Photography is a complex process for me, not in the literal sense (well, it is, of course) but more in the conscious sense. I’ve long noticed I work in spits and starts, often becoming incredibly invested in a particular idea or concept, to then suddenly…come screeching to a halt.

It's probably something that many ‘creatives’ are familiar with, perhaps not just creatives. An all-encompassing passion, self-absorption in an idea and suddenly…poof, its gone.

However, there are consistent ideas and concepts that bubble along in the background, such as portraiture. Recently, I returned to Mud, my long-term documentation of the island of Sheppey - the landscape and the people.

I was walking the north shore, where the mud cliffs fall and expose fossils, and it was fairly busy. I bumped into a few hunters and eventually plucked up the courage to grab a quick portrait, which you can see below.

Its a keeper.

Grandma

I wasn’t very close with my grandma. Her and my mum had a difficult relationship so visits weren’t that often, and when they did happen they were always a bit tense. Back in 2010/11 I was knocking about at a loose end having been signed off from work, so was knocking about with a camera , claiming the dole and spending Thursday in Wetherspoons with @alexpasquino and @danniglover on what we called ‘freeloader Thursday’ where we’d drink sailor Jerry’s & coke and the try and go skateboarding half cut (good times)

So on a whim I decided to join my mum on a visit and bought the camera with me. I didn’t have any real intention to shoot anything, I’d never shot anything with my grandma and our relationship wasn’t one where I felt anything staged was ever going to happen, so I fired off a few sneaky frames and left it at that. She was 96, frail but as sharp as a tack. She knew EXACTLY what I was up to.

She died not too long after at the age of 96.

Madding Crowd...

I HATE being in crowds. I once had a complete mental break in Winter Wonderland after waiting thirty minutes in a line for some luke-warm mulled wine. Inversely, I love shooting them. Maybe it’s the anonymity it offers, the ability to scarper around the edge, focused on the wider picture rather than the intricate detail. It’s a patient game, waiting and watching for all the little peices fall into place, the layers to synchronise. It doesn’t always work either, but when it does, it’s rewarding. 

All the Gear....

I, like every 30 something decided to take up cycling during lockdown. What I lack in general fitness, technique and knowledge I make up for in enthusiasm and ignorance. Sometimes being wilfully inadequate at something is possibly more fun, simply because the same rules that constrain others don’t apply to you, because you don’t understand them.

Still life has never been a huge part of repertoire, either in my personal work, or commercial, recently however for some inexplicable reason I’ve been shooting them. Still life is one of those photographic dark arts, when it’s done right it looks seamless, tone, texture, shape and colour all working in unison. When its not…well. Either way, I’m having fun. 

MUD

I’ve been shooting Sheppey for coming up to three years (working title ‘Mud’). Like all long term projects, I tend to deal with it in fits and starts.

I feel energised and excited, then disheartened and exhausted, and the cycle repeats each year. Recently I’m feeling like I’m breaking the back of it, coming close to getting a body of work that I feel is conclusive.

During that time I’ve not ventured out much onto the mud flats. Sheppey sits in the Estuary, meaning large flood plains that extend for miles during low tide. I can’t deal with the feeling of mud oozing through the toes, so ventured out in walking boots, surprisingly not that deep. 

Pair of boys (probably men, but I’m getting on so everyone looks young to me) we’re walking back to shore disappointed, having assumed they could swim. After wading out for a couple fo hundred yards I think they realised that it wasn’t going to get any deeper. I snapped a quick shot of their feet, sinking into the ooze. 

I wouldn’t call Sheppey pretty, but there’s a stark and harsh beauty to it, it’s place that is shaped by wind and tide and occasionally it delivers a few spectacles, mud flats included. 

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SigMA Quattro SD-H - One year on...

Two years ago when looking for a small compact camera, I ended up picking up a used Sigma DP1 Merril. A year later, and Sigma released the SDH Quattro, a 25mp Foveon camera sporting the exotic APS-H sensor size. Naturally I bought it and one year on, what are my thought?

Image curtesy of Sigma Imaging UK

The most striking thing about the camera on first impressions is the form factor. Slab like, with a corner missing. It’s a bit of head scratcher, but once the camera is in hand, it's reasonably comfortable, the big grip giving ample support. 

There’s a few other things to like. The dual screen makes shooting easier, one side displaying your current setting and the other previewing images, the menu system is intuitive and easy to navigate and there’s a nice tactile switch that swaps between the viewfinder and the rear screen with a satisfying click. 

