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Nikon to resume production after earthquake

Nikon's Sendai plant to resume production before the end of March

In a statement today, Nikon indicates that its "severely damaged" digital SLR plant in Sendai, Japan will resume operation before the end of March, while its lens plant in Tochigi prefecture was up and running as of March 18. Normal levels of production may be difficult to achieve, however, owing to "problems such as the planned blackouts of electricity and procurement of components from our business partners," says the statement. In addition, the company is reporting that one of its Sendai employees died as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that swept the region earlier this month, and that the status of three others is not known at this time, presumably because they are missing. Nikon builds the D3X, D3S, D700 (still not due to be replaced this year, even before the earthquake hit) and F6 cameras at its manufacturing facility in Sendai. More information is in the press release below. Press release from Nikon 2nd Notice on the impact by the Major Earthquake in Northeastern Japan March 22, 2011 The Nikon Group would express our deepest condolences to the victims of the earthquake and extend our profound sympathy and heartfelt concern to those individuals and families suffering from the disaster. We have set up the Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by the President on March 11 immediately after the earthquake, and have been gathering safety information of our employees, examining damage to the manufacturing equipment and continuing every effort to resume operation at the earliest possible. The following is an update regarding the impact of the earthquake on the Nikon Group and outlook on the future production. 1. Safety of the employees To our deepest regret, death of one employee of Sendai Nikon Corporation has been confirmed. Safety of three employees is not yet confirmed in the area of Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture. 2. Damage to the manufacturing equipment and outlook on the future production One of our own plants and seven of our manufacturing subsidiaries are located in Miyagi Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture in the disastrous region*. Operation has been suspended at all of them after the earthquake. At Tochigi Nikon Corporation, operation has started from Friday, March 18. At Sendai Nikon Corporation and Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., both of which have been severely damaged, operation is expected to resume by the end of this March. Operation at the remaining facilities will start tomorrow on March 23. Even after operation resumes, we have a concern that the situation may happen where our production cannot fully satisfy our customers’ requirement due to inability of full swing production caused by problems such as the planned blackouts of electricity and procurement of components from our business partners. While we will do our utmost effort to overcome such expected difficulties, we will be most grateful if our customers could understand such circumstances. We assure to extend our best support for restoration of the facilities hit by the disaster to our customers of Precision Equipment and Instruments business, and repair/servicing to our customers of Imaging business suffering from the disaster. 3. Forecast of effect by the damage to our business performances We are continuing our endeavor to evaluate how the immediate damage by the disaster and planned blackouts of electricity will result in our group companies and business performances. We will announce our findings immediately when it is judged that there will be important change in our forecast. * Locations of each plant and manufacturing subsidiaries Mito Plant, Nikon Corporation : Mito,Ibaraki Pref. Sendai Nikon Corporation : Natori, Miyagi Pref. Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. : Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref. Zao factory, Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd. : Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref. Tochigi Nikon Corporation : Otawara, Tochigi Pref. Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. : Otawara, Tochigi Pref. Kurobane Nikon Co., Ltd. : Otawara, Tochigi Pref. Nasu Nikon Co., Ltd. : Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Pref. Note: Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd. is an equity-method company. Nasu Nikon Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Nikon-Essilor Co., Ltd. which is an equity-method company.

Help Portrait - End of the Earth

"Help-Portrait is an organization of photographers who shoot free portraits to share their art and enrich others lives. Most photographers shoot free portraits around their communities but Sasha Leahovcenco wanted to shoot people that may never get the opportunity to have their picture taken at all. Sasha and ...his crew traveled to Chukotka, Russia and produced a video of their experience.”

 

www.andrewscottclarke.com 

A really really BIG BAG

This is the Bag I use and love........

www.andrewscottclarke.com 

Its A BIG Bag - Perfect for lugging all my stuff to shoots and weddings. I shopped around for a large camera bag and for those of you that have done the same they can be quite expensive. I managed to come across this behemoth and it was perfect for putting my stuff in and also the quality is as good as one that costs three times the money!!!

Its available from mike's photo on EBay. Here it is :) 

Ive put the detail's of this great offering below for those of you with loads of gear, it really is feature packed and i have no hesitation to recommend this bag to anyone and everyone! 


Camrock Tank X60 is the biggest bag available by Camrock. It is designed for professionals and amateurs carrying lots of equipment. It combines high capacity and comfortable usage. It is made from best quality materials, which provides durability  and protection for the equipment. The bag has special straps to attach a tripod and a rainproof cover hidden in a pocket.

