Day 159: Calamity!

This is a great feeling, for the first time for ever, I'm bang up to date with my 365 photo-a-day project and all the blog posts are written and posted. I've commented before that I don't have any difficulties taking the photos, but I often seem to be lagging on the writing part. But as of now, I am current. I have my camera slung around my neck and I'm scouting around for a possible photo for today. But I seem to have exhausted these 300 steps from my front door and the bus stop to take me to the station. There's plenty to see, but I need something new as I've already captured the baby holly leaves, the hawthorn-style bush dotted with white blossom, the sputnik like seed head that transpired to be Fatsia Japonica, the pink or yellow tissue paper petals of rock roses and the creamy white roses in the garden of the last house. The evergreen hedges at the end of the road are often a safe harbour for snails, but are empty today so I will need to cast my net further afield.

With that thought I let my camera fall by my side and wait to cross the road. And then there was a crash and my heart stops. No I haven't been hit by a car, but my beloved Leica has just smashed to the pavement. Somehow it is no longer securely attached to my Gordy leather sling, though my sling is still very much slung around my neck. What has happened is that the attachment connecting sling to camera has been severed. All I can think is why has this happened now, this camera is a mere ten days old. If this had happened a couple of weeks ago that camera was already being sent back to the Leica naughty step in Germany. But no, the shiny new baby has to plummet to near death.

I'm not sure if there will be residual damage. I can see scuffs and scrapes on what was its pristine surface, but let's hope the solid 'German' engineering has saved the day!

Isn't this typical, I start off with a dust magnet for my D-Lux typ 109, and its replacement seems to be some sort of escapologist!

 

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Day 158: monster daisies

A garden I was photographing tulips in a few weeks ago, is now awash with giant daisies. I just had to stop, grab a close-up filter and try and beat the gusty wind to capture a still of these joyful monsters.

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Day 157: very safe baby snails

A-A told me last week that her son S has taken to rescuing any snails that are slithering along in their path. He fears that if they don't painstakingly round them up, someone might inadvertently step on one. This morning I spotted the hedge at the bottom of my road was host to a multitude of baby snails. They really do seem to enjoy this conifer hedge especially after a downpour. I was trying to capture a shot with three little snail but the third zoomed away (yes, baby snails can zoom) before I had a chance. I thought that S might enjoy a photograph of happy and very safe snails!

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Day 156: possibly the best sunset?

Despite having so many, I was drawn to the far end of the building to capture the sunset. I popped up to the fourteenth floor to nip out on the balcony to shoot the sky unimpeded by glass. But yet again, none of the doors were unlocked.

So thwarted, I tried to find a patch of glass that didn't reflect on the ceiling lights, neon signs or televisions back at me. And amazingly I found a spot. So for the first time seemingly for ever I didn't have to clone out alien laser beams ftom the sky or the until recently, the ever present fuzzy blobs when shooting with a little aperture. The best sunset indeed!

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Day 155: facing the paparazzi

I was delighted to be able to witness my fairy goddaughter KK, receive her First Holy Communion. The ceremony was held at her school with eleven of her classmates. We were asked to refrain from taking photographs in the chapel, so the congregation somewhat descended like a flock of paparazzi when we were all outside. KK objected quite strongly to the frantic clicking. I managed to take nearly 150 pictures in the next few hours, but was aiming for a moment captured unaware. This is probably my favourite from the dozen I whittled my collection down to. It was a beautiful day, the weather was fabulous, the dozen girls in their white finery, flowered hair accessories, lacey gloves, tiaras and satin drawstring bags were certainly exuberant. To raise the volume level and excitement just a little higher, a cake studded with macaroons, sugar roses and mixed berries was presented to them. And of course, that just offered me more photographic opportunities for KK to sigh about. Ah the perils of being the centre of attention!

 

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Day 154: iHandheld Night Shot experiment

Talking to Ivor in Red Dot Cameras last Friday, he mentioned the Leica V-Lux had a great setting designed for shooting handheld night shots. I mentioned I was pretty sure that our D-Lux 109 had that option too, but I'd never previously explored it. After consulting the Alexander S White book on my camera, it still took me a little while to fathom how to kick this particular option into play. First I had to stop shooting in RAW, so I switched down to fine JPEG. Then I had to deploy snapshot mode and then the hitherto greyed out option for iHandheld Night Shot becomes available in the menu. If the camera detects that this feature would improve your photographs, it takes six photos and instantly knits them together to sharpen your night shot when no tripod is to hand.

Stood at the end of Hay's Galleria after our tasty French dinner looking at the view of the Walkie Talkie building across as the Thames, I think I could probably get a better shot if I get some Leica assistance. I try first in aperture mode, which is an acceptable shot, and then switch on this undiscovered function. The ISO is cranked up, the aperture is wide open and the shutter speed is increased. The six shots are rapid fire, merged in camera and yes, there is a discerning improvement especially on the widest shot.

I tried some different angles and the iHandheld Night Shot didn't think it could optimise the image so it remained dormant. Definitely one to bear in mind when a tripod isn't available.

 

 

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Day 153: rocking the rock rose

I couldn't resist (what I believe to be) the rock roses again. They are looking particularly vibrant today in the early evening sun.

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