Evening walk and sort of sunset.

 Had a good walk last night and got these pictures, a mixture of the Sony ZV1 and the Lumix TZ80.

A few pictures from this morning walk to the bakery.

 

 Had a walk to the bakery to try and loosen up my joints this morning.  Got these pics, Sony ZV1 camera.

 

 

Got a new carabiner

 

 Yesterday I got given a new carabiner.  Now having done a fair bit of climbing in my past this was nice.  Thing is, it's a beast!

 Now I still got some of my climbing gear, although aluminium  ones were popular, we favored the heavier steel ones.  This was for two reasons, one they were stronger and designed for caving they could take a beating.

 The second reason was the weight.  Mass, the heavier something is the longer it takes to heat up, when your doing a long abseil the carabiner heats up (especially if your going fast like we were) You'd be supprised how hot an alu carabiner can get after a 150 foot on a building on a hot day.

 As we'd sometimes have to stop and hang about then, thats a concern if your on a nylon type rope.  You dont want to melt through. I cant remember ever hearing it happen, but when a "crab" is hot to hold you do wonder.

 That bring us back to this "crab", no way is this bastard going to heat up.  Heck I could abseil the south face of Anapurna, all 9.800 feet of without this beggar heating up.... well, if I haad a rope long enough...

Two black and white pictures

 

 Two shots from last nights walk.  Both shot on the TZ 80 compact, my everyday carry camera.

 

Video stills

 

 Two more video stills from videos I've been making.   Yes that handsome chap is your's truly.  Or Mr modest as I like to call myself... (wink)

 

 

 

 

Bad memory.....?

 

 Lots of people have a bad memory, especially as they get older.  Mine isn't what it was 50 years ago, hardly supprising really.

 The neurons in your brain are very clever, but they do die, and get deseased.  Parkinsons desease for example.  The neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine die off in the basal ganglia (the part of the brain that controls movement) In Alzheimers desease unusual protins build up around the neurons inthe neocortex, the area that contols memory.

 Anyway all that aside, there are jobs where having a bad memory isn't a problem, making pillows or growing cale maybe.  In other jobs having a bad memory is a bad thing, possibly a VERY BAD THING!

 Take air traffic controllers for example, keeping up or where 25 planes are in a small area of sky and what hight they are flying at is important, some would say very bloody important.  same goes for brain surgery, or a pilot.   And maybe a gas fitter?... 

 Now I know your wondering where the hell is Wayne going with this?  Well the answer is simple, the last twice my gas boiler has been serviced the engineer has left something behind, yes easy enough to do I admit, but as the bloke is playing about with gas... the stuf that goes bang very loudly when lit it's a slight concern.

 I've had the doubios pleasure of being blown out of bed by a gas explosion, it blew out most of the windows in the street and made a normal two srory house a bunglaow, killing the four people inside. So call me old fashioned and a nervous nelly, but I'd rather a gas fitter with a good memory....

 I'm just off to search the house with a lit candle looking for a gas leak......   Actually... maybe not...my memory isn't that bad, yet!

Been busy

 

 I know theres been no photos for a few days but I've been a busy Wayne.

 To start with I'm moving stuff around in the house, partly for builders to get at stuff, and partly to make room for a new computer desk for the latest computer, which is really seriously in the way at the moment.

 I've also been doing some videos, and the editing takes up time, especially when the bloody computer doesnt like my card reader.  Oh, it's not a case of not seeing it, it's a case of it not fitting at all.  In their wisdom the computer company put the USB ports in a narrow channel, and my card reader is just a bit too big to plug in.

 I did try a male to femaile extension cable, but the compter really didn't like that, so I had to use another computer to copy off the cards, then trasfere with a pen drive.  Why put a USEB port in an akward place, another computer I have has them at floor level pointing down, behind a hinged cover!

 Tomorrow I have the gas fitter coming and tuesday I have a meeting. So busy for the next few days, hopefully I'll get chance to grab some pics along the way. 

