A Ride in the forest

Today I took a ride through the new forest national park. It was a day reminiscent of an Australian Early Summer. 28 degrees, no clouds and a good level of humidity. Not bad on the south coast of England. The ride was relatively easy considering my current fitness levels, I often surprise myself at how well I do. A good strong heart and lungs is some work away however. but I’ll keep at it. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

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Fallen tree in the new forest

I went to the new forest with Katie on Sunday and we went for a walk.

While were walking, we came across a large tree that had fallen recently, I got some photo’s of the resulting destruction.

There’s a lot of energy in something so large coming down it would seem.

It must have made a hell of a racket, unless there was no-one around, in which case, did it make a sound?

Posted in fallen tree, hampshire, new forest | Leave a comment

Light Traffic

Jo and I went to a motorway bridge near her house so that I could try out some long exposure shots with my new lens. They came out quite well considering.

I shot these while just holding the camera as steady as possible resting on the handrail of the bridge. It was quite precarious, I really must get a wrist strap for the camera.Imagine if I’d dropped it! :-/

Motorway of light
Posted in 20mm f/1.7, Light, Lumix DMC-GF2, night shots | 1 Comment

20mm 1.7

I recently purchased a Panasonic GF2 Micro 4/3 Camera and 2 lenses in a kit, in an effort to be more spontaneous with my shooting.

Disappointingly, Panasonic have stopped shipping the mighty little 20mm F1.7 lens in the kit. Instead you get a 14mm f2.5, while still a good lens, it lacks the shallow DOF and creamy smooth bokeh I wanted for more artistic shooting.

Luckily for me, my good friend Jo was going to Hong Kong, and while she was there picked up a 20mm f1.7 for me, and I now have it in my grubby little fingers.

I have a couple of night shots in the below gallery for demonstration purposes, and some comparisons against my Pentax K200D to show just how portable the platform is.

20mm 1.7
Posted in 20mm f/1.7, Hong Kong, Lumix DMC-GF2, Pentax k200d | Leave a comment

Microblogging here I come.

I have just installed the blogger client on my phone. So now I can blog more often.

I found this morning that 50 people had viewed this slight entry in the blog, so I’ll include a link to the blogger app for android on the Google android market.

 Android Blogger app

Thanks everyone for checking out my little corner of the internet

Posted in microblogging, samsung galaxy s II | 1 Comment

Project Juan Speede: Complete

Today I fitted the finishing touch to Juan. A saddle that didn’t have bent rails.

That means that Juan is now complete.

Total spend £330.00 not bad for what I’ve got.

Frame: Specialised Globe City 5.1 w/Carbon fork and WTB silverado saddle
Brakes: Avid 3 digit cantilevers with truvative handles
Wheels: Bontrager Race Lites 700c
Cranks: Truvativ Square-taper.

The rest is a mix of components, mostly specialized.

It’s light and accelerates really well due to the skinny tyres and cartridge wheel bearings.

I’m happy to say i built it myself and It’s great for getting about town and not pay parking.

bike
Posted in Bicycle, Bike, bontrager, Single Speed, specialized | Leave a comment

Fountains of light

Here we go again, I haven’t got much to update you all about, a few things though.

I have put two of my prints in a show at the Arthouse Cafe in Southampton.

The show won’t officially open until the first Wednesday in October, but they pictures will be hung on the ground floor cafe area from Monday the 26th of September.

On the way home from dropping off the prints I saw the fountain outside the Southampton city library, and it was all lit up by the sun. So Inspired, I took out my pocket sized camera and got some shots, as always, you can see them below.

On an unrelated note, I have been working at my new job now for a month, and I must say, I couldn’t be happier.

southampton civic centre
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Arundel Castle

I went on an impromptu visit to Arundel Castle today with my friend Jo. We had a good day, and I am currently processing the photos.

I have created an album, the photos will slowly populate as I upload.

Check ’em out.

Arundel August 2011
Posted in Arundel Castle | 2 Comments

France August 2011

Hello Blogfans,

Time for an update.

I resigned from my job after having succesfully interviewing for a new one.
They gave me the option to work the 4 week notice period, or take 4 weeks paid leave (“gardening leave”). Of course, I took option 2.

So that left me with a bit of time on my hands. First I traded the old beaten up Bora in on a VW Golf. 2003 1.9TDI GT, 130BHP. A little Black pocket rocket.

And then I was lost for what to do with the rest of the time, so I’ve got the new car and I figured a road-trip was in order, So I went to France to visit old friends in Sancerre. I’ve also visited nearby towns, such as La Charite and Menetreol.

Below is 2 galleries based on these 2 developments. Enjoy.

Please note that if you look at the French album it’s a tad sparse, I’m still on the trip and more photos will be added, please be patient. I’m also shooting and editing in RAW format now, for some of the shots from France I’ll be giving them a sort of HDR style, dream-like quality. Hope you like it.

France August 2011
Posted in France, Golf, GT, La Charite, Sancerre, TDI, Volkswagen, VW | 1 Comment

Edinburgh and Linlithgow Palace

Well, I’m back up in sunny Edinburgh, It was a gorgeous weekend and Amy and I visited Linlithgow Palace. I’m not going to say too much because the images tell it all.

Edinburgh/Linlithgow Castle
Posted in Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Palace, Scotland | Leave a comment