You know when you have a piece of kit in your hands and you're so impressed with it that you think it'll be hard to beat? Well, I felt like that when I tried out the Haida filters if you remember, but after attending the Photography Show back in March I was contacted by Kase Filters UK and offered the opportunity of meeting one of their Brand Ambassadors and testing their filters out in the field......that meeting once again changed everything for me, and for several different reasons. 

Kase Filters have blasted onto the landscape photography scene in the UK in recent months with impressive gusto and are armed with a wide range of kit that is not only excellent quality, but also they boast that their filters are more robust than others out there on the market, their unique selling point. Their kit is very well thought out and designed, right down to the smallest of details, and when it's in your hands you feel very confident using it, especially knowing that even if you are a bit of a klutz and you do happen to drop one of your filters the likelihood of it breaking and shattering into a million pieces is rather slimmer than if you were using other makes! 

So, onto a few details.......the Kase K8 Holder and Polariser. Now there's a smart little bit of kit both in the way it looks and the way it works, and being machined from aerospace grade aluminium you know it's going to be a tough cookie. The polariser is just as impressive, it's sleek and ultra slim and does it's job perfectly reducing glare and reflection without adding unwanted tones to your images. Setting the polariser in place is as simple as this; you screw on the adapter ring to your lens, you hold the polariser to the ring and before you know it they've hooked up to each other as if by magic! Well, by magnetism actually.......yes it's a magnetic system, genius! There's no faffing, no fiddling, no movement, nothing. It just sits in there perfectly and securely. The next step is to add the holder. This attaches once again very simply and easily with the geared wheel on one side and the little tightening knob to the other. Both the wheel and knob are in red unlike the rest of the holder which is black, and this helps greatly for quick recognition when wanting to adjust either the polariser or holder itself. The holder itself also has a gasket attached helping to stop any form of light leakage once the filters are inserted, and because it has the geared wheel on the side this means that you can adjust your polariser without disturbing your filter positioning, or likewise with using the knob, adjust the filter holder without moving the polariser. 

The Kase Wolverine Filters. Well weighted, colour neutral, shock resistant, top notch optical glass filters. I'm very impressed with them. They sit beautifully in the holder, which they should do, without any slippage at all, and I have to say that in a windy environment there is absolutely no movement or vibration from the whole system. It sits so securely on my lens at all times. The clarity of the optical glass is spot on and the neutrality of the filters themselves is absolutely superb. It's on a par with Haida which I had previously used, and post processing is a joy as there's absolutely no colour adjustment needed. This isn't only found in their graduated neutral density filters, but also in their full ND's too. Since testing the filters I have now used both the 6 and 10 stoppers and they really are superb with no cast at all! I believe the 16 stop, which I've not tested myself, is also absolutely colour neutral too. There is a scratch resistant coating which resists unwanted things like sea spray and this also makes the filters really very easy to clean without smudges or smears. I mentioned at the start of this post about the shock resistant factor of these filters. Something we're all very aware of is that when we're spending out a small fortune on glass filters for our beloved landscape photography, the very last thing that any of us want to do is break them whilst out in the field! Many of us have been almost reduced to tears by that awful sound as one hits the deck. Now although Kase cannot guarantee that their filters won't break, they can assure you that they are tougher than the average filter and should withstand the odd fall. Now that's got to be worth the money in my book! Not bad hey! Another point to make is that I used to be a resin filter user in the past, and it wasn't until I tried out optical glass filters that I really began to appreciate the differences. Although resin is a fairly tough substance, it scratches really quite easily and sometimes quite badly, I have also dropped one in the past and it chipped awfully. But when using the Kase Wolverine filters this is something that's not quite so much of a concern due to the anti scratch coating and the sheer toughness of them. Clarity is something else that has struck me too. Now although the resin filters aren't bad at all there is certainly an element of softening the image to them. Again I could only see this properly when I compared images taken with both types of filters side by side, and obviously clarity is something that is important to us all with our shots. So overall, not only do you have an excellent quality, excellent clarity, truly neutral filter to play with with Kase, but you also have the added security and peace of mind that you don't get with other makes. Not bad hey! 

