Shrewsbury Revisited

After my workshop on Saturday, there was a problem with my camera so it has had to be sent away for repairs for anything up to 4 weeks!! So I am feeling completely bereft and don't quite know what to do with myself. Photography has been the key behind the brand new adventurous me and I really don't want to be without it for long.

So, time to resurrect my old point and shoot camera that I used before I got a "grown up" camera. It has the enormous aperture range of 4.2 to 7.3, won't shoot RAW and doesn't have a viewfinder, only a live view screen. However, I thought it would help me to focus on the composition, knowing that there was little I could do with the camera to change things.

Still it's better than nothing, so out I go again. The idea is to retrace the route Richard and I took on our workshop. However, easily distracted by something shiny, saw the following in a field on the way in.

Please forgive the quality of the pictures, as it really is a very basic camera.

So I get to where we met up and followed our route, except that I didn't because I got completely lost. I can only explain it by the fact that I was listening so intently to what I was being taught that I didn't pay any attention to where I was going. I may have mentioned it before, but navigationally challenged is in the title for a reason!

I ended up crossing a fabulous toll bridge that I hadn't seen before. This led up a hill into a lovely posh residential area with some very pretty houses.

It was actually really nice just to wander around not really knowing where I was but having every confidence that I couldn't be too far from town and if the worst came to the worst, I could always just retrace my steps.

Funnily enough, it was actually quite liberating knowing that I couldn't do anything to the camera. I put in on auto (yes I know, I'm sorry) and let it sort itself out. I then had to get myself lined up properly and visualise how the picture would look. I think we can get so wrapped up in shutter speeds, apertures, ISO and everything else you can do that it is easy to forget composition. Unfortunately my screen on the camera isn't very good, so many of the pictures were a bit pot luck, and quite a few won't make it past Lightroom!

Normally when I go out photographing I have my 10lb backpack with spare lenses, filters, tripods, cleaning equipment, remote and all the other bits and pieces you need. Today, I put the camera in my pocket!

Eventually found my way back to known territory and walked along the river.

I have noticed when looking at the photos that I haven't done an awful lot of "thing" photography which was what the course was about. I think that is a mindset that I still haven't got into yet. I am hoping when Bob (my youngest named the camera) returns, I can have another go as I really want to be able to do that. Most of the photos I took are the type of thing I typically take, but a couple are a bit different, so baby steps!

Lessons Learned: It was a valuable lesson to be out and about without my Canon and what did I learn from it? That I don't want to be out and about without my Canon!

Diet Diary: How can I think about dieting without my camera, can't you see I'm upset and cake is the only thing that helps with the pain.