograph – once you escape the crowds or explore it outside of the busy periods.

There is no denying its visual appeal, practically no matter where you walk, you can find photographic subjects – and this is perhaps the problem with Venice – there is so much it is overwhelming in quantity of imagery that it is often taken for granted.

W…

A winter’s morning in Melbourne with the Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 tilt shift lens on a Sony a7II

Last weekend I had time for a short walk in Melbourne’s mid-winter sunshine and I decided to bring along my Sony a7II with Canon TSE 17mm f/4 tilt shift lens.

I shot most of these at f/8 or f/10 hand held and with the shift position optimised for the height of the buildings while trying to keep the camera level. I used the zebra mode to manually focus although given the aperture and wide depth of…

Why a 61 megapixel camera is probably too much for you – post-processing may not be so much fun

The megapixel race is apparently still on .. Sony has upped the ante in the full frame sector with their 61mp Sony a7R Mark IV which can also do a 16 shot sensor shift 240mp image.

Fujifilm has their new 100mp Fujifilm GFX100S medium format camera.

Whilst many professionals and enthusiasts have very valid reasons for needing such high resolution cameras, these come at a cost not only in terms of…

Two new full frame mirrorless cameras – Sigma FP and the Sony a7R IV

The full frame mirrorless market place is becoming increasing difficult to decide upon which system to jump into as each offers something different but none offer everything you need – see my previous post on this.

We have Nikon’s Z systemwhich only has entry level enthusiasts cameras at present without some of the features pros need and with a Eye detect AF that is still very immature…

Upgrading to an Olympus OM-D E-M1 II from an E-M5 or E-M10

While the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Micro Four Thirds camera is getting a bit old having been announced way back in Sept 2016, the recent firmware upgrade that Olympus has kindly offered has breathed new life into it and makes it a very attractive option for those with an E-M5 Mark II or E-M10 series camera, especially if one can get it at discounted prices.

What are the main differences compared…

Understanding why silent shutter mode is great on some cameras but is problematic on most full frame cameras

Silent shutter mode refers to a full electronic shutter being used to take the photo on a digital camera and the mechanical shutter mechanism being disabled.

Why use silent shutter mode?

this mode is required for shooting movies on digital cameras

it allows silent shooting which may be critical in low noise environments such as a classical music concert, or wedding reception.

it allows faster…

Pros and cons of using teleconverters

Most camera systems have at least two teleconverters (“TC”) – a 1.4x and a 2x power (new camera systems such as Canon R and Nikon Z are yet to develop these).

These little devices are designed to sit between the camera and the lens and contain optical lenses which magnify your image according to which strength you have.

These are also called tele-extenders – not to be confused with a macro…

The saga of lens flange distance and lens adaptability is coming to a head – an AF Sony FE lens to Nikon Z adapter – the ring to rule them all?

When Micro Four Thirds became the first mirrorless camera system, its very short 20mm sensor to lens mount distance (“lens flange distance”) allowed it to became THE MOST ADAPTABLE camera system out there.

You could get adapters for nearly any lens ever made including those made for Leica M rangefinder cameras which could not be fitted to any dSLR.

Enter Sony NEX system

Then along came…

Portrait photographer kits compared – Fujifilm medium format vs Sony vs Canon RF

This short little blog post is a quick comparison of camera-lens kits for under $AU10,000 for the professional portrait photographer wanting a 85mm field of view lens and lots of megapixels.

Fujifilm GF 50R with 110mm f/2 lens

For THE BEST image quality under $AU10,000, this is the combo for you!

This 50mp weathersealed medium format rangefinder with a 0.79x crop factor that is not too…

Olympus announce firmware update for OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Olympus has just announced new firmware (v3.0) for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 II Micro Four Thirds camera which endows it with many of the new features introduced in the very expensive Olympus OM-D E-M1X.

This will be a much loved firmware update for sports, action and wildlife photographers in particular, but it also adds some videography features – namely the OM-Log400 video profile and better AF…

Which full frame mirrorless camera system to buy into? A goldilocks conundrum but none are just right … yet.

2018 was the year the major camera manufacturers got serious about full frame mirrorless cameras, and yes, they are the future of photography instead of dSLRs because that is where the greatest technological improvements can be made thanks to the full time use of the sensor and the electronic viewfinder.

But which camera system should one buy into?

This is not an easy choice because buying…

What camera to buy? Most people ask the wrong questions and buy the wrong gear.

It is 2019 and the photography world has been changed for ever – the profit margins and ability to make a living from photography has taken a massive hit thanks to the devaluation of the photograph and the photographer as a result of super saturation with digital images.

Making money from photography is becoming so difficult, many pro photographers have resorted to relying upon advertising…

The color blind photographer – just under 10% are color blind – here’s how you might be able to manage it

Colour visual impairment is very common affecting around 8% of males and 1% of females of those with European ancestry, and those affected see the world differently to non-affected people and have a significantly reduced color vision palette.

How does color blindness occur?

There are 3 types of cone cells in the retina each of which detect a different range of colours, blue “S” cones, red…

Back road 4WD adventures in East Gippsland, Australia

The Far East areas of Gippsland in Victoria offers many options for exploring (preferably with a 4WD or perhaps a AWD SUV) remote coastal beaches and remote alpine cool and warm temperate rainforests.

You should expect that in most of these areas there will be NO mobile phone coverage and hence no internet, so you need to plan for this in advance – ensure you have road maps (if hiking, then…

Birds of East Gippsland

I spent the last couple of weeks camping in a tent in east Gippsland which allowed one to witness the habits of the various creatures – they all seem to have a time of day when they would frequent the camp site or go hunting for food on the beaches.

Before we start on the birds, one animal that is very common in East Gippsland and which you will almost certainly see on the gravel roads or in…