The Filter Bag. I prefer to call this item a box because it's far more solid than any bag I've used before, bag just doesn't seem the right description for it. Sometimes this is an item that's a little overlooked, but for myself I think it's an important part of the equipment and Kase have got it bang on here. This lovely looking sturdy little PU leather coated box can hold up to five Kase Wolverine filters, both the square and the 100x150mm designs, has a separate slot for your polariser, and on the front a little pocket for your filter holder. There is also space next to the filter slots for a cloth or perhaps the shoulder strap that comes with the box when you're not using it. The box is lightweight yet there's absolutely no concern that your equipment will get damaged whilst inside of it, it really is protected very well indeed. There is one little feature about it that I love, and that's the little D-ring on the back. This enables me to attach a carabiner to it and to hook the whole thing onto my tripod meaning that I don't have to keep diving in and out of my camera bag every time I wish to change filters. As I use a large rucksack a lot of the time for comfort too I've found that I can clip the box on the strap of this also, meaning I can walk around with it on my person which is sometimes more practical than attaching it to my tripod. It's a nice handy little addition.

In summary, this is a set up that I like very much indeed. I have tried hard to find something that might niggle me, but I can honestly say that I can't! As Kase state on their website, it's 'By Photographers, For Photographers'. The people who have developed these things know exactly what's needed and how it should work, and so therefore have produced something that is quite spot on.  One other thing that I haven't yet mentioned but feel that I should, is their excellent customer service. Polite, informative, and they genuinely care whether you are happy about the product or not, and if not do their utmost to make things right. Customer care is such an important aspect of any company and Kase seem to do very well at this. 

​I would like to point out that this review is based solely on my findings as of when I first used Kase Filters equipment, however since then I have in fact purchased and now use my own set as I was that impressed with it. I was also offered the opportunity to represent the company by becoming an official Kase Filters UK Reseller which I have agreed to because I believe in the equipment and the company itself. Maybe that tells you something about quite how impressed by it all I was!

If you would like any more information about Kase Filters UK please visit their website www.kaseuk.com and if you're in the market for any new gear please visit www.philstarkeyphotography.co.uk/store/c41/KaseFiltersandEquipment. You can also email me at info@philstarkeyphotography.co.uk

​Below are a few examples of images I've taken using Kase Filters polariser, K8 filter holder and Wolverine filters.

Just recently I, and also Alan, were invited by Haida Filters of China to test and review some of their products. Having heard only good things about the quality of their equipment I jumped at the chance. Haida began production in 2007 and specialise in optical glass filters for photography, making a range of high quality screw on, square and rectangular format filters and accompanying accessories. They offered to supply me with the following pieces of equipment to use out in the field;
 
100 Pro Insert Filter Holder
100 Series Pro 77, 49 and 58 Adapter Rings
NanoPro MC CPL (Circular Polariser)
NanoPro Soft ND 0.9 100x150mm Graduated Filter
NanoPro ND 0.6 100x100mm Filter
NanoPro ND 0.9 100x100mm Filter
 
Within a few days of discussing and arranging, the box with all of the above was delivered in record time to the house and I proceeded to open it excited to find out what the equipment was actually like. First impressions with the packaging were extremely good. Aesthetically it was very pleasing indeed, well put together, neat and tidy and explaining clearly what was in each box. No faff and jargon everywhere, just very clean and uncluttered. As I opened each box to reveal the individual pieces it was clear that a lot of thought had been put into the presentation of the items. Each of the glass ND filters that had been sent to me were beautifully presented in sturdy brushed aluminium cases, every one with a white foam insert inside giving excellent protection. Little cut outs in the sides of the foam inserts meant that getting the filters out was very easy, and due to the type of foam used there was absolutely no slippage either, eliminating any fear of dropping the items.
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The NanoPro Soft ND 0.9 Filter –  Now, I’m usually a Medium and Hard grad user when it comes to my landscapes and seascapes, so getting to try out the soft grad I was actually looking forward to. It was really rather soft indeed, but this allowed me to use it in all number of situations and I really enjoyed using it to be honest. Once again this filter performed beautifully. The shots came out lovely and sharp and again there was no visible colour cast. Below are some images that I've taken recently around where I live in Devon using this lovely filter.

What's In My Bag?

It's been a long time since I last did a blog post, but a friendly follower of my facebook photography page (bit of a tongue twister there!), Mr Bob Stark, suggested to me that it might be nice to do a 'What's In Your Bag' post to give an insight into what I carry with me and use as I go around photographing the landscape. Obviously the camera equipment is something that will interest many, however I thought I'd also include the other bits and pieces that I take with me on outings on Dartmoor and the coast because I think they're just as important.

The Backpack - I always used to use a conventional camera backpack to carry my gear with me, but I found this to be a bit cumbersome and impractical when walking about where I do. As much as it was great to carry my gear in, it was unbalanced, uncomfortable if going a fair distance, uncomfortable because being a female the designers don't seem to think about straps being a rubbing and chaffing issue on our extra lumps and bumps, it wasn't strong enough to carry my tripod so I had to hand hold it wherever I went, and it was also not large enough for extra clothing for changeable weathers when out for a decent amount of time. So.....it was time for a change. I was trying to find something that would solve all of these problems when I came across the Osprey Aura 65 AG backpack. 

