On The Road with Vicky Lamburn

New Views

Might as well kick off with this one. I have finally started to upload the first photos from my South Downs Way walk which I did at the end of July/very beginning of August. I have only uploaded a few from the first day (Saturday 26th July) and the morning/very early afternoon at that! You can view them and others as I post them here:

South Downs Way set on Flickr

On The Way to Beauworth (Gander Down)

New World

I wish we would stop sticking our nose in the whole Russia/Georgia thing. I’m not going to debate the whole thing but I don’t think our strong posturing rhetoric and continued focus on this is a good idea when the Government should be focussing on things that matter closer to home.

I’ll say no more than to say the world held its breath for nearly half a century once, and we don’t need a second Cold War.

New Toys

Whims are exciting and sometimes full of folly. Spontaneity is a bit more considered in my book but wholly life affirming at that. I suppose the South Downs Way walk idea came of spontaneity rather than a considered plan for years (I just decided to do it this year and that was that, I did it.) In that vein, I have been playing with two new things this weekend, one ‘free’ and one I bought.

The ‘Free’ One: OpenSUSE 11

I’ve been playing around with OpenSUSE 11.0 with KDE 4.1, and I have to say after Ubuntu 8.04’s disappointment (to me personally, I felt it wasn’t up to LTS standard so I stuck to 7.10 which wasn’t without its problems) — I have found OpenSUSE 11.0 to be really really good.

I haven’t found a single problem with my increasingly venerable but ever reliable and useful ThinkPad T40, so I am very keen to keep it on here for good. It’s a truly excellent release and distribution of Linux. KDE 4 is taking some getting used to as it is such a new system but there are already some clear benefits. I can’t run too many of the special effects as it were as I only have a Radeon 7500 in the notebook but it’s useful enough for a few ‘whizzy’ effects.

Most of all Windows Network shares, wireless, wired lan etc. just all works. Nothing has given me any trouble which is just excellent. Well done on the OpenSUSE 11 team, it’s freaking brilliant so far!

The not quite fee One: Mamiya C330F TLR Camera

This was my spontaneious decision yesterday. I got my first results back from the South Downs Way walk yesterday and I was pleased with them but reminded again that for landscape work I really do need to look into medium format. 35mm is fine enough but to really get the best results, medium format is the way to go.

I think despite for the most part 35mm digital being indisputably champion over 35mm film (and for good reason, but I still love the look of 35mm film, no reason or desire to switch to digital) — most people will agree that it is more economical to stay with film compared to the expense of some digital medium format systems and backs.

So I bought for £59 a Mamiya C330F Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) medium format camera with a 80mm standard lens. And I have to say it’s a lovely thing to work with. I just have to get some film for it now Which I will do tomorrow and then I can hopefully start enjoying using it for landscape work. I don’t have a dedicated light meter to use so I’ll just rely on the Sunny f/16 rule for now (which isn’t too hard to work with, just remember the basics and then you can work the rest out yourself so long as you understand the balance between shutter and aperture values.)

Stay tuned

Today has been yet another fairly naff August day. Especially for a bank holiday, despite the BBC protestations that memory is temporal (it is) and that this August hasn’t been that bad.,.I’m sorry it has. We had a summer for a couple of weeks in May and the week I went walking I can’t thank enough for being lovely. But this is summer… Balmy evenings in beer gardens have made way for grey windy bangers and mash fests whilst looking glum out at the dark skies at 8.20pm.

I’ve not had a brilliant day. I’ve been busy as usual and been devising plans for work and trying to sort out a few things that free up time for during the week (that is code for: I’ve resorted to working on work stuff on my day off…)

I think I’ve had a pretty glum day because sometimes you get e-mails that are just out and out rude for no reason. Electronic communication has really introduced an uncouth barbarism that hasn’t necessarily been there for the average personal conversation in person, telephone or even in a letter. I do by and large fend it off with good humour and try to resolve good criticism from any well, critical e-mail but it’s almost as if I got two today that were worded such that they would dig right in under my skin.

