ESCALATION. (12/08/12)

This morning I was up bright as a button and off out looking for over nighting insects. No luck I combed these old allotments come tip for an hour........Alfie found a dead mole....Molly wanted it.....I decreed that neither should have it....filthy wee beasts!

Yesterday I cooked.........

These are filleted chicken thighs filled with a sweet pepper, garlic and pork sausage mush. Wrapped in bacon with the addition of a lemon and onion toffee glaze. The bit on the right is 'Elfy. Veggy couscous and raw tomatoes. The dead slug on the top is a banana. I had some that were getting past even banana bread useable....so decided to stuff a slice on top. It was okay but not fantastic. I'll do a recipe tomorrow if anyone shows interest.

I have spent the day suffering....hay fever and aches and pains. I've also joined Wordsmith but not posted...their interface is different but I'm not convinced it's better than blogger.

The rest of the day has been consumed with my swap from Olympus to Canon. I feel after four years I've served my apprenticeship with digital. I want to spend the next four years with the best I can afford and am still baffled. The easy option would be to go for a Leica Range finder.....superb lenses but the digital side lets them down. They are also a bugger to use on moving subjects. So Canon it is.........I want three lenses a landscape lens this one is easy...I like taking landscapes. There is no rush, one can take ones time. I'll forego quality and settle for a 24-70mm zoom. that's £2k from canon. then a 150mm or 180mm 1:1 macro, this will have to be Sigma or drop down to 100mm for a perfect Canon lens.
 I study MTF charts...I'm osculating into a nerd, be kissing them next.....You would too if you were considering investing the sort of money that would buy a good second hand Aston Martin.....
......We now hit the real problem..........I've decided on full 35mm frame...a relatively low pixel count and burst rate doesn't interest me as I shoot RAW. No cameras are quick in Raw. SIx Frames a second is great. I can get the EOS 7 five hundred pounds cheaper than the EOS 5 the latter has better noise control.
 I want to be placed in photo competitions next year or the year after or the year after that....maybe that's a little ambitious.....I may not be here. I refuse to accept that I'm not good enough.

The quandary I have is over telephotos. Reach is great but a prime tele lens would buy a house. On top of that one has to have a big tripod, gimbal mount and be prepared to spend a year or so learning to drive it. It's all a minefield.
It looks as if there maybe a glut of Canon long lenses on the market after the Olympics. I suspect pro photographers get lent them.

My problem is how to carry all this stuff.....Tripod, two heads, camera body, extenders, teleconverters, filters, beer, sandwiches and drink for the dogs, not to mention spare batteries and more beer. It could easily add up to over a hundred pounds... £100....the buggers charge five hundred for a tripod and the same again for a camera mount. I'll have to go into training or employ a lass that came third or fourth in the recent pentathlon to hump it. 
Golfers have it easy, they walk on mown grass and have a lacky to carry their hitting sticks.  

For those interested in blowing myth from fact this article, nay book,  I found decipherable... BIRDING ..It's no bad for anyone thinking of camera investment at whatever level.

I look at things slightly differently in that I don't look at web photos as a genuine reflection of an image.....I sharpen mine for the web but stick a bit on for print or to be honest I'm not allowed to. The lass in charge of the printer colour corrects and sharpens but I supervise the latter. You may not be colour blind Laura but you sure as hell over sharpen.  
The web is kind to pictures...Print isn't.

This post is self indulgent....Sorry if I've been nerdy but have a good week