Still on the phone

Elephantopus (or Octaphant?) London, October 2013

I blogged a couple of years ago about people on the street and on the phone. That has become a bit of a recurring theme for me, and most times I go out, camera in hand, I can't help looking for people on the phone. Actually, it is now almost impossible to get a street photo without a phone in it. Pictures below are from various excursions around the UK (mostly London) and New York.

London, October 2013

At the barber's, London, October 2013

Having a manicure, New York, October 2013

Selfies on the Tram, New York, October 2013 (sorry about the rubbish quality - it was pretty much dark)

From the Highline, New York, October 2013

New York, October 2013

And finally - one that really needs colour.

I didn't found the NHS just so people could go around with matching iPhone cases and umbrellas! Cardiff, Sept 2013

I've put an ongoing set of these on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62283880@N04/sets/72157636787690733/

Lovely Jubbly

Lovely Jubbly

A few weeks ago, Wonky Horizons went for a day pottering in London. After viewing the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, we headed to Brick Lane for lunch in a Bangladeshi restaurant (extremely good, as expected). As usual, we headed off separately after that to wander some more, making pictures.

I liked some of the graffiti, as you can see in the picture above. (If 1980s UK cultural references pass you by, "Lovely Jubbly" was one of the catchphrases of "Del boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only fools and horses).

Olympics time

The Olympic Torch passes Canterbury Cathedral

In the next few days the 2012 Olympic Games will start in London. Media hype is in full swing, and the weather is finally relenting. As I write, there is blue sky outside, the first we’ve seen for a while.

Unfortunately, the Olympics have not yet engendered much of an optimistic mood in Britain. Partly it is the weather, partly the lousy state of the economy (with everyone, including bankers, in fear for their jobs) and partly the unprecedented censorship that has descended in the wake of the IOC. The Games are represented in the media as security theatre more than a festival of sport.

 Boris Johnson (hizzoner the Mayor of London) is doing his best: jokey, upbeat recorded announcements greet passengers on the Underground; his speeches and interviews present relentless optimism. Hitherto, however, I’ve noticed little real anticipation for the first Olympiad to be held in the UK in most people's lifetimes. 

Tower Bridge and the Rings

 I was in London for a meeting recently, and took the opportunity to pop out onto London Bridge to get a snap down the river of the Olympic rings dangling from Tower Bridge. The grey, lowering clouds above the scene seemed to sum up the pervasively miserable mood.

Rockefeller Plaza, July 4, 2005

It is all a far cry from when London was awarded the Olympics in 2005. At the time, I was working in New York, so missed out on the celebrations in the UK. In New York, though, the whole feeling was very muted: my colleagues, at least, showed no interest in Manhattan being taken over for the Games. I got the impression that New Yorkers thought it was generally a good thing the Olympics were going somewhere else. So now they’ve arrived here.

Standing in stark contrast to the broader zeitgeist, however, is the Olympic Torch. As it has made it's journey around the UK it has attracted crowds everywhere and generated real enthusiasm among most people I know.

I have very mixed feelings about the Torch, given its origins; however, bearing in mind that (a) the runners carrying it have been selected as recognition for the contribution they’ve made to their communities and (b) my next door neighbour, a silversmith, was involved in the development and fabrication of this year's model, I’m doing my best to share the enthusiasm (still doesn’t sit easily, somehow).

A day to remember

Palace Street spectators

On the afternoon the Torch came though Canterbury, the building where I work emptied as people went downtown. I joined the crowds in Palace Street an hour in advance to grab a spot of pavement, before it was entirely overrun. I chose Palace Street in order to give my pictures a sense of place: it is one of the few places on the route with a clear view of the Cathedral in the background.

Canterbury was packed – beyond anything I’d expected. I think the occupants of every office and shop must have come out. Most of all, there were foreign students everywhere: Canterbury has always hosted hordes of continental students, and they were out in force.

Wiggly worms

Selling flags in aid of Help for Heroes

While we waited for the Torch, all sorts of vendors patrolled up and down the road, selling flags, whistles, toy medals and blow up objects described with wild imagination as “Olympic Torches”.
 The whole thing was distinctly Ankh Morpork in flavour: all that was missing was Mr Dibbler and his sausages.

Torch party approaching

By the time the Torch party came up the road, it was packed; the stewards and police pretty much gave up on trying to keep everyone on the pavement – it was a bit like one of those roads on the Tour de France where all the spectators crowd in on the competitors.

Coming through

The Torch carrier, surrounded by police in grey athletic-style uniforms, hoofed through at high speed, as if trying to avoid being completely swamped. Blink and you missed it. I had time for just a couple of very quick snaps – and then it was gone.

Canterbury crowds

The crowds slowly dispersed, or, rather, melded together; the road simply disappeared under the mass of humanity. I made my way back through the hordes to the car and on to work, taking some snaps along the way.

Pictures from a window

Tourists and Morris dancers

Maybe Mr Dibbler has a new line

No Olympic rings for Canterbury 2012

Drum band outside the Marlow Theatre

Maybe we will all have a party this summer

It was clear that people really had enjoyed the occasion; there was a party mood, even if most people only saw the Torch itself for two seconds. The sun was out, and the great festival of sport is on it way. Maybe we’re going to have a good time after all.

