For the last year of the last 6 years I’ve had this blog, it’s time for a change.
So I will be changing it. Not sure exactly what yet, but probably focus more on my ever more time consuming hobby of photography.
So as a start, I’m going to get me a photography look and feel, and tidy this place up!
(I’ll be keeping the Bakewell Pudding recipe though!)
During a summer break in the Peak District, we visited Bakewell. As a fan of Bakewell tart, we were curious to try Bakewell pudding. Well it’s naughty, but V nice, and indeed preferable over a Tart. We had the fortune of visiting Bakewell again during the same break and bought another!
There are a few shops and bakeries selling the tarts and puddings, and the one we visited, The Bakewell Pudding Parlour, posts them too. So I ordered one for Christmas.
I have since ‘googled it’ to find the recipe, which is often cited as being a well kept secret, until I came across a ‘The history of Bakewell Pudding, and how to make one’ by Charlotte Morgan, over at lovefood.com.
Reading it through I warmed to the comment at the bottom of the page by Tracey015 who refered to a recipe in a Darbyshire cook book.
I’m no baker, but gave her recipe a go. It came out pretty close indeed. I’ve since made some more, adding ground almond too, to give the pudding a wee bit more texture.
Here’s the recipe I follow (at the moment), and one that returns a right treat, pretty much exactly how we remember it from our holiday.
Ingredients
Method
I even had enough pastry and mixture left over to make a wee star shaped pudding for 2 🙂
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This was an earlier attempt, trying to replicate the star shape we had from the Pudding Parlour. Whilst it tasted good, the ready roll pastry was no match for the size of mould. I ended up re rolling the pastry, so it didn’t ‘puff up’ and I had to patch it up at the extreme edges.
Last year was my first Movember. I liked it so much that the Mo spread to become a beard! (After Movember of course).
I’m Movembering again, except this time, was challenged by work colleagues to do a ‘full reset’, which meant shaving of my Mo, my beard and even my hair! So I did.
Wether you know me or not, why not sponsor me anyway, for this very worthy cause.
My MoSpace = http://mobro.co/simonreeve
Mid Movember.
It’s looking good, so people tell me 😀
Here’s my MoSpace http://mobro.co/simonreeve where you can see more photos and sponsor me.
This is my first Movember. Having taken on the London Moonwalk 4 times, I thought it about time I did something for Cancer charities relating to Men.
Here’s my MoSpace http://mobro.co/simonreeve where you can see more photos and sponsor me.
Movember is about raising vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and testicular cancer, and walking around the office people have noticed the tache and I’ve told them why I’m doing it. So it does work!
I’m hoping to take as many photos as possible and animate them together to see the journey that is Movember 2012.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve done much with this blog, but there’s a reason for that, and it’s the Ukulele.
More specifically it’s being part to TWUNT, The Tunbridge Wells Ukulele Night Thing. Having only taken up the instrument back in May 2010, it’s grown and grown, through many a TWUNT night in the pub, to playing local gigs, to playing Chris Evans’ Carfest South 2012.
See our write up on how it went, with a wee bit of footage and photos – it was brilliant!
I am the web guy for the group, of my own volunteering and it’s nice to have a real reason for doing stuff with WordPress. The Ukulele has impacted my life quite considerably and I’ll write that up one day.
London Moonwalk 2012 Done! That’s Moonwalk number 4 for me, 15 for Walk The Walk.
This time, as ever, I failed to follow the training programme, though this year the weather did give me an almost valid excuse. I managed a few 5 – 8 miles and a 12 ish mile, but that was it.
On the day, I had the usual faff, deciding what to wear, take, etc. The bra’s the easy bit. After checking the weather, I plumped for a vest, t-shirt and a zip top for the early morning chill. I packed the bum bag with 2 Snickers, 1 Red Bull, 3 energy bars, 1 packet of dextrose, chewing gum (to clean the teeth), spare mobile phone batteries, camera, tissues, etc. Fortunately for me, I can use the bra G cup for storage too 😉 It typically houses battery pack for lights, tissues and water bottle.
I got there nice and early – about 7pm and pitched up on my wee foldable stool, right by the entrance. It’s quite something to be the first in the tent (pink palace) empty, then watch it fill up.
Weather – how lucky were we??? In the run up to the event, I was seriously worried about it raining, but it turned out proper nice 😉
After the entertainment and the very powerful 1 minute silence, the warm up started and we made our way to the start.
This year I walked with Deborah, who I met on the first Moonwalk, her second walk, having had a 2year sabbatical 🙂 I was a bit nervous about walking with her, as she had reported some serious training and speeds!
We were in the Green group and, as usual, I reckoned on 8 hours. We started at 11:40 and all I did was yawn and yawn, as the tiredness kicked in (I like my sleep). Round Hyde Park, then off towards Westminster, we were on our way. It felt a bit quick for me, and at mile 4 to 5 I started to ache. Oh dear! This went on for a few more miles and I was a wee bit worried. Time for a Snickers and later on, a Red Bull. I came to life and all was good, although Deborah was probably sick of my increased energy, as I kept on talking.
Mile 10 and the Half Mooners peel off. That’s hard, as it rams home the fact you have a long way to go! Still, onwards and onwards..
Next up Battersea Park for the obligatory loo stop, and this year a chunk of banana and orange. I only ever eat oranges on the Moonwalk – strange but true.