To start with this beauty is designed specifically for women (they do a mens version too which is the Osprey Atmos 65 AG) making it much more comfortable all round to use and wear, it also has an adjustable back section and hip section meaning you can tailor it to your own shape and size perfectly. The back and hip sections are well ventilated so in the summer months there's absolutely no suffering from sweaty back syndrome thankfully! Being a 65 litre it has plenty of room for a good sized insert in which to keep all of my camera gear when I'm out shooting, and although there are loops for ice axes (nope I've never yet been in need of one!) and walking poles, these actually come in extremely handy for attaching your tripod to so that you don't have to carry it everywhere by hand. For all your other bits and bobs, of which I'll come on to a bit later on, there are numerous ample sized pockets to accommodate all of this.

​The Insert - The insert that I use is a very simple generic camera backpack insert which I found on Ebay for only a few quid. It can easily hold my two camera bodies, four lenses, filters, holders, spare batteries, camera rain cover and much more as you can see in the photo below.

The Camera - The main camera body that I use for my photography is a Canon EOS 60D  and I love it! It may not be full frame or the latest or newest model, and it may also a second hand body (let's face it, we can't all afford to keep updating what we have every couple of months), but it does absolutely everything that I need at present and when it comes to printing it produces the goods. It's a good all round workhorse that I personally find very user friendly. My second/backup body is my old Canon EOS 1100D. This stays in my insert for emergencies on the just in case anything should happen to my main body. 

The Lenses - I have four lenses that I use. The Canon EF-S 10-22mm, the Canon EF 75-300mm, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm, and the Canon EF 50mm Prime. The 10-22mm is by far my favourite for landscapes. I love the super wide aspect and although it does give some distortion, which inevitably it will with it being so wide, it's a nice sharp lens, not very heavy either, that I find myself going back to use time and time again. The second favourite of the four would have to be the 50mm. A super sharp lens that's so versatile!

The Filters - I don't actually own many filters but the ones I use at present are Lee Filters 100mm System and I have the 0.45 (1.5 stops) ND Hard Grad, 0.9 (3 stops) ND Hard Grad, and the Big Stopper (10 stops) for those much longer exposures. I also like to use a Sigma Circular Polarising Filter which I have on my 10-22mm, and I have a generic polariser on my 50mm also. The polariser's cut out reflections and they also increase the contrast a little more. 

Tripod - I usually use and have with me my trusty Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB tripod which I absolutely love, but have been recently using in order to do a review for Vanguard UK the Alta Pro 2+ 264CT carbon fibre tripod with my own ball head on. I'll be posting this review fairly soon, so if you're interested at all keep your eyes peeled.

Other Gubbins - I also carry with me a set of different sized filter holder adapter rings to fit each of my lenses plus a holder, a shutter release cord/intervalometer for long exposures and times when I want to capture lots of shots at intervals, a head torch for those dark mornings and evenings when out walking around on the moors and the coast (also handy for searching for your gear in your bag), lens wipes and cloths, lens caps, spare batteries for both bodies and memory cards, my LensCoat rain cover for my camera, a spare intervalometer in case the other goes down, and a spare mobile phone and recharge battery pack for emergencies.

There are also some other items that I always keep in my backpack, mostly on the just in case but you never know if and when you're going to need them.

Sensible Extras - I have a warm hat, gloves, neck tube and headband with me for when the temperature drops or weather changes (it's the worst thing to be caught out and not have enough warm clothing with you, plus can also be dangerous at times), in the summer months I also carry a midge hat because sometimes out on the Tors when there's no wind (it doesn't happen very often) the little blighters love to pop out and have a munch. A compass and pen are always handy to have in your bag, accompanied by a map of the area you're walking in. I also have a little zip bag that I take with me in my main bag in case of trips, falls, scrapes and other eventualities. In this little bag I keep handy things like two sizes of tick removers (ticks are everywhere and these little tools are brilliant!), paracetamol, ibuprofen, and Jungle Formula insect repellent (brilliant stuff). There's glucose tablets for energy, blister plasters, regular plasters of varying sizes, small bandages, safety pins in case of quick repairs to tears in things, an extra plastic bag (you never know when you're going to need one), tiger balm muscle rub (I swear by this stuff for soothing aches, pains, strains and alike although it can dye your clothes!), and antiseptic cream with local anesthetic in for insect bites, scratches etc.

