Making of a leather half-case

A fair amount of handwork goes into making a leather half-case for your camera. Makes you appreciate good craftsmanship!

New Year Resolution

Well we've come to the end of the year again, and every new year brings forth new hopes and aspirations. If you feel that you've not done much this year, do not despair... just make sure that you plan well for the following year!

Many times, we may feel bored with photography and start to entertain the idea of buying more equipment to satisfy our insatiable craving for the terrible gear acquisition syndrome (GAS). Instead, why not direct your energy and budget towards books and education? Reading the right books can help advance your techniques and abilities much further than getting another (often unnecessary) piece of equipment.

And of course, the new year brings with it the opportunity to set new goals for yourself. I feel it's a great idea to set a monthly target for the new year, so every month you can look forward to learning or trying out new things in photography. For me, the goal could look like this...

January - Learn Adobe Lightroom
February - Try outdoor fill flash in daylight
March - Shoot portraits of people around me
April - Try time lapse photography
May - Learn how to isolate hair from background in Photoshop
June - Check out color management
July - Do up a photo essay on a favourite topic
August - Explore light painting techniques
September - Shoot with medium format film
October - Shoot studio still life
November - Experiment with photo compositing
December -  Consolidate works for the year into iPad portfolio

The goals could be simple, or perhaps stretch across a few months if its complex, but you set your own pace and interests. Print out a copy and stick it on your wall! And while you may not hit all the targets, it provides a structure and starting place to get you motivated to try something new every month. At the end of the year, you can look back and have a nice little portfolio to chart your improvement through the year.

Get started on your new year photographic resolution today, and feel free to share yours here!

I hate camera straps

Let's get this out of the way for once and for all - the traditional camera strap doesn't work most of the time. It is made to be worn around your neck with the camera in front of you, and probably designed by a chiropractor, because that's who you'll be visiting if you use it for long periods of time. Given that a mobile phone can be a weighty pendulum on a lanyard, who actually wants to hang a heavy DSLR around your neck the whole day?

Some people actually sling it over one shoulder, only to see the camera crash to the floor when one is momentarily distracted. I find the traditional camera strap very useful when I wrap it around my hands when shooting, but never for carrying the camera around hands-free.

There are a couple of different variant designs on the camera strap in the past years, and two of the most interesting ones are the Y-Strap and R-Strap. Both straps run diagonally down your body supported by one shoulder, and the camera rests on the opposite hip. The weight is on the shoulder and not on the neck, which makes for comfortable wear for longer periods. The camera slides up smoothly along the strap to your face, guided by the length of the strap.

So if you're not happy with the traditional camera strap and want an alternative option, check out the Y-strap and the R-Strap. I like the fact that you're not advertising a huge DSLR on your chest that screams "I'm a photographer!', which means you can probably get closer to your subject without them noticing. Just watch out when you walk past tables - you definitely don't want your precious lens or camera meeting the corner of some sturdy benches!

The Y-strap

The R-strap