Red deers at orange sunset in Lyme Park

I was then asked to to take images of Lyme Hall for use on the way into the park, which I shot just before the snow in high winds.

This is a great honour for me as I have been photographing in Lyme park for many years and have witnessed the improvements in the park since the National Trust took over from Stockport Council. I would like to thank all the employees at Lyme park for there help during this project.

Hopefully you will see more of my images in the Park in the future.

Lyme Hall by Matt Blonc

On this course you will be guided through the important skills needed to work with studio lighting, include setting up a digital SLR, choosing and use of studio flash equipment, how to setup studio lighting using both light meters and in-camera display.

Hands on experience in the use of studio flash equipment and an array of professional lights and light-shaping tools with a model. Its a good idea to attend our courses before investing in your own studio equipment so you can ‘try before you buy’ as well as receive expert advice on what will best suit your needs.  You are not required to have any prior knowledge about your camera.

Run in my studio in Stockport.

Here is a few of the images taken on todays workshop by Neil:

studio lighting workshop with Matt Blonc

You will learn the in-camera skills, techniques and knowledge for effective and successful wildlife photographs. If you are heading on holiday to Africa or India – this workshop will ensure you have the nessesary camera-skills required before you leave to get those wow-factor images.

To book please goto Calumet Academy – Manchester

Red deers
Red deers are the largest land-mammal in the UK. Summer coat is reddish brown to brown, winter coat is brown to grey. No spots present in adult coat. Large, highly branched antlers in the stag (male). Adult size. Stags 90-190kg, 107-137cm at shoulder. Females (hinds) 63-120kg, up to 107-122cm at shoulder. Deer on the open hill in Scotland are smaller than those in lowland English woodland.

Antlers. Highly branched. The number of branches increases with age. Up to 16 points in native animals. The angle between the brow tine and the main beam is always more than 90 degrees. This is important in distinguishing red deer from the related sika. Life span. Exceptionally up to 18 years.

red deer stag in rut

The images are outstanding showing great detail and sharpeness. The image quality is the best feature of this camera and its looks of course. This image was taken of Lyme hall near my home in Stockport and shows the detail this camera displays.

Also the camera is great at high ISO ‘s, the only downside to the camera is the shutter lag with needs to be improved, as its like shooting with an early digital compact camera like the Canon G5 back in the early 2000′s.

If you can live with the shutter lag and slow AF then this camera is perfect, you will not shoot wildlife or sports with it, but for landscapes and travel photography its ideal.

I must say once again the images are outstanding, hopefully Apple Aperture will bring out an update so I can download the RAW images directly. The dynamic range of the camera is also very good and I think Fuji have a winner with this new sensor design.

The Fuji lens are perfect, light small but well built and give a fast aperture what more could a photographer want.

I took the camera in to Manchester city center early evening to test it in low light at high ISO’s and it performed well. I handheld all the shoots as I hate tripods and achieved outstanding results by using a ISO of 6400 at f2.8 and 1/210 sec of  Sam’s chop house in Manchester with the Fuji 35mm lens.

I then took the camera with me whilst shooting deers and as the sunset appeared I got an amazing photograph of the clouds as a storm approached, putting my Canon 7D with 100 – 400 mm down and reaching for the Fuji with the 18mm lens on for the wider shot and what a shot it turned out to be.

All in all I love this camera, I can put up with the shutter lag as the images are outstanding and I have my Canon cameras for the subject that require faster focusing without the shutter lag.

What about canon’s first mirrorless camera the canon EOS M, while I’d love to test it, but the Fuji X pro 1 has better looks, the lens are made for the fuji being small light but fast lens and the sensor design is outstanding. The canon will take my L series lens, but the purpose of buying a mirrorless camera is to get a light weight camera which I can carry with me, therefore, it has to be the Fuji X-PRO 1 for me. The Leica M8 or M9 is also a great camera, but has no auto focus and cost a lot more than the Fuji so once again the fuji wins.

The only camera that comes close to the Fuji is the Olympus OM-D with it fast focusing, but its smaller sensor put me off this camera and I already have a Olympus E PL1 and never use it as it does not give the type of images that I desire.

its the Fuji I would purchase with the 18mm fuji lens, hopefully the price will drop a bit shortly.

