Blog

Recording Mark Sturdy Singing ‘Hey There Delilah’

February 10, 2020 by Mark Heath

I’ve known Mark Sturdy for many years and have seen his and my family grow up in the same village in Cambridgeshire. I’ve regularly taken photos of Mark and his band, and these photos were taken at two of the earliest occasions, both back in 2012.

I’ve seen Mark perform ‘Hey There Delilah’ on several occasions. Mark kindly let me test my basic recording skills to capture his signature piece. Equipment used: Neumann U87 (vocal) and Rode NT4 (acoustic guitar) using an Apogee interface. Recorded at 192 kHz 24 bit resolution.

Photographing Cambridge

February 4, 2020 by Mark Heath

As one of my favourite cities, Cambridge is relatively small, with a population of about 129,000, including 25,000 students. With the clear influence of its world-renowned university, Cambridge possesses a host of cultural must-sees and beauty spots. I love visiting the city with my camera.

With over five million visitors flocking to see Cambridge every year, you really do need to visit at off-peak times in order to capture scenes without people.

In warmer weather, nothing is more relaxing that taking a punt along the River Cam, passing many of the Cambridge Colleges.

I am delighted that some of my Cambridge photos have been published – such as in the book ‘A Day Above Cambridgeshire’ by Angela Weld, Richard Hall, Robert Pusey, and William and John Nowell.

You can view many more Cambridge photos here:

Cambridge Photo Gallery

How Many Megapixels are Enough on a Camera?

January 11, 2020 by Mark Heath

I always try to capture images is as high as resolution as possible – not really to display on mobile phones and today’s display technology but for posterity. In many years, display technology will have advanced rapidly and those images that look fine today on a small screen will look distinctly blurry, noisy and lacking in detail on much larger displays in the future. I can tell this as I often display images from Facebook on my iMac Pro’s 5k retina screen and images that look fine on a small mobile phone look pretty bad on a much larger higher-resolution device.

I am always amazed at how much detail an excellent DLSR camera with the best lenses can capture. Below is a scene I photographed with a 60 Megapixel Sony A7R IV camera (hand held) with a Sony 24mm FE f1.4 GM lens. This camera captures images of 9504 x 6336 pixels, so even an 8k TV could not display the images produced in their full resolution. If you are looking at the image on a decent monitor, you should be able to distinguish the start of the name on the boat – ‘Elaine’ – and clearly distinguish the blue flag above the name.

The image above, is actually just a crop taken from the original image below.

Here is another example, below, which shows a cropped image. On a decent monitor, you should be able to clearly make out the text, “For family, friends and drink lovers everywhere!”

Now here is the original image from which the image above was cropped.

Based upon this, one could argue that such high resolution on a camera is completely wasted if you are viewing images on a display screen. This is particularly true for mobile phones, which many people are currently using to view images. For example, one of the most current smartphones is the Apple iPhone 11, which has a screen resolution of 1792 x 828 pixels. Even though modern mobile phone screens look detailed and sharp (because they have a relatively high pixel density), their small size means that they cannot display images in their full resolution. The iPhone 11 cannot even fully display HD video content (1920 x 1080 pixels), nevermind Ultra HD 4k content (3840 x 2160 pixels). With a resolution of 1792 x 828 pixels, the iPhone 11 is capable of only displaying the output of a 1.5 Megapixel camera in its full resolution.

It would be unwise to base requirements on today’s viewing on small mobile phone screen. Some desktop users are using screens with much higher resolution. For example, my 27-inch iMac Retina screen has a resolution of 5120 x 2880 pixels. It can display the output of a 15 Megapixel camera in its full resolution. Apple’s new 6k display has a resolution of 6016 x 3384 pixels, and so can display the output of a 20.4 Megapixel camera. More and more people are expected to display their photos on smart TVs. Already, 8k TVs are on sale, which are expected to proliferate in the next ten years. An 8k TV, with a resolution of 7680 x 4320, can display the full resolution image of a 33.2 Megapixel camera.

There is another important factor, however. The figures so far assume that you would be using the full output of a camera. However, most photographers like having ‘spare’ resolution to be able to crop images to make them more artistic or remove unwanted visual distractions. If you want cropping flexibility and plan to eventually have your images displayed on an 8k TV, you will need a camera with significantly more than 33.2 Megapixels. Suddenly, the 60 Mpixel resolution of the Sony A7R IV does not seem overkill anymore.

Bear in mind that the benefits of a large pixel count on a camera depend critically on the quality of the lens used and the lack of motion blur. The true resolution of an image captured can be significantly degraded by a poorer quality lens, which is why increasing resolutions on mobile phones is rather pointless. Opting for a camera with a high Megapixel count demands investing in the best quality lens available. Furthermore, motion blur can reduce the actual resolution recorded. For example, it is possible to see motion blur on the cropped photo above. Ideally, photographs should be taken with a tripod or a very fast shutter speed. Fast shutter speeds generally necessitate higher-cost, wider aperture lenses to avoid noise.

