Since I have decided to carry a small digicam in my workday rucksack, I leave for work a few minutes earlier just to allow for any potential stoppages to take photos, even at silly O’ clock in the morning.
With a healthy student population attending the University, Exeter has several purpose built student blocks throughout the city, one in particular is opposite the bus station where I await my transport to work.
The light in the canteen of the building along with the stencils on the glass made for an image that was too good to pass up, it may or may not work, in monochrome it most certainly did.
In all honesty, I was not expecting the shot to have come out so well with such a small camera, but the little Canon S95 has delivered one of my favourite low light images ever.
I am due to be moving house at the end of the month so I should really be getting my head around packing more boxes to make my life a little easier and what better way to start, by deciding to go out for another local camera walk!
In my defence, it was just after six thirty AM, my customary first brew of the day was already history and I am sure my neighbours would not be happy with too much disturbance at that hour on a Sunday morning anyway.
As I was so pleased with the new (but old) LX5’s images from yesterday’s outing, I decided to take just this camera and a spare battery, this diminutive little camera easily fits into a pocket, so for the first time in a very long time I, I did not even take a camera bag with me.
A few of the reviews on the LX5 had suggested that the in camera dynamic black and white picture profile was very good, so I have set one of the camera’s custom presets to shoot with this profile in JPEG only, I decided also, to make full use of the ‘5’s ability to shoot in the square format at the flick of a switch.
An additional post will be made in the coming days of the colour images from today’s sneaky outing but I was keen to share the images from the black and white perspective, before I begin the onerous task of sorting and packing for my impending move.
When I first acquired the Canon S95 camera as part of my ‘older camera’ theme, I never thought that it would be the first camera that went into my bag on my weekend outings, neither did I think for one moment that It would find its way into my everyday rucksack on my commute to and from work, for those ‘just in case scenarios’ that always seem to happen when you never have a camera with you.
Yes, I have a mobile phone but this dinosaur likes the right tool for the job, to me using a mobile phone for photography is like using a screwdriver for tightening a nut!
Saturday’s trip finds me at Budleigh Salterton, a seaside town in East Devon, where finally we may just see a little welcome rain, after what has been a fabulous summer.
A strong breeze is giving an autumnal edge to the temperature today, as I watch the grey skies beginning to darken with more menacing clouds, perfect for some monochrome edits later in the day.
Just as I am taking a minimalist shot of the clouds rolling in, a pair of herring gulls enter the frame, courtesy of a particularly strong gust of wind as they quickly regain control and hold a steady height in the wind.
Would I have had this shot with my bigger camera? perhaps, but the smaller camera is always in my hand as it has so little weight and the fact that I enjoy using it so much.
My camera collection has grown a little over the last few days, my recent outing with a Lumix LX3 that I had bought for next to nothing, prompted search for more digital compacts at reasonable prices.
While an online search was promising, a friend of mine mentioned he had a box of camera gear he was looking to shift and would I be interested? Does a bear facilitate its lavatorial functions in the woods?
Long story short, I have four ‘new to me’ cameras in my collection, two of which had their first proper shoot yesterday, the others will have their day in the coming weekends.
The Canon G11 and S95 are both around 10-12 years old and fit my old camera theme very well, so I was looking forward to using them on today’s shoot.
While the S95 is very pocketable, the G11 is bulkier but both lighter in my camera bag than my trusty 5dII.
Keen to get out before the bank holiday crowds descended, I set out at just after 6am, a familiar route along the riverside for what was to be one of my most enjoyable photo walks.
I will post another blog over the next day or two of the many pictures I took today but my favourite was a minimalist image of 3 pigeons perched on top of one of the flood defence pillars on my route, the almost clear sky adding a good backdrop.
Initially there were just the 2 pigeons, as I approached, a third joined the avian meeting, which made me remember one of my favourite Genesis albums “And then there were three”
With the s95 in hand, the image was mine, I knew immediately it was going to be a monochrome image, the slight grain from the tiny sensor adding more character to the image.
I think the S95 will be in a bag with me at all times now, it’s small size is ideal, as I still prefer a camera to my mobile phone for images.
