Up close

 We are moving in 10 days.The house is full of boxes and crates and much has been discarded-to the charity shops and to the tip -with more to come.

There has been no time for photography. In fact most of my cameras have been crated up although this afternoon I felt my shutter finger itching and pulled out the SL2 with the Summicron 50mm and took this close up of Smudge half asleep/half awake on Rosie's lap.

That close focus on a black cat at F2 was difficult but after 10 attempts I nailed this one at 1/100th sec 2500 ISO.

SOLD!

 After a 15 weeks of trying in a very soft property market my townhouse was sold on Friday. The sale was to a buyer who had sold his own property and who had to move by the 5th May. After a few weeks of procrastination he bit on the bullet on Friday morning and I had the signed sale contract in my hand at 1.30pm. Now it's full speed ahead to move on 5th May. 

Two panoramas

 

 

I have a superb 16mm to 35mm Lumix Pro lens for my SL2 camera. However I rarely use it. The problem is that for me the SL2 body with a lens is just too heavy to be a travel camera and invairably the best panoramas I see are when travelling.

Here are two faux panoramas which were taken with firstly (top) my X1 with its 35mm (equivalent) focal length Elmarit lens. It was a stunning morning and we were out early driving into the mountains from Salzburg in Austria when I saw this chocolate box view of the lakeside village of St Gillgen.

The second view was again taken early in the morning, this time in Istanbul, as I was walking across the Galata Bridge. I used my Q2 with its 28mm Summilux lens.

Wet day in Hanoi

An oldie which popped up whilst I was looking for another photo. A wet day in Hanoi.Taken on film back in 2004 with my Leica M6 using an Elmar 28mm lens.