Change is inevitable

My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic, a little black and grey affair that took cartridge film that reminds me of those disposable film cameras you can buy with Fujifilm. I don't remember much of the pictures I took but I have one or two left that I was given by my brother on the death of my Mother.

I must have been interested in photography as I also used to use my Dad's SLR cameras - an old Pentax and the Minolta SRT101, which I now have as part of my inheritance, but no longer feel compelled to shoot. 

Some people to have a very good memory of their past and childhood. There have been enough books published by celebrities of their memoires to prove the point, but I have very sporadic ones of very few events. It is not that I had an unhappy childhood or early adulthood, far from it, its just that it doesn't seem that important to remember to me. I suppose I tend to live more in the moment, not being nostalgic for things past.


Sometime after coming to Bristol (UK) I began again my interest in cameras and bought from "Jessops of Leicester" as it was then known my own first SLR, the Olympus OM-1N. The only reason I went for this at the time was my then brother-in-law who had not long bought the OM1-N and OM-2N for himself and was beginning a new business in Commercial photography. I really liked the camera. It was quite a bit smaller than my Dad's old Minolta and it had a built in light-meter - state of the art at the time. I don't even recall looking at any other camera.

This served me well for a time but the cost of prints always seemed high and with only 24 or 36 exposures, you didn't want to snap away at everything. I ended up trading this in for a Nikon Coolpix 5Mp camera for my wife's birthday, but we both ended up "sharing" the camera. 

In 2008, I returned to (D)SLR with the Olympus E-520. Things had moved on & although on paper the Canon and Nikon alternatives seemed a better bet, the Olympus had a nice feel about it. It wasn't too big or heavy - important as I have small hands and a light frame. At the time I didn't keep up with the camera news, so it came as a surprise that Olympus had pulled out over the beginner and enthuisiast level DSLR market with only the E-5 as an alternative - a rather heavy and bulky camera for me. 

I started on a spurt of 2nd hand purchases to build up a collection of E Series bodies and lenses

Unfortunately, I was suffering from GAS - Gear Aquisition Syndrome - and the collection of items seemed to be more important than the photography. The other factor was the weight. Those high grade lenses with the bodies (especially the E-30) were causing me serious neck-ache.

After buying 2 E-PL2s in 2012, I was impressed with the size and weight of the new micro four-thirds, far more than I would ever have thought & the lack of a viewfinder did not bother me as much as I thought. At Easter this year, I finally let go and traded most of my older four-thirds for the OMD E-M5 and a serious collection of small lenses.

I don't think I have been more pleased. The image quality is superb and boy does my neck feel a lot better. I have now invested in a "security" belt that I attach my camera bag to around my waist & the neck straps of the cameras replaced with wrist straps. I no longer feel compelled to buy gear, but I do need to spend more time taking photos

Summer 2013

Wow! Has it really been over a year since I last wrote. It seems a blink since writing last. 

I was full of good intentions in starting a blog, but I don't seem to have kept up, so here I am trying again.

This was our 25th wedding anniversary year and we wanted to make the most of it particularly as last year was one of the wettest for some time in Britain. Last year's holiday was in the Lake District was a bit of a washout. 

Windermere with clouds

We began with a London show - The Lion King - in February in freezing temperatures. This was still a time with snow on the ground, but we braved the elements and did a couple of side trips to the British and Science Museums.

Plans were put in place to go to Florida again, specifically Disney World, Seaworld and Busch Gardens. Time to renew the passports and pay for a new ESTA (visa). I definitely wanted to spend some time in t-shirt and shorts this year and not a coat, jumper and long trousers at the height of the summer last year.

Last week in May & first in June off we flew Virgin Atlantic Gatwick to Orlando and on went the t-shirt and shorts. It didn't all go well as we had a bit of rain through the 2 weeks and we picked up a stomach bug the first week. We certainly didn't stop this from enjoying ourselves & we had a great time.

Visiting Epcot

What we didn't know was that the weather here in Britain was going to be fantastic. Since getting back we've had a lot of great days out and I have been wearing t-shirts and shorts at home :-)

Olympus E-PL2

This year's break I took the E-PL2 and shot using RAW for a change. This has made the post processing possible and provided much more versatility than the Fuji FX72's jpeg files.

Obsession & Compulsion

I think if I had ever started smoking I would have easily become addicted though I am thankful that I have never been much of a drinker.

Addiction, the combination of obsession and compulsion can creep up on you. It builds hour by hour, day by day, week by week and year by year. You start something that probably doesn't mean that much to you, say something new. An interest grows, you read more about it, you invest more of your time in it and before you know it, you cannot do without it. You even feel the need to invest in it beyond what you know is good for you or your wallet.

What am I specifically referring to? Well it could be anything. With me it is certainly true with photography and photography kit. Olympus is my equipment of choice and if anyone has followed this companies fortunes, you will know that they seem to have abandoned the beginner's side of the DSLR market concentrating on "professional" DSLR and inter-changeable lens compact system cameras.

I started with a beginner's DSLR in 2008 & was for a long time happy with the kit lenses that came with it, purchasing only an extra couple of lenses (still low priced), BUT the more I thought about the kit and photography, the more my obsession and compulsion grew. Purchase of various photography technique books, getting the laptop & software to go with the camera, more books, must get a camera bag, tripod, flashguns - on, and on...

It got worse! In 2011 after taking a long break from news and photography forums, thats when I found Olympus had dropped its mid-range DSLRs & the compulsion to buy 2nd hand kit (camera bodies) grew and the wallet started to taking a beating getting not one, not two but three extra camera bodies to make sure I had something to use in the future for my chosen range of cameras. Perhaps I should have held back after purchasing the 2nd body and waited to see what the future will bring, but compulsion does not let you do this.

At least my addictions don't cause physical harm to myself or others, so I'll probably continue to indulge, but watch out for those addictions, they could wreck your life!

Take Care