Rock at The Pelton

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/18, ISO 3200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm)

Went with the Greenwich meetup group to the Pelton Arms to listen to the Secret Police band, have drinks and chat. It was a fun evening and got quite late but since it was just around the corner it was easy to get home after.
I decided to take the Jupiter-8 along, it is smaller and lighter than the Nokton and I figured it will be quite packed so the extra range was handy. Still, if your max. ISO is 3200 then the difference between a f1.2 and a f2.0 lens is huge. Still managed some decent shots but it was not as easy.

White Boots

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/104, ISO 200, RAW, 21mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this again during my lunch break while walking to the Barbican, I like using the Heliar since it gives a wider view but also makes focusing easy with the large depth of field.

Gallery Thursday

Went to the Tate Modern during lunch for a quick browse and after work I headed to the Whitechapel Gallery and after to my favourite gallery at the Wapping Project. This is a series of pictures taken at each of these galleries, the first is at the Tate, the second at the Whitechapel Gallery and the rest are all at the Wapping Project.

Reflection and Lines

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/23, ISO 3200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way back home from the cinema, it was handheld at 1/23 so I was not sure I would get it sharp enough but it came out fine.

Bus Stop

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 2000, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way back to the station I missed a much better shot due to not having the camera out and then traffic in the way. Still like this one although it is not exactly what I wanted to get.

Yvonne at the Rattlesnake

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/133, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

I like going to places where they have live music playing, especially if I know one of the artists or bands playing.
It's nice to hear live music but more so it's nice to meet people who are passionate about what they are doing, this is quite a nice change if you work in an area where people are stressed and don't really like what they are doing.

I also enjoy taking pictures at concerts, so today's picture is of Yvonne Mathieu playing at the Rattlesnake in Angel.

Art at the GoMA

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/1740, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

On my way back to London I had a few hours in Glasgow, just enough for a visit to the 'Gallery of Modern Art', a short walk and a nice lunch and of course another glass of whiskey.

A Day in Edinburgh

What do you do if you fancy a whiskey and would like the real deal? Well, you take the evening train from London to Glasgow on a Friday and enjoy a proper whiskey in Scotland and get the ambience to go with it.
While there it is a good idea to stick around an also visit Edinburgh the next day so this is a series from my visit there.
Since this was an impromptu visit, I did not pack properly and only had my usual day to day things with me but the GXR A12-M with Nokon and Heliar 15mm lens was there and my Nexus 7, unfortunately all without a way to charge.

Thames Kiss

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/1070, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this during my usual lunch walks, the weather was very nice.

Converted and processed this picture from the DNG file using Photo Mate plus RAW plug in on the Nexus 7. It works really well and I can fully recommend this setup for anyone wanting to travel light for a short trip or simply have a good option during a normal working day.

Selling News

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1/380, ISO 200, RAW, 21mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this during my lunch break, I always find these news stands interesting and in this case also quite colourful.

City Reflections

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1/164, ISO 200, RAW, 21mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 21mm L)

We had some really nice weather during the day, it was a bit windy but the sun was shining and it was bright enough to use the Heliar 15mm again. It is a great lens but feels quite strange to use after all the time with the Nokton 35mm.

Photographer

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 2263, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

While walking past St. Paul's there were a lot of photographers taking pictures with tripods from different angles so I assume it was a group outing, unfortunately I had to rush to get my train so did not have time to chat with them.

Alone in the Rain

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 1345, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this during my usual lunchtime walk, although it was raining I continued taking pictures and walking around the City.
I took two pictures of this scene, this one and one much closer. I prefer this version since it shows more of the scene, the person is smaller and the wet floor with the reflections creates a better mood.

Deers

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/1410, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Went to Sevenoaks to get out of London and visit Knole park again, unfortunately the mansion was closed but the deer park was open and nice for a wander before heading to a local pub for lunch and drinks.

Thought of posting a small series of pictures but only really liked this one so no series for this time.

