Welcome to my photostream, I trust you enjoy it and feel free to make constructive comments or ask any questions. If I have made a mistake in identifying something, mainly around mushrooms and toadstools please make a comment to remove any miss information.

Have fun

Below is a brief history of my time on Flickr thus far and I will attempt to update it as time goes along, you will see from the stream postings that the subject matter, angle and PoV vary with a huge array of different subjects from different locations mainly the UK and a handful from Europe as I travel with my work. The varying subjects have been generate as I learnt or experimented with new cameras, lens or adaptors, hopefully the postings have the required information, if not have a look in the Exif or perhaps drop me an email.

I spent twenty years plus working within the global auction markets viewing the trading and information electronically, the period concluded with studying and passing a degree in Fine Art Valuation BA Hons. My current work involves reviewing and creating detail business processes, designing or assisting in the design of new applications including all the systems and related systems/processes involved, hence the slight lean towards the attention of detail.

My relaxation is getting behind the lens and losing myself for hours on end.

Use of post processing and software 2012

The G1 and TZ5 had provided the ability to deliver Straight Out the Camera (SOOC) postings as these were mainly jpg format and typically of the ratio I wanted to post. The move to the Canon and then the change to RAW (CR2) meant that the original file would require passing through an application such as Adobe Lightroom or strain of Adobe PhotoShop before posting on Flickr or other photostreams.

You will find the image number prefixed or suffix with LR or PS,

LR for Lightroom

PS for Photoshop.

Another camera change Jul 2012

Well the final frontier from P&S, Bridge to a Canon EOS 7D took place, why, well although the DMC G1 delivered a huge improvement on the TZ5 for a verity of subjects, but I did have some issues with controlling the G1 and getting the what I wanted. The 7D hopefully will be used as the prime camera for more than a year, plenty of settings and experimenting to be had.

Camera Change Jul 2011

Having experimented with the P&S Bridge I eventually splashed out on a Panasonic DMC G1 to further my experiments with lenses and playing with light and focus. I stuck with Panasonic as I liked the way it handled low light.

The DMC series for me was an excellent way to understand if I was serious about photography and as stepping stone or bridge between P&S and DSLR.

Having started to learn about focus experiments in this period revolved around light at all sorts of levels and a brief step into off camera flash or strobist. Following on from the P&S Bridge I purchased some bellows which allowed some investigations into super macro’s some of these can be found here www.flickr.com/search/?w=54754281%40N04&q=bellows&amp...

First Year – 2010 - 2011

During the first Flickr year I became aware of a bunch of stuff, which I sort of knew about but never really understood. Hence you’ll find a whole bunch of experiments the majority in the www.flickr.com/photos/rustymarvin/collections/72157625234... collection. Many of these related to producing similar effects to that of the SLR camera and expenses camera’s. Other experiments included Free Lensing and which ended up in the construction of lens extension unit or a P&S Bridge camera www.flickr.com/photos/rustymarvin/5701504354/ used to create some of the macro’s during in this period.

You can browse through a bucket load of images from the TZ5 here www.flickr.com/search/?w=54754281%40N04&q=TZ5&m=text

NB: The dates are slightly out on this set as I didn’t realise until the 11/11/2010 that the camera date was a year behind.

Early Flickr

I joined Flickr in Oct 2010 when I only owned a Panasonic TZ5 in the hope that I could improve my abilities to take a reasonable photograph, with some hints and tips from other photographers, plus a bit of chit chat here and there. Very kindly I gained a number of friends who commented honestly and constructively on my postings. A big thank you to all those that did and helped me along the way.