Snowy Penarth with a Panasonic GF-1 and 14mm f2.5

As predicted it snowed in the wee small hours so I took my Panasonic GF-1 and  14mm lens out when I went to get bread. It was a wet slushy kind of snow and still falling lightly in the swirling wind. The roads were unusually quite and the cars using them picked their way carefully.

I choose the Panasonic GF-1  because I didn’t care about it getting wet as it’s been superseded by my love of Fuji – having an optical finder is a big plus in my book. On a snowy day though, when the LCD is easy to see, it’s a really great camera as no one really notices you’ve got it. This is as close as I get to street photography and while a bit lame they’re not bad for ten minutes work.

There was no sign of panic buying in the well stocked bakery but I felt a twinge of guilt as I bought two loaves. I resisted the temptation to say ‘Look I’m not in a panic, this is just normal weekend usage,  nothing to see here’.  I was reminded of my 2012 moment in this vein when with petrol shortages raging I needed fuel for the lawnmower. I was very self conscious as got out of the car with my 5L container amongst the queuing motorists. ‘Look at that bastard not needing to fill up his car but just stocking piling’.   Once more I resisted the temptation to begin a casual conversation about how ‘the break in the rain meant I could MOW MY LAWN..hoarding good Lord no’.  Not that you should draw from this that I’m in anyway paranoid; just sensitive to the needs of others.

Anyway, I strolled home taking a few more shots from the hip  while realising that my shoes appeared not to be waterproof in any meaningful sense. Oh and I  bought doughnuts, of course to share, who do you think I am Homer Simpson?

See my efforts below which are grayscaled and tweaked in Lightroom for your viewing.

Life Mimics Art with Panasonic GF1 & 20mm Pancake.

After we’d been to Emsworth at the weekend, it was such a beautiful evening that we decided to embark on a stroll before the sunset. A grumbling child and pesky flies couldn’t spoil our enjoyment as we meandered through the familiar Sussex landscape.

I took a series of dull photos and then with my final shot of the day I looked through the viewfinder and was instantly reminded of a piece of art I had bought in Alice Springs in 1995. It’s called ‘Guardians’ by Sue Charles  in acrylic on 6×8 canvas board. I have it above the door of my attic and, since James has been born, it always reminds me of our own family unit.  I clicked the shutter and though I took  a few more staged shots after I knew what I was trying to recreate, it was the first that was the best.

I enjoy coincidences like that and take it as a sign the universe is nodding its ascent . Or maybe it just goes to prove I’m a bit barmy.

Yesteryear Today with Panasonic GF1 and 20mm Pancake.

A trip to West Sussex at the weekend meant I had an opportunity to visit my old friend Bob Machin and take my 1963 Fender Jaguar to the workshop of Joe White guitar maestro.  A previous owner had stripped off the original finish and as I’d hoped, Joe suggested he could put it back to the authentic 1963 sunburst look.  So I’m looking forward to getting it back in a few weeks and peeling off some licks inspired by its new vintage vibe.

We then visited Guitar Village to inspect a used Gibson 335 and imagined how good it would be to own it.  The price tag kept this idea in the realms of fantasy and we made do with a slap up lunch instead.

I then returned to my family in time to suggest a trip to Emsworth a town I had myself lived in 1965. My Jag would have been two years old then and was no doubt helping hip young Britain to  swing through the 60s. I on the other hand was taking the grand sum of sixpence to the toy shop in Emsworth and buying an Airfix Spitfire Kit.

I wandered down to the waterfront and took some snaps of people messing about on boats. Looking at them in Lightroom I’d thought of going B&W but when I clicked on the Yesteryear colour preset that golden glow reminded me of all those Kodak moments every 60’s family must have stacked up in boxes, probably in the attic.

The chemists will tell you that that the yellow tint is a result of the chemcials in the colour film development breaking down or badly calibrated processing machines. But those of us who lived through those summers know that we really were bathed in a golden glow.

A lot a people will think they look unreal but I like to think they contain tints of the truth.

Geocaching in Penarth with a Panasonic GF1 and 20mm Pancake

One of my favourite rituals took place last weekend when the Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool took place. Since I was kid it was always a good excuse for a gathering and  I’ve carried this through in to my adult life with the addition of booze, friends and food. (That list may or may not be in order of importance and that comma is optional.)