And actually for nigh on 5 minutes they worked, I began to have doubts about what I pour virtually all I have got into. I can’t work out in my mind why some people really do love to kick you in the proverbial shins? What motivates someone to rather than be constructive, to be out and out rude and derogatory? I’m only a human, I was born helpless, will die helpless and I’m probably quite helpless in the in between bit (that’s what I’m doing now, the in between bit ) — I’m not perfect in any way. All I can ever do in life is do my best, and I do bloody well do that. I give everything 100%, yet a couple of people (I have my suspicion the same person with a bee under their bonnet as they were closely timed and similar language used) really seem to have themselves on a pedestal and for a few minutes took the wind from my peaceful sails.

Well anyway, I didn’t dignify the e-mails with a response, and I’ll keep on plugging away, that’s what I do best because I do get results and I do work hard. I know my heart is in the right place, and maybe in time it will show even more so.

Anyway, I guess I’ve just done a fair bit of learning this month, what with a week of having more or less complete solitude in my thoughts. Clears your mind, makes you realise what you have, what you got to do, and more importantly and stronger understanding of yourself. I’ll quite happily stand up when pot calls kettle black now!

This week I picked up Trailblazer’s “North Downs Way” guidebook after I found their “South Downs Way” guide to be the perfect companion. So far it looks excellent and you know, I know it’ll be mid-next year before I can afford to do this walk but I cannot wait already. What’s more, is it really almost a month ago I left Worthing for Winchester? Yes it is.

I miss it so much. *whimper* But I’ll go walking this weekend, might pop up Chanctonbury Ring today.

Continuing from last night’s post, this is an early impression of the Olympus XA.

SLRs were in the early 90s about as fashionable as socks and sandals, only your granddad had one. Since then the SLR (and DSLR although I lump them altogether myself) has had something of a resurgence with many people who have shot point and shoots jumping on the SLR bandwagon with something like a Nikon D40 or Canon EOS 450D fitting their bill very well indeed.

The problem with SLRs only becomes apparent however when you venture into photography that needs to be a bit more discrete (street scene, gigs, museums, documentary, candid work) or where you may want something a bit lighter/smaller. Granted the D40 and EOS 450D/1000D is about as small as you could comfortably go with an SLR but they’re still a bit bulky particularly with a lens on.

I don’t own either of those SLRs but I have played with both and whilst I think they’re good cameras, I much prefer the bright and large viewfinder of my EOS 3, and for the most part its heft and size is a positive. However, it’s not discrete and when you’ve walked 120 miles with it (I recently walked the South Downs Way which is 100mi + 20mi to-from accommodation/food) you know all about its heft!

Enter the XA

When I returned from my recent trek, I was resigned to accepting that whilst I would never part with my EOS 3 and its undeniable construction quality was a very good thing, my neck was raw from carrying it. And it’s not the first time I’ve had that. I needed something smaller. I already have an Olympus Trip 35 but it’s a 40mm aspect which whilst seemingly not far off my favoured 35mm focal length, does make a difference. It’s also a bit of a guess when it comes to precise focussing.

The long-term goal is to purchase a Voigtlander Bessa R2a/R4a (made by Cosina but I’m not a label snob) with a nice 35mm f/1.4 lens but that may take a year or so to afford. So what to do?

Olympus have always made small neat and high performing cameras in many cases. There is the Trip 35 I’ve already mentioned, the Mju II (Epic) point and shoot, the OM range of SLRs, their four thirds DSLR system, not to mention their innovative half frame Pen cameras… And the XA.

The XA is not like a Bessa R or Leica which has a very distinct style, it’s a very modern looking camera (well, more modern looking than an M3!) that packs a 35mm f/2.8 F.Zuiko lens, a fully coupled rangefinder, a rugged clamshell design and sensitive shutter release to minimise camera shake.