Then it’s the hard slog to mile 20, where we were promised a surprise, as it was the 15th Birthday of the London Mooonwalk. When we got there – lemon tea or hot chocolate! As soon as I saw the hot chocolate being poured, I knew what I was having. Yum!
Then it was the home run, just 6 miles – easy, especially as the Sun was coming up nice and warm. Although each mile was slower than the previous, so much so, the last mile always seems to be longer than a mile.
After a stop at the Mile 26 marker, it was the last whatever it is to the finish line. Brilliant feeling to finish and have someone put the medal around your neck.
After some good byes and collecting the bag, it was time to walk back to the tube to get the train home. Walking down to Hyde Park Corner, there were morning runners going in the opposite direction and one of them, a lady with a huge smile, shouted ‘enjoy your good rest’ – a very memorable thing to be acknowledged by someone clearly far fitter than I!
I managed to stay awake on the train, so as not to miss my stop. At home I had the pleasure of seeing for the first time, the two huge blisters on my feet, which in as somewhat strange way I’m rather proud of 😉
Now to collect the money – may target is £1000 and I know, once I’ve collected the cash, I’ll beat it this time – so that’s a very chuffed Moonwalker.
This event can lead to fabulous things, from meeting people on the walk that you keep in touch with beyond, to raising funds for a worthy cause, to being invited to talk about the walk at your son’s school! Yes – I was invited in to talk about The London Moonwalk at my son’s school, which made him proud of me and vice versa!
Here’s to Moonwalk number 5 in 2013
Simon
Some photos I managed to get:
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I’ve left it a bit late to update my site with the fact I’m walking this years London Moonwalk, but better late than never. This will be Moonwalk number 4!
My training has been far from regular, but hey ho – loads of chocolate with carry me to the finish!
Please sponsor me direct with Walk The Walk “Uniting Against BreastCancer” using the sponsor page here http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/simonreeve2012.
I’ve had a go at HDR (HighDynamicRange) photography. I’ve heard about for a while and recently Googled to learn more and have a go. There’s a fair amount of info on the web (including this bit now!), and loads of examples on Flickr. It seems some people don’t like it, but for some shots, it does create a high contrast wow factor, which I quite like.
I’m no expert, but here’s what I’ve found out. In short, it’s simply take at least 3 shots bracketed -2/ 0 / +2 stops. Then with some HDR software, merge them together, and twiddle with the sliders till you have the effect you’re after.
There’s more to it than that really, and here’s what I’ve found out so far, including my first HDR image.
The images should align, else when merged, the result will be blurred:
Use a tripod! (if you’re steady, then hand held is possible)
void anything that moves, unless you want blurring on purpose such as waterfalls.
Depth of Field – you should use aperture priority to ensure consistent depth of field, and manual focus too sometimes, to avoid autofocus picking different points from shot to shot.
Once you have your shots, the next thing you’ll need is software to process the images to an HDR image. It seems the most popular is Bracketing. My camera (Olympus e620) will do auto bracketing, but only 3 shots and only +-1 stop. My Googleling suggested, for the most part, that +-2 stops is better. I haven’t experimented enough with 1, 2 or even 3 stops to be able to comment properly. I’m using 2 stops if using tripod and, if I have to take shots handheld, then I use the camera’s one sop auto bracketing.
Photomatix from HDRsoft, but I stumbled across Picturenaut, a free alternative. So “Free” will do for now, until I get a feel for how this stuff works and whether I like it.
So here’s my first HDR image using Picturenaut. This bench’s graffiti caught my eye, shot sunny day, with the bench half covered by shadow from trees above and behind.
The 3 shots were taken on a tripod with -2/ 0 and +2 stops respectively, then the HDR image below that.
Feel free to comment below. I hope to report back with more HDR stuff soon.
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Here’s the finished image (on Flickr)
This being my third London Moonwalk, I was a bit complacent and did not do quite as much training as I perhaps should have! Still, I was very excited, looking forward to the event.
I raised £965, which is so close to that magical £1000. Must try harder!
I had the fortune of being offered a lift with a group of ladies from Tunbridge Wells, some of whom I travelled up with last year. There were 7 in all and they hired a minibus for the journey there and back. This made a HUGE difference, not having to walk to and from train stations, etc.
I was picked up at the end of my road at 4:50, which meant we arrived with plenty of time. I strongly recommend if you wish to avoid queueing on your feet for an hour or so to get in.
The sky looked ominous, threatening rain, and it was notably windier and cooler than previous years. I had 2 t-shirts, a fleece and, of course, my bra, tutu and hat.
Had the pleasure of being right at the front when founder Nina Barough yelled the countdown to open up Playtex City.
Once inside, it was down to business. Get blankets, water and food. This year was pasta and banana cake for me. The tent is huge, especially when you’re one of the first in, but it soon fills up with walkers and atmosphere.
I had arranged to meet with Sam who I walked with last year from about mile 7, since like me she was walking alone. We were both in pink group (the last group of four to start), whilst the TW ladies were in orange group (2nd off). It’s not easy trying to recognise someone, when everyone’s wearing a pink hat!
Following speeches from sponsors, beneficiaries and Prince Charles on video, it was warm up time, before which Nina asks us all to hold hands and stand quiet for 1 minute. This is a rather powerful moment, to hear complete silence. Now here’s a tip if you’re in pink group. Don’t over do the warmup, else you be knackered before you even start!
