White balance.

As you can see, both of these shots were taken with the toys sitting in the same place. It's a corner lit by a north facing window and isn't the brightest spot in the house. I have never been a great enthusiast for flash, preferring to use natural light if I possibly can, and both pictures were taken that way.

Woodey, K-01 & FA43.

Teddy, TZ40.

Initially, on both cameras, using AWB I had great difficulty with getting the colours how I wanted them, then I switched the WB to daylight and things improved dramatically. It still wasn't quite to my liking though, so I fine tuned the WB towards the blue end of things and my satisfaction. I was particularly pleased to find that, whilst the range of adjustment was a bit more limited, I could do this on the small sensor TZ40 as well as the APSC Pentax. Thank you Mr Lumix.

Dodgy door locks and roses.

I was waiting for the locksmith to arrive (it's a long story!) so I thought I'd give the TZ40 a bit of exercise.

TZ40         1:1

Both shots have been post processed, using the Google+ implementation of Snapseed, on my Chromebook. To be honest this has now become my normal method of workflow.

TZ40                16:9

I really can't say why, but I rarely shoot in 16:9 format. Seeing this outcome though I think I'll try using it more often.

Cars not included...

Samsung Galaxy S3

Further developments on the home front, we've got a new driveway. It's double the width of the old one which means that now both our cars fit on, brilliant. Before we had cracked and worn out concrete, now nice new blocks, it looks so much better.

Talking of hedges...

Now this is what you call a hedge:

Nex-5r            f5.6 @ 1/250 iso100

I promise, no more hedges (for now!)

Going, going...

FZ200                   f4 @ 1/1000  iso320

Down one side of my garden I have a wall over which there is an old church with associated churchyard, wonderful to look at and one of the things which attracted me to the property in the first place. Down the other side I have had for many years the hedge you see here. It has given me a living green boundary which I really like, and I like to think it helps the local wildlife as well. Unfortunately, but for very good reasons, the time has come for it to be replaced by a fence. I'll be sorry to see it go, but sometimes change has to happen.

Just about 24 hours later and this is how it looks...

LX5             f2.8  @ 1/400 iso320

The guys worked hard, and it must have been hot work too. I don't like it, but it isn't quite as bad as I feared. Tomorrow the fencing goes up.

A further 24 hours and we have this...

FZ200      f2.8 @ 1/60  iso160

A good solid traditional fence, just like your grand dad used to have. I would still prefer my hedge but once its weathered a bit, blended in and lost the 'new' look I don't think it will look too bad.

A dream...

LX5

I don't often remember the dreams I have, but last night I dreamt I was on a photo shoot using a pair of Nikon 1 V2s, one black one and one white one (do they even make a white one?). Anyway, considering I've never even held a Nikon 1, I thought this a fairly odd camera choice, even for a dream. It got weirder mind, after a while I had to stop shooting and change the film in the cameras!

Scene Around...

What a beautiful morning! I do find photographing flowers very satisfying.

FZ200                         Dog Rose.

By the way, I'm sure you will already know this but if you 'click' on the photos you can see them in a larger temporary window. Good for a closer look.

       FZ200                        Cornflower.

Panasonic have announced their new FZ1000 model with the 1" sensor. At first I was very excited reading about the new model, but on a little more reflection I'm not sure it would have enabled me to have achieved more with these shots. Wait and see I suppose. Isn't it good to see though that, even in a supposedly falling market, manufacturers are prepared to come up with new ideas. Top marks to Panasonic from me.

For the love of flowers...

I think these blooms can speak for themselves.

Oak Leaf Geranium.
FZ200 with +2 close up lens, iso 100 1/250 @ f2.8

FZ200 with +2 close up lens, iso 100 1/200 @f2.8

Both photos were taken handheld and when I took the rose shot it was really quite windy. I use the close up lens to enable me to get just that little bit closer and fill the frame to my satisfaction.

Comparing the Lumix TZ40 and FZ200.

I don't wish to pass any value judgements here, but rather to allow any viewer to decide for themselves what they think of these two images, and which they might prefer.

Both photographs were taken hand held using (not very good) natural light from a north facing window. Both cameras were set to program mode and zoomed to x3. In addition the TZ40 was set to macro mode and iso 400, whilst I used a +4 close up lens on the FZ200 which was set to iso 320.

TZ40, 1/25 @ f5.2

FZ200, 1/40 @ f2.8

Perhaps I should also say a word or two about my current workflow. In recent months I have tried to simplify my everyday photo' work flow, and to that end I am currently using an Acer C720 Chromebook and Google+ for handling my photographs.

I shoot exclusively in JPG and then save the image files to both a usb stick (for simple, quick access to them) and an external hard drive for archiving. The images can then be previewed on the Chromebook, and those I wish to currently use are uploaded to Google+. Once there, post processing is carried out using the Chrome OS implementation of Snapseed within Google+.

It's simple, straight forward and doesn't involve paying Adobe (or anybody else) huge wads of money, not that I would wish to stop anyone from doing that if they so desire.

Oh No... More Bluetooth.

As I have said before, bluetooth audio is very convenient and the current crop of bluetooth speakers just add to that convenience.

Lumix LX5

Cambridge Audio's Minx Go is a very reasonably priced example which produces a surprisingly listenable sound. No, of course it doesn't outperform a 'proper' hifi (whatever one of those is), but you can carry it around with you, even outdoors if you must.

Shaftesbury.

