April has been an absolute cracker of a month weather wise, and yesterday was no exception. With some free time on my hands I decided to take a bike ride and took along one of my Ricoh GRIII (the none X HDF version).
Yes, I have two GRIIIs, what’s the problem?
I didn’t have a destination in mind, or any kind of photography goal. The only thing I wanted to do was have a steady bike ride, and if I saw something worth photographing at least I was prepared. 30 minutes after leaving the house I found myself in Doncaster City Centre (I’ll never get used to Doncaster being a City).
Doncaster has a bad reputation, and in some cases it’s warranted. It has the same issues a lot of town centres in the UK have since the internet killed shopping as a past time. But, there is a new Civic Centre, which is all new and shiny and worth a visit.
It doesn’t seem to fit the rest of Doncaster, and maybe that’s a good thing. The buildings are shiny and glossy and people seem to find it a nice place to sit and enjoy the sun.
As it was the middle of a very sunny day Decided to shoot with the B&W Negative +Red Filter from Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes. You can find it here; https://ricohrecipes.com/the-bw-collection/ I love the almost negative look it gives, especially with the blue sky. It’s almost black. The sun creates a lovely contrast and it works really well in bright light. I left the HDF filter on to add a bit of glow.
This is my favourite image from the day. I love the tree. It looks like it’s reaching for the woman, and she adds a sense of scale.
Here’s the rest of the images from the day.
I was recently asked why most of my images were in black and white. I struggle to see details because of my sight loss, but I can see contrast. Black and white helps me see my subjects.
I enjoyed my trip into town. I’ve never thought of it as a photographic destination. Maybe I’ll go back and see what else it has to offer.
I love Sheffield. I think it’s a bit of a forgotten city, even here in Yorkshire people think Leeds or York are where it’s at. But, Sheffield has such a lot going on and a nice friendly atmosphere. I was there the other day to meet some friends for lunch, so I decided to go a little early and capture a few images, and as is usual these days my Fuji X100VI went with me. I was short on time, and didn’t get to explore as much as I’d have liked, but it’s only down the road so I will make the time to take a trip there just for photography.
This was an instant click of the shutter button. As soon as I saw this scene. I loved the trolley being parked up while the bloke had his break.
I saw the girl in the coat a little too late, so she’s out of focus. Let’s pretend she’s moving really fast and it’s intentional.
I would have prefer just the Crepe stand, bt it was so busy. But, the point of street photography is to capture what’s going on.
I love older couples, I’m an old romantic. She was helping him get the lid on his coffee, after losing patience with him. It reminded me of my wife.
I need to go back and take this again. There’s better framing to be had.
What did I learn? Well, nobody cares if you’re taking photographs, so I don’t need to stress about street photography as much.
I need to change the focus modes on my camera. I’m still in landscape mindset, so autofocus isn’t set to ‘continuous’ and my focus is on fixed central point. Every day is a lesson.
Time flies, doesn’t it? It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, but here we are at the end of 2024.
I didn’t have any specific photography goals at the start of the year. I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions. But life has taken some interesting turns.
I switched from using Lumix cameras to a Fuji cameras. That brought its own set of challenges. The most positive being that I don’t spend as much time editing as I used to. I’m a big fan of the film simulations, so I focus more on getting the shot right in the camera rather than in Lightroom.
I tried my hand at street photography for the first time. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I had a blast. I love seeing other photographers’ street work, and I’ve been collecting books on the subject. Mr. Whisper’s work is really inspiring (more on him next week).
I discovered new local spots to photograph, which got me into clouds (especially in black and white). I hope to explore that more next year.
We also managed a few trips away.
So, while it wasn’t an incredible year overall, it wasn’t bad either. And most importantly, I still love photography.
If you’re a street photographer, then you have my absolute respect. It scares the shit out of me. I took my camera into Sheffield the other week with the intention of doing some candid street photography, and I was so nervous. I just don’t have the guts to point my camera at complete strangers and take a photo.
Run and gun
I found myself holding my camera at my side, pointing it in the general direction, pressing the shutter and hoping for the best…. That’s not good. It doesn’t allow for composition, adjusting the settings, making sure the focus is right. Ugh. Any half decent photo would be pure happy accident.
