I was supposed to be spending the weekend house bound, but my eye injections being cancelled until tomorrow meant an unexpected trip to the coast on a cold, windy and very early Sunday morning start. Unfortunately the tide was in, so it was a walk along the cliffs at Flamborough. The sun was just creeping up as we arrived. Thankfully I took my tripod, the wind and shivering would have meant shaky hands.
The ‘Drinking Dinosaur’ – Lumix G9, Leica 12-60, HDR Merge
The seals on the beach were a lovely surprise. I didn’t notice them at first. We had to use torches (ace for a bloke with one eye) to get to this point.
And, that was that. There’s nothing here that hasn’t been photographed a millions times, so a bit of a walk then off for breakfast. Short, but sweet and nice to be out when I wasn’t expecting it.
September. The start of my favourite months of the year when there are mornings like this, and I don’t have to be out of the house earlier than 6am to see them.
I absolutely love this image. The only editing I did was to crop it (I’m going through a widescreen phase). These fields are 250 meters from home. I pass them most days, and rarely do they look like this.
Who doesn’t love cows? It’s amazing how mist and light can completely change how a place looks. It’s actual magic.
Since our trip to Northumberland I’ve really enjoyed having man made elements in my images. I love the way the telephone mast and lines frame the tress here.
My favourite image from today. The light. The mist. Magic.
Only a few days until we head to the Dales for our first break of the year and I can’t decide what camera gear to take with me. I can’t even decide which bag to take. The first thing this tells me is that I probably have too much gear to start with.
Maybe if I write this all out it will help me come to a decision.
I like to travel light, but practical. Some things you can get by without, but are nice to have, some things are must haves. Let’s start with those. It makes sense to take my best camera body and lens. So, my G9 and Leica 12-60 are definitely going. The 45-150 is a no brainer. It’s small, stabilised, and a decent zoom – so, a practical choice. Tripod, has to be the Peak Design Tripod, again small, practical, and very good. I could probably manage with just those. These are all the things I want to use for actual landscape photography though, and not things I would want to carry around all day. So, do I take a smaller camera?
My GM1 (I now own two…) is a great camera unless you’re outside, then it’s hard to see the screen in bright conditions. Also, it isn’t weather sealed and there’s no stabilisation.
The G100 (right) has the same sensor as my G9, it also has the viewfinder the GM1 is missing, and a flip screen. It’s smaller and lighter than my G9, but it unlike the G9 it isn’t weather sealed. Not a problem if it’s dry. Also, no stabilisation, but if I use a 12-32 that’s stabilised. Problems solved?
So, we’re at two cameras and four lenses. Easy, right?
Not, if you’re me…
So, we have a G9 body, a G100 body. Four lenses, and a tripod. What about lights? ‘Lights for landscape photography’ I hear you say. Well, I’m thinking of maybe doing a bit of astro stuff if the weather is right. I thought the lights my be good if there’s an interesting subject such as a tree… over thinking? Me? Maybe just one. And, a gorillapod to stand it on.
I’m already thinking this getting out of hand….I’m not even half way through.
MacBook Pro? Can’t decide. Handy for other stuff, but am I actually going to have time for editing, or the other stuff? Is it dead weight?
Video cameras. I’ve never tried the Insta360 One-R’s star lapse mode, I’d like to, and it’s handy for other things too. I think that’s in. The Insta360 Go2 is so small art may as well go, and it’s fun to use and discrete.
The more I type, the less I want to take. That’s good thing right?
That just leaves, cables, filters. batteries – can’t do it without them – and last of all a bag. This is a nightmare.
During the day we’ll be hiking, and we’ll have the dogs, so a hiking backpack will take car of that. The G100 can go in a case in that bag through the day. Early morning I will be going our with the big camera, tripod etc. Makes sense to take a camera backpack, right? Or, do I go lighter and take a sling bag?
It finally feels like Winter is back properly. Frosty, cold, dry – and no sign of rain for the next week! So, the weekend is looking good.
In the mean time, I took a couple of photos on our dog walk last night. Nothing exciting and I won’t even add them to my portfolio page, but it’s just nice to take some photos at last!
I finally got to take my new G9 this week. I had to wait longer than I’d like after having steroid injections in my eyes, but it paid off as winter has finally arrived.
An afternoon where the temperature didn’t get above -4oC meant the frost was around all day, and a clear sky meant I could see if the G9 stabilisation was as good as I hoped. It didn’t disappoint, as I didn’t need to get my tripod out until sunset (except to try the high resolution mode). I am loving the G9. What a great camera Panasonic have made, except for the flipping shutter button. Why did they make it so sensitive? If nothing else it’s forced me to finally get used to back button focusing.
Things I’ve learned this week
Bracketing – I need to do less of this and just focus on one photo. Peak Design Tripod – I need to use this more. It weighs more than my other tripods, but it works better and the ball head can’t be beaten. Going to the same place repeatedly- is worth it. I’m still finding new compositions and obviously places change with seasons. The value of backing up – my Mac Mini died this week. Thankfully everything was backed up onto an external drive, Creative Cloud and iCloud. New one us coming on Monday!
Winter has been good for photography so far. It’s important to go out prepared though. Always take tea!
I didn’t have to go far for this one. Just the landing window, my little G100, a 45-150 lens, and a Gorillapod. Really pleased with this one.
This version is a low res j-peg, but the original is a massive 140mg high res from my G9. Taken from about 500m away at 300mm. Not a great composition, but an amazing exam of what the camera can do.
Yup. Another camera, because two wasn’t enough. So, I got my dream camera the LUMIX G9. I’ve looked at this camera for a long time, since it first came out in 2018 but it’s always been out of my reach financially. There I was browsing the Black Friday sales and I found the body on sale at £700. I didn’t have £700 for another new camera so I closed the browser and got on with cleaning my camera shelves – where my unused DJI Mavic Mini 3 was sat gathering dust. Since I lost the vision in my right eye I’ve never felt safe flying a drone for photography, and I’m not sure I ever would. Anyway, lightbulb moment…..sell the drone I never use, buy the camera. So, I did. Part exchange, straight swap.
Not my actual camera….
After a faff around with deliver due to postal strike (posties have my full support), it arrived yesterday. It’s huge, and heavy compared to my current bodies, but not in the grand scheme of cameras.
Unfortunately, my eyes are painful so I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, and I’m in hospital next week. Hopefully I’ll get out with it before Christmas.
Shaun Madill Photography 