Is that how that one goes ?
As it always seems, it feels like it’s been a long time since being off at Xmas. I’m off on leave for the pre Easter week at the moment, definitely need it, the tiredness has been sinking in for a little while now. And that manifests in not posting so much here. And I still have the rest of the cruise things to catch up on !
What’s been happening ?
Slowly finishing the last book – Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe. I’ll be back for more there, the author set up a pretty decent space scifi universe. There’s some handwavingism in there but that lets them concentrate on a story that promises to develop nicely over the second and third books in the trilogy. Next up is Declaration by M R Forbes. It’s the last of a series of 5 books which haven’t grabbed me nearly as much as the Starship for Sale series. This one is darker, much less fun. But I want to know how it ends, so I’m back in there for the last one of the series.
Camera stuff – I haven’t had a chance or energy to do much more scouting with the camera yet. Part of that is the weather around here, things are warming up towards spring but … almost constant rain. No stars !
I have a new thing coming there. Soon. Hopefully. I’ve ordered a 55-210 lens to supplement the 18-45mm lens I got with the camera. What’s that for ? Let’s see if something will work …
One of those pairs is from the Ixus 265, one is from the R50. The zoom kinda gives it away :-D.
It’s curious seeing the pics side by side like that. This was from my first attempts with the R50. It definitely shows in me not getting the focus on the Bridge, the camera was wanting to focus on the foliage on the fence. Also curious seeing the difference in colour balance between the two. The mud path is much more mud like from the R50.
These were all taken with the cameras on the tripod, although I knew very little about the R50 at this point so it was on fully automatic settings and a focus that liked the foliage. I’ve reduced the quality as well there, so they’re a bit more bandwidth friendly. The R50 has just under 50% more pixels in there than the Ixus.
The Ixus was showing off its zoom range there though, with that being at its full 54mm extension which is equivalent to 300mm on the 35mm scale. The 45mm on the R50’s lens is equivalent to 72mm on that scale. It’s a nice range on the lens but I’ll be looking for a bit more when I go to Lords for the cricket. I do like to zoom all the way into the play. The 55-210mm lens goes out to an equivalent 336mm, so hopefully I won’t need all of that for Lords.
I definitely won’t need all of it for where I’m going at the weekend :-).
It’s Insomnia gaming festival. I haven’t been to one of these yet, looking forward to it. It’ll be a chance to meet a couple of creators I’ve met before … The wonderful Tashnarr and Billietrixx. I’ve enjoyed watching Tashnarr for (gosh) almost 5 years now. Lovely person, doesn’t stream as much now as before because a full time job happened but it’s a pleasure catching the streams when they happen. Same with Billie who is definitely a fun one to keep an eye on. Looking forward to seeing if I can say hi again this weekend. Tashnarr helps set up and run the events, Billie is going to be there as part of the Session Zero RPG group.
Also looking forward to bumping into DontRachQuit, Knightenator, Saffypie, Miyukipanda and I think there are some more I’m missing there too. Plus there will definitely be a few community meet ups as well. It’ll be a fun weekend.
One of the things I want to see about seeing more and getting pictures of is the sky. And by sky, I mean the night sky and the stars. That’s coming partly from the cruise and finding out that the little Ixus wasn’t really equipped for taking pictures of the night sky. (There might be a setting I haven’t found yet). So that’s one thing I want to do with the R50. I think it’ll mean getting a decent distance away from civilisation though. Which is never a bad thing.
One new channel I’ve found over the weekend actually is Wildbeare’s youtube channel. I would thoroughly recommend checking out what she does. And that’s go off into the wilderness with a tent for the weekends, have a wander around and come out with simply wonderful videos of the adventure. She’s in her element as she shows off what’s out there and how she connects totally with that world of the wilderness. And I’m recognising the occasional “hello fren” “hello mushroom” as she spots something to show us. Yep, I think that’d be me doing that too and showing the pictures :-D.
I’d massively recommend checking that one out, it might ignite a little wanderlust as well as a healthy bit of respect for the conditions especially in the less hospitable times of year. It’s been a genuine pleasure finding Wildbeare, watching the adventures, listening to the lovely voice and how she perceives the world.
How do I perceive the world ? I think I’d like to get out there as well, although I have none of the equipment required and nowhere to store it. But I’ll look into that some more, maybe even come up with a Plan.
Tonight’s plan though is food :-). Gotta put the dinner on. Nite all, have a great Easter weekend if you celebrate that. I might be back later in the week with more castle pics.
Gotta go visit castle though …