Hastings Outing

The LPMG had organized a trip to Hastings today. The weather was great although the light was pretty harsh for taking pictures. This was not a big problem for me because I like my high contrast images and even chose to overexpose some pictures.
The best place in Hatings to take pictures was not the (disapointing) caste remains but the shipyard with old ships, rusty tractors and other interesting and old things.
I have decided to post a series today but have some more pictures in my Dropbox gallery here.

Street Crossing #2

GRD, f4.5, 1/400, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Took this picture on my way home. On rainy days it is good to have the GRD I with me, the high contrast b&w mode is really good for this kind of light. I tried to frame the girl by using the different lines in the picture, it was a shot from the hip while crossing the street and I had to crop it slightly to get to the 2:3 format.

Ice Cream

GRD II, f2.4, 1/680, ISO 80, RAW

After the rain of the last days we had a bit of sunshine today. On my way home I took a few pictures around Greenwich park.

Don't Do This!

GRD, f2.4, 1/750, ISO 400, JPG b&w

I just like the noise of the GRD I pictures when shooting in b&w, this is something I have not seen from any other camera and one of the main reasons why I still use my GRD I. Unfortunately I doubt there will be any other camera which can give a similar quality to the b&w images.
The images from the GRD I at ISO 400 look great if exposed correctly, even at 200% magnification they still remain nice and crisp without any smudging or artifacts visible.

Touch the Screen

GRD, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Did not have much time for photography but managed to take a few pictures during lunch today. This is the one I like most.

Environmental Portrait

I chose to post a series for two reasons today. First I have been at an 'Environmental Portrait' workshop and took these pictures for the assignment there although I did not submitt any of these for critique afterwards but chose a different one. The second reason is because it is a series from the London Bridge festival.
All pictures have been taken with the Panasonic LC1 and have only been converted to b&w or sepia.

Guy in White

GRD, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Took this picture after work on my way to the cinema. I saw this guy from further away and knew it would make a great picture. I did take a few pictures around but this is the best, unfortunately I did not realize the people in the background walking into the picture. They are not too distracting but I think without them it would have been much better. I should have waited loger and retake the picture.

The Readers

GRD, f4, 1/250, ISO 400, JPG b&w

July's Ricohforum competition is about Readers/Reading. While waiting at London Bridge I decided to try and take a few pictres who fit that theme. This is the one I like most although I will not submit it for the competition, I have a different picture for this.

Smile!

GRD II, f2.4, 1/80, ISO 100, RAW

Another gray and rainy day in London without many pictures taken, I need to find a weekly project to work on.
I took this picture on my way home near the Greenwich Observatory, I find itreally cool that she is actually smiling in my direction instead of looking at the guy with the big dSLR taking a picture of her. I cropped the picture a bit tighter to get a closer composition on this.

Emergency

GRD, f3.2, 1/160, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Todays picture does not quite work as I had hoped but I still quite like it. I tried to crate some blur to give a sense of urgency and chaos while trying to keep the text sharp. It did almost work out but it's not quite as good as I thought.

Metal & Glass

GRD, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 100, JPG b&w

I did not take many pictures today, I did however like most of the ones which I did take. I decided to use this one because I do not take a lot of architecture shots but really like how this came out.
The GRD I might not be the best for landscapes but it certainly is the best for architecture photography due to the great lens it has. This picture is unprocessed, straight out of the camera.

Misty Morning

GRD, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 64, RAW

As much as I like the GRD I, it is not the perfect camera for landscape photography. It works great for b&w landscapes taken in high ISO but low ISO is no a strength and color even less. For this shot it would have also been good to have some moderate zoom.

Sliding Doors

GRD, f2.8, 1/160, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Every day we have so many brief encounters with different people. We pass someone when getting into the tube, people bump into us but we never exchange a word and sometimes even avoid eye contact. Life in a big city means you are always surrounded by people but rarely close to people.

After Work

GRD, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Took this picture after work. It was a nice and warm afternoon after a hazy morning.
I like the reflection and have cropped this to square because I think it works better.

Watch Out For The Fish!

GRD, f4.5, 1/320, ISO 400, JPG b&w

The weather has been mostly dull and grey today. Not really great for photography and I have not been overly inspired. I took a few picturs on my way home though and this is the one I liked best. I walked past this poster a few times but never saw anything intersting happening next to it so I was glad when I saw this today.

Across the Field

GRD, f9, 1/1000, ISO 400, JPG b&w, 21mm

Went for a quick walk around Greenwich Park today. I took pictures with the 21mm lens and tried using the OVF but I still can't find the point if one has a big LCD available which is superior in every way.
I processed this picture to add more contrast and have the noise stand out more.

Backyard

GRD II, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 80, RAW

When I processed this picture I wanted to give it a similar feel to my picture from yesterday. Something like a surreal or futuristic small series of Canary Wharf.
I wanted this to look a bit like a pencil drawing and have used a infrared b&w conversion.

The Ship

GRD, f3.5, 1/200, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Did not have much time for photography and the weather was not great either today. Took this picture on my way home and quite like it but I don't know why exactly. The light was more interesting in the evening, so maybe this is why I like it but I can't really explain why I chose this picture for today.

White Shirt Gang

GRD, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 200, JPG b&w

While in HK I mentioned that I know exactly what I want in my next camera and what it needs to have. It was simple, a camera with the b&w image quality and fast AF from the Ricoh GRD I and the flexibility of the Panasonic LC-1 plus the bigger sensor and maybe interchangeable lenses while staying pocketable.
Today, Olympus finally announced their new m4/3 camera and it is (almost) exactly what I have been looking for. It is the new and highly anticipated Olympus E-P1 and it is the first proper serious compact with interchangeable lenses.
After reading the preview and having a look at the great b&w samples (taken with an Art filter), I can't wait till the camera is released. I already submitted my entry to review the camera for 1 week on the Olympus E-P1 webpage.

There are only a few things holding me back from rushing out and getting the E-P1. The lack of proper wideangle lenses for the m4/3 format and old lenses have to deal with a 2x crop but more importantly the reports about slow AF, this alone could rule the camera out for me.
Another reason is the rumor that Ricoh has something similar planned to replace the GRD II with. Knowing Ricoh, their camera will at least have a selection of wideangle lenses available and if the CX1 is anything to go by also a fast AF.
I sure hope Ricoh will announce something soon because the 25th is not far away and I don't know if I can resist getting a E-P1 ;) .

Standing Around

GRD, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Took this while out for a walk during lunch today. At first I did not even have my camera on but while crossing the street I turned it on and walked closer to him to take a picture. What made this interesting was the was he was just standing around on the road. After I took the picture I knew that this will probably end up as my picture for the day.