Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-27 Thread Christine Aguila
Sounds like you had a great trip, Mark!  And I know you had great company among 
our British PDMLers!  Great folks!  Cheers, Christine


On Jan 20, 2014, at 7:24 PM, Mark Roberts  wrote:

> Hi, boys and girls! We're back form old blighty after a splendid week
> in London with brief excursions to Milton Keynes and Oxford.
> 
> We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
> had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters and then a
> nice bit of dinner & wine in Milton Keynes. We chatted a lot about the
> rest of you on the PDML and laughed at several of you behind your
> backs. Jolly good fun!
> 
> Wednesday was the trip to Oxford and a meet-up with Cotty and wife.
> Japanese food for lunch and a brief tour of the "800 Years of Medical
> History at Oxford" exhibit. Dr. Lisa was impressed.
> 
> Other relevant and irrelevant items of interest: The Wildlife
> Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. We've
> seen it in many previous years but this one was the bet yet. Truly
> outstanding stuff. And the kid's division(s) looked more like the
> photos really had been taken by the ages indicated (rather than daddy
> setting up the camera/lens/tripod and junior pressing the shutter
> button when instructed). The Astronomy Photographer of the year
> exhibit at the observatory in Greenwich was fairly small but
> absolutely breathtaking. The effort and preparation that these amateur
> astrophotographers put in is humbling. Brilliant stuff all astronomers
> should see (you getting this, Miserere?)
> 
> Turner exhibit in Greenwich was superb. He's one of my favorite
> artists and this didn't disappoint. We also saw the Spencer exhibit at
> Somerset House and enjoyed that a lot.
> 
> The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons was a high point
> for Dr. Lisa. It held my attention for half an hour or so but she was
> enthralled and could have spent a day there. She's just been reading a
> superb book about Hunter
> (http://www.amazon.com/The-Knife-Man-Snatching-Surgery/dp/0767916530)
> and has been astonished by the work he did in the 18th century –
> brilliant man. We'll be back to this one on future visits.
> 
> If you visit London and like books you absolutely must visit Daunt
> Books on Marylebone High Street. Fabulous book shop. Impressive
> building. Nice people. 
> 
> Photographically I ran the gamut from HCB-style street shooting to
> overprocessed HDR photography and everything in between. London and
> Oxford are both fabulous places for photography and, for my purposes,
> particularly at night. I'm doing more and more experimentation with
> the third dimension of photography, time, using long exposures and/or
> multiple exposures. I was traveling without a tripod and I really
> enjoy the challenge of finding a spot to rest or brace the camera and
> then work out the composition by trial and error. I had a blast and
> got some pretty good stuff, I think/hope.
> 
> I did almost all my shooting with the DA 12-24 (which saw the most
> use) and the DA-L 55-300, the latter purchased specifically for this
> trip. It's supposed to be sold only with a camera body as part of a
> kit but some dealers break up the kits and sell body and lens
> separately. The lens was $179 new, including shipping. It lacks the
> quick-shift focus of the DA version and has a plastic lens mount but
> it's the same optically, which is to say, superb. An amazing lens and
> highly recommended. The 21mm Ltd also saw a little use.
> 
> Now I'm getting ready for the start of school on Wednesday and since
> I'm teaching Digital Design again, a course I haven't taught in a few
> semesters, I'll be fairly busy, so it'll be a while before I get a UK
> photo gallery up (I also have the PDML Photo Annual to contend with).
> Hang on, because I think it'll be worth the wait.
> 
> -- 
> Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia
> www.robertstech.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
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> 


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Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-23 Thread Mark Roberts
Miserere wrote:

>Funny thing is, everybody always assumes I do astrophotography. I have
>to explain to them that I have a car, a mortgage, a wife, and now a
>kid, so no, I don't do astrophotography :-D Our own Darren Addy has
>started down the slippery slope of astrophotography and I hope he's
>able to stop before it's too late.

The primary requirement to be an astrophotographer, I'm convinced, has
nothing to do with knowledge of astrophysics but is in fact a severe
case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Several of the photos — taken
by amateurs, mind — were the result of hours-long exposure times,
taken in multiple exposures over a period of months, all while keeping
the telescope/camera rig properly aligned to within a thousandth of a
gnat's hair.

Lovely to see the results but not the kind of photography I could do.

My photos of London and Oxford coming soon...