 A video still from one of the videos about my camera bag.

My life is odd...

 

 Over the last week I've found something thats been missing for years, then lost it again., and had some odd days...

 So a few days ago I found a flash trigger (for camera flashguns) that I must have bought 40 years ago, it's an optical trigger, the flash from another fhash fires the one plugged into this small gadget.  It's in a small case of it's own.  Anyway after finding it I put it safe to add to a box of other flash slaves, clamps ect.  Now it's buggered off again!

 My back has been giving me HELL!  Those who follow the blog know I have a long standing back problem, at the moment it's really bad, I'm dosed up on painkillers and pissed off.  But thats life.

 People say photography is glamours.  Photographers spend all their time photographing super models, on tropical beaches and getting paid a ton of money....   Errrr, NO!  So what have I photographed this week....  some trees and sewage.   No that is right ,SEWAGE!  Sewage and used sanitry  towel waste.

 Stinking and grotty, oh the joy of standing on the tropical.....Errr road, the beautiful super....  errrr shit.  Oh yes the glamours lifestyle, the fast cars, casinos, the smell.. Oh god the smell....   Actually no fast car, no casino, just shit and the smell....

 There are times when being a photographer is fun, a pretty girl, a nice location, or a smashing sunset, a moody landscape, a field of sunflowers.  Yes great, but the truth is mostly photography is boring.  Another bride, another plate of food, or worse if your a studio phootographer another screaming baby.

 Yes photography, not exactly Monte Carlo, more Monty's desert rats......

Car jacks. Dont trust them!

 

 Last week a young man died after his car jack collapsed and he was crushed by the car.  Not only is this terribly sad, but it's an all too often occurance.

 Over the years I've had at least three or four car jacks fail, just break totally and bang your cars on the floor, and I've had them slip out at least as many times again.

 I was tought at an early age to NEVER go under a car supported just by a jack, and with the above I can see why I was told that, no doubt my father had the same problems.

On the odd occastion I had to work under a car I would wedge the spare wheel and the one you've usually taken off under the car, this works in holding the car up if the jack fails, better yet wodden blocks.  Or the ideal answer is axle stands, designed for the job.

 The fact is most supplied car jacks are so flimsey and badly made. they are not really up to changing the wheel, never mind working on a car.  For that very reason I carry a trolly jack in my car, not only easier and a bloody LOT quicker for jacking the car up, they are gennerally a lot safer, although the never work under the car rule still applies.

 So a few tips if your changing the wheel.  First and important, get the car on level ground first.  If your parked on a slope the jack is a lot more likely to slip out.  Secondlly, loosen the wheel nuts before jacking the car up, dont take them off, just loosen the stiff part.  Pushing hard on  wheel nut can move the whole car, and again the jack can slip (it's also easier to loosen the nut if the wheel doesnt turn).

 When you jack up the flat tyre, remember to jack it up high enough to get the INFLATED tyre back on the car.  the flat wont need to be lifted much to get it off, but the inflated one will need more space, again it's about not disturbing the car or jack while it's jacked up and reducing the risk of it slipping or failing.

 Never put any part of you thats important under the tyre, the car, or the brake disk.  If it does fail that way you'll still be about to eat your dinner and smooth the cat, always lift the wheels on and off by holding the sides, never underneath.

 Afrer changing the wheel hand tighten the nuts, on opposite sides, then tighten them up again opposites with the wheel spanner before touching the jack.  Then after the jack is lowered and removed, tighten up the nuts properly with the wheels on the ground (again so they cant turn).

 Wheel nuts shoud ideally be tighten with a torque wrench to around 110-120 N-M  Thats not cranked up as tight as you can get them using a mountain gorilla. Thats why you often struggle to get the bastards off in the first place.  Plus over tightening can danage the wheel and the stud.