During the warm ups, Roy the ‘warm up guy’ invited folks up on stage and when it came to the last warmup I just had to get up there and see what it was like to look out at all the walkers dancing. I’m not sure who the warm up guy was inviting up, but I just blagged it anyway. Once up, he dragged me to the front, since I was the only bloke up there. The view was great, loads of pink hats all bobbing up and down following the instructor. I wasn’t particularly good at keeping up with the routine, but it was an experience I’ll not forget.
After that, it was off to the start line and the beginning of the 26 miles and a bit walk.
The route was more interesting this year but there was more congestion and some stop starting. Having said that, it meant the field didn’t thin out completely for the whole distance. This proved quite nice, as you saw a sea of pink all the way round, most inspiring during that tough bit from 3 to 6 am.
As the sun comes up, and the birds start to sing, you get your second wind, knowing that you’ve probably only got 15 miles to go.
This year I thought I’d try to take pictures on the way round, but to be honest, it’s not easy. At the beginning, there’s too many walkers to just stop and click. After a while, the last you want to do is stop and take pictures, you just want to put your head down and go. Still, I got a few, though most are not really good enough for the web (a bit dark or blurry).
Some other points to mention. There’s a really cruel bit, where you see walkers (the fast ones) on the opposite side of the road, some 8 miles or more in front!
Another hard pill to swallow is when the Half Mooners peel off with one mile to go. You soon get over it though, after all, if you don’t finish, you don’t get the badge!
So how long did it take me? Just short of 9 hours! Bit longer than last year, but that’s probably due to there being more congestion. Still it’s not a race, it’s a walk, an experience and a poignant one at that.
To anyone reading this who sponsored me, a BIG THANK YOU. I’ll be badgering you again next year!
Too anyone googling, researching Moonwalks and considering doing it next year: See you at the London Moonwalk 2012!
So, one week to go. I’ve beet my target and raised over £600 – so far! http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/simon_reeve
There still time to sponsor me. Watch this and I’m sure you will, even if you don’t know me, as it’s a worthy cause.
Just a short post.. I thought I’d attend the Tunbridge Wells Ukulele Night Thing wearing my suitably lit London Moonwalk Bra and Hat. Put a smile on many faces, even got to pose with a pink ukulele. To top it of, some kind folks sponsored me too.
I managed another walk last weekend – 13.5 miles @ 3.8mph. Found it harder than last year, so will have to step up training if I’m to complete this years London Moonwalk intact!
So my Playtex London Moonwalk 2011 hat, bra and T-shirt have arrived, together with my Moonwalker number.
The hardest part will be the walking. Not that I don’t know how to walk of course, just this last year has been a somewhat lazy and self-indulgent one. Indeed, I typically walk a few yards from house to car, car to office, and back again.
I’ve completed one longer than normal walk so far, of 11 miles in about 2hrs45mins. So that’s a step count boost from 3k to 20k for that day!
Still I’m trying to train more; even typing this whilst walking a couple of
miles at lunchtime.
Here’s a website www.twukulele.com, for The Tunbridge Wells Ukulele Night Thing, I’ve built and there’s quite a story behind it.
It all started when I bought my toddler son a Ukulele. The scale of the Uke to the wee lad seemed a perfect match. Then, by chance, I bumped into Dave Kinder who was organising a Ukulele night in Royal Tunbridge Wells and he invited me along. Having never played guitar or uke before, I thought what the hell, I’ll give it a go.
After the first night, I was hooked and have been going ever since, and I’m not alone. The group has grown, such that we have even played in public on the Pantiles Bandstand and appeared on TV (Meridian Tonight – Southeast).
The idea of a website, was born out of the fact that whilst we have a Facebook Group page, not everyone in the group uses or wants to use Facebook. With the group growing in size, with songbooks, video clips and photos, it seemed the next step.
www.twukulele.com is a hobby site for me that is growing and proving a very exciting real life experiment. I am not only the web developer, but the customer too (no excluding the rest of the group). That gives me great freedom to experiment, in a controlled fashion, of course!
Powered by WordPress, I initially created a two column site for simple blog posts. As content and traffic grew, I’ve widened it to 3 columns, to give me more space near the top, for the stuff I want visitors to see.
I did make and early mistake, by adding a forum and discovered forums are dangerous, as empty forums look awful and give the impression no one visits your site. Since no conversations got going, I removed it. We now leave that to Facebook, email and good old fashioned conversation in person.
The group has given me the opportunity to experiment with my Olympus E620 camera too. It’s not easy photographing in a dimmly lit pub, especially when crammed full of ukulele players. Still I managed to get enough to justify populating galleries.
Next up came video and I decided we need a YouTube channel. Two reasons; firstly it’s saves on my web space and bandwidth (this is on a budget!), more more importantly, YouTube increases our exposure, driving traffic to the site and maybe new members to the group!
In line with that, I created a Twitter account for us and added a widget to the site listing recent tweets. Adding the Facebook group’s badge to the site, completes the loop (for now) and traffic is on the up 🙂
Songbooks are maintained in Google Docs to save having to upload every time we add to them.
Then there’s the Newsletter module too to help us keep followers and non Facebook members up to date with latest news.
