Autumn photography

October has always been one of my favourite months for photography, the colours of Autumn are always something I look forward to, a kind of photographic pilgrimage if you like.

This year has been particularly rich in its annual harvest, maybe because I am now in the habit of carrying a compact camera at all times, I am able to take more photos instead of waiting for the weekend, coupled with the unseasonably mild weather conditions, it has been ‘the perfect storm’.

My love of this time of year is always tinged with that bittersweet thought that winter is not far away, bringing with it, longer hours of darkness like an unwelcome guest at a wedding or birthday bash but for as long as I can, I will continue to enjoy this all too brief festival of colour that nature provides.

One frame – Light and patterns

Since I have decided to carry a small digicam in my workday rucksack, I leave for work a few minutes earlier just to allow for any potential stoppages to take photos, even at silly O’ clock in the morning.

With a healthy student population attending the University, Exeter has several purpose built student blocks throughout the city, one in particular is opposite the bus station where I await my transport to work.

The light in the canteen of the building along with the stencils on the glass made for an image that was too good to pass up, it may or may not work, in monochrome it most certainly did.

In all honesty, I was not expecting the shot to have come out so well with such a small camera, but the little Canon S95 has delivered one of my favourite low light images ever.

A new habit

Since delving into the world of almost forgotten camera gear, I am pleasantly surprised at how much fun I am having using small sensor compact cameras, so much so that my Canon S95 has found a spot on a regular basis in my take to work rucksack.

Knowing I have a camera with me at all times on my travels, means that I have developed a habit of walking a more circuitous route back home from work, in the hope of taking a few shots on an almost daily basis,keeping the photographic eye and mind in good shape for my lengthier weekend outings.

My preference for early morning sunrises have become my comfort zone, to the extent that I rarely seem to shoot later in the day but it is time to shed that skin and develop new habits, however short these more spontaneous photo outings are.

I managed about twenty or so shots on my way back home today, I have picked six that show the everyday things that catch my eye.

Autumn fungi

October, one of my favourite months for photography, with the autumnal carnival of colour preparing it’s annual show.
It is not just the foliage that attracts me to local woodlands at this time of year, there is also the hunt for the varied species of fungi to be be found around fallen trees and among the decaying leaves on the woodlands floor.

Each autumn I keep meaning to educate myself to become more familiar with the names of the various fungi, but today I step into the woodland just as uneducated as the previous year, apart from the knowledge of the elusive fly agaric, that red and white fairy tale toadstool, to me, the holy grail of the fungi kingdom.

Without doubt, my walk here today was one of the most productive in terms of finding my subject matter, the recent rain and mild conditions, a perfect storm for these often strange but beautiful gems of the woodland, perhaps next year will be the year I finally identify each and every one.

Then there were two.

For a good few years I had hoped that I would eventually get my hands on a Leica camera, the Rolls Royce of the photography world with legendary German precision engineering, the price for which has remained firmly out of my reach in terms of a new purchase but the second hand market offers a more realistic entry into the red dot ownership.

With a recent purchase of the Leica / panasonic badged Dlux-6, I was not expecting to purchase another camera any time soon but a search on a well known auction site turned up trumps with a 13 year old Leica X1!

I convinced myself to purchase on the basis that it fits well into my ongoing ‘older’ camera project and that the fixed 24mm lens equates to my favourite 35mm focal length in full frame terms.

Reviews suggested it was slow to auto focus and the LCD screen was lacking resolution but 13 years ago it was the technology of the day and I was happy to take a chance in giving this little beauty a new forever home.

Just as a child at Christmas, I was eager to get out with my new toy, so I packed the camera into my rucksack to hopefully grab a few shots on the way home from work over the last couple of days, just to get a feel for the controls before a ‘proper’ shoot or two a the weekend.

In the past, the lack of a built in viewfinder may have been a deal breaker but I have become more accustomed to using a rear screen with the LX5 and Canon G11, I am even starting to think that I am seeing more opportunities by shooting this way but it is not to everyone’s taste.

With less than an hour’s shooting time so far, I am still very much on a learning curve with the X1 but I am more than pleased with the initial results.

Dabbling with a D’Lux

I had not intended to purchase any more older cameras for a while but sometimes a bargain is too good to pass up, in my case, the chance to dip my toe into Leica waters, the Panasonic / Leica collaboration, D-Lux 6.

There is some debate in photographic circles about this being a ‘true’ Leica, arguments aside, for me, it is an affordable way of getting my foot in the door.
Yes, I would love a ‘Q’ or ‘Q2’ but I wonder if the price would force me to over protect the camera and not use it as it should be used.

The D-Lux 6

To all intents and purposes it is a Lumix LX7 minus the grip and a slight difference in the internal software, costing a few hundreds pounds more in its day than the ‘7’.

I had made a decision just a few days before to sell my LX10/15 on, it simply was not getting the use it deserved, so I was potentially in the market for something else.

The purchase was made and the new kid on the block was waiting for me on my return from a few days away near Cheltenham, I could not wait to try out my latest recruit.

The controls are not much different from my LX5, just exposure compensation being controlled from the rear dial rather than the D-pad and the addition of the dedicated ND filter button and aperture controlled from the lens barrel, a feature I really like.

I have had a couple of outings already, one around Dartmoor where I took just a few shots in between rain showers and a longer amble around my home town of Exeter earlier today.

I think the colours are slightly more muted than the LX5 but the lens sharpness is as good if not better, the camera is just a joy to use, true Leica or not.

Bags, boxes and cameras

It has been a busy few days, my move is complete and a semblance of order is taking shape in my new abode, thankfully the final box is unpacked and consigned to the queue awaiting a journey to the recycling centre.

With my belongings pretty much in place, there will be a little fine tuning as I become more settled but with my photography gear now out of its brief cardboard incarceration, it is time to head out for my weekly jaunt along the riverside and into town.

It has become a familiar habit to reach for my G11 and LX5 cameras of late, it appears that my enjoyment of retro compacts is not about to fade any time soon, such is the enjoyment I am getting from using them.

Today’s jaunt would be brief, believe it or not, I am packing my bags again, or at least one, in preparation for a few days away, a welcome break from a busy summer at work and the tribulations of moving.

The hardest decision I will have to make here, is whether the bigger gear gets packed or if I prefer to travel light, suggestions are welcome!