King of Cameras Almost Impossible Photography How to Shoot Video Canon 100mm RF Macro Win Memory

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Coming up on this month's episode of Photography  Online, we attempt our most ambitious shot...   We have a new challenger  for the King of Detail....   and we tell you everything you  need to know about memory cards. Welcome to a new show and a new year. As we've had  a longer than usual break since our last episode  

we've got an extended lineup for you today. In  addition to everything that you've just seen,   we'll also be looking at the new Canon  100mm macro RF lens and seeing what that   strange control does on the lens barrel. We're  launching a new feature called Video Academy   where we show you how easy it is to shoot  moving images. We've got a gallery of some   of your waterfall photos you've been sending  in over the past few weeks and we've got a   couple of top end memory cards up for grabs  in any format you choose - assuming you win   that is! That's all coming up in the next 45  minutes, so get yourself comfy and settle in.   As we've got so much to cram in let's get right  on with the first feature regular. Viewers of  

Photography Online will be aware that we've  been trying to find the best full-frame camera   on the market for capturing the most detail. The  current occupants of the throne are the Nikon D850   tied with a Canon 5Dsr, but many of you have  suggested other challengers so here we go. Welcome to the Photography Online  test lab - otherwise known as   Portree harbour here on the Isle of Skye.  Now the reason why I choose this location   is because of a couple of things. Firstly it's  crammed full of tiny details such as signs and  

roof tiles that we can really zoom in and examine  the difference between these two cameras. Secondly   everything is at infinity so we haven't got any  depth of field issues to cloud our judgment.   Now for those of you who haven't seen the previous  installments of our King of Detail series,   let me bring you up to date. The inaugural battle  was to see if the newly released Canon R5 could   beat the much older 5Dsr when it comes to the  amount of detail captured. The results showed  

that it couldn't, so this left us wondering  what full-frame camera could beat the 5Dsr when   it comes to detail? We asked for your suggestions  and three cameras have been put forward more than   any others - among them the mighty Nikon D850.  We pitched this against the 5Dsr in our second   installment and despite trying really hard, we  were unable to split them. We then made the raw   files available for you to decide but you too  couldn't split them so we called that one a tie.  

So this brings us up to date with both the Canon  5Dsr and the Nikon D850 jointly wearing the crown.   So we have a new challenger for the King of Detail  crown which is going to try and take on the Canon   5Dsr which is currently sitting on top of the  throne alongside the Nikon D850 because if you   remember from our previous feature when we tested  the D850 against the 5Dsr here, we couldn't split   the difference, you couldn't split the difference  so these two cameras are currently the benchmark   to beat when it comes to recording maximum detail.  Now when this camera was first suggested by some   of you guys I thought "I'm not gonna bother with  that. I don't think it's gonna be a contender".   But so many of you have suggested it I thought I  need to take it seriously. So I think I've built   up the anticipation enough. We're already at  fever pitch - we can't possibly go any higher,   so to put you out of your misery today's contender  is.... the Pentax K1 mark II. Now on paper the  

Canon really doesn't have anything to worry about  because it's packing a whopping 50.6 megapixels   the challenger has had the audacity to turn up  here today with a measly 36.2. So how can this   possibly rival the Canon 5Dsr and the Nikon D850  for recording maximum detail in the landscape?   Well the reason why it's here is because it has  a trick up its sleeve in the name of pixel shift   technology and what this does is it's going to  take four photos in rapid succession and between   each photo it's going to move its sensor by one  pixel and then the camera is going to stitch those   four images together and the result is going to  be a high resolution photo that's far greater   than the native output of the camera. Now this  all sounds like it might be a bit of a gimmick.   We're about to find out if it's as big as  its boots or if it's all hat and no cattle.

Another little psychological trick that the  contender is playing is it's managed to get   the initials sr on the front of the camera here  but unlike the Canon where the sr is in silver,   it has it in gold. I'd be worried if I were you!  As always to ensure the comparison is as fair as   possible I'm using the same lens on both cameras  which today is the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens - an   incredibly sharp lens which will allow these  cameras to record as much detail as possible.  