 
-- 
Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia
www.robertstech.com





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Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-23 Thread Miserere
On 20 January 2014 20:24, Mark Roberts  wrote:
>
> Hi, boys and girls! We're back form old blighty after a splendid week
> in London with brief excursions to Milton Keynes and Oxford.
>
> We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
> had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters and then a
> nice bit of dinner & wine in Milton Keynes. We chatted a lot about the
> rest of you on the PDML and laughed at several of you behind your
> backs. Jolly good fun!
>
> Wednesday was the trip to Oxford and a meet-up with Cotty and wife.
> Japanese food for lunch and a brief tour of the "800 Years of Medical
> History at Oxford" exhibit. Dr. Lisa was impressed.
>
> Other relevant and irrelevant items of interest: The Wildlife
> Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. We've
> seen it in many previous years but this one was the bet yet. Truly
> outstanding stuff. And the kid's division(s) looked more like the
> photos really had been taken by the ages indicated (rather than daddy
> setting up the camera/lens/tripod and junior pressing the shutter
> button when instructed). The Astronomy Photographer of the year
> exhibit at the observatory in Greenwich was fairly small but
> absolutely breathtaking. The effort and preparation that these amateur
> astrophotographers put in is humbling. Brilliant stuff all astronomers
> should see (you getting this, Miserere?)


Got it! I'll go right ahead and book a plane ticket to go see it! :-p

Funny thing is, everybody always assumes I do astrophotography. I have
to explain to them that I have a car, a mortgage, a wife, and now a
kid, so no, I don't do astrophotography :-D Our own Darren Addy has
started down the slippery slope of astrophotography and I hope he's
able to stop before it's too late.


> Turner exhibit in Greenwich was superb. He's one of my favorite
> artists and this didn't disappoint. We also saw the Spencer exhibit at
> Somerset House and enjoyed that a lot.
>
> The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons was a high point
> for Dr. Lisa. It held my attention for half an hour or so but she was
> enthralled and could have spent a day there. She's just been reading a
> superb book about Hunter
> (http://www.amazon.com/The-Knife-Man-Snatching-Surgery/dp/0767916530)
> and has been astonished by the work he did in the 18th century –
> brilliant man. We'll be back to this one on future visits.
>
> If you visit London and like books you absolutely must visit Daunt
> Books on Marylebone High Street. Fabulous book shop. Impressive
> building. Nice people.
>
> Photographically I ran the gamut from HCB-style street shooting to
> overprocessed HDR photography and everything in between. London and
> Oxford are both fabulous places for photography and, for my purposes,
> particularly at night. I'm doing more and more experimentation with
> the third dimension of photography, time, using long exposures and/or
> multiple exposures. I was traveling without a tripod and I really
> enjoy the challenge of finding a spot to rest or brace the camera and
> then work out the composition by trial and error. I had a blast and
> got some pretty good stuff, I think/hope.
>
> I did almost all my shooting with the DA 12-24 (which saw the most
> use) and the DA-L 55-300, the latter purchased specifically for this
> trip. It's supposed to be sold only with a camera body as part of a
> kit but some dealers break up the kits and sell body and lens
> separately. The lens was $179 new, including shipping. It lacks the
> quick-shift focus of the DA version and has a plastic lens mount but
> it's the same optically, which is to say, superb. An amazing lens and
> highly recommended. The 21mm Ltd also saw a little use.
>
> Now I'm getting ready for the start of school on Wednesday and since
> I'm teaching Digital Design again, a course I haven't taught in a few
> semesters, I'll be fairly busy, so it'll be a while before I get a UK
> photo gallery up (I also have the PDML Photo Annual to contend with).
> Hang on, because I think it'll be worth the wait.


I'll be right here, sitting down, waiting to see your photos of my
hometown. You better do the city justice!

Cheers,


   —M.

\/\/o/\/\ --> http://WorldOfMiserere.com

http://EnticingTheLight.com
A Quest for Photographic Enlightenment

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Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-21 Thread Chris Mitchell
Good to hear you're back safely and it was great to see you again.
Regards to Dr. Lisa.

Chris (and Karin)

