ODd Hereford

We were in Hereford the other day, doing some shopping in the Newmarket. Whilst I was waiting for other people to sort their lives out, I made these images using my phone. As usual when I do this, I used Snapseed on my Chromebook to process them down.

A Priori II

An image of the Priory Church in Malvern, made as we emerged from the theatre just across the road, using my Pixel 2 smartphone and processed down in Snapseed.

A Priori

Some images made at the Priory Church in Malvern using my phone and processed in Snapseed.

The Moat In My Eye

 

So, here's the problem: to make this image using my DSLR, I would require the camera itself, a tripod and preferably a remote release, although guess I could make do without the latter and use the self-timer.

Anyway, this image was made during an evening out in Wells. Looking out of the restaurant window, I noticed that the moat was still and reflecting the palace gatehouse. Given that the day had been quite wild weather-wise, this would never have occurred to me as a possibility and even if it had, I wouldn't have considered taking all that gear with me to dinner.

So, given the above, the image should never have been made. As it was, I seized the opportunity and used my Pixel 2 smartphone, post-processed in Snapseed on my Chromebook, and here it is, along with the image below.

The only benefit of using all the kit would be that I would have a high resolution image in a lossless format - I use tiff in my workflow - which would be useful if someone contacted me, wanting to use the image in a print magazine.

But that's never happened. Sometimes, it does make you wonder why you bother with all that expensive, bulky equipment. Sometimes.

I Was Banking On It

 

This is one of those images that I sometimes make of objects (please use the French pronunciation, it sounds so much better).

This is an old money box that's been hanging round in my grandparent's, parent's and now my house for many years, and surfaces from time to time. There is some money in it, but the key - the keyhole is in the base - is long since lost.

The bank in question - not to be confused with the National & Provincial Building Society - ceased to exist as a separate entity in 1970, merging with the Nat West (which was not the best choice, with hindsight).

This is also one of those images shot using my Pixel 2 and processed in Snapseed on my Chromebook. I'm quite pleased with the result - some of my favourite images of the recent past have been produced using this workflow.

Maybe its the way of the future...

BTW: if anyone has any suggestions regarding how to open it, I'd be interested to hear them in the comments. 

Pulteney Weird

This post represents a first for this blog.

The original image was captured on my Pixel 2 phone, but this isn't the new bit. However, It was processed in Snapseed running on my Asus Chromebook, which I'm also using to write this post. And this is the first time that I've posted an image using that workflow.

Speaking of the original image, it was made around a year ago whilst on a day out in Bath. We went on a boat trip on the Avon and I made a few images of Pulteney Weir on our return. I processed it in Snapseed using the B&W conversion tool and the contrast filter. I also cropped it to a 3:2 aspect ratio.

Which is all a far cry from my usual, heavyweight process using RawTherapee and Gimp on a Windows PC. But, I have to say that I'm pleased with the results.

Bin Issues

During the summer, we went to Menorca and whilst there we visited Binissues (its pronounced Binithththth I think), which is like a cross between National Trust and a villa holiday, with the Menorcan natural history museum thrown in for good measure.

One of main differences from an English stately home is that the family who farmed the estate lived in one wing of the main house. I can't imagine our landed gentry allowing their peasants anywhere with sight.

I didn't take either of my cameras with me to Menorca because I wasn't planning to do any serious photography - it was supposed to be a family holiday, after all - so I used my Google Pixel 2 to make the images below.

The main house from the garden.

The main passage inside the main wing of the house.

The garden. Nice view.

A detail from the garden.

Another detail from the garden.

OM Nom Nom Nom Nom

My Olympus Pen F body with an Olympus OM Zuiko MC Auto-S 50mm 1:1.8 lens and a Beschoi OM - M4/3 adaptor. The Hoya Skylight filter seen in the images is contemporary with the lens.

The lens is one of a pair that I inherited from my father - he had an Olympus OM10 body. Neither will have had a photograph taken trough them in over thirty years, I suspect.

Both images were made using a Google Pixel 2, with some post-processing using GIMP.