Okay let the battle begin. As usual I optimize  both cameras to record the maximum amount of   detail by shooting at the native ISO which is 100  on both cameras. I'm also using the self timer so   as not to put any movement through the camera as  it takes the shot. Plus I'm shooting at f/4 which  

is where the Sigma lens is going to be singing  as sweetly as it possibly can. Both cameras are   mounted on a Kingjoy Aurora series tripod, which  is the sturdiest of tripods that I've ever used.   Finally, I've manually focused both cameras to  eliminate any autofocus issues. With the test  

shots completed it was time to head back to  Photography Online HQ to examine the results.   This was the full frame image from the Canon and  this was the full frame image from the Pentax.   As you can see, we've got some horrendous colors  going on on the water reflection - presumably   because this is a moving subject and it isn't  consistent across all the frames it used to   merge the final shot. Now not knowing what to do  in this situation, I took another identical shot  

and hey presto no problems this time. However, if  this were my camera I would have lost confidence   in it already as it doesn't provide consistent  results - something which is so important. But   let's use the better of the two Pentax images  and put it side by side with the Canon. Even   at this resolution the Canon looks far cleaner,  but let's go into 100% to give the Pentax a fair   chance. As you can see, even without going  past 100% the Pentax offers no real contest   to the Canon and therefore also the Nikon D850  so there's little point in going much further,   but let's go to 200 just for fun. As you can  hopefully see the Canon is noticeably sharper   with more detail in every area. Zooming  around the frame doesn't change the result,  

with the Pentax not even in the same league,  despite its pixel shift trick. Next up will be   the Sony A7r iv with its 61 megapixel sensor. As  soon as we get our hands on one of those we'll let   you know if it can dethrone the Canon 5Dsr and  the Nikon D850, so join me for that next time.

Thanks to Ffordes Photographic for lending us  the Pentax complete with a Sigma 35mm lens. And also thanks to Sigma for sending us a Canon  fit version so that we could do the test fairly.   Some of you have questioned why we use Sigma  lenses for these comparisons and the answer is   that we need to use third-party lenses in order  to get the same lens on two different brands   of camera and the Sigma Art range of lenses are  the sharpest on the market - often outperforming   own-brand lenses. There's a huge choice of  lenses in the Sigma Art range so check them   out if you're on the hunt for a top quality  optic. Now when we think about camera gear,   the items that spring to mind first are camera,  lenses, tripod, maybe filters, but there's one   piece of equipment which is essential and is  often overlooked - memory cards. With so many  

options available nowadays, it can be confusing  knowing what all the numbers and formats do,   so here to tell us all we need to know - it's the  youngest and most handsome member of the team... For those of us that have done analog photography,  choosing the right type of film is a key part of   the process. But should the same considerations  apply when choosing a memory card for digital   photography? It used to be really quite simple,  with only a couple of formats of card on the   market, each one coming with its choice of  capacity and speed. But nowadays there are   so many formats speeds and capacities that it can  make deciding which is best for you quite tricky.   There are however distinct pros and cons to each  format so we are going to attempt to make things   a little clearer. Unlike film, a memory card won't  have any influence on the image itself. A digital   photo stored on a budget memory card will look  exactly the same as one stored on a high spec   card. So what's the point in spending more money  on a card? The answer is reliability and speed.  

We'll look at these in a moment, but let's  go back to 1994 and start at the beginning.   The first memory cards on the market were compact  flash otherwise known as CF cards. These were   reasonably large in size which also meant that  the camera had to be reasonably large. When CF   cards were introduced, 2 or 4GB versions were  the most popular, as back then cameras had much   lower resolutions and therefore only needed low  capacity cards. Over time, as camera resolution   climbed into the 50 megapixel region, plus the  inclusion of video options on many new models,   much larger capacity cards were needed. If  you used a 32GB card (once seen as being  

totally overkill) on a modern camera, then  you may only get 300 to 400 photos on it and   only a few seconds of video. A problem with CF  cards is that the capacity is limited to 256GB,   which would have seemed outrageously large when  they were designed over 25 years ago, but today   that figure is normal. As well as a capacity, each  card also has a speed which limits the rate of   data which can be written and read from the card.  Quite simply, the faster the cards the more photos   can be written in a set period of time. This  is usually referred to as megabytes per second.   All cameras have a memory buffer which is  where all images are temporarily cued as   they wait to be transferred to the card. If  this cue becomes too long, the buffer will  