So it was we had friends from West Wales and the local environs come round to share the day. The weather suggested soup but I plowed on with salad as the darling buds of May require even though, in a middle class failure on my part, the garden furniture has not been oiled due to all the rain. Ever deceasing circles just doesn’t cover it.

The FA as guardians of the game in England have seen fit to undermine the oldest cup competition in the world in a myriad of ways. This year, for the first time in my life, the kickoff had been moved to 5:15. To say I was outraged when this came to my attention was an understatement. These  guardians of the game who seem indifferent to ritual and tradition might as well not bother. I mean, semi-finals at Wembley for a few extra quid these are tawdry times indeed.

With no obvious underdog we were left to choose  from two fat cat prima donnas of the Premiership who have been a bit rubbish this season, while also being embroiled in racism rows.  Two teams who have a sense of entitlement, one through tradition and the other because of a Russian oligrach.  In the end I backed Chelsea as Liverpool had rather luckily defeated Cardiff in the Coca Cola Cup ( the League Cup to old folks) and as I live here I felt I could cloak myself in their disappointment for an afternoon. As it turned out I backed the winner for the first time in a number years but really who cares as it was  all about the company.

On the Sunday the ladies went shopping  so the gentlemen, when tired of ripping it up on guitars, felt perhaps we should do something with the kids to prove our credentials as 21st century husbands.  In the old days a walk in the fresh air would have sufficed but now thanks to the wonders of the modern age we could go geocaching. It’s an activity 17th century pirates would have had a handle on with all that buried treasure and maps. The modern age means an object can be hidden and it’s location discovered by the use of a GPS phone.  Go to Geocaching.com and all will be explained.

My friend Paul Williams was fully geared up for this with an app to guide us to the very spot  not a 150m from the house that a cache had been hidden.  Only a short work then but I think it’s important to ease yourself gently into new things. With aid of a GPS phone and enthusiatic  children we found the location with ease but recovering the cache proved more difficult. We struggled for a good 10 minutes  to locate it and were pondering the possibility that some one had nicked it, when my son happened on the correct magic words  ‘Come on lets give up we’re never going to find it’  and there it lay before me underneath the metal fence rail. It was just a film canister with a log inside which Paul duly signed and we placed it back in its hiding place.

I sense readers that some of you are snorting at the legitimacy of this activity and perhaps consider it all rather pointless but for me it was great fun. I mean who doesn’t love a treasure hunt.  Paul informs me sometimes there are actual trinkets that you can take and replace with your own. Anyway we were so emboldened by our success that we went and found another one up by St Augustines Church. This was a nano cache so small I’d never have found it with out Paul’s experience. All in all I’d highly recommend it as a pursuit for people who wish to walk with a purpose.

I took the  Panasonic GF1 and 20mm Pancake into the harsh midday sun something we haven’t had much of this year and below are  the snaps tweaked in Lightroom.

Fun in Florida with a Panasonic GF1

An Easter trip to Florida and while I took a film camera, in the end the bright light seemed to lend itself more to colour and digital. I was in snapping mode and pressed the shutter over 300 times but had very little to show for my efforts. In the end the ten images below represent the best I could muster.

We let the train take the strain to Gatwick as last time I drove and was alarmingly drowsy on the return trip. A night flight back on a budget airline and a three hour drive are not a smart cocktail. A rushed hotel breakfast while a poor German tried to explain he needed gluten free bread to a bemused waitress was followed by the tedium of air travel. Hats off to those who do it on a regular basis but I’d rather strip wallpaper or weed the garden than sit on an airplane for an extended period.

The first part of the holiday was a house on the Gulf Coast just north of Tampa. It was by a river close to the coast and had an outside netted area around the pool which should have had me on my guard. I ventured beyond this protection for some better pictures and unbeknown to me encountered the dreaded ‘no see ‘ums’. These tiny creatures took a real shine to me and I awoke to more than 50 bites on my arms which over the next few days proceeded to itch in a manner best described as torture. It hardly seemed fair that I remained the only victim as my companions remained unfed upon and couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.  I ventured little from the compound after that; now viewing this foreign landscape with a degree of suspicion. I can’t say I was sorry to depart New Port Richey and head south to Fort Myers.

Here we had the best of times with an old school friend of my wife.  She and her family live in splendid comfort and proved fine hosts. We had the best food since our arrival in America when they cooked some fantastic steaks. This was in contrast to our previous dining in America when most meals were not complete without some melting cheese.