On 21 January 2014 01:24, Mark Roberts  wrote:
> Hi, boys and girls! We're back form old blighty after a splendid week
> in London with brief excursions to Milton Keynes and Oxford.
>
> We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
> had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters and then a
> nice bit of dinner & wine in Milton Keynes. We chatted a lot about the
> rest of you on the PDML and laughed at several of you behind your
> backs. Jolly good fun!
>
> Wednesday was the trip to Oxford and a meet-up with Cotty and wife.
> Japanese food for lunch and a brief tour of the "800 Years of Medical
> History at Oxford" exhibit. Dr. Lisa was impressed.
>
> Other relevant and irrelevant items of interest: The Wildlife
> Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. We've
> seen it in many previous years but this one was the bet yet. Truly
> outstanding stuff. And the kid's division(s) looked more like the
> photos really had been taken by the ages indicated (rather than daddy
> setting up the camera/lens/tripod and junior pressing the shutter
> button when instructed). The Astronomy Photographer of the year
> exhibit at the observatory in Greenwich was fairly small but
> absolutely breathtaking. The effort and preparation that these amateur
> astrophotographers put in is humbling. Brilliant stuff all astronomers
> should see (you getting this, Miserere?)
>
> Turner exhibit in Greenwich was superb. He's one of my favorite
> artists and this didn't disappoint. We also saw the Spencer exhibit at
> Somerset House and enjoyed that a lot.
>
> The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons was a high point
> for Dr. Lisa. It held my attention for half an hour or so but she was
> enthralled and could have spent a day there. She's just been reading a
> superb book about Hunter
> (http://www.amazon.com/The-Knife-Man-Snatching-Surgery/dp/0767916530)
> and has been astonished by the work he did in the 18th century –
> brilliant man. We'll be back to this one on future visits.
>
> If you visit London and like books you absolutely must visit Daunt
> Books on Marylebone High Street. Fabulous book shop. Impressive
> building. Nice people.
>
> Photographically I ran the gamut from HCB-style street shooting to
> overprocessed HDR photography and everything in between. London and
> Oxford are both fabulous places for photography and, for my purposes,
> particularly at night. I'm doing more and more experimentation with
> the third dimension of photography, time, using long exposures and/or
> multiple exposures. I was traveling without a tripod and I really
> enjoy the challenge of finding a spot to rest or brace the camera and
> then work out the composition by trial and error. I had a blast and
> got some pretty good stuff, I think/hope.
>
> I did almost all my shooting with the DA 12-24 (which saw the most
> use) and the DA-L 55-300, the latter purchased specifically for this
> trip. It's supposed to be sold only with a camera body as part of a
> kit but some dealers break up the kits and sell body and lens
> separately. The lens was $179 new, including shipping. It lacks the
> quick-shift focus of the DA version and has a plastic lens mount but
> it's the same optically, which is to say, superb. An amazing lens and
> highly recommended. The 21mm Ltd also saw a little use.
>
> Now I'm getting ready for the start of school on Wednesday and since
> I'm teaching Digital Design again, a course I haven't taught in a few
> semesters, I'll be fairly busy, so it'll be a while before I get a UK
> photo gallery up (I also have the PDML Photo Annual to contend with).
> Hang on, because I think it'll be worth the wait.
>
> --
> Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia
> www.robertstech.com
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
> the directions.

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Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-21 Thread Godfrey DiGiorgi
Sounds like a fab trip!

On Jan 20, 2014, at 5:24 PM, Mark Roberts  wrote:

>  … We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
> had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters ...

Now there's somewhere I will have to schedule visiting when next I'm over.
And the bookstore, although I usually avoid them. (Not good to tempt an 
alcoholic with scotch…! :-)

Welcome home!
G
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Re: Back in the U S of A

2014-01-21 Thread Bob W
Glad you're back safe and well - it was great to see you again. A pity we 
didn't get a bit more time at Bletchley - my fault, sorry, we missed quite a 
lot.

Glad you found Daunts, it's lovely.

http://www.web-options.com/Reading/content/DSCF0044_large.html

B

> On 21 Jan 2014, at 01:24, Mark Roberts  wrote:
> 
> Hi, boys and girls! We're back form old blighty after a splendid week
> in London with brief excursions to Milton Keynes and Oxford.
> 
> We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
> had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters and then a
> nice bit of dinner & wine in Milton Keynes. We chatted a lot about the
> rest of you on the PDML and laughed at several of you behind your
> backs. Jolly good fun!
> 
> Wednesday was the trip to Oxford and a meet-up with Cotty and wife.
> Japanese food for lunch and a brief tour of the "800 Years of Medical
> History at Oxford" exhibit. Dr. Lisa was impressed.
> 
> Other relevant and irrelevant items of interest: The Wildlife
> Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. We've
> seen it in many previous years but this one was the bet yet. Truly
> outstanding stuff. And the kid's division(s) looked more like the
> photos really had been taken by the ages indicated (rather than daddy
> setting up the camera/lens/tripod and junior pressing the shutter
> button when instructed). The Astronomy Photographer of the year
> exhibit at the observatory in Greenwich was fairly small but
> absolutely breathtaking. The effort and preparation that these amateur
> astrophotographers put in is humbling. Brilliant stuff all astronomers
> should see (you getting this, Miserere?)
> 
> Turner exhibit in Greenwich was superb. He's one of my favorite
> artists and this didn't disappoint. We also saw the Spencer exhibit at
> Somerset House and enjoyed that a lot.
> 
> The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons was a high point
> for Dr. Lisa. It held my attention for half an hour or so but she was
> enthralled and could have spent a day there. She's just been reading a
> superb book about Hunter
> (http://www.amazon.com/The-Knife-Man-Snatching-Surgery/dp/0767916530)
> and has been astonished by the work he did in the 18th century –
> brilliant man. We'll be back to this one on future visits.
> 
> If you visit London and like books you absolutely must visit Daunt
> Books on Marylebone High Street. Fabulous book shop. Impressive
> building. Nice people. 
> 
> Photographically I ran the gamut from HCB-style street shooting to
> overprocessed HDR photography and everything in between. London and
> Oxford are both fabulous places for photography and, for my purposes,
> particularly at night. I'm doing more and more experimentation with
> the third dimension of photography, time, using long exposures and/or
> multiple exposures. I was traveling without a tripod and I really
> enjoy the challenge of finding a spot to rest or brace the camera and
> then work out the composition by trial and error. I had a blast and
> got some pretty good stuff, I think/hope.
> 
> I did almost all my shooting with the DA 12-24 (which saw the most
> use) and the DA-L 55-300, the latter purchased specifically for this
> trip. It's supposed to be sold only with a camera body as part of a
> kit but some dealers break up the kits and sell body and lens
> separately. The lens was $179 new, including shipping. It lacks the
> quick-shift focus of the DA version and has a plastic lens mount but
> it's the same optically, which is to say, superb. An amazing lens and
> highly recommended. The 21mm Ltd also saw a little use.
> 
> Now I'm getting ready for the start of school on Wednesday and since
> I'm teaching Digital Design again, a course I haven't taught in a few
> semesters, I'll be fairly busy, so it'll be a while before I get a UK
> photo gallery up (I also have the PDML Photo Annual to contend with).
> Hang on, because I think it'll be worth the wait.
> 
> -- 
> Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia
> www.robertstech.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
> the directions.

