Posts Tagged ‘bridge camera’

harumph, I’m sorry I keep making excuses but work commitments and yet another cold mean that I’ve neglected you all again, I actually posted this weeks Metal shot on Google+ on Sunday yet here we are it’s Friday night and I’m drinking wine in bed trying to avoid the television as Mrs BC watches Celebrity Big Brother remembering that life could be worse I might not have you guys to talk to and actually be forced to concentrate on the background noise around me.

There will be a later post tonight that goes into more details about my week and one of my trademarked rants so I’ll keep this one short and sweet.

Metal

Next weeks theme is “in the Garden”

I’ll be back once I’ve finished my rant.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

P.S. Mrs BC here, Mr Bunny Chow is a bah humbug and Celebrity Big Brother is car crash telly fab.

 

Advertisement

I have failed to find you a sunset within the prescribed time frame so have decided to go with a spooky moonrise as a substitute.

Moonrise over Croydon

Time has kinda run away with me this last week with Grandma Bunny Chow now having returned to Zimbabwe I hope to be able to dedicate a little more time to you all in the coming weeks.

I haven’t forgotten the deadline is fast approaching for Nick and Shannon’s monthly community collaboration project either, although I may have to miss out on this one as time and idea’s are rapidly running away from me, we shall see.

Next weeks theme is going to be metal and I already have some great idea’s lets hope that I manage to execute them in a timely manner.

for now though

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

first off I wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you who read these random ramblings of mine, I’ve now reached the landmark of 100 wordpress.com followers and having that support and following has been great. As some of you longer term readers will know I started rambling around on the web in frustration at shoddy customer service and to give poor Mrs Bunny Chow a break from listening to me whining. At the time I’d never even read any blogs and had no idea that this community even existed or dreamed that I could become part of it.

Blogging has become a hobby for me and keeps me out of trouble, I became really down a week or so ago when a close friend began questioning why I would be “doing shit drawings and putting them all over the internet” well my friend I do them because it’s my hobby and I gain pleasure from it and thanks to you good people out here in the blogosphere seem to gain something from my photography and art, I could have retaliated in person and attacked his passions and questioned what led him to do what he does in his free time but I was grown up enough to drop it and remember that art is subjective, just because he might not like what I am doing that’s entirely his right to make that decision and whilst my feelings at the time were deeply deeply hurt and poor Mrs Bunny Chow had to listen to me griping and whining, having allowed myself time to simmer I realise that in reality I would defend to the end his right to his opinions, I may not agree with them but the internet is a wonderful democracy and if he chooses not to enjoy my artistic that’s his prerogative, I’m not going to give up my hobby because it doesn’t float the boat of someone else, be they a real life friend or the occasional internet troll.

Next I’d like to talk about artistic inspiration, it’s a topic I’ve covered a couple of times before in these pages but would like to touch on again inspired by the lovely Patricia over at Pixygiggles who asked about artistic Mojo and how creativity can be commanded, well the simple answer is that it can’t be commanded, well at least not by me, there are plenty of weeks that go by where I battle to keep taking pictures but I keep going. I draw my inspiration and ideas from a variety of sources, Google+ and especially the Project 52 list have thus far inspired at least 34 posts with plenty more to come, Nick and Shannon from www.nickexposed.com and http://seeingspotsphoto.wordpress.com/ have been equally inspiring with their monthly community collaboration projects.

Then there are just people like the aforementioned Patricia who goes out of her way day after day to share her interpretation of the world and what it means to her at any given time, I’ve discovered so many people who inspire me to go out and create on a daily basis, I don’t share every failure with you but I do share plenty of them and do you know what sometimes I cringe but more often I’ll just look back with pride and think I created that, sure I’ve learned a lot about photography in the last year or so and might approach things differently if faced with the same opportunities today but isn’t that what learning is all about, do golfers ever shoot that perfect round and think sod it that’s enough I’ll quit now?

Phew this is turning into something of a rant, deep breath, I started writing today because I wanted to thank all of you who have welcomed me and inspired me to keep going and enjoy myself, at the end of the day this is my little fiefdom but all of you make it a happy little fiefdom so thank-you for being you.

My last little ramble is to ask opinions of phonography and the proliferation of filter apps like instagram and hipstamatic, I keep changing my mind about them, they’re fun, they’re quirky, they’re always in your pocket but the pictures that come out of them are crap, yet it’s that same crapness that I somehow like about them and keep finding myself drawn back to even when editing my photographs from my camera I find myself drawn back to retro feeling editing styles, is this because of the cliché or just because it’s what I’ve always found aesthetically appealing, I’m not sure I can answer that at the moment so I’ll leave the floor open for your thoughts.

The pictures interspersed throughout this post are not new, they’re just a few I’ve chosen because I liked them and felt like sharing them, I’m pretty sure they’ve all been seen in these pages before but if they’re new to you I hope you like them and if you don’t then that’s fine too.

