Looking at – and seeing – the world
June 7, 2021 7 Comments
Looking at a radiator. Its true, I don’t get out much, but here there are repeating lines, structures and reflections; and textures too.
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Technique: TG-5 at 74mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 07 profile; at home; 18 May 2021.
May 25, 2021 4 Comments
The rising sun shines in through the kitchen window, lighting up a partly used packet of pills on the granite worktop.
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Technique: TG-5 at 30mm (equiv) in Microscope mode; 400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 08 profile; in our kitchen; 18 May 2021.
May 14, 2021 10 Comments
Lying awake last night, sleepless but enjoying the moment – the darkness, the stillness, the quiet – when something truly wonderful happened. A Muntjac stag (perhaps the one shown here) started barking, a long series of somewhat low, hoarse growls, proclaiming his presence and territory to the night.
The modern world doesn’t interest me too much, the incessant media and celebrity frenzy, the burgeoning materialism and competitiveness, whereas the natural world never ceases to be a source of interest, excitement and beauty.
And lying there in bed, listening to this little (think about fox-sized) deer piercing and enriching the night with his calls, was a truly moving and deep experience. I have been lucky in my life in experiencing some very wild places with wildlife to match, and the sense of excitement and awe has never gone away. Lying there, listening to this little stag, was simply a moment of magic, pure magic.
December 29, 2020 12 Comments
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Contemplating clothes in need of ironing, clothes being washed over by window light, and somehow feeling that there must be more to Life …
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Technique: X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 200 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Astia/Soft profile; at home, on the ironing pile; 9 Sept 2020.
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December 21, 2020 12 Comments
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Looking out of the kitchen window, with a long telephoto and some good light.
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Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens used in DX (= APS-C) format to give 450mm; 400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Landscape v2 profile; the back garden; 26 Nov 2020.
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December 15, 2020 4 Comments
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Bottle of mixer, waiting on the kitchen worktop for dilution by simply unconscionable amounts of gin.
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Technique: X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Modern 08 profile; in the kitchen; 9 Sept 2020.
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December 6, 2020 14 Comments
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As you may be aware, The FATman is an inveterate imbiber of top quality Belgian beer. I have tasted many Belgian brews, but for some years now have (delightedly and enthusiastically!) standardised on Duvel, which is an absolutely glorious Belgian strong blond ale – with taste, after-taste, texture and … 8.5% alcohol – so, not something you pour down your throat with gay abandon, unless you have a desire to become senseless and horizontal quite speedily.
Shown above, here is golden Duvel in its own, large, tulip-shaped glass, which has been specifically designed to contain this beer’s often towering white head. Its can be unwise to whip the tops off bottles of Belgian beers as they will often enthusiastically come out to meet you, to say hello, and to end up all over your clothes and the floor. And Duvel is absolutely no exception, caution is needed and, after the bottle’s top is off, then the correct pouring angle is needed – if only to avoid my wife’s comments when I emerge from an accident with perhaps one centimetre of golden ale in the bottom of one of these huge glasses – and the rest filled with bright white foam …
Since 1871, Duvel has been made by the Moortgat Brewery in Puurs – and this town has now achieved even more fame by also containing the Pfizer lab that has started producing vast amounts of covid19 vaccine.
And if all this were not enough, Moortgat Brewery now also produces the simply sublime Duvel Tripel Hop Citra, which is stronger (9.5%) and even more delicious!
I’m being spoilt: both of these wonderful beers are available in our local supermarket >>> but whether this will continue after the current acrimonious Brexit trade talks is anyone’s guess!
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Technique: TG-5 at 38mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Natural profile; my favourite armchair; 18 Sept 2020.
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November 29, 2020 14 Comments
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Looking at the inside of the bathroom window. The handle of the window’s latch is in shadow, and is seen only as a thin pale line. To either side, the warm light of the rising sun reflects from the wall of the house next door and lights up the bathroom window’s frosted glass.
The window frame and handle are white, but the early light has given them a blue tinge, which I’ve left uncorrected: I like this addition to the picture’s colours.
And, in these pandemic days, this is the first X-T2 image for many months, which has to be a step forward.
Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.
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Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 223mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Velvia/Vivid profile; Bristol; 26 Nov 2020.
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October 22, 2020 6 Comments
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House on a farm near Akala, in the far west of Kenya; April 1979.
These are Luo people who live in the immensely fertile far west of Kenya, not far from Lake Victoria – a vast body of water that supplies them with vast quantities of fish, and with frequent thunder storms which keep their land totally green.
The structure consists of mud walls, above which a conical thatched roof is mounted on a great mass of wooden poles. There is quite a gap between the roof and the walls but, in this hot, equatorial area, cold weather is not an issue. This hut has at least two rooms: the doorway to a second room is to the left of the people. The mud walls have decorations drawn straight onto them, and there is an oil lamp hanging up. Notice how everything, including the chest of drawers and some of the pictures hanging on the walls, has cloth covers.
Food and water are not an issue for these people, they live in a wonderfully fecund landscape. But there are diseases – it was here that malaria first got its claws into me, despite my using mosquito nets and prophylactics.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.
Technique: OM-1 with 28mm Zuiko lens; Agfa CT18 colour slide film, rated at 64 ISO.
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July 16, 2020 24 Comments
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Nail brush; 4 August 2013.
This nail brush appeared in our bathroom recently and caught my eye every time I used the wash basin. I like the curve of the handle, and also the way the light comes through between the groups of bristles – which resemble the legs of some monstrous millipede!
Or perhaps this is some large scorpion-like creature, its lethal sting poised above its head, making off to the left intent on giving some hapless victim a bad day.
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Technique: tripod-mounted D800 with 105mm Nikkor lens; 200 ISO; conversion to mono, selenium toning and selective colour restoration in Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Green Filter preset.
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