I am making use of Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools and a Stats module for WordPress, to keep track of our progress. This is really interesting, see the effectiveness of Newsletters, Tweets and Videos.
The site is being followed by other Ukeulele groups, such that we’ve had a contingent from another group join us for a session, taking our record to 45 ukuleles at once!. We’re also seeing request to make appearences!
Who knows where this will go!
Please visit www.twukulele.com and let me know what you think – you may just find yourself joining us!
I completed the Playtex London Moonwalk 2010, and never finished my post! Yes, this has sat in drafts for quite a while… Since I’ve got into the 2011 walk, I think I best finish this post off!
I had the pleasure of travelling up with 3 ‘first time’ walkers from Tunbridge Wells. I found myself reciting everything about my 2009 experience.
We arrived rather early, in fact, the Playtex Village wasn’t even open. This turned out to be a good idea as, whilst it meant we were there for longer, we didn’t have to queue for long, enabling us to maximise the time sat down, resting our legs! I intend to arrive early for the 2011 walk too!
I was in the Pink group (yep, the slow coaches) and we were next to the stage, unlike last year. This was great, as we were the ones in the tent the longest. Having found a spot to sit down, I tucked into the pasta and flapjack.
I had brighter lights this year and boy did I get a lot of attention! I had to pose for so many photos, I lost count. To that end, this time I will take a camera with me and try to get as many photos as possible with as many different walkers as possible. It was great to see my outfit get so many smiles. For Moonwalk 2011, I’m in the Pink group again., which seems fitting since my outfit is covered with bright pink LEDs. This will be the third outing for the feather covered bra – Hope it’s up to it!
After the warm-ups, and waving off my fellow Tunbridge Wells walkers (who were in the yellow group), it was time to get going, at 12am! It was very busy and a wee bit congested, there by ensuring we all took the 8+hours ;-). Whilst the weather was great compared to the recent horrible stuff we had, it was cooler than last year, such that I had to don my jacket at about 3.30.
I almost made the fatal mistake of not eating and drinking as we went along. At the big loo stop in Battersea park I did have to sit down and whoof a snickers and (Marathon) and a sports drink. Whilst I felt feint, I did manage to come round and get going again some 15 mins later. I guess that was my lesson learnt!
Had the pleasure of completing most of the walk with Samantha who just so happened to be walking by herself and at my pace. We both came the the conclusion, that walking this thing alone, is no mean feat, so if you are considering walking along, try and talk to someone at your pace and help each other round! I know Sam’s also got a place in the 2011 walk and reckon we’ll join up and take on the whole thing together.
We finished around 8.30, so a long night!
My admiration goes out to the marshals. They clap and cheer all night long. I made a point of cheering them, as to stand there all that time is about as hard as walking the route!
The Moonwalk is a fantastic experience and for a very worthy cause. It’s not easy, especially if you like your sleep. As a walker you’s start off very noisy, excited, then you’ll settle down as the long haul ahead is realised, before experiencing elation during the tearful, emotional last few hundred yards to the finish.
So that’s my brief take on my Playtex London Moonwalk 2010.
I promise, along with more training, to not leave it so long before posting about my Playtex London Moonwalk 2011 experiences. I hope to post about training and my tips I’ll be using for the next one.
Photos!
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Just a quick post. Weds 29th September, I filled in the on-line entry form for the Playtex London Moonwalk 2011! – must have been one of the first!
Friday the 1st, I got a the confirmation email – I’m IN!!!!!
Training is still a bit sparadic, but I did manage to complete a half moon’s worth of practise walk yesterday 13.5miles. Avg speed was 4.1mph, so should shave some time of last year.
Tonight we finished the new outfit. Loads more lights and rather fetching! What do you think?
Don’t forget you can sponsor me on-line here – it’s very easy and you’ll be helping a very worthy cause.
http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/simon_reeve
Visit my sponsor me on line page to find out more about WalkTheWalk and where the money goes.
Many thanks folks.
Well despite only three weeks till the night, I’ve finally walked further than the usual 3 or 6 miles! It seems this year, either the weather has been so bad or uninspiring, or I’ve been ill or too busy to follow the training plan provided by WalkTheWalk.
The final parcel arrived at then end of this week, including bra, cap and t-shirt and, coupled with the glorious sunshine, it spurred me on to nail at least 10 miles+. I managed 13.7 today, before getting back home in time for BBQ number 5! Yes you read correctly, BBQ number 5!
Whilst walking, my wife finished of the new addition to my Moonwalk outfit – a fluorescent pink tutu, with flashing LEDs!!
So I’m feeling more confident now, as the actual walk is only twice what I did today – “how hard can it be!”.
The London Playtex Moonwalk 2010 is not far off now, on the 15th May!!
Well it’s a bit late to start training, but I’m now spurred on by the final arrival of the Sun here in the SE of England, the setting up of my on-line sponsor page here http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/simon_reeve, and the arrival of more bright pink LEDs for this year’s outfit.
I’ll be using the trusty bra of last year, with a new bright fluorescent skirt to help me stand out!
My fundraising page is very new, so why not be the first to sponsor me for what is a very good cause.
On Saturday February the 13th, residents of Tunbridge Wells celebrated the coming of the Chinese New Year – The Year of the Tiger! My family and I joined in too, with our own lnaterns and me with my camera, eager to use my new flashgun.
