For Jennifer

A customer from today’s market at West Didsbury has asked to see a particular shot on-line that she saw at the market. I think it’s this one…

Snowdon range from Llynnau Mymbyr

My on-line galleries don’t always have every picture I have on sale at the market. The reason is just that I (currently) organise the on-line galleries around themes and a particular look. This means that some pictures that don’t fit the theme don’t make it into the gallery, even though they’re great pictures that I’m proud to show at my markets. This shot happens to be one of those. It’s one I took many years ago while I was still using film, while stopped half-way on a trip to the Lleyn Peninsula. I still have several shots from that trip around the place, some of them still on sale at the markets.

Anyway, Jennifer, if you’re reading this – I hope this is the picture you meant.

Not as it seems

In response to the WordPress Daily Post Challenge H2O

I didn’t want to post a “conventional” photo of water for this challenge. I have lots of pictures of the sea, of waterfalls, streams, lakes and such like but the challenge was about doing something different.

I was at our local lake and the water was still and flat. Looking down showed a perfect reflection of the sky. The picture tries to make it look like I’m looking upwards at a very tall tangle of plants, looking to the sky, instead of down on the water.

Not my usual kind of thing but I thought it was fun.

I liked this plant and its colours and textures so I took some other shots. I liked the way the drops of water lined up on the blade like little jewels in the first.

Who needs manual focus anyway?

Here is the manual focus ring from my M.Zuiko 14-42mm pancake lens, from my Olympus OMD-EM10.

The lens has been good (very happy with it optically) but recently the zoom action has been – graunchy. On holiday I came home and it was even graunchier (is graunchy a word?) That’s when I noticed the problem. I don’t know if I bashed it or it just gave up the ghost. It’s a fairly plasticky lens and it doesn’t feel like the most robust piece of kit but it did survive a large fall onto the ground over a year ago with just a small dent.

Anyway, having taken these pieces out the zoom action is now silky smooth again but I’m going to have to do without manual focus. I don’t use it often but when I do I really appreciate the focus peaking feature in the EVF and I won’t get that anymore.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Less well-known photography problems

Bird droppings

I like to include fore-ground interest in my pictures. In the Lake District outcroppings of rock are often particularly attractive. They’re also attractive to birds, who leave long white trails that are an unpleasant distraction to the eye and difficult to remove either physically or in post-processing.

Swimmers

Yesterday was a perfect, completely wind-free day in Cumbria. I was lined up with Loughrigg Tarn in the foreground with a mirror-smooth surface reflecting the beautiful sunset sky. I waited for the sunset. Along comes a local open-water swimming club. They go to a different tarn every monday evening. This evening was the turn of Loughrigg Tarn. They get in, my mirror finish disappears. Of all the tarns in all the Lake District, they choose last night to go to mine…

More Pentax sensor spots

I’ve spoken before about cleaning my Pentax sensor. I’ve now developed another spot. They seem to appear like freckles. I haven’t had the lens off so I have no idea how it got there.