Kos

I haven't been blogging recently since I've been on a mini vacation to the Greek Island of Kos. Normally known as a British, teen holidaymakers' party island...we decided to try it out in the off-season for some hiking, sightseeing and the hope of finding some good food!

We weren't disappointed!

I did think about processing some of the RAWs in-camera and transmitting them to the phone but we're not at the hotel for long, either rushing to get out or collapsing with exhaustion after a long day. I've also had a bad cold since day2 so taking photos has been my limit.

Some photos are in square format as I took them that way for Instagram.

British muscle

Over in the USA, this might be a Ford Gran Torino, which is great to look at, although I can't say that I've driven one.

Perhaps in the UK (where the equivalent is never seemingly as cool as in the US) it would be a Ford Cortina. By the looks of this, according to Wikipedia, this is a Mark III (1970-1976).

This one was parked in Greenwich while we were (guess what?) flat-hunting.
It seemed to be in decent shape, at least from the outside and although I wouldn't call it a muscle-car, it has its charms.

Nikon Df, 50mm f/2.2, 1/3200s, ISO100

More floor planning

I'm not really one to really celebrate Easter, although I do enjoy the public holidays gained from it.

However this Easter we're very busy for various reasons.

Alex's sister is visiting and we're in the midst of looking for potential properties.

In the meantime my personal agenda is to take more photos whilst trying to participate in the above activities.

Whilst Alex and Chloe (her Architect-turned-movie set-designer friend) were busy discussing floor plans, I got away on my own with the Df.

These were of a structure near Great Portland Street.

Nikon Df, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/80s, ISO125

Nikon Df, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/80s, ISO100

Girders and garters

Ok not quite garters but I couldn't think of another caption for my second photo starting with "G".

We were up on the roof terrace of our soon-to-be ex-home, enjoying the early evening sun, the views and some ice cream (I think it was a pot of fudge and another one of strawberry).

Unfortunately the ice-cream disappeared faster than I could take a photo but I managed to find other things instead.

These were taken by my newly-acquired (and inexpensive) 50mm f/1.8G (which seems to get better reviews than the f/1.4G). It makes for a very light and sufficiently small combination with my Df that allows me to carry it every day.

Nikon Df, 50mm, ISO100, f/2.5, 1/2500s

Nikon Df, 50mm, ISO100, f/2.5, 1/2000s

A different perspective

Flat hunting by itself can be quite stressful but for me it's (of course) an opportunity to see new places and new things that can become a subject of my photos.

We're mostly looking in places where most other people look, namely convenient, not far from civilisation, a bit of greenery, not too expensive but not dangerous.

The first place we saw may have fit the bill, except for being ex-local authority, meaning that there is a mixture of people from those that have, to have nots. There's are also potential difficulties associated with selling ex-council housing, so we decided to give this one a miss.

Nikon Df, 24mm, ISO100, f/3.5, 1/200s

Nikon Df, 24mm, ISO 280, f/2.2, 1/30s

The second one was more in line with what we were looking for. The interior needs refurbishing but the basics seem solid and the area is slightly more residential.

Nikon Df, 24mm, ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/500s

Nikon Df, 24mm, ISO100, f/2.0, 1/500s

The other side

Moving home seems to be a common theme these days.
We are also having to move...so today started the first day of flat-hunting.
It was a bit manic after we arrived at the actual flat (as there were so many potential tenants there at the same time), so I wasn't able to take many photos but here is one hopefully showing a little of the area.

At the moment we live in a new tower block but we're a bit bored of living like commoditised London citizens so have started looking a bit further afield where real people live.

Nikon D700, 24mm, ISO200, f/5.0, 1/200s

After viewing two flats, we registered with a few more agencies before having a pleasant lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

On the way home I managed to have another hands-on session with the rare Nikon DF (again).
This time it was the black version.
I have to say that I am fairly smitten by it at the moment.
It's much lighter than the D700, I like the 100% OVF, D4 sensor and the fact that it is minimalist (no flash, no bulbous grip, no video) is a bonus. The only few things that I would have wished for are a flip LCD, WiFi (for smartphone remote operation) and a more generous shutter speed.

I am serious enough about it that I'm currently evaluating some of the RAW files downloaded from the DPReview site...

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.