Salford Quays

Life has been a bit hectic at home recently, which is why I haven't done much in the way of photography.  This wasn't helped by the fact that my super-duper new fisheye lens didn't work properly, so had to be sent back to be repaired - twice.  I finally got it back about a week ago, so when I found I had to collect my daughter from Manchester at the weekend, I decided to give it it burn in Salford Quays.

Unusually for Manchester the sun was shining - for a short while anyway.  After the overcrowded, grimy back streets of Rusholme, Salford Quays felt very different indeed.

True to form the sun went behind a cloud, and then the whole sky went grey.  Even in the dull light, though, the area was pretty impressive.  I didn't go into the Lowry Centre itself, as my daughter was intent on finding something to eat in the "Lowry Outlet Mall", pictured above right.

We'll be going back to Manchester in July for graduation day, and I fully intend to jump on a tram and visit Salford Quays again.  Assuming it's not raining, of course...

100-400 Lens Results

Following on from Ann's comparison of the 100-400/4L and 300/2.8L lenses, I'm posting some of my own.  When I first used the 100-400 I confess I was disappointed by its sharpness - it was very versatile, but generated a large number of "almost" shots.  I finally realised that the poor results were due to an inappropriate technique: namely, sampling focus from one part of the scene, recomposing and then quickly firing the shutter.  I'm convinced that there is some kind of "lag" in the image stabilisation, as the lens is razor sharp when the IS is given time to settle (or turned off with the lens on a tripod or some other kind of support).

Anyway, here are three examples of sharp images, and one which demonstrated the classic "shimmer" which seems to be due to firing the shutter before the IS has settled down.  All are 100% crops which have been through the RAW converter and basic sharpening in Photoshop.

The relevant inside leg measurements are:

• Starling:  170mm; 1/250s at f/8; ISO 200; 40D
• Tiger:  330mm; 1/500s at f/8; ISO 400; 5DmkII
• Impala:  400mm; 1/800s at f/8; ISO 250; 40D
• Elephant:  400mm; 1/400s at f/8; ISO 200; 40D

The golden rule seems to be that one needs to slow down when using the 100-400.  Treated with respect it is capable of some excellent results.

Grantchester Exhibition: All over bar the shouting

Back at work now, and the Easter "holiday" is a fading memory.  Friday was spent setting up the exhibition, followed by three full days open to the general public.  The weather wasn't especially kind to us, so the number of visitors was down on what we had hoped - especially Monday, which was very quiet.  It was great that Harriet was able to join us too, and her exquisite textile art was much admired by all the visitors.

Back at work now, unfortunately...

Grantchester Exhibition

There is an exhibition in Grantchester Village Hall over the Easter weekend, and I am joining forces with three other photographers, a textile artist, a jeweller and a painter.  Much of the last month has been spent preparing for the exhibition, which explains the pitiful number of entries on the blog during this period!

Taste the Difference

Very dull and grey today, so not much incentive to get out and about with my new toy.  Since I had some shopping to do at lunchtime, I took it with me to Sainsbury's.  I'm not sure what their attitude would have been if they discovered I was photographing Coke bottles, Easter eggs and asparagus...

I took a few outside as well, as I'm still very much learning what works (and what doesn't) with this new lens.

Interestingly, exactly the same combination as Ann's (5DmkII and 15mm fisheye) shows an indentical fault: namely the dreaded "Err01", which is a communication failure between the lens and the camera body.  I'm beginning to wonder whether there's a software problem.  This kind of thing would never have happened in FD days...

New Toy

Ok, so I lied about the "saving up" bit.  I went to Focus on Imaging yesterday and bought myself a B-grade 15mm fisheye lens with about a 25% saving.  More than that, I still have all my appendages after taking it home and owning up!  There hasn't been much chance to try it yet, but I went out into the car park at work for about 20 minutes at lunchtime - this is the result.

It's certainly a strange place to work...

Patterns

It's been quite frosty the last few mornings while walking the dog, resulting in some attractive ice patterns.

In addition, the tree surgeons have been active, clearing out the dead wood after the Winter.  One of the tree stumps has developed a beautiful black tracery, although I've no idea what causes it.  Some kind of fungus, perhaps?  The final shot shows the whole stump for reference.

Having fun at Kew

A small bunch of intrepid photographers braved the weather on Sunday to visit Kew Gardens.  It was grey and wet, but this didn't really matter as the prime reason for the trip was to see the orchids in the Princess of Wales conservatory.  Being inspired by Paula's lupins, rather than take some "straight" shots of the flowers, I thought I'd have a go at something a bit more creative.  The plan was to take foregrounds and backgrounds separately, but I rather like some of the backgrounds as abstracts in their own right.

Similarly, I preferred the dreamy close-ups of the white orchids compared to a more factual record.

Suitably fortified by tea and cake, I wandered around outside the glass houses as it had just about stopped raining.  By now I was having fun with this panning and zooming malarkey, so decided to continue in the same vein.  First target was a bed of crocuses under a tree...

...and then a couple of the glass houses themselves.

By this point I was enjoying myself far too much to do any "real" photography, so Ann very kindly lent me her 15mm fisheye lens.  As with many of the items I've borrowed from her, it was ever so difficult to give it back.  Huge fun, and I can see myself saving up for one at some point.