Life, Lemons, Lights, and Lenses

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I was scratting round for a subject this evening, and eventually landed on this lemon.
Being edible, I suppose it's at least loosely in my snackro category.
This one's a stack of 33 frames.

Wonky

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Spirit level doesn't look quite right, either...

Discombobulated Ramblings

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This unstable signpost felt fitting.
Still, at least I shot something I don't hate today!

2026-06-28

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Another backup photo today.

< Extended waffle appended, feel free to ignore!>

I'm getting to the point of reconsidering the daily photo commitment.
While I do still get some enjoyment from it, it's becoming rather hard work some days. A few times recently I've found myself taking a camera along on a walk, but barely using it, then being disappointed in the results.

I originally aimed to complete the year in 2024, and found it easier than I had expected, so cracked on with the second year, with broadly similar results. This year has felt more of a slog at times.
I have mulled over the idea of aiming for 1000 days and then taking a break, but that still feels like quite a way off yet.
That said, I've just calculated it, and it turns out to be 91 days from today, which feels like it should be achievable.
Further thought required, but the recent backup supplies are looking pretty thin at the moment.

Yours conflictedly...

Light At Play

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A backup photo today.

Leafy Lunacy

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A Matter Of Timing And Angle

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Or mistiming and insufficient elevation, as the case may be.

I spotted this shot as I was loading the dishwasher.
By the time I'd got the camera and lens, attached the monopod, got in the right region for exposure, changed the flat battery, and otherwise finished faffing, the moon had moved across and down, so I struggled to get enough height to get the moon where I wanted it in frame.
To top it off, the light had dropped off that little bit more than I'd have liked.

How tedious, better luck next time!

2026-06-24

Click image to view a bigger version I preferred this in its original aspect ratio, which was a bit taller, but Instagram is stupid. 🤷‍♂️

They Shut The Gates At Sunset

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After that you can't get out.

I had this song as an earworm to keep me company for almost the whole time I was out for a rather torrid walk this evening.
I rather like it, although perhaps not so much in earworm mode. (Enjoy The Ride by Morcheeba).

As it happens, it turns out I'm slightly misquoting it here, but I'm going to call that artistic license.

Anarchtist

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A backup photo today, the stuff I shot this evening wasn't worth sharing.

And if you managed to decipher the three words I used in the title without prompting, commiserations; you may be almost as strange as me.

"Turn Your Back"

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"There's one of those annoying photographers over there, let's wind him up!"

Got My Eye On You

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This swan fortunately wasn't trying to kill anything, unlike the one I saw having a massive go at a gosling last week.

1000

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1000 days feels like a long time.
I've been counting.

2026-06-18

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A bit more messing with pineapple weed
This one's a backup from yesterday.

Pop! Pop!

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I thought it was high time I had another go with the tilt-shift lens, so I took it with me on my walk this evening.
I'm tolerably happy with this one

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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Shine On

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A backup photo from the weekend.

IYKYK.

Up You Go

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A backup photo from my London trip.

I decided to go for a daylight white balance and let the fluorescent lights do their crunchy green thing on this one. Reminds me of the days of film.

Theatreland

Click image to view a bigger version We went to see The Play That Goes Wrong and then out for a meal to mark the weekend of Lucy's birthday.
I think she'd have approved, she always loved the theatre, and food was a huge part of her life.
I can't remember whether she ever saw this play, we certainly talked about going pre-covid, but never got round to going.
No photos from the theatre, but this gas lamp just up the road caught my eye.

Bi-Modal Transport

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Or Tri-modal, if you count bipedal.
A backup photo today.

Raise Your Glasses...

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I'm glad to have been able to mark Lucy's birthday with a lovely evening with her parents and my brother-in-law.

I think she'd have approved of a family meal in her honour, and she certainly would have been chuffed to find gluten free calamari on the menu.

(The pint is Side Pocket For A Toad, in case you were wondering, and yes, it comes highly recommended)

Fire!

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My attention was drawn to this old fire bucket resplendent in the evening sun.

IXI

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Another one of the new bridge.

Still Kaputt, But Closer

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I smell of spray paint. My house smells of spray paint. My entire neighbourhood probably smells of spray paint.
But progress has been made, and I took a photo.
What an unusually productive evening.

This one's a focus stack at 4.5x magnification

Kaputt

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Today has been a day of fixing things - I started out repairing my washing machine, where years of vibration had worn through the paint, and it was starting to go a bit rusty in a couple of spots.
Later on, I picked up a lamp from my parents' that needs a bit of first aid. I shall rewire it and put in new LED lamps to replace the old halogens that have cooked part of the wiring and the lampholders.

Here's one of the bulbs that's given up the ghost - not a particularly amazing shot, but I suppose it tells a story. EOS R5, EF100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro, LED cube lights

Visiting The Other Side

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I took a walk down the river to see Nottingham's latest river crossing.

A road bridge would have been rather more useful, but it's quite a nice thing all the same.

I'm going to have to get the drone up here at some point soon.

Future Toastie

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A backup photo today, taken a few days ago.

Damp Spectrum

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More WiFi fixing this evening, momentarily paused by the appearance of a cracking rainbow.
I didn't have a real camera on me, but the phone actually managed this fairly well.

Treeangle

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Revisiting "my" tree, a now very-occasional theme I used quite regularly a while ago.

I'd never noticed that the latch on this gate made for a convenient frame before - maybe it's previously been flipped over the other way, or maybe I'm less observant than I thought.

