Blinded by the Sun

GRD, f8.0, 1/800, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Bonnie Banks of Loch Venachar

LC1, f4.5, 1/1000, ISO 100, RAW, 28mm

I planned another series for today but decided that one picture is enough and did not want to post too many similar landscape pictures.

From Loch Ness to Loch Tay

A shorter series today with pictures taken on Loch Ness, the Glen Affric falls and the last is from Loch Tay.

While taking pictures at the Glen Affric waterfall, both cameras got completely drenched by the spray and I probably spent more time cleaning the water from the front of the lens than actually taking pictures but it was worth it and the cameras fared very well in this situation. Guess it shows that you don't really need a weatherproof camera if the build quality is good enough.

From the Trossachs to the Highlands

The landscape in Scotland is simply breathtaking, the only problem is with the roads that don't allow stopping in the right places and the speed limit which is way to high to really enjoy the scenery. My suggestion would be to lower the speed limit to 40 mph and allow people to really see the landscape but also to create more opportunities to park the car and take pictures.

I have taken lots of pictures and did not do a very good job at selecting only 5 so instead I just posted a full series on Flickr, so sorry for people with Apple devices which don't support Flash content and won't be able to see anything.
The pictures are taken with the LC1 and the GXR A12 28mm and are all processed RAW files, it is surprising how well the LC1 5MP RAW files hold up against the much bigger 12MP APS sensor in the GXR.

Visit to Scotland

LC1, f2.4, 1/60, ISO 100, RAW, 90mm

Back to Scotland would have been the more appropriate title since I used to live here for 12 months when moving to the UK. But this is quite a while ago and then I did not even own a camera or had any interest in taking pictures. So thanks to another bank holiday in the UK I managed to get back there and go to see some of the places I never had time to visit and also take pictures of the fantastic landscape there.

The cameras I decided to take along was the LC1 and GXR with 28mm A12 module. Initially I only planned to take the LC1 along since it was due for another outing and I just like using the camera but then decided to take the GXR and A12 module for the higher DR and to have a smaller camera along. Both cameras performed very well and survived getting wet in the rain, from the spray of waterfalls and both at the same time even.

I had a great time there and quite miss Scotland even though living in Paisley was not really being in the nicest part of Scotland. The next days will see some series from my travels around the Trosachs and Highlands so be prepared for some landscape pictures.

Old Street Station

GRD, f3.2, 1/160, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Yellow Leaves

iPhone 4, f2.4, ISO 80, JPG Hipstamatic app

Checking the Tire

GRD, f5.6, 1/640, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Walking to the Pond

iPhone 4, f2.4, ISO 80, JPG Hipstamatic app

Knole Visit

A series from Knole in Sevenoaks, pictures taken with the GXR and A12 modules. The A12 modules make for a great and light travel combo and complement each other very well.

Rochester & Whitstable

Just a two pictures from my day out in Rochester and Whitstable, both taken with the GXR A12 50mm module.

Flying in the Clouds

GXR P10, f11.2, 1/1320, ISO 100, JPG high contrast b&w

All Hands Up

GF1, 1/30, ISO 400, JPG (Wanderlust Pinwide)

Pinwide Pinhole Series

Since I started to have some fun with my selfmade pinhole lens in the past days, I figured I might as well try the new Pinwide pinhole lens for m4/3 and see what the difference is. So after ordering it I received it today so thanks to Wanderlust Cameras for the fast shipping. This is a quick series with a short comparison picture below between the Pinwide and my selfmade pinhole lens, at some point I might do a quick review on it but for now this is it.

Left the Pinwide and right my own pinhole lens, the biggest difference is the field of view and the much stronger vignetting on the Pinwide.

Below some more pictures taken with the Pinwide.

Sitting by the Pond

GXR A12 28mm, f2.8, 1/203, ISO  200, JPG

Photosynth Panorama

iPhone 4, ISO 80, JPG Photosynth app

This is a quick panorama created using the free Photosynth software for the iPhone, I am actually very impressed of what it can do.
For a free piece of software it is very capable but unfortunately it is severly limited in that it can only stitch a panorama that does not exceed the maximum camera resolution of the iPhone (so for the iPhone 4 it's 5MP best case scenario). This is really a shame since if it could actually take full 5MP resolution images and combine these into a large MP image it would be really amazing. So instead with what you are left are stitched 1-3MP panoramas after you crop the image.

I have edited this picture slightly in RAW Therapee, I usually only edit iPhone pictures on the iPhone using the apps availablethere but here I was too lazy.

Light

GF1, 60 sec., ISO 200, JPG

Ok, this is not a very exciting picture, just me messing around with long exposure pictures and my pinhole lens.

The Flag at the Observatory

GF1, 1/30, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Today, I just had some fun with my selfmade pinhole lens for the GF1.

Pedestrians Right

GXR A12 28mm, f5.6, 1/84, ISO 200, RAW

Ok, don't ask me how I managed to introduce camera shake here other than maybe overdoing it with the coffee but I still like the picture despite some camera shake.

Light in the Tunnel

GXR A12 28mm, f2.8, 1/90, ISO 1600, RAW

I really like the colors in this picture and overall the GXR is very good when it comes to rendering colors with a very accurate white balance (as opposed to the never accurate WB on the Panasonic GF1).

Green Pool

GRD III, f2.5, 1/90, ISO 64, JPG cross process

Cranes

iPhone 4, f2.4, ISO 80, JPG Hipstamatic app

The Briefcase

GRD III, f3.2, 1/200, ISO 64, RAW

Hang On To It

GRD III, f1.9, 1/32, ISO 766, RAW

The Needle

iPhone 4, f2.4, ISO 80, Hipstamatic app

Enjoying a Cool Beer

iPhone 4, f2.4, ISO 80, Hipstamatic app

Watching

GRD III, f1.9, 1/32, ISO 383, JPG high contrast b&w

This is more a failed picture, it just does not work. Maybe it was the jetlag but when I took it I could see it working much better.

The Ones That Didn't Make It

After my flight back to the UK and having to work right after I did not take any pictures today so decided to just post a series with pictures I really liked from my trip but for some reason did not fit in the series to be posted.

People Waiting

This is a series on waiting since I had to do this for a bit recently with the airlines and security at airports, not to mention queues at the Apple store in NYC.

New York Times

GF1, f2.0, 1/2500, ISO 320, JPG, 40mm

I have carried the 40mm pancake lens with me the whole holiday and have not taken a single picture with it so on what was supposed to be my last day I thought I will use it. Now thanks to Delta airlines overbooking their flight I have another day in New York so might use the 40mm again tomorrow.

I like this picture because it's almost b&w aside from the yellow and it was supposed to round up my trip with another taxi picture after the first picture from my New York trip.