I found myself flicking through the national geographic the other day and noticed how I was paying far more attention to the photos than I would have done a few years ago. The main thing I took away from the magazine is that a lot of these photos were good primarily because they captured something, or rather conveyed one thing strongly. The caption on the photos was almost a tautology, or purely to assign a name to something which the reader might not otherwise know the name of.
While many of the photos were good technically, the ones which didn't stand up to strict technical criticism lost nothing for these flaws. The primary 'sense' of the photo in conveying very strongly one these was so much more important in many of these photos that the majority of the photo (providing it didn't actually detract from the photo) was largely inconsequential. That isn't to say there wasn't technically great photos in which the whole contributed to a very clear depiction, but rather the technical contribution tended to be less important.

I think that perhaps the best contributor to this sort of effect is simply something that the reader would not get to see normally. This ties in with what attracts interest in a photo with the natural instinct to find what is new interesting. Given that the remit of the magazine to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge" almost directly covers this idea of showing people new things it is hardly surprising. With the isolating boundary of geography the subject matter is 'new' as a matter of course.

One thing that I have noticed reading through magazines and the 'digital field guide' for the EOS 5D MkII are the picture captions to give the setting (lens, aperture, shutter, ISO) for the shot. I have started trying to guess these from the picture in the context of what ISO speed used to freeze particular motion, what sort of aperture would give a given depth of field from the focal length, and what ISO would give exposure with the other settings. For one thing I am consistently surprised by the ISO settings that are used with the 5D in comparison to a point and shoot. I knew there would be a huge difference moving to a full frame with the larger pixels, but I didn't expect the complete absence of noise with relavtively modest ISOs for the camera compared to what I have been used to with my SX10IS.

Canon 5D MkII

I have a DSLR now, a Canon 5D Mark II, I brought a Sigma 1.4F 50mm lens, an EF 70-200 f4 L IS USM lens (and filters for both) and a speedlite 430.
I have taken a few miscellaneous pictures inside, but nothing in particular yet. I am very pleased with the Sigma lens, particularly the circular bokeh in comparison to the Canon alternative (albeit with the Canon at a lower price).
I have also ordered adapters for the lenses from my Grandad's SLR and my Dad's SLR and look forward to having the chance to use their lenses.

I have been reading about the camera from the instruction manual and the 'Digital Field Guide' for the camera by Brian McLernon. I was also very impressed with 'Learn Canon 5DMKII Cinematography with Philip Bloom' from F-Stop academy, which I got out of interest, but am now seriously considering as an adjunct to any still photography.

Having the manual and priority modes on my SX10IS means I am already familiar with using different settings, but I will have to get used to greatly expanded limits of the 5D, particuarly in the acceptable ISO range (I rarely shoot above 200 with the SX10IS and my FX70 lumix) and the immediately obvious depth of field from the F1.4 Sigma lens. I love having the option of manually focussing a lens (even if only for the red highlight and beep confirmation from the camera).

I don't need to say much on the camera itself, its excellent reputation is already well established. For my experience however, the difference between a compact or bridge is amazing. The equivalent of point and shoot photos which would have been OK on a compact are good on the 5D. It also feels like cheating to know I can work less to get a good photo. On the other hand it puts more emphasis on the composition which can only be a good thing.

Waiting for the weekend and the chance to get some photos in the Sun. Wandering around Cambridge on Saturday, I have until mid afternoon spare. Looking particularly for good places to shoot, and some stuff for the Art of Photography exercises. One idea in particular for the latter, glasses frames in Specsavers for the DOF stuff.

Anyway, the more exciting wait is to see about my Grandad's lenses and camera, which my uncle has at the moment, but I should get early next week. I've shot with a 35mm SLR camera before, when I went to Greece (long time ago) and it will be good to do so again, but with more technical knowledge. I don't know what exactly he had, so it will be a surprise. It would also be nice if at some point in the future I get a DSLR with interchangeable lenses and can use ones that he used.

Just received my course materials through for 'The Art of Photography' and 'People and Place'. At work, so I haven't had a chance to do more than a brief glance through, but I've written and sent my student profile off [link]. I'm looking forward to having the chance to look through the course materials tonight, for a general overview, to see what the first assessments are and to plan ahead in terms of direction (particularly of research and outside course activities).

I also have my first photo book come through in the post, although I have art books, I don't have an exclusively photo one. It is 'City of the Broken Dolls' by Romain Slocombe [link], so not exactly starting with something straightforward. Found by following up some links when looking at art by Ichiba Daisuke, who also does some photography [link and photoslink].

I have also started collecting together some resources to link to, for technical information, general interest/inspiration, social/shooting opportunities etc. I'll have to follow this up by linking to/commenting on interesting articles that I read. At the moment, because of the time of the year I am not going to get as much chance to shoot outside during the week, which is unfortunate. So most of the time I will be reading I suspect. Sunrise: 08:04, Sunset: 16:12.