Canon EF (Not RF)16-35mm f4 IS L

High and dry, Scarborough Harbour

A couple of shots I took recently with the Canon EF 16-35mm f4 lens, both in Scarborough, Yorkshire coast, UK. I've had this lens for a while now but only just got around to using it in action so to speak. It's not a lens I will use a great deal but it will get used, most of my street photography is done with the Canon EF 24-70mm f4 or the Canon EF 35mm f2 IS lens. I did have the 17-40mm f4 which is great at the long end 40mm but I thought it was lacking a bit on the wide end, this 16-35 just looks cleaner and sharper over more of the frame, with added IS too. I also recently got a Canon EF 100mm f2.8, Macro IS lens which again I've not used it in action yet, but just trying it out I like it already, exceptional image quality. Though there's a lot more to a good photo than IQ, but it's nice to have good tools. It is also a lens I probably won't use a lot, but who knows I might explore macro photography at some point? 

The street portrait below is a Liverpudlian holidaymaker, enjoying an ice cream on the seafront, (as you can see it's a versatile lens) She caught my eye crossing the road because of how diddy she looked struggling to cross with her walker and ice cream in hand. She could be from Knotty Ash, for those who don't get the pun, search Ken Dodd and his diddy men, a late great comedian from Liverpool. 

Street Portrait.

AI or AR Alternative Reality

 

Instagram is full of undisclosed AI generated images passed off as photography, here's one example I saw recently. Also, apart from my comments on the image above, the car appears to have 3 oddly placed doors, on one the break of the door, the crack extends up onto the roof! The general size of the child who looks about 5 years old in comparison to the size of the door window is all wrong too, he almost fills the entire window space! And look where the fuel cap is, if anyone stuck a fuel nozzle into that it would hit the giant kid! If you zoom in on any detail its just a mushy mess, the kids fingers are jammed down in between glass and whatever... he would be screaming in pain! On some images I've seen toes were fingers should be and vice versa!

One could argue anyone who uses Lightroom or Photoshop is using AI... a poor comparison really, since the beginning of photography images have been manipulated in the darkroom and now the lightroom but its mostly acceptable adjustments like exposure in certain areas (dodging and burning) contrast etc, nothing to this gross extent. In fact printing from negatives, or editing digital images is a skill in itself. Typing in instructions to an AI tool takes zero skill, and is a perversion of photography.

With giant water hungry data centres, AI is not only helping to destroy the environment, the climate its also destroying people's perception and understanding of what photography actually is. You cant see all the comments on the image here but just look at how many people (including "photographers") that think this is an actual photograph, 62 reshares and counting! The mind boggles. 

Recent images

 Two new images I took recently in London. July, 2025. 

'Vogue' A colourful girl in East London, I liked the juxtaposition going on here. Taken with my Lumix LX100, because I like to travel light. 

'Baggie smalls' Saw this character on Camden high street. 

 

Debatable

People often ask me how long I have been into photography. It's debatable when I got into photography on a serious level, what qualifies as a serious level? I know I was aware of it from a very young age as my old Dad (no longer with us) was a keen photographer. I remember taking some cool shots of my feet accidentally triggering the shutter while walking around Trafalgar Sq on school visits to London aged about 11 or 12. And I travelled overland to India aged 19, I don't consider myself to be a "serious" photographer back then but I documented the journey with a Kodak Instamatic film camera (still have the prints, and one image from it on my Insta) I had an unplanned stay in Iran because of the Islamic revolution of 1979 (I'm older than I look) The Kodak Instamatic was a basic point and shoot with symbols as a crude distance scale, and I don't recall any control over the exposure, maybe a symbol method again? The film came in a cassette which just clipped into the back of the camera, smaller film then 35mm, really just a glorified pin hole camera! But it worked in a fashion. 

My first decent camera was an Olympus Trip 35, 35mm film camera. I started doing the obvious landscapes, and pics of people I knew. Later I started using Canon 35mm SLR cameras, and medium format twin lens film cameras...more landscapes, yawn. I had a spell doing wedding photography, even bigger yawn, which I was good at, but the novelty soon waned and it got to the point where it was actually stifling my creativity! I did a stint at College doing a BTEC diploma, which was a waste of time really, the Tutor was a waste of space, I learnt more through my own efforts and I am still learning today. The only landscapes I do now tend to be Cityscapes. It wasn't until 2001 during a visit to NYC and San Francisco that I slowly discovered/developed my love for street photography, and documentary style photography. so maybe that's when it became serious? As I say it's debatable. I could do a post on what qualifies as a professional photographer. When I used to do wedding photography my own definition for a professional was someone who can deliver the goods, no matter what! I know some people who think simply having a degree on the subject makes them professional. 😂

The raw and the cooked

My latest street portrait, (a phone shot of my camera screen) not worked on them yet but spent a day recently in Sheffield, a great place for street photography. I always shoot in raw mode for several reasons, one I just enjoy working on them, and I also end up with large files great for printing large. Took it with my Canon 6D and my Canon EF 24-105mm f3.5/5.6 IS STM lens, don't be fooled by the lack of a red ring this lens is super, I have a few lenses including some with red rings (L lenses) I enjoy using this one, in fact I prefer it over the f4 L version mk 1, not tried the mk 2. For those unaware a raw file is like a digital negative, unlike a jpeg which can be used straight out the camera a raw file needs working on. It retains all the information, data etc its possible to get from the image rather than the cameras own processing messing with it. 

I'm available for talks, photo walks and seminars worldwide... Joking 😃 I am not one for blowing my own trumpet, I don't really need to my work speaks for itself. I have turned down offers of exhibitions at some great venues for various reasons, such as the Brick Lane gallery in East London, they just want too much £ up front, all these galleries operate a bit differently and there is no guarantee of selling anything to recoup the costs involved. I was keen to do one in Havana, Cuba (Cuba, how could one not do it) but unfortunately the Lockdowns happened and it never got off the ground!

Lensculture

Another one of my Street Portraits selected by the guys at Lensculture 

 "The Competition Gallery is a highly curated group of images showcasing the best photos" 

 Lensculture Portraits awards 2025