Building a Building

GRD II, f5, 1/320, ISO 100, RAW

It is good if one has a project when out and taking pictures, this makes it easier to focus on specific things. It also avoids walking around snapping aimlessly and gives more purpose to taking pictures for the blog. Will try to do this more often since it's fun.
This weeks (or at least till Friday) project for me is "Concrete" and "Building sites" so this is another shot in this series.

Scaffolding

GRD II, f2.4, 1/30, ISO 336, RAW

A simple yet confusing image for today. Sometimes I like a very simple image that has not much going on in there but the simplicity just works. But at other times, like today, I prefer a more confusing image where it's not clear on what to focus or if there is anything to focus on at all.
Another thing I want to try this week is to have a theme and concrete and building sites sounds interesting enough and considering that London is full of both it should be easy enough to do ;).

Concrete

GRD, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 400, JPG b&w

After the GR1 day yesterday I continued writing my comparison and was about to post the first part but decided to hold it back for now. I am unsure about the format and how to post it since it will need to have a few parts. Will have to find a way since I am quite late already but as it is now, it's just too long for a blog or for the fact that it is only a comparison. Anyway, I will either find a way to shorten or split it or will just publish it as it stands in the next days.
For today just a GRD I picture that shows a not so nice part in London. A concrete block of flats. It looks depressing when the sun is shining but if it's dull and grey like today it's even worse.

Red Door

GR1, ISO 200, JPG from negative

"I see a red door and I want it painted black" - The Rolling Stones, Paint it Black (1966)

Today was a GR1 day, shot almost exclusively with the GR1. It was great although I missed the display to be able to compose a shot easier from different angles. Don't quite understand the complaint of many that a display is not good for composing images. For me it is vastly superior to using any OVF since it is easier to see from various angles, when holding the camera at waist level etc. Maybe it is because I started photography with a digital camera but the ability to see exactly what you'll get and be free from the constraint to put the camera to your face everytime you want to take a picture is a huge benefit. The argument that the camera is more stable does not hold for me since I got as many blurry shots as I would have with holding a digital camera and composing with the LCD.
This is a picture from the 36 I took and had developed in 1h. The prints look great but the jpgs on the CD are almost useless, very bad quality and only at 2MP. Since I do not have a negative scanner I have to take what the photo lab gives me. Should I start shooting more film I'll probably invest in a small but usable scanner.

Yellow

GRD II, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 100, RAW

Took a few pictures today but this is the only one that I really liked. It is simple but sometimes simple is better. And on this note I will keep my blog entry short and...you guessed it, "simple" for today ;).

Parade

GRD II, f4, 1/250, ISO 100, RAW

Rainy day and I did not have much time again for taking pictures today. Luckily there was a military parade going on from St. Paul's on Cannon Street while I was going out for lunch. Barely managed to take my camera out and walk across the street to take a few shots. Decided to use this since the red and gold uniforms are a nice contrast to the grey everywhere around. Cropped the image slightly to get a closer composition.

Europa

GRD II, f2.8, 1/800, ISO 80, RAW 1:1

Did not have much time to take pictures today but quite like this picture. Since I am a big fan of pictures of abandoned places and industrial areas this picture is very good for today. Another project I plan doing is a series of industrial and abandones places in London. So many projects, so little time to do everything. I still don't know when I will find the time to actually sort through all my pictures ;). But I can worry about that later while taking more pictures.

Happy Snapping

GRD II, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 100, RAW

I like taking pictures of other people taking pictures and plan to do a whole series on this soon. This picture I like in particular since she was so happy when she took this picture of a Ford Mustang and her husband seemed a bit annoyed at that. Cropped it and converted to b&w but unprocessed aside from that.