fill up and the camera won't be able to take  any more photos until the queue has gone down. For this reason, getting a card which is fast  enough for the photography that you do is very   important. If you only shoot landscapes then  you could argue that you don't need a fast card   as you are unlikely to take more than a few  shots in rapid succession. But for wildlife,  

sports, wedding or street photography, having  a limit to the amount of photos you can take   in a short burst is far from ideal. This  is where a fast card comes into its own,   with the fastest cards on the market now able to  keep up with even the most demanding photographers   using the highest resolution cameras. But  it is video where the speed of the card is   most important as essentially the camera is  shooting at 25 frames per second or higher   and therefore needs to be able to shift an  enormous amount of data to the card every second.   As cameras became smaller there was  more demand for smaller physical cards   but with bigger capacities. In 1999 the  secured digital more commonly known as the SD  

card was introduced. These had a much faster  potential read and write speed than CF   cards as well as double the potential capacity.  But then cameras got even smaller and there was   a need for the micro SD card, which although  a fraction of the size, amazingly still has   the same physical storage limit of 512GB. The  speed which data can be written is also the   same as the standard SD card but the read speed  is slightly slower. An advantage of a micro SD   card is that they can also fit into an SD adapter  for use in cameras which only take SD cards.   The industry was happy with compact  flash and SD cards for quite a few years   but that was until 4k and 8k video started to  become a thing and the need for even faster   cards was growing. Enter the aptly named CFast  card, which still retained the same physical  

capacity of 512GB but doubled the speeds which  data could be written and read. So now we had a   card which had a huge potential capacity and fast  enough speeds to keep any camera and user happy.   That was until someone thought the world would  be a much better place with something called an   XQD card. Mostly seen in Nikon and Sony  cameras, the capacity as well as the read  

and write speeds of XQD cards is much lower  than cards that were already on the market,   so this begs the question - why? We have no idea,  so if you know, feel free to drop a comment. But   the fact is XQD unsurprisingly never really took  off. They are expensive and offer less performance   than other cheaper cards. So this brings us almost  up to date, but with 8k video now common on many   of the latest cameras, an even faster card  with more capacity than CFast was required.   Enter the CFExpress card. With an eye-watering  2TB of capacity and a read and write speed of over   three times that which previously existed, these  are the pinnacle of performance but as you might   expect also quite pricey. Which brings us nicely  onto the pros and cons of each format as it's not  

all about capacity and speed - price availability  and physical size are all valid considerations.   For example if you have a camera which only  takes XQD or CFExpress and you lose a card whilst   on your travels and are not in a major city then  getting a replacement could be next to impossible.   Whereas if your camera took a card like an  SD, then you could much more easily buy one,   albeit not a high performance one, from a local  shop. The disadvantage to smaller physical cards  

is that they are easier to mishandle and misplace,  so losing them is far more likely. They are also   not as durable as larger cards so are more  likely to break. Also the contacts on SD cards   are exposed and therefore more prone to damage by  the elements. To give you a price comparison of  

various format cards of similar capacities, here's  a list of what each one would typically cost.   As you can see, micro SD and SD cards offer  the best value for money, with CFExpress cards   offering the best performance. Many cameras have  two card slots which accept two formats of cards.   If you have a camera which only  accepts one format or a single card,   then this will limit your options when it comes  to what memory card you trust your images to.   Compact flash cards are pretty much dead  now, but SD cards continue to be updated,   with UHSII cards having a second row of pins  which means they can be used in any SD card slot   but utilize their second row of pins with any  UHSII camera. A UHSIII will soon be available too,  

which will hopefully combine the convenience  of the SD format with the performance of the   faster format cards. It won't however make your  photos look any better - that's still down to you! Thanks to Delkin who supplied us with all  the different card formats and who are doing   a giveaway exclusively for our Photography Online  viewers. If you'd like to win one of two pro-spec   64GB memory cards in the format of your choosing,  then you just need to head to their Instagram page   at Delkin Devices and comment on the Photography  Online post. There's a link in the usual place  

