My Backyard

Glaick Slipway (Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 14mm (28mm full frame equivalent), ISO 200, 1/400 sec at f/13, Handheld)

Sometimes it is not really necessary to travel very far to get good locations and shots.  This morning the light was pretty decent so I took the dogs out for a walk down to our local beach at Balmacara Bay with my relatively portable micro 4/3 camera and lenses instead of my usual Canon full frame kit.  I have taken this shot several times over the years but today the contrasty light with bright blue sky and fluffy white and grey clouds, lovely shadows and light patches on the hills looked better than usual.  This shot was fine in colour but I felt the darker areas looked a bit over-saturated and I much prefer the tones and textures in black & white.

The next shot was taken just along the road looking back up the drive and works well in colour and black & white.  The colours in the trees against the blue sky work really nicely but there is something about the drama in the clouds in black & white whick I like, although the house and boat do tend to disappear a bit.

Old Creels at Glaick (Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 14mm (28mm full frame equivalent), ISO 200, 1/200 sec at f/13, Handheld)

Old Creels at Glaick (Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 14mm (28mm full frame equivalent), ISO 200, 1/200 sec at f/13, Handheld)

The next shot was taken at the beach.  It is inspired by Ansel Adams' famous shot of ripples on a beach but I used my fixed f/8.0 pancake 8mm lenscap lens (16mm full frame equivalent) to get a really wide perspective.  This lens, when held in portrait orientation does produce this curved horizon effect, but I like it none-the-less.

Sand Ripples at Balmacara Beach (Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Olympus 8mm f/8 Pancake Lens (16mm full frame equivalent), ISO 200, 1/1,000 sec at f/8, Handheld)

The final image is of the Balmacara Mains Guest House where my daughters work.  The buildings look wonderfully secluded in the woods, which are beginning to turn into their autumn colours.  This one was taken using my Olympus M 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 R lens at 108mm (216 mm full frame equivalent) and it has fore-shortened the view rather nicely.

The Balmacara Mains Guest House (Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Olympus M 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R lens at 108mm (216mm full frame equivalent), ISO 160, 1/200 sec at f/8.0, Handheld)