A new blog deserves an introduction, so here goes ...
This is me ...
Having a play with that damned Nikon I had!
I'm 64 this coming October and still snapping away whenever I get the chance. My gear has changed somewhat since my very early days in the 1960s. My school, Alderman Smith High School had a photography club run by the then senior science teacher, Mr Rogers. He lead an introductory session in the school darkroom and a few of us attended. I was hooked from that moment on. My parents bought me a Halina 35X 35mm camera for Christmas that I always had with me, even in those days.
Since then I have always had a camera of some sort. It wasn't until October 2008 that bought my first serious digital camera though. I'd had a Fujifilm 2800X which was very good, then a Nikon Coolpix 4500 which produced some seriously good images ...
when it worked that is! I finally gave up on it when it broke down for the 4th time just days before we were due to go on holiday.
So there I was sitting in a pub with a nice pint and reading a copy of Amateur Photography and saw a picture of a Konica Minolta Z5. We ordered one from what was warehouseexpress.com and it turned out to be a excellent camera.
Then I tried the Sony Alpha 100 in Jessops in Coventry and it felt like it had been made just for liddle ol me - but I couldn't afford one at that time. The feel of that camera in my hands was just magical. I had to try to be a good boy and wait. October 2008 came along and my Army Pension became payable. Included with it in was a very nice lump sum and we enjoyed spending a lot. Again from warehouseexpress.com came my current camera, a Sony Alpha 350. I am still very pleased it but after three+ years it's starting to show it age now and I have been looking for a replacement.
So what is actually on offer that I fancy? Well, let me start by saying what isn't possible in any way what so ever - and camera who's manufactures name begins a C! I am not going for one the new compact systems either. So that leaves a wide choice doesn't it. Well, no, not really. My current Sony has three lenses for it. I do fancy the Nikon D7000 and the cheaper but similar spec D5100. But that means I would have to start buying new glass too, making the overall cost far too high. So it looks like I'm sticking to Sony. Sony are phasing out the DSLR and bringing out the translucent lens cameras.
I've had a ply with the Alpha 77 and that really does shine for me. But again, the cheaper Alpha 65 has a similar spec sheet as the 77. My current glass will work on either of them. Now I just have to wait to win the lottery ;-)))
Do you have days like I do wonder? Some days everything time I point my camera at something produces a good solid image. Then there are days when not matter what I do, everything I shoot is a disaster! I don't know what causes this but I am sure it's very frustrating indeed. Take yesterday for instance - I started shooting outside our local post office but every shot had a blue tint to them. So looked at the settings and found that the camera was set on aperture priority and the flash setting was set for fill-in. Why that happened I don't know because I use shutter priority rather than aperture priority. But where the blue tint come from then. No idea mate!
So what do I shoot then? Well, if it moves it gets snapped; if it stands still it gets snapped; if it's there it gets snapped. But like all snappers I do have my favourite subjects, one of those being candids, like this one ... Along the same line I also go for other snappers too, snapping snappers is fun. Jan and I love bird watching so the 70-300 lens is usually on the camera when to go birding. I have loads of bird photos. Old or interesting buildings are always good subjects. Bright colours a patterns I looked for too ... this one is the inside of a toilet wall at a motorway services somewhere. A lot of my images goes on flickr - here's my photo stream if you want a look ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/15764683@N00/
I'm sure you are aware of just how many different groups there are on flickr and a lot of my shooting is driven by those groups I joined. Pub signs is one such group and I'm always on the lookout for new ones; real ale pump signs is another; transport too. The thing is with all these groups they tend to produce just plain record shots of the images of the subject and to a lot of people they are just dross and I agree to some extent. But hey ho - that's how it works eh?
I have two other blogs ... http://bitzersdorktownnews.blogspot.com/ and http://birderronindorktown.blogspot.com/ if you are interested in any of other musings.
G' day folks.
