A New Camera

I am a Canon dSLR user. I have a couple of bodies and an assortment of lenses. I love using those cameras, but they are rather large and this has two drawbacks.

The first is that they are heavy and a bugger to cart around all day - on holiday, for example.

The second is that they are very obvious. I keep having this romantic idea that I'm going to turn in Cartier Bresson. I find street photography, however, rather daunting. I feel - rightly or wrongly - that taking candid pictures of people is more confrontational with an obviously "serious" camera.

So I have kept my eyes open for a camera that is small, but is close to dSLR in functionality. I wanted the information I get in my dSLR viewfinder - exposure info and focus point specifically - in an optical viewfinder, having been spoiled by that sort of data provided by my big cameras. I also don't like holding a camera at arms length. It doesn't feel right.

I've had a couple of the Canon G range (10 and 11) and while they have an OVF they are just a hole and no information is provided. I've never really bonded with them.

So. I think I've found the right camera. I recently sold some old tat - Canon 5D, 5DII bettery grip plus a few other bits - and bought a Fujifilm Xpro1 with a 35mm f1.4 (53mm equivalent).

This is a camera which is smaller than a dSLR, and has a definite "rangefinder" feel to it (although on some forums you will be kicked senseless for suggesting such an idea). It also is less sophisticated that a dSLR, but then that shouldn't be such a surprise.

The reviews suggest that the images produced by this camera are stunning, but this is offset by some quirky operating issues. I'd agree that the camera does produce amazing images, but I'm less concerned with the quirks. I guess that's because every aspect of the way the camera works is different (not quite, but enough that it's hard to compare).

Some of the complaints surround the speed of the camera. The AF speed, and the speed of writing the images to the memory card. Yes, both of these are slower than my dSLRs, but as I mention above, why should that be a surprise? I actually like the fact that it slows me down a little. Makes it feel like a different way of making images, and I really like that change.

Being a bit poncey about photography, I think I tend to look for "grand vistas" when I have a dSLR in my hand. With this camera I'm happy taking "smaller" pics and this is great fun.

                            Arndale Book and Magazine Exchange, Shudehill, Manchester

                         A Victim of the Elements, St Anns Square, Manchester

I've only had it a week, but already I really feel I've bonded with it. I only currently have the 35mm lens and I really wondered whether to stay pure and just keep to one lens. However walking around Manchester this morning, it became clear that I would really benefit from having a wider lens as well (currently Fuji provide an 18mm and a 60mm in addition to the 35mm - although with adapters you can use other lenses).

I think another aspect which is quite exciting is that I have to be a little more aware of my technique. I think sometimes the clever stuff built into a dSLR can mask weaknesses in technique - no image stabilisation, for instance - and that is no bad thing.

There is one ergonomic factor, however, which is a disappointment. It is more to do with my growing decreptitude than it is an issue with the camera. The EVF and the data overlay is close when I put the camera up to my eye. I'm now of an age when I need reading glasses and so can't really see the data. I bought a +3 dioptre to replace the 0 dioptre supplied with the camera, but this now means I can't use the OVF as that is blurry. Ho hum. I now find myself almost exclusively using the EVF, which is not how I envisaged my Bresson-like approach. But beggars can't be choosers.

I am a bit of a stubborn bugger and poo-pooed some of the clever things this camera could do. What photographer worth his (or her) salt, would seriously use something called "Film Simulation"? Surely you'd simply take the RAW image and tiddle about with it in PS. Film Simulation? Pah, I say......

Actually, I am really liking this facility. My mono-mates always harp on about needing to "think in mono", which I'm not sure is a facility I have. But using the Mono "Film Simulation" I don't need to think in mono, because I can see in mono. And it's great.

I've not felt this excited about a new bit of kit since I got the Canon EOS 5D. That was mind blowing. This feels almost like that. It's made me feel invigorated about my photography and is helping me see in a different way.

The internet works in mysterious ways...

...its wonders to perform.


