Commuting in the Sun and Staying Cool

The warm weather here in Lincolnshire is still with us.  Most people would be surprised to find out that the Summer is not my favourite time for motorcycling.  I find the Spring and Autumn is better, not too hot, and not too cold; the Goldilocks seasons.

With modern clothes cold is now quite easy to deal with, and if like me you ride all year round, then indulge in heated grips and a heated waist coat.  An expensive luxury, but feeling cosy and warm in the middle of Winter can really make your Winter rides fun.

Anyway, I am starting to ramble, back to the point of the post.  Hot weather is harder to deal with, I see far to many people wearing tee-shirts, and shorts.  Some people compromise and wear the full bike gear but leave the gloves at home.  Well your all MAD never compromise on what your wear.  I have the BMW Rallye 2 Suite, its major downside is when its hot and wet, its just too hot, the waterproof layer zips inside and is fleece lined, on a warm day in the rain you melt, but on days like we have had in the last week, its been brilliant.  With just the outer layer, with all its vents and the armour layer its perfect for hot dry days.

But always remember its better to be hot and uncomfortable then badly injured, waiting for skin grafts.

Mountain Lion

Well the latest and greatest OS X release is now here.

Not had a chance yet to try it. Will need to ensure all my key apps work with it and if my laptop will take it.

We will be getting it soon either way as its time to replace our old PowerBook.

My MacBookPro still has plenty of life left in, so the new laptop will go to Caroline while I turn the PowerBook into a server.

Update: 27th July

Adobe and Apple have worked closely together to test Adobe® Creative Suite® 5, 5.5 and CS6 editions and individual products for reliability, performance and user experience when installed on Intel® based systems running Mac OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8). Earlier versions of Adobe Photoshop® (CS3 and CS4) software were also tested with Mountain Lion and there are currently no known issues.

Adobe requests that users discovering problems report them to Adobe.

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/25/adobe-and-avid-report-only-minor-issues-with-mountain-lion/

Large Format Testing

This weekend I decided I had to get out and shoot.  The weather was warm, sunny and certainly not the best for landscape photography but I wanted to do some testing.

Lincoln is a beautiful city and is blessed with one of the greatest Cathedral’s in the world.

I am after a new wide angle lens for Large Format 5×4, and am not sure quite what to get.  I have a good idea what field of view lens in 35mm have just from the focal length but with large format, I am still relatively inexperienced.

So Saturday morning I headed in Lincoln with the Large Format gear and did some testing, while the light was not the best, I think I got at least one good shot (I took three in total), but more importantly it gave me a better idea what my next lens will be.

Where is Fuji going with Film

A few years ago Fuji discontinued Fuji Velvia, for many photographers this is there favourite landscape film.  Well due to photographer pressure they brought it back.

Now they have announced it will be discontinued again for some formats.  For me I don’t mind if then end it for 35mm as I only use Black & White film for 35mm and mainly digital.  But for medium format and large format I am a heavy Velvia user and hope they keep it for us larger format users.

Manual Focus

Most people now use auto focus cameras. My old medium format Hasselblad is a V series so is manual focus as is my large format camera.

Also one of my favourite 35mm wide angles is manual focus, but thanks to Nikon keeping there F mount it still works even on the latest modern Autofocus cameras.

What I have found surprising is that sales of classic manual focus lens is increasing. The reason is cameras like the micro four thirds system and the Sony Nex system. People are rediscovering some of these old classic lens and with converters and features like focus peaking they work well on a number of modern cameras.

It’s great to see these old lens being used again.

Time to shoot models again

I had a number of personal photography projects planned this year involving shooting models outdoors.

I am now pretty glad I did not get round to organising anything, as the weather would have made it a bit of a wash out, but it’s now time to risk it.

So if your a Lincolnshire Model who fancies an outdoor shoot and is willing to risk the weather then get in contact.

Getting Fit – Again

With the week on the motorcycle and now this last week back at work, its been a while since we hit the gym or went running.  Before we went on our bike tour we did manage to go to Yoga and again last Wednesday, but its been less fitness and more cooked breakfasts, coffee and cake being the order of the day.

Well this has to end so on Saturday’s nice warm sunny afternoon we pulled on our running gear and went for a run.  We only did 2.5 miles, not a lot and it was difficult at first but towards the end as the soft rain started to come down, and it still being warm, it was rather pleasant and satisfying.

BMW Rallye 2 Pro – Time for a clean and reproof


The BMW Motorrad Rallye 2 Pro is the best textile suit I have had, while it can be a little hot in the summer if it’s raining due to the inner warm lining also being the Goretex layer, it truly is a great all year round suit.

Because the outer layer that gets all the road muck and the inner waterproof layer are separate it does make it easier to wash. In fact the jacket is made up of three pieces, the outer layer which is mildly water resistant and very abrasion resistant. This layer has lots of vents to help keep you cool even in the heat of summer. The middle layer which is very light and holds all the armour which zips into the outer. Then the optional inner lining for extra warmth and is also fleece lined Goretex so 100% waterproof.

With all the heavy use it’s been getting it was time for a full wash.

I stripped out the armoured layer from the jacket and also the Gortex layer from the jacket and trousers.  Then removing the armour from the trousers, a little tricker as its not in a layer like the jacket it was all ready for the wash.

Let’s hope it’s dry by Monday!