Wide aperture and the rangefinder ‘way’ make for accurate focussing and
sharp images at slow shutter speeds in low light

Without recounting what you can find on the web: it’s an excellent rangefinder for the money and is AE ready with its built in meter, and is an aperture priority camera (Av) rather than say the Canonet QL17 GIII which is a shutter priority camera. The quality is sharp, it’s compact, quiet, easy to focus and well made. It won’t exactly run circles around a £3500 Leica system (e.g. an M7 + Summicron 35mm) but it’s far better than the price ravine would suggest. I paid £34 for a recently serviced XA with the A11 flash appendage.

In Use

Immediately I worked on focusing. A fully coupled rangefinder is so simple to focus. You have the viewfinder and in that is a bright rangefinder patch that is essentially a secondary overlay of a part of the image. All you have to do is move the focusing ring until the bright patch and underlying image are lined up with no apparent ghosting. Easy! This is a key way in which low light performance of a rangefinder can be much better than a SLR, in particular an AF SLR which can sometimes hunt around for its subject.

Having quickly mastered that (I am no manual focus stranger, with my much loved 35mm f/2 Super Takumar on my EOS 3) I loaded up some Ilford HP5 and set off to V Festival in Weston Park, Staffs.

The F.Zuiko 35mm lens takes very sharp pictures at f/8-11 much more
so than the XA’s dimensions may indicate!

Most people went with digital point and shoots. I would question seriously that apart from those buying disposable cameras, few people would have been using an esoteric 35mm film camera like me. (There again, I did see someone with an EOS 1d MkII or III with a cheapy Sigma 28-135mm lens on it…) Unlike most, I knew it was hopeless to photograph the stages so I focused on unsung things like the loo cleaners, bar staff, caterers, the decimation of the campsites etc. and it was a pure pleasure to use the XA. At mid-day I was shooting mostly at f/16 (1/500th second shutter speed — sunny f/16 rule on ISO 400 film) and focusing was easy enough though sometimes it was hard to see the markings and shutter speeds but mostly it worked great.

The camera is also dead quiet with its super sensitive shutter release which fires at the slightest of pressure. I’m used to sensitive shutter releases (a la EOS 3/1v/1D) so this is no problem to me but those with slightly spongier shutter releases (a la EOS 400D/30D etc.) or heavily mechanical shutter releases may take some time to adjust to this. What this should mean is that it should be possible to take a shot at 1/15th second shutter speed and not have much camera shake evident.

My friend reading. Sharp and accurate focussing even though the XA’s
rangefinder is not exactly of Leica, Voigtlander Bessa or Zeiss Ikon Standards!

The camera was also very light and compact. Ideal in a coat or pocket in my shorts. It also proved quite resilient to the English rain and drizzle so a big thumbs up there. This at least ticked the small and light boxes.

In terms of discreteness, the XA is probably as good as it gets. It looks to be little more than a basic point and shoot, so you can be sure to not get to much attention when you don’t want it. You could very easily sit waiting with it set to f/8-16 and at hyperfocal length waiting for the right decisive moment and fire without causing any disturbance.

To be continued….

I’ve been a busy bunny this weekend, having gone to V Festival 2008 which was utterly tremendous. A very good time indeed, the weather was not that bad, it only teamed it down Saturday evening (which was somewhat assuaged by the high of hearing The Guillemots live at last and the anthemic finale of Sao Paulo!) so it was very good overall. Still rather dismayed as the sheer mess people leave behind them. So I set about documenting a bit of it, the unsung festival story shall we say.

Which neatly leads into:

Rangefinders and my new Olympus XA. Those who follow my blog or know me should know I have a big heavy SLR, it’s a Canon EOS 3. The EOS 3 is a great camera, one that is dependable, tough and built to last. It also makes a good emergency mallet… (another story) But despite the fact that it’s great for so many things, it fails on discreteness and size/weight.