The EVF is high quality, one of the best I’ve seen in the newer generation of mirrorless cameras, and with histograms and focus peaking displayed onscreen, its generally a very easy camera to pick up and start shooting with. Everything, more or less is in the place you’d expect it to be, excluding the power button which is on the flange barrel. 

There are though, of course problems, and anyones who’ve ever owned a Foveon camera can probably skip this part. 

The biggest by far is actually the software. Sigma’s Photo Pro is on version 6, yet still remains one of the clunkiest ill designed pieces of software I’ve ever used. It takes an age to do anything, and dealing with large batches of photo’s will leave you pulling your hair out. Unfortunately, it's the only software that can deal with the Sigma Raw file, so you’re stuck with it. 

The camera itself is painfully slow to focus, regardless of what lens you have attached. For every street scene you manage to capture, ten will be lost thanks to slow hunting and missed focus. There’s nine focus point. Yes, that’s not a typo. Nine. Its 2019.

Processing is quicker than on previous generations of Sigma camera’s, but shooting a burst can still leave the camera clunking away for up to 30 seconds trying to process what you’ve just shot. You can set up previews as your shooting, but checking critical focus can take an extended amount of time. 

There’s colour grain at every iso. At 100 you see it scattered amongst the shadows, but pushing to 400 and you’re starting to see a smattering through the entire image, which leaves anything beyond virtually unusable. 

The sensor has an included removable IR filter which is a dust magnet. Cleaning it becomes a tiresome chore, and removal to clean the sensor is bum clenching operation. Twice I’ve had it stuck at an odd angle, and my biggest fear is that one day it’ll manage to really wedge itself in there. The sensor also gets hot. Lava hot.

Sigma have pushed out there SA mount onto this camera, which means they’ve essentially made a mirrorless camera without any of the benefits of the mirrorless system. If you’re a Sony or Canon user, forget any adaptor because of the built in flange extension so you’ll be having to buy your entire lens collection again in SA mount. It’s a missed opportunity, a huge own goal, especially for a company that produces the widest range of mounts on their lenses. 

Finally, image quality. Its good, really good. 

It’s difficult to pin down why the image that come out of this camera is so…’there’. It’s the only word I can to describe it. They seem to jump out of the screen, both with colour and clarity. I wouldn’t describe the colours as accurate, I’ve noticed quite a heavy blue shift on the highlights when shooting on daylight colour setting, but there’s a nuance to the colour, a richness that has nothing to do with saturation.

The clarity when combined with Sigma’s art lenses, already know for being tack sharp is a marvel. I’d really quite like to see my 16x20 prints alongside something like the Fuji GSX, because I’m almost certain most would struggle to tell the difference. Its ability to resolve detail is like nothing I’ve seen before. 

I’m hesitant to make any parallels to film, its a chemical process so the results are unique, but nevertheless there is a feel to images that does slightly put me in mind of that look. And perhaps, that’s what ultimately this camera reminds me most of, both in operation and the final image look.

Sat on a tripod with a well lit landscape in front of it, this camera performs like nothing else I’ve shot with. 

Could you use this camera professionally? Absolutely not. But if you're a photographer who has the time to carefully compose, has the patience in post to get every ounce out of every image, and understands the sensor limitation, you’ll be rewarded with images that are, in many regards unique.   

So would I recommend this camera? 

Ultimately, no. For the money you’d get so much more versatility from almost any other body. However I own a Sony A7r2. I love it, it's a brilliant camera and sports a superb 42mp sensor. Yet, when the sun is out and I’m heading out to shoot, I still often reach for the Sigma instead. 

Experimental

Experimental

FS5 test

The FS5 isn't exactly new, its been knocking around for a couple of years. On paper, its not really all that special. A 4k camera that manages 8 bit internal on long GOP that is taxing on processors. It wasn't until it came bundled with the RAW upgrade that it made real sense to finally invest in the form factor, and an investment it certainly was!

So how does it work. Well, firstly you need a recorder that is capable of taking SDI and can record CDNG format or Prores. Currently, the Atomos Inferrno is the best suited, coming in at around £2k once you include the batteries, handle and all the other stuff you'll probably need. 

You get a 4-6 second burst of DCI4k at 120fps or constant 2k at 240fps, which is quite a major offer from such a small camera, and of course this all comes in at either Prores or CDNG, so good bitrates and final aquisition.

It does however mean you're stuck shooting on s-log, and as someone who's versed in v-log, this is a whole new hurdle to overcome! But onwards and upwards as they say.