PHOTOGRAPHY

Mini-Trip to Gibraltar and Southern Spain

In July 2019, four of us went off for a 4-day excursion to Southern Spain with a stop-off in Gibraltar. Having been to the latter many times, we chose to see the south side and go through the Rock this time to get to the eastern shore. Of course, despite best plans, when we actually got to Gibraltar, the weather changed and so I had to brighten up the photos a little. Thank heavens for Snapseed, Luminar 3, Aurora HDR and similar tools  - in this case mainly Snapseed. Meanwhile, back in Spain at our hotel (La Cueva Park) near Jerez De La Frontera, some lovely colours… And a spot…
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Digital Photography Tools for PC

In all the years I’ve been taking photos digitally, I’ve made great use of software tools to enhance often accurate but boring photos as well as those which didn’t expose perfectly in the first place. Elsewhere I’ve discussed at length a favourite of mine when it comes to enhancing mobile phone photos, a free package called Snapseed, developed by Google and available on both the Google and Apple Play stores. Sadly this otherwise excellent package has never quite made it to the desktop other than in emulators which really don’t do it justice. Meanwhile there are many image editing packages for PC and MAC, few which are any good are…
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Huescar Festival June 2019

On this occasion, I abandoned my usual restraint and just went for colour when shooting the local festival last night in nearby Huescar… everyone was having such a wonderful time… The lighting in the town was great but as usual, not so simple to capture accurately on camera…. but in this case, does anyone care as long as it is pretty? Earlier that night at the local park (with apologies for the unintended selfie)...
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Experimenting with Corel

As a user of Corel Draw from many years ago, when it came to buying a PC package yesterday (not something I do lightly or very often), I chose Corel Paintshop Pro Ultimate 2019, which at least on the surface appears to represent a great deal. Now, whether or not I’m able to make effective use of it is another matter. The local photo club here in Galera needs a photo submission for tomorrow night – so, in for a penny… and here’s another landscape shot…
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Random Photo in a Field

My wife Maureen and I were out and about yesterday with friends for a dip in a spring-fed pool near a local village called Orce  and as you do, I got the urge to take photos of a nearby field. Lest anyone tells you that you need a “real” camera to blow up photos beyond snapshot size, try expanding this – I would imagine the image tools in here will allow this to grow and it looks ok on my 4K monitor… taken as is often the case with my handy Pocophone. I still keep the camera around for telephoto shots but in the summer heat in Southern Spain, I…
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The Age of Camera Phones has Arrived

Not only have recent smartphones stepped up to the mark when it comes to camera resolution (48Mpx for the Umidigi S3 Pro, 40Mpx for the Lumix,  28Mpx various Chinese phones, 16Mpx and 20Mpx common on many medium range and even budget phones) and now sensitivity (large pixel size on many new models lets in more light). One of only few issues left to negotiate is zoom, digital zoom is basically a con and very few phone cameras have any sizeable zoom capability. While phone cameras do not have large apertures due to the tiny lenses, various software “solutions” have appeared which, while not as good as the real thing, can…
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PocoPhone F1 with Pixel 3 App

Last year I write about our day-trip to Gibraltar and my then new Panasonic TZ-70 camera. Shortly thereafter we headed off back to blighty and have only just returned to Spain. Our first few days were marvellous but then the weather went sour and so here I am, blogging, staying indoors to keep warm. My favourite phone of the moment is the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 and has been since late last year. From a photography perspective it is pretty hard to fault this phone as the pictures are great, Two of my few gripes have been night-vision quality and limited panorama options and so I’m delighted to announce that thanks…
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Panasonic TZ70

Well, I’ve been threatening to sell the wonderful but heavy Nikon P900 for some time now and finally I did it. Instead, I’ve bought the pocket sized TZ70 from Panasonic. I must say, I had reservations but this class of camera (with some exceptions) has moved on in recent years mainly, I’m guessing, due to advances in mobile phone and the features they offer. I would not now touch a camera without WiFi but even more importantly, easy to use WiFi and the TZ70 has not disappointed, nor has the powerful zoom therein. While being small enough to fit into my pocket, the camera has a very decent 30x optical…
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Not Forgetting the Phone Camera

No doubt when my sparkly new Panasonic camera turns up I’ll get all excited about it, so this is a good time to remind myself just how good my phone camera really is… The original of this un-retouched panorama is absolutely huge. Took this shot this evening during our walk over the hills around Galera. And here’s another completely un-retouched photo from the same session (don’t worry, I’m not turning purist).
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Changes

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been increasingly inclined to take photos with a mobile phone, despite their severe zoom limitations. In December, just days after my last post in here, I suffered a stroke and spend 2 months in hospital. While I’m finally on my feet and in fact relaxing in the Spanish sun, I’m even less inclined to lug around a large camera, despite the benefits. Accordingly, last week I sold the huge 83x zoom Nikon P900 which had been sitting around for months. Hopefully the new owner, a gentleman from nearby Pozo Alcon, will get years of good service from it. Meanwhile ~I could not entirely…
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