How hard can it be? Well not that easy! Armed with a new Metz Flashgun 48 AF-1, that has so far proved more than powerful for home and garden, I soon found myself getting all sorts ofgood and bad results.
The parade began at Trinity Theatre in the centre of town. We arrived at 16:45 and found the place full of lanterns and people gathering for the parade. Bloco Fogo were there two, and I hoped to get some good colourful shots of them in action. The weather didn’t look too good, it was raining lightly. Thankfully the rain held off once things got going, though it did make me wonder, how sensitive DSLRs are to rain….
Bloco Fogo lined up and started drumming away in the car park, whilst the rest of us lined up behind.
I made my way to the front to try and capture the parade as they left Trinity Theatretowards the centre of town. I soon realised, that despite the parade being a slow walk, when you’re trying to capture it on stills, it all goes too fast!! This is especially true when you’re still learning.
The hardest thing of all was to get the right ballance of exposure and flash between the fore and background. Too much emphasis on the back and the front’s washed out and just right at the front, meant the back was too dark. This coupled with the fack the whole parade is moving meant for many blurred shots. I tried fiddling around with higher ISO, but that just introduced noise. Slower shutter speeds sort of worked, but too much lusk was required to ensure the right things were blurred/ not blurred.
So photographically, it was a bit disappointing, but then I guess with some right proper expensive kit, it might be easier. If anyone’s got any tips for such scenarios with similar kit to mine, I’d be very grateful to hear from you. For now, I’ll stick with daytime parades!
That aside, the evening was great, ending up at St Barnabas School on Camden Road for a hotdog and some more drumming from Bloco Fogo. My son enjoyed it big time, especially watching a couple of Chinese lights float of into the sky, listening to Bloco Fogo, and even tapping a drum himself! Hopefully I’ll be better prepared for next year.
Here’s the best shots of the lot…
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Ever since moving to digital photography, I have often thought of taking black and white photos. Thing is, I use the ‘take it in colour and convert some later with PhotoShop or similar’. Theflaw in this approach is, at least for me, is I never seem to get round to trauling through the hundreds (thousands) of photos and converting them to black and white ‘just to see’. Net result? Very few black and white photos.
Art Filters to the rescue! Now I know there are many posts and reviews around the net that slate such functionality built into Digital SLR cameras, but I think it is useful, epsecialy for people like me, where the post developing never actually happens. To some, the more experienced photographers, they may seem a bit gimigky, watering down the skill required to use a ‘proper’ camera. However, not all of us are pros (yet 🙂 ), so please remember that folks.
Why is it useful? The biggest reason is using the feature in situe gives you an immediate answer to the question “What would it look like in black and white?”. Not only that, you can alter the shot to get it right there and then, something you may not be able to acheive in post developement.
Another reason for me is it can inspire further creativity, as you see other nearby opportunities that might look good in black and white. You almsot start hunting for black and white photos.
Whilst on can take photos in black and white on most digital cameras, the Art Filters on my e620 includes ‘Grainy Film’ filter. This is the only Art Filter I use and I like it as it has a lot more contrast compared to the monochrome setting, which always seems a bit too grey. It doesn’t always work though, and you have to play around with exposure to try and get it right as somethimes the detail you’re after, get’s lost in the black or the white. Some shots just seem to come alive when the colour is taken out.
So that’s my waffly defence for the Art Filters on the Olympus e620, especially the Grainy Film one ;-).
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So it’s nearly been a few months now, so here’s what’s not so good with my Olympus e620.
Well I’m very gald to say, “Not a lot!!”. Yep, nearly all incredibly minor niggles are down to me as much as the camera. By that I mean, I’ve still to learn how to drive it properly.
Nothing I hear you cry? Well you’re right to be suspicous of my claim, as there is one thing that is annoying. Theres no autofocus assist beam!!
Auto focus struggles in low light or low contrast situations. Now the e620 makes use of the pop up flash, which it strobes whilst trying to focus. Not only is this very slow, it’s quite annoying and, if I’m honest, embarasing. Having moved from compact cameras with those handly little focus assist lamps, this is annoying when considering a DSLR is supposed to give me more photographic power. Sometimes it just fails to focus at all.
I know there are ways round it, like focusing on something nearby, but same distance, or turning all the house lights on, but that’s not always possible. You can of course revert to manual focus, but without any means of knowing if focus is acheived, other than using ones eye, this can be hard too in low light.
So what do I do now? Simple – I chose to buy a flashgun with an AF Assist lamp. I purchased a Metz 48 AF-1, which has turned out to be really good and has solved the low light autofocus problem. It does mean I have to cart the flashgun around with me, but then I do, since I’ve payed for it ;-).
I guess this is a problem with DSLRs, as even with a built in beam, you are often focusing on object much fiurther away than you would with a compact point and shoot.
Other than that, all is going well and I’m enjoying the Olympus e620.
Just bought yourself an Olympus e620? I stumbled across this very comprehensive guide to all the settings. Might help any newbies like myself!
http://www.biofos.com/esystem/e620_set.html
My compliments to the author John Foster.
During early September, whilst out doing some Christmas shopping in Tunbridge Wells, my son and I heard some drumming! It’s was a samba band. We followed our ears to investigate and found Bloco Fogo playing in the centre by the clock tower.
Luckily I had my shiny new Olympus e620 with me, in the hope I’d have cause to use it, and I did!
