Posts

Posted on

Boutique items; limited editions and special editions

Handbags costing hundreds of pounds, shoes that cost more then a months wage, fine watches and fine wines.  Apart from the last two I cannot quite see the point.Leica S2

Limited edition electronic equipment does not make quite as much sense as a piece of finally crafted none electronic equipment, often I feel some of the limited editions devalues the company.  Over the last few years many photographers feel that Leica moved away from real photographers.  The company ignored digital with the exception of the re-badaged Panasonic compact cameras, and kept releasing ever so strange and odd limited edition film M series cameras.  Well at least it kept the company afloat, and now with the release of the Leica M (digital M 240) and the Leica S medium format SLR’s, they have not only embraced digital but have produced two stunning lines of cameras that are attracting professionals back to the fold.
Sony NEX7For my medium format use, I use the excellent Hasselblad V series.  This modular camera system has been the main stay of many professional wedding and studio photographers.  You can either shoot film or digital, just chose a suitable back module.  For a while now Hasselblad having been pushing their newer H series system but some of the changes to try and lock photographers into upgrade paths have made some switch back to their trusty V series or with the ever increasing megapixel race in SLR’s, people have switched to full frame digital SLR’s like the Canon 1D series and the Nikon D3x and D800e.  Some even went to the Leica M9 with its full frame CCD sensor giving a similar feel to medium format.

Now though it feels that Hasselblad are moving away from the needs of real photographers.  With the release of the Ferrari Red Hasselblad H and now the rebadged Sony NEX-7 people feel that Hasselblad have lost there way.  They have now announced the discontinuation of the V series.  Well at least that in a way is good news for me, its driven down the cost of Hasselblad lens so I can buy some more, and its proving good news for Leica, Canon, Nikon and PhaseOne to sell there highend offerings.

 

Posted on

A Hot Commute

BMW Motorrad Rallye 2 ProThe last few weeks have been pretty warm.  Dealing with the cold is easy on a bike today with modern materials and heated grips, jackets, vests; even gloves and socks!

Rain is also not an issue but the British summer can be an issue.  My BMW Rallye Suite handles most conditions well but its when the weather is hot, then the Gore-Tex liners have to be removed.  Opening the vents this makes the suit cool on hot days.

During the last few days few have had frequent heavy rain showers intermittently during the hot days.  Its in these conditions that biking can get difficult.  Do I ride with the Gore-Tex liners in or out.  In, and if I stop, then the lack of wind causes me to melt in the heat.  Leave them out and if we get a shower I am going to get soaked to the skin and then cold when moving.

Still what ever the answer, a car even with air conditioning is a poor second to the fun on a bike even in this heat.

 

Posted on

Heading Home

Aysgarth-4After a few days in Scotland it was time to head home, but we did not want the holiday to finish just yet.  So we made a quick phone call to one of our favourite Bed & Breakfast establishments, Heather Cottage.  They had room so that was going to be our next destination.

We made our way through Kilder Forest, then headed to Hawes in North Yorkshire for a cream tea before finally arriving at Heather Cottage in Aysgarth.  A lovely village, well worth a visit and lots of photographic  options around.  I do recommend a tripod if you are visiting.

Tomorrow we are heading to Whitby for lunch and then home.  Its been a great holiday and a great biking holiday.

 

Posted on

Visiting Melrose

Melrose Abbey

After our day in Jedburgh, we decided to hit the road, but ever so briefly and visit Melrose.  We made a quick stop first, just on the outskirts of Jedburgh to visit a quilt shop.  Caroline was restrained and only bought one kit, well we had limited luggage space on the bike ;).

A quick ride out and we were soon at Melrose.

It was a hot day and we left the helmets and gloves with the bike when we parked up.  We then quickly found a air conditioned tearoom to cool down and relax.

Sandwiches, Bannock Cake, and petit cakes, with Caroline having a pot of tea was lunch dealt with; it was now time to visit Melrose Abbey.

The lady at the till kindly offered to look after our jackets while we went round the Abbey.

Melrose Abbey Remains

 

After the Abbey we visited the local gardens.Flowers at Melrose

The gardens were used to produce dried flowers.  They still had a drying room and a lady there demonstrated some of the techniques they used.

Melrose Drying Room

Wondering round the gardens, taking in the views and taking photographs.  As we were on the bike I just had the Nikon V1 with me.  Walking round the gardens it proved to be an excellent choice.

Melrose House

With my biker jacket hung over one shoulder I only had one hand to operate the camera, but the V1 can easily be operated with one hand as long as you do not need to change modes.

SweetpeasOne handed operation and being able to quickly change settings is something to consider in small cameras.

Melrose was a great day out, if a little warm.  Heading back to Jedburgh we went via Kelso as that is another place we want to spend some time in the future.  As we rode through the town, the bunting was out and crowds lined the streets.  There was even groups of men and women on horse back.  Like the recent event in Jedburgh the riders were going to ride the boundaries of the town.  With its cobbled streets the town is definitely on our list for another longer visit.

Posted on

Out and about in Jedbourgh

Jedburgh Castle

Our second day saw us having a break from the motorcycling riding, and spending the day having a good look around the local town of Jedburgh.

