I was most disappointed with the images I obtained during our recent trip to Florida. Many telephoto shots appeared out-of-focus despite the well-regarded image stablilization (vibration reduction) built into the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX attached to my new Nikon D90 body on it's debut outing. As was my habit, to protect my investment the lens was fitted with a screw-on skylight filter. I couldn't believe how poor my shots were when viewed on a 24" display: Was the camera (still in warranty) malfunctioning? Had my photographic skills regressed? Could something be wrong with the (now out-of-waranty) lens? Why was the centre of some images sharp, with progressive blurring or even 'double vision' towards the peripheries? These were questions for Nikon to answer.
Continue reading 'A Nikon lens with double vision'
Archive for the 'Photography' category
This weekend just gone my wife and I met up with David from the Internet for a walk, talk, and geotagging/ track logging at Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales.
Continue reading 'The limestone paving of Malham Cove'
Lathkill Dale in the Peak District is considered "one of the country's finest limestone valleys". Lathkill is one of five separate limestone valleys comprising the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve, which is managed by English Nature. Friends took us walking in the area yesterday (we hadn't been for a while) and we were reminded how lucky we are to have such easy access to this part of England.
Continue reading 'Lathkill Dale in the Peak District'
Another former communist-occupied country visited, another monument to the fallen photographed. How did communism's lofty ideal of equality become so twisted and evil, delivering oppression and brutality wherever it was (or is) practised? Having seen the poignant sculpture in Moscow commemorating Stalin's victims, and the collected skulls from the Killing Fields of Pol Pot's Cambodia, I wasn't expecting to find a similar memorial in the Czech Republic so moving. But death is only one way you can hurt people: how do you physically capture the dissolution of a man's spirit?
Continue reading 'The incredible dissolution of being'
Yesterday's treacherous weather foiled our walking plans. We set out under blue and sunny skies, arriving at our departure point some 25 minutes later under a blanket of grey and chilling precipitation. We didn't go far, returning to the car as the rain got heavier and then turned to sleet. We were safely home when it turned to hail, and then snow. Not to be thwarted this morning we were out the door before 0700h, but this time the skies co-operated and we enjoyed clear but crisp conditions as we took the opportunity to try out my recently-acquired Holux M-241 GPS data logger.
Continue reading 'A break in the weather'








