ABOUT ME & MY PHOTOGRAPHY

In the beginning…
I was given a camera at the age of 6 – a KODAK Instamatic. That was the start of my love with photography… The colour from that film camera still blows me away to this day! Bright, vivid and like me at the time – full of enthusiasm and eyes full of saturation.

How times change but expression and enthusiasm stay the same… My relationship with photography is the one constant of creativity, the one art form I have kept with me throughout my life. I studied fine art and graphic design for 8 years before working as a professional graphic designer for almost 20 years! Photography is my true form of artistic expression.

Join me on YouTube ??

Please take the time to check out my YouTube channel and subscribe for more…

Here’s one of my favourite videos I’ve made below:

Glossary of Mali Photography words

Tawreet: ‘Hello’
Sithee: ‘Goodbye’ or ‘See you soon’
Spondecking: ‘Wonderful’ or ‘Very exciting’
Tell thee what: ‘Example’ or “To show you how’

For more information on my dialect and Mali’isms’ please don’t hesitate to ask… Thank you and until next time, Sithee.

My gear and more about me…

Kit isn’t something I thirst for or change. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few pieces of kit I wouldn’t say no to, but I feel my setup I have right now is perfect for me.

Starting with my camera and lenses

Nikon D750 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love this camera, the more I use it the more it blows me away. Sensational in low light, great dynamic range for all types of photography. The thought of changing system or camera never crosses my mind with this lady! I once held a Hasselblad X1D but lets face it, not many can go out and shoot with one of those… ♥️ Nikon D750 forever ?

Nikon 16-35mm F4G ED AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The best lens I’ve ever owned and I’ve had a few. Like everyone I went all round the houses until I got this wide angle lens. Never disappoints and produces super sharp wonderful detailed images.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Above I say the best lens I’ve ever owned, well this is big brother and blows me away every single time I use this lens. Great reach and super sharp! I got the f/4 version because of the weight! I have never needed f2.8 out in the mountains with this superb lens. A must for any landscape photographer.

Tamron SP AF150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD (Nikon Mount) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BIG DADDY! The lens for wildlife and extra extra reach! I give this 4 stars based on the fact it’s not a lens for low light or poor light conditions. Monopod or tripod essential accessory for this beast! Shooting birds or anything with this lens is great fun. Tamron always manufacture great lenses… a must for any wildlife shooting.

Essential Kit

Benro Mach3 Tripod S4 Aluminium / 3 Section Long ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
OUTSTANDING Tripod from Benro, it’s true without a great tripod your putting your gear at risk. That moment the wind gets hold and you turn round and see your gear plummeting to the floor, yea that. Well this beast is taller than me (I’m 6ft) and solid! Apart from my bag, I consider this essential kit…

Lowepro Whistler BP 450 AW II 4 Season Outdoor Backpack ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For years I’ve used bag after bag, not quite enough room, too big or just not fit for purpose. This bag has changed all that! Plenty room for all your gear and some! Easily carry food, water, clothing and still have room for Jelly Babies! I consider this essential kit…

NiSi Filters

NiSi v6 100mm Filter Holding System with Landscape Special Edition Polariser ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A lightweight redefined design, easy to add multiple filters and for me an always on polariser! Yup, the glass is that good, I leave my Polariser on. Two reasons for this, the quality is outstanding, pushing the light and colour to the optimum. The second is for extreme weather conditions, a quick wipe of the nano coated glass and you’re ready to shoot with no water streaks or rain drops.

NiSi 100x100mm Nano IR Neutral Density Filter – 6 stop and 10 stop ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Outstanding ND filters! basically the best I’ve ever used. No colour casts, no distortion and clarity and high definition imaging every time! years I’ve spent messing with budget filters and wish I had known about NiSi years back, buy cheap buy twice. Not now…

NiSi Soft Nano IR GND8 (0.9) 3 Stop 100x150mm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Optical glass for high definition, waterproof and low reflection nano coating. The performance of this glass blows me away! Great colour rendition, great results.

NiSi Medium Nano IR GND8 (0.9) 3 Stop 100x150mm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Great colour rendition, great results. Also my most used graduated filter. I sometimes stack the soft edged to control the exposure better but find the medium 3 stop is spot on in the majority of conditions.

NiSi Hard Nano IR GND8 (0.9) 3 Stop 100x150mm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The performance is exceptional! For the heavy hard edge works great on the blown out beach or in conjunction with a 6 stop for extra control of light. Not my most used filter but when I do, you can get some excellent creative results.

NiSi Reverse Nano IR GND8 (0.9) 3 stop 100x150mm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just as the sunsets, I setup my system with this filter and direct sunlight is a lot easier to manage. hooting on the coast or where the light is harsh on the horizon this filter is fantastic! Sunrises and sunsets the reverse grad helps so much!

Yes, there’s more…
My Vlogging Gear

GoPro Hero 7 Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️
RIGHT! This camera is both amazing and the bane of my life! As vlogging cameras go it ticks all the boxes… Three stars you say? Well without this being 4 pages long. Its lightweight, its easy to use and records great footage. The bad news, this is my second version after returning the first and I still have to reset it by pulling the barrier out every single vlog I make. The strange thing is, it’s a love hate relationship…

Joby JB01507-BWW GorillaPod 3K Kit, Charcoal ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another problem piece of kit! Great at first until the legs started falling off. For the price, well its all about brand here. Works and I still use it but can be a right pain in the arse! Plus points, fast to setup a time-lapse and lightweight, maybe I was unlucky with this model.

ULANZI V2 Protective Housing Case ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Outstanding vlogging fram / cage mount with Microphone Cold Shoe Compatible for GoPro Hero 7 6 5 Vlog Setup Action Camera Accessories. A new version is now available with two cold shoe adapters. Great piece of kit!

Rode VideoMicro Compact On Camera Microphone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hot shoe microphone for on top of my GP7. I cannot praise this microphone enough! Outstanding, superb, all conditions and I still get great audio! Jees, I’d buy two of them. Seriously, if you want to start vlogging? This is the mic for you.

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Sithee