I like (in no particular order):
- photography
- footy
- baseball
- food
- Anglesey
- films


On occasion I will wander around the internet looking for things that catch my eye. 
I follow baseball with some vigour, and have become quite interested in a gentleman called Joe Maddon. He is the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly Tampa Bay Devil Rays) MLB team. He is making quite a stir because his management technique is making a relatively small franchise punch above its weight. He seems to embody the title "leader". 
So I decided to follow him on Twitter to see what I might learn about him and his approach.


When I started to follow him I saw that he was retweeting posts from his son Joseph. I didn't immediately look, but when I did I saw this picture here.


There are some styles of photography I don't like, feel comfortable with, or technically able to undertake. I dont necessarily like them - underwater photography is one.


THIS, however, is the sort of thing - street photography - I like and I really admire the people who can do it, and do it well. 


What I also liked was that Joseph engaged his subject and showed an interest beyond just the image. 


Finally I liked the comment Joseph made during the conversation, "he asked me if I was a photographer i responded that "I am working on it"."


So now I not only have a new photographer to follow, but can steal his wonderful answer, and when people ask ME if I'm a photographer, I can say "I'm working on it".


Stop by Joseph's photostream and see what you like. There is much to enjoy. Tell him swifty sent you.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephmaddon/

Coincidence?

Several years ago I was driving along the M6 (south) and listening to the radio. The programme was about Sir John Betjemen and in particular his love of the architecture of English churches.
He described his favourite, and having actually met the architect responsible for it. He described what this guy looked like, saying the man was quite old, with white hair, and bore quite a resemblance to Col Sanders.
As he uttered these words, I overtook a car with a registration plate that ended KFC.....

This week I was driving to work, and listening to The Tony Kornheiser show on podcast. Their film critic was discussing the new Farrelly Brothers movie, The Three Stooges. At the next set of lights, while the discussion was still underway, I came to a stop behind a car with the licence plate II MOE.

Should I worry that somebody is messing with me?

Stealing Home

There are only seven plots in the whole world for stories. Or so we are led to believe.

There must also, therefore, be a finite number of photographs to be taken. That's my excuse for stealing, er, creating homages, to images I see elsewhere.

This week I saw a set of mono images of animals in Amateur Photographer, and was struck a) how nice they were, and b) how many animal images I had in my archive that I could 'tart up' to look like art. Or at least an approximation of it.

Here is my flickr photostream set of the ones I edited.

Mono Animals

Flickr dicking

Just been adding a few more images to my swifty.pics flickr photostream.

Swifty Pics Photostream

New Personal Best

Cemaes Bay to Wilmslow, 65.7mpg. A new PB by 0.1 mpg.

This included a stop to feed the birds at Cemlyn Bay, and at McDs for refreshments.

A fine week in Anglesey, with great company. The weather was a bit pish, but hey-ho, that's the north west of the country for you. 

Often the weather is changeable, so if dreich day can end up being very nice indeed. I always get suckered into thinking that a nice day is ALWAYS going to end up providing a beautiful sunset. What I see on many occasions is the sun dropping out of a cloudless sky into a large bank of cloud looming on the western horizon.

I went to try and capture a nice Anglesey sunset yesterday, and on the way stopped for a couple of "grab shots". First of a standing stone, which I contrasted with Wylfa Head power station out on the coast.

Stopping at the roadside usually frightens off any animal life....not in this case

I liked the backlit sheep against the ruined windmill, but didn't have the time to find a particularly good composition. 

When I arrived at Church Bay, I could see that although there was cloud about, the horizon was relatively clear. The downside was that the only part of the horizon with a problem - for me - was the rain shower that looked like the sun was headed for.

This time I was lucky. The rain must have moved to the left as the sun dropped to the right which provided me with a decent image to end the week with.

Disappointing that the sun didn't light up the underneath of the clouds and reflect in the pool I'd identified in my recce as a decent spot, but nice to see the sunlight pick up the rock and the nearside bank of the tide pool.

I love being out at the end and start of the day, and every so often you see something beautiful. Something even a hamfisted amateur like me can capture.