Review Of The Year - January & February

The countdown to Christmas is well and truly underway, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the past year through some photographs taken on the Olympus OMD, which I now use as my main camera.

January saw some bad weather in snow, fog and just generally very cold.  So here's the bell tower of the Council House shrouded in mist. Not quite the pea soupers of the 1940s & 50s, but still quite bad.

February was a lot better, and it also heralded my 50th birthday & 7th wedding anniversary. For a treat, Gail and I went to Portmeirion in North Wales for a weekend break. It was lovely and sunny, but sadly not warm enough to leave our coats off.

The remains of this child's bike was situated on the beach at Criccieth. I like the various textures of the rocks, the sand and the rust on the bike, all brought to life through the dramatic tone filter.

Lincoln Green

Just got back from a two day conference at a residential college just outside Lincoln.

Sadly no time for any photography, so as they used to say on Blue Peter, "here's one I made earlier". Well took earlier, July 2011 to be exact. Just spent a bit of time tweaking it in Lightroom.

Lincoln Cathedral and taken on my old and long gone Nikon D90, before I became a convert to the Olympus OMD.

Still Life

Spotted these three old cameras on a high shelf in the Lion pub in Basford.

I have no idea if they work or not, but seems a shame that they are up there gathering dusk, while they could be filled with a roll of film and taken out and used. After all that is what photography is all about.

Still, saying that, since I got my Olympus OMD last year, I've hardly touched my Nikon D3s, and it sits lonely in the cupboard surrounded by expensive lenses.

High Flyers

After a very hectic week last week, I've been a bit stuck for photographic ideas this week. The weather hasn't helped either.

This ride called the North Pole appeared last year in the Old Market Square, and I put a couple of shots of it on here, which was taken with my old Nikon D90. This one was taken with my Olympus OMD and used one of the fancy art filters.

Why, Why, Why Delilah?

Some of you may have heard of Scott Kelby. He is an American photographer and author of many books about photography and Photoshop. He also devised the photowalk five years ago. This is where a number of photographers get together and stroll around taking pictures.

Gail & I did exactly that late yesterday afternoon in Nottingham city centre. Ours was one of many groups across the world doing the same. I think there was around 28 on ours. Some faces I knew well and some were new to me. So it was good to meet some more local camera buffs.

We caught up with the group near the Playhouse, then ambled our way down to the Old Market Square. We then went to the Lace Market area, then down by the canal and ending up at the 'Trip' for a beverage.

Gail, myself and a friend called Lamar had somehow broken off from the main group. Although I think many went off in little groups, as they had spotted something. We stopped outside the well known  delicatessen's called delilah on Middle Pavement and took a few photos of the window displays etc. One of the assistants asked if we were from the press, as she explained that as they were an award winning deli, they often got media types popping in for a shot or two. She also said that this was their last day in that location, as they were moving to bigger premises around the corner.

We explained who were were and she said that she would find out whether it would be OK for us to shoot inside. She came back and said that the manager had said yes. So we trooped in and started taking some shots. Just then another guy, presumably the owner said that we were making his (few) customers uncomfortable and asked us to leave.

I only managed to take two shots inside; with this one being the better of the pair. Gail said that she didn't manage any, and I'm not sure if Lamar took any as he likes to take his time in lining up a shot.