For many years rumours of a ‘full frame’ DSLR have reverberated around Pentax forums, the spectre of which carried no real substance until around twelve months ago, when mock up models began appearing at camera shows. However if we take a look back at Pentax’s history it appears that myth is based on fact, and that around 15 years ago a 6mp model was created but was not released due to sensor and other technical issues. I find this typical of Pentax’s philosophy; they would not tarnish their reputation by releasing a model that was substandard…a sentiment echoed in their core values and witnessed in their superb current DSLR line-up.
Ok, so I know what your thinking; its been less than 6 months since the last site update. Granted, however this time we have a rather troubling excuse. In late December last year our site was compromised and being used to host malicious code which attempts to infect other computers with viruses. Luckily, we spotted it quickly and shut the site down before it could infect us and our visitors. This left us with the challenging task of finding and removing all malicious code, along with the even harder task of identifying how this happened in the first place. After much discussion, we joked about rebuilding the site from scratch. After throwing some ideas around, this joke turned into a serious plan and a whole new vision for PhotoArk was born…
On December 29th we created our first aerial movie using Ethan’s Phantom II drone, a project we hoped to get off the ground (no pun intended) much earlier in the year. Since acquiring the machine, it has always been our intention to create a library of footage showcasing the beauty of our home county, so it was good news when we finally found the time (and settled weather conditions) to launch the project.
This is PhotoArks’s fourth article in a series illustrating our favourite photography walks. Note that these articles are not intended as walking guides, but merely indicate areas we find photographically interesting.
There is no doubting that photography’s magic hours are those at dawn and dusk, when light levels are softer, shadows more mysterious and details enhanced by oblique lighting. These are the times when conditions lend themselves well to creating a masterpiece. The beautiful cool soft light of an early morning or golden warm overtones of evening take some beating, as does the sense of inner peace and satisfaction that goes with capturing images at these times.
This is another article in a series illustrating our favourite photography walks. Note that these articles are not intended as walking guides, but are merely an indicator as to areas we find photographically interesting.
It's fair to say more and more people are dumping their compact cameras in favour of using the camera on their smart phone. With that in mind we feel it's time to do our very first photographers review of a smart phone; the iPhone 6S. When Apple first released the specs for the new iPhone camera people took to the forums and expressed their disappointment with the same 12MP sensor used in the previous model. It would seem people were expecting a higher 16MP ccd similar to Samsung's and HTC's latest offerings. But in a world of playing top-trumps with statistics people overlook what really matters, the quality of the image. One of Microsoft's Nokia Lumia’s featured a ridiculous 41MP censor which served only to sound impressive, the reality was it failed miserably when compared to the iPhone 5S’ 5MP camera.