SLRs in general aren’t particularly discrete but you could get away with something like a Nikon D40, Canon EOS Rebel which might just about be small enough and quiet enough in some cases. Either way a rangefinder is a good bet. They’re smaller, quieter (no mirror slap) and offer in the better examples excellent fast glass.

They’re also great for quick focusing in low-light situations such as gigs and parties etc. because of the way a fully coupled rangefinder works. Also at wider angles focusing becomes less important to a degree.

I’ve always liked the idea of having a decent rangefinder and as fixed lens ones go, the Olympus XA is a great start. It’s a 35mm f/2.8 F.Zuiko lens which is regarded for being particularly sharp at f/8-11 but also good wide open. It’s small, waterproof and fully coupled which is so unusual for such a small camera. Finally it at Around-The-Lens metering (ATL) and works in Aperture Priority mode (unlike say the Canon Canonet QL17 which whilst an excellent 40mm f/1.7 lens, it’s shutter priority… rather like the AE-1 SLR.) so all you have to do is focus if need be and make sure the viewfinder’s shutter speed needle is within an acceptable shutter speed range and fire. Done. Wind the advance crank and shoot again. Dead simple but very effective.

I really enjoyed using my XA at V Festival and I hope to post these results soon along with the SDW ones. they are coming, I have just been so busy! Sorry!

As I piece together the write-up which I will soon publish I have been writing passages/poetry in a very spontaneous prose fashion… I will soon have (either tomorrow or Monday when I return from V Festival) the first batch of photos too.

This Is Where The Downs Beat Solemnly
Victoria JK Lamburn

This is where the Downs beat solemnly
Where they grace your enchanted wanderlust eyes,
“To the next crazy venture beneath the skies!”
And on your approach up those chalky slopes
Views unfurl laced with glistening greens and golds
The south is a distant sea and the north is a misted Weald
No sorrow flutters, no tears up here in the peace
Just birds in flight and a dragonfly in footloose wonder
A rabbit hops and a sheep bleats on Roman soil
Boldly forwards with heavy feet on dusty land
Strike forth towards the next tree and humming bee
Open up to the breaking fresh dewy morning
Look up at the blue and burning sky when the day is folding
And watch the night falling with glittering navy skies
So silently the land stirs, so quietly the trees sway
No dulcet suburbia, no requiem of life’s regrets
Just the path, the start, the destination and view between
Out here where the Downs beat stridently up and down
No solace to feel just joy in the towering hills
And now you know in this moment what this all is:
It is life, it is beauty – life with no shame or pain
It’ll never go this moment you have held in view
The heart grows ever fonder for all of this around
Because this is where the Downs beat solemnly,
And where they touched you.

“What is the feeling when you’re driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -it’s the too huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

– Jack Kerouac

I’ve returned from my 8 days beneath the skies starting in Winchester, Hampshire and ending today in Eastbourne, East Sussex having walked the 100 mile South Downs Way.

I’m elated that I made it, overjoyed at all I saw, smelt, touched at my fingertips with whiskers of wheat brushing beneath my palms in balmy summer afternoons, and the people oh the people I have met on the way in making such good friends. And now, the journey is no more. There is no onward destination, no plain to cross no down to climb… All there is is the return of humdrum time, leisure time and work time. And in someway the elusive goal of walking all that way and then realising that when the journey ends — where do you go? There is nowhere but to swallow the emptiness that the end opens up, and turn back and start the great journey again…

Everything always seems insignificant on your return, inept in its very being when all that had mattered was making it to your day’s end, and now this rush and manic haste, only bricks mortar and concrete to embrace in the towns so far from the cloud scattered and shadowed downs…

I’ll write more about it probably tomorrow (Sunday) as I am pretty tired today and am surprised in the least to have gotten up to even write this. All I can say is if you want to do the South Downs Way, do it… It’s a magical experience.