After a short two day week, I have three days off plus the weekend to enjoy some well earned time off.
What better way to enjoy the time, than to head out to Dartmoor for a little shutter therapy, a trip to Hound Tor, famously said to have inspired Conan Doyle’s The hound of the Baskervilles.
Dartmoor folklore has it that the tors were hounds turned to stone by a vengeful witch, while fact has Hound Tor recorded in the Domesday book as ‘Hundatora’.
It is a pleasant September morning, with a noticeably cool breeze, with sporadic sunshine peering from increasingly thickening clouds. I am barely out of the car park before the first shot of the day is in the bag, looking back towards the car park and the view beyond, a low layer of cloud hangs over the landscape.
Today’s first shot
Climbing higher towards the Tors, there are already a few climbers being shown the ropes (pun intended) with much encouragement from their instructors below, I watch for a while, take a couple of snaps and continue onwards.
Learning the ropes on one of the formations
The views from here are nothing short of breathtaking, I take several shots in close proximity, each added to my treasure trove of Dartmoor memories.
No trip to the moor is complete without at least a couple of moody monochrome shots, there will be no exception to that rule today, as Dartmoor does what it does best in having a complete change of mind about the weather, from bright skies and some gorgeous light to grey skies and a poor attempt at rain in the matter of a few moments but for all that, in all her moods Dartmoor will always be beautiful.
I love this place in all her moods
The last few shots from my walk back to the car park
I have only covered three miles today but it was always going to be more of a mooch and an explore rather than a full on hike, as usual, there are reasons to be back again as there are so many paths and trails to follow.
For all my trips here to the moor, I still feel that I have barely scratched the surface, what better excuse for continued exploration of this truly wonderful landscape.
There is a chill to these late September mornings, this morning is one of those, with a cloak of grey mist adding a ghostly feel through the gloom.
I love these atmospheric days, and head out with a camera in hand, with a view to some moody monochrome images.
The walk towards the quayside may be familiar but the moments I capture today will be unique, as I seek out the abstract and the seemingly ordinary.
Cobwebs in railings, shimmer in the slight breeze, dew laden, like pearls as they capture what little light the morning offers.
A council workman steam cleans the pavements, almost enveloped in his self made mist, another shot in the bag.
The panic of pigeons as they sense my approach, I love how the camera caught the moment just before the last one took off, maybe not the best composition, yet it conveys that avian sense of urgency in perceived danger.
I have walked past the pane of cracked glass umpteen times before, today I see its potential in my ‘noir’ mindset, another abstract to the collection.
With a busy day ahead, I call time on my spontaneous outing but look forward to sharing the images later in the day.
As we approach the last week of February, the long winter nights and dark mornings are gradually making way for lighter and hopefully brighter days and after last weekend’s rain filled days, a little sunshine would be more than welcome.
I am at Starcross, just after six fifteen AM, my intention to walk the few miles along the estuary footpath back to Exeter. It is one of those very cold mornings where the chill nips at the fingertips but as the skies lighten, the blue hour is nearly upon us.
One of my first shots of today is a spur of the moment experiment, hearing a train in the distance, I set my camera up for a long exposure, not just to flatten the water but to hopefully capture the ‘ghosted’ image of the passing train, I will have just one go at this with the light as it is….
A 20 second exposure of the passing train was a spur of the moment idea.
I was more than happy with the resulting image, this would be my ‘photo of the day’.
This time of day may be known as the blue hour, with a camera in hand it feels like just a few minutes, as I take a few more images before moving on.
Beautiful tones of blue hour are replaced by pastel skies as the sun rises
From the beautiful hues of blue hour to pastel skies as the sun greets the new day, the cold morning leaves traces of mist in the distance.
From here, the road follows alongside the railway track, to Powderham, Turf locks and back along the path to Exeter. The railway offers a few images in monochrome, as the sun does its best to burn through a cloak of fog on the estuary.
With a mist on the water, inland, the frost on the bracken and grass offer more photo opportunities, until that is, the fog has a second wind and finds its way amongst the trees ahead.
