Remember to look twice

It's so easy to just go through your pictures, pick out the best, post them and promptly never go back.  It's always a great idea to go back through your photos several times on different days with a different eye.   My talk of black and white had me going back with mono in mind, pulled a couple of more gems from my recent trip to the UK.

I had never used my X100S in low light before this trip and the first few days I was struggling a bit with what ISO to use so the grain, which I like if done properly, is not consistent enough across the images, it blooms too much in certain areas but I still like the photos :-)

The Green Dragon is an amazing 17th century pub located near Cheltenham.  If your in the area you will not find a better meal or nuance then this fabulous place.   http://www.green-dragon-inn.co.uk/gallery.php

I have been to this location 3 times over the years but I have yet to stay there in the daylight.   One of my future trips I will get there during the day and I might even stay there.

Definitely not a lie.   When you walk in your immediately struck by the welcome atmosphere and the smell of wood smoke from the open fireplaces and the coziness of the low ceilings.

The train station at Cheltenham Spa.

A street scene one evening in Cheltenham

West End

Took a short run up to the west end of the island.   Mostly to see what was going on for the preparations for Americas Cup 2017 and to see if the AC boats might be out in the sound.   Unfortunately they were not but I did get to see some of the on-going construction.   I will not rant today beyond saying that Bermuda needs to get off it's ass and get moving on this great opportunity the island has to reinvent itself.

There was a cruise ship in so I limited my visit to a few pictures and got out of dodge.   And I will not rant about the stupidity of some people who need to educate themselves before traveling outside the US of A.   :-)

On my way west I stopped above Horseshoe bay to take a shot.   The winds were up and lots happening on the beach from both tourists and locals.   I was trying to catch the colour of the water with the X100s but I probably should have pulled out the zoom lens instead.  

The other side of Horseshoe, tide levels are very high.  I doubt if you could walk through like you normally can.

Taken from the top of Fort Scaur.   That is looking at the old US Navy Annex, Morgans point.   Many of the AC teams will be setting up their HQ's out there, this I believe is the home of the Artemis team.  Very strange seeing new construction out there after 20+ years of derelict buildings.

Another view show showing the cranes working on something.   I don't see any remnants of the base left, seems it's finally leveled.

If my memory hasn't failed me, this is where the old barracks were.  Gone.

A ship I love and a ship I hate.   In the foreground is the "Spirit of Bermuda" a beautiful sloop.   I have photographed her a few times over the year but until you see her on the water it does not do her justice.   Meanwhile a cruise ship in the background.   I know they bring business to the island but all the stuff that has sprung up at dockyard to support them just seems so tacky and un-Bermuda.   Snorkel park is terrible, the restaurants cater with foolish tacky menu item names (seriously, you think I want a frozen boner?), segway tours and a train for those who are too fat to walk.

One of the more traditional ferries, "Bermudian"

Have I mentioned how much I live "Spirit of Bermuda"?  :-)

I do like the paint job on the "Norwegian Dawn"

The rain decided to give us a shower giving some nice light to play with.

Bermuda has built a new 9 acre island just off the seawall as you enter the dockyard.   This will be the pavilion for AC 2017.   Apparently it was built on time and to budget, something I have never heard of in  Bermuda hahaha.  But next time I'm here this should be a beehive of activity with sailboats and people.

But across from the new island is the remains of HMS Malabar.   What an eyesore after being battered and left to rot for the past 20+ years.   This needs to be tore down before the AC comes and the entire town of Somerset needs a paint job AND Watford bridge needs to be cleaned up AND the road should be paved etc etc....I will not rant, I will not rant, I will not rant!

Back in Bermuda, the black and white edition

Yes, I just left here 6 weeks ago  ;-) but was asked if I would house sit for a few days and I jumped at the chance as this time of year I can get Jen and Erin down to the island with me.  Given it's just a quick 10 day trip and I'm playing tour guide vice hardcore photographe I decided to do something different.  Set the Fuji X100s and X-T1 to black and white and that is where they are staying.  If I can resist colour in this amazing place I can do it anywhere.   I also have raw turned on so there are colour versions available to me to look at during a later date if I so choose.  

The other part is I'm doing all of this with an IPad mini.   Left the laptop at home.  I have the mobile version of lightroom and what a pain trying to figure out how to move files around but discovered that if I share to G+ then I can snag them from google for the blog.   Only 2 days left in the trip and we lost 3 days to rain but got a few pictures I like.   Some of these are a bit out of my comfort zone but have to say I'm enjoying living in monochrome.

As I said, crappy weather when we arrived but made for nice moody skies.

Inside the cave at Tom Moore's jungle.   It was a hot humid day and a Bermuda holiday (Cup Match) so locals were taking a swim in the cool waters.

I love this floor.

Jen "Monroe" at the Frog and Onion

Caught Erin posing for her mother but have me a great angle to sneak a shot in.

Did I mention I like this floor?

The clocktower at the Royal Naval Dockyard and the "Spirit of Bermuda" a beautiful Bermuda sloop.

One of the feeders at the Bermuda aquarium, I like this shot.  It's a harp seal.

A lemur hiding in the trees.

An otter came out to say hi.

Not something you see everyday.  A dog on the back, a kid on the front.  Both having a great time.

Hamilton was pretty quiet during cup match.

He was checking out my beer.

Not sure what these berries are but the bird like them.

Winter - blah!

Sorry haven't posted anything since I left Bermuda. Burned myself out a bit on photography plus getting home and having to rush around and get everything ready for winter. Well it has finally arrived. A couple of shots from the other evening as the pond was freezing over.