At the Traffic Lights

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 5000, RAW

It's been a grey, rainy and cold day so while I planned to go out and do some photography, I ended up chilling at home most of the day but did go out for a walk in the evening. My photos from that walk were not that great but this one I like best. It's good to have the blog going or I might end up being too lazy to go and take photos on some days.

Free House

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 9000, RAW

It's Friday again, so it was time for a beer after work but before that I did some walking around Hoxton to look for a decent place.
Having a small and compact camera with me and not having to carry a bag is great. The GR works great and is versatile enough to always have along.

Man in a Box

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 20000, RAW

I took a few more photos today. I started on my way to work since I had some time and the sun was shining but I've done quite a lot of photography during my lunch break walking around Spitalfields market.

The Hat Man

GRD I, f4.0, 1/320, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

After using mostly the GR in recent weeks, I decided to take the GRD I along for the day. Unfortunately I didn't have that much time for photography but a short walk around lunchtime did provide for some photo opportunities.

Morning in Brighton

GR, f6.3, 1/125, ISO 100, RAW

While I had to get up early today, it was not really a problem since it meant I didn't have to head into London. I had a meeting in Brighton scheduled so it meant I took a longer but much more pleasant journey in the train to Brighton.
I managed to fit some time in for a quick walk by the beach and taking some photos. Not my best work from Brighton but due to the limited time and rather dull morning it was the best for today.

Texting

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 1600, RAW

It's been a mostly grey day but the sun did peek through while I was out for a walk during lunch. It is not always easy to get great photos during a short break like this and I am not that inspired of London anymore.

Dessert

GF1, f1.8, 1/160, ISO 3200, RAW, 100mm (Canon f1.8 50mm FD)

While enjoying a pint and a wee dram at a local pub I took this photo of her enjoying the desert she got.

It's always a challenge of using the GF1 because it doesn't have a WYSIWYG live view but instead always gains it up and shows you a nicely exposed photo, this is very annoying. It is nice if you want to focus but then it should go back to show the actual exposure on the screen or at least the histogram when half pressing the shutter.

Puddle

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 100, RAW

It's been a nice and sunny day and although I planned to go out to do some photography I ended up taking it easy and just went for a walk.

Tower Bridge in the Morning

GR, f8.0, 1.5 sec., ISO 100, RAW

Another long and busy day without much time for photography but at least I had some time on my way in early in the morning. It was a cold morning but clear so this made for a very nice sunrise, although I didn't catch all of it.

Pigeon Talk

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 3200, RAW

It's been a long and busy day but I still managed to get some photography in between, this photo I took on my way to work.

7 Years Later - Cash Out

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 6400, RAW

It's been a long time ago, on a cold and grey evening in 2008 when I started my blog. At that time I thought it would get me to take photos more regularly instead of just carrying a camera with me back and forth but hardly using it. Still, I didn't think anyone would care about it and I almost expected to get bored and tire of it pretty soon.

Now it's 7 years later and I have posted almost daily on here with different cameras, different photos and with some changes along the way but for most part not much has changed.

So a big thanks to everyone who has followed my blog from the beginning or just started following it recently. I hope you enjoy it.

Don't forget to order a calendar, donate or order one of my books if you want to support the blog.

Texting

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 800, RAW

Took this one in the morning on my way to work, it's been a cold and frosty morning but this made the light quite nice with the frost being in the air.

Boats on the Thames

GR, f8.0, 4 sec., ISO 100, RAW

It might be a bit overused of a subject and maybe a bit cliché but I did like the light and how the boats turned up due to the long exposure. This and it breaks off the usual people and street photo themes on my blog.

2015 Calendar - Train Journeys

For all who want a nice desk calendar with photos from my travels, you can now order your calendar from here and know you'll support this blog by doing so.

The calendar is only £6 (€8 or $9) and you can buy by simply using the buy now button at the bottom. The price includes free worldwide shipping.

You can also pay as much as you want for the calendars or buy more than one by using the donate button on the side.

Everyone buying a calendar will receive a free copy of both my 'People with Umbrellas' and 'GR Digital III - A Serious Compact' in ebook format.

A Day at the Tate Britain

It's been a cold but sunny day so I decided to go out to do some photography since this comes too short during the week. The plan was to walk around Battersea Park and then around Victoria.

I took the Epson RD-1 with the Ricoh GR lens along and started off in Battersea Park but the ended up near the Tate Britain museum.

I have been to the Tate Modern many times, just because it's close to the City and I like the building it's in more than the art there. To the Tate Britain on the other hand, I've only been once before.

Since I had time and it was warmer inside once the sun started to go down, I figured it's a good opportunity for a walk around the museum.

I spent quite a long time walking around but less to take in the art and more to take photos of the people doing so.

It was very nice and I need to do more series in museums around London, especially now when it's cold and rainy outside and with the museums being free it's a inexpensive day out.