Features:
- it will hold 2 bodies, 8 lenses, a flshgun and a number of accessories
- the main chamber with adjustable partitions to form up to 14 compartments
- 2 outer pockets with zippers
- 2 outer net pockets
- 4 inner pockets with zippers
- extra pockets and compartments inside the bag
- straps to attach a tripod under the bag
- foldable rainproof cover hidden in a pocket
- rubber reinforcements in the bottom
- comfortable pull
- adjustable strap with soft padding

The main chamber thanks to its adjustable dividers can be divided into up to 14 compartments. You can configure it freely to fit your equipment perfectly. The bag will hold 2 bodies, 8 lenses, a flashgun and a number of accessories such as: a compact camera, video camera, filtres, chargers, remote controls, card readers etc. Camrock Tank X60 has various compartments and pockets. This means you can organize your accessories so that using them is more efficient and intuitive.




The set includes a comfortable, adjustable shoulder strap, which you are able to remove and reattach instantly. The bag has a hand strap covered with non-skid material. Underneath the bag, there are special straps to attach a tripod.

Camrock Tank X60 was designed to ensure maximum protection and ease of use. All nylon 680D TXP walls are covered with specially selected materials. It gives the big a lot of resistance to waether conditions and damage. The bottom of the bag has special pads, to protect the bag and the equipment even better.

Material used in this bag: 900D Poliester, 160D Poliester Ripstop, 880D Nylo TXP, PE foam.

Outer dimensions: height: 26cm width: 47cm depth: 34cm Inner dimensions: height: 22cm width: 43cm depth: 24cm Weight: 1600g

DIY Wind Machine................ Coming soon

Coming soon to a blog near you.........................

I'm building my own Wind machine as I was Gobsmacked by the cost of purpose built ones which were over £400.00

I will be using a second hand commercial fan with variable speed and capable of pushing out 1700 m3 of air per hour!

Watch this space....

Prototype already been trialed today and modificatins to ensue.

Ciao for now.

10 Top Photograpghy Composition Rules

It may sound clichéd, but the only rule in photography is that there are no rules. However, there are are number of established composition guidelines which can be applied in almost any situation, to enhance the impact of a scene.
These guidelines will help you take more compelling photographs, lending them a natural balance, drawing attention to the important parts of the scene, or leading the viewer's eye through the image.
Once you are familiar with these composition tips, you'll be surprised at just how universal most of them are. You'll spot them everywhere, and you'll find it easy to see why some photos "work" while others feel like simple snapshots.

Rule of Thirds

Imagine that your image is divided into nine equal segments by two vertical and two horizontal lines. Try to position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to your photo. Some cameras even offer an option to superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it even easier to use.

Balancing Elements

Placing your main subject off-centre, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can make it feel empty. You should balance the 'weight' of your subject by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

Leading Lines

When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. By thinking about how you place lines in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey 'through' the scene. There are many different types of line - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial etc - and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition.

Symmetry and Patterns

We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and man-made., They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension and a focal point to the scene.

Viewpoint

Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the message that the shot conveys. Rather than just shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up, and so on.

Background

How many times have you taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a busy background? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera has a tendency to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully this problem is usually easy to overcome at the time of shooting - look around for a plain and unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't distract or detract from the subject.

Depth

Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to conveys the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally recognises these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth.

Framing

The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames, such as trees, archways and holes. By placing these around the edge of the composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside world. The result is a more focussed image which draws your eye naturally to the main point of interest.

Cropping

Often a photo will lack impact because the main subject is so small it becomes lost among the clutter of its surroundings. By cropping tight around the subject you eliminate the background 'noise', ensuring the subject gets the viewer's undivided attention.

Experimentation

With the dawn of the digital age in photography we no longer have to worry about film processing costs or running out of shots. As a result, experimenting with our photos' composition has become a real possibility; we can fire off tons of shots and delete the unwanted ones later at absolutely no extra cost. Take advantage of this fact and experiment with your composition - you never know whether an idea will work until you try it.

Composition in photography is far from a science, and as a result all of the 'rules' above should be taken with a pinch of salt. If they don't work in your scene, ignore them; if you find a great composition that contradicts them, then go ahead and shoot it anyway. But they can often prove to be spot on, and are worth at least considering whenever you are out and about with your camera.