 Final tips.  Buy a trolly jack, a good make one up to lifting the weight of your vehicle, secondly buy a socket bar and soxket to fit the wheel nuts, it's a bloody sight easier to undo the nuts with this than the tiny, crap one that comes with the car.  Especially when Guy the bloody gorilla at your garage has tightened them with a 6 foot length of scaffold pole over the socket bar to get "extra" leverage!

 Lastly, please dont go under your car on a jack.  One report claims over 4.800 people a year in the US alone are injured or killed.  One company recalled 1.7 million defective jacks and axle supports.  Makes you think doesn't it.

Another spot colour image.

 

 Spot colour, you either love them or hate them.  I quite like this one.

 

A few photos from a walk to the bakery.

 

 As it was nice had a walk to my local bakery yesterday, and visited the railway station while scoffing a pasty..  Got these few shots.  Sony ZV1 camera.

 

Reflections and other pictures.

 

 Went for a walk last night, got these on the TZ80 compact.

 

 

Why is everything so slow now? Or is it just me...

 

I thought all this tech stuff was supposed to make the world easier and faster, but it doesnt seem to be working for me..

Yesterday, I had to pick up a blood test fprm from the surgery, get a perscription from the chemist next door and buy a loaf of bread from a shot 75 yards away.  yet it took over an hour.

The surgery reception was unmanned (it's never manned) they haven't figured out what the word reception means, then a computer search took 10 minutes, followed by a search through a box to find the test form.

The chemist was a same.  A busy chemist and all the staff chatting in the back ignoring the queue of customers waiting.  Yet another computer search, followed by a search of the shelves fround my perscrtiption, another 20 minutes of life gone.

2 minute walk to the shop, another2 minutes to get bread and a 20 minutes to wait while they try to get a self checkout to work.

Getting 3 items all within a 2 minuter walk of each other and a 10 minute drive took me over an hour.

I can do a weeks shop in that time and drive to a supermarket and back

Godox IM 30 flash review

 

 The Godox IM 30 flash is a small compact (pocket size) flashgun for digital or film cameras.

 The flash is small and light and runs of 2  triple A batteries.  Battery life is claimed as 230 full power shots  from a new set.

 The IM 30 has a guide number of 15 (metres) at 100 iso.  Now a guide number of 15 is low compared to many full size flashes, but is more than the pop up flashes normally found on some cameras.

 The flash is MANUAL mode only, so no auto setting or TTL flash, that said it's simple and easy to use with setting from full 1/1 power down to 1/64th power, and has half setting to enable you more exact lighting.

 It's worth noting the flash has no tilt or swivel for bouncing off walls ect.  The flash does have a 2.5mm plug sync lead port, so you could use it with older cameras or on a cold shoe.  It doesnt however come with the lead. although they are easy to get.

 In use the flash sits very low on the camera, this might cause shadows if your using a long lens or a big lens hood.    The flash should work with any camera that has the hot shoe flash with a center pin contact. On my Sony it covers the 24mm wide setting.

 The IM 30 also has S1 and S2 slave flash modes, this means you can fire it remotly with any other flash, this could be handy for backlighting, or a little extra lighting in a shot. S1 is for normal slave flash, S2 is if your using a preflash for redeye.

 The real beauty of this flash is it's really small, I wanted a small flash for my Sony ZV1 (in picture) This camera is small and a full size flash looks silly on it.  In use it's easy enough, just guess the power to start with and ajust up or down as needed. Or simply use the handy guide in the instructions.

 I my living room a fair size, I found F5.6 was fine with the flash around the 1/8th power (200 iso) so plenty of power in the real world for parties or stuff..

Shopping trollies.

 

 The picture of the wheels I posed recently, made me wonder what else I could get from trollies.

 Got these.  Lumix TZ80 compact camera.

 

 

Red flowers.

 

 A spot colour from yesterday. Sony ZV1

 

 

Gate and shadows

 

 This mornings walk to the bakery.

 Sony ZV1