and even if you don't win, Delkin are so confident  in the quality of their products that they're   offering a lifetime guarantee on all their cards.  So if you only want to buy once it's a good idea   to buy Delkin. Okay, well it has been a year in  the making but our essential camera skills series   2 manual is due to arrive any day. I know many of  you pre-ordered this so it shouldn't be too long   before it drops through your post box. With 64  pages crammed full of the topics that we covered   last year on the show, it will be available as  a hard copy or you can get the digital download   now for just £12.50. So if you want to know all  about focal lengths, tripods, shooting seascapes,  

focusing on moving subjects, how to use infinity  focus and loads more then there's a link in the   usual place to order both versions. It also  comes with a handy cheat sheet to tell you   what order you should be doing all the important  steps in. If you don't already have series 1,   then you can pick them both up at the same time  and save on shipping fees. Now we always ask for   your comments and suggestions and to prove  that we do listen, one of the most common   requests that we get is to do a beginner's guide  to shooting moving images. This might be something   that you've never done before. It might be  something you've never been interested in,   but as we're about to see, using video to  support your still's work can be very effective.

Over the past couple of years of Photography  Online we've covered pretty much every aspect of   stills photography. Don't worry, we still have  a huge list of exciting features to bring you,   but one thing we're often asked to  produce is something about making video.   Almost all digital cameras now offer a video mode,   but very few of us probably use this  and there are a few good reasons why. There are a few key differences between shooting  stills and video and in this upcoming series of   features we're going to be covering them  in detail, as well as how to overcome the   obstacles you may face, or at least  how to use them to your advantage.   For now though, let's begin by looking  at the few problem areas you may face   if you're experienced in taking images but  looking to transition to shooting video as well.  

Static subjects which photograph well  ,tend not to lend themselves to video. We often have to think about audio as well  as a visual element which can dissuade many. Post-production of video is a scary thought  for many, but it is just as easy as editing   a photo once you get to grips with one of the  many intuitive software platforms available. The dynamic range of most video  which comes out of stills cameras   is drastically reduced from that which is  achieved with the same camera shooting stills. What do we do with the final  result? Unlike a photo,   there is no printing stage so we can't frame  the final product and hang it on the wall.

We've all probably tried to  do a bit of video in the past   and many of us will have been underwhelmed  with the results. This is largely because the   principles that we apply to stills photography  tend to go out the window. When we shoot video,   we may not consider composition in the same way.  After all, it is more difficult to do this with a   moving subject. We may not pay as much attention  to the light as we would do with a photograph   and even if we do, it's far more difficult to get  this right with video, so it's easy to end up with   blown highlights and featureless shadow areas.  There's lots more to consider when shooting video,  

with storytelling being one of the most important  aspects to consider. With the still image,   the story is often open to interpretation  by the viewer, but with the moving image,   the viewer often expects the story to be told to  them. While the video capabilities on the most   modern cameras are getting better and better,  there's one thing which most of us probably   have which is the ideal tool for shooting video -  the smartphone. It'll be easy to assume that the   footage coming out of one of these surely can't  be that cinematic but you might be surprised.

As a comparison, you're now watching footage of  me shot on a digital camera and a pretty good   one at that. Now you're watching footage of me  shot on a phone. Notice any major differences?   If you have one of the newer iPhones - 12 or  later, then it should be Dolby Vision enabled.   Dolby Vision allows the user to capture a  much higher dynamic range than regular DSLR   or mirrorless cameras are capable of, but  the best part is that it then automatically   processes the files to play back with amazing  clarity and contrast. Colors are very true   yet vibrant. Blacks are deep and rich and  the highlights sparkle. It's basically   like watching something that's come out  of a Hollywood studio - it's that good. You need to be able to shoot, edit and  play back within the Dolby ecosystem,   which is currently supported by  all the latest Apple products.  

