Film or Digital - that is the question

21 March 2012

After yesterday’s bright sun and blue skies, today we have cloud cover that   produces a flat even light that isn’t all that useful for taking photos.  However, with today’s DSLR we can overcome such conditions by adjusting the white balance setting which allows us to shoot in practically any weather conditions.  That was also true of a film SRL.  The difference though is that with a 35mm SLR the snapper had to know how to deal with the conditions and had to work harder to get the shots he wanted.  With a DSLR, it’s just a case of pushing a few buttons and later clicking a few options in Photoshop.  Or is it?  I leave you to come to your own conclusion on that!

I now use a Sony Alpha 350 DSLR.  Before that I used a Konica Minolta Z5.  Both are digital cameras.  At one time I also had a Minolta XD7 35mm camera that was used quite a bit for black and white film which I processed myself.  However, I had to make a hard choice.  AT the time I was still reading for my degree with the OU and I had an assignment coming up which would need printing.  I was running out of film, printing paper and chemicals for processing for processing them.  I was also running out of printing inks too.  I had to make a choice - digital or film!  It was a hard choice to make.  In the end I went fully digital, simply because of cost.  I still miss being able to use film and to watch as the image appears as if by magic in the tray of developer.  Ah well, I have to make do I suppose.

But am I just ‘making do’?  Well, no I’m not actually.  My A350 is a magic camera and is a dream to use.  At times I get images from it that will rival any of the images you might see in a photo mag.  I also get a lot of crap too.  But I still get excited when I go out with my camera; not knowing what I might see to shoot is all part of the fun.  I shall be out later today after my GP appointment.  I shall head for the market just as they are staring to clear up; there should be some interesting shots there.

So what of Dorktown then?  Well, the town hussy get’s two mentions in the News today.  The first one is on the front page again and is about the Hussy Hospital.  They have had 27 SIRIs in the period 1020/2011.  What’s an SIRI?  It stands for a Serious Incident Requiring Investigation.  There were a couple of slips or falls resulting in broken bones, a number of bedsores on patients including one where the patient wasn’t doing anything to help themselves even though they were able to do so.  The most worrying one though was an attempted suicide.  No details have been given which is hardly surprising really,  other than to say that it had happened. 

The second mention is of the hussy herself.  At one time she lived in Griff House which is now a hotel/restaurant.  She lived there until she was 21.  For some daft reason The One Show is doing a piece about the hussy and the local big wig of her fawning society is appearing on it.  No wonder the show is going downhill.

Our Council Tax bill arrived here a week or so ago; just over £1100 this year.  Dorktown Council takes just 13% of it.  The cops take more than that with the rest going to the County Council.  Now then, Dorktown has a number of CCTV cameras covering the town centre and it is paid for solely by the borough council.  Neither the cops nor the CC help out with it.  Dennis Harvey the council leader is making to know through the pages of The News about this.  He is also making a fuss because the CC is planning to turn off up to 80% of the street lights here in Dorktown – even with the largest slice of Council Tax they take.  Their respose to arguments about an increase in burglary?  “You will see burglars coming by their torches lighting the way for them … beg pardon?  I thought the idea was that burglars liked it dark so they can get around without being seen.  So why would they take a torch with them?  And what of any person out late night on their way home from work using a torch to light their way?  Will the cops be stopping them now and charging them with the ‘going equipped’ charges they like to use these days?  I hope they don’t search my car then.  I have a large ‘pinch bar’ in the boot. I bought because every so often my scooter drive gets jammed onto the scooter and I need the bar to free it.  Oh dear … …

I have a rude photo for you today.  I found this … 

in the Rag Market in Brum.

Today’s funny …

A primary school teacher asked her pupils to use the word "fascinate" in a sentence.  Molly said, "My family went to my granddad's farm, and we saw all his pet sheep. It was fascinating."

The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word fascinate".

Sally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to Cheddar Caves and I was fascinated."

The teacher said, "Well, that was good, Sally, but I want the word fascinate".

Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher hesitated because Little Johnny was noted for his bad language. She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word "fascinate", so she called on him.

Johnny said, "My cousin's wife has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tits are so big, she can only fasten eight."