October 9th – Darkness is now frequently impinging on my commutes – both early in the morning and in the early evening. This marks a shift now to night photography and the return to some old muses. I’ve not used the TZ90 in night conditions much yet, and I’m hoping it’s better than the TZ80.
Passing Clayhanger Bridge on a dark evening, I gave it a try. Not too shabby I think.
I’m pleased with those.
October 3rd – I’d forgotten my camera, I was heading home late and flustered, what an unfortunate time to witness an astonishing sunset.
Looking from Kings Hill west to Wolverhampton, across the ether the cellphone mast silently talks endlessly to, the sky was bright crimson, rippled and utterly stunning.
And the phone didn’t capture it at all. Bugger.
Ah well, there will be other sunsets that hopefully, catch me better equipped.
December 12th – On the way back into Brownhills, the air was a little clearer, so I stopped on Anchor Bridge for a classic nighttime Brownhills photo.
As well as playing about with aperture settings of late, I’ve discovered exposure compensation. Must say I think the darker image is the better of the two.
One day I must read up on what all these adjustments actually do…
November 8th – Back to the Nikon S9900, and this is what I was after yesterday. I love the harsh way can be set to pick up on light sources. It doesn’t suit everything, but I think it works better on the bridge scene that the fuzz the Panasonic does. The light was completely different tonight, sadly, as I travelled home in steady rain – but I may flip back to this camera for a while and see how I get on…
November 5th – It was bitterly cold as I headed out just after nightfall on a run up to Chasewater and back to the supermarket to get some shopping.
I’m fiddling with the camera settings, and it’s getting better, but I still can’t find that magic spot I had with the TZ70. Perhaps I never will with this one, it’s an odd box.
I was lucky to catch the firework at Chasewater on a long exposure. I was less lucky at Catshill Junction where I tried repeated shots to just miss the action every time. Still, the view wasn’t bad.
Practice makes perfect, I guess.
March 8th – There’s clearly a traffic survey going on along the feeder routes on Walsall Ring Road. A huge amount of monitoring equipment has been temporarily installed at junctions and crossings, some of it quite high tech.
In a journey between Lichfield Road and Ida Road I must have seen 20 different items of equipment – cameras, motion sensors etc.
This must be costing a lot of money. Wonder what’s going on?
January 11th – Another reason I wasn’t feeling too chipper was I’d forgotten my camera, but felt like I might have lost it. I hadn’t, thankfully, just in the general cloud of roughness that morning I’d left it behind.
Returning to Shenstone tired, I chanced my hand at a couple of night shots of my beloved station, and have been genuinely surprised at how decent the phone camera is in low light.
A bit grainy, but I don’t think it did too bad. Surprising.
January 8th – A rushed day in which I went to work, came back mid afternoon, did a couple of jobs at home, then had to dash here, there and everywhere on errands.
Sadly, in all the hubbub I failed to notice the camera was accidentally set in some awful scene mode and all my pictures came out horrid, except these.
I had to zip to Walsall Wood, then over to Shenstone, calling at Stonnall on the way back. The sunset was beautiful, and it felt like the air was warming up again.
The water, though: everywhere. Everything is saturated from all the rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winter like this. I thought Christmas 2013 was wet, but it was nothing in comparison.
June 13th – A wet, miserable day, with the weather only clearing in the early evening. I headed out on surprisingly puddle-free towpaths into a glistening, dripping wet green.
I went out with the intention of comparing the Nikon to the Sony on the same/similar shots. The Sony may have a great interface, but the image quality in poor light can’t hold a candle to the Nikon. Interesting.
The flag irises are doing well this year – huge beds with lots of flowers all along the canal through Brownhills and up to Chasewater. After a brief break the gorse is flowering again, and the ox-eye daisies on Chasewater Dam were a delight.
After most of the day stuck indoors, a real tonic.
June 12th – The macro on the Sony doesn’t seem as good as the Nikon, but again, the light was horrid. I have a sneaking suspicion I’m not being fair here. Time will tell, I guess.
The small clump of huge poppies was a surprise near the marl quarry at Stubbers Green, as was the first foxglove of the year beyond the wire not far away.
Come on summer, it doesn’t have to be like this…
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