Author: steve

Administrator, nuff said?
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This weeks selection

Whether or not this becomes a regular feature or not who knows, well if I don’t then I guess no one else can change anything.   So what’s it all about?  Simply random chosen images from whatever I’ve been shooting/reworking etc.

So to kick it off we head to Westward Ho!   Unusual name to be honest and it’s quite an odd place – however it has a great rocky/pebble beach.

Rocky Beach

Another one straight from the camera (jpg on 2nd slot – via iPhone).

Possibly it’s a little flat contrast wise – but I like it.   Whether it’ll end up in a competition who knows.  If only there were some white horses* running through it (maybe not!).

Camera Details:  Fujifilm X-Pro2 – XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS
ƒ/14 – 18.0 mm – 1/150 – ISO 200 – Fuji Acros Mode + Red Filter

Next up is a reworking of a Clovelly image from last week

Clovelly Harbour Original from Camera
Clovelly Harbour Reworked

Reworking of a previous image – I’ve cropped it a bit to remove the foreground bin and part of a sign.  Tweaked the structure with Viveza, Contrast boosted on Colour Efex and finally cloned some cloud in to the space where the burnt out sun was.  Part of the Sun’s area is still burnt out, but to be honest it’s the Sun so I’d expect a touch of uncontrolled highlights at that bit.

Camera Details:  Fujifilm X-Pro2 – XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS
ƒ/8.0 – 18.0 mm – 1/500 – ISO 200

The one thing I can take away from these images is the depth of field that the Fuji is giving me.   Front to back detail is superb.

*its a cheesy photo that keeps appearing in competitions.

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Exhibitions

Yardley Photographic Society’s (now ended) annual exhibition was the only one I bothered to enter in the  past.  I had thought about entering others but never quite got round to it.  Anyway in a moment of boredom on a Sunday morning I’ve entered two.

The two entered are:  South Birmingham and Evesham.

South Birmingham is a one I know of as they are a local club to me.  Both are BPE so I expect it to be popular with the badge collectors (*).

The entries are the same for both competitions……

….to be honest I don’t expect much as I’ve seen previous entries and mine aren’t the current style of photography.   It would be nice to get one accepted for the exhibition though.

*The star represents BPE * ratings.  You can achieve up to a BPE 5* rating which means you’ve won a lot and entered a lot of competitions.

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Loving the Fuji a bit more every day

So, holiday is over and what did I learn?

Well first of all – it was a nice break for a few days with the wife and kids filled with lots of walking and eating rubbish.   Whilst away I always take a camera, this time travelling light with just the Fuji X Pro 2.   It was used a fair amount – although I’m trying not to let it take over my life as its a holiday after all and it’s not just me.

Anyway, time for some images…..

 

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Should Bill be first?

One of my exciting tasks at Yardley Photographic Society is collecting and sorting the digital images for the various competitions.   It’s a fairly simple thing, but when it comes to the competitions well, should Bill* always be first in the list?

I’ve tried sorting it by title, that often doesn’t work out.  So with this in mind I’ve started to randomise things a bit.   At first I sort the names for the photographers (I add the titles afterwards) in Alphabetical order.

So in this case Bill is first (although I’ve only sorted for the first name).  Next to Bill’s name is a random number created using the =RAND() command in numbers (Mac OS) – This assigns a random number which is then sorted into numerical order.

Once randomised I correct the Image number and add the titles – the order is repeated for the second segment of the list.   The order of which titles go in the first or second list it purely done in the order they are displayed in finder.

So there you go, answers to questions you didn’t know – or possibly care about!

 

*Occasionally it’s Angela, but she’s not had any entries in the mono comp which I’m currently compiling.

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Eos Free*

So the grand clear out is complete – I’m out of the Eos system.    It’s been a fairly pain free experience to be honest.  So what’s the damage?

Here’s some figures:

Things bought:

Camera (X-Pro2) : Bought from John Lewis – £1,489 – JL Discounted Price – £1310.32 (1275.12 – £40 (Price match) – 12% discount)

Lens: Bought from WEX –  18-55mm £619

Cashback:

X Pro 2 Cash Back – Paid £380

18-55 Cash Back – Paid £190

Total Cashback £570

Things Sold:

Macro £160

Flash (st2, 2x 580mkII) £240

6D & 24-70 (and other bits) £1508

300 & 135 £850 (store credit at Calumet)

15, 70-200, 200 £760 cash from MBP (In bank)

Total:  £3,518 (- Camera £1275.12 and Lens: £619)

Leaving: £1623.88

Cashback: £570

New Total: £2193.88

Next purchase:  100-400: £1599.00**

Leaving: £594.88

So there you go, if you take the raw costs of the Eos kit then it’s lost half the value.   But as mentioned before, most of the kit was over 5 years old and well used.   50% (ish) return on the value isn’t bad.   Also a large part of the kit was purchased when the pound was worth more so the retail price was much cheaper.

*Apart from a 1D mkII, Eos 50E & Eos 650 – no lenses though!

** Current price – might be cheaper at the Photography Show

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