A backup photo today, a busy one at work followed by WiFi trouble shooting for family members meant I didn't shoot anything.

Uncounted

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Probably.
But I certainly didn't count them.

Missing Piece

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I found myself really missing Lucy this evening. Why today more than any other day, I have no idea. Just the way it goes, I suppose.

I went out for a drive and ended up by the river, where we often used to go after work to have a change of scene.
After I sat there for a few minutes, I remembered that we often used to go and get a cortado from the Starbucks drive through. Back in the days of COVID shielding, it felt like a relatively safe treat.

Anyway, I went and got our old order and sat in the car drinking cortado, watching the rain, and replying to a slightly curious work email until it got dark.

Yes, I know Starbucks are money-grabbing, tax-evading scumbags (and probably more besides), but I'm putting nostalgia over corporate boycotts tonight.

[This is the sort of post that will probably make certain people worry about me. If you're one of those people - don't worry, I'm OK]

Poppy

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I think this is the first half-decent poppy shot I've taken this year.
I rather like them, little explosions of red against the green background of grass or crops.

Time To Reflect

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I do enjoy an evening walk by the river.
A backup photo, my sound man hat was firmly affixed to my head today.

Riverside Chillout

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Such a pleasant evening that I went for two consecutive walks!
I was supposed to be going shopping, but that got pushed back so far that my usual places had shut for the night, so I ended up in Asda at midnight.
C'est la vie.

Luminarium

Click image to view a bigger version I went to Luminarium:Timisien at @lakesidearts this evening.
A fascinating, otherworldly installation. Well worth a wander round, I'd say, I really enjoyed it.

A few more after the jump.

Cedar Rose

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I've had this cedar rose floating about the house for a while, and landed on it as a last-minute subject today, after spending a large chunk of the evening updating and preparing my live streaming system for a job at work next week.
I've been intending to deal with it in working hours for about 3 weeks now, the box has been in and out of the back of the car at least twice, and it even made it all the way into the office on one occasion, but as ever, there were larger fires that needed for be dealt with, and it got pushed back again and again.
Still, it's done now, just need to connect and test it with the real camera setup at work, then I'll be all set to play vision mixer (and several other simultaneous roles) for the week.

Pineapple Weed

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And a bridge.

A backup photo today, it has been far too hot, and I crashed out badly after dinner.

I'm quite pleased with the teleconversion lens I picked up (used) for the X100V.
It gives a roughly 50mm equivalent field of view, up from the standard 35mm equivalent, but it maintains the f/2 aperture of the native lens by attaching to the front and having a larger front element. Rather clever - I'm used to teleconverters eating at least a stop of light.
It's quite a lump, but the camera still feels pretty good with it attached.
It turns out that it's easy to install a magnet into the Mk1 converter that I have in order to convert it functionally to a Mk2 - the optics apparently didn't change, but they added a magnet for auto-detection of the converters with the more recent X100 series cameras.

A Moment With The Swans

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Warm Evenings

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We seem to be having rather nice weather for the bank holiday weekend.
Another backup today, shot yesterday, and another shot with the good old S95.

Colour Burst

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These colourful bushes caught my eye as I came round a corner here, on an evening walk.

Sometimes, Bridges Aren't Necessary

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I met up with my parents and a family friend for lunch at Attenborough Nature Reserve today.
I took my old S95 out for a spin again. I still enjoy using this little camera, Canon really did a good job of getting decent manual usability in a tiny body.

Speedwell By The Canal

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Another backup photo today.

Secowered

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Yes, I did just construct a very silly portmanteau concerning cows and padlocks.
You should know by now that I am a very silly human, and such deranged behaviour is to be expected.

This one's a backup, because as much as I might like to show you the photo I took at work today of a fibreglass insulator glowing from within like an electrocuted pickle, I'm not sure that my boss would be particularly amused.

Darkening Daisies

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Went out for a short walk this evening as the light was going.
It seemed a bit unusual to see daisies open this late in the evening, but maybe my timing's a bit out of whack.

Your Duck Is Inverted

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Or I am. I simply can't be sure on the matter.
A backup photo today, shot last night.

Pink Flashes

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I can't take all of the credit for this shot, my friend spotted this scene through a gap in the trees while I was shooting in another direction, and pointed it out to me.

Arboreally Behatted

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I enjoy finding random little oddities like this.

PMJ, etc

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I went to see Postmodern Jukebox with my in-laws tonight. Great show, I'd definitely go again.
First two pics: Amelie, the support act. (I enjoyed her, worth looking out for her upcoming work, I think).
Last two pics: Various bit of PMJ doing their thing.

Only phone photos today unfortunately, I wasn't sure how strict the camera policies would be, so I left the real cameras at home.
Slightly regretting that decision, but security was fairly tight, so far better to enjoy the show and take away good memories than to get kicked out with nothing.

I think I need to try and get into a gig as an accredited photographer at some point, I'd like to get some decent music shots.

I love seeing musicians get completely absorbed and transported by performing their music. I wish I had the skills to bring an instrument to life, but as it is, I'm destined to settle for twiddling knobs and pushing buttons on the tech end of things.

The rest are after the jump.

Rock / Hard Place

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Yet another backup photo today.

Snooping Through Hedges Again

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Another backup photo, taken a couple of days ago.
I have been doing some training on our new 3D scanner today, and ended up knackered again.