How to feel like a stalker…
I don’t know why I was so nervous. There were plenty of other people with cameras taking photos and nobody was confronting them. I think this is the reason I tend to stick to landscape type photography, the trees won’t accuse me of invading their privacy (as far as I know).
Sheffield is full of great photography locations
So, do I just give up? I don’t think so. I really like street photography (other peoples). I like images with humanity doing human things. I just need to build up my confidence, and I have a plan.
I’ve signed up to do a street photography course with Fuji in London at the end of January. That in itself is a big deal for me as it means being around other people and being open about my visual impairment, but at least we’ll have common interests so we’ll have something to talk about. They provide all of the gear, but I’ll take my own as it’s set up how I like it. Hopefully, I’ll come away more confident and less worried about other people.
Since I last wrote on this blog I have a new camera. The X100vi is amazing, and I’ll keep it for travel and an everyday carry camera. But, I needed more flexibility with focal lengths. I stuck with Fuji and got the XT50, and after having it for a couple of months I’m really happy with it. It’s basically an X100Vi with interchangeable lenses.
I love the sensors on this range of Fuji cameras. Going from regularly using 16mp to 40mp is a revelation, and allows me to capture so much detail. Similarly the jump from micro four thirds to APSC sensor allows for much greater freedom when shooting low light. Fuji have managed to pack a lot into a small package. I paired the camera with the Fuji 15-50mm which is great for just about everything, especially landscape photography, and Fuji the 35mm lenses which is fantastic for street and portraits (not that I do much portraiture).
I haven’t quite been out as much as I’d like in the last few months, but hopefully that will change now. Also, it’s autumn – which anyone knows is the best time of year for photography so I’d be stupid not to.
I’m going through a black and white phase. Mostly because when I have been out it’s been in bright sunlight so taking out the colour helps to concentrate on the subject (at least for me).
The photo above is a new local discovery on the Moorland down the road. It’s nice to still be finding new things over there. I’d love to know how these trees ended up looking like this. I’m going to try and get some different angles from above. I’ll also try from the other side. To help with that, I’ve bought a new drone. It’s the DJI Mini 4 Pro. I had planned to use it only for photography. However, since I have a DJI Pocket 3 and some DJI mics, I might try and dabble with some video.
Last weekend should have been a long one, away in Northumberland. But, for reasons I won’t go into our stay was cut short to one day, and a very early departure for home on day two. My hope was to go out early on day two and get some sunrise photos along the coast. but, sometimes life gets in the way.
So, all I have is ‘snaps’ taken on a dull day with my GM5 and the ever trusty 12-32 Panasonic lens.
The couple on the bench is my favourite. What were they talking about? Were they looking out to the horizon planning their future? How many other couples had sat on the bench and done the same thing? The empty bench to the left serving as a reminder that our time on earth is brief.
Looking ahead, the weather here is good. Time for some walks and bike rides. I’m trying to plan a return trip to Spurn Point too, and I want to write about the way I’m editing images at the moment, and why.
Another photographic trip to the coast. This time to Spurn Head in East Yorkshire, which in my mind was only an hour away as I thought it was just on the other side of Hull. It isn’t. Spurn Head is actually twice as far away as Hull, and a good couple of hours away down lots of windy roads. So, I wasn’t very popular for getting that one wrong. It was a beautiful sunny day, and unseasonably warm. Shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops would have done (I’m not kidding).
I loved the light. I’m a fan of shooting into the sun. (GM5 Leica 15mm)
For those that don’t know (including me) Spurn Head is a nature reserve and ‘an iconic and constantly moving peninsula which curves between the North Sea and the Humber Estuary’. The main point of interest (for me) from a photography point of view was the lighthouse. Built in 1895, it has been guiding sailors around the East Yorkshire coastline for over 90 years, until it was decommissioned in 1985. It’s open to the public and you can take a tour around it (I didn’t).
