Historical perspective

Partly through having been in the same job for almost 10years (and being a bit bored of my immediate office area), my photography has stagnated.
Weekends don't always offer the opportunity I need to take photos, so I've decided to make more of either my journey there or of the one back home.

This morning I decided to take a little longer to get to work, via the overground, getting off at Wapping and walking from there.

Along the way I gave in to curiosity by the very old Prospect of Whitby and walked tentatively down some algae covered steps at the end of a narrow alley way.
There I was surprised to see a hangman's noose silhouetted (because the contrast was so high) against the Canary Wharf skyline.

Ricoh GRDiv, ISO80, f/9.0 1/1150s

The Ricoh GRDiv is supposed to produce its highest image quality at around f/4.5~f/5.0 so in hindsight I probably should have opened up the aperture a little more. I ended up at f/9.0 simply because my shutter speed kept hitting 1/2000s at the beginning and I took drastic actions to avoid it.

Unfortunately on the way back up the stairs I failed to see the thick, metal frame surrounding the open gate through which I had walked through on my way down and bumped my head hard.
I felt a bit dizzy for a few hours afterwards but don't seem to have suffered any further ill effects.

Imminent meltdown

These lights never used to be coloured...until recently.
During the day they remain a little bland but at night they come alive and add some much needed character to my office area.

Ricoh GRDiv, ISO400, f/1.9, 1/18s

I have changed my colour profile and bit depth but it's not looking like when I saved it down as jpeg.
I'll have to find out what's going on...

Against the wind and a dull sky

Shooting birds (with a camera) is good fun.

This one was actually easy-ish as the gulls would swoop down to snatch the bread (or in my case surume/saki-ika or dried squid).

The difficult part was trying to shoot one-handed whilst trying to launch the bait! This is where a lighter camera would definitely be easier. An alternative is to spend more time in the gym ;-)

Initially I thought that there was motion blur and I hadn't used a fast enough shutter speed but on closer inspection I discovered that the "motion blur" was in fact the light gradient caused by the spread and overlap of the gull's feathers...quite fascinating.

Nikon D700, 70mm, ISO400, f/3.2, 1/4000s

Backlit sycamore

This sycamore tree was indirectly backlit by powerful spotlights...still too dark so had to employ a high ISO and didn't want to use flash.
I wonder how a more recent sensor (Nikon DF or Sony A7R) would have handled it?

The 24-70mm I used here is now gone but I also wonder how my 85mm f/1.4 would have fared here. Like many photography enthusiasts, I started with fast zooms but I prefer even faster primes ;-)

Nikon D700, 48mm, ISO3200, f/2.8, 1/60s

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