Enough already!

The past two weeks haven't been the best from a photographic standpoint. I'm currently awaiting the return of my main camera body from Nikon, and although the repair was completed (and paid for) today I'm informed by their customer service centre it should be with me "by the end of next week".

No rush, then.

But with that relatively minor setback aside the other bugbears are the seemingly endless storms rolling in off of the Atlantic. Two major ones in the past two weeks, with another poised to strike in a day or so, bringing winds of up to 70mph (don't tell me climate change isn't happening). I'm not averse to getting out there under such conditions - personal safety being the priority - but I would only be shooting the same grey scenes and battling the elements to do so.

Better to wait, of course - and there is the occasional day when things calm down (above) - but with all the signs of Spring just around the corner it is somewhat frustrating.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/250 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100



© 2020

Going it alone

It's mornings like these that bring out the local photographers, and for good reason. It's cold in the pre-dawn, but the cloud movement - still stirred-up by the weekend's storm - promises a bit of drama at sunrise.

But in spite of that the few snappers I see way off in the distance are queueing up to take the same shot, whilst I know I'm getting something different as I'm the only one shooting at this particular spot.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/400 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 200



© 2020

The best of what's left

Storm Ciara blew in and rolled out again over the weekend, with winds gusting up to 90mph in some parts of the country. Although there are those brave (reckless?) enough to take the gamble of shooting by the sea during such events, I decide it's more prudent to sit this one out.

Besides, I can often get better images photographing the aftermath when such episodes have blown themselves out, and without the risk.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/11. Matrix metering. ISO 200. Mono conversion - Silver Efex Pro 2



© 2020

Not long

Whenever I need some inspiration in photography I bring out the extreme lenses, whether it be in aperture or focal length. Today, it's the short stuff, capturing the sunrise on a local pier.



10.5mm f/2.8 AF-S Fisheye Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/8. Matrix metering. -⅔ EV compensation. ISO 100



© 2020

Totally committed

At least I thought I was. For the first time since I made the move to digital photography I decided to shoot monochrome in camera. I've always felt that having the option to convert colour files to mono in post processing was a bit of a cop-out. Conveinient, yes, but not true black and white photography. If I wanted both options in the days of film it would have been necessary to carry two cameras loaded with different emulsions, or more fiddly, change films mid roll; something I never did in either case.

So today I set the camera to shoot mono, committing myself with every shot. Seeing each image on the rear screen in greyscale as I work totally changes my thinking and approach, and I quickly warm to the idea.

However, I was somewhat disappointed when I imported the files into Lightroom and watched all the files being rendered as colour thumbnails. All the colour information has been retained!

Some swift research online reveals that to avoid this happening I need to create a new 'user preset' in Camera Calibration in the Develop Module when importing the files from the memory card. Hopefully, this will do the trick, and I can think of this technique as true black and white photography.



20mm f/1.8 EX DG Sigma lens. 1/800 second at f/1.8. Matrix metering. - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 100. Mono conversion in Silver Efex Pro 2



© 2020

02 02 2020: PalindromeDay

Whatever date format you use, today's date is palendromic: 02/02/2020. This also qualifies with China and a few other countries that put the year first.

The last time such a configuration occurred was 11th November, 1111 - 909 years ago. The beginning of the building of Salisbury Cathedral (above), was still 109 years off in the future at that time, and the next date to qualify will be 12th December, 2121.

Today is also the 33rd day of the year, with 333 days remaining since this is a leap year, so something special all round.




12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/11. Matrix metering. Lee 0.9 ND grad filter. ISO 100. Mono conversion in Silver Efex Pro 2



© 2020