Fire Rain

GRD, f2.4, 1/50, ISO 1600, JPG

Why I like the GRD I as much is simple really, the ability to use ISO 1600 without problems, combined with the fast lens and focus means I can continue shooting till late in the night. The small size and discreet looks make it even better suited to get candid shots of friends and other people.
I took this picture while out with friends and aside from the fireworks there was no other light source.

Burnt Out

I posted quite a few series recently so my motto of 'One Day. One Picture.' did not quite apply. But sometimes it is necessary to show a series of 5 pictures to give a better feel to a place or theme.

I took the pictures today in a burnt out building nearby with the Panasonic LC1. Always wanted to go there and take pictures but never really got round to. It was really lucky that I could go in and take pictures close up. As much as I enjoyed taking pictures in Bodiam Castle, I somehow found taking pictures of this building more inspiring but also more challenging. It is easy to take a nice picture of a beautiful place or great building but taking interesting pictures of decay is a bigger challenge. The weather was on my side today and I went there at the right time to have the sun provide great light and shadows inside.

The Clean-up

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

Sometimes I am lucky to be in the right place at the right time, like here, here or here. Everytime I passed by and got the chance to snap some interesting pictures. Today however, I passed by the right place but at the wrong time. This means I missed the main action and only saw the clean-up efforts and cordoned-off street. This did not provide that many good picture opportunities.

Now on to a few Ricoh related news bits, first is the rumor of a Ricoh dSLR as reported on Wouter's blog, then it's Tom's Ricoh GRD II mock-up rendering on his blog so make sure you have a look and post your opinions and last but not least there is an opportunity to vote for the proposed walks around London during our offical Ricohforum meet-up. Tomorrow is also the opening of the Ring Cube photo exhibition space in the San-ai building in Ginza, Tokyo. It will display the selections from the 8th Ricoh contest and might also have other intersting news to offer. So if you're near make sure you take some pictures and let me know.