This is beginning to sound like a plan.

It's a bit chilly at the moment, and the trees are bare, but come the Spring, we might be in business.

Cheers

G
(No stranger to a glass of wine)

Now that's a great idea.

It's about 37 miles, and upstream all the way.

At a leisurely pace, it should be possible to manage 2 knots against the stream; so that's about 17 hours rowing. Should be doable in a long weekend.

I wonder if you'd like to join me? As I know the river, I should probably steer, and you will have the privilege of manning the oars. It's thirsty work, so I'll provide the beer.

As for the project, my original 2 year plan has now stretched a bit. I reckon it should be complete by my 95th year.

G

But the Super-A and ME-Super both used similar metal-bladed shutters. Why were they different?

G

It's strange that two contemporaneous cameras should use different bodies. They're almost the same, but not quite. And the Super-A, which is really a refinement of the ME and ME Super is again just slightly different.

Pentax was so rich in those days they probably never considered cost.

G

There's a very flat look to the original, so it's no wonder that the B&W version is unexciting.

In the days of film, I recall somebody saying that in order to make a perfect print, you needed to start with a perfect negative. The same applies, I think, to B&W conversions in the digital age. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

The pic isn't that bad, but you know what I mean!

G

Thank you, everybody.

The location is indeed near Cookham, and, as Chris surmised, the shot was taken from the barge. I was hurrying past looking for somewhere to moor for the night.

Obviously I took various pictures, including some where the boathouse was more central; one of these looked very like Aliengrove's version.

I agree with the comments re the central tree and the cropping of the treetops. However, it's difficult to do much with the central tree if one wishes to retain both the boathouse and the boats to the right. Similarly, the background trees are quite high (the land behind rises steeply), and to have included the treetops would either have meant a more square image (which I didn't want), or less water.

The central tree would have been less of a problem had it had the decency to have dark bark, but sadly, that was not the case.

Coming to the water, my plan was that this picture would present an image of utter tranquility, a place of peace. The reflections emphasise the stillness of the water, and in my view this adds to the placidity of the scene. I agree that the ripples detract from this, but I don't do cloning.

One day I think I will go back and moor up on the opposite side. On land I will be able to shoot from lower down. This will reduce the area of the water in the foreground, allowing more tree-tops, and a slightly different viewpoint might reduce the impact of the central tree.

Alternatively, I do own a chainsaw, and one can never have too much firewood. If the owner complains, I shall explain that art comes before trees.

G

I think you may be right, Don.

I saw a review of the Q, in which the reviewer said he couldn't see the point of a Q with a pancake lens. I nearly shouted out: "You can put it in your pocket, you nitwit."

And nitwit might not have been the actual word.

I love my SLRs, and hate my miserable little P&S. But something with the size of a (biggish) P&S and the quality (nearly) of an SLR would be attractive to many people.

This could be a turning point.

G

I didn't realise you were a neighbour of mine, Opethian.

I think you have done well with these. I find Chiswick Park to be a rather dreary and foreboding sort of place, but you have managed to make it look a bit different, especially in the first image, which is full of drama.

I look forward to seeing what you do with Chinatown.

G

Critical comments only, please.




Thank you.

G

It's not a crime to be ignorant of the history of photography, or of the great photographers of yesteryear.

But it does make it difficult to have an intelligent debate on the subject when people lack any awareness of what has gone before. And it is made more difficult when people who are intellectually dishonest make claims that are palpably nonsensical, like the bird-brained proposition that colour photography barely existed until the 1970s.

G