Mist and frost, the theme for today’s foray
By the time I reach Turf Locks, the sun appears to be winning the day, brighter skies above and a brisk pace mean my hands are thawing and I can shed the fleece I had on under my coat.
The last few favourites from today’s walk, before heading for the home stretch and a reward of a bacon sandwich and a rather large mug of tea.
In the last eighteen months, I have occasionally set myself small challenges while out on my photo walks, I find that setting a theme or challenge helps me become more creative in my shot making when shooting for my own pleasure.
I am becoming more accustomed to my more compact camera setup, I have been taking full advantage of the G9’s twin card slots, shooting Raw only on one card, JPEG on the other, just to see how the different in camera picture styles are rendered.
One particular style I am using more often than not, is the LmonochromeD setting, which produces some good quality Black and white images, that require little or no post processing.
My G9 is coupled with my Ricoh GR3, which also has some very good monochrome simulations, my favourite being the high contrast black and white. The ricoh also has the added advantage of shooting 1:1 aspect ratio in RAW, shooting ‘squares’ is something I like to do on a regular basis.
Last week’s photo outing to Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton saw plenty of changeable weather, bright and sunny one minute, then some rather nice moody clouds scuttling along in the wind, perfect for some black and white shots.
A mixture of monochrome with the ricoh and the G9
More and more these days, I am enjoying spending less time editing, which in theory, means I could spend more time out with the camera …..
In April this year, like many, I was furloughed for a number of weeks, time that I think I used fairly constructively in finally getting around to cataloguing and sorting through a few terabytes photos, a job that had been remained permanently rooted to the bottom of my ‘to do’ list for far too long.
Once the decluttering phase had begun with the photos, it became contagious, books, cd’s and dvd’s found their way into my ‘no longer required’ boxes, ready for when we may once more safely give to charity shops or to the local recycling facility.
Then came the crunch day, when I decided it was time to purge the camera gear that had lain unused for too long, ebay bargains I had intended to sell but used, liked and kept, older models of newer cameras, the classic case of gear acquisition.
I was given plenty of time to evaluate my decision, with only essential shops still open, it would not be until the beginning of August that I was able to trade in at my local camera shop and collect the Lumix G9 I had decided upon.
One of the deciding factors in deciding upon the G9 was the weather proofing, it would give an opportunity to still get out on those wet and windy days, as long as it was paired with a weather sealed lens of course.
It is only in the last couple of weeks that I have acquired the Olympus 17mm 1.2 Pro lens, great not just for being weather sealed but good for low light photography, of which there will be plenty of opportunities with the clocks going back an hour just a week ago.
Having a couple hours free this Saturday morning, rather than making a cup of tea and heading back to bed after hearing the rain against the window, I packed the G9 and headed into town to hopefully get a few moody wet day shots.
Monochrome was the only way to go for todays brief foray
It was still a little early to capture people in numbers as they went about their day, however, I did manage to capture a good few reflections and ‘outside looking in’ shots as shops were preparing to open.
These shots have had very minimal editing, I really like the tones that the in camera ‘L monochromeD’ setting offers.
Now I have no more excuses not to go out wet days, as a whole new wet and windy world awaits to be captured.
If this were a normal Easter weekend, I would look forward to a long walk at dawn to capture the sunrise, as I have done over the last few years, however, 2020 is far from a normal year.
With lockdown approaching its third week, I have resisted the temptation to take a camera with me on my daily walk, but have thought of alternative ways of being creative with the camera, while staying at home.
In one of my recent decluttering exercises, I found a few odds and sods that may enable me to make a rudimentary light box for some close up photography, that little seed of an idea was put into practice today, where I fashioned my basic cube from some sturdy packaging, and made good use of the black fabric of an old sports hold all to make a simple backdrop for inside the box, with other coloured fabrics bought cheaply online.
For the light source, I have used two LED strips that were being thrown away, part of another light box that had broken but the LED’s still worked.
While I was happy with my fabric background, for the dandelion shots, I used the screen of a long since dead tablet, the glass offering a certain amount of reflection.
Above are the results of an hour of finding things from around the house and garden, no doubt there will be more to come.
Andy's Photography blog 