Category Archives: Photography

Sony’s Real-time Eye AF feature can automatically detect and track the eyes of animals as well as humans.

Nick sent me the video I posted yesterday about how awesome the original Sony a7S is (watch the video, it’s conceptually awesome!), and it gave me some motivation to put a little love into my camera. I decided, that after all these years of use, that I was finally going to remove my scratched up lens filter which has been stuck on my camera since I bought it in 2014. At some stage I must have dropped my camera and it bent the filter ring making it impossible to screw off.

I watched a few YouTube video tutorials where people were hacking their lenses with pliers, screwdrivers, hacksaws and even band saws. I also looked at some expensive tools, but end of the day I just used brute strength to unscrew the filter and amazingly it came off! I had tried SO many times in the past, and thought about taking it in to a camera shop to take it off SO many times (I’m SO lazy!), but last night, it just popped off!

I took the opportunity to order a new filter (mainly to protect the lens), and I was left feeling pretty excited about potentially taking much sharper and clearer shots now that my scratched up filter is no more.

Thing is, after watching the video Nick shared with me, the YouTube algorithm served up a few reviews of the much newer Sony A7III and A7C cameras, and the few videos I watched went to town with showing off how amazing eye tracking technology is on these cameras. I shoot locked in at 1.4, and I very often miss focus on eyes, so what I do to compensate for this (once I find a shot I like) is take a few shots “just in case” some of them miss focus. Buying any of these new cameras with eye tracking would absolutely be a game changer for me in nailing the shots I’m after with much more confidence.

So I started looking at the A7III and the A7C (same camera but smaller). I posted this up on Facebook and immediately got comments suggesting the A7IV. I’m no gear head (I usually only replace things when they break), and had no idea the A7IV even existed! Turns out it’s the perfect camera for me. Insane real-time eye auto focusing, faster, more durable design and longer battery life. At $3.5K it sure isn’t cheap, but my trusty 35mm Zeiss will screw right on and all in all I think it’ll be a great investment for me.

I’ve been shooting exclusively with an original Sony a7S ever since I bought it in 2014. This video from the future suggests it’s going to last me many more years!

You know what’s fucking awesome? Getting a personal email from the Marketing Manager and Head of Artist Relations at DeviantArt to tell me:

“Hi Justin. I’m sorry to hear that both Instagram and Patreon have been giving you issues. Your content is welcome on DeviantArt. If you have any issues with anything, feel free to reach out.”

Hallelujah!

Ruby.

After deleting hundreds of photos and impatiently waiting for a response from Patreon I finally (and quite surprisingly) got my account unsuspended.

Whilst the community guidelines are quite blurry on Patreon (understatement as full nudity is allowed), what I cannot and will not post on Patreon from now on are photos where any part of the genitals are in the shot. This means a lot of my point of view (POV) style photos, as well as just straight out nudes from more interesting angles are a no go.

That said, if you do want to see the more erotic and graphic shots, you can find them on my new DeviantArt account.

Visit: https://www.deviantart.com/justinfoxphoto

Despite spending the last 2 days working through over 3,000 photos dating back to 2018 with the Patreon trust and safety team I’ve failed to get my Patreon account unsuspended.

End of the day, Patreon (like many other platforms) has changed their guidelines to a point where my work no longer belongs, so I’m making the move to re-upload ALL of my work to DeviantArt.

I’ve been a bit down about it all, won’t lie, and have thought about giving in entirely, but I don’t see myself ever getting back into Graphic Design, and as an Artist, I still NEED to flex my creative muscles, and photography still fills that void.

A sincere thanks to all who have supported me over the years. I’m hoping you’ll continue to support me on DeviantArt.

Visit/Support/Thank You (NSFW warning): https://www.deviantart.com/justinfoxphoto

According to Patreon, this is pornography.

4 days ago my Patreon account was suspended. Turns out the guy who was in charge of helping me to get my Patreon reviewed was out of office, and now I’ve got a lady looking after me.

The silence was killing me (I thought they were simply going to delete my account like Instagram has), so it’s nice to finally be in contact with someone.

I had already spent massive hours going through my entire Patreon (I post daily and it dates back to 2018) and deleted all photos and posts which I thought could potentially go against their guidelines, but even so, she still let me know that there is still pornography on my account.

Patreon allows full nudity, but I can’t seem to figure out exactly what they deem as pornography and what is an OK art nude. I posted a few links to images which feature my point of view (POV) style, but with a model in lingerie, to ask whether she thought these images were pornography, and thank fuck she replied to confirm that they were not, and were AOK.

She then replied with 3 links to images which she suggested were pornography and had to be removed. The above image being one of them. IMHO this is not pornography and does not go against their rule of “spreading or otherwise emphasizing genitals in a sexual way such as focus or cropping of the image falls under pornographic material and is outside of guidelines.”

Creative angles? Yes, but I don’t think I am emphasising genitals in this shot, nor are her genitals in focus. End of the day it’s not black and white. I understand that, and much of my luck lies in who is reviewing my account.

I’ve been looking into other platforms, or potentially starting my own site with a paywall, but I respect Patreon for supporting Artists over using a platform that supports pornography.

I feel deflated, but I’m still not about to give up just yet.