Spring at last

Out photographing in the wonderfully sunny weather near my home. Nicholas is videoing it for use on my blog.

In Canon's eyes, I am no longer "professional"

I have been using Canon cameras and lenses since 1982.

They have always served me well and have proved very reliable and long lasting. In fact I've only had problems twice with the same camera when the shutter magnets failed on my old AE1's

When Canon launched their Professional Services division in London back in the early nineties, I immediately signed up. In those days, it wasn't as strictly controlled as it is today and I was able to join

with only two T90 bodies and a number of non L lenses.

I've been a member ever since and now have all my gear including two bodies and three L lenses registered on their website. They promise a quick repair turnaround and the loan of a camera or lens if the repair takes too long.

I've only used their services once, when I had to "doorstep" a prison from several hundred meters away. A quick call to CPS headquarters in London resulted in my being loaned a 500mm f4.5 telephoto.

I haven't used their services since but it's good to know that they are there should I need to.

And that dear reader is the problem. I haven't had a need to use them because my stuff is so reliable. I therefore also have no need to buy the latest and greatest lenses etc because the gear I have is perfectly adequate for what I do.

New from CPS is the fact that you  now have to re-register your gear every year or so. I went to the website to affirm that all my gear was still in my possession and was informed that I was no longer eligible for CPS membership.

"Why was that?" I wondered.

The answer is simple. My beloved 300mm f4L lens is no longer covered. I say beloved, but in truth, I only use it maybe one or twice a year if needed (Like the CPS service centre).

 The offending "no more professional" lens

What annoys me though, is that it (in the eyes of the CPS), is no longer a "professional" lens and I am no longer worthy of Professional Services membership.

Last year alone I took some 3000 images with my Canon stuff. Many of these were used in brochures, catalogues, adverts, product reports and posters etc. I use my gear in a PROFESSIONAL capacity. i.e. I get paid to do it.

In my own (humble) opinion, I think that these instances should be separately examined by Canon because I'm sure that there are plenty of other photographers who, like me, work professionally using Canon products but don't have, want or need the very latest kit.

I am therefore a professional.

Google Earth sometimes gets it wrong...

I recently came across information regarding ruins of a 14th century castle about ten minutres drive from where I live.

Google Earth also informed me that there were indeed ruins to be found in this Area.

Further searches informed me that the ruins of Witwald were in a hazardous state and that there would be no responsibility for any injuries suffered.

I decided to venture forth on a Saturday morning with fellow Brit and hobby photographer, Stephan. We began our search at 10:30 in the morning and, using info from the Swiss castles website, we set off through the forest to try and locate them.

Stephan has lived in the area for fifteen years but had never heard of these ruins so we had to largely guess where they might be.


We walked and walked and we walked. It was mostly uphill and the forest was quite dense. We had to stop several times just to catch our breath. The picture I had saved was used to try and identify the ruins under a rocky outcrop and a few times, we thought that we had found them but it always turned out to be a false alarm.


I didn't want to go home empty handed so I took some HDR images in the forest. 

Finally after three hours of walking and finding nothing but trees, we decided to head back home.


When we reached our starting point, I saw a Land-rover coming towards us with "Forestry service" emblazoned on it's side. Stephan flagged the driver down and asked him if he knew where the ruins were. 


The driver parked his car and talked a while to Stephan. 


"They're one hundred meters over there" he said pointing into the bush over our shoulders.


We couldn't believe it. Barely visible through the foliage, were the ruins. We had spent three hours walking with rucksacks, water and camera gear in a totally different direction. Google Earth had placed the ruins in a totally different area.


On this screenshot, you can see where Google Earth has placed the ruins (Ruine Witwald) and where they actually are (blue rectangle)

Five minutes later, after another uphill climb, we were at the entrance to the ruins. Exhausted, tired and gasping for breath.

After we caught our breath (even Stephan's dog Leila was exhausted), I set up my tripod and camera to take some HDR's. Ten minutes later we were finished and making our way home.


Here are two of the images from the ruins.

The entrance to the ruins.

HDR was used to bring out the background details

On another note. I took the above video using the very small Sony Bloggie camera. It shoots three different HD video formats and still images as well at 5 Megapixels. I'm going to carry it around with me more and post videos from time to time. Feedback would be appreciated.

Spring is in the air

Well I know that technically, Spring hasn't yet begun but the countryside around where I live is at long last, starting to look attractive again.

The skies have been a fetching shade of blue lately, buds are starting to show on the trees and snowdrops have made a welcome appearance.

Today, Oksana (the missus) and I went for a drive to the countryside. I took my light weight benbo tripod, my EOS 5d and a 17-40 zoom lens.

I found a nice location by looking in "Google Earth". It was called Schöntal. A little village in Baselland.

We arrived and went for a walk. There is a "sculpture park" near the village but that costs Fr 10 for entry. I hadn't bought my wallet with me so we explored the village itself.

A five minute walk outside the village revealed a piece of "artwork" on a hill so we went there and I recorded it for posterity (and this blog) .

As I've mentioned in a previous blog post, I don't pretend to understand modern art but this was interesting to photograph with the village in the background. It was an extremely hazy day but shooting HDR helped to minimise it.

Shot into the sun

The same image in Monochrome

Different viewpoint

From there, we took a walk back to the village and I took a few more HDR's. I wanted to take a picture of the former Cloister, which is now a modern art gallery, but the sun was shining directly into my lens so I've made a note to return when Spring is fully underway.

This was the only image that I took of the former monastery.

Thanks for visiting.