I am testing out my new baby whilst on holiday for the next few days. I don’t have my laptop with me so these pics are all camera and ipad mini.
Just off the plane a few hours ago, soooo sleepy!
Here are random pics. Better ones, where I am actually seeing sights, to follow.
So I didn’t go anywhere exciting, but I couldn’t resist having a go of my new gadget. New – better – photo examples will follow soon :0)
Of course, I started in the garden. Riveting.
These photos are all using the camera’s on board effects and filters by the way. I usually steer clear of those, because they are a bit gimmicky, but in this case I found them quite good. Also, the filters and “on the go” editing seem to be in spirit of the Pentax Q.
The black and white filter is lovely, straight out of the camera.
I was never expecting the earth from macro photography with the Q’s teeeny tiny sensor… So all things considered I think this one isn’t too bad.
Went for lunch with the mother, while it’s her birthday, and generally annoyed her by taking random pictures.
Enough of the black and white already
The bold colour effects are kind of cute, too.
Verdict:
So far, so good. must keep clicking. Not having a view finder is really hard to adjust to – I keep smacking my head against the screen like a spack – but I’m sure I will get used to it.
I only heard about this camera about a week ago – the worlds smallest interchangeable lens camera. As any of my friends and family would tell you, I have a “thing” for small cute gadgets.
This discovery luckily coincided with me realising that I had a relatively expensive camera sat gathering dust as a “backup body” – so out with the old and in with the new!
The Pentax Q – smaller than my face.
Now, seriously, this image gives you no real indication as so how dinky this device is. However small you think it is – it’s smaller. And yet really sturdy and well built.
Next to my S3 it looks like a toy.
Soft spot for small things aside, the idea of having a high-end, portable camera that I can take with me everywhere really appeals to me. There have been so many times recently where I’ve seen something cool, and only had my phone with me. Which as good as the S3 is – for a phone – it isn’t anything to write home about. I’m hoping the Q will be this device for me from now on.
This is my usual beast.
My usual camera is the mighty Sony A77, which gives me wrist ache and back ache and general ache every time I use it. The quality of what it can produce is well worth it, but obviously this isn’t just a camera I can throw in my hand bag and go.
My other baby.
This is my indestructible baby – the Olympus TG-1. This is perfect for selfies on the river rapids, and filming when I parasail, but for the more “artistic” shots, it really is just a point and shoot. I have used this so much though, it is such a fun device. I was so surprised to find that the Pentax Q was smaller than my POINT AND SHOOT?! wow!
This is really just an introductory blog – I haven’t actually tested this camera day to day yet. But when I do, I will post the results on here. I’m not hoping for Sony a77 quality, but hopefully something above and beyond my Olympus or my phone.
Can a lens (and sensor) this dinky produce anything worthwhile?
LETS FIND OUT!!
Ok, a quick recap: 2 weeks in and I had made a heart stopping /sarcasm £33.
3 months in and I’ve made a moderately respectable £200.
Not retirement fund yet, but I haven’t even uploaded any new designs since February, so this is literally money for nothing.
FANKS REDBUBBLE!!
everyone with even a moderate skill in Photoshop should join.
I used to be afraid of poking my camera out in public.
seriously.
I went to the Southport fair once with my dad, for a photo trip, and he took great photos of the waltzer spinning and the lights and all the hustle and bustle… and I just sort of stood there. I came back without a single photo.
I used to be so self conscious of everything.
So what did I do recently? I bought the fecking biggest, heaviest DSLR (cough SLT cough) on the market: the Sony A77 with Big Bastard Lens.
I’ve only had it a few months, but it has taught me a lot. My attitude has changed.
If I want to take a photo, god dammit, I’m going to get my obnoxiously large camera out and take one.
I learnt very quickly that very few people actually give a shit. I was panicking over nothing. As is the story of my life. I still have a phone phobia; I am convinced that the disembodied voice on the other end might somehow hurt or offend me. But this is coming from the girl who made her mum go to the ice cream van until she was … um… 17?
It is fair to say, I think I’ve come a long way. I can see it in my photography, and other areas of my life… and the fact that I can now buy myself a fucking ice cream.
The moral of the story? sometimes it is better to face troubles head on.
(Hello, again, mr blog)
As some of you may know, for fun, I decided to join RedBubble and try my hand at designing T-Shirts and stuff two weeks ago.
It’s free to join, and you make a *small* profit with every item you sell: bottom line, it costs me nothing, ever. WIN.
So, I set out with the idea that even selling one product would be really cool.
Two weeks in and I have sold an earth-shattering (/sarcasm) 15 products!! And jokes aside I am actually quite impressed! more than one a day eh.
I’ve officially crossed over the “threshold” to receive my money – £30.44 to be exact – next month.
So, yes, I LOVE the site!, Yes, I do a little happy dance every time I get a “You’ve made a Sale!” Email.
But no, one shall not be retiring just yet.
To Shop or not to Shop?
From time to time I dabble with photography. I really enjoy taking my camera about with me and seeing what I can see, or making my friends do daft things:-
I also enjoy editing them afterwards. But how much ‘Shop is too much?
I have a pretty decent camera setup – it’s not a fancy Canon or a billion dollar lighting rig but it’s a moderately decent Sony (who else? – I work for them!) with a variety of lenses and fancy bags. Because bags are VERY important.
As a general rule of thumb, I ‘Shop until my heart’s content, then admit to myself that the New-And-Improved shot is in fact a distorted and mangled beast, when compared to the original. So why bother?
Well, it’s all in the nuances.
A gentle tweak here and there can really make a dull shot shine; although I do subscribe to the adage that you cannot polish a turd. Not even a really hard one.
At the time of photo editing, with my numerous apps open, flicking between them all – Photoshop, Lightroom, SnapSeed, Photo Bag 2, etc etc. I feel like a god, sculpting my very own version of reality. Sometimes I go to absurd lengths…
“Does the lake HAVE to be blue? Really?”
“What? the sky was alway a post-apocalyptic orange and green…”
But then there are times when you can use your powers for good, not evil, and create cool effects on an otherwise ho-hum photograph:-
ooh everything’s all small and stuff!
You can also stitch together multiple shots to create this bonkers effect:-
In this instance, I figured the audience probably knows the photo isn’t real –not unless my friend Damian is secretly an octuplet and the whole clan randomly decided to do an incredibly dangerous simultaneous bungee jump. So, a bit of flitering and “Hyper-Real” effects should hopfully not confuse the viewer.
COOOL!
This looks a bit crack-inspired, but it is pretty cool. Thanks, Photoshop 
I think that is my style: Hyper-Real. But there is a fine line between Hyper-Real and down right fugly, ham-fisted photoshopping. And man, have I been guilty of that! (see above, and here’s one more for good measure)
“What? Spanish sea is just different from here”
So yeah, the point of this blog is just basically… I need to get back to my roots. I don’t want to get washed upon the rocks with the Instagram tide.
More of this:-
Less of this shit… WHAT.. was I thinking?! :-
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