Family, Photography and other misc news
Family related posts; generally only of interest to fellow members of the Brown Clan and relations by Marriage into this mad house.
With Easter now over and the clocks having changed to British Summer Time, we now get an hour more daylight in the evenings.
Today was the first day back at work and with the late evening sun, it made the commute home a really enjoyable ride.
As the days get longer then often so does the commute home, as I find longer and more interesting routes home on the Motorcycle.
Lets hope for a great Spring and Glorious Summer.
Here at the Brown Household we are starting to get ready for our Spring Holidays/Landscape Photography Trips.
We have two Spring Holidays planned, one to the Forest of Dean and one to the Shetland Islands.
Part holiday but also part photography trip, so we will be taking the car and not the motorcycle, so we will not be to limited with regard to what equipment we can take.
The primary shooting is going to be Landscape so i’ll be taking the Large Format Ebony.
The secondary shooting will be be wildlife, so DSLR’s with lens up to 300mm will be needed.
Ferrys and hotels are now all booked so now its just a matter of research to try and locate some likely spots to visit to see if they are suitable.
Always exciting and certainly as far as the Shetland Islands, its the first time we have been there so should prove a new experience.
There are a number of sayings that I really like. I was reminded of one of my favourites the other day when someone mentioned the loveliness and purity of the English Language.
English as a lovely language yes but Purity; certainly not.
English: a language that lurks in dark alleys, beats up other languages & rifles through their pockets for spare vocabulary.
Well its finally here, Red Nose Day 2013.
A funny way to raise money for charity. We will be having a few events here at work, and I know a few studios that are having studio events. So if there is an event near you please support it.
Hope you enjoy the day and together we can all raise a lot on money for Comic Relief.
After the Sunday at Boutham Park shooting wildlife, I have spent the last week in bed with a rather bad chest infection. Not only did the boss send me home on the Monday but even the Doctor sent me to Hospital to get checked out further.
So most of last weeks Blog entries were all pre-written posts as I have spent the time asleep in bed.
This Monday I am now starting to feel better and i’ll be heading back to work on Tuesday now that I can face staring at a computer screen without my head exploding.
I am going to be thinking hard about what I am going to photography this year. With this I’ll be considering my lens and where I have gaps in my current selection.
I have two trips planned so far, both landscape and wildlife focussed. The first is a trip to the Forrest of Dean, the second which we will be planning over the next few weeks is a trip to the Shetland Islands.
For the Landscape I have the gear and equipment I need but will lookout for mild large format telephoto, possibly 200-300mm range. For the SLR, I am going to keep my eye out for something a little longer then my 70-200mm f/2.8 and possibly add another teleconverter.
So here as I finishing writing this with one last coughing fit over the keyboard, i’ll also add one more lens into the mix, possibly a Leica 90mm.
Lens to consider this year.
Large format:
210mm or 300mm f/5.6
Digital SLR:
300mm f/2.8 or f/4
200mm /f2
Range Finder:
50mm f/2
90mm f/2
I was browsing the Net in a free moment I had and found this great site for producing South Park Style Characters www.sp-studio.de.
Here is my South Park Version of me, with my Trusty side kick Oz the Snake (yes we have a lovely pet snake).
Every major event in modern history such as the Apollo Moon Landings, seems now to be accompanied by a conspiracy theory.
Despite the evidence, people will always come up with there own ideas. Well on a lighter note, it seems some people do not believe Luke Skywalker really destroyed the Death Star.
Uncomfortable questions was the death star attack an inside job
Whitby is one of our top three holiday destinations in England. When we visited a few months ago there had been a landslip, resulting in some houses having to be demolished.
Last week there has been another landslip, this time near the church. See the BBC news website for more details.
Lets hope it does not get any worse.
Tonight was the Official Works Christmas Party.
The theme as you may be able to tell was School Disco and many took this as a excuse to dress up. Free drinks a meal and a chance to let our hair down after a stressful and busy year.
Photography care of my phone. Considering the poor light the images are quite good, you can see why less and less people are using compact cameras and using there phones.
Winter; especially December and January is a period of celebration for many regions, so Happy “-insert you region’s ceremony here-“. If your not religious then enjoy your day off, unless your having to work to keep the rest of us safe.
Bodhi Day
December 8th – On Bodhi day some Buddhists celebrate Gautama’s attainment of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India.
Hanukkah
December 9th – Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals.
Yule
December 21st – Yule is the time of the winter solstice, when the sun child is reborn, an image of the return of all new life born through the love of the Gods. Within the Northern Tradition Yule is regarded as the New Year.
Christmas
December 25th – The day when Western Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Oshogatsu
January 1st – Shinto New Year, one of the most popular occasions for shrine visits.
Guru Gobind Singh
January 5th – Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) was the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus. He instituted the Five Ks and established the Order of the Khalsa.
Orthodox Christmas
January 7th – Most Orthodox churches use the Julian rather than the Gregorian version of the Western calendar. As a result, they celebrate Christmas 13 days later than other Christian churches.
Makar Sankranti
January 14th – Makar Sankranti is one of the most important festivals of the Hindu calendar and celebrates the sun’s journey into the northern hemisphere.