Comment your lives away.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

I’ve been neglecting you my friends, and I’m sorry, sometimes the creative juices just don’t flow beyond my own four walls and I don’t want to keep boring you with near identical pictures of my kids as cute as they may be to me I’m sure that despite my bias to the world at large they are just kids with foppish hair and silly grins.

This weeks theme was portraits and my initial intention was to do some portraits of Mrs Bunny Chow’s cousin the very talented rapper Twig who we had a braai (barbecue) with on Saturday, I really did have good intentions, I got my camera out, I snapped some pictures of the kids in the garden, we talked about lenses and aperture and geeky stuff and then the sun got to me and reminded me that I was unfairly hung over (it was unfair I honestly didn’t have that much to drink the night before and can normally get away with plenty more, sometimes hangovers are just like that) and all good intentions went out the window with nothing useable captured.

Hmmmm well with that one out of the window I was left with either begging Mrs Bunny Chow to pose for me (slim chance of that happening) or utilising my amazing Mother who thankfully flew in to attend the Alzheimer University a fantastic course designed to help Alzheimer’s Societies from around the world. She’s very honoured to be representing the Zimbabwean Alzheimer’s Association and I’m very proud to be her son as she continues to give of her time to this wonderful organisation.

Still we’re here to talk about photography and pictures so here is my chosen portrait of my mother.

portrait of mum

I know it’s becoming a bit of a cliché at the moment but I’ve given a light retro twist to the edit.

I may have to get creative again next week as the suggested theme is sunsets (yes I know they happen every day) and I’m not sure if  or when I’ll have the opportunity to capture a new one as currently sunset falls smack in the middle of bed and bathtime and I don’t want to reach back in to the archives for an older picture to share in this series.

I hope that you’ve all had a great week and I promise that I’ll be making more time for you in the coming weeks.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

wow, gosh, blush lurvee alarm etc. et al, I am honoured and flattered to have had one of my posts recommended by the talented Matthew Durr whose blog I have followed for a while now, he posts lots of photography and plenty of fabulously geeky and in-depth lens reviews detailing such nerdy things as chromatic aberrations, corner to corner sharpness at varying apertures and all manner of other such wonderfullness.

I’ve learned plenty from him as well as admired his photography from afar from some time.

I can’t thank him enough for this kind recognition and urge you to check him out.

I’ve also just discovered him and added him on Google+ which my regulars will know I’m a big fan of.

otherwise it’s Wednesday not Thursday or Friday.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

I love the architecture of churches and old gravestones so I thought I’d share this series of pictures with you.

 

I’m very happy with how they’ve come out, If you want to see the album full size click here.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

I hate public transport it’s full of the great unwashed.

I’d better start that again.

It was a beautiful day when I went to get my stitches out so instead of catching the bus from Wimbledon to Tooting where the hospital is I decided to walk and take some photo’s along the way.

I’ve done a little more post processing than I normally do but I’ve tried to give them all something of a vintage or retro feel and think it’s been quite successful. I know that apps like instagram have made this look über trendy at the moment and for once I’m happy being on trend because it’s a look that works for me.

I loved this rather tatty beetle especially with the faux coca cola air cooled sticker in the rear window.

There must have been something in the air because I kept finding retro stuff to shoot.

as usual I stopped and smelled the roses

can you spot the mini bomber squadron?

A little slice of the country in the middle of the city

of course it’s not all green and pleasant.

Not a huge amount else to say but I hope you enjoyed them as much as I have.

Thank for all the message about my thumb I’m much more comfortable now that the stitches out and might stop whinging and whining at some point in the near future.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

I’m back on schedule and killing two birds with one stone as not only was the Google Plus suggested theme Silhouettes but it was also the subject chosen by Nick and Shannon for their monthly community collaboration challenge.

Got an exciting new series of personal photo’s coming soon as well as week 32’s theme of Animals.

Until then

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

I just wanted to share the below email exchange between an old family friend and myself as I think the rambling advice I give may be of some use to others out there.

Hi Mr Bunny Chow,

I will be over to the UK in Oct!

My plan is to buy another camera – only a point and shoot as I can’t afford a DSLR and the lenses to go with. Have been pounding round the internet as one cannot walk into any shop here to see things in the flesh.

My choice is between a Canon SX40HS, Nikon Coolpix P510 and Fujifilm Finepix HS30EXR.

They all have pretty good zooms – the Nikon is 42x. They each have similar features/capabilities – Fujifilm is the only one with RAW, which I know absolutely nothing. Nikon has GPS. Canon has the reputation.

None seem to have a socket for remote triggering of shutter.

Prices are much the same.

In all the reviews there are people who rave about their choice, and those who can’t find anything good to say about rival cameras.