Shaftesbury is an interesting Dorset town with, as you can see, some good back streets to wander round as well as the famous, but much too strenuous for me, Gold Hill. Unfortunately, well in my opinion, the town is suffering from too many new houses being built on its outskirts. I do realise, only too well, that people need homes, but I do wonder if we are building them in the right places. I often find myself wondering where the folk who buy the houses will find employment. If, as I suspect, they end up commuting elsewhere, aren't we just compounding all the environmental problems we already have?

LX5

It might have been a bright spring morning when I took this snap shot but, despite the brave girl in the sleeveless top, there was a cold wind whipping round the corners. A good excuse to seek shelter, coffee and cake.

Desk top audio.

FZ 200                                                     Amptastic mini-1

My current desktop audio setup consists of a Chord Chordette Peach dac which feeds into an Amptastic mini-1 amplifier and then out to a pair of Quad L-ite mk1 speakers.

I suppose the Chord dac is a bit over the top but as I already had it I decided I might as well use it and it does sound terrific. Previously I was using a Project usb box in this system, a much better price match, and also providing very good sound. However the Chord enables me to connect not only my laptops using usb but also my Chromebook or Samsung S3, using aptX, via bluetooth. Consequently I can change my source without having to switch any cables around, which is good. I have to confess that I normally go for the bluetooth option though, it's so convenient.

I bought and enjoyed one of the first generation of Amptastic amplifiers, the mini-t, which I used in a few different setups, so when they finally announced its replacement I placed an advanced order for one. I am very pleased with it. It out performs the earlier model, itself a very reasonable little amp', in every respect and gives a very mellifluous performance indeed. I don't know how they can produce it for the price and make sufficient profit to develop the future models they say are on the way. They haven't said what those other models will be, although I suspect there may well be a headphone amplifier in the offing. Whatever, I expect I'll be in the queue to buy.

The Quad L-ites are actually meant to be satellite speakers, but they were suggested to me for use in a desktop system by the manager of Seven Oaks Audio in Southampton. They were very reasonably priced, are beautifully made and, best of all, sound excellent. Quad now produce a mark two version of these speakers. I haven't heard these updated ones but they appear very similar to me.

All in all I think I have a nicely balanced system which is a pleasure to listen to whilst being sufficiently different to retain interest.

Meeting my computing needs.

Pentax K7.

I have been using a couple of different sized HP laptops running Linux Mint for quite some time and I continue to be very satisfied with them. However back in January I added an Acer C720 Chromebook to the family, to satisfy my curiosity about Chrome OS more than anything.

Much to my surprise the little chromebook has since then become the first computer I pick up, and I find I'm rarely using the others except for those few tasks which I can't manage on it. I really enjoy it's small size and weight, it's amazing battery life and the way that you open the lid and it's on - zero boot up time, brilliant! It resides by the side of my chair where it's ready and willing all the time.

As always, there are lots of people out there who will tell you that chrome isn't a proper operating system and that you are severely limited in what you can do with it. What is it with these people? Trust me, most of what they say is rubbish. I've even used it to upgrade the firmware on my Pentax K7, I just pretended it was a mac! Just about the only things that I can't do with the chromebook are rip cds, print directly from it and edit video. Of these printing would be possible with a change of printer, but I print so little these days I'll put up with what I've got thank you, I save to google drive then download and print from one of the HP's. Editing video is also just about possible using an online app', but the parlous speed of my internet connection, courtesy of BT, means it's a non starter really, much easier to edit using 'avidemux' on one of the HP's. Which leaves cd ripping, again something which I seem to do less and less these days, that simply isn't possible using chrome. Alternatives abound though. Google play downloads sound pretty good to me and websites such as that by Linn, which I've used frequently, offer much higher resolutions if you need them.

Would I buy another one, definitely. Would I like to see some improvements, certainly. Especially a higher res' screen. My advice to anyone considering giving a chromebook a try is go for it, I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Music, like photography, should be fun.

Ever had the feeling that you can't be a proper photographer if you're not using a large sensor camera? Well in the world of music things are even tougher. It's bad enough that you want to listen to digital music at all, what you should really be listening to is vinyl. If you must listen to the digital stuff then it should at least be in a high definition file format.

Lumix LX5

Well here's an alternative suggestion for a fun way to listen. Spotify's high quality downloads from a Samsung S3 (or whatever) via a usb otg cable to Epiphany acoustic's e-dac & O2 headphone amp. Plug in your favourite headphones and enjoy. Smashing. A comprehensive library of your choice of music (mine's jazz and folk) has never been so available or affordable, and don't let them tell you the sound is rubbish. As a teenager I had an Alba record player so, believe me, I know how rubbish sounds.

I'll show you my desktop setup another day.

Small sensor cameras.

FZ200

If, when you walk around, you need to carry a tank of liquid oxygen to help you breath, you will realise that anything else you want to take along needs to be as small and light as possible. It's lucky then that I happen to like cameras with small sensors. These days I'm using either my Panasonic TZ40 or Panasonic FZ200 for more and more of my photography. I find the results more than acceptable.

Returning to the fold.

TZ40

It seems impossible that it is nearly 3 years since I posted anything on this blog of mine. How time flies! Anyway, time to resurrect it I think. Why? Well for one thing I'm less and less pleased with flickr. I'm sorry to say that I don't feel that the recent changes have been for the good, at least they don't work for me. I also gave ipernity a try, but that wasn't right for me either. Consequently I have moved to using google+ for storing photos on the web. However I kind of feel I don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry having access to that archive, but that I do want a public photographic presence on the web, the blog format would seem to offer that opportunity with the added benefit that I can witter on about things which interest me and hopefully you.