Life Observed

Sometimes the subject dictates the technique, and here's an example. I spotted a single leaf caught in a web across the greenhouse door, and I immediately saw an unusual photo opportunity.  I need to get in close to isolate the leaf from the background so it is the sole item of interest in the frame, so this requires my trusty Zuiko 50mm macro lens. Next I need to light it properly as the daylight is fading and the leaf is spinning to and fro in the wind. I press my old Sunpak off camera flash into service with the cheap ebay wireless trigger, and opt for manual flash mode at 1/16th power. The flash will have a consistent output despite the confusing dark background and the short flash duration will freeze the leaf's motion. The scale on the flash says I need f11 for 3 feet, so I decide on a shutter speed of 1/160th which will mute the background but still retain some detail.  Now it is just a matter of repeating the shot until I have the leaf in a good position an...

Our local town just opened a new shopping centre . This has been planned, re-planned, resisted and modified since 1961. Well, finally it is open. There's lots of lovely shops full of lots of lovely stuff that we have to go and buy. We must buy stuff or else jobs will be lost. It doesn't matter if the old stuff hasn't worn out yet. What you need is new stuff. In fact we need to buy more stuff this year than we did last year so that the economy can grow. Without growth the financial system falls apart, apparently. Your pitiful pension is caused by low share values and that, my friend, is your own fault because you didn't buy lots of stuff. Ever wondered what the point of all this is?

Sometimes you can give a picture impact by placing a light subject against a dark background. In fact, using contrasting brightness is a typical artist's trick.  Here however I am using contrasting colours to draw the eye. By comparison, let's try that same image in monochrome: These splendid Autumnal leaves seemed to stand out agains the rare but welcome blue sky, and careful positioning means the picture contains just enough and no more.

I tell ya, you don't want to meet a rural Woodworm. Those guys are so big they'll take your wallet and steal your car....

Sorry. Today's post is late. I had an early start and an *unusual trip into London, so I had no time to prepare my daily words of wisdom .  *Unusual trip into London as in : I don't usually go near the place, but I digress. Anyway, you think this post is late? What about this picture then... This picture is forty years late. This is from the earliest slide film I shot. This panorama was taken on Kodachrome in April 1971 from the White Horse hill at Uffington. (Click on it to see the big version) I clearly took two pictures which could be spliced together. It was my first attempt at a panorama and I didn't leave any overlap in the images, in fact I managed to leave a gap. Quite what I intended to do with two individual Kodachrome slides is a mystery: Photoshop hadn't been invented. Computers hadn't been invented for that matter. So. Forty years on, I've finally assembled the pair of pictures. Sorry it's late.  BTW. Anyone fancy g...

Set into the ancient Saxon Long and Short work on this Church we find a Cut Benchmark .   Benchmark is a term now used to denote a standard to which we should aspire. (It's rather like a Line in the Sand but I suppose it's more permanent) . Anyway, I can't help feeling if this is an aspirational benchmark, then they have set it rather low...

It is about time that we tackled the Periodic Table of the Elements on this blog, so that some basic misunderstandings may be corrected. If you haven't studied Chemistry or Physics then this colourful chart may seem indistinct and mysterious, so let me explain some of the highlights, and you too can be an expert. The Elements are sorted into groups that have similar properties, and I begin with the Useful Group. This contains some of the oldest Elements known to man such as Wood (Symbol W ) and Steel ( S ) but it also includes rather more recent discoveries such as Bakelite ( Ba ) Glass ( Ga ) and Chipboard ( C ). Next we come to the Flooring Group. Here you can find Carpet ( Ca ) Rubber ( R ) and Lino ( Li ). In fact pure Linoleum (to give it its full name) is colourless and lusterous material that is much prized. The multicoloured patterns you see in Lino are caused by tiny impurites. Now we meet the Shiny Group , containing come of mankinds earliest me...