We spent the next couple of days enjoying the landscape around Fort Myers and, thankfully, the insect population that far south felt I had suffered enough. A highlight was visiting the Ding Darling Nature reserve; Ding being a well-known cartoonist who was the one of the first to begin the conservation movement in America.  It was around this point that I discovered a small ice cream in the States has three large scoops and I did heroic work to get through it.

The trip wasn’t without its moments of extremity and adventure, for instance we visited an outdoor Mall in 90 degrees of heat and survived. I‘d like to see Ray Mears take on this sort of challenge.  Plus I was persuaded to have a pedicure in what I was informed was top quality style.  So travel not only broadens the mind but can at times soothes the feet.

This relaxation could not last and for the final few days we returned to Orlando and experienced the joys (I think that’s the right word) of Universal Studios.   Thankfully my son displayed no great desire to ride the more formidable attractions which would surely have killed me but was content to see his father soaked from head to foot on whatever water based ordeal was on offer.  I have to say the people wearing ponchos weren’t showing the proper spirit in my view.

This left the return flight and the shock of cold upon our return to dear old blighty.  Somewhat jet lagged and, with me still scratching my souvenir bites, we made it home.  The shots below were produced by a Panasonic  GF1 and mostly a 20mm pancake lens.

Weekend Duality with a Panasonic GF1+20mm and a Leica M2 with 5cm Leitz Elmar

My old friend Ian Whiteley came to visit last weekend bringing with him his fifteen year old son Silas. It is hard to imagine we were once that young and difficult to admit that we are now this old.  It was to be a weekend of duality, old and young, night and day, film and digital etc. If you can’t shoe horn some clichés into a blog, when can you?

While sorting through my cameras and trying to decide what I might use, I came across an old 5cm Leitz Elmar f3.5 that came in a lot with my Leica M2. It looks old and I’ve hardly used it, mainly because the aperture is on the front of the lens making it a pain if you use a filter. I couldn’t find a serial number at first but Google soon showed me it was engraved with tiny numbers on the black rim of the lens. Even with a magnifier I struggled to see the first digit but after much tilting I dated it to 1937.

Now, there’s a date to make you feel young, it being 20 years before my own birth. It makes you wonder what it has snapped in its previous 75 years and easy to see why it might regard my camera bag as a good place to retire. I love the mojo in old objects and so felt compelled to shoot with it for the weekend. I had a few rolls of Fomapan 200 to use up so I fitted it back on my M2 which dates from 1960 when I was but a toddler.

We decided to take our visitors across the barrage as we could combine the brave new world of 21^st century Cardiff, the Barrage and the Bay, with my son’s favourite food – pizza. We set off late in the day and though it had been spectacularly sunny the light was fading fast and my shutter speeds got slower and slower. It all seemed a bit dull photographically and the problem of being sociable on a group walk while maintaining a cutting edge artistic aesthetic raised its ugly head. My family are used to it but it hardly seemed fair to the members of the party who had made their way half way across the country for the visit.

It took an age to be fed and watered (I mean wined) so it was quite dark as we picked our way back across the barrage. The council while having done great work to secure a passage through reluctant businesses land, have not bothered to light the way. This proved a master stroke, as it is not often you get to walk through a darkened urban space with half the cities lights reflected in the water beside you. With judicious use of posts I was able to shoot some digital snaps with my Panasonic GF1and 20mm. Using the film camera would have been slow and left me isolated from the party and prey to what ever evil may have lurked in the darkness. The couple sitting on the rocks by the Bristol Channel strumming an acoustic guitar in the dark, had B movie victims written all over them. Let’s hope they made it home because we know how those scenes go. The next day we walked to Penarth Pier, a must for every visitor, and I finished my first roll. I finished another roll back at the barrage during the week as two is a must for me when processing.

I processed them in Rodinal 1+50 @21degrees for 9 minutes. Then the trouble began because the first roll I shot had a line through for about 24 frames which I suspect was a piece of grit in the film canister. I’m used to these kinds of horrors with analogue photography and should, I suppose be grateful for the 12 frames that remained. The second roll wasn’t without its problems as the grain is lumpy and, for some reason when scanned, covered in white specs. I suspect a combination of factors produced this result which is all most unsatisfactory but there is not much I can do now. I salvaged what I could from the two rolls and hope that when I next process things will turn out better. Below is a mixture of the digital shots and a few of the black and white that were usable. I used an Antique Greyscale  preset in Lightroom to cover a multitude of sins.  I guess I’ll retire the Leitz Elmar 5cm once more and go back to something more modern. Still apart from the photography a fine weekend was had by all.