While I take photographs with other cameras, I’m now noticing I reach for my Sony A7R IV in preference. I know that images I take today will be more futureproofed for tomorrow.

BBC Ramps Up Ultra HD (4k) Content Through iPlayer

January 7, 2020 by Mark Heath

As with any AV enthusiast, I relish being able to watch (and listen to) TV in the best quality possible – to see exactly what the Director intended. In general, a huge amount of work in put in behind the scenes for TV programmes and movies, with incredible attention to detail.

To help bring viewers improved picture and sound quality, the BBC has been trialling its new Ultra HD (4k) service through iPlayer, and it has looked spectacular. Many people do not realise that they are able to receive these ‘test’ broadcasts on their smart TVs. The BBC has been offering 4k versions of ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ and ‘Dracula’. The photos shown were taken of my own TV screen, so looked even better in person. I’ve created an information page on my Increase Broadband Speed site for anyone interested in finding out more:

BBC iPlayer Ultra HD (4k) Demonstrates Amazing Picture Quality

As described in my recent article Superfast Broadband Fuels Streamed Video-on-Demand Services, the widespread roll-out of superfast broadband is fuelling a transformation in the availability and take-up of Ultra HD services, including services offered by Netflix, Amazon, Sky and Apple. You can read my recent review of Apple’s new TV+ service here:

Review of Apple TV+: Apple’s Streamed Service Leads the Pack in Picture Quality

I will shortly be reviewing the new Disney+ service when it launches on the 24th March 2020. It will offer a broad range of Ultra HD content. It’s a tremendously exciting time for AV enthusiasts.

Photographing the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge

November 30, 2019 by Mark Heath

On this blog, I like to feature interesting places to visit in the Cambridgeshire area. My younger daughter absolutely adores museums so we recently visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. To be honest, I saw the trip as a bit of a photography challenge as interiors can be very dark.

The Fitzwilliam houses a collection of over half a million works of art, paintings and historical artefacts. As you can see, some of the interiors are spectacular.

For more information, visit the Fitzwilliam website:

Fitzwilliam Museum website

Photographing Weddings

November 6, 2019 by Mark Heath

With the proliferation of mobile phones, it seems that many people are increasingly relying on their mobile phones to capture their lives. It is reassuring that many still opt to capture ‘big’ events such as weddings with high-quality camera equipment so they have something great to look back on. In decades, the display technologies available will be far superior to those available today.

Although I’ve been asked many times to take photographs of weddings, I find the thought of photographing such events quite stressful. A wedding is such an important day for those taking part and there is, normally, no margin for error. I prefer taking photos when I am relaxed and enjoying the process. While I have taken photographs at some occasions for friends and family, it has been in the context of taking candid shots, ideally to supplement the results of an ‘official’ photographer.

While it is lovely to capture bride and groom in relaxed poses, often it is capturing treasured family members in good spirits that provide some of the greatest images for posterity. I am always anxious before viewing the images I have taken but I’ve always been happy that I pushed beyond my comfort zone to take the images in the first place.

View more wedding photographs by clicking on the links below:

Wedding Photography Gallery

Seizing the Opportunities from Chromakey Video Capabilities

November 2, 2019 by Mark Heath

In video production, ‘green screen’ (or Chromakey as it is more accurately termed) provides amazing opportunities to be creative and overcome the challenges of finding (and lighting) appropriate real-life backdrops. Many films rely upon Chromakey to avoid the need to travel to specific locations or to create imaginary worlds. Chromakey can be very useful for corporate videos and I find I leave my Chromakey screen up permanently. With care, results look very different to the tell-tale signs of fuzzy edges on old sci-fi TV programmes, for example. Below are two examples of videos produced with Chromakey.

The first video was produced for team building events company Creative Team Events for use on the front page of its website, and features Director Lisa Hunter. It was recorded in Ultra HD 4k using a Sony camera and with studio lighting used to evenly light the presenter and the backdrop. A suitable studio backdrop allowed integration with various video feeds. Autocue was used to minimise stress for the presenter.

The video below was created for Creative Team Events to promote a brand new team building activity called Animate. The video features Nathan Taylor. It was also recorded with a Sony Ultra HD 4k camera and several different backgrounds were used. Advanced video editing allowed the integration of various video feeds and interviews recorded on mobile phones.

For more information about Creative Team Events and the activities they offer, visit:

Creative Team Events website

Buckden and Ouse Valley Way Walk, Cambridgeshire

October 18, 2019 by Mark Heath

The Ouse Valley Way is a 150-mile footpath that follows the River Great Ouse and provides great opportunities for walks. The length of the Ouse Valley Way Walk gives lots of flexibility in terms of where you start and end your walk. We began a walk at Buckden in Cambridgeshire, which is home to St Mary’s Church (above) and Buckden Towers (below) – formerly known as Buckden Palace – which is a 12th-century fortified manor house.

Buckden Palace has been home to the Bishops of Lincoln, and is listed in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as a manor belonging to the Bishop of Lincoln. During World War 2, Buckden Towers was home to evacuees from the London Blitz.