So there you have it, that is the contents of this photographer's bag. Full of camera gear and full of stuff you'd imagine your Mum telling you that you need to take with you just in case, all bar a clean handkerchief! ;) 

​Thanks for taking the time to have a read and I hope that you found it of interest, Phil.

Sleeklens Landscape Adventure Collection Review.

I was kindly asked by the folks at the Danish company Sleeklens whether I would do a review of their Landscape Adventure Actions for Photoshop. These actions have been designed by Sleeklens to make the photographers workflow quicker and easier when it comes to post production of their images. They state on their website that there are fifty six actions available but there are in fact sixty four in total, and these can be easily installed by following their online guide. These actions can be used both on JPEG and RAW files, however the lists are based on using RAW images and this should be kept in mind.

To the actions themselves: There are eight different sets of actions within the whole collection. These are Exposure, Base, Tone, All In One, Enhance, Speciality, Temperature and Web File Preparations. Each of these sets have a number of presets within them and can be adjusted by using the opacity slider once applied.
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Exposure - I have to say after going through every one of these actions I don’t think that I’d be inclined to use any of them, purely because I tend to make preliminary adjustments in Camera RAW before opening in Photoshop anyway. I also found that I could fine tune my exposure adjustments much better in Photoshop in comparison to using the Sleeklens actions, and to be honest, using the action was not any faster than the way I would normally do it.

Base - As with the exposure actions, I found that some of the base actions were pretty much pointless as these adjustments could be made in Camera Raw before opening in Photoshop. However, I can see how the Autumn Colours, Retro, and Desaturated could be applied effectively if you were going for a certain look in your images. It’s not really up my street though.

Tone - Once again, if you want fine tuning, Photoshop is much better. However, if you wanted to play about and give an overall effect to your image then some of these like the Cinematic and Warm Highlights actions could be quite fun. 

All In One Actions - Once again, not my thing. Personally for me they’re a bit in your face and seem to take a lot to tone down. The black and white actions irritated me because as I used the opacity slider to take back the impact, it also completely reduced the black and white effect taking it back to colour. Seems a little pointless really.
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Enhance - Out of all of the actions within this set I really liked the Warm Highlights. The fact that I could brush in exactly where I wanted to warm up certain areas of the image was very appealing. Even at 100% opacity it still wasn’t completely overpowering. This action I probably could, and would, make use of. I think the fact that you can brush in on the Enhance set as a whole means that more people would find it useful than some of the other sets in the Landscape Adventure Collection.
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Temperature - I can see how these actions could be useful but for me personally I will be sticking to fine tuning in Photoshop.

Web File Preparation - Quick, easy and probably useful for some, however I already have my own resizing action in Photoshop.

Overall I think that the majority of these actions are not for professionals because they will have already formed their own routines for speed, efficiency and personal style with regards to processing their images. However, I do think there are a few creative actions within the collection that may appeal. 

There are a huge number of actions; I think this possibly needs to be scaled down somewhat and also the ability to be able to brush in on actions needs to be increased within the collection. 

For the £37 you would pay for the package at present, it would be a useful tool certainly for non professionals who aren’t so familiar with using Photoshop, and the collection could make their life easier and make image processing a little less daunting perhaps. 

To find out more about Sleeklens and their variety of different photography actions and overlays for both Lightroom and Photoshop please follow the links below.

Sleeklens Website 
https://sleeklens.com/

Sleeklens Landscape Adventure Photoshop Actions
https://sleeklens.com/product/landscape-adventure-photoshop-actions/?currency=GBP

All Sleeklens Photoshop Actions
https://sleeklens.com/product-category/photoshop-actions/
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Recently I had the pleasure of working for Cornwall Councillor for Falmouth Penwerris, and Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Truro and Falmouth, Cllr Hanna Toms. My brief was to provide her with images for publicity usage in her 2015 political campaign. Some of these images were more informal than others and were to include local landmarks, public demonstrations, public speaking, and also doorstep canvassing. It was quite a challenge in several ways. Not only on most occasions did I have to shoot in bright harsh sunlight, but there were times when I was running backwards along pavements and roads trying to avoid crowds of people, cars, and tripping up! I have to say that I really enjoyed all aspects of this job, and I hope that there will be more opportunities in the future to do similar. 

From Cllr Hanna Toms:

'Phil was a pleasure to work with, professional, reassuring and most of all patient beyond belief. She took time to understand the brief and gave a lot of thought to how and what would give me the best results. I am delighted with these pictures and would whole heartedly recommend Phil and her work.'

Below are a few examples of the images that will be used.