When it comes to shooting video, the only thing  I can't achieve with this but I can do with this,   is a narrow depth of field - much like you're  seeing right now. However, there is plenty   that this can do that this can't, so if it were a  competition, I know where I'd be putting my money   when using a digital camera. There's lots of  technical things which I need to think about...   exposure, focus and a gimbal is often  needed to ensure a smooth and steady shot.   The iPhone takes all this workload away from  the user and allows us to concentrate on the   creative side of videography, which  is of course the most important part.   If you have your own website or social media  page when you showcase and promote your work   then adding moving images to the mix can  really help you stand out from a static crowd.  

We live in a world where we only have a second  or two to capture the viewer's attention.   This is much more easily done with the moving  image and is why TikTok is outpacing all other   social media platforms which tend to concentrate  on the still image. Many of us will have tried   time-lapse photography in the past, but the  output of a time-lapse sequence is a video, yet   it can be extremely time consuming and technically  challenging to get the desired results. You might   be surprised then that you can get much better  results with much less effort with one of these.   Over this coming series we'll show you just  how easy it is to create professional looking   moving content which you can add to your portfolio  and help promote your stills work, as well as   yourself as a photographer. We'll also show you  how easy it is to edit everything together with  

a soundtrack to create a professional looking  product which catches people's attention.   Next month we'll be showing you  how to capture the easiest of video   subjects - those that move. So get ready and  join me for trying a whole new experience of   capturing moving images that are up to the  high standards of your stills photography. We'll be continuing the Video Academy series over  the next few shows, focusing on different aspects   of videography - showing you just how easy and  enjoyable it can be. Before we continue with this  

extended show I wanted to thank everybody that  joined us for our very first Photography Online   Live show which we broadcast last month. This is  a new show in partnership with Kase Filters UK,   where viewers get the chance to discuss with  the whole team all the topics that we covered   on Photography Online. We also gave away £100  worth of Kase Filters vouchers, plus a Photography   Online T-shirt, which of course is priceless!  And we had pro landscape photographer Chris Sale   join us as a guest. We'll be broadcasting a new  90-minute show, live on the third Sunday of every   month. These are only available to our supporters  who are on our POLive level or above. So if you'd   like to join us for these fun and interactive  shows, there's a link to become a supporter in   the usual place below, or if you can see it on the  device you're watching on - simply press the JOIN   button. You can cancel at any time, so even if you  just want to try it for a month and see how you   get on, there's no major commitment required.  And don't worry if you can't join us live,  

our replay is always available to watch at your  convenience so it's well worth giving it a try.   Okay, so last month we featured waterfalls  as our theme on the Subject Project, where we   showed you everything that you need to know to  get great waterfall shots and then invited you   to send us your results. As always, our inbox has  been flexed to the max and we're really sorry that   we can't show every photo which you sent us,  but we do appreciate you getting involved and   we enjoy seeing what you've been up to. Here is a  small selection of a few which caught our eye... We'll be looking at a few more of your  waterfall shots on our next POLive show   and discussing them in more detail, so that's  just another reason to join us for that. Okay,   so Nick's recently gone out and bought  a brand new macro lens which has got a   couple of unique features, so the producers are  giving him 4 minutes to tell us all about it. In my camera bag I have lenses ranging in  focal length from 50mm through to 200mm and   I also have a 100-400mm should I require it.  However, one lens which I didn't have (and  

one which isn't exactly a necessity for  landscape photography) is a macro lens.   In the past, I've considered purchasing a macro  lens, however I've never pulled the trigger   as it's not one which I really  thought would get regular use.   In the middle of last year Canon released  the RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM lens   and having made the move myself to mirrorless  in 2020 with the EOS R5, I decided to add this   lens to my camera bag and purchased it  from Fford's photographic in november.  

