Tag Archives: Mountains

Equipment

Snagging a Pre-Christmas Bargain

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Yewbarrow, Read Pike and Pillar can all be seen in this panoramic. Four image stich with the Fuji X-T2 and 18-135 lens. ISO200, f/11.0, 1/60″

If there’s one thing I can never have enough of, it’s camera bags. Although I tend to use a LowePro Min Trekker (which I think turned into Pro Runner 450AW) if I am out for the day, if I am heading up to the hills, I don’t take this. Typically for a day in the hills safety is more important than camera gear, so I tend to take a backpack full of extra clothing, food and other useful things. I also want to keep it light as I’m not as young as I used to be. Gone are the days of climbing mountains with a Pentax 67 medium format outfit on my back.

When out walking I typically take a single all-purpose camera or lens such as the Sony RX10. When I was shooting more with a Micro 43 I could take the body, three lenses, batteries and filters in a small LowePro 130 shoulder bag. Now with the move to shooting mainly Fuji, the LowePro 130 isn’t large enough.

My solution had been to take the LowePro Apex AW120 which is slightly deeper and fits the Fuji with a slightly larger lens attached. There is though only room for the single lens attached to the camera, so I have tended to use the Fuji 18-135.

Despite having all these bags (and quite a few more besides) none was right for the Fuji X-T2. What I wanted was a shoulder bag that would accommodate the X-T2 body together with three lenses; the 10-24mm 16-50mm and 55-200mm. I didn’t want the bag to be too bulky because I would carry it in addition to my backpack and I wanted a weather proof cover.

Knowing bags tend to be quite cheap second hand, I had a look on e-Bay. Sure enough someone was selling a used LowePro Nova AW160 for £12 as buy it now; so I did. It arrived this morning and it’s like new. Whilst slightly bulkier than my other bag, it’s still small enough to carry as well as a backpack. It’s also the ideal size for the camera body and lenses I mentioned. What a great bargain.

If anyone has any recommendations for a mid sized backpack (slightly larger than the Mini Trekker) I would be grateful. It does need to be very comfortable though as my back still plays up a lot. I do have a Tamrac Expedition X7 backpack which carries loads, but it’s bulky and heavy.

Friday Image

Friday Image No.163

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Yewbarrow and Red Pike, The Lake District. Fuji X-T2, Fuji 18-135 lens, ISO200, f/11.0, 1/100″

There really isn’t much to say about this image other than I love mountains. I love being high up and I love the harsh and dramatic appearance. But what really captures my attention with this image is the shadows. Without those deep shadows the image loses its appeal. Please be sure to keep your shadows; they add drama to your photography.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Friday Image

Friday Image No.162

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The Langdales, Fuji X-T2, Fuji 55-200, ISO200, f/11.0, 1/70″ handheld

With the snowy weather set to blanket the area where I live over the next few days, I thought I would show another snowy scene; although from a little further afield.

This image was captured in the Lake District a couple of weeks back. It features the mountains of the Langdales and was captured from the side of the road leading along the valley. There was a very odd moment between the warm morning winter sun and the snow sweeping in across the mountains. Within a minute of taking this shot it was snowing hard and the scene was gone.

I have some images shot a few minutes earlier where the sky is blue with a few clouds and the warm sunlight was everywhere. They look great, but I prefer the quirky feel of this image.

Fingers crossed for snow and the chance to shoot some local scenes at their best.

Have a great weekend.

Friday Image

Friday Image No.130

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Clearing Storm in Madeira. Olympus EM5, Olympus 12-40mm, ISO200, f/7.1, 1/320″.

I’m hoping you haven’t noticed, but this past couple of weeks has seen me take a holiday. I say I hope you haven’t noticed as I tried hard to keep the blog up to date with posts and replies to comments.

My break has taken me to the island of Madeira where I was trekking in the hills. It’s my first time to the island and whilst the holiday was good the weather wasn’t. I believe our flight was the last to land for a couple of days and some members of the walking party were severely delayed.

Despite the poor weather, the trip was very enjoyable. The weather conditions also created the opportunity for a bit of photography with my trust Olympus EM5. The image above is just one of the stunning locations on the island.

If all you Fuji shooters are now screaming why didn’t he take the X-T2, the answer is size. I can easily fit the EM5 together with three lenses into a small shoulder bag. This makes trekking with a full backpack and taking pictures very easy. There is no way the X-T2 with three similar lenses would fit in such a small pack.

I hope you like the image and have a great weekend.

Digital Photography, Friday Image

Friday Image No.116

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Olympus EM5, ISO200, 12-40mm lens, 1/250" at f/8.0
Olympus EM5, ISO200, 12-40mm lens, 1/250″ at f/8.0

I can hardly believe it. This time last week I was in the Lake District, sat in a pub enjoying a nice meal. The weather was turning very cold and the next day I was greeted by a very thick frost. I was staying near to the iconic hill known as Catbells with the intention of walking the Newlands Horseshoe. This image was shot near to the summit of Catbells and is a three-image stich using the Olympus EM5.

In the end, we didn’t make it around the horseshoe. We reached High Spy which is a little short of half way when we turned back. It looked like we would run short of daylight and the conditions underfoot were poor. The big mistake was forgetting my crampons. There was a lot of ice and snow about so walking in just boots was slow going and a little tricky at times. I didn’t mind turning back though as the walk (which I have done several times) gave great views in the first half.

Have a great weekend.

Friday Image

Friday Image No. 102

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Three image stitch using Lightroom. Olympus EM5 f/7.1, 1/250" at ISO200. Hanheld with the Olympus 12-40 lens.
Three image stitch using Lightroom. Olympus EM5 f/7.1, 1/250″ at ISO200. Hanheld with the Olympus 12-40 lens.

Last week I was in the Lake District followed by France. That seems so long ago now that I thought I would share one of the images. This one was captured on the Olympus EM5 and is three shots merged in Lightroom. The light on the day was quite blue and the hills were a very vivid green so this image is pretty true to life. I did do a little post processing in Alien Skin Exposure X, applying the Agfachrome 1000 RS slide film simulation. If you think you can see noise in the sky, it’s actually the grain simulation.

Have a great weekend.

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Friday Image

Friday Image No.89

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The Langdales in the Lake District. Olympus EM5, 45-150 lens. Handheld.
The Langdales in the Lake District. Olympus EM5, 45-150 lens. Handheld.

I shot this one a few weeks back when I was in the Lake District playing around with my new (old) Bronica SQ film camera. This one however was shot on the Olympus EM5. The difference between using these two cameras was amazing. The Bronica forced you to be very slow and check everything twice whilst with the Olympus I could just point and shoot almost.

The weather conditions at the time weren’t perfect but the location shows a lot of promise. I hadn’t seen this viewpoint photographed previously although I’m sure it has been. Hopefully I will return under better conditions in the future.

Have a great weekend everyone.