Gloomy days ahead…

From the freezing blast of full sun we’re now back to standard winter fare…gloomy gray days. Perhaps the only good thing is that as everyday passes we get around 1 minute extra sunlight per day. This lead me to sit on the cold bench in the garden, see what flew by and try to make an interesting image or two. I surprised myself with what I caught.

The prize of the day was the Reed Bunting (above). It is several years since I was aware we had buntings visiting the garden so their presence gave me a lift. Perhaps the most satisfying thing about this morning was that all these were captured in appalling light. I used my CR with the Sony 200 – 600mm lens. Many of the talking heads say this combination shouldn’t work. What do they know? To top it all they were all handheld. I have to say it was impressive to see the camera selecting the birds eye through thick cover.

before I went out my mood matched the cloud cover. Now I have a renewed bounce in my step.

Posted in Gardens, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Images – Same Spot…

Not sure why but it always fascinates me that you can capture two totally different image from the same spot. Not sure what that means? If it means anything at all.

Posted in Gartree Explored, Photography, Winter | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cold Digits…

When one is slowly freezing I find strange things enter my head. This morning a question that my ever perceptive wife asked me came to the fore. “What’s so great about a Leica camera?” This was was prompted by me watching a number of reviews/love ins for Leica cameras on YouTube. I wasn’t able to answer that question other than the reviewers are rich. Over the years I have found that cameras are cameras. They have improved in almost every aspect over the last few years. This in no small part is driven by the ever presence of smartphones. In short today’s camera packs a huge bang for their buck. I should know I’ve just bought one.

Is my camera as good as or better than a Leica? I haven’t got the first clue and I don’t really care. If someone can afford to pay double the price of my camera for the Leica experience. I wish them the best of luck. I just doubt the images I would make using a Leica would be any better than those I make now. I could be wrong but I doubt I will ever be able to test this theory.

The one thing I do know. Whatever camera I used this morning wouldn’t have stopped my fingers freezing.

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cold Day at the Office..

By recent British standards the past few days have been really cold. On a global scale of course it has been just a brush with the cold. Be that as it may, when I go outside it feels bloody cold. be careful what you wish for.

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Testing…

Every now and then we all experience a moment of clarity. A moment when many things we had been struggling with just came together. Afterwards life would not be the same again. Today I might have experienced such a moment.

This morning I decided to test my new camera’s capabilities. I planned to use it in a field it probably wasn’t designed for. This didn’t mean it couldn’t capture any images. Rather Sony make cameras that are especially marketed for wildlife photographers. The A7CR isn’t really one of those cameras. Yet it has the latest AI focusing system and is able to capture images at around 5 frames per second. So it should work. Shouldn’t it?

Well of course the answer was yes. For 15 minutes, I pointed the camera and large zoom lens at small birds. The camera delivered the goods. Again and Again and Again! For those interested in the technical details, all of these images were captured by a 600 mm lens. The camera was handheld at 3200 ISO and a shutter speed of 1/640th sec. It was a moment when man and his machine worked in perfect harmony. This camera is exceptional.

I am not going to suggest that more expensive cameras in the Sony range are not worth the money. Instead, just imagine the images that could be captured with their extra capabilities. This of course assumes the photographer knows how to use their camera – hence my continuing testing program.

Posted in Photography, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Glum…

One of the joys (?) of where I live is that we never get the best weather. The term ‘best’ is very much a movable feast. In this context I mean weather that adds something to the image. So today instead of snow drifts we get dull. Don’t get me wrong I am not advocating for more dramatic weather. No, in these circumstances I am happy with dull. It just means you have to work a bit harder.

Or you do what I did today and experiment.

PS: The WordPress AI suggests that I should include a conclusion that summarizes the main points: It was dull, I experimented. I give up.

Posted in Photography, Street Photography, Winter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New Ideas…

It is strange where inspiration comes from. Somehow it does arrive and then I find I can’t get enough. I find myself enveloped in cascading ideas. The early stage can be overwhelming. Slowly, things settle down. What was inspiration becomes integrated into my normal practice.

Posted in Jubilee Park, Photography, Street Photography, Winter | Tagged , | Leave a comment

First Day of the Year…

The first day of 2019 found us in the coastal town of Hunstanton. This is the first real seaside town on the Norfolk coast. Many many years ago I remember going on a bus trip to Hunstanton. I still think that the fish and chips I ate that day were some the best I have ever consumed. Fish and Chips weren’t really on the menu on New Year’s day 2019. Which was a shame but that is life.

On the way home there was wonderful cloud formation over the flat lands of the Fens.

There is something fascinating about remastering images captured some time ago, in this case five years. The Adobe photographic software has improved significantly over this period. Remastering the original digital images gives new life to them. I feel that I am now able to produce the images that I wanted to all those years ago. This of course is a conceit. My memory is fading in a direct inverse of my age. I once was able to rely on my memory. I know write things down to remember them. Another joy of the aging process.

Posted in Remastered, Winter | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cold Toes….

I guess I got what I wanted. Cold clear weather at dawn. I had to pay for this wonderful light. Today it was my toes.

Of course it was worth it. What is more we might have snow by the weekend. Photographically a great start to the year. For many people 2025 this is not the case. We all moan about this or that but fortunately we don’t know the true horrors of the human condition. Long may it stay that way.

Posted in Jubilee Park, Photography, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Year…

Tis the season for new beginnings or so we are told. Actually New Year, as we celebrate it [spoiler alert: I don’t] is a modern confection. There is nothing significant about the change between 31st of December to the 1st of January. Don’t believe me? I watched the BBC News channel yesterday. They stated that it will take 26 hours for the whole of the earth to move to the 1st of January. Now you could suggest that this is fake news but please don’t.

The much more significant date up here in the cold and damp north is the winter solstice. From that point, we are slowly marching to long summer days and away from the depression of night lasting many hours more than the day. Of course for those in the southern hemisphere the opposite is true.

To top everything off it is a cold and damp start to the New Year. Yippee.

Ba Humbug.

Posted in Art, Digital Painting, drawing, Graphic Art, Procreate | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment