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.

Green Dress

GX100, f7, 1/400, ISO 80, RAW, 50mm

Took this during lunch today. We finally had some sun shining during the day so the shadows and reflections made photography more interesting. I decided to use the GX100 and thought the zoom will come in handy. It did not really and I usually preferred using 28mm and 24mm.
I really like this picture and while I can't exactly say why I like it so much, I did know that this is the picture for today after I took it.

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.

Fire & Smoking

GRD, f3.5, 1/160, ISO 400, JPG b&w

After the great light I had to take pictures yesterday it was rather grey and dull today. I took a few pictures during lunch but mot did not look that good, this is do quite like and think the grey metallic wall looks very good. Photography is afterall mostly influenced by the light available and not the gear.

Thames Barrier

LC1, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 100, RAW, 41mm

After the Ricohforum meetup yesterday I took a walk with the Panasonic LC1 today. I walked to the Thames Barrier to take a few pictures, the light was very good with some dark cloud and rays of sun in between. I did take a lot of pictures but like this one best.

The Dog

CX1, f5.2, 1/190, ISO 125, JPG, 200mm

Took this picture on my way home in Greenwich Park. The dog was really interested in whatever was in the hollow tree trunk, he was sniffing around there for quite a while and constantly moved around. It was difficult to get a good shot because of the movement and I was quite far so has to zoom in all the way.

Watching the Puppetmaster

CX1, f4.9, 1/310, ISO 80, JPG, 119mm

Took this picture while out today.
I did not take that many pictures today but did get the chance to experiment more with the DR mode. I found out a few things to be aware of and will have to post a full day's entry on this feature. Other than that I am still impressed with the speed of the AF and operation of the CX1. I have posted another entry in my 'CX1 Review Diary' so do check it out if you want.

Videographer

GRD II, f4.5, 1/320, ISO 100, RAW

I finished work early and as so often recently went for a walk in Greenwich park where I took a few pictures with the GRD II. Like yesterday, I knew after taking this picture that it will probably end up as my choice for today.

Today, I also recieved my CX1 review sample. There will be a few changes to my review system this time round so I will have something up by tomorrow.
The first impression of the CX1 however is great, the camera is extremely well built, the AF is very fast and that screen is just amazing.

Crossing

GRD II, f4, 1/320, ISO 100, RAW

After yesterday's post, I had a look through my recent pictures and noticed that I have hardly done any street photography in London. I have tried to look out for new things but at the end I do enjoy street photography more. I decided to do more street photography this week but also want to try and give it a different look.

I took this picture (as so many other) during lunch, at first I noticed the reflection on the street and it looked like a pedestrian crossing. Then I needed a subject but did not want to have the subject full in the frame. I have boosted the contrast a lot in this picture to get a picture without many grey tones, almost like using the text mode. I cropped it to 1:1 format because I feel it works beter like this and I started to really like the square format, although I prefer to always shoot in 4:3 and crop later to the intended format.

London Marathon 2009

Got up early today to go on an assignment and take pictures of the 2009 Flora London Marathon. It was an event by the LPMG and Bliss to take pictures of the official bliss runners. Although they announced rain for today, the weather has been fantastic and great for being out and taking pictures although the harsh light posed a problem at times.

I decided to take the Panasonic LC1 with me since it has a very usefull zoom, fast lens, handles very well and the dynamic range is very good. Everyone else had big dSLRs with long zoom lenses so my 90mm tele was where their zoom lenses started. My choice of cameras did stick out but at least I did not have to worry about a sore neck at the end of the day ;).
The only problem with my choice of camera is the slow and unreliable AF and the EVF lag of the LC1, I had to resort to manual focus at times and using one eye to frame through the EVF and the other to see the actual scene, this worked ok although the EVF is not 1:1. It is really a shame Panasonic never released a LC2 based on a 4/3 sensor and faster AF, a G1 in a LC1 body would be a fantastic camera and a bit like a digital Contax G2. I think the most important thing in a new camera for me is a fast and reliable AF, using manual focus is ok but I would not want to rely on it all the time.

Since I never go out of the house without one of my GRDs, I also had the GRD I with me for street shots while walking around. It did give me some very nice shots but also a few problems that I need to look into.

You can see more pictures from the marathon in my Dropbox gallery here.

Heroes Remembered

GRD, f4, 1/320, ISO 400, JPG sepia

Took this picture while walking through Postman's Park today. I always wanted to take a picture here since I have seen the movie Closer and have taken one before, with the GX, but never of the tiles. While walking past I saw this guy looking at the inscriptions and I thought that it would make a good picture in sepia, I am indeed happy with how it came out.

The Big Nothing

Today was a strange day, after the big protest yesterday everyone expected even bigger protests for today. But it turned out that there were only a handful protesters, twice as many photographers and around four times the police at Bank and at the ExCel Centre.
A lot of people expected disruptions and violence but no one showed up. Over half of the protesters at the ExCel Centre were good spirited Ethiopians. It was strange and a bit disappointing indeed that not much happened. Reminded me of a slogan I read: "What if they gave a war and no one came?"


After my criticism of the police yesterday, I have to say that they were great at the ExCel Centre today, they allowed people to demonstrate and did not bully them around. The police near Bank however was a bit rude in the way they dealt with people, still it was overall not quite the same as yesterday.

Have a Rest

GRD, f5.6, 1/1250, ISO 64, JPG b&w

This is one of my 'lunchtime pictures', I liked how he seemed pretty much fast asleep and enjoying the sun in front of St. Paul's. This is a favorite spot for people to have a nap since the sun almost always shines in this spot all through the year when the weather is nice.
Took it with the GRD I and added the sepia toning and vignetting in post processing.

Urban Decay - Part 1

Another series and the first in a multipart series depicting urban decay in London. I will try to upload the next parts over the next weeks and months.
London is on the one side a very old city with great Victorian buildings, new modern developments, skyscrapers and old landmarks. The other side of London are derelict and abandoned buildings, factories and churches. I find it fascinating how both of these are sometimes right next to each other. It is hard to believe if you look at the ridiculous property prices that there are so many empty buildings (new and old).

Some of these buildings however deserve to be demolished, like these ex-council flats in Kidbrooke or the worst part of London in Elephant & Castle. At least the former will soon be demolished to make room for a new development.
When looking at some of the old council flats one has to wonder if these buildings were ever considered nice or what went on when people decided to build ugly grey concrete blocks of flats. Almost like piling up containers next and on top of each other. I for one hope these buildings will be demolished very soon to make room for new developments or better parks.

I took all pictures with the GX100, at first I thought of using the GRD I to get the grainy b&w look at ISO 400 but decided that some color will be better and the GX100 gave me the look I wanted and the versatility due to the zoom.

The Yelow Wall

LC1, f6, 1/60, ISO 100, RAW, 28mm

Although the weather was fantastic today, I did not get to take many pictures and spent most of the day indoors. I have been to a LPMG workshop, first about off camera flash and then Charlie Waite took over and told us about his motivation and approach to take pictures. It was a very interesting day and especially Charlie Waite is a great speaker.
One perticulary interesting thing during his speech was when he showed us some of his work, he mentioned only one camera that he used and it must have stood out from his other pictures. This was a GR21 from which he had two pictures and both pictures were b&w high ISO film pictures. I found it very interestng to see that the only camera he mentioned was a Ricoh and like the majority of the Ricoh GR pictures they were shot in b&w. This shows me that my suggestion for Ricoh to create a fully b&w GRD would be a good idea and that people would like one.

By the Beach

GRD II, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 80, RAW, 8.4mm

Another lunchtime picture, this time from the city "beach". :)
The weather was great and it would have been really nice to be able to go to a real beach but since it was not posible the beach at the Thames had to do the job.

Boats on the Thames

GRD, f5, 1/1000, ISO 400, JPG

Took a few pictures on my way home today, wanted to generate a HDR picture but it id not work as expected. This picture would have been part of the HDR image but it works well on it's own.

Phone Call

GRD, f4.5, 1/320, ISO 400, JPG

Took this picture while on my way to the cinema today. I had two other pictures I really liked but I was not happy with he composition so need to try and re-take them at some point.

12:20pm Pancakealympics

After my long walk yesterday, I decided to take it easy and just went out to take some pictures at the Blackheath Farmers Market today. They had the first Pancakealympics in London. The kids had a lot of fun and especially the kid in the green t-shirt really went for it, he was constantly racing along.

All pictures are taken with the LC1.