I tend to favour the Nikon, because of it’s 42x zoom and from reading the reviews. I would mainly use it for birds and game photo’s.

Do you have any thoughts and/or is there anyone in your circle who could advise?  I know you like your Fujifilm Finepix HS20EXR.

Cheers Hwange

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Hwange,

I’ve been very happy with my Fuji as I was with it’s stolen predecessor an S5000 which gave many happy years of service, saying that I’d be happy to recommend any of your three choices below, Canon and Nikon are the two biggest names in Digital Photography and choosing between them is a bit like choosing a Merc or BMW, i.e. which badge do you want. Fuji do things a little differently, one of the reasons I chose the HS20EXR over some of it’s rivals was the advantage of it using standard AA batteries rechargeable’s are cheap and replacements can be found anywhere even Zimbabwe, I believe the HS30EXR has a proprietary battery so that’s no longer a consideration but what ever choice you do make then I’d highly recommend buying a spare battery or two at the same time.

RAW is basically the file that the camera sensor captures in its entirety so will be aesthetically unpleasing to the eye straight out of the camera and you will then need to use digital post processing software like photo shop, the advantages of this are getting perfect colours and tonality etc, but in reality my life’s too short and jpeg compression software is pretty good at approximating colours as we see them anyway, unless you really want to play with photo shop then don’t consider it as a concern.

Next up is zoom 30x is the equivalent of a 720mm zoom lens in old money, without a tripod you’re going to be on pretty shaky ground at this range so also consider whether you need the extra especially considering that you should be able to get teleconverters for all three.

Have a read of http://www.safari-guide.co.uk/fujifilm-finepix-hs20exr-digital-camera-review.php#teleconverter which is one of the reviews that led me to buy the Fuji in the first place.

He’s also reviewed the HS30EXR and he’s a Zimbabwean.

http://www.safari-guide.co.uk/fujifilm-finepix-hs30exr-digital-camera-review.php

If you can I’d highly recommend trying to find all three camera’s or at least similar models from each brand in your hands and feeling which is the most comfortable for you, some may have fiddly buttons or just feel wrong, I know this can be difficult and I bought my HS20EXR blind although I had handled it’s predecessor.

Now going off on a tangent I completely understand why you are scared of DSLR’s my Fuji is technologically light years ahead of my 6mp Canon EOS 10D which is now nearly 11 years old and battered, scratched and tired, yet it’s simplicity and solidity give me so much more satisfaction to use every day even if the pictures don’t look as good. The current lower end DSLR’s are very plasticky in comparison to my old magnesium alloy beast though and lenses are hideously expensive, especially seeing as you need at least a 300mm for birds etc, I’ve only got a very cheap plastic 50mm fixed length lens and am hanging on to the Fuji for it’s flexibility of zoom.

Still saying all of the above if making the choice today for a superzoom camera today I’d still think like most men and go for the Nikon with the biggest willy.

Hope some of that above waffle makes sense and hope you’ll pop in for a beer or seven in October.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

when I first started this blog I’d never even read another blog or even given much thought over to blogging as a means of communication.

My early posts were mostly long rambling complaints about terrible customer service I’d received from a succession of terrible companies and restaurants and I was seething and boiling over to the point of driving my nearest and dearest to distraction so rather than continuing to vent my frustrations on those nearest me, I started ranting, initially on blogger and then shortly after emigrating wholesale to WordPress. Rather than finding a niche early on as my anger faded I began doing a few reviews and even wrote what remains my biggest hit as far as search engine traffic my glowing review of the service provided by the Courtney Boot Company. As a side note, nearly a year on from getting my boots back I’m still wearing them daily.

I also began writing a few posts about becoming a father for the second time and my thoughts and feelings surrounding that as almost everything I read or heard would discuss the mothers thoughts, fears and perspectives, that’s not to put those down it’s simply a comment about the lack or support I could find for us blokes who’re too tough and macho to talk about our feelings with real people, and where there is plenty of support out there for mums there’s not a lot out there for dads.

In the run up to the new year I gained a little fervour for food blogging and launched www.mrbunnychowcooks.com which initially gained great traction but fell largely by the wayside when I managed to stab myself and began my Ouch series, I also began my project 52 at the start of the year, rekindling my long-held passion for photography and bringing another change of focus to these pages.

Anyway what I’ve been meaning to get around to with all of this rambling is what initially brought you to www.mrbunnychow.com do you visit regularly, do you know me personally, do you like reading about me blowing a gasket, do you like looking at pretty pictures, do you subscribe or just pop in occasionally having seen a link or comment on another site.

Blogging success has never been and never will be my aim I’m just a curious geek wondering who my readers are and why you are.

Please do comment below and let me know as much or as little about yourself as you are comfortable with.

alternatively you can always send me a private message via rantingmrbunnychow@gmail.com

I hope you’re all well out there

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow