Wednesday 1 July 2015

What a Summer Moon!

I'm having a few days off, as the girls at New House are doing wonderful things with our new roller blind fabric collection (that'll be out soon), and don't need me at all!

A kind neighbour said the words you want to hear in a heat wave : 'We're away, so please use our pool'.  It was a delight to soak in cool water, especially when it comes with a fabulous view of the Malvern's and just 100m from my cottage.

Sleeping in a heat wave is never easy and by 2 am I was awake again - but wasn't the full moon fantastic and beautiful? I don't think I was the only one awake last night taking pictures, however these are mine.....


I took these with my current camera, a Canon EOS 600D. I've had it a few years but are still to fall in love with it.

My first real camera was a third-hand Canon ftb, which went everywhere I did in Europe or Africa as a student travelling on (almost) zero budget taking B & W photos as I went. The ftb was a classic and still worked after much rough treatment, and even survived a drop down a ravine. However after a year in Egypt and Sudan, criss-crossing the Sahara, it was too full of fine desert dust, so had to be swapped for a second-hand Olympus OM1. Again, this camera is up there as one of the best ever made. Mine gave me amazing shots from Paris to Iran that I still enjoy today..

These cameras became old friends, and as I got to know them, they seemed to understand what images I was looking for.  I pointed them, and they'd give me the images I wanted.

My new Canon EOS 600D must be cut from different cloth, as I'd swear it enjoys deliberately messing up my shots. It's settings are always 'wrong', and even when it's a pretty basic shot, the cpu sometimes refuses to take it. To me, a 'bad' shot of something interesting can always be improved later, but the 600D has a more bossy-school-teacherish mind on this subject. I've read the manual umpteen times, but still find I'm fighting with the settings rather than concentrating on the composition. Are all modern cameras like this???

However  I did get these rather cool images of the Summer Moon. they look B & W, but are actually colour.