After successfully pushing my way through to the front, using my son’s pram as a people plough, I attached the 50 to 150mm lens and started snapping away.
Now I must stress, at the time I was still getting used to the camera, and still am! So despite taking quite a few shots, these are the only one’s worth uploading, the rest are either out of focus, wrong exposure, or naff composition.
Bloco Fogo are an Afro-bloco samba band from Kent www.blocofogo.com. I’ve seen them before and have to say they are rather good, very loud, colourful and energetic. So loud in fact, that my son covered up his ears for the duration!
What do you think?
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Since 2009 saw a landmark Birthday, and Christmas was looking, I thought it about time to move up from a digital compact camera and get myself a new toy, a Digital SLR.
Now many moons ago I used to dabble in photography with an Canon AE-1 of my Dad’s and then my own Canon A-1. Quick to adopt digital I bought a Sanyo VPC-X350 in 1999, as it did video too. Nothing special by today’s standard, but it was very novel being able to click away for free and check I got the shot there and then. After a few years of that I bought a Canon PowerShot A520, as it had loads of manual features I’d missed since the days of film. This served me well, until I updated to a Canon PowerShot A700, which has served even better and continues to do so now.
However, the capability of my compact camera is limited in certain situations and when asked to take some photos at a party, since I seemed to be the only one with a camera, I struggled. The main problem was the very low light, under which the A700 struggled. Whilst suitable stationary close up shots were OK, anything too rapid and I missed the action, through having to wait for the flash to re-charge. Plus the range of the flash was just not far enough. Afterwards, I thought: “wouldn’t it be nice to have a flashgun”. Alas the A700 has not hot shoe, but that was enough, coupled with the up and coming Birthday to think about getting something more powerful.
The journey to the e620 had started, though I didn’t know I’d end up with one. At first, I thought I’d look at some of the larger compacts, or ‘Bridge’ cameras that could accommodate a flash gun. The hope was this could be an affordable option, as budget was tight. There was no chance of blowing 4 figures on a load of semi-pro stuff.
To my surprise, the cost of these hybrids seemed to top the budget SLRs. The more I looked the more I got confused on what I should get. Great sites like http://www.dpreview.com, steves-digicams.com, www.ephotozine.com, and www.photographyblog.com gave me a big insight into the pros and cons of cameras available, as it’s all to easy to fall for the manufacturer’s jargon.
I narrowed the search to the Canon EOS 500D, Nikon D5000, the new Pentax K-x and the Olympus e620. Now the Pentax was initialy the most interesting, since it was available in red. Now I know that’s no reason to choose a camera, but I was very tempted. I was tempted too by it’s use of AA batteries which is something I find very handy on holiday with my Canon PowerShots. Hoever, the reviews and forum threads on capacity with AA was appaling and scared me off. So time to compare the other 3. I thought I’d best see them in the flesh and that’s when I liked the e620. It’s compact, lightweight (as are the lenses thanks to in-body stabalisation) and has an articulated screen (something I find very useful on my video camera). Many folks said it’s important to be comfortable with the camera in hand, and the e620 drew me in. I was no longer tempted by the HD video of the others, as it seems D-SLRs are not thr right format for recodding video, espceically when auctoficus ins’t available whiclt recording, or apature control, etc… Video cameras as good for video and at the moment, it seems, D-SLRs are still best for stills.
So to sum up, why I bought the e620?
I’m not going into detail about the pros and cons compared to the rest, as there’s plenty of good reviews out there, that have already done that. What I do hope to do, however, is blog ‘living with an Olympus e620’ as a new to Digital SLR user coming from a digital compact user’s perspective.
That’s it for now – time to read some more of the user manual – again
I recently had the opportunity to volunteer making Rememberance Day Poppies at The Poppy Factory in Richmond, Surrey, England.
For just one day, myself and 6 work colleagues visited The Poppy Factory, not really knowing what to expect, other than the chance to make some poppies. The day turned out to be quite an eye opener and one that leaves me seeing poppies in a whole new light.
We were given a brief tour of the factory and an insight into the history of the Poppy Factory charity. Then it was straight down to work to make as many lapel type poppies as we could in 3 hours. I achieved about 750, which seems quite a lot, however, it’s a drop in the ocean when you consider the numbers produced by the Factory this year of 38 million Remembrance poppies, 5 million Remembrance petals, 900,000 crosses and 100,000 wreaths!
Having bought many a poppy over the years, it’s amazing that you never really get to find out where they come from. Well The Poppy Factory is where. Yep – this one place manned by 50 or so people churn out the whole lot, working throughout the year, with some home workers chipping in too. The fact that such as huge initiative is fed by such a small outfit is amazing and a credit to all at the factory.
Who are these incredible people? The work force mostly comprises disabled ex Service or dependants of ex Services men and women. The Poppy Factory is a charity in it’s own right and through the production of poppies, provides employment and support for such people.
The history of The Poppy Factory starts in 1922, with the current factory dating back to 1933. Major George Howson MC started the factory when after serving in the 1st World, he set up a small factory in South East London.
Poppies are sold during The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, which runs during October in the run up to Rememberance Day on the 11th of November.
The poppies we made are in fact for next year, so who knows, I might end up buying one I made 😉
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Listening to KMFM the other day brought to my attention a site with some photos of the old and disused Ritz Cinema in the heart of Tunbridge Wells.