Back to film - Nikon F90X

Ive decided to start shooting some more with film, thus dusted off this Gem of a film camera which for a pro spec camera can be found rather cheaply on sites such as EBay etc along with F4's and F5's. Bargain as long as you don't want to be snap heavy as you can be with Digital, also lacks the instant replay that digital affords us, so will be a little like shooting in the dark not knowing what you've got till its developed. I used to love that :)

So I'll let you know how i get on. i suppose it will be like going on one of those TV shows where you have to give up your everyday modern luxuries and go back to the way things were done in the olden day's!.

I'll be putting my clothes through a mangle next! :)

Ciao for now

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Nikon Nikkor 105mm f2 D AF-DC lens review

Let me start by saying.......... I love this lens!

I managed to pick this lens up at a bargain price which made it all the sweeter!. i was in two minds over this lens and a new 85mm 1.4 which is also excellent its just that this lens managers to render skin tones so ridiculously beautiful. That's before you start getting into the Defocus control which is a Nikon Exclusive.

I use this lens with my D700 and i have to admit i had to fine tune the autofocus slightly as it was back focusing ever so, but once done not another problem since. This really is a full blown portrait lens, maybe a little long on APS-C camera if you don't have the room to shoot, but perfect on full frame.

The Focus on this lens is quick enough to cope with most situations and the fast aperture is great, with the DC feature you wouldn't need the f1.4 as this more than compensates for it and more, plus with the high iso of my D700 it doesn't make much difference being one stop slower.

The build quality of the lens is excellent thanks to combination of metal and plastic parts with a Nikon "pro style" crinkle finish. The length of the lens remains constant regardless of the focus setting and the front element does not rotate due to an RF (Rear Focusing) design. It also has a built in lens hood rather than a petal type that i find cumbersome sometimes, or is it me just being lazy?.

The optics in this lens are fab even though they are slightly dated in comparison to modern nikkors with their nano crystal coatings etc but they are as follows:-

7 elements in 6 groups.

Multi coated.

Newer D models have an extra rear optical flat to protect against dust.

Rear Focusing.

Haruo Sato of Nikon received US Patent 5,841,590 on Nov. 24, 1998 for the defocus control design.

When an optical designer friend ran simulations and analyses on the design, he discovered another clever trick: Nikon designed the red end of the spectrum to focus in a slightly different plane to make skin look even better.

Lets get down to the nitty gritty of bokeh, it is incredible! soft and dreamy. ive shot with the 85mm 1.4d (cream machine), the new sigma 85mm 1.4 hsm and have to say as a portrait lens this smokes them, for starters you can control how the bokeh looks either in front or behind the subject just by turning a dial! plus this lens renders skin tones like no other lens ive used yet, as Nikon say this and the 135 are their portrait lenses.

Its an older design which came out in 1993 and has stayed in production since, i don't think there is much they could improve on optically other than nano coatings etc?

The defocus control works  by adjusting a ring on the front of the barrel to match the aperture set. but if you go on another setting from the aperture you can get all sorts of soft focus effects. set it to zero and its super sharp!

At f2 it looks like you could fall down the thing looks like an abyss that sucks up light!.

In short if you can find one and are looking for a  dedicated portrait lens this is my favourite! build quality, optics and shear picture quality, if they stop making this lens expect prices to rocket as its very special.

Sheffield Boxing Show Pics

Ok so ive finally got round to going through the photo's for Sheffield Lane top Boxing club's show. (1500 odd and still editing :( ). Its my first time shooting a boxing match and quite enjoted it, will definately do it again should the opportunity arise.

I got the opportunity as i had used the clubs Gym for a shoot and owed a favour to the owner Keith. So i went along armed with my trusty Nikon D700 and a few different lenses. I used primarily the 70-200 f2.8, and a 24mm f2.8 prime ( Which i actually think i prefered the dynamics of for this). I have to admit that the 24mm f1.4 looks really tempting to me right now. Only one obsticle and thats the price! But i do find myself shooting with the 24mm a lot more recently.

24mm

24mm

70-200mm

 

For Some reason Black and White photography and boxing are a match made in heaven and i just love the shadows and grit that shows through, even with the kids boxing. The Nikon D700 performed as it should in really terrible lighting but every time i take a picture at ISO 6400 it amazes me the way it hardly shows any noise, and the noise it does show looks like film grain. (Great!)

You can see a lot more pics on my website in the client area www.andrewscottclarke.com or on my facebook page Andrew scott clarke- facebook

Got a lot more reviews coming up for equipment soon too.

