A Glorious Summer Wedding at Farbridge Barn
Katie & James

Here is Kate and James’ wedding at Farbridge in West Sussex.

Despite being born and raised in the UK Kate and James now live and work in Arizona so a lot of their planning was done from afar and over Skype.

You might think that organizing a wedding from that far away would be a task but the day itself was faultless everything ran smoothly and Kate and James did come back to the UK at important times to make sure everything was in order. On one of the days we went to Amberley Castle for an engagement shoot which can be seen here: https://www.chrisgilesphotography.com/blog/engagement-shoot-at-amberley-castle/

On the day we couldn’t of wished for better weather, Kate got ready at her parents home whilst James started early at Farbridge helping to ensure the venue was in order before getting ready with his groomsmen.

7th July 2014 Leave a commentBarn Weddings, Farbridge, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Review Pt1 – The Journey

A Pentax 645z overview. From left, Extension tube set, the 45-85mm FA 4.5, the 35mm A, the 80-160mm FA, the Pentax 645z and 55mm D-FA 2.8, the 120mm F4 Macro, the 75mm 2.8 FA, 150mm 2.8 FA and finally the x2 extender[/caption]

Welcome to my personal review of the Pentax 645z. There are many posts and even though they will undoubtedly cross over in places with regards their content, I’ve tried to focus on certain aspects with each page.

Appendix:

Part 1 – The Journey
Part 2 – Image Quality
Part 3 – Lens options and CCD vs CMOS
Part 4 – Ergonomics and weight
Part 5 – Flash System
Part 6 – Conclusion
Part 7 – 100+ Uncompressed DNG’s to download

Firstly, why I bought the Pentax 645z and the journey I took to get to this point.

7th May 2014 1 CommentPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z review Pt2 – Image quality

Appendix:
Part 1 – The Journey
Part 2 – Image Quality
Part 3 – Lens options and CCD vs CMOS
Part 4 – Ergonomics and weight
Part 5 – Flash System
Part 6 – Conclusion
Part 7 – 100+ Uncompressed DNG’s to download

The Pentax 645z camera has, hand on heart, the best image quality I have ever seen on any format, with any sensor, ever. The images have a certain look and feel to them unmatched on any other camera unless it shares the same sensor. The next camera with this sensor costs almost three times as much when you factor in the body as well.

6th May 2014 8 CommentsPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Review Pt3 – The Lenses, CCD vs CMOS and 35mm vs Medium format.

The Pentax 645 Lenses

The 645z lenses share a lot with Mamiya / Phase One. There is a legacy of low priced used glass out there (relative to new prices) for both the Pentax 645z and the Mamiya / Phase DF body. All the glass I purchased was used and works perfectly.

I’m very happy with all the lenses I have so far.

So far I’ve picked up the following:

5th May 2014 11 CommentsPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

The Jack and Jill Windmills in Clayton
Charlotte & Nick’s

When I spoke with Charlotte and Nick about a location for their engagement they suggested the Jack and Jill Windmills in Clayton. Great I thought, nice location, great views of the Downs and an imposing backdrop.

But I didn’t expect to end up inside it!

This lovely couple are getting married next year in Pyecombe Church with their reception at the fabulous Pangdean Barn.

We started off by walking around the area taking shots as something caught our eye. Because of the time of year there were daisies and dandelions everywhere adding colour and contrast.

After a few warm up shots on the grass we were invited up into the Jack Windmill for a walk around.

The steps up are very steep and we had to be careful. Once inside you are greeted with all the gears, pulleys and general nik naks which populate the space.

There is three levels to the mill and we went to each one. In the top floor you really notice the pitch and sway that the Windmill has as the wind catches it. Very much like being on a boat!

Afterwards we headed for some shots across the Sussex Downs and the weather really couldn’t of been better and we ended the shoot after visiting the Church in Pyecombe.

5th May 2014 Leave a commentEngagement ShootsBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Review Pt4 – In use and ergonomics

Hello again. I’m going to give you some technical info on this page but there a little caveat. This isn’t a full on technical page, more weights and measures.