On several occasions in 2020 I had fun  photographing fungi with my Sigma 50mm   and Canon 70-200mm lenses. However, these lenses  don't allow you to get that close and fill the   frame with small subjects. There were a couple  of times where I wished I could just get closer   and have my subject larger in the frame, so  I decided to look into getting a macro lens.   Other macro lenses around the 100mm focal  length from the likes of Nikon and Canon   allow for a close focusing distance of around  30cm. Now the Canon RF 100mm macro lens   allows you to get as close to your subject as  26cm. This in turn gives you 1.4x magnification,  

allowing you to reproduce the subject at  140% of its size on the camera's sensor.   This isn't just a lens for  getting close to small subjects,   it can also be used for other genres such as  landscape and portrait photography. In fact,   the very first time I used this lens I used it to  take a landscape photograph to test its sharpness.   Talking of portrait photography, this lens also  has a new feature called spherical aberration   control, which upon rotating a ring allows you  to adjust the look of the outer focus areas in   your image, more commonly known as bokeh.  The spherical aberration control ring on  

the lens turns in two directions - negative and  positive. When turning it to the negative side,   both our foreground and background subjects  become softer, giving a dreamy effect.   Whereas when we turn it to the positive  side, our foreground subject becomes   softer with the background bokeh becoming  crisper. I can't really see this feature   being useful for my macro photography.  However, it could be useful for portrait   photography where I want to create something  a little bit different to pin sharp images.

Now this lens also has the image  stabilization built into it,   so combining it with the likes of the EOS R5 and  R6 makes it easier to get handheld macro shots. I've only had this lens for a month or so now,  so I haven't really used it a great deal yet.   However, I do intend on getting to  grips with macro photography more   and especially look forward to  the fungi season later this year.  

Thanks Nick. Now one of the regular features that  we've been bringing you since the launch of the   show is Mission Possible - where we document our  attempts to get ambitious and challenging shots.   Team member Ben is actively working on one  to photograph Ben Nevis, which is Britain's   highest mountain, trying to make it actually  look like it's Britain's highest mountain,   as it often looks more like a hill. He'll be  shooting that over the coming weeks so expect  

to see the results in the not-too-distant future.  However, our longest running project is our first   Mission Possible which we started way back at the  beginning of 2020, but we've actually been working   on it since mid-2019. We get asked by many of you  to update you on our progress... well it's time. If you've been watching photography online  since we launched at the start of 2020,   you'll have seen us planning a rather ambitious  shot which involves lining up three objects,   a quarter of a million miles apart,  two of which we have no control over.  

After checking 3 weather forecasts, 2 out of 3  of them suggested there was the potential to get   the conditions we needed, and as we know, 2 out  of 3 ain't bad, so we made the 100 mile journey   to our location. All right, well we're back  but it's been nearly 2 years since we've been   standing in this spot, so I reckon I need a bit  of a recap. As to why we're here? Yeah. Yeah so   we've got a tree that's probably... I don't know,  how good is your distance judging? I reckon that's   2 kilometers, one and a half... I'd say one and a  half kilometers away. So it's a mile away. No   it's not that far is it - it's a kilometer  away! um and the moon is going to be rising   hopefully directly behind the tree and we've  been trying to get this for 2 years now, because   this only happens, or the opportunity to get the  shot only happens 3 times a year and today is one   of the times. Last year we didn't get any chances  because it was just clouded out, which again   it is kind of quite a lot of cloud around. What do  you reckon? Well there's a gap just above the tree  

which is moving that way so I haven't lost all  hope yet but it's not looking particularly good.   However, tomorrow is another opportunity. That  is true. So I can come back, I know you can't   but I can come back if it's not very good today,  but the idea is to get a picture of the tree...   obviously we can't move the tree, we can't move  the moon, um so by my calculations it might not   be exactly here. We might end up panicking and  going slightly that way or slightly that way  

but when we get our first glimpse of the  moon, if we get our first glimpse of the moon,   we're trying to line up the camera with the  tree with the moon so the tree is silhouetted   perfectly with a full moon behind it. So that's  the shot and obviously it's very ambitious because   A: you only get three opportunities a year to do it  and you have to rely on the weather playing ball.   So not only do we need clear skies but we also  need it to be not windy because this is such a   long lens that even the slightest of wind is going  to be wobbling this. So today's perfectly calm,   so tick that box, but... a bit of cloud cover,  yeah and have you got the right moon face today?   The moon's in the right phase. It's a little bit  early in terms of time of day because the moon  

will be there 10 minutes before the sun sets, but  tomorrow it will be there 15 minutes after sunset,   so it'll be much darker tomorrow which will help  with the whole contrast of it but um tomorrow's   forecast to be cloudier than today so...  Yeah this is apparently bright sunshine right now!   This is why I like doing shots like this, because  they're so ambitious and it might take another   year to get this or it might take another two  years to get this. Hopefully it won't take any   longer than that because after another couple of  years, the chances per year start decreasing   and there will become a point where there isn't  actually an opportunity for about six years.  