Pier Sculpture

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1.6 sec., ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm)

While out for a walk in Greenwich I saw the moon rising and had an idea for a picture at the O2, unfortunately by the time I got there with the bus the moon was much brighter and higher than before so the picture did not work as expected. I would have also needed a wider lens but sometimes you can't have everything and need to make do with what's there.
This is the picture I like most out of the ones I took, I cropped again to square format.

The trails in the sky are from the Emirates Airline and not from planes or just reflections.

Lady in Red

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 2075, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

I liked the way she was standing in front of the bench looking at the bright and empty doorway in the front, I took it in 3:2 format but thought of it as a square picture but was too lazy to change the settings in camera so cropped it afterwards.

Empty Bench

GXR A12-M, f1.9, 1/50, ISO 3200, RAW

Not the most exciting picture but I quite like pictures of empty benches in the evening, there is a certain feeling of loneliness and abandonment about it.

Stop

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 308, RAW, 53m (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way home and liked the colours and the light coming from the car and big spotlight.
I shot it at f1.2 but could have chosen a higher aperture as there was enough light, still, why have a f1.2 lens if you don't use it at f1.2 occasionally at least.

Caution

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 2810, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Took this on my way back home while passing St. Paul's, I liked the bright yellow colour and the fact that the sign did not fit at all in the scene and stood out.

5 Years Later

It all started with a candle and a clock on the day 5 years ago, it was also a Monday but we had no snow then and I knew a lot less about photography or blogging.
This below was the very first picture of my 'Ricoh GR Diary' blog.

When I started this blog I needed something to keep me taking pictures every day rather than just carrying a camera back and forth and never using it. It was always planned as a personal project and I highly doubted anyone but me would even look at it. But a few comments from Wouter and other bloggers later, I realized people were actually looking at my blog.
This made a big difference, for one it inspired me to keep on going even when in doubt or when I did not have enough time but also meant there was more pressure to not just post any picture but a picture I can share with others. Over the years this was at times a very difficult task as some of you who are doing a similar 'photo-a-day' project have experienced.

One of my biggest surprises came while visiting Photokina in September 2008, not only did I get to talk to Ricoh representatives there but they actually knew my blog and were following my impressions of the Ricoh GRD cameras. While meeting them I also first played with the idea to write camera reviews, met Pavel from the Ricohforum and decided to plan our very first Ricohforum meetup and got the invitation to visit the Ricoh factory in China.

A lot has happened in 2008 and this was very motivating, not least meeting some fantastic people from Ricoh, Photographers and Ricoh enthusiasts at the Ricoh meetup and through my blog in HK and Macao. I realised that my blog does matter and it pushed me to keep on going even on days when I was not inspired or had not enough time due to work.

Over the years there have been a few more Ricoh meetups and I have written quite a few reviews of Ricoh cameras, the reviews are always the top posts on my blog when it comes to views and comments which is nice considering the work it takes to write a review although I would prefer to get more views and comments on my pictures ;).

Some of the best things that happened to me through my blog, next to meeting some fantastic people from all over the world, is Ricoh asking me to do a promotional book for the Ricoh GRD III, you can see and order the book here, Ricoh using my pictures to advertise the GRD III in Germany at Foto Koch, me selling some pictures to use for CD covers by Nancee and Clever Stranger, having one of my GRD I pictures chosen for all promotional material for a concert at the Barbican (see picture below) and again to meet some great people through my blog who kept me going.

I have tried to make some changes and even temporarily split the blog into two, one for photos and one for reviews, tried to move it completely to Wordpress and even took a  few short breaks to figure out what to do next, just to end up back where I started. This goes to everything as even my design has not changed much over time. Sometimes keeping things simple is a good idea and so far it has worked well for my blog.

Having said that, there is always time for change and I believe the time has come to make a bigger change this time. I am not completely sure how or what exactly needs changing and most important, when I will have the time to do it but I know a big change is in order and this will be soon.

There are some photography related projects I have in mind and some I had in mind and wanted to do for a while but work usually got in the way so I will try to take the time and get them done this year.

What do you think, what needs changing on my blog and what do you like and would prefer to leave as it is?

And finally in order to keep up with the theme of the blog a picture from today.

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/3000, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)