Still crazy after all these years..

Q.How old does a grand old cat have to be before she stops doing silly things like climbing into an open kitchen drawer and falling asleep there? A -at least 14.

Meanwhile junior-by a few months -was quietly dozing in a sensible place after reading the latest Motor Sport from cover to cover

And talking of crazy things this week's silliest local story comes from yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald -Tech section-which reported that two Qantas passengers were annoyed that their new Apple watches did not fit into the Qantas scanner when they were attempting to scan their electronic boarding passes which were displaying on their watches. Poor dears.How did they get through the day? I presume that they had to exert themselves and take out their iPhones-iPhone 6s of course-and scan them.Such an effort. So thoughtless and backward of Qantas.
The passengers, of course, gave their names in case any of their friends did not know that they already had their Apple watches.This sounds like yet another reason -amongst dozens-not to own an Apple watch.
But talking of watches I have just had my very faithful watch serviced by the factory and it came back yesterday with a new and disappointing face and the service cost me more than an Apple watch! More on my loss of face another day.

The $120m grumpy cat.

I was amazed to read in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that a grumpy cat was the highest earning "artist" in the USA last year and that it had earned $120 million -yes that's right $120 million-in two years from product endorsements,guest appearances,etc.Gwyneth Paltrow, who I do not believe is at all grumpy ,apparently "only" earned $22m last year and she is one of the top earners.
Now I don't want to sound churlish but really $120m for a cat which had the misfortune, or should that be fortune,to be born with a mild form of dwarfism.When you think about all the people and causes desperate for money it is a very sad reflection on our times.
Anyway in the spirit of the season I am making available for product endorsements etc one of my cats,Zoe,a 14 year old one-eyed Himalayan-pictured above.If anyone wants to use her she is prepared to give all her appearance fees to the UNHCR appeal for Syrian refugees.
Photo taken by me with a Sony a7 using a F2.8 90mm Zeiss Sonnar lens.

Cats,dogs and cameras.

The world's population it seems can be divided into 4 distinct groups-those who like cats, those who like dogs, those who like both cats and dogs- this apparently is a small group-and finally a group who either don't care or who don't like either cats or dogs.
Anyway here are two photos to please the first three groups-the non -carers should just move on at least from this story.
I am really pleased with both these photos.The first I spotted beside a backroad just inside the Austrian border with Slovenia near Villach back in June.The cat was on the windowsill of this old house and the colours were just superb and it was overcast but bright so the light was just right.I stopped the car just past the house,reached for my camera which was on the back seat and fully expected the cat to get up and jump down and make the whole exercise futile.Cats are like that.But much to my surprise the cat stayed in place.
The wonderful dog I spotted looking out of the window of a restaurant on an early morning walk in Paris.I would hazard a guess that it was waiting for its owner to come down and take it for a walk.

Both photos were taken with my Leica X1 as DNG files which I have processed in Lightroom 5.As there are quite a few new readers coming to the blog -welcome-I should say that for me the Leica X1 is just wonderful.Its most attractive feature is its lens and the image quality it produces but also it is small and light and there are no complex menus and useless features to distract you.Just a superb fixed length lens -no zoom lens or interchangeable lenses so no decisions to be made- and plain simple controls.So many photographers burden themselves with too much equipment.A wise old photographer said to me recently that the more equipment you carry the less photos you take.And he is right.

Nowadays you can pick up a s/h X1 for modest money.If you are tempted ignore all the ignorant chatter and BS from the so called experts and pixel peepers on the forums and enthusiast sites and treat yourself.Put an optical viewfinder onto it-the Voigtlander OVF is excellent-and get out and start taking photos.It will do wonders for your photography.But of course if you really prefer to play with toys and talk about features and megapixels rather than taking photographs well the X1 is not for you.....

The temple cat

After a dog photo yesterday I had to slip in a cat photo and this one in as it is a personal favourite which has not been on the blog before.Taken in a temple in Myanmar in 2013.

George in the US ,whose vintage camera collection has previously appeared on the blog, has just emailed me to tell me about his latest acquisition -a Panasonic G7 which is a M4/3 so called mirrorless camera.It's a neat little device with a great specification and George is pretty enthused about some of the gadgetry in it .

I am tempted from time to time by the idea of a camera which would offer me access to wide angle lenses and telephoto lenses and zooms .So yesterday enthused by George's endorsement I went and handled the G7 and the current hot camera the Fuji X-T.The proprietor of the local camera shop was very helpful and very indulgent but seduced though I could have been by their specifications I kept returning to the fact that after 53 years of photography most of my best photos have been taken in the last 4 years with my Leica X1.
And the flipside of this is that I have come to realise that many of my photos taken prior to the last 4 years were not particularly good by today's standards.
There are explanations for this.I have been exposed to a lot more very good photography with the expansion of the internet and this has had the effect of stimulating me to lift my own game.
This blog and the ability to distribute my photos to a much wider audience has also had the same effect.Also having a very straightforward small camera with no options in terms of choices of lenses has meant that I have taken my camera with me much more often and has made me much more focussed on finding good subjects and composing my shots using my eyes and my feet not the turn of the zoom ring on a lens.
Also I appreciate the feel of the Leica so I enjoy using it.It is the same charge I got when I used my Leica M6 and which I get from using the Hasselblad.It feels like a precision instrument -not a plastic gadget.

So I have again put thoughts of other cameras behind me but  Leica is announcing a new camera on Thursday (in LA) and maybe that will tempt me.Although probably not as nowadays Leica's pricing has gone from premium to ridiculous premium and I am sure this new offering will not buck the trend.Which is sad but is not at the end of the day a great disaster as long as my X1 keeps performing .

Up close and too personal

Even the friendliest of us can look quite menacing if you get too close.Phoebe.Canon G7.

Here's looking at you....

Keeping a watchful eye on the camera- Phoebe.Leica X1 photo.
Apparently there are 10 pictures of cats to every one picture of a dog on the internet and I'm intent on maintaining that ratio.Phoebe is 13 -an old lady in cat terms .She is a beautiful,friendly and gentle cat and she really is an integral part of our family along with her "sister" Zoe.Earlier in the week Phoebe was under the weather but after a visit to the vet she is back to her usual self although giving her medicine -particularly tablets- is straining our friendship a little.

                                                             Two cats in the yard.Phoebe and Zoe taking in the evening air after dinner two days ago.