This post is actually just to say hello again after a longish break and I plan to start posting againso there will be more to follow. Quite a few of these will be about some new hardware that has been added to my shelves during my 3 year absence. I hope will join me on my journey again.

I lost my way somewhat as well as my mojo but thankfully my interest has been rekindled ...

After going through all of my images from my Loire Valley trip (and deleting some 90% of the images), I have come to the conclusion that a couple of things have to change. I always tend to do this type of thing, it's the only way you're going to find out what works, what doesn't and what you have to change. I normally don't like a post-mortem, but this is exactly what I am doing ...

Today took us out to two more chateaus, the first being Chateau Langeais. Originally founded in the year 992 today's chateau has no resemblance to the original castle. The old keep itself lies in ruins. It is the second earliest knows chateau and is where the marriage between Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII took place in secrecy (1491), which bonded Brittany to the rest of France. The new chateau, what stands today, was started ...

Today we moved on from Blois to a little town called Veretz. It's not too far from Chinon (which I always thought was a large town - it isn't) and planned to stay there for the day until our friends turned up later.

Chinon wasn't exactly on the way to Veretz but we had time to spare until our friends came.

We stopped at Chinon (population 8000) for the day before driving further ...

Today was going to be a long drive. Unfortunately it was the only day we could do it on but I wanted to see this location. It was rather cloudy and grey but there wasn't anything we could do about that.

Fontevraud Abbey was founded in 1101 by the hermit Roberts d'Arbrissel for both men and women and was the largest of its kind in France. It is quite large but is only ...

Today, for our first visit, we did a village north of the Loire River. All, or most, of the popular chateaus seem to be on the south side of the Loire. I wonder why? Anyway, the first village we visited was Talcy. Of course it also has a chateau. I think every little village in this part of France has a chateau. We didn't visit these villages for the sole purpose of their chateaus, we ...

To make up for the disappointment yesterday we headed for two different locations. My shutter therapy is falling short right now!

Our first stop was Cheverny. Built between 1620 and 1634. All the finishing on the towers weren't completed until 1648 however. It's the first chateau to be built as a chateau without any defensive or military purposes in mind. And what a beautiful building it is. I could see me living there too, ...

Today we took a break from looking at chateaus, even one chateau per day can be too much at times so we headed out for the town of Orleans. With some 120,000 inhabitants, it's one of the bigger towns in the region and offers some great sights to see. It was the capital of medieaval France until the mid-18th Century. During the French Revolution it bacame stauchly Republican. The cathedral dominates the town (Cathedrale-Ste-Croix) and ...

We headed south west in the direction of Chenonceaux which is the village that gives it’s name to Chateau Chenonceau. Aptly named as  the “Palace of Women” because over the ages only women have owned and lived in the chateau. Originally built in 1512 by Catherine Briconnet it was Diane de Poitiers who would build the bridge that spans the Cher river. Catherine de Medici then added the galleries over the bridge.

Chenonceau ...

The heat is oppressive today. We feel like taking a shower every 15 minutes. Despite this we battled our way to the largest chateau in France, Chambord.

As you can see from the map above, Chambord isn't far at all from Blois where we were staying for some 10 days. The map shows where a couple of hundred chateaus are situated in the Loire Valley. That's why we chose Blois as ...

Ten hours it took to drive from Frankfurt, Germany to Blois, France. Blois is the regional capital with some 50,000 inhabitants. After finding the flat we had rented for the next 10 days, out we went to see what delights the town could offer.

For those who are curious to know where Blois is, it's right in the middle on the Loire Valley where most of the chateaus of this famous valley lie. From Blois, ...

There's a saying "Less is more". And I perceive that as being true in all walks of life but especially where photography is concerned.

One of my problems when going on a trip is deciding which system to take, Fuji, Sony or m43. I'm lucky being able to afford three system simultaneously but on the other hand it does cause some difficulty when going on trips. The question about which system with which lenses to ...

It has been an interesting 2016 for all mirrorless systems ranging from Sony to Fujifilm to Olympus and Panasonic. Canon have come out with their latest model the M5 but a little late in my opinion. They have a lot of ground to make up over the established manufacturers and whether they’ll catch up is anyone's guess, but I won’t be investing in that system any time soon. Nikon have lost the thread and haven’t ...

I’ve always wanted to go down to Cornwall, but never quite managed it. Don’t ask me why I want to go there but I suppose it’s to do with it’s history and the rugged coastline I’ve been hearing a lot about. The small harbours nestling among the ragged cliffs. Sounds great doesn’t it?

Well, a few weeks ago I had a chance to do just that and my wife and myself stayed in Cornwall for a ...

I think photographers sometimes hit a spot at some stage where nothing seems to go right and the juices don't seem to flow. I suppose it's something similar to a writer's block where they sit in front of a blank page (or screen nowadays) and they just can't start writing. Or, they start writing knowing in their hearts it's total rubbish. It could be because of a lack of ideas, inspiration, conviction or even boredom.

It ...

My last post was regarding adapters for using Canon EF lenses on Sony E-mount and M43 systems. Having tested a few lenses I felt I could post again with some more information with a few images to show the results of using those lenses on the Sony E-mount.

Firstly, the Commlite adapter. I've only tested the Canon 40 f2.8 STM lens on a Sony E-mount camera as of this post so I'll probably test ...

After finishing my first real post about some manual lenses ont he Sony A7r, I had a little break and thought about that actual post I did.

My admiration is growing for those bloggers that manage to get one or more posts out each day. It took me some time to get everything posted as I wanted, and I'm not taliking about hours. It took me a couple of days to get it done. ...