Fascinating…See here: Ritz Cinema Tunbridge Wells Photos
Despite never having gone there myself, I still find it fascinating to see images of what are time capsules. The site is a forum and following the thread for the Ritz Cinema, I stumbled across another site with some more photographed places of old, including the Ritz Cinema http://www.curiousplaces.co.uk/index.php
Hooked I return to the 28 Days Later forum and whiled away an hour looking at some fascinating images.
Are there any more sites out there like this I wonder? Time to Google!
I travelled up to London with Sarah, another moonwalker with whom I did my practise walk the ‘Long One’. We arrived at Hyde Park Corner around 19:25 and queued up. The queue grew very quickly and that’s when it dawned on me there weren’t many chaps taking part – but I kind of hoped that would be the case. 😉
I was blown away on entering Playtex city, the tent was huge, big enough to house all 15,000 walkers. The central isle of the tent was flanked by coloured flags matching the four colours of the starting groups. There was a stage at one end featuring Tina May and Richard Sheldon accompanied by the BBC Big Band, and later on BLAKE, amongst others. Paul O’Grady made an appearance in a very fancy bra featuring sequencing LEDs – very cool! Paul and Sara Cox took part in the Half Moon. Walkers take on wither the Full Moon or Half Moon, full or half marathon. I did the Full Moon.
We were given a choice of a rice or pasta dish and a flapjack. I went for pasta before donning my outfit, the bra, the lights and ribbons. A constant stream of walkers entered the tent as we were getting ready, like an incoming tide of pink hats. A great deal of imagination had gone into some of the costumes and bras. Decorated bras everywhere, feathers, lights, you name it! The atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation.
At about 11pm a warm up act came on to get people ready for the off, yellow group first, followed by green , then orange (including me) and finally pink. Sarah made her way to the start with the Yellow group, leaving me behind to warm up some more, whilst waiting for Orange group to be called up. Orange group got going at 23:45 with me crossing the Start line at 23:48. It was a slow cosy shuffle to the start line and beyond for a while, until we hit the open (closed really) road around Hyde Park.
Walking in amongst so many people is bizarre. All the pink hats swaying from left to right created the illusion of a pink sea. Half Mooners wear white hats, and so I guess they were the white horses. The first mile or two was spent getting used to the idea that this is it and I was finally on my way, having spent some 3 hours waiting to start. I was complemented on my feathery bra, a theme that spanned the night and it was nice to be welcomed to what is a predominantly women’s event. Breast cancer affects men too, not to mention women close to us, so it’s great to have been given the opportunity to take part.
Around mile 3 I met Deborah, another lone walker. We got chatting and since we had a similar pace, stuck together for the rest of the way. I say similar pace, I was not quite as quick. I thought we were going quite fast, but not so, only 3 miles an hour to start with. This largely due to sheer number of walkers and crossing roads. Still she didn’t mind staying at my pace, something I’m very grateful for. To say Deborah was a lone walker was not true, she had a banana with her for quite sometime, slowly going blacker and blacker, until she finally consumed it, but I forget when.
We circled Hyde Park, before making our way down to Westminster, then along to Vauxhall Bridge, over and back on the South Bank, then beyond to Battersea Park, Chelsea, Westminster again then Hyde Park. My memory of the route is a little blurd, as staying awake through the night whilst walking a long way plays with the mind. I know we passed many iconic London landmarks such as The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, The Globe, Tower Bridge, Battersea Park, The Mall, Horse Guards, Harrods, Kings Road. We passed many supporters along the way, including some bemused inebriated folk who were very complimentary and supportive.
Walking along way is hard enough, but staying awake through the night is really hard, especially for someone who likes his sleep! I swear my stomach went to sleep for a bit, as it felt rather nauseous for a while around 3am. So I munched through sports bars and chocolate to get me through.
I forget when, but dawn did arrive and it helped enormously, as you start to realise you’re half way. I wasn’t a big fan of the mile markers, as I prefer to not know how far I’ve walked. The reason being, I’m a bad estimator of distance and when I do find out, I’ve always walked further than I think. Deborah and I didn’t see the 14 mile marker, so when we saw 15miles, it was a very pleasant surprise!
As soon as we hit 20 miles the end seemed in sight. “Not far now”, I kept telling myself. I was growing tired, so much so, I got disorientated and thought we had to cross the river again to get back, which would have been odd, since we were already north side – the right side for Hyde Park.
The volunteers on the night are amazing stars and unsung heroes – they stayed up all night, constantly praising our efforts and cheering us on – vital work, as they make you smile, which seems to do more to fight pain than ibuprofen! I made a point of praising them too, as it’s no mean feat to do what they do.
Well done to all the organisers – you did a great job! It can’t be easy with all those walkers.
I’ve got some photos below, though not many, as it’s hard to concentrate on walking that far through the night. I know that sounds mad, but it’s true, you get drawn into focusing on finishing the walk.
To those who sponsored me – a BIG thank you – Your generosity ensured I hobbled to the very end, and it will go on to help in the fight against breast cancer.
I hope this gives some idea of what it’s like to do the Moonwalk, and maybe inspired you to join the next one, as there’s no knowing what it’s like until you’ve tried it. Well done if you too completed the walk, I’m sure you’ll be applying again – I know I will – see you next year!