I just want to give you and idea on how the 645z is in use. In the main, how heavy and ergonomic is it relative to other cameras?

4th May 2014 Leave a commentPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Review Pt5 – 645z Flash options

The Pentax 645 flash system.

*UPDATE* – SInce I wrote this review there are a lot more options available, TTL, HSS and so on. This page still has it’s merits but please research flash options that are new to the market.

I use speedlites a lot in the evenings for the dancefloor and during the speeches. Otherwise I’m pretty much a natural light shooter. Because I sometimes have a second shooter with me I have 10 Canon 600’s and the external Canon CP-E4 battery packs so I’ve been able to explore the flash setup pretty well and how to integrate my existing Canon equipment with Pentax.

For starters though, the Pentax proprietry TTL system (P-TTL) is highly accurate and just as good, if not slightly more accurate in metering than the Canon system. I currently use the MkI Pentax 540 FGZ and it’s very good. If you want to use a full wireless system then Pentax had wireless before Canon did. And that’s true wireless, not infrared.

3rd May 2014 4 CommentsPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

A wedding Riverside Venue Heathrow with added Hadouken
Kiran & Jason

Want something different to liven up your wedding album? Kiran and Jason certainly did, and this shot really packs a punch! (Well, a Hadouken, actually.) Jason used to work in a video game store and thought it’d be fun to recreate signature moves from 90s classic, Street Fighter.

The newlyweds took aim at their hapless friends, which led to much laughter and some great mid-air faces. There’s nothing wrong with traditional wedding photos, but it’s always nice when couples want to spice things up with a personal twist. Staging images like this allows me to get creative with Photoshop, and I really enjoyed editing it (all part of the service).

The location was Riverside Venue, Heathrow, which actually backs onto the airport runway (perfect for those quick honeymoon escapes!). The day really took flight with plenty of colour on show, and it was a truly beautiful event to be part of.

Kiran looked amazing, and I enjoyed documenting the behind-the-scenes action as she prepared for the big day. I love that pre-wedding atmosphere – all the nervous energy and raw excitement bubbling away – and it was a privilege to be invited inside to capture the moment. This fly-on-the-wall approach allows me to take some really natural shots, as everyone’s far more focused on getting ready than taking time out to pose for the camera.

The makeup was perfect, the dresses were great, and the ladies had lots of fun. I also managed to get some dazzling shots of the wonderful jewellery on display.

2nd May 2014 Leave a commentFusion Weddings, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Review Pt6 – Conclusion

Before I get on to my conclusion I’d like to touch on the Canon 5Ds and 5Dr cameras.

These are a welcome additions to the DSLR fold and keeps Nikon from the door to a certain extent. While I have no practical experience of them yet I have seen some of the files from both cameras. Personally I find the images have a small sensor ‘look’ to them. Regardless how many pixels you have on the sensor, the sensor size will give you a certain feel to an image. Be that an iphone, D810 or an 8×10 camera regardless of the pixel count or sensor manufacturer.

2nd May 2014 13 CommentsPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles

Pentax 645z Raw File download page

Download Raw Files for the Pentax 645z here

I’ve made over 100 uncompressed Pentax 645z DNG files available for download.

The total combined file size comes in a 5.4gb. Because of the amount of bandwidth such file transfers use I kindly ask for a token payment towards the cost of hosting them.

The cost is 5 GBP

Here are the details of the images supplied:

Brighton Seafront (12 images)
Caroline and Davids Wedding (26 images)
Portraits (2 Pentax, 2 Hasselblad H4D50 for CCD vs CMOS)
Mixed (4 images that miss classification)
Raven and Zak’s Wedding (33 images)
Woodland Walk at Sunset (8 images)
Three shoots in Sheffield National Park (16 images)

Some of these images will come with adjustments already applied, just hit reset in Lightroom to restore them to their out of camera versions.

These images are also ‘warts and all’ and I’ve done my best to give you under exposed, over exposed and tricky focus situations along with situations suffering from flare.

Here are some thumbnails of the images included:

1st May 2014 6 CommentsPentax 645z - The ReviewBy Chris Giles