Wow okay. So we need to get this done and dusted  in the next two or three years. You'll be using   your walker by then so... yeah! Well you're  young and fit.. yeah.. so uh.. but the   sense of satisfaction that you'll get when you  get this shot... because this would be so easy to   Photoshop. Anyone can get a picture of the moon...  but why would you? Exactly! That's the point - why   would you? Because you're only fooling yourself.  When you can show people the photo that I have in   my mind, assuming that I get it and I can assure  you that their instant opinion will be "how did   you merge the two photos together"? I go "no that's  real!" um and so you know their appreciation of the   image will be elevated. So remind us how (I  mean we're obviously kind of in the middle  

of the hills here), how did you actually come  across this viewpoint because you can't see this   you know i know the road's right nearby... There's a road just here which you can probably hear, I was driving  back... I don't know.. three or four years ago   um to the Isle of Skye because we're two hours  from Skye here. That's the other thing is that how   many times we turned up here? Four times I think.  It is. So it's a four hour round trip, so 16 hours   of driving that we've done to try and get this  shot and we've got nothing to show for it so far,   but there was one time when I was driving back  along here and I came around the corner and it was   just exactly the right time of day and the moon  was up there in the sky. It wasn't behind the tree   but I saw the tree and the moon wasn't too far  away and I just thought "wow what an amazing   shot that would be if the moon was right behind  the tree", so I then started doing some research   as to when it would be there again and it's not  very often but it is there so the shot's possible.  

It's not that we're trying to do something that's  unachievable. It's definitely achievable but it's   just very ambitious. So we're set up. Are we  in the same place as last time? I thought we   were further down over there last time but the  moon's slightly further to the left today than   it was last time but there's still a certain  amount of guesswork. Now last time we were here,   we had lots of people commenting saying why don't  you just use PhotoPills and do use this and use   all these apps. The problem is, they don't give us  the degree of accuracy because they they know what  

if i had a phone here it knows where  the moon is and it knows where we are   reasonably accurately. I mean it might... they  do help in the initial kind of planning? But what   it doesn't know, is it doesn't know where that  tree is, that's the problem. It doesn't know   the height of that hill. It doesn't know the  position of that tree, so we it can only tell us   two of the things that we need to know. It  can't tell us the one that's in the middle,   so there's a certain amount of guesswork that's  going on here, but even if we just get a glimpse   of the moon through the clouds today, that'll give  us some vital information so that when I come back   tomorrow, I know whether I should be up there or  should be over there. So the time is exactly 15:25  

now and the moon theoretically should be  right behind that tree, but we can't see it   because there's cloud. However, we'll wait  for a minute because even if we just get a   glimpse of it going up above the tree, then  at least I'll know if we're in the right...   and it's also it's kind of bright as you're all  going to get the kind of I guess tomorrow would   be will be better timing because it's um tomorrow  it happens at uh just before four o'clock,   so it'll be much darker by then but I don't want  it completely dark because obviously you just get   blackness where you where the hill is, so we want  some detail in the hill but we want the moon to   be really kind of luminant in the sky and it's not  going to do that before the sunset and it's still   15 minutes to go before until sunset. So every  time we come, we learn something new but if we  

don't see the moon oh look there it is off the  right see it? oh way over! Okay so let's move   move camp and try and position ourselves  so that the moon is right behind that tree. By adjusting the position of the camera I am able  to effectively influence the position of the moon   in relation to the tree by around 4 degrees in  longitude and 1degree in latitude, but the window   of opportunity lasts for less than a minute so  I have to work quickly. If I zoom in on this   and focus it so you can kind of get a  sense there we've got this massive moon   here and we want the tree in the middle of  it. Now obviously that's not going to happen   today because... and also the moon is way too  low in in luminance for what I want but we'll  

