Old traps are still deadly

This was taken on what was supposed to be a warm day, in Brighton, last week.
It was supposed to be 18 degrees, although had I paid a bit more attention to detail, that was the forecast temperature for London, not the coast, where it was a chilly and breezy 8 degrees.

As it turned out I wore just enough to avoid any long lasting effects.
The spiders had also abandoned their webs, although apparently not before inflicting casualties.

Nikon D700, 85mm, ISO200, f/2.2 1/2500s

Fractal fronds

This photo was a grab-shot at the entrance to London Zoo last week.
The well-defined, green and fractal-like leaves stood out from the usual vegetation.

Nikon D700, 85mm, ISO200, f/2.0, 1/1250s

Into the light

It's been a while again. I haven't been taking photos much recently and of those I've taken I haven't been particularly happy with.

However with the recent, better weather my mood has also lifted and I want to take photos again.
It may take me a while to get back into the swing of things and I also have a backlog of photos to get through (even if I might be taking photos more regularly).

Ricoh GRDiv, ISO80, f/2.8, 1/640s

Having a blast, shooting

Around about the time I started taking a real interest in photography (at around age 15), our family took up the hobby of shooting. Close to every weekend (or at least every other weekend), we would go to a gun club to shoot handguns or shotguns.
Back then the law allowed us to own and use an arsenal of firearms, ranging from 9mm semi-automatics (S&W 5906, Beretta M92F, Glock 17), through to .45ACP semi-automatics (Colt 1911 Gold Cup, Glock 21), revolvers (S&W 686, S&W M29) to over-and-under shotguns used for trap and skeet clays (Beretta 682 and 686 Onyx).
In 1997, legislation was passed effectively bringing and end to the legal ownership and easy access to handguns by law-abiding citizens (of the UK), bringing our family pastime to a fairly abrupt halt.
Shotguns weren't enough to retain my interest as my focus turned towards work, amongst other things.

Since then "Shooting" referred to photography, until today.
One of my colleagues offered to take me to Bisley to try out his Black Powder, single-action revolver this weekend and despite the stormy weather, I couldn't resist.

Black Powder is to guns what large format, plate camera is to cameras.
Although I had been fast-forwarded in time, returning today to a place I used to visit in the past, I was equipped with technology from the wrong era.

The first hour disappeared, accounting for only 6 shots taken in that period. The rest of that time was allocated to setting up the target, loading powder into the 6 individual chambers (in the cylinder), stuffing the wad, pressing the lead ball, crimping and mounting the caps (primers) before we got to shoot.

I miss "shooting" and I'll definitely take my colleague up on future offers to join him but the enjoyment gained now is far removed from what excited me as a teenager. Today it was a chance to get out with a friend, enjoy the fresh air, exchange friendly banter with other shooters and to totally forget about everything else.

We also had heaps of fun trying to capture the muzzle blast out of this gun.
My proudest photo is from my iPhone. Good timing (watching my friend's trigger finger move) and luck got me this result:

Sergey (iPhone)

We struggled to replicate this even using the D700, until it dawned on me that the phone camera was likely using a much slower shutter speed.
So I set the Nikon to Shutter priority and 1/100s and tried again.


Serge's framing was excellent.

ISO800, f/4, 1/100s, D700

I tried to take another one of Serge again but the framing wasn't perfect as it wasn't easy to see the muzzle blast, even with the naked eye. Still...we got it again.

ISO800, f/3.5, 1/100s, D700

Tasty duck

It was a long day at work today, made longer by the thought of having to get up earlier than usual tomorrow morning in order to avoid the worst of the two-day tube strike.

So what better than to relax by cooking one of the organic, free-range duck breasts we bought from the market?

Duck breast in a citrus, brandy sauce with cauliflower mash and rocket + goats cheese + red pepper salad.
I have a few ideas for improvement next time but for a first try it worked out ok ;-)

Farmers market

For a few months we've been trying to improve our general lifestyle, including food, exercise, prioritisation of what's important (and what's not), reduction of stress, increased sleep, etc.
I'm reading the Primal Blueprint. I'm a bit sceptical but what Mark says does make a lot of sense and I don't think there's much harm in trying.

I have to say that I enjoy a bit of stress at the workplace. It helps me to get stuff done. I also don't feel that I get overly stressed by work or by too many other issues.

What does get me a bit stressed is not having time to spend on my hobbies (or with friends) and that's something I'm trying to actively work on.
Prioritisation is also a work-in-progress as I'm often a workaholic.
Lack of sleep is my biggest problem and what I compromise on when I'm juggling too many things.
I really need to work on that.


Food...

Changing eating habits is actually one of the easier things to do and we're making good progress.
To this end we've been gradually changing our recipes and ingredients to eat more healthily (although with our reduced rice intake, that's one thing I miss from time to time).
Anyway for the past two weekends we've been visiting various farmers markets, buying fresher, organic and free-range produce rather than the mass-grown, potentially chemically-stimulated and genetically-modified horrors that may enter the food chain via the large supermarkets.

Here are some photos from today.
Actually...one of them is not from today. Can you guess which one?

Rainbow cake

The weather has been very unpredictable and changeable since Christmas and today was no exception with periods of bright sunshine interspersed with rain and a biting wind.
Despite this we braved a fairly long walk around Regent's Park, enjoyed the warmth, cake and coffee at Primrose Bakery before continuing on to Camden Market.

It was nice to be in the fresh air but the cake stop was my choice of the day.

iPhone