18 - 22 mm

I've always wanted a DSLR. The quality, clarity and creative control you get from the many photographs I have seen are amazing. I thought it was time to own one and I think this movie would benefit from better stills.
So over a week ago I bought myself a DSLR camera at the London Camera Exchange on the Strand. It's a great little shop and the staff there are all photographers who know the craft very well. It's a big step from the compact IXUS 500 I normally use.
I haven't had a chancce to take any on-set filming photos as we have yet to find out our confirmed shooting dates. When we do we'll post the photos on the blog.

I've been lucky enough to be given constructive feedback by Murray Close who has seen the first three [shooting] days of stills. He is a professional still/set photographer who has been in the industry for many years and is currently working on the fifth installment of a well known boy wizard. His advice has spurred me on to improve my skills.

What goes on in my mind when I take photos?
There's a lot actually! You look at your surroundings, lighting conditions, what you want to cover, where your subjects are, what speed they are moving and then go about composing your shot and adjust the many settings: aperture/f numbers (depth of field), shutter speed (exposure), wide or telephoto, focus, white balance, ISO speed etc on the camera. Eveything should be done manually as this gives you total creative control. There are presets and full auto too incase there isn't enough time. There's a lot of thinking involved to get the right photo and I like that.