Many thanks to Simon at Bob Rigby Photographic Limited for lending me the Fuji equipment, they are a Fuji dealer based in Macclesfield, Cheshire Visit Bob Rigby

Could this be the wildlife lens to buy. I shoot canon, but if I did shoot Nikon I would buy this lens with a Nikon D7000 to get maximum reach. I am awaiting the Canon 200 – 400mm IS L Lens with built in tele convertor if It ever gets released onto the market.

Here my work on a Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens:

Nikon 200-400mm f4 G VR II AF-S ED Lens
Zoom or Prime Zoom
Focal length (wide) 200
Focal length (tele) 400
Max aperture (wide) 4.0
Max aperture (tele) 4.0
Autofocus motor SWM
Lens mount Nikon AF-S
Image stabilisation Yes
Sensor Format FX
Filter thread (mm) 52 (drop-in)
Hood model HK-30
Minimum focus distance 2m
Weight (g) 3360
Size 124 x 365.5mm
Colour Black
Minimum aperture 32
Lens elements 24
Lens groups 17
Aperture blades 9
Focus mechanism AF-S
MF switch Yes
Tele-converter compatibility Yes
Enlargement Ratio 01:03.600

Price £4,979.00

The important numbers listed above for the wildlife photographer is the minimum focus distance which Canon wins 4.5m compared to Nikon’s 5m, also the weight of the lens is of importance again Canon wins at 3920g apposed to Nikon’s 5060g.

Nikon does win on cost by quite a long way, but if you want the best lens on paper then Canon wins on minimum focus, weight and has more lens elements.

The important numbers listed above for the wildlife photographer is the minimum focus distance which Canon wins 3.7m compared to Nikon’s 4m, also the weight of the lens is of importance again Canon wins at 3190g apposed to Nikon’s 3800g.

Nikon does win on cost by quite a long way, but if you want the best lens on paper then Canon wins on minimum focus, weight and has more lens elements.

The important numbers listed above for the wildlife photographer is the minimum focus distance which Canon wins 2.7m compared to Nikon’s 2.9m, also the weight of the lens is of importance again Canon wins at 3850g apposed to Nikon’s 4620g.

Nikon does win on cost by quite a long way, but if you want the best lens on paper then Canon wins on minimum focus, weight and has more lens elements.

The important numbers listed above for the wildlife photographer is the minimum focus distance which Canon wins 2m compared to Nikon's 2.2m, also the weight of the lens is of importance again Canon wins at 2400g apposed to Nikon's 2900g.

Nikon does win on cost by quite a long way, but if you want the best lens on paper then Canon wins on minimum focus, weight and has more lens elements.

Studio and Location Portraits – I create bespoke portrait photography, children and family portraits, wedding photography, intimate nude portraits, Internet profiles, model portfolios and corporate and editorial portraiture.

Product Photography – Matt started his professional life as a Mechanical engineer and worked designing from first principles machines and plant. This has given Matt an insight into product photography from not only a photographers point of view but also from the designers view point.  I produce exquisite product photography with a service philosophy that every client is my only client.

Commercial Photography – we provides a range of commercial photography services throughout the Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Manchester. We make your company stand out from the crowd, Let us help your business get its message across, Great photographs for your brochures, annual reports and web sites.  When you need a professional commercial photographer, please give Matt Blonc Photography a call.

Architectural photography – has been successful in helping businesses with marketing both online and in print with a modern approach to presenting architectural photography in a multi media format.  If you are looking for an architectural photographer in Manchester or Cheshire to shoot architecture both inside and out, showing off moods of lighting and furnishings in places such as hotels, residential property, leisure facilities, restaurants, bars and commercial environments illustrating the architecture and interior beauty and design.

Training – Matt offers one to one and group traing at www.fotoschool.co.uk

Image editing / retouching – We provide an image editing and processing service to both business and individuals. You supply your RAW images and we will process your images to the highest standards, whether your a wedding or events photographer, a studio photographer or an individual whom wants their photographs professionally edited. Just email me for a quote, whether its one image or a thousand images we can edit them.

Web design – If you like our website and need one design then please contact me, we can design, build, SEO and host your website. We can also do your photograph’s and video’s for the site.

I am a photographer with a passion for photography of exquisite quality. My service philosophy: every client is my only client, be different – be yourself: Let me express your inner essence and natural beauty in a series of unique photographs.

Call – 0161 456 0089

email: mattblonc@me.com