We have stopped in Jedburgh a number of times, but just used it as a stopping off point on the way to either the highlands or to the Western Isles, but with its magnificent old Abbey we kept saying we aught to stop a while and have a good look around, so this was are day for it.Jedburgh Castle PrisonThe weather once again was wonderful, so dressed in ‘smart’ polo shirt, shorts and sun hats we headed off to explorer.  Our first stop was at the castle.  This had been a prison in the victorian era but was now more of a museum.

Jedburgh Abbey

With the castle prison well explored and photograph we then headed off to the Abbey.  The abbey was quite well preserved and was used as the parish church until one was built.

Jedburgh Abbey Gardens

 

Jedburgh is well worth a visit with some find buildings and I came away with a good selection of photographs.

 

Posted on

Travelling to Jedburgh

With panniers, top box and tank bag loaded on the big GS, we started our holiday.  There was a risk of showers so we had waterproofs packed into the tank bag and a couple of light fleeces and a flask of cold water.

The trip though Lincolnshire was fairly straight forward.  I was heading for the Humber Bridge, now a much more used option on the bike as they have now made it free for us Bikers.  Tolls are a major issue on a bike.  For some reason the majority of toll booths are on a slight slope.  Try holding a bike upright with the back brake on, trying to take off your gloves, find the toll money and not drop a heavy well loaded bike.  Once paid, you then have to put the gloves back on, re-adjust the cuffs of your jacket while a growing queue of cars builds behind you.  Waving bikes through and not having them pay just makes far more sense.

We stopped for a biscuit and drink of water at the County Park on the north side of the river then made a quick stop at the local supermarket to fill up with fuel.

Castle Howard Cafe

We then headed off across country to pick up the A19 round York and the only real traffic of the journey.  We then took the A64 before turning off towards Castle Howard for Lunch. Castle Howard Market

With the warm weather, the stop at Castle Howard was the perfect time to shed a few layers.  I was down to just a Polo Shirt and my BMW Rallye Jacket with the Gore-Tex liner removed.  No risk of rain now, though we did have about thirty seconds of the lightest drizzle you can imagine while crossing the River Humber.

The roads across the Pennines were great fun, with the fully loaded bike the pace was steady but there was a lot of other bikers on the road, tourers like us taking it steady to the ‘Power Rangers’ on there ‘Rice Rockets’ 😉

The final road to Jedburgh was a major roller coaster ride.  The A68 is fairly straight but it goes up and down like you would not believe.  Living in Lincolnshire you learn to approach blind summits with a degree of care.  While famous for being flat the wolds have some great hills and a ninety degree turn directly after a blind summit is not unknown.

We had one last break at a village pub late in the afternoon where we enjoyed a pint of cold lemonade before we finally arrived in Jedburgh.

Jedburgh Window

We arrived to find the town had been decorated in our honour 😉 In the days before it had been the Jedburgh festival.  The B & B owner had kindly removed his car from the garage so we could park in there.  After unpacking we had a quick shower then headed into town to find something to eat.

Jedburgh had one of the finest Indian Restaurant’s in Scotland and was very well regarded.  It was now under new management but it still served a fine meal.

Jedburgh - Relaxing

 

We then headed back to the Bed and Breakfast and relaxed in the conservatory.  Caroline had managed to find a way to pack some sewing; a half finished patchwork quilt that she could quilt in the evenings.  As we relaxed we enjoyed a evening drink courtesy of the owner of the Bed and Breakfast.

Posted on

Bike Trip – Scotland and North Yorkshire

BWM GS at Castle Howard
BWM GS at Castle Howard

This week the UK is having something of a heat wave.  It sounded like the perfect excuse to put a few miles on the GS.  We are away for a week, travelling through the Yorkshire Wolds, the Pennines and the Borders, with us ending up in Scotland for a few days.

Camera wise I am travelling extremely light.  Just a Nikon Series One V1 and the 10mm f/2.8 pancake lens, and the telephoto zoom 30-110mm.

The week is mainly about the biking and exploring an area of Scotland we have travelled through on the way to the more popular areas, but never spent any time looking at what the borders have to offer.

Posted on

In Camera JPeg or RAW

There is a lot of comments recently about shooting raw or shooting jpeg. I am a great believer as I have mentioned before in getting it right in camera. But some of my images require post production to get the best out of them. I shoot RAW but sometimes I also shoot jpeg as well as RAW to give me a comparison.

http://ottokite.wordpress.com/?p=3193#comments

In the link above is a good video looking at the alternatives to my point of view.

Woman on the Phone - Street shooting with Nikon V1- 10mm f.2.8, 28mm Field of view
Woman on the Phone – Street shooting with Nikon V1- 10mm f.2.8, 28mm Field of view

The above shot is a raw processed in Lightroom V5. I had also shot jpeg on the Nikon V1. The in camera jpeg looked great, I had tweaked the Black & White to mimic an orange filter which looked great. As soon as I took the raw photo into Adobe Lightroom the raw looked worse then the JPeg. It took some work to get it to look as good as the jpeg, but having the raw gives me more options.

RAW or JPeg? For me RAW, but sometimes JPeg as well to act as a guide.

If you prefer to shoot Jpeg and it does give some post production work flow advantages if the Jpeg is right and does not need editing; then I would advise shooting RAW and JPeg. Just so you have the RAW to fall back on.