A West Wales New Year with a Panasonic GF1 and 20mm.

So it was way out west for New Year through the spray of rain on the M4 to Cardigan. It was the first time we had turned left when we hit the M4 in a very long time and it coincided with the anniversary of Gillian’s broken ankle – see earlier blog for details. We stayed with our good friends the Williams’ whose home has all the accoutrements of a boutique hotel without the charges.

I took my Bessa R2a with HP5+ set to 1600 and after 5 shots the shutter started firing as I wound on the film with no input from me.  A weird kind of fault which I’m hoping will magically go away on the next roll of film – otherwise it’s off to the camera fairies with it.  I fell back on the trusty Panasonic GF-1 which is to me one of those rare things a classic digital camera.

It was a grey Welsh weekend full of rain and mood so we ventured forth briefly to Poppit for that cure for all ills ‘fresh air’. Dogs who hang their heads out of car windows know exactly what I’m talking about.  The beach was sodden with rain and had something of the tone of Echo & the Bunnymen’s ‘Heaven Up Here’ cover without the purple just the grey.

It was, as you’d expect not hugely busy except for the hardened dog walkers and other families with children who also understood the mystical properties of shuffling about in the wind and rain. Meanwhile offshore a man balanced on a surf board and punted up and down the shoreline. He failed to entertain us by falling in at any point. After a bit of rock pooling in the rain we headed back for soup and the prospect of seeing the New Year in fine style.

A booze and curry evening followed and, with additional guests added to the party, all was set fair.  The kids partied on sugar and the Muppets while the adults tucked into a magnificent korma prepared by the host. The wine flowed somewhat faster than might be considered advisable given the countdown to 2012 was several hours in the future. It would be improper of me to name names but some paced themselves and some did not.

With 6 Music and Craig Charles providing a soundtrack of Northern Soul the merriment was unconfined and many a drunken conversation ensued.  Ask me not how the RAF faced the threat of the Russian Bear by playing cards and learning guitar or how students might have got caught up in the Operation Julie raid, for my lips are sealed on the matter. Of course we’re all older and wiser now and young people today are far more sensible.

The children and adults gathered for the countdown to 2012, the kids buzzy and the grown ups fuzzy. With one last charge of our glasses then, for me at least, a crash into bed and slumber.  Those who had paced themselves sensibly emerged with cheery bonhomie the next morning while those who did not appeared as if practicing for a part as an extra in Shaun of the Dead. It was a great weekend and I’m sure it will be a fine year.

Not many photos but the GF-1 performed fine in the rain with its 20mm Pancake. Tweaked in Lightroom and grudging approval obtained from the models. Gillian claims I’ve made her look like a Russian peasant but nobody tell Vogue or they’ll rip me off in the next edition.

On Jersey with Panasonic GF-1 and 20mm.

With the dark of Autumn upon us the family escaped to Jersey for half term. A plane with old fashioned propellers struggled through high winds to deposit us on the tax haven.  We decamped to the excellent L’Horizon with views over the magnificent St Brelades Bay.

The only problem then was to find things to do between eating. Each day started with that most dangerous of things, the all you can eat hotel breakfast. Thankfully by the second day we realised lunch could be dropped in favour of cake and coffee.  Though this admirable restraint led to more greed in the evening as our appetites returned with some force. The scales wisely hid on our return and frankly I don’t much want to see them either.

The tide came in the tide went out while  dogs walkers promenaded on the beach and armed with my Panasonic GF-1 and 20mm I snapped away.  The sea and the sky should have their own TV show with a guest appearance by light and you have a winner.

We revisited old haunts like La Hogue Bie a neolithic tomb with  a medieval church built upon it. Everywhere on Jersey evidence of the German visitors of the 1940s abound even on this site. Here there is an underground command bunker with the faces and stories of those unfortunate enough to be brought to the island as slave labour.  James found it quite upsetting, the youngest victims being 16 year olds from Eastern Europe. Horrible history of a different kind was on offer here.

We  walked the beaches in the teeth of a gale sometimes but in the main the weather was kind. A fab break and here are the pictures to prove it.