... And in with the (old) new

A pigeon for an audience. Nikon D700, 105mm AF DC at f2

 My four-year-old D300 has developed a major fault. It started at RIAT last year: the mirror occasionally began to stick up, especially during bursts in continuous high-speed mode. Not a big issue at the time, because it was only very intermittent.

After RIAT, I took it into Fixation who diagnosed a problem with the sequencer unit. They recommended replacing it, along with the shutter since at 110,000 shutter actuations it was getting to the point where they see those shutters failing. But adding together the price of the new sequencer and shutter units, together with a set of seals, labour and VAT made the D300 look like a car with 110,000 miles on it. So the question was – an expensive repair or a new model?

The Duxford Autumn Air Show in October saw the sequencer problem getting worse – to the point where the camera became more or less unusable in burst mode. In fact, I got sufficiently few pictures that are worthwhile from that Duxford show I've not bothered posting any on Pbase.

And over Christmas, doing some family portraits – not in burst mode – the problem get worse still. Every third exposure the mirror locked up, requiring a fairly complex reset going via live view and switching the camera off and on again.

In effect, I was without a camera. Decision time.

Nikon Rumours has been carrying increasingly detailed previews (allegedly) of the successor to the D700, the D800. Now, I have been very interested in the idea of the D700 or its successor, because I believe that the time is right to move on to a full frame sensor (more on that later). But, the D800 is forecast to be 36 megapixels and to cost the best part of £3000.

A taste for loose boots

It's quite rare for me to print larger than 18" x 12", so 36 megapixels is a complete waste on me. And for £3000 I'd rather take the family on holiday. As much as I would like more megapixels, in practise as long as I can get a pin sharp 18" x 12" print, I'm happy. The D300 gave me those just fine, so 12 megapixels does me. (Not only that, but for the projects I’m planning over the next 3-5 years, I will be presenting mounted prints at no more than 20" x 16" – so the reality is that I won't be printing most of my  important stuff at more than 15 inches on the long side, which is pretty much the exact size that a D700 image gives at 300ppi). So, the long and the short of it is that for a full frame camera, a D700 would give me sufficient pixels, 1 to 2 stops of better ISO performance than the D300 and the ability to use the majority of my lenses as they were intended for a sensor size equivalent to a 35mm negative.

Let me just amplify those last points, as they are the reasons I want to go full frame. The D300 is a wonderful camera – no doubt about it. I never got colour prints from 35mm film as good as I've got from the D300: (lack of) skill of the operator, no doubt, but for sharpness, colour and tonality I’ll take a D300 every time. Not only that but it is possible to get a decent size print from 1600 ISO. And the focusing is excellent, as is the general build quality and weatherproofing. But, like any artefact of human enterprise, it has its limitations. 1600 ISO is about as high as I normally like to go, 2500 in emergency. I've done quite a number of night shoots over the last few years: they are great fun and I am going to be doing more (next one in March). When a helicopter is hovering by hangar light (like this or this), the sensitivity of the camera is at a premium. In general terms, for this kind of shot, doubling (or better) the ISO-availability would probably double the success rate.

Liam

The other point is lenses.  In all, I have more lenses for full frame (FX) sensors than I do for crop (DX) sensors. Two of my favourite lenses are the 35mm F2 AF-D and 105 mm F2 AF DC lenses. Although these are older designs, they're small, fast and lightweight. The 105 mm, in particular, is probably the sharpest lens I own, along with the 60 mm micro-Nikkor. For many years on film these two were my go-to focal lengths, with my Olympus Zuiko 35 mm f 2.8 and 100mm f2.8 primes. I kind of "see" with these focal lengths. The D300 has a crop sensor (1.5 times factor), so the 35mm makes a nice "normal" lens, but does not give me the angle of view I tend to favour for street work. Similarly 150 mm equivalent is quite limiting for portraits, and doesn’t suit me for street work. I'll have more to say about lens choices in a  future blog piece.

Blackfriars Bridge

Anyhow, the point of this rambling is that I made a decision that I wanted to go for a D700 at this point rather than spend the money repairing the D300. (When I can afford it, fixing the D300 is also on the list).

So, I found a used D700 advertised at a reputable London dealer at a good price. It had being used fairly heavily but had a new shutter and new seals, so should keep going a good long time. Not only that, but the asking price was less than used D700's in recent eBay auctions. So, I succumbed to temptation and bought the thing.

I took the D700 for a walk along the Embankment in London, to try to get a feel for how it works. In the end, I walked all the way from Lambeth Bridge along the South Bank to London Bridge and the Borough Market. It is always pleasurable to walk along there, as we have noted on this blog before, but especially with some new gear in hand.

January sun

I just pottered along taking touristy photographs (well, actually mostly photographs of the tourists). To my surprise and delight, the 105 mm was wonderful walk around lens. In fact, I was so enjoying this lens that I left the 35mm mostly unused until I got into the Borough Market, where the confined spaces made it my preference.

