15 Saturday Oct 2016
Posted in London, Photography
Tags
CAFC, CCFC, charlton athletic, Coventry City, Fans United, Fuji X-E1, Fuji XT10, protest, the Valle
Charlton Athletic and Coventry City fans joint protest against their clubs’ owners.
Protests against the Duchatelet regime have been going on for a while at the Valley (I took some shot of the Pinocchio Day protest back in February), but this one was a combined effort with CCFC fans. A decent write up of the background in the Telegraph (of all places).
14 Sunday Aug 2016
Posted in London, Photography
Tags
Angerstein hotel, antigallican, Charlton, East Greenwich, fire station, Frankie & Benny, Fuji X-E1, Fuji XT10, london, mirror shop, photography, photowalk, pickwicks, rose of denmark, SE London, SE7, south east London, Starbucks, woolwich road
I took my cameras for a walk along Woolwich Road between two landmark pubs, starting at the Angerstein Hotel; passing the landmark shops (‘mirror’, and ‘ass’); the unexplained shipping container of Holmwood Villas; East Greenwich fire station; Pickwick’s pub (recently closed); the motorway service station architectural vibes of Frankie & Benny’s and Starbucks; the Rose of Denmark pub; the out-of-town-shopping-centre-but-in-town incongruous mass of M&S and Sainsbury’s; Valley House (awaiting demolition); and finishing up at The Antigallican. The sun was belting hot and not particularly nice for photography, there was too much traffic, and there are far too many signposts and the like cluttering the view along there, but it was an interesting exercise; I might try it again in the winter.
31 Tuesday Mar 2015
Posted in Antidotes, Music, Photography, Reading
Tags
End-of-winter distractions…
A new camera
Looking back through my photos from the last 2 or 3 years recently. I was struck by two things: a complete lack of consistency in style as I tried out iPhone apps and b&w conversion techniques, and that the images from my Fuji X-E1 stood out as being far superior to any others I’ve taken in recent years. The problem with the X-E1 is that it’s a bit too big to put in a coat pocket (particularly with the 35mm f1.4 on – the best of the two lenses I have), and the auto-focus is a bit too slow to catch my daughter in action – plus, of course, the iPhone is just too convenient (though it makes decent images in the right conditions). So I bought a Fuji X100T and, so far, I’m very pleased: the images have that Fuji X series feel, I like the 23mm lens, and it’s more pocketable than the X-E1. It’s prompted a splurge of photo-making, mostly Down By The River, and made me think more about the consistency of my black and white processing. Now I just need to remember to put it in my coat pocket, and resist the convenience of the iPhone.
One thing I’ve noticed over the last couple of years is that the better the cameras get, the less I need – or feel inclined – to make significant adjustments to the files during post-processing; I’m no longer using film simulations, and the sliders don’t move so far from the middle. Maybe I should write something about how I do it sometime; at the very least it might help me remember in the future.
Music and books, etc
– Surface Tension continues to draw me in and reveal new sounds and textures.
– The Handsome Family at St Giles’ Church were amusing, dark and good company.
– I’ve loved Magnus Mills’ work since The Restraint Of Beasts, and I enjoyed A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In very much, even if I wouldn’t (quite) put it in a Magnus Mill Top 3.
05 Friday Jul 2013
Posted in London, Photography
Tags
Blackheath, Fuji X-E1, kites, london, photography, Psychogeography, trees, wildflowers
I’m often ambivalent about the charms of Blackheath; a place desperately convincing itself that it really is an idyllic rural village set by the city, but often as traffic-jammed, noisy, and estate agent-plagued as any other part of London. Last night, though, I walked over the heath from the village back to Charlton, taking a detour to watch the kite-boarders and have a look at the wildflowers along the bunds of Prince Charles Road; it was warm, the sunset brewing up to spectacular, just about possible to ignore the traffic along the A2, and – on foot – take in the variety of plant life barely-perceptible from the bus.
Maybe I’ll put my campaign to have the whole heath re-forested on hold a little bit longer.
Photos all shot on the Fuji X-E1 and processed in the far-from satisfactory Windows Picture Manager. Home insurance payout can’t come soon enough.
16 Sunday Jun 2013
Posted in Photography
Trying out my new Fuji X-E1.
Being currently without any sort of proper computer, I’ve not managed to either update the firmware, or have a look at a RAW file, but here are some initial impressions anyway:
1. It’s very nicely made
2. The straight-out-of-the-camera Jpegs seem very good: goo contrast, white balance, and so on.
3. The lens seems very good indeed: no barrel distortion to be seen, nice colours, fast, and capable of pretty extreme shallow focus (though that’s not a style I’m usually interested in)
4. The auto-focus is slooooow. Hopefully the firmware update should improve this, when I get a chance.
5. The lens cap is really, really cheap, and a bit shoddy. Needs replacing before it falls off and gets lost.
Looking forward to getting further into it.
