Journey to Fort William

Took the train from Glasgow to Fort William, the views are fantastic from the train.

There was a lot of snow all around after leaving Glasgow till before Fort William where the train left the snow behind.

A small series from the journey and when getting to Fort William.

Eye of the Tiger

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/60, ISO 516, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Took this at St. Pancras while on my way to Euston to catch my train to Scotland for a long weekend away.

I liked the green eye of the tiger and the green scarf.

Evening News

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/60, ISO 734, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

I liked how she was standing all alone in the entrance to the Tube reading the newspaper, she did look up when I crossed the street but I could not get a shot without risking getting run over by a car or having a blurry picture or both ;).

Bike

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/55, ISO 3200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Saw this bike in front of the red tiles while walking home and had to cross the street to get a shot of it, it's always worth to keep you eyes open and look around for photo opportunities as they can be anywhere.

Blue Moon

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/60, ISO 418, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Took this on my way home as I liked the reflection of the moon in the window and the warmly lit window as a contrast to the blue everywhere else in the picture.

News & Pint

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 2934, RAW, 53mm (Jupiter-12 f2.8 28mm)

Just a quick pint after work on a Monday to have a nice start to the week, I liked the light when I saw this and the Jupiter has done a good job at capturing it.

Reading Half Marathon

A small series from a rain soaked half marathon in Reading, I was not running but taking pictures and supporting the runners but got quite soaked anyway.
The pictures are all taken with the Jupiter-8 lens aside from the first one I took with the Jupiter-12 so it was a Russian lens day.

Also a happy St. Patrick's day to everyone with the last picture!

Glass

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/1520, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Jupiter-12 f2.8 53mm)

Took this near Edgware Road, I wanted something abstract for today.

Locks

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/60, ISO 2934, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Only picture I took today, I liked the colours and the different locks on there.

'Sorry, that last hand nearly killed me'

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/60, ISO 2500, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Ok, I can't go a whole week without taking pictures of people in the one or other way, this is more a details of the building but still a person needed to be in the frame.

Day Light

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/4000, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

A very mixed day with snow, sunshine, rain and snow and sunshine at the same time. Took this on my way back from lunch, not a details of St. Paul's but I think it still kind of fits with the loose theme for this week.

Working

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/930, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Just a simple picture I took on my way to work today. I liked the red in between all the grey and the shadows.
Looking at the last two pictures maybe I should keep my theme for this week at St. Paul's and no people.

Street Light

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/60, ISO 2691, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

The GR lens is really a great lens to have, it's very sharp, has a great character and just looks great on the GXR. It's not perfect for low light but can do a decent enough job if it's not too dark.

Waiting

GRD IV, f1.9, 1/125, ISO 703, RAW

Nothing really beats the GRD form factor when it comes to portability and handling, shame none of the later GRDs have managed to get close to the image character and quality of the GRD I.
This year will see the new GRD V being released and looking at the competition Ricoh really needs to do something special to even stand a chance against the other serious compact cameras. In my view it either has to go all the way like Sony and put a FF sensor in there, APS has been done already with the GXR A12 28mm module and Nikon has beat them to a smaller form factor, or even better would be to make a fully b&w GRD V with a large sensor.
Ricoh have started the whole serious compact fixed lens compact market but are now trailing way behind so it's time they get back to the front and show others how innovative they can be.

Having a Pint

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 3064, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Took my Jupiter-8 lens out again for a spin, I like it since it's small and light and produces very good results.

After Dark

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 228, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way home, I found the poster very fitting and liked the reflection on the wet floor.

The O2

GXR A12-M, f4.5, 1/125, ISO 1405, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Been a grey and rainy day so did not take pictures till the last half an hour of the day so this is from my way home while waiting for the bus at North Greenwich.

Taxi

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/810, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Maybe not the most exciting picture but I still quite like it, it was playing around with the polariser filter and trying to shoot the Nokton almost wide open during daytime.

Going In

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1/570, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this during lunch again, it was a great day out and probably the hottest day this year.
It was not easy to go back to the office afterwards.

JSM

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Took this during my lunch break, it was a very nice day and it's never easy going back to the office after lunch to waste my time in front of a computer screen.
At least this guy works out in the sun and I think he is actually more useful overall than all bankers and lawyers in the City of London combined. I mean he helps build offices for all these lawyers and bankers.

Focus on Imaging 2013

Another year another visit to Focus on Imaging in Birmingham.

What set this year apart from previous years was my complete lack of interest in any new camera, gear or gadgets. It was nice to see the Fuji X100s, the split image manual focus is great and would be perfect with a red peaking overlay and Fuji has really improved the operation, and the X20, the information overlay in the OVF is great and puts other OVFs to shame.
Aside from this there was not much to really see at Focus and it starts to feel like Fuji is the only manufacturer who actually cares about this show or maybe it's also because Canon and Nikon have absolutely nothing remotely interesting for me with their boring dSLRs and very poor mirrorless and compact cameras.
Still, at least Canon and Nikon bothered to show up, Sony, Panasonic and as usual Ricoh did not even do this. Olympus had a small booth dedicated to the OMD which seem to do very well for them and rightly so, it's a great camera and the best m4/3 camera.

This time round it was less of a gear show for me but instead I did have time to take pictures of the models and people around. A 53mm lens is not perfect for this task as you have to get very close but it was still good fun to do and the GXR performed very well and showed why I don't care about any new cameras.

So unlike the previous years no camera talk here and instead pictures so in a way the focus this year was on the actual imaging for me ;). Hope you enjoy this series.

Trinity Buoy Wharf

Went to Trinity Buoy Wharf to see the art exhibitions there, it's been a nice and sunny day so great to be outside and walk around.
I have been there years ago but it changed quite a bit since then, it also reminded me of the NDSM Wharf in Amsterdam.
It's quite a nice place to spend some time and take pictures, I took the GXR with the GR lens along and have taken quite a few pictures. This is a series of the pictures I like best.

Pause for a Moment

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 1131, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Only took three pictures and this was the one I liked best from today. Sometimes no really good photo opportunities present themselves so it's more difficult to get a lot of pictures to choose from.

Lines

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/1520, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this at the City of London Museum while enjoying a walk during lunch.

Playing the Sax

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 2500, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Not many things are nicer midweek, than chilling in a jazz bar, listening to some good music and enjoying a bottle of wine.

Telephone

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 1600, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way home, initially I liked the red and blue light around the scaffolding area but then the phone boxes caught my idea and when people started to walk past talking on their mobile phones I had an idea for the picture.
While these two are not exactly where I would like them to be in the frame I like that both walk in a different direction and both talk on their mobile phones while ignoring the red phone boxes.

Yellow Car

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 2691, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this in the evening when meeting a friend for drinks, I liked this staircase and the lights there but the car made the scene perfect and the yellow colour added to it, the woman walking down the stairs also worked well in the composition.