What bemused you today?

[Jonathan]

What, no lenses! 

50 and a 20.  Plus the P7000 in case I need a tele.  I'd hoped to squeeze the 105 in as well (I'll have it in Peru) but sadly it's too heavy. 

[Graham]

  I bought a new cycle the other week.    ( Sorry cyclist haters. )
  Anyway. How did Amazon get to hear about it? They keep suggesting that I may like to buy the latest Lance Armstrong biog. etc. (Goes straight to spam.)
  Have they seen my Visa bill, or been snooping around my garage?
                     Graham.

[Hinfrance]

Did you look for a new bike on Amazon before buying elsewhere?

I accidentally bought a new bike a couple of months ago, spent my 'get a new lens' savings on it. Well, it just looked so nice and my old bike is the best part of 20 years old 

But I bought it from a shop and Amazon don't know about it. At least they didn't until I posted this . . 

[Graham]

  Bought from local bike shop, and Amazon only know of my whereabouts because of wifey!
                    Graham.

[jinky]

So that great democrat Vince Cable wants to impose some sort of minimum level of voting within unions to achieve his goal of stopping strikes then!
If we had a minimum level of poll of say 50% for national elections we would all have to manage without politicians - might not be such a bad idea after all 

[Oldboy]

So that great democrat Vince Cable wants to impose some sort of minimum level of voting within unions to achieve his goal of stopping strikes then!
If we had a minimum level of poll of say 50% for national elections we would all have to manage without politicians - might not be such a bad idea after all 

That's no good, as the old lot would remain in power saying no one voted them out! 

[greypoint]

The camera never lies? I wanted to check the shutter count on my Pentax K-X  so looked up the exif data using Irfanview. Scrolling down it showed the picture was taken with a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 HSM - strange thing is....I sold my 70-200mm a couple of months before I bought the K-X 

[picsfor]

I was part of an event shoot last weekend, and my battery info tells me i took 2759 pics over the 2 days.

Most running around the outsides of the football pitch trying to catch the little bu**ars up to get the good shots 

And for the geeks, that was with 62% of the 2 batteries installed in the grip...

[anglefire]

My MkIII has taken over 4000 shots on a single charge - I have heard of togs getting 6000!

[picsfor]

Mark, the MkIII has a much better battery than a 5DII - the 1D series (and Nikon D3 series) are known for the incredible battery lives.
The 5DII is also known for good battery life, but with 2 of them... Still running on that charge...

On a different tack - i've been digitising a work colleagues Wedding Pics from the old 6x6 negs (sighs as he remembers the good old days).
How on earth did togs make money from such rubbish? 

The digital age has really raised the game for weddings and other similar types of shoots.

Wedding comprised a grand total of 60 shots and out of those, probably only 3 would be keepers by current standards, and before any one jumps in and says rubbish tog - these are typical of what you could expect in the film era. Remember, no screen on the back of the camera with which to review the pics taken - you had to wait until you got back home and got them developed. Oh, ad no Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture to recover them with...

I just wonder how many of todays wedding togs would still do Weddings and Portraits under such conditions?

[spinner]

It annoyed me at the time, but I was out of town and not on the 'net. Now it's just bemused me. Last Sat. evening, my son, daughter and self went on a walking tour of an historical Jail in Ottawa. Took my Sony with me with flash attached. Had made a point of putting new batteries in it before leaving home. Of course, damn thing wouldn't work not the built in or the attached.  Got some really grainy shots at 3200 iso. Was miffed. Next day went to the Nature museum, same camera, flash still attached (wasn't going to fiddle with it until I got home again). As a lark I decided to give the flash another try and wonder of wonders it worked. My wife has come up with the only plausible explanation, the ghost in the old Jail didn't want their pictures taken. 

[ABERS]

Just got back from a few days in Dorset. I always thought that London parking was a ripoff but they ain't got anything to learn from those old Dorset boys. Get a field with access to a beach and you're made for life.

All those old folks' homes that are threatened with closure seem to have emptied their clientele in Bournemouth. We're no spring chickens, but I reckon we brought the average age down by at least 15 years whilst we were there.

Did have one moment of concern. Got up early and drove into Bournemouth town centre to try and capture a bit of faded grandeur around the pier. Walked under the pier and bumped into the Bournemouth Breakfast Club starting their day with large bottles of cheap cider and cans of beer. I thought they might be a group of Albanian asylum seekers dropped off a passing Albanian freighter during the night, but the smell that emanated from them convinced me they hadn't been anywhere water for some time.
They looked at me, I looked at them and noticed the string tethering a large dog tightened and looked somewhat skimpy, so I bade them the rest of a good day and beat a hasty retreat.
So if you visit Bournemouth pier make sure it's when there are plenty of folk around.
Had a nice relaxing time though.

[Graham]

All those old folks' homes that are threatened with closure seem to have emptied their clientele in Bournemouth. We're no spring chickens, but I reckon we brought the average age down by at least 15 years whilst we were there.

      I know what you mean.
      I had cause to go to Eastbourne last year.....Bloody ramps everywear! And all the shop windows were bifocal. (Though I may have imagined that bit.).
                      Graham.

[Oldboy]

It's just a few days to the longest day and they had snow in Wales yesterday! 

[greypoint]

On May 30th we held a dog show for our charity at the local country park - it rained all day...after 2 weeks with only the odd shower it's now raining persistently again.....another charity is holding a fun dog show and rally at the same country park today 
On the plus side I saw the forecast and had an hour and a half out along the river first thing this morning in beautiful sunshine