The Spurn Point Lighthouse from the visitors centre (Lumix GM5. Panasonic 45-150)
A trip to the lighthouse will take some planning as it’s only accessible by foot on a three mile walk and you can only cross when the tide is out. It’s not somewhere you want to get stuck on a cold February night. So, finding a time when the tide is out that coincides with sunrise or sunset can be challenging. The BBC provide tide times here https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast-and-sea/tide-tables/3/171 The walk itself was hard at times. A lot of it is over sand, and it’s very soft sand. So, for some people a six mile walk might be tricky. As it’s a nature reserve dogs aren’t allowed. There is a stretch of sand further north up the coast where you can tale you r dogs though.
On to the photography bit. I took my new (to me) Lumix GM5. (Yes, I finally found one at a price I could afford and I’ll write about it next week). With that I took the worlds best lens, the Panasonic Leica 15mm and my Panasonic 45-150mm zoom (how do they make it so small?) I also took a 12-32, because it’s so small and a decent back up.
About half way point on the walk. Still a long way to go. (GM5 Leica 15mm)
As ever, the colour on the Leica 15mm is lovely. Not a lot of editing required, mostly just cropping. It’s such a good pairing with the GM camera because it has an aperture ring on the lens. Given the size of the cameras only allow for one dial (the GM5 is much better positioned) it means you can use that for shutter speed. I wish all lenses were like this.
There wasn’t really anything to use as a subject, but I couldn’t ignore the light on the grass. Maybe the light is the subject? (GM% Leica 15mm)
As I (finally) got closer to the lighthouse the sun had started to drop. I was worried about the lack of stabilisation in the camera, but the lens has it and the results were good despite the wind.I didn’t want to make the 3 mile return walk in the dark, it had been hard enough in the light. Then I started stressing that the tide might come in, even thought I’d checked it numerous times.
GM5 Leica 15mm
As I wondered around I’d wished I’d spent more time learning my way around the camera. I hadn’t had time though as I’d had eye injections earlier in the week, so seeing had been an issue. That said, I’m pleased with the images I got. The conditions were kind to me, and the Gm5 did really well considering the fading light.
My last, and favourite shot of the day. I got lucky with the sunset and the wind had died down. It could be summer. I did take another from down on the beach, but there was a lot of human rubbish on the beach. Sadly.
I wish I’d have spent a bit more time looking for an angle that cut out the auxiliary buildings. (GM5 Leica 15mm)
So, a bit of a slog. The very soft sand makes it hard work. Probably not somewhere I’d rush back to as it’s ruined by humans. There was so much rubbish that had been blown on to the reserve, or washed up. It was depressing to see such a wonderful place ruined by people (again). We really are killing our own home. A cancer on our home planet. Maybe I need to photograph that?
A quick snap from my phone I was walking back. Another phone snap. I liked the light and colours.
As I write this I find myself seriously considering selling some of my cameras and some lenses. There are a couple of reasons; firstly, it would make deciding what cameras to take on a trip a lot easier. Secondly, and more surprisingly – I found my iPhone actually did a great job on the times I was just out and about rather than intentionally going out to take photos. It actually had me considering if I actually needs all of this camera gear. Do I need to be carrying all of this stuff around when I can just use my phone? Is it easy to tell which of these photos are taken on an iPhone and what are taken on a camera? I genuinely can’t tell (it’s the one on the left).
60 Miles Makes a Difference
As photography trips go, this was a bit disappointing. Here in my part of Yorkshire everything has regrown and the tress are covered in leaves, the flowers are out in bloom with lots of colour back in the landscape. A mere 60 miles away it still looks like winter in most parts. Not great conditions for landscape photography. But, we still had an amazing time with our friends which is what we really went for.
We’re only a month away from our next trip, which is up in Northumberland. Maybe I’ll just take my iPhone…
Four days in Amsterdam. Not the relaxing time I was hoping for. It’s a manic city with cars, bikes, buses and trams coming at you from all sides at breakneck speeds, so for someone with limited vision it’s not the best place to visit. As it was a boozy trip and my luggage space was limited I didn’t take an actual camera, so I did what I could with my iPhone when I was sober enough.
Shaun Madill Photography 