There are 2 kinds of light meter; Reflective and Incedental. Reflective meters are the type that you usually find in your camera, light from the scene is reflected into the meter and exposure values calculated from that – whereas Incedental meters are the type you would see the photographer holding near the model measuring the light directly from within the scene. Incedental meters will give a nice accurate reading as you can take precise readings from a number of areas within the frame, but there are inherent problems in using one in the field. As you want to get as close to your subject as possible with an incedental meter, for landscape and wildlife photographers the problems are obvious.

So why would you want one? Let’s face it, you probably don’t need one, your new camera lets you point it at any given scene and in full auto mode it takes a perfectly usable image. When shooting manual the in-camera meter readings are fast and reliable – you can even change between spot metering and full frame average metering depending on the situation, so you’ve got along just fine without one so far. Assuming then that your interest is piqued and you either want to revisit the old days, or just look into your first purchase, what should you look for in a handheld light meter? Whether to choose Reflective or Incedental will be completely down to personal choice but plenty of the modern digital light meters perform both functions such as the Sekonic L-308S Flashmate light meter at around £139 (pictured above).

If you decide to go for something a little older, you can find good examples for between £10 & £20 on ebay. My own light meter of choice is also a Sekonic – a model that stopped production around 1978, but needs no batteries, has no on/off switch and is incredibly easy to use (see picture below).

So don’t be afraid of digging around car boot sales, as the old models perform the task in a beautifully simple fashion and whilst buying a light meter may not turn you into a pro overnight, hopefully this serves as a very brief introduction to a piece of equipment that previously have seen a bit daunting. Besides… as a photographer, you’re always looking at scenes in your everyday life and thinking, “that’s a 125th of a second at f/2.8 if I push it up to ISO800″ and being able to refer to that little light meter you’ve taken to carrying around with you will let you know if you’re right… or is that just me?

The camera itself is extremely compact and nice in the hand and not too slippy for such a sleek body, start-up time is quick and AF is nippy enough for this price bracket and it has all the features you’d expect:

12.1-megapixel sensor
HDMI output
Full-HD video capture
Stainless steel body
5x optical zoom
Equivalent focal length of 24-120mm
Image Stabilisation

What the Ixus 220 HS does have that makes it a bit more fun to use is a number of preset shooting modes that reflect modern trends for image making. There is a ‘Toy Camera’ setting which will produce saturated, vignetted images akin to a Lomo – a trend boosted by a number of smartphone apps that do similar things such as Instagram and Hipstamatic. It also features a  ’Tilt-Shift’ preset which will imitate a proper tilt-shift lens with pretty effective results, giving you the miniaturised look without the usual effort. The other presets are perhaps less impressive but they include a ‘Fish-Eye’ setting, ‘Monochrome’, ‘Colour Accent’, ‘Colour Swap’, ‘Poster’ and ‘Super Vivid’. The colour swap feature is worth a mention thoug h despite being a little gimmicky, it is clever. The other presets are things you’re more likely to want to do in your post-processing software if you have any rather than let the camera decide.

 
One the reasons for testing the Ixus 220 HS here, was to highlight Canon’s HS system which combines the DIGIC 4 image processor with a new high-sensitivity sensor. This sensor incorporates back-illuminated architecture which lowers noise levels by up to 60% at all ISO speeds, allowing you to capture high quality photos even in low light. It may not have the low light performance of something like a Canon 5DmkII but it’s handy in a compact to be able take shots in circumstances where the flash would either spoil the atmosphere or simply be unwelcome. Shots up to 1600 were perfectly usable without undue noise.

As for the rest of the evening, the food and entertainment were excellent, and though the atmosphere got steadily more tense as it came time to announce the winners it was all in good spirits. Most nominees had representatives there (apart from Apple) and with Angelos staying on stage to ‘help’ with the presentations after his routine, he made sure proceedings didn’t get too serious. Altogether the night was a lot of fun, and thanks to Stuff magazine for making it all possible and thanks to Canon UK for the invitation.

To read more about the event and see more of the images taken on the night, check out the January 2012 issue of Stuff Magazine, and possibly pick up a couple of Christmas gift ideas while you’re at it.

With access to several studios around the South East of England with a variety of facilities, there’s no obstacle to achieving  any particular look your portfolio needs. Also shooting on location is no problem with a fully portable lighting set up.

Private parties, company outings, corporate events all covered. Special rates for charity & fundraising events.

Well not quite murder, but it did get pretty hot in there for a bit as Sophie Ellis-Bextor did her thing. Anyway, no harm done and 2010 comes to a very satisfactory end. Looking forward to 2011 and hoping things continue to grow as they have done over the last 18 months.

Whilst former Spice Girl Mel C. was the perfect subject as she posed for a portrait, you couldn’t help thinking she’d been in front of the camera once or twice before. How do you go about taking the picture of one of the most photographed faces of recent times…?

Mel was with us in Brighton to support a band that feature a friend of her racing driver brother’s, so it made sense to grab some shots while she had a few minutes spare, and she was happy to oblige. We then sat back to watch an energetic set by Californian based rockers We Are Scientists.

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk bought his friends to Brighton as the final stage of a European Legends tour. A crowd of thousands filled the seafront as he was joined on the ramp by five-time World champion Sandro Dias, Kevin Staab, and Jesse Fritsch. With behind the scenes access throughout the day (and a short stint at the top of the ramp!), I was in a great position to capture some images of a real legend in his field.

Rachel Holland, founder and owner of La Luminata had some boots to review, so we took a little walk to let her road test the footwear properly. The results are feature on La Luminata’s online magazine