Photography Chat

Over the past several months, I've had a series of enjoyable Skype chats with photographer Jon Cornforth, sometimes about nothing in particular, often about equipment and other toys, and most recently, about an amazing dual-hemisphere humpback whale extravaganza that we're planning for next year (trip details to come soon).

Jon is probably best known for his landscape images, but also loves the underwater world; I spend most of my time submerged, and only occasionally photograph stuff above the water line.

Despite the differences in our areas of focus (whoa, majorly bad pun), there are many common themes and issues that crop up. I also find that when I talk with fellow photographers like Jon, I learn a lot, get new ideas from time to time, and occasionally get smacked by one of those (rare) Eureka! moments.

At one point, we joked that some of the stuff we talked about might actually be interesting for other people who are into photography, whether for work, passion or both. So...we decided to record a recent conversation, embedded below:

[audio src="http://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2011/05/cornforth_04May11.mp3"]

Among the topics of discussion, I asked Jon what his "go-to" equipment is for landscape photography (in large part so I can work out how he takes those jaw-dropping images), and Jon queried me about dome ports for his housing. To make it easier to find the stuff we talk about, there's a list of links at the end of this post for the equipment and manufacturers we mentioned. (Please don't read any meaning into whether a particular brand is listed or not. It's just a roster of the products, manufacturers, destinations and people that happened to come up during our chat.)

The conversation is about 49 minutes long. If you'd rather download a file and listen offline, the audio is also available via my podcast on iTunes.

Update: By request, you can download the audio file (m4a format, 61MB) by right-clicking this link: Photography chat with Jon Cornforth.

 

Dramatic clouds and ocean waves at sunrise from Koki Beach near Hana
Sample image Jon took with the equipment we discuss,
dramatic clouds and ocean waves at sunrise from Koki Beach near Hana

 

Since we've taken the time to figure out how to do this, we'll probably record another discussion in the future. If there's anything you'd like us to address, let me know via my contact form.

 

Australian sea lion in shallow water
Example of half-half image shot with small dome,
a topic we touch upon in the discussion

 

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS 7D
Canon 17-40mm f4L
Canon 16-35mm f2.8L
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS (Jon has version 1)
Canon 70-200mm f4L (Jon recommends non-IS version if you're just taking landscapes)
Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-4.5
Zeiss 28mm f2
Zeiss 35mm f2

Lowepro
Gitzo GT1541 tripod
Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
Kirk L brackets
Singh-Ray filters
Canon infrared remote RC-6

Pro One domes
Ikelite
Subal
Seacam
Aquatica

MV Golden Dawn
Bob Halstead
Walindi Plantation Resort