Back to the Future….

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Guthlac

25th of August 2011 – This is when this photograph of a sparrowhawk devouring its kill was the last photograph that I would classify as a long lens wildlife shot (In this case a Canon 500mm). Shortly after this I sold all of this photographic gear and changed tack completely (This is well documented on this blog if you wish check it out). Anyway fast forward nearly 10 years and a lot of things have changed in the world of photography but I have now finally returned to long lens wildlife photography (this time with a Sony 200X600mm).

So what are my first impressions? Really good. The F6.3 (I know it officially is a 5.6/6.3 lens but for most of its reach it is f6.3 so that is what I think of it as) isn’t a problem with my R3. The images I took today were taken at dawn so for a start I was shooting at 640th at 5000 iso and this seemed to work.

The one advantage I have now over 2011 is that I don’t expect anything from my photography. Back then I was still entering competitions, with mixed success, and it was full on. Then I suddenly realised that take my photography to the next level would require commitment that I was unable or willing to give it. This time I’m much older and hopefully just a bit wiser and so I accept what happens and move on. Photography for me now is a great enjoyment: I go out; I capture images and hopefully I can make some decent photographs at the end of the process. That is the limit of my expectations. It really is quite liberating.

I have other plans for the lens beyond wildlife shots but just at the moment I am trying to get my adelled brain and body back into some form of shape so that I can try and make the best photographs possible. I have to say I had forgotten what a heavy lens feels like after an hour or so of carting it around and this is lightweight compared to what I used carry around with me.

Old joints.

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Standing in the Dark Road….

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Guthlac

05:45 hrs on a cold winter morning, yes winter is here, taking photographs of a full moon. Not sure what any of the neighbours would have thought if they had glanced blurry eyed out at me in the road and seen me pointing a camera up at the moon. Also is a werewolf still a werewolf all night or does the power start to wain towards the end of the night? I only ask because it was a full moon and well you know… werewolves!

The real reason I was out there was to try out a few settings to nail down the exposure problems I have been experiencing and there can be nothing as extreme as a full moon against the night sky. Anyway, I seemed to have overcome the problem – for now.

The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is that when you look at these images in detail you quickly notice that the moon is surrounded by innumerable stars that we just never get to see without the aid of modern technology. Technology which, in relative terms compared to the cost of telescopes and lens of the past, is really cheap.

Isn’t life strange?

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Who Knows Who is in Charge?….

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Guthlac

Does anyone really know what is happening as far as the English covid 19 tier system is concerned? I really don’t think that the Prime Minister does as he seems to weeble and wobble about with no sense of direction or grip. Now I understand the argument that Covid restrictions cause harm. I do get that but releasing the restrictions too much too soon will, in my view, undo the clear gains we, as a nation, are making in trying to control the spread of the virus. I might be more inclined to listen to the complaining MPs, mostly Tories, if they weren’t clearly self serving and short term nimbyism. None of them, to my knowledge, has actually come up with any alternate plan that will prevent the hospitals from being overrun during the winter with Covid so that other patients are going to suffer.

Either Covid is a threat or it is not. I believe that it is and so in my view we should do everything to try and ameliorate that threat. Of course I may have a different view if my business was going down the pan because of Covid restrictions and that is very understandable. This is why we are supposed to have leaders with sufficient backbone to take the difficult decisions in the national interest. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be blessed with too many of them in our current government …starting from the top.

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Boredom or Limitation?…

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Guthlac

I reach a point with any art work where I feel enough is enough…I just can’t do anymore. Now I’m unsure whether that is a realistic appraisal of my talent or that after a while I just get bored of the whole process and I want move onto to something new? Actually bored is just wrong word…perhaps frustration? Whatever the reason this is about as good as I can make things at this time so ladies and gentlemen I give you…

Ahsoka my homage to Joseph Wright of Derby

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So it is true….

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Guthlac

Tier 3 for me! It seems that we in the East Midlands are the bad boys and girls as we are the only region where the infection rate has not decreased over the current lockdown – so that’s nice?!? The result is that yes I’m stuck in tier 3 for the foreseeable future so I guess I’m going to have to get creative when it comes to my photographs as I can’t really travel too far.

So with that in mind I thought I’d revisit my images from this month of lockdown (technically the images by the sea where the day before lockdown started but who cares really?) and look at some of the other images I captured and use that oldest of old digital tricks – convert them to black and white. Actually, I’m pleased with the results.

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More Cold Toes….

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Guthlac

The good news is that the lockdown will soon be over…the bad news is it looks like we may be in Tier 3 which means a bellyful of restrictions on what we can and can’t do. Hopefully, when the vaccination process starts we may be able to start to see people again but that is next year.

