Photographing Flowers: Snowdrops and Daffodils

One of the ways that I’ve been able to maintain motivation with my photography has been the creation of themed galleries. They have ensured that I never feel short of future photography subjects or ideas. One of my most important galleries for inspiration has been my Flower, Plants and Trees Gallery, which you can access … Read full article

Photographing Beautiful Vienna at Christmas

Heart tree in Vienna

At this time of year, I wanted to share some seasonal images from my latest visit to beautiful Vienna for the Christmas Markets. You can view my public images here: Photo Gallery of Vienna and Christmas Markets  |  Mark Heath Photography You can also view some other Christmas images here: Gallery of Christmas Images  | … Read full article

Best Sony Mirrorless Lenses For 2022

Robin

During 2021, Sony released some amazing lenses for its full-frame mirrorless cameras. Apart from a missing 85mm F1.2 lens (which hopefully will appear in 2022), Sony now offers a comprehensive range of lenses with superb performance. I’m often asked for lens recommendations so, in this post, I identify my favourite nine Sony lenses and provide … Read full article

Photographing Magic of the Musicals from Spotlight Productions

The end of 2021 was tinged with some sadness as Bethany Heath and I undertook our last photography assignment for youth theatre Spotlight Productions. We took photos of their Christmas ‘Magic of the Musicals’ production. We have supported Spotlight in different ways since 2014, when we photographed the dress rehearsal of Les Misérables (photo shown … Read full article

Christmas at Wimpole Hall and Anglesey Abbey

This year, I visited Wimpole Hall for its ‘Christmas at Wimpole 2021’ winter trail. I’ve not been to this annual event before but it is a major fundraiser for the National Trust. I was actually very impressed with what I saw and heard. With the National Trust requesting photos from visitors, I decided to take … Read full article

Peterborough Cathedral at Christmas

Peterborough Cathedral provides a wonderful location for enthusiast photographers since it is such a lovely building and photography is permitted. I attended a Christmas carol concert there in December 2021. The concert featured Peterborough Male Voice Choir, Peterborough Voices, Peterborough Youth Choir and Peterborough Festival Brass. It also featured mezzo soprano Karen England, who was … Read full article

Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM Sample Images

Earlier blog posts providing sample photos with various Sony lenses have proved popular, so here I continue with another great lens – the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM model. In an earlier blog post, I provided sample images from the superb Sony 14mm F1.8 GM lens, which has just won DPReview’s 2021 award for “best prime … Read full article

Photographing St John’s College Cambridge

Two years ago, when I set myself the photography challenge of capturing as many Cambridge colleges as I could, I hadn’t bargained for coronavirus and the length of time that many colleges would remain closed to visitors. Recently, I had the opportunity to take some photographs of St John’s College. Very few people would disagree … Read full article

Remembrance Sunday – for our tomorrow they gave their today

With an estimated 100,000 war memorials in the UK, memorials took place up and down the country on Remembrance Sunday to remember the fallen. In my local village, over 90 villagers gathered round the war memorial to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedom. You can view the photos here: Remembrance … Read full article

Sony 100-400mm GM Sample Images

Parrot

The Sony 100-400mm GM lens has quickly become one of my very favourite lenses, and in this post I provide some sample images taken in the last few weeks with this superlative lens. Paired with the Sony A1 camera, its amazing autofocus performance means that you can capture fast action easily, and sharpness is superb. … Read full article

Commencing a New Photography Project – Norfolk – in Memory of Raine Thompson

Norfolk

Living in rural Cambridgeshire, I have enjoyed visiting places across the county and taking photographs. However, despite living relatively close to Norfolk, I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I’ve rarely visited Norfolk, apart from day trips to Hunstanton and Norwich. Well better late than never! My friends Nick and Raine (shown above) adored the North … Read full article

Photographing Cambridge as Coronavirus Restrictions Ease

Cambridge museum

As with most people, the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with holidays and trips, and photography opportunities have been dramatically diminished. While we are still far from ‘normal’ (with the wearing of masks indoors, for example), it’s been nice to visit more places and take more photographs. Recently, I visited Cambridge, enabling me to add … Read full article

New FTTP Full-Fibre Broadband Installation Guide

FTTP installation

The introduction of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) – often known as ‘Full-Fibre Broadband’ –  in my local area will kickstart the production of lots of new content on my Increase Broadband Speed website. My new article (below) details what’s involved in an FTTP installation, with lots of photographs. An FTTP installation is usually relatively straightforward and quick, and … Read full article

Photographing Beautiful Oxford

I live near the beautiful city of Cambridge, which is one of my favourite places to photograph (when it is not too busy). I have now photographed many different parts of the city, although I have many more images to take on my ‘wish list’. In contrast, Oxford has received much less photographic attention from … Read full article

Photographing the Wedding of Vicky and Matt

Although photography is strictly a hobby for me (as being professional would take out all the fun of photography for me), I’ve ended up photographing a number of weddings over the years for family and friends. I have often complemented the professional photographer by taking candid shots. Recently, my next-door neighbour Mick asked me to … Read full article

Photographing Woburn Safari Park with the Sony 100-400mm Lens

Seizing the opportunity to try out the Sony A1 camera with the Sony 100-400 GM lens, I visited Woburn Safari Park. This is a perfect lens for zoos and wildlife, although it is relatively heavy when carried around all day. It is, however, significantly lighter than the longer 200-600mm lens. With the 100-400mm lens, autofocus … Read full article

Photographing Wimpole Hall with the Sony 50mm F1.2 Lens

Poppy

I visited Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire, which is owned by the National Trust. I took my Sony A7R IV camera with Sony 50mm F1.2 GM lens. The lens proved a very useful walkabout lens with exceptional sharpness, but really excelled in the quality of portraits due to the buttery smooth bokeh at F1.2. This is … Read full article

Sony 14mm F1.8 Sample Images

Tree

Sony has been on a roll recently with the introduction of several groundbreaking lenses. Following quickly after the amazing Sony 50mm F1.2 GM lens, Sony has introduced its ultra-wide-angle 14mm F1.8 GM lens. Just as with the Sony 50mm F1.2 lens, it is astonishing how much performance Sony has packed in to such a small, … Read full article

Sony 50mm F1.2 GM Sample Images

Despite the coronavirus lockdowns, camera manufacturers have been hard at work developing new cameras and lenses, with a major battle between Sony and Canon. Sony has just released its first every lens using an F1.2 aperture, which many in the industry said would be impossible. Pre-ordered many weeks ago, my new Sony 50mm F1.2 GM … Read full article

Spring Starts as the End of Coronavirus is in Sight

Flower

It definitely feels like spring, with daffodils flowering and temperatures rising. I cannot believe that it is nearly a year since I took photographs of a deserted Spaldwick in lockdown. As shown above, the A14 was empty. View the photos of Spaldwick in spring 2020. One casualty of the last 12 months has been the … Read full article

We Will Remember Them Even With Coronavirus

While the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world, England entered its second nationwide lockdown on the 5th November 2020. The lockdown is planned to end on Wednesday 2nd December. Remembrance celebrations across the country were unable to go ahead in their normal form. Here are some photos I took of the war memorial … Read full article

Celebrating VJ Day with the Sony 135mm GM f1.8 lens

On Saturday 15th August 2020, my daughters shouted that I should look out the window as a convoy of military vehicles were passing – clearly on the way to some VJ Day celebration. I grabbed the Sony A7 III camera (with the Sony 135mm f1.8 GM lens attached) and took some photos of the vehicles … Read full article