Hair

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 2500, RAW

While I have been for a walk around Brick Lane during lunch, I wasn't hugely inspired and didn't take many photos. This was actually one I took on my way to work and I was pretty impressed with her hairstyle.

Walking by in Spitalfields Market

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 200, RAW

The GR behaves a bit strange in this kind of situation, the movement always seems to be a blur no matter the shutter speed I set. I did like the light and only had a short time to walk around for lunch so could not stand around wait for too many opportunities but might try to get a better shot at some point.

Free Smiles?

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 1600, RAW

Another day with not that much photography done, this is the downside of working again and not be able to travel and take photos all day. I still manage to fit some photography in because it's a nice distraction from the daily grind but it would be nicer to have more time for it, especially during the day. Maybe I need to start working nights and use the day for photography or go out at night to take photos instead.

Reading at Leon

GR, f2.8, 1/320, ISO 1600, RAW

I didn't get to take many photos today, just had a bit of time during lunch to shoot around Spitalfields Market.

In a Rush

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 6400, RAW

People in London are always in a rush, especially during rush hour but it's always worst during rush hour on a rainy day. Everyone just darts about anywhere there is space on the pavements and roads, with and without umbrellas. I tend to stay away from this rush and take my time no matter if I'm running late or not, it's just not worth becoming part of the whole rat race. It also allows me to take photos of the other people so this is overall more enjoyable.

More RD1 London

It's been a very nice and sunny day today. I set off with my RD1 and Ricoh GR lens, to meet up with Kesh and do some photography around More London and the Tower.

It was good to spend a day just focusing on photography and have the right light to shoot.

At first I focused mostly on the architecture and took just some occasional people shots but while reviewing my photos, I ended up actually having quite a lot of people photos to chose from.

On my way back I also stopped for a quick shoot at the Tate Modern, I haven't been there for quite a while so it was good to have a few minutes to wander around.

Since I ended up with a lot of photos I liked I decided to post a series again.

In London

GF1, f2.8, 1/320, ISO 400, RAW, 56mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm LTM)

I've headed into town for some photography with the GF1 and the Ricoh GR lens. One of the biggest annoyances with the Panasonic GF1 after using the GR so much is that the screen doesn't show the current exposure and it doesn't lock it either on half press, this mans you never know if a photo is over or underexposed until you review it on the screen. Having no focus peaking also makes focusing somewhat challenging.

Cleaning Windows

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 560, RAW

After a somewhat exciting morning, I took this photo while on my way to the office. I walk by there every day but they were cleaning the windows today so it made the building more interesting to take a photo of.

Waiting

GR, f2.8, 1/250, ISO 6400, RAW

Every single day of this week the train services have been messed up, London Bridge is completely useless and not even worth going to anymore unless you like canceled rains and long delays. So you have to spend a lot of time waiting for the trains and in the packed trains.

Buying Books

GR, f6.3, 1/320, ISO 6400, RAW

No rain during my lunch break but not much time either, other than for a quick stroll around and taking some photos. I went to Spitalfields Market as usual since it's close and there is usually a higher chance to find something interesting to take photos of.

Lady with Umbrella

GR, f2.8, 1/500, ISO 9000, RAW

It's been a rainy lunch break but I still headed out to take some photos and added to my collection for the next 'People with Umbrellas' book.

Windows

Nexus 5, f2.4, 1/15, ISO 785, JPG

It doesn't happen often, actually quite rare, but on the odd occasion I leave house without a camera or a battery in he camera. Today, it was without a camera but I still had my phone with me so all was not lost.

The Nexus phones have a bad reputation when it comes to the camera quality and I can only assume it's from people who have no clue about cameras or need an excuse to praise the (average) iPhone cameras. Both the Nexus 4 and now Nexus 5 have fairly good cameras with the biggest problem being the high JPG compression standard in phones. The Nexus 5 has actually better image quality when taking panoramas than the Sony NEX-3n I have, they are better stitched and provide more details (the very strong JPG compression almost ruins this though).
In HDR mode it's actually very decent and certainly on par with what I've seen from other phones and even some normal cameras.

I took this photo while walking back to the station in he evening and processed it using Snapseed on the phone.

One thing that I will never understand however is why no manufacturer puts an electronic leveler in their camera software, given that all phones have more than enough gyroscopes and other things to provide this information and more.

No Parking Zone

GR, f2.8, 1/40, ISO 9000, RAW

Another grey and dull day, while I planned to go out for some photography I didn't go out that much but did take some photos. This one I took because I found it funny they parked that thing in between the two 'No Parking Zone' signs. It was only when walking back that I noticed the guy sleeping underneath and was not even sure if he was there while I took the photo but he was indeed.

At the Crossing

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 6400, RAW

It's been a dull and rainy day so I spent it mostly at home chilling and playing some games. But Once the rain stopped I decided to go for a quick walk around and take some photos.