Back to life

I got Owain to the airport by six, in good time for his flight, and was back in the house by six fifteen. It was still pitch dark, so I went back to bed for a few hours. It didn't seem to make much difference, however, as later in the day I kept nodding off, and had to surrender to a siesta after an afternoon visit to El Corte Ingles for a new battery for my Lumix DMS-LX5 camera. After a couple of months of non-use, sitting in my suitcase while I got used to my new Sony HX50, it was re-chargeable no longer. I've only had the camera ten months, but got it at a third of its list price because it had been a display model. I daresay the battery was worked very hard and not looked after properly in the year or so it was on show, so I'm not surprised really. A new battery cost €31.80 and after charging, the camera is as beautiful to use as it ever was.

Bill and Susanna came around for supper. I cooked a paella to honour the occasion. It's only my second effort using the largest frying pan the kitchen has to offer, something of a challenge catering for four. The state of the art cooker top with touch controls has only three hobs, one of which is too large for any of the existing cooking pots. Clearly it was designed with a big skillet or paella pan in mind. I must put this on the wish list for the house. It's one of the few things that's lacking in a marvellously equipped residence for a soon to be appointed chaplain (we hope). I'm due to return at the end of August to cover the time until the new priest is ready to move in and take over. At the moment there's no idea as to whether that's going to be a couple of weeks or months.

 

My kind of bargain

On Saturday, I spotted a Lumix DMC-LX5 advanced compact camera in John Lewis'. I looked at online reviews over the weekend, and decided that with its particular set of features, at 26% of its launch price it was an irresistible bargain, a piece of weight saving kit I could take with me to Spain next week instead of my cherished Sony Alpha 55 DSLR. So, on my way in to the CBS office this afternoon, I revisited the store and found that the bargain camera had not been bought by someone else over the weekend. It's what happens in times of recession. It's very much a buyers market, particularly for skinflints like me that don't really enjoy spending money without good cause.

With my new acquisition, I can learn to vary manual settings easily instead of relying on 'Auto' as I habitually tend to, and then transfer my acquired knowledge to a more sophisticated device - well that's my excuse. I took it out for a walk around Llandaff Fields as the sun was setting, and enjoyed playing with the results afterwards. It's not the 'state of the art' camera of this type, but it has more capability that I'll learn to use well. I especially like what it can do at close range, and wide angle settings. A camera can never truly represent all the eye can see, or exactly what the mind selects for attention from what it sees. But it sure makes to think about everything you look at in a fresh way.

And that's what makes me enthusiastic about taking photographs.