Shadow & Texture

GRD II, f3.5, 1/500, ISO 80, RAW

Took this picture while out for a walk today. I liked the light and texture of it.

Another Shadow

GRD II, f4, 1/500, ISO 80, RAW

Took this again in Greenwich park and liked the form of the shadow. I thought of changing it to b&w but found that the tones of green worked much better.

Tree Shadow

GRD, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 100, JPG sepia, 21mm

Today's picture is inspired by some of Wouter's shadow pictures. I took it in Regent's Park with the 21mm lens and modified the blacks and contrast to get the deep shadows.

We had the 2nd unofficial Ricoh meetup today. It is always great to meet people with similar interests, everyone bought their Ricoh cameras for the very same reasons. The main reason is the size and feel/handling of the camera. Having the chance to talk about cameras but also the pictures taken with it was very nice.
We had a chat and some coffee before heading off to do what we do best with the Ricoh cameras, take pictures. The weather was great so we decided to walk to Regent's Park and take some pictures along the way and in the park. After our walk we went for coffee to view the pictures we took and also each nominate a 'Picture of the Day' and we had a small competition to determine the winning picture. Can't wait for the next official Ricoh meet-up.

Shadow of the Witch

GRD, f2.4, 1/6, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Sometimes it's not easy to get the picture for the day, not because I am not motivated or inspired but because I have not much time for it. Then again, there is always a little bit of time for photography even if it's just on the way home. For this time of the year when it gets dark early the GRD I is the best camera I can really take along since none of the other cameras I have are good enough at ISO 1600.
I cropped the picture to 1:1, darkened the blacks and sharpened it. This is also one of the few pictures where I used the burning tool in Photoshop.

Man in Yellow

GRD, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 400, JPG

After taking a break from street photography I have another picture from today. This time however it's not a b&w but color picture. I think it is important to keep changing the themes and style every now and then so as not to become stale and repetitive. This is why I enjoy having different cameras, each with a slightly different look and feel.

People in Pictures

GRD, f6.3, 1/45, ISO 64, JPG

I know, I took a picture in the same place not too long ago but I've met friends at Canary Wharf and the light was fantastc so I could not resit taking more pictures there.

One thing I have to say is that the GRD I never ceases to amaze me as to how good it can be, even when used in difficult situations. I've used it to take pictures in the pub of friends and while usually I use ISO 800-1600 and mostly color (works great with some noise reduction applied), I decided to use only b&w today and I am very impressed with the quality of the pictures. When the light is low the GRD I has big problems to focus and most of the time it can not focus at all. For this reason I normally just stick it to Snap focus but this time I just fullpressed the shutter and hoped for the best. The focus is spot on in 80% of the shots and I have no out of focus shots. Using ISO 1600 in b&w without underexposing produces nice, crisp pictures with plenty of detail (considering the small sensor and high ISO).

This reminds me to get my high ISO/low light comparison done as soon as I get my GRD II back and manage to borrow the RD1 as the 4th camera since the LC1 us useless in low light and high ISO there is 400 so not high at all.

Keep Clear of Boom

GRD, f5, 1/90, ISO 64, JPG, 40mm

There is something about taking pictures in the fall, winter and spring when the sun is low. It creates harsh and long shadows and gives pictures a different contrast. I prefer the light to the summer where it is usually a bit flat and you don't get much contrast. I like the textures and shadows in this picture, it was very good out of the camera but I played around with the curves to get a even higher contrast and added some vignetting. The vignetting was for two reasons, first because I think it looks better but also to mask the flare in the corner from the 40mm lens.