Taking a break, Borough Market, D700 and 35mm f2 AF-D

Opening up the files at home, they were lovely. Very sharp, and extraordinarily smooth. Everything, in fact, the D700 is supposed to be. Most of the reviews put the D700 at 1 to 2 stops more sensitive than the D300. I reckon it is the least two stops better in practical terms. Just looking at the ISO 6400 images, I would not hesitate to use that sensitivity on a night shoot to try to capture a wobbly hovering helicopter. Not only that, but there's loads of highlight detail to be recovered. As part of trying it out, I was deliberately exposing some images to push the highlights as far as I could. There are some images where brightly illuminated buildings across the other side of the river looked like they were completely blown on the camera's screen, but in Lightroom or Capture NX 2 there's a surprising amount of highlight detail to be recovered. Again, this is very much in line with the reviews, and completely lives up to my expectations.

Perhaps the biggest downside of the D700 is the fact that the 12 megapixels being spread over a larger area do not give the effective magnification multiplier that the crop sensor does with telephoto work. It would be very nice to have the D300 back in action for the start of the next airshow season. But I can't help feeling that they are additional possibilities in other ways that are opened up by the D700 will keep me more than happy.

On the street, on the phone

People in or around Oxford Street, inseparable from their constant electronic companions. (There's always an exception of course....)

The exception: the photographer with his strictly non-electronic Leica M3

All pictures taken with a Nikon D300 and 35mm f2 AF-D Nikkor.

Walking in London

On Friday, Wonky Horizons took the afternoon off work, and went for a walk in London (see also Martin's post below). Covent Garden/Neal's Yard, and then a leisurely stroll from Charing Cross to London Bridge via Hungerford footbridge and the Southbank. I've walked along parts of that region of the Southbank many times, but have never done the full walk in one go - highly recommended in the evening light.

My general policy for days like this is to take one camera and one lens. (The only other things in my camera bag are spare flash cards, and a bottle of water.) The D300 is heavy enough without having to schlep all the extra weight of more lenses.

I also have a paranoia that, when transient compositions are forming all round, all the time, the simple act of changing lenses will cause me to miss pictures. The same applies to chimping. I try to avoid looking at the screen on the back of the camera as much as possible - and do so only to check exposures.

I also tried out using auto-ISO, with the camera set on manual shutterspeed and aperture. The reason here was that I wanted to ensure a high enough shutter speed to eliminate most camera shake and subject movement (except - see #3 below), plus sufficient depth of field. In the event, I think it worked pretty well - but it does mean accepting some absurdly high ISOs. Picture #1 below, for instance, was ISO 2200: ridiculous, but I don't think it matters. With the high ISO pictures, I've just done a little chroma noise reduction, and nothing else. (I suppose that, having grown up with Tri-X and HP5, a little electronic "grain" is the least of my worries.)

Of course - a day like this is not worthwhile without sustenance. During the afternoon, I introduced my fellow Wonkies to Maison Bertaud in Greek St, where we restored our blood sugar with cakes and coffee. These are essential during any photo walk!

A few quick edits from the day: I've put some more on Pbase.

Lunch - from different points of view

Anais

Southbank skater

Watch out - Wonkies at work!

The Streets of London

The three of us managed to grab an afternoon in London on Friday and, with lots going on, there were plenty of photo opportunities. As well as some camera work there was the obligatory pub lunch and an hour in the National Portrait Gallery - the BP Portrait Award 2011 is a stunning collection. What struck us all was how photography has influenced modern portraiture.

Anyway, back to the photography! I was particularly taken with the skateboard park just downstream from The Eye. There was very little light under the concrete roof of the park so I needed to wind up the ISO to achieve an effective shutter speed. At a focal length of 70mm I set the aperture to f/5 and pre-focused on the back edge of the 'wedge'. Setting the ISO to 8,000 I took a couple of test shots which showed that some +ve exposure compensation was required. I settled on +2/3ev and could achieve a shutter speed of 1/400th, which I hoped would be sufficient to freeze the action. All I needed now was a a willing boarder.

My patience was rewarded I got a number of shots, with this one being my favourite.

As with all my posts, click the image to view at 1024px wide

'The onlooker'

I managed to freeze the action and capture the onlooker in a good position in the frame. I punched up the contrast and left the noise (digital grain) in place to add to the grungy feel (OK, so I did 'wiggy' the beer can a couple of metres to the right to form a triangle with the two boarders).

I could not resist a recession shot of one of bike stations. [One was missing so I suspect that Boris was in town].

People shots

Britain is known for its diverse society and this makes for great street photography.

I liked the juxtaposition between the pair of couples

Drinking white wine is sure to ruin your lippy

New boots and panties

At a Neal's Yard bistro - cheque please!

A pair of holiday makers pose by one of the beach huts on the south bank

The market trader

Vincent, playing his steel drum over the Thames. Unlike many buskers, he was really enjoying himself!

Admiring their recent purchases

A soprano singing busker. Unlike Vincent, she appeared a bit up tight.

The painted street entertainers were out in force.

Pattern pictures

I love the shapes, patterns and design of modern London.

Street lamp

Mural

Steel and glass

Classic London

That Cathedral via that bridge