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Packed my Moonwalk bum bag full of chocolate and energy drink, had a quick kip and am now ready for the off! The bra masterpiece is all packed, appropriately in a pink plastic bag.
I’m Very happy to see the weather forecast change in our favour from rain to clear 😉
Good old BBC, I knew you’d fix it ;-).
Managed to complete a trial walk, as per the Moonwalk training plan. I teamed up with another walker and we walked around Tunbridge Wells, thanks to Sarah for her planning the route! We missed the 20 mile target by 3, but feel it’s enough to build on before the big one!
So what do you think?????
I braved wearing the now completed Moonwalk bra to the office. Needless to say it put a smile on everyone’s face an worked a treat at kick starting sponsorship. Wearing it for a few hours around the office makes me think it might prove uncomfortable after some 7 hours of walking, but it’s for a good cause!
I’m rather pleased with the decoration, though I was only the artistic director, I owe many thanks to my capable seamstress – my wife.
Off out this weekend to do a practise 20 mile walk. Then next week, perfect the finishing touches of the outfit for the big night!
Whilst shopping on Saturday, my wife, son and I visited local sewing/ fabric shops and bought anything pink that you could stick to my Moonwalk bra. This evening, my wife turned a dining room chair into a dressmaker’s mannequin and started to pin the fluffy pink boa and sequins to the bra. That’s not all, I’ve got some LEDs too, to light up my night walk.
The Moonwalk booklet has a detailed training plan, and I thought I’d use this as a means to address the annual New Years resolution to get fit. Well, needless to say, I’ve been sufficiently distracted and expert at finding excuses to have not followed it. I have done some walking, and the other day, covered half the distance and still managed a bike ride the following day. So I’m hoping that a practise walk of 20 miles will be enough to prep me for the big night.
Two (current) concerns I still have, are:
Ok, back to the bra – hope to have it ready in next couple of days and use it as part of my fundraising campaign – so watch this space.
Finally got round to breaking the 10 mile barrier in training for the Playtex Moonwalk in my home town of Tunbridge Wells (UK) and covered 12 miles and that’s after a day’s shopping, which I didn’t track, so guess about 14 miles in total.
The thing is, I thought I’d make a point of turning left or right into roads or footpaths I haven’t taken before and it’s amazing how little of my own town is new to the eye.
The sun was shining and it turned out to be pleasant day wandering streets and parks new to me, which of course made the time and miles pass by!
So if you’re reading this and taking on the Playtex Moonwalk, or any other similar walking/ running event, train locally and just zig-zag all over where you live and you’ll be amazed at how much you didn’t know was there!
Walk the walk!
It’s getting closer!!! My parcel arrived with the Bra, the Hat and T-shirt. Note I’ve not modelled the bra yet, as I’m waiting until I’ve decorated it.
Despite wanting to use this event as an opportunity to train, train, train, I’ve adopted the same attitude I applied to a previous event of 40 miles. How hard can it be? It’s only walking… Mmmmm I’ll have to wait and see, as no training = payback after the event.
Still, I’ve bought some new trainers, so they should help!
I’ve just opened my own on-line sponsor me page on Justgiving.com for those of you who would like to sponsor me for taking part in the 2009 London Moonwalk. By sponsoring me, you will be helping the charity WalkTheWalk and the fight against breast cancer.
See the widget to the right? My Totaliser! All you have to do is click the orange ‘Donate’ button and you will be routed to my sponsor page, else follow this link http://www.justgiving.com/simonreevemoonwalk.
Now it’s going to take me some 8 hours and unless I start training in ernest, I’m going to end up with very sore knees! I’ve got a step machine and am stepping away whilst watching TV, it’s a start..
So I did! The photo says it all.
I drove to work dressed like this and brightened up the drag to the office on the way for those glaring at me in the traffic and on the footpath.
It’s made a very pleasant change seeing folks smile back 😉
Work – the team joined in, and armed with some cakes and Red Nose Day sweepstakes, we raised approx £200 for Comic Relief.
For thos of you unfamiliar with Comic Releif, find out more here about a very worthy cause, and why not donate too 😉
Simon
There’s no turning back now! I’ve got my place in this years London Playtex Moonwalk.
Now I’m not one for running, so thought this might be my chance of doing a London Marthin without the agony, whilst raising funds for a more than worthy cause.
I’ve yet to read all the contents of the information pack, other than training starts real soon!
The event is on the 16th May 2009.. and I’ll keep you updated with my progress here…
Whilst visiting Ware, we visited Scott’s Grotto. A very unusual attraction as it’s entrance is very small and snuck between houses out of sight. It was built by the poet John Scott during the 18th Century.
We had no idea what to expect and were intrigued why we had to bring a torch. When we got there we climbed down some steps to a frontage that resembled a small house, shed, temple, all rolled into one. built out of flint with the back disappearing into the ground. Once a ‘folly’ within large ground of Scott’s house, it is now surrounded by modern housing and thankfully saved from being developed for us to enjoy now.
To Ware, that’s where
We have recently had the pleasure of visiting Ware in Hertfordshire in South East England, whilst staying at the Hanbury Manor, a Marriott hotel. Initially we had no idea or plan of what to do or expect, other than to have a weekend away from it all.
I thought it about time I used this site for something – so a Blog it is!
Now to descramble all that stuff in my head into interesting meaningful content.
Easier said than done.
