A few from earlier in 2017

So I'll start with a few I've taken earlier this year with my Fujifilm S1600 bridge camera on a ride out to the Derbyshire town of Belper in February 2017.

Please note, I've reduced the size of all these photographs to quicken the upload process.

The River Derwent in Belper.  Belper is one of the birth towns of the industrial revolution, a mill town, or was a couple of centuries ago.

Also from Belper, below, another of the River Derwent, showing the old cotton mill building, taken downstream from the previous two.

Lastly from Belper (for this post at least) another showing the bridge in the left centre of the first image, but closer to it and from a different angle.

Next, a few from the spring with my , new to me, Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera; I was still getting used to it at the time.

Before photographing the wedding in April 2017 I spent some time walking along sections of the rivers Trent in Nottinghamshire and Derwent in Derbyshire playing with the new camera to get a feel for it.
The image of Beeston Weir, on the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, above, was taken using a Cokin P ND filter on my Canon DSLR and converted to greyscale in post processing.  Among my first attempts at long exposure shots with the new camera, and the best of a bad bunch.

The two below are from March 2017 taken with the Canon DSLR.  Trent Lock, where the Erewash Canal meets the River Trent near Long Eaton in Derbyshire. Trent Lock itself is where the three counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire meet.
I particularly like the way the white building n the first image is reflected on the water of the canal.

From Trent Lock I walked upstream along the River Trent to Sawley, Derbyshire.
The first Image below is of Sawley Marina which, being on the south side of the River Trent, is actually in Leicestershire.

Walking a bit further upstream from the marina I managed to capture the next two images.
The first is looking over the River Trent towards Sawley, taken in Leicestershire, but the river acts as the natural boundary between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire; Sawley is in Derbyshire.  The water in the foreground of the first one is actually flooding in a field.
The second one is on the Leicestershire shore of the river a little downstream of the bridge in the previous image.

I think that's enough for this post, I'll show you a few from my walking along the River Derwent, and of the wedding photographs from April 2017 in the next post.

Thank you for looking.

October 2017 update

My new tripod

So in the autumn of 2016 a friend contacted me asking if I'd do a wedding shoot, she had told the potential bride and groom that I mainly do landscape photograph, and was only amateur, but she had also told them that the photos she had seen that I had taken were pretty good.  The couple are not wealthy and could ill afford a professional photographer.  Although I'd never done a wedding before I was prepared to give it a try.  My friend passed on my details to the bride-to-be who then contacted me, and a meeting was arranged; my job then was to impress the couple with my online portfolio, and settle on a fee.  It was my first wedding so I agreed that I would do the shoot for free, but they would have to pay for any prints, on the condition that if they were happy with the results and anyone asked who had taken the wedding photos they would pass my contact details on, and from then on I would charge a small fee.  They were impressed with the photos in my portfolio so the deal was agreed.

At the meeting the most promising camera I had was my Fujifilm S1600 bridge camera as mentioned in my previous post.  Nevertheless they were happy about things and so it was agreed.  The wedding was to take place the following April (2017).

My latest camera, Canon EOS 1100D DSLR
attached to my easy access quick release shoulder strap

Just a month before the big day I decided (while I had the funds) to purchase a 'proper' DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera; I'd been learning about manual settings, aperture priority and the like, so figured I could handle a DSLR.  From the local 'Cex' I bought an entry level 12 megapixels Canon EOS 1100D for £180 (my most costly purchase so far), my first DSLR; I then had just a month to figure out how to use it, so went out as much as possible with the new camera.  With practice, trial and error over that month I figured I'd got to know my new kit well enough to unveil it at the wedding, so I did (although I also took along my Fujifilm S1600, just in case).

Nerves kicked in on the day (I thought they would) but I took it in my stride to the best of my ability.  I'm pleased to say that both the bride and groom were delighted at what I did for them, pheww!

My Lowepro kit bag and Andoer speedlight

Of course, since that day my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR has been my go to camera for most situations, although I still extensively use the Fujifilm S1600 - I took it with me on a recent holiday to the Isle of Wight and used it all the time during the holiday/vacation; I chose not to take the Canon 1100D DSLR because of the bulk and the fear of it getting damaged.  I tend to still carry my (now a couple of years in my possession) Fujifilm AV200 compact camera almost everywhere (it's compact and will comfortably fit in my pocket, man-bag, or in its pouch on my belt); it is still, in terms of megapixels, the most powerful camera I have.

What can I say about the Canon DSLR?  It's great, I love it, and although it is only 'entry level' it does everything I want it to do and more.  It will shoot in RAW and/or JPEG, and is also the best I've got for HD (high definition) video recording.  It came with a standard 18-55 mm lens, but I also now have a 70-300 mm zoom lens for it which my Son bought me for my birthday (in May).  I've since purchased a variable ND (neutral density) filter, a CPL (central polarising) filter, and a UV (ultra violet) filter for it.  It also works well with my, previously purchased, Cokin P (square) filter kit.  For the Canon DSLR I've also purchased an Andoer speedlight flash (£29.99 amazon.co.uk) - but I've not used it yet, remote and programmable shutter release (£11.99 amazon.co.uk) - I've not used that yet either, a speedlight diffuser (£3.50 amazon.co.uk) - not yet used, and an easy access quick release shoulder strap (£6.99 amazon.co.uk) which I use most of the time.

Apart from the wedding, my Canon's first major outing was a day trip to Lincoln, where I took loads of good photographs with it; it's since been on a few day outings with me, and I still love it.

My programmable remote shutter release and Hama DSLR camera holster

I now also have a Lowepro camera kit shoulder bag (just £2 from a charity shop) in excellent condition that holds all my kit for the Canon DSLR (except a tripod).  From another charity shop I paid £5 for a Hama DSLR camera holster which comfortably holds my Canon with it's 18-55 mm lens attached.  Finally, and my most recent purchase (for £23.95 off amazon.co.uk) a lightweight aluminium full size tripod (less weight than my old one, better locking also) which has a built in spirit level and came with an extremely useful carry bag, I just sling the bag over my shoulder and away I go.

That's about it for now, I'll update if there's anything new to tell you (although I'm unlikely to update at the time).

A Few Off The Hard Drive

Just a short post showing some photos I've found saved on my laptop hard drive; I'm in the process of going through the thousands of photos I have on my two computers and up to three external hard drives.  Yes, it's going to take some time.

In the meantime here's a few to keep you going:

Taken when I was a very young man way back in the mid 80's with my compact 35mm camera that I had at the time.  The photo was taken at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, Nottinghamshire.

The most recent of this bunch, taken this year (2016) in September at Ashfield Gala, Skegby, Nottinghamshire.  (Fujifilm Finepix S1600).

Taken Autumn 2015 at Lumsdale, Derbyshire - long exposure in low light early in the morning; I used no ND filers when taking this photo.  (Olympus Camedia Z720 UltraZoom).

Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, during my North Norfolk Coast walk in April 2015; the car is my 7-seater Peugeot 806 that I had at the time - I no longer own this vehicle.  (Kodak DX3900).

Quite a recent one of me with my dog 'NoNames' during a holiday in Cornwall in July 2016.  The photo, however was not taken by me but was taken with my camera - at Land's End.  (Fujifilm Finepix S1600).

That'll do for now, got to think about going to bed so I'm up early enough for work in the morning.

I'll post more stuff here soon.

Thanks.