Trip to Kew Gardens & Camden Town

[Mike Farley]

I will do Camden Town on Friday unless someone else wants to join me.

I am now in a position to check my diary and I have something else happening next Friday, 24 October.

[Mata]

Hi

Shall we arrange a meeting place for Tuesday?

I will be travelling from East Croydon via Clapham Junction to Kew Bridge mainline.

The nearest entrance to Kew Gardens from the station is Elizabeth Gate.

http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/pl ... ate-to-use

Would around 10.30/45 be a good time?

[davidb]

Mata

I generally travel from East Croydon ~ Clapham Junction ~ Richmond ~ Kew Gardens. I believe the walking part is closer from Kew Gardens (underground) than it is from Kew Bridge (South-west Trains). The Main Entrance is the closest to Kew Bridge, Victoria Gate is closest to Kew Gardens.

We can meet at East Croydon on the concourse in George Street. I would prefer a little earlier (10:00) as I will need to get back to Croydon earlyish as I have a CCC council meeting later.

How will I recognise you?

(I have a snapshot of myself (although it is a few years old so make allowances!!))

[Mata]

Hi David

I was hoping to be at Kew Gardens around 10.30.

Are you OK if we take the 9.35 train from Easy Croydon?

Meet you by the main entrance on the left at 9.25. I am sure I will recognise you.

[davidb]

I will try my best. It means getting up at an unearthly hour!!!!

[Mike Farley]

How did the trip go? Are there any photos to share?

[Mata]

Hi Mike

I had a great but frustrating day. The weather was so changeable and the wind made it really difficult to take any decent photos of flowers outside.

I didn’t stay too long in the green house as I found the humidity kept misting up the lens and view piece. I wasn’t sure if it would cause damage to the lens?

I did get to try out the 105mm f/2.8 and the 35mm f1.8 to mixed results. The lenses are great, very sharp. Need more practice to get the best out of them?

I have transferred the photos to the computer and hopefully go through them in the next few days, you never know I may have accidentally taken a masterpiece.

David was very happy so he may have some good photos of the day.

I did enjoy (challenging as it was) the day and it was huge learning curve me.

I am looking forward to Camden Town on Friday. It should be another good experience as there is plenty to choose from (market, canal and street art) and experiment using 18-300mm & 105mm lens for different effect.

[Mike Farley]

Hi Jay

Sorry that you did not have the best of conditions. Tough luck that Gonzalo chose to blow in on the day you chose to go.

Lenses do mist up in humidity but no longstanding harm will come to them in the short time they are exposed to a moist atmosphere. It is due to the glass being cooler than the surrounding air, which causes condensation to form. It's the same with the viewfinder. All you have to do is wait for the surfaces to warm up and everything will be OK - it typically takes around 20 to 30 minutes and you can spend the time planning shots.

I must admit that based on our earlier conversations I am surprised that you seem to have acquired two more lenses in short order. An unexpected GAS attack? When used at close distances, a macro is best mounted on a tripod as it it is very difficult to hold it sufficiently still to maintain composition and prevent camera shake.

I hope that you got some good shots from the day, but even if not the practice and experience will stand you in good stead to know what to do next time.

[davidb]

I, too, had an enjoyable day. I managed to get separated from Jav shortly after we arrived but it didn't stop me from taking 247 photographs. We bumped into each other again about 15:30 and had a coffee/tea before leaving about 16:00. It rained once but I was under cover (don't know where Jav was at the time).

I've loaded the images onto my computer and have started identifying and naming the subjects and otherwise processing them. Unfortunately, particularly in the Palm House, light was generally at a premium and the auto ISO ofter managed to reach 25,600! The shots are a little grainy.

However, I'll persevere and you never know I might finish up with one or two shots worth sharing.

This shot is named "Twister"

[Mata]

Hi Mike

No GAS attack I am glad to say.

I have been doing some different workshops (Studio lighting, portrait, fashion, product) and felt I needed a few more lens to work with. The idea is to add variety as well as gain hands on knowledge and experience by interacting with professional people and setups.

I am hoping by end of November to have covered these topics a number of times where I can feel comfortable in hiring a studio, using a light box, setting-up and using various equipment as well as different camera/lens settings. It’s a great learning curve so far.

I have the time over the next few months so I have thrown myself into “Photography” wholeheartedly and learn/understand the basics as quickly as I can.