Lumodi Beauty Dish Review.

I decided to get this item after deliberating what type to get. I ended up with this Lumodi one as it was going to be very useful for use with speedlights which means easy location shooting.

I placed my order with Ebay and approximately seven days later i received a large cardboard box all the way from California, where its hand made by elves i imagine. with furvish anticipation i ripped open the box to discover my lighting treat. I was very surprised.....

I was surprised at the weight of this item as from the pictures it looked rather substantial, i will say it is a pleaseant surprise as the item weighs practically nothing which is ideal for speedlight use. It is rather flimsy vacuum formed light weight plastic but on the other hand for strobist use this is exactly what you want, as little weight as possible.

The Dish comprises of a black outer dish which is sprayed white on the inner surface, a silver concal diffuser with black cap and clear inner shield. apparently you can order the sticker to come with your studio logo on if you want. The opening receptical for the speedlight fitted snuggly over my Sigma 530DG flash head and it felt quite solid when attached. its secured by a velcro strap. The whole thing is that lite that i had full confidence that it wouldnt strain the speedlight.

On testing this thing i instantly felt comfortable with it and love my images from the lumodi, you can see some from my other posts. I would say that you probably lose about two stops of light through this modifier, ive used it on location, and studio and cant stress how pleased i am with its ease of use. The spread of light is good and its light enough for someone to hold it extended on a stand if required.

Perfect for location shooting!.

Check out there website..... www.lumodi.com

Snap one of these up before everyone else realises how good they are and the prices sky rocket, this could be the next gary fong light bowl!

Sutton Scarsdale with Helen Lawson

Just done a little location shoot with Helen and used the Lumodi Beauty as my main light. Shot this at Sutton Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire. (Sutton Scarsdale Hall is a run down Stately home). Fortunately it was dry although a little cold - Sorry Helen, well put up tho :)

To View more pictures you can see the Facebook Album Here


I am going to start doing some equipment reviews very shortley and the first will be of the Lumodi Beauty Dish which will probably be posted tomorrow so watch this space!!.

Laters Peeps :)

Another Shoot with Miss Marissa Layton

Marissa is fast becoming my most photographed model in her words - she cant get enough infront of the camera! this takes a lot of strai off of my long suffering wife! The fact being that i am also currently engaged in an intensive 365 Project in where i have to take a picture/shoot everyday for a whole year which is actually quite a daunting task as its sometimes hard if there is no work scheduled in to pick the camera up and force yourself to shoot!

The Wife :)

You can view my 365 project on Flickr

Anyway back to the task in hand. Ive shot Marissa in a variety of situations in the past so thought i would go with my new Lumodi beauty dish ( fantastic piece of strobist kit handmade in california). It was only a quick simple shoot but the end results was good and making this piece of kit way up on my favourites list!.


Just a few shots infront of a grey background with the beauty dish boomed above and angled 45" down on to her face. you can see the facebook album here :)

 made good use of our Ben De Lisi cushion lol

New Photoshoot - The Retrospectives

May as well start off this blog with this post ...... Got to Shoot up and coming sheffield band the Retrospectives this week. Couldnt have picked a colder and windier night for this one but never the less we managed to get some good promo shots done

You can see them on my facebook album - Facebook Album


And i'll also stick the on my website - www.andrewscottclarke.com

We decided on a night shoot and i had a good location in mind as id done a previous shoot there before, a dark dingy alleyway in a run down part of sheffield, the sort of place where you find someone asleep in a doorway. Graffiti covered walls and puddles that probably arent rain (you get the picture).

The boys were quite willing to try different things although i couldnt get them to do height's! haha, Obviously with night shots there was some strobist action going on which proved quite difficult in the high winds, I had a large boom stand up with softbox attached which i had to draft Sam Galton (pro make up artist) in to hold down which she only just managed in that wind, turns out the wind was strong enough to blow a bus over in sheffield that day!.

We did a few different shots in that alley from the preverbial walking towards camera, moody leans and some involving a chain link fence that got the S**T kicked out of it by the band!. Very Rock n Roll

Moving on we wanted to get some more light hearted photo's done and made our way to the sheffield winter gardens (big indoor tropical greenhouse) and thought that some shots inbetween the foliage etc would be cool, alas this wasnt to be as it was closed that night! ( of all the luck!). So get ready for part two of the shoot coming soon...........

Members of the Retrospectives are : Tom Galton, Will Stocks and Joe Mellor - Keep an eye out for them!