A New Era

A new camera

At the beginning of June, I moved up to mirrorless, from my Canon EOS 6DM1 which I bought in early 2013, shortly after it came out. I acquired a 2nd identical 6D body a few years ago

I now have a Canon R6M3. It's a learning curve. The Auto-Focus especially. The in-body image stabilization is a huge upgrade/plus but... I'm suddenly finding I have have to "relearn" the limits of stabilization for subject motion. My shutter speed has been too low at times. However, as I get used to manipulating the auto-focus, I'm finding that it's incredible.

There are buttons, and dials...lots and lots of buttons and dials compared to my 6D. And they're programmable, I knew my 6D buttons and dials without looking, eventually I'll get there with the R6.

Here are some of my photos with the new camera so far.

Hosta Flower First image in which the IS was clearly superior

Hosta Flower

Russian Sage with Green Bug Photo Bomber A very close crop, something that the R6 makes possible

The Bird in the Bath A series, first untouched through a fogged lens

My prefered crop and LRClassic processing

Close crop to show AF was following the bird's eye Black bird, eye in shadow, bright day, fogged lens and the AF still tracked the eye!!!

The Camera You Have With You

Photographers are frequently asked:
What is the best camera?
There are at least as many answers as there are photographers, but without getting into a long back and forth discussion such as ...
"well, what type of photography do you want to do?"
"how will the photos be used? printed?(how big?), posted online???"
"what's your experience level?"
"what's your budget?"
"have you tried some camera's out to see if you like their feel, menus etc?"
"do you plan on using software such as Photoshop/Lightroom to process your own photos?"
and so on.

And then some people buy an expensive (to them) camera and become reluctant to take it out...it's too big and heavy, it's too noticable, it might get wet, it might get sand in it, it might get stolen or maybe I'll get robbed...

And so the common cliché response is:
"The one you have with you!"

And it's true to a great extent. If you don't have a camera, you can't take a photo. These days, most people have a cell phone that can take nice photos in most situations. I have an iPhone 15. I am now in the habit of making sure I take a photo with it when I'm dealing with difficult lighting, even when I am primarily shooting with my DLSR. My iPhone takes photos that are generally good enough for posting online. In many difficult lighting circumstances, it does better than a DLSR if you're not willing to use a tripod and spend some time on the computer to process the images.

So that is generally my answer to the question.
"What is the best camera?"

Below are 4 photos taken pretty much at the same time, a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation from both my Canon 6D DLSR and my iPhone 15. All have been processed to some extent using Lightroom.

Cade's Cove, Canon 6D Portrait Orientation

Cade's Cove, iPhone15 Portrait Orientation

Cade's Cove, Canon 6D Landscape Orientation

Cade's Cove, iPhone15 Landscape Orientation

Return to Jurassic Coast

I at least finished one of the longer hikes I wanted to do after first seeing it a couple years ago. It was a beautiful day for hiking the Southwest Coastal Path from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth. My knees and a blister prevented a second hike a couple days later near Tintagel. And now the blister from hell is still in the process of healing....a full week later. Here are just a few of the photos from the hike.

Southwest Coast Path Top of the First Hill, with Many to Go

Southwest Coast Path Boulders Broken Off the Chalk Cliffs

Southwest Coast Path Looking Back at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

Southwest Coast Path Another Chunk of Chalk Ready to Fall

Southwest Coast Path Paths at the Edge of the World

Port Meadow

Saturday, I took a late afternoon walk down the canal to Port Meadow. The cows and horses were furiously eating their dinner of green grass. There weren't many people around, and the side of the meadow up against the River Thames is no longer flooded. All in all, a lot different than a couple months back.

Cows Have Dinner - Port Meadow, Oxford

Path Along the Thames - Port Meadow, Oxford

Bossoms Marina- Port Meadow, Oxford

London

After all this time, we finally spent most of a day in London. Took a little cruise on the Thames and generally just walked around. It was very crowded with spring tourists and their buses. It was a nice day for all that, just a little chilly when the clouds hid the sun.

"Look Kids, There's Big Ben" - London, England

Westminster Bridge - London, England

Westminster Abbey - London, England

Tower Bridge - London, England

London Bridge - London, England

Westminster Pier - London, England

Other Views of Edinburgh

I did take a few other photos around Edinburgh during the trip.

Scene on the Street - Edinburgh, Scotland

Calton Hill - Edinburgh, Scotland

On the Corner of Princes and St. David Streets - Edinburgh, Scotland

Abstract Christmas Tree - Edinburgh, Scotland

Caught, Right Outside the Window! - Edinburgh, Scotland

Gravestones at Night, Church of St John the Evangelist - Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle in Red

Here are a few photos from our visit to Edinburgh over Christmas. Aside from the Christmas market, it isn't really the best time to visit Edinburgh because the days are so short. The sun is barely up at 9 am (well, I can understand the sleeping in;) and is already down before 4 pm. So we saw a lot of the Edinburgh Castle bathed in red light.

The Castle - Edinburgh, Scotland

The Castle Approach - Edinburgh, Scotland

Stone Guard - Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Rose Hill Cemetery

During a walkabout this past week in Oxford, I made my way through Rose Hill Cemetery. Lots of angels in this one :)

Gertrude Fanny - Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

Triumphant Angel # 1- Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

Triumphant Angel #2 - Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

Spring Blossoms - Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

The Overseer - Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

Little Praying Angel - Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford

Winchester Cathedral

is one of my favorite Crosby Stills & Nash songs. Sunday we went for a visit. I didn't find the grave of a soldier that died in 1799, but I did find one from 1899...

The Crypt - Winchester Cathedral

Orthodox Influence?

Bishop Charles Richard Sumner - Winchester Cathedral

A mini cathedral within the cathedral -

Bishop Fox's Chantry Chapel - Winchester Cathedral

The Pieta - Winchester Cathedral

Tomb of Bishop Wilberforce - Winchester Cathedral

The more things change, the more they stay the same "shot by a fanatic at Peshawur"

Soldier That Died in 1899 - Winchester Cathedral

Flying Buttresses - Winchester Cathedral

Today's Walk

Produced the following:

Daffodil -St. Giles, Oxford

Profile of the Heron - Oxford Canal

Smoke from a Narrowboat - Oxford Canal

Tantallon Castle

Yesterday for some odd reason, I realized that I never got around to posting the photos of Tantallon Castle. We drove by the castle on our way back from Edinburgh. It was closed for visitors walking around etc, either due to being Boxing Day or winter...whatever the case that didn't stop me from taking a few photos from a distance.

Tantallon Castle - East Lothian, Scotland

Tantallon Castle - East Lothian, Scotland