After Steven's and Andrew's lovely shots, I hesitate to post what follows: I'm actually a "happy snapper" who only occasionally fancies himself as a 'real' photographer. As such, I'm so pleased to have discovered the X10, and along with it, this thread that taught me how to use it. Unlike any camera I've previously owned, it's nearly always in my pocket, forgotten most of the time, but ready when something presents itself.
The few photographs I take are mostly for personal/family record, and as such are not appropriate to post, but last week the fine weather saw me using the camera for the sort of thing I had in mind when I bought it last October. I had the pleasure of taking a gentleman to the general area in Cornwall where, as a young boy, he had been evacuated during the war.
There are opportunities for sea- and landscapes everywhere of course, and others do it much better, but here we reminded one 'whipper snapper' of the ''Last of the Summer Wine", and so I removed myself from the seat, and took a panoramic shot to disassociate myself:
DSCF4142-2 by
wylyeangler, on Flickr
Sometimes a bit of humour slips in: here my friend's hand, accidentally in shot, seems to be encouraging the elderly gentleman to observe the view closer to the sheer drop of 200 feet plus. In reply, the body language is, "Blow that for a game of marbles!" (or similar).
DSCF4152 by
wylyeangler, on Flickr
On the return journey, the X10 took up little space under the aircraft seat, and was available for immediate action. To this end, I asked the old gentleman to take the stick whilst I got a few snaps. He had been dying to do this, and steered up the coast from Newquay to Minehead. Look at the lips, pursed in hard concentration!
DSCF4214 by
wylyeangler, on Flickr
'White knuckles' on the stick are not unusual for an absolute beginner, but our intrepid aviator here insists on using both hands, with a thumb whitening under the pressure:
DSCF4208 by
wylyeangler, on Flickr
At nearly 85, he made a good job of it, with only minimal help needed keeping about a quarter of a mile out to sea, at about 1500 feet so as to easily make land in case of engine failure. As with most, he found holding exact level tricky at first. In this shot, the 'ghost' of the propeller can just be seen, and to its left on the nose, Bude appearing as displayed by both GPS units:
DSCF4203-2 by
wylyeangler, on Flickr
None of the photos are works of art, but the X10 helped make the day out memorable - I ran off a few prints for us all.
Pete