Sunset
Posted: Mon 18 February, 2008 Filed under: Domestic, Photography Leave a comment »As Mike commented elsewhere, last night’s sunset was pretty spectacular. The photo below is a bit ropy (Cameraphones still don’t come anywhere close to proper cameras, but well, the sunset was going so fast that it would’ve been completely different by the time I’d gone back home and got a decent camera) but still shows the colours to some degree or other.
Still, not bad.
Coastal
Posted: Sun 10 February, 2008 Filed under: Animals, Photography, Travel 1 Comment »Yesterday, we went out on a trip to a piece of Norfolk we hadn’t seen before/yet/so far. While we’ve regularly been up to the North coast around Wells, Blakeney, Holkham and so on, we hadn’t yet been up around the Cromer area, or down some of the East coast.
So we ended up going around Necton, Bacton and Walcott (If this means sod-all to you, this link to Multimap might help) and taking Hound for a couple of plays on the beach at Walcott, which was thoroughly enjoyable.
At the same time, while touring around I managed to stop the car, and start a photography project I’ve been considering for the last nine months or so. I won’t go into loads of details just yet, but for now it’ll suffice to say that I’m pleased with how it’s gone so far, and that the start seems to have been successful. Now I just need to carry it on, of course. (*Ahem*)
All told though, it was a really pleasant and relaxing day. Much, much needed.
Interior
Posted: Sun 13 January, 2008 Filed under: Domestic, House Work, Photography Leave a comment »And as well as finalising the room moves, we’ve also started the job of putting up various pictures and photos in the house, which has certainly contributed to making it feel more like “home” than “house”.
Hey, it’s only taken six months.
There’s still another fifteen or so photos to put up, but at least we’ve now put up all the ones we had specially framed earlier in the year (And yes, pedants, I do mean 2007) along with a couple of others in other rooms. A big job all told, but it’s started now, which is something at least.
Away Again
Posted: Sat 10 November, 2007 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Photography, Travel Leave a comment »This weekend I’m down seeing the parents, and also taking them to see Kew Gardens, and the Henry Moore sculptures that’ve been put there ’til March ’08. It’s quite a happy confluence (for my parents, anyway) as my dad loves sculpture, and mum loves gardens.
Because of buying the chickens last weekend, it means we’ve had to replan things a bit at home, so that it’s just me going down this time, and Herself will deal with The Girls, and I’ll be back on Sunday. In fairness, she was away earlier this week and I looked after all the animals, so it all works out fine in the end. It means I’m going to be leaving home at about my normal week-day time (i.e. around 6.15-6.30) to drive down to Oxfordshire, pick up the parents, and go to Kew. By the end of the day it’s fairly likely that I’m going to be knackered.
I’m actually quite looking forward to seeing the Henry Moore stuff – I’ve never been an epic fan of his work, but the combination of the work and the setting should be pretty impressive. And, of course, I’ll be taking the camera too – it’ll be good to be able to add some more stuff to the ‘Sculpture’ section of the online portfolio…
So anyway, posts are likely to be a bit thin on the ground this weekend, for the reasons above. There’ll still be a couple, I’m sure, but not loads.
Too much camera
Posted: Wed 7 November, 2007 Filed under: Cynicism, Photography, Thoughts 1 Comment »One of my colleagues at work has just bought a Canon EOS40D. I’m not quite sure why – other than as a status symbol, really – because the photos I’ve seen of theirs taken with a Sony Cybershot compact camera are (to be blunt) bloody horrible.
Seeing them buy this Canon camera, while not knowing anything about what the lenses do, or even that this meant that the lenses detached from the camera body, well, it just saddens me really.
Now OK, I’m not a great photographer – I’d like to think I’m fairly good, but I’m in no way great – but I progressed through the various stages of compact camera, bridge camera, then made my way up to the SLR. And I’m pleased with how things have gone, and will keep on learning as I go on.
But to me that’s the way it’s supposed to be – that you learn, and progress. Not just jump in to buying a bloody great SLR with no understanding, and somehow expect it to “make” you take better pictures. Because the fact is, it won’t. I went from taking pretty good photos with the bridge camera to taking some truly bloody awful ones with the SLR. I’m still learning about it now, just over two years down the line, and still make fuck-ups on a regular basis.
So I wonder how long it’ll be before this EOS 40D is consigned to a cupboard somewhere “because it’s a crap camera”. And I think it’s a pity, because it’s a fantastic bit of kit, and I’d love one. Not as much as I’d love a 5D or a 1Ds Mk III, but that’s life. Maybe one day, when I either a) have made a decent level of money from photography, and can rationalise the purchase or b) when I’ve run up to the limitations of the 20D.