Lazy Robot

A while ago I posted a picture of my very first SLR camera , a Zenit-E with Helios-44M 2.0/58mm lens. It's a truly delightful camera, hefty but not heavy, simple yet deceptively complex, and has an air of nostalgia about it. After digging it out and using up the remains of the film that was still in it , I decided to get some new film and take some photos properly. It being, as I have mentioned before, Autumn, I decided to go out in my local area. There is, of course, the housing estate, but I focussed on the Four Greens, a recreational area of sorts right in the middle of the estate. Using the rather amazing lightmeter (all dials and needles) to figure out what the sun was playing with, I opted for some high ISO (the film I got was 400, so had to) but also high shutter speed (1/500th second) pictures. This would require me to use very low f stops, so giving me a very wide aperture and very shallow depth of field. This should, if my plan worked, give the pictures a dreamy look, t...

Since I'm a sucker for shiny things, and since I got used to the lovely keyboard on my Macbook, it only seemed right to get a new brushed aluminium keyboard for my non-Macbook computer. Well, that and a hand injury requiring me to have a keyboard with less than 1/16th of an inch key travel ... I previously used it on Windows and getting it to work with Bootcamp was pretty easy. I even wrote instructions on my old blog . I've since started using it as my primary keyboard on my desktop machine with Ubuntu, and setting it up on there was even easier. There is a built-in keyboard map for it, and everything just works. I use the US layout because I'm more likely to type # than £, but altgr+3 produces the £ so all is good. Unfortunately there are two things that irk me about this keyboard. First is that there is no insert key. Second is that you have to hold down Fn, which is where the insert key should be, to make the F keys work. Fortunately a bit of magic can make everyt...

All my furniture is in a pile in the middle of the lounge. This makes sitting on it difficult.

Painting the lounge. And the lounge floor!

Still holding on to its petals, despite the weather.

Enough said.

The leaves are turning brown. As I look up and down the road outside my house I see a variety of different shades. My tree, the one right outside my bedroom window, is defiantly staying green to the last. 

I'm in a funny mood today. Have a banana.

Two pictures today to make up for last week's blip. First is the mundane. Living and working in the same building saps the creative energy required for good photography. You can't take a good photograph if you don't "feel" the picture. If you're aimless and without vision while shooting, it will show through in the picture. Sometimes you have to shoot the tedious, mind-numbing tasks that get you through the day. And now the magic. I recently bought some new net curtains. Exciting life I lead, huh? But one benefit of them is that they diffuse natural light wonderfully, as can be seen is the dreamlike lighting of this toy train engine. The train used to have carriages that spelled out the kids' names. Most of them are now missing, but the little engine remains.

The other day I posted a picture of the Wheel Of Sheffield. Well, on Sunday we finally managed to actually go on it. It was quite difficult taking pictures of the scenery due to the horrible perspex windows in the "gondola" you sit in, but I got a few. Sadly there are reflections and stray light all over the place, but they're not terrible. Looking down Fargate from the top of the wheel. I'd never noticed that the walkways have a curvy pattern built into them until seeing them from so far above. The shadow of the wheel demonstrates the size of the thing. A wedding was taking place at the Town Hall, and the cars parked outside made a lovely focal point for this shot. The height and the length of the shadows makes the whole thing feel miniature, but I have resisted any and all temptation to make a fake tilt-shift shot. I might make one later but I think it would ruin the clarity of it. Looking straight down onto Fargate, this time from about halfway up the whe...

Autumn is most definitely upon us. The spiders are spinning merrily, and the morning dew hangs from the webs, glistening in the early morning light.

Still haven't been on the big wheel in town. This Sunday, though, I definitely will! Until then, have this picture of it from underneath. Next time, I'll post pictures from on top.

It's always tough being first support at a gig. Everyone knows that the main event won't start for a couple of hours after doors open, so you end up playing to a pretty sparse crowd. Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, two parts of the folk band Danny & The Champions Of The World, opened for The Magic Numbers at the Leadmill last night. They did so with aplomb, and didn't let the low turnout bother them at all. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. They were soon followed by Danny, the frontman of aforementioned band, and played a second set as the full line-up. They must have been exhausted. Here's a close up I took, just because I could get to the stage. I actually managed to stay by the stage for the entire night and got some pretty good pictures of Magic Numbers, too. Well, until some roadie told me "No photos!". Two songs from the end. Didn't really miss much!

I've not been very photographically minded of late. In fact, I've barely done anything. Trying to get out of the slump I find myself in. In the meantime, have a small selection of pictures I took with my iPhone while bimbling around in my daze. Bikes parked up at Bedford station Park Hill flats with their colourful windows Condiments at Tokyou The inside of a McFlurry Platform 4 of Kettering Station