Processed in Lightroom to give them a vintage look which appears to mean a lot of yellow.

On the Algarve with a Panasonic GF-1 and 14mm

It is May and time for the annual expanding of our carbon footprint with a flight to the Algarve. Our adventuring days are well behind us, if indeed we ever had any, so returning to the familiar south west tip of Portugal is always a pleasure.  In recent years we’ve taken this a step further by staying in a villa with a pool and only leaving them to restock with stuff your doctor would advise you against eating.  With Gillian’s ankle still recovering, doing nothing was really the only sensible option.  To offer some balance to this, I took Tim Butcher’s ‘Chasing the Devil’ about him trekking though West Africa and was with him every step of the way from the safety of my poolside lounger.

Photo opportunities are bit limited under these conditions so I only used my Panasonic GF-1 with the stock lens and a recently acquired 14mm. The 14mm acts like a 28mm so I took a finder to avoid the problem of LCD glare.  I had ordered a Panasonic DMW-LVF1E finder from the amazingly cheap but utterly useless Simply Electronics, weeks before the trip, but despite their website saying numbers in stock and two days to ship, they were unable to deliver in the three weeks I allowed them.  Seduced by the price it was only after I ordered did I Google their name to discover whole websites devoted to their appalling customer service and incompetence.  You have been warned; do not touch with a barge pole.

If the Irish in me gets the credit for my poetry, it can also share the blame for my indolence, if that isn’t politically incorrect, for Casa Luar was a tranquil spot well suited to the family inclined to do almost nothing.  I practised my barbecue skills and drank rough Portuguese wine and by the end of the week I’d stopped burning stuff and we’d actually found a wine that was smooth. Tim Butcher would have been proud of us.

James and I did venture out once for a walk down to the coast but while I communed on the beauty of the evening, he played the barrister explaining why the age rating system for computer games was a monumental injustice.  I think my explanation of “because I say so” helped him see things more clearly.  I’m sure he will treasure these moments when he’s older.

With the Wi Fi , the satellite TV and games console, it’s safe to say we’re not really entering the spirit of ‘getting away from it all’.  We did, though, get to see The European Cup Final, Corrie and the now traditional spring holiday family viewing of Britain’s Got Talent. Really, where’s the harm?  – and fear not, money is set aside for the therapy sessions that James will require in the future.

Anyway, here are the snaps, most with the 14mm but a few with the stock lens.  If you can tell which is which, you’re a better man or woman than me.  I may need to up my game considerably for the Cardiff Photomarathon on the 11th June.

Patterns in Penarth with a Panasonic GF-1

So, finally, the day arrived that I’ve longed for, when James asked me “Can we go for a walk to the Pier and take pictures of patterns?” Of course this was some homework for a school art project but nonetheless I regarded it as a breakthrough. Next thing you know, he’ll be begging me to go to a Plymouth Argyle game.

I haven’t had a compact since the death of my Panasonic LZ7 and arrival of a smart phone, so I took the Panasonic GF1 armed with the stock lens that I rarely use.  I took a few shots myself and when James found something he considered a pattern, I’d give him the GF1 to use.  It’s murder to use these non viewfinder cameras on sunny days so it’s almost like using film in that you’ve no idea what you’ve got till you get home.  I have ordered an electronic viewfinder (Panasonic DMW-LVF1E) at great expense, so I’m hoping to solve this problem in the future.

We wandered the same old route that I’ve dragged him many times before and, in a remarkable moment which may signal that my son has been kidnapped by aliens, he actually said he was “having fun”.   It has to be said that once we had the six shots that fulfilled the brief, he was keen to get back home.  We came across what I thought was a heart on some peeling paint but James pointed out to me with his greater insight in to the minds of young boys that it was a skull.  Still it’s my favourite shot of the ones I took.

We did have time to look at the horror the developers have brought to Penarth front.  The old buildings have been removed apart from the two ends, so a great big hole exists in the middle like a bomb has gone off.  Judging by the recent record of the Vale of Glamorgan planning department I don’t hold out much hope of anything even vaguely appropriate going up in their place.  It’s a scandal that one of the richest councils in Wales can’t find the funds to look after the heritage of Penarth.  Total dimwits.

Anyway, back home, and James and I could both be happy with our work.  I loaded the photos into Lightroom, sharpened them a touch and tweaked the contrast.  Here below is the best of the bunch; the first six being the homework.