record that anyway because you can kind of get a  an idea as to what's going on there so you know   the top of the moon's getting quite  bright now so let's knock the uh   exposure back a bit. There we go.. otherwise it gonna... that's typical isn't it that   the cloud is exactly behind the tree to have  spoiled that but I think tomorrow (assuming we   get the the right weather conditions) another  20 minutes later when everything's darker,   the moon's going to be a lot brighter so  that'll give us the shot that we want I think.   So that's what you call "a nearly shot", "an  almost shot", but at least we can we can kind of   start to get an idea of how that will look  when everything is lined up correctly. But   that's as close as you can possibly  get without getting the shot,   but tomorrow is another chance and if tomorrow  is no good next month there's one more chance   and then there's nothing again for another year...  so yeah... As the moon tracked away from the tree,   the clouds cleared (of course) and  it was simply a case of putting all   my hopes on returning the following day when  the timing of the moon would be even better.

So it's the following day and the tree is up there  somewhere but believe it or not as I arrived,   the tree was crystal clear in beautiful sunlight  and there was cloud below it and cloud above it   and there was just this window and I got very  very excited and then as I've walked here,   which is just 10 minutes from the car, this low  cloud has just suddenly come in and completely   obscured it. We've got uh probably about 15  minutes before the moon is in the optimum position   so i'm just going to sit it out and  hope that the cloud clears again. I   mean it's completely clear up above so  this is really localized low cloud so   there's every chance that it will move but  there's every chance it won't so fingers crossed. This is so frustrating because I  keep getting tantalizing glimpses   of the tree and then it will just disappear  again. So I can just about see the ridgeline.   I can't see the tree at the moment.  We've got two or three minutes  

before that moon pops up... and it's perfectly  clear here, it's perfectly clear above. This is   the absolute ideal conditions - there's  not a cloud in the sky, there's just   fog everywhere and it's only probably...I  don't know... 30 meters above the ground.   If the temperature was one degree warmer, this  wouldn't be here, so that's how close this is.   So I can just see the moon through the fog now,   but I've got no idea whether the tree's to the  left or the right, so I don't know where to move. To relieve my boredom I took a shot of the  faint moon through the fog. Now I had no way   of knowing at the time but if we enhance the image  in Lightroom, it reveals something quite amazing.  

It turns out I was in exactly the right position  with the tree just visible in front of the moon.   Again - another amazingly close call, but  ultimately nowhere near close enough. Ah oh well.   So next opportunity is in a month's time and  if that's no good then it's next December.

Marcus has just started actively working on an  even more ambitious Mission Possible project,   so we'll be showing you what that's about soon.  By the way, if you'd like one of the Photography   Online beanies that you saw Marcus wearing, then  just head to the Mc2 Photography shop, where   you'll also find T-shirts, lens cloths, tripods,  and a lot more items which you'll see us using on   the show. Well that's us out of time for another  month but it won't be too long before we're back   with another action-packed show, when among other  things we'll be showing you a few settings on your   camera that you might not know about, we'll be  illustrating the difference that tripod spikes can   make, plus giving a few sets away, and we'll be  continuing our Video Academy series so I hope that   you can join me for that. Don't forget we're back  next week with our live show which is exclusively   for our PO Live and above supporters so join us  for that if you can. Thanks for watching this   extended show and if you've enjoyed it please  do give us a thumbs up and tell your friends all   about Photography Online. We've got some really  exciting features lined up for the coming shows,   so help spread the word so that nobody misses  out. Until next time take good care, but most of  

all take good photos. With the moving image the  viewer usually.. for *&$£ sake, what is that last line?   There were a couple of times where I wish  I could just get closer and make my... my.... It's crammed full of tiny signs and roof tiles -  small details which we can zoom into and really   compare the comparison! Compare the comparison?!  which has got a couple of unique features so the   producers have given him 4 minutes to tell us  all about it..... that's three! Oh my goodness. With only a couple of  formats on the card market...   You might be surprised when I tell you you can  get much better results with much less eff can't   i can't say it... so they're currently both the  benchmark to beat when it comes to maxthimum..... maxthimum.... maxthimum

okay so Nick's recently born a bee dahh.... that's  why we don't do walking shots.

2022-01-11

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