Sorry for you non-photography geeks, this is a short post about a lens, the “Panasonic H-X09E Lumix LEICA DG SUMMILUX 9mm F1.7 Lens” to be precise… During the spell of bad weather I was practically forced to browse, and yes, spend money on photo gear. I had long wanted a lens suitable both for landscape and street photography, but especially one that allowed me to focus on say a reptile or amphibian and still have the habitat in the background. A fisheye lens can do this a bit (see the previous post), but on land it results in distortions that just look unnatural. This is a lens that can do the job, as it has a minimum focusing distance of about 10 cm – resulting not in real macro shots but being able to come pretty close, combined with a wide angle background. After having it taken out this weekend for the first time I must say I am really happy with it.

The bank holiday Monday warranted a morning visit to one of our favourite haunts Windmill Farm to do some ‘herping’. Adders and slow worms were found after lifting up corrugated iron sheets, but they slithered off before I could take any good shots. However, there was a toad that sat nice and still so I was able to take multiple shots, camera in one hand, diffuser in the other. For a first try, I was pretty happy with the result. Next, we took a walk from nearby Lizard Point to Housel Bay. The weather was absolutely glorious, with many wild flowers on the cliffs and fulmars, choughs and pipits flying around. The water was blue and crystal clear – you could see the seals swimming underwater! A small part of me was cursing that I was not in the water myself to take photos, but it was a fantastic day on land too.

P.S. annoyed that the Windows photo software straightening tool is not very precise – the horizon is not straight!