Unexpected rain

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The weather forecast said it would rain from three o'clock in the afternoon onwards so I calculated that it would be fine to cycle to my appointment for half past nine and cycle home at about ten thirty or eleven o'clock.  No need for wet weather gear I thought, summer trousers and a light sweater over my short sleeved shirt should be enough for the cool of the morning. And it was. A pleasant cycle ride down the drove roads, past the wheat stubble, the flocking swallows and the foraging collared doves and tree sparrows. But, as I chatted after my meeting at about quarter to eleven I looked out of the window and saw steady drizzle falling. The predictions of the Met Office had, once again this summer, proved hopeless and several hours early the rain had arrived.

Aiming to miss the heavy rain that was likely (or was it!) to follow the light rain I made a swift exit and cycled home, head down, legs pumping, through the steady precipitation. My front was quickly wet and my glasses were soon obscured by raindrops. But I pressed on and got home damp; the sort of damp that in winter would have had me changing clothes but which in late summer found me letting them dry naturally and quite quickly still on me. Taking my glasses off and setting them down before wiping them I saw the small droplets of rain on the lenses and quickly snapped today's photograph.

Just as it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, so too is it hopeless rain that can't produce a photograph or two.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Raindrops on Glasses
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 60mm macro (120mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Rimless spectacles

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I'm sure that there are many photographers who have wonderful digital archives that can be searched by every conceivable parameter including subject, geographical location and photographic data, allowing them to easily locate an image. I am not one of those people. Like, I suspect, the majority of photographers, I have an archival system that is better than nothing, but not good enough to allow images to be retrieved without the expenditure of time and effort. However, the occasions on which I need to retrieve an image quickly are relatively few, so I'm never motivated to expend the energy to improve matters.

Today I searched for a photograph of a wooden screen in a Norfolk church on which were painted, in the 1400s, various saints, one of whom wore spectacles (glasses). These aids to vision were invented much earlier than many people realise. The earliest pictorial representation of spectacles with converging lenses for the long-sighted dates from c.1286, as I was reminded in a book about the medieval industrial revolution that I'm currently reading. Consequently it should come as no surprise to see them represented in a painting of the fifteenth century. However, it did jolt me. In the light of what I wrote above you won't be surprised to hear that I was unable to find my photograph after ten minutes search.

Perhaps it was reading my book that caused me to notice my rimless spectacles that I'd put down on a cupboard in my darkened study. I liked the glowing colour, the way the light of the lamp illuminated them, emphasising the delicate metalwork, and I liked the contrast of the light and dark areas. The simple subject called for a shallow depth of field and so I used a long lens in my relatively small room.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Rimless Spectacles
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On