At least after next week I might be able to travel a bit further a field to try and capture something interesting – although I have to say I’m not sure I want to get up too early and walk too far – this old body is starting to show and feel its age!

So winter is almost upon us…it felt bit like winter this morning and many people are starting to put up their Christmas decorations already. I guess that might be a covid thing.

Pip Pip …not long to spring and hopefully freedom!

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Cold Toes….

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Guthlac

So I think this is the first time this year that we’ve had anything approaching a real frost. So what did I do? I decided not to wear my really warm coat! By the end of the shoot I was starting to feel the cold. Still I think it was worth it and I have now nicely thawed out.

Sometime whilst out photographing the dawn I get barked at by somebody’s dog. It follows a familiar pattern: I’m in a public park and suddenly some dog is running flat out towards me. I try to make friends with the dog but instead it just circles me barking and barking. In the distance I hear a voice shouting out for the dog to come away from me and of course the dog does nothing of the sort. The owner of the dog then approaches me and claims the dog is very friendly and he was just trying to say hello. By showing his teeth and barking!

The assumption of all this is that I should know this and why am I making such a fuss? Now I love dogs and most of the time I get on well with them whilst I am walking in a public place. Every now and then though you get the odd owner, I don’t blame the dogs because they don’t know any better, who for whatever reason, is unable to make their dog come to them when they call them and it spoils things for me. I hate to think what it would be like for someone who is scared of dogs should this to happen to them.

One of the better things about this time of year is that you don’t have to get up at some ungodly hour to capture the sunrise – I really appreciate that as over the past few months I have found myself wanting to stay closer to home. That being said I do look forward to the nights drawing out and the warm summer sun!

Soon be Christmas…

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A Day in Politics

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Guthlac

So it seems you can be as borish as you like in British politics and so long as you didn’t intend to be borish then that is fine. Such are the looking glass world standards of the Boris Johnson government that we no longer seem to care about such matters as treating people with a certain amount of respect. I’m sure he has got away with things for now but I am not at all sure how this will wash in an Employment Tribunal which we are now suppose to believe doesn’t really count. We’ll see.

Away from domestic politics it would seem that the great Brexit nonsense is coming to its inevitable conclusion – a huge fudge. Both sides are preparing to bounce their respective legislatures and recalcitrant countries into accepting an agreement that will basically allow each side to save face. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this whole thing is that whilst on the face of it it will put the Brexit saga to bed underneath it is clear that we will be squabbling about things such as the size of a Cod and where it can be caught for the rest of our lives.

If I am correct then all those dire warnings about getting everything sorted out by mid October are going to look a bit silly (not sure if I was one of those making such warnings if so then I will have a suitable portion of egg splattered across my face).

Isn’t life funny?

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You really can’t make these things up….

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Guthlac

It is really hard to put into words just what a shambles the Boris Johnson government has been – you really can’t. So instead lets us all reflect for a moment that he has been required to self isolate because he has been incontact with another MP who has been diagnosed as having Covid. Now there are many mitigating circumstances that can be wheeled out in Johnson’s defence and no doubt as I sit here and write this they are being regurgitated on BBC and Sky News. Plausible or otherwise these excuses might be it doesn’t hide the fact that this whole operation is just falling apart in front of our eyes. Now it is not as if this wasn’t an important week with the Brexit trade deal in the balance as well as the millions things a Prime Minister is expected to do during the week.

On the subject of the Brexit I suspect some people within the EU will see this as a time to try and hold Britain to the fire and try and get a better deal for the EU. I feel that that would be a really big mistake. The one thing that Johnson has made his name over was Brexit and being nasty to the EU. Given his current weak position it would be only too tempting on his part to show he has balls and walk away from any deal on offer. It won’t, in my view, be in Britain’s short term let alone long term interests if he does that but neither will it be in the EU’s as they will have messed up big style. The only thing that makes me think that this won’t happen is that Angela Merkel is running things at the moment and so she is not likely to let this sort of thing happen. However, it will be a close run thing but let us all hope that a deal can be struck this week and perhaps Brexit can be finally put to bed and Britain and the Europe can then go back to squabbling over goddess knows what – just like we have done for a lot longer than the EU has existed.

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The Crown….

Posted on November 15, 2020 by Guthlac

The first episode of the new season of The Crown has rekindled the mixed feelings about The Crown I first felt with the Aberfan episode from last season’s run. This year it deals with parts of modern history that I, in the smallest of small ways, had direct experience of. The first two seasons covered parts of post war British history that happened mostly before I was born and so felt like another world. This season is my world and discussing things which have affected me directly. It will be interesting to see how the season develops.

BTW I think the jury is still out on Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher – one iconic woman playing another – still not convinced.

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