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Back in the U S of A

2014-01-20 Thread Mark Roberts
Hi, boys and girls! We're back form old blighty after a splendid week
in London with brief excursions to Milton Keynes and Oxford.

We toured Blechley Park with Bob W and Chris Mitchell and his wife and
had a fascinating look at the code breakers' headquarters and then a
nice bit of dinner & wine in Milton Keynes. We chatted a lot about the
rest of you on the PDML and laughed at several of you behind your
backs. Jolly good fun!

Wednesday was the trip to Oxford and a meet-up with Cotty and wife.
Japanese food for lunch and a brief tour of the "800 Years of Medical
History at Oxford" exhibit. Dr. Lisa was impressed.

Other relevant and irrelevant items of interest: The Wildlife
Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum. We've
seen it in many previous years but this one was the bet yet. Truly
outstanding stuff. And the kid's division(s) looked more like the
photos really had been taken by the ages indicated (rather than daddy
setting up the camera/lens/tripod and junior pressing the shutter
button when instructed). The Astronomy Photographer of the year
exhibit at the observatory in Greenwich was fairly small but
absolutely breathtaking. The effort and preparation that these amateur
astrophotographers put in is humbling. Brilliant stuff all astronomers
should see (you getting this, Miserere?)

Turner exhibit in Greenwich was superb. He's one of my favorite
artists and this didn't disappoint. We also saw the Spencer exhibit at
Somerset House and enjoyed that a lot.

The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons was a high point
for Dr. Lisa. It held my attention for half an hour or so but she was
enthralled and could have spent a day there. She's just been reading a
superb book about Hunter
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Knife-Man-Snatching-Surgery/dp/0767916530)
and has been astonished by the work he did in the 18th century –
brilliant man. We'll be back to this one on future visits.

If you visit London and like books you absolutely must visit Daunt
Books on Marylebone High Street. Fabulous book shop. Impressive
building. Nice people. 

Photographically I ran the gamut from HCB-style street shooting to
overprocessed HDR photography and everything in between. London and
Oxford are both fabulous places for photography and, for my purposes,
particularly at night. I'm doing more and more experimentation with
the third dimension of photography, time, using long exposures and/or
multiple exposures. I was traveling without a tripod and I really
enjoy the challenge of finding a spot to rest or brace the camera and
then work out the composition by trial and error. I had a blast and
got some pretty good stuff, I think/hope.

I did almost all my shooting with the DA 12-24 (which saw the most
use) and the DA-L 55-300, the latter purchased specifically for this
trip. It's supposed to be sold only with a camera body as part of a
kit but some dealers break up the kits and sell body and lens
separately. The lens was $179 new, including shipping. It lacks the
quick-shift focus of the DA version and has a plastic lens mount but
it's the same optically, which is to say, superb. An amazing lens and
highly recommended. The 21mm Ltd also saw a little use.

Now I'm getting ready for the start of school on Wednesday and since
I'm teaching Digital Design again, a course I haven't taught in a few
semesters, I'll be fairly busy, so it'll be a while before I get a UK
photo gallery up (I also have the PDML Photo Annual to contend with).
Hang on, because I think it'll be worth the wait.
 
-- 
Mark Roberts - Photography & Multimedia
www.robertstech.com





-- 
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