Life After Death

GRD II, f3.5, 1/200, ISO 100, RAW, 40mm

"Childhood's over the moment you know you're gonna die." - Top Dollar, The Crow (1994)

This quote came to mind today when I took the picture. The Crow is one of my favorite movies and comics. A bit makabre and not a happy picture, especially with the quote, but I find this "church playground" a bit strange to begin with.
Took a picture here before but was not happy with the result and it was with a dSLR. Since the weather was great today I decided to take a walk home along the Thames and passed by this place so decided to retake the picture with the GRD II and 40mm lens. I processed it quit a bit since I wanted to give it a surreal look but at the same time look a bit like the Crow comic book. A rainy day would've been better to take the picture and I would love to have a crow actually standing of one of the gravestones, this would make it perfect but I like it.

London's Eye

GRD II, f4.5, 1/25, ISO 80, RAW

Took this picture while on my way home today. Since I did not have any pictures I decided to make a tourist stop and take a picture of the Big Ben to post for today. But on m way there I decided to take one of the London Eye. I took a similar picture before but was not that happy with. This time I wanted to have it look like a GRD I b&w image. I cropped it to the 1:1 mode, sharpened it, added noise and sharpened it some more. This is now exactly how I wanted it to look and comes very close to the GRD I but took me more time to get there.

Safety Dance

GRD II, f5, 1/500, ISO 100, RAW, 21mm

I went to Richmond to the May Fair today. Was very nice and a great opportunity to take pictures of people. It was quite difficult to decide on which picture to take and I was about to post two or three pictures for today. In the end I decided to use this picture since it's all about having a fun day out with music and dancing. The title is from the Men Without Hats song since this reminds me of it.

Sitting on the Bridge

GRD II, f2.4, 1/30, ISO 148, RAW

Took this picture while on my way to get some dinner this evening. I liked the relaxed an serene mood of this. Did not post process it much other than changing the contrast and levels.

On a different note and more important for today. My Samsung Q1 Ultra review/article has been published today on UMPC Portal so be sure to check it out if you are interested in UMPCs. Chances are that if you're interested in photography you will be interested in a device to store your photos while on holiday or out and about. The UMPCs are perfect for this and with prices falling they are not only affordable but offer a great alternative to a laptop and are superior to a photo viewer in every way. But rather than me repeating myself here, head to UMPC Portal and read my review yourself and look around for more information and reviews of UMPCs.

This is the direct link: UMPC Portal - A Digital Photographer and his UMPC

Thanks to Steve from UMPC Portal for giving me the opportunity to publish the article. His site is the best resource for anything UMPC or MID related. If you are not sure what these abbreviations mean check out the site.

The Light Above

GRD II, f3.2, 1/200, ISO 100, RAW, 40mm

Ok, no more b&w images...at least for today ;).
While it is a shot I really like due to the light and reflections it is also an example how one can mess up a shot by standing in the wrong place at the right time. I waited there to take a picture of only one person dressed in black for quite some time but there were either too many people on the stairs or people kept running into my shot. When she appeared it seemed to be exactly what I wanted if it wouldn't have been for me standing in the wrong place and having only a second to take the shot before someone ran into it again. It is a shame that she is partially obstructed by the handrail but I thought I post it anyway since it has more impact than some of the shots I took afterwards. Serves also as a reminder that sometimes you can't really get exactly what you want and there are no second chances.

The Door

GRD, f4.5, 1/400, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Usually you always hear not to take pictures at midday since the light and shadows are harsh and it is difficult to get a good dynamic range and tonality. Well, for me this is the best time to take pictures. For one I really like the dark shadows and harsh light with the reflections you get during that time. Also I like contrasty b&w images so this is the perfect time to get the images without the need to post process.
Took this one while out for a walk today during lunchtime and the only editing is some sharpening to get the noise slightly more pronounced. I always use ISO 200 or 400 with the GRD I for b&w images because I get more noise in my images and I prefer this.

Between the Darkness and the Light

GRD, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, JPG b&w

The weather was great today so I went out for lunch and after work to take some pictures. I've been writing a lot about the difference for b&w images between the GRD I and GRD II and while I took a few pictures with the GRD II, I simply prefer the GRD I output and this is why I chose this picture. When I saw the scene I saw it in b&w even before looking at the camera screen. I waited for quite some time before I took the shot because I did not just want the setting but also the people to be in the right place. This picture is exactly the way I wanted it to be, everyone and everything is in the right place.

Sanctuary

GRD II, f4.5, 1/30, ISO 80, RAW, 40mm

After the rain last week it finally started to get better and since I finished work early I took the chance to take a few pictures before going to the cinema. The City was almost deserted due to the bank holiday. This gave me a chance to walk around and take a few pictures without having masses of people everywhere.
I posted pictures of the St. Dunstan's in the East church before but really liked this shot so decided to post another shot today instead of the Gherkin tower. It is a nice place to relax and escape the busy streets in the City. As mentioned before, although I think chruches in general are not very welcoming and cold the destroyed churches in London that have been turned to public gardens really are nice places to relax.

On the Lookout

GRD II, f4, 1/200, ISO 100, RAW

It was a lazy Sunday but then I have to work on the bank holiday tomorrow and it was dull and grey outside so I just took it easy. Been out shopping though and took a few pictures on the way. After all the recent flower pictures I though another street shot would be nice. This is a straight RAW conversion but I cropped the picture to the 1:1 ratio and changed the contrast slightly since I like my pictures to have a slightly higher contrast.
You might have noticed that I almost never post a jpg from the GRD II. This is because I am still not overly happy with the quality and try to avoid using the jpgs other than for a quick review.

On a side note, I played around now with my blog at Wordpress but am not quite comfortable with the interface although it offers some nice features. Still, for now I will keep it as my backup and try to import everything once a week.

Dandelion

GRD II, f4.5, 1/620, ISO 80, RAW

It was a GR1 day today so I took the GR1 and went out to take pictures. Took quite a few street shots with my GR1 and also some GRD II. Went to Brick Lane so it made for some nice and interesting shots. This shot is however not from there and I took it this morning on my way to the train station. I know, it seems like May is a month of flower shots so far but I just needed some color on my blog. After the rain recently it is nice to have some warmer colors and flowers but also to get a contrast to the street shots I posted.
While in town I looked to get a used Panasonic LC-1 but could not find one, only the Leica Digilux 2 but as usual the Leica is overpriced and you pay more for the brand. The people in the shops however were more impressed by the GR1 I had with me and praised the quality of the lens. Overall the GR1 is a great camera but film just does not work for me and I prefer digital for all the advantages it offers.

Pink Carpet

GRD II, f3.5, 1/200, ISO 100, RAW 1:1

Took only one picture today on my way to the bus this morning and this is it. I've walked past this a few times but never saw it the way I saw the scene this morning so I never thought of taking a picture. Somehow this looked different this morning and I thought that the 1:1 mode will work best for it. I slightly cropped it and boosted the contrast a bit to get the picture like this.
Since I started the blog I became more aware of these opportunities to take pictures and started to see things that I ignored before. Maybe not all pictures are very interesting but the only way to improve is to keep on shooting and trying different things.

One thing that got my attention while post processing this picture is that I believe a picture should capture a moment the way it was. On the other hand I have to say that I am guilty of processing my images a bit (or more that just a bit in certain cases) to get the desired effect. So I started to wonder how much processing and what kind of processing is considered to be ok? How far can someone go in post processing until the image is not anymore a representation of the moment captured? Cropping is generally accepted and ok but how about changes to contrast, colors, noise removal/adding of noise, dodging/burning, selective coloring or use of cloning to remove unwanted objects?

Tulips at St. Paul's

GRD II, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 100, RAW

Something more colorfull today and just a simple picture. Took it while out for lunch and liked the colors with the sun shining on the tulips against the dark clouds behind St. Paul's. Not much else to say today so just enjoy the picture ;).