Despite the coronavirus lockdowns, camera manufacturers have been hard at work developing new cameras and lenses, with a major battle between Sony and Canon. Sony has just released its first every lens using an F1.2 aperture, which many in the industry said would be impossible. Pre-ordered many weeks ago, my new Sony 50mm F1.2 GM … Read full article
What better way to test my new Sony 200-600mm lens than with the Moon? The photo above was taken on the 19th April 2021. The Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens was paired with the the Sony 1.4x Teleconverter lens, giving an effective focal length of 840mm. The Sony A7R IV camera was used. I … Read full article
It definitely feels like spring, with daffodils flowering and temperatures rising. I cannot believe that it is nearly a year since I took photographs of a deserted Spaldwick in lockdown. As shown above, the A14 was empty. View the photos of Spaldwick in spring 2020. One casualty of the last 12 months has been the … Read full article
Do you want the very best Wi-Fi performance possible? I’m delighted to report that Ubiquiti’s newest Access Point – which uses the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) technology – is absolutely superb and represents excellent value for money. Even several months after launch, this exciting product is in short supply. Deploying several of these devices in … Read full article
I really enjoy applying cutting-edge web development techniques and technologies to help local businesses to compete with national (and often) global competitors. As reported in my recent article The Increasing Importance of Website Speed and Simplicity, the introduction of website speed as a key factor in Google’s search engine ranking algorithm in 2021 brings major … Read full article
Most broadband users have little awareness of the Domain Name System (DNS) but this plays a critical role in ensuring your broadband experience is fast and responsive. While we (as humans) distinguish between different websites using their domain names (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk and www.google.co.uk) , the Internet works in numbers (IP addresses). So, every time you … Read full article
Happy New Year! Following a downbeat 2020, which was completely dominated by the coronavirus pandemic with a little Brexit deal anxiety added in for good measure, the rollout of several vaccines brings much more hope for 2021. In one key regard, it’s going to be an excellent year where I live because ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) … Read full article
To say 2020 has been a challenging year for Spotlight Productions is an understatement. Their 2020 production of ‘Oliver the Musical’, scheduled for April 2020, had to be cancelled, much to the disappointment of the young people taking part and their families. At the time, there was an expectation/hope that things would be back to … Read full article
Ethernet remains a much better way to connect devices than Wi-Fi. Speeds are greater and latency (time delay) is substantially lower. While Gigabit Ethernet (or 1000BASE-T) is the most widely deployed Ethernet standard in modern electronic devices currently on sale, it is possible to get better. 10 Gigabit Ethernet increases the transmission speed of Gigabit … Read full article
The coronavirus pandemic has certainly increased the take-up and usage of video conferencing services such as Zoom and Skype. With many people working from home, it has been an invaluable tool to keep in touch with work colleagues and customers. Outside work, video conferencing has provided a lifeline to keep in touch with family and … Read full article
While the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world, England entered its second nationwide lockdown on the 5th November 2020. The lockdown is planned to end on Wednesday 2nd December. Remembrance celebrations across the country were unable to go ahead in their normal form. Here are some photos I took of the war memorial … Read full article
To help communities across the UK to upgrade their broadband capabilities to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), I have written a new guide on my Increase Broadband Speed site. It can be viewed here: Guide for Rural Communities: How to Get Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) Now! With the recent improvements in the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and the … Read full article
With all the restrictions associated with coronavirus, our trips out have definitely been curtailed over the last few months. While I don’t particularly like wearing a mask for long periods of time, we decided to visit the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. I took along the Sony A7R IV camera with the Sony 24mm f1.4 GM … Read full article
On Saturday 15th August 2020, my daughters shouted that I should look out the window as a convoy of military vehicles were passing – clearly on the way to some VJ Day celebration. I grabbed the Sony A7 III camera (with the Sony 135mm f1.8 GM lens attached) and took some photos of the vehicles … Read full article
I cannot think of another area to Wi-Fi where performance claims exceed the reality experienced by broadband users by such an extent. With so many people connecting every device to Wi-Fi, inadequate Wi-Fi performance often masks the underlying (often excellent) performance of a broadband connection. I’ve just written a new Wi-Fi speed enhancement post on … Read full article
One of my bugbears is the widespread overuse of Wi-Fi. While Wi-Fi is convenient, there’s generally a price to be paid in terms of performance. Wi-Fi is responsible for a substantial proportion of broadband problems. I strongly recommend that, when you have devices that do not move (such as a set-top box or TV), connect … Read full article
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, VE Day was a somewhat different affair to the one that may have been envisaged many months ago. However, despite the restrictions currently in place, villagers where I live made a tremendous effort decorating their homes to commemorate VE Day. On the 8th May 1945 – 75 years … Read full article
Back in the days that I used a Canon full-frame DSLR camera, many fellow photography enthusiasts who used prime lenses had (or wanted) the so-called ‘Holy Trinity’ of lenses. These were much-sought-after prime lenses that, between them, covered the vast majority of typical photography assignments, including weddings. Most considered that a combination of fast 35mm, 85mm … Read full article
Working from home in a rural Cambridgeshire village, I have noticed the massive effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of villagers have been on lockdown in their homes. Schools and key local businesses (such as the village pub) have closed, and there has been a dramatic reduction in road traffic. During this time (as … Read full article
How amazing Manor Farm is looking currently. After speaking to Richard Johnson, Manor Farm is being prepared for being sold, although the Coronavirus pandemic is causing a great deal of uncertainty. Richard’s face was full of pride. I’ve agreed with Richard to take some internal photographs shortly. Here are some external photos from my latest … Read full article
I am currently building up an online library of old photographs of the village where I live so that these amazing images can be shared as widely as possible. Thank you to the people and local museums that have provided these. These images have proved immensely popular, being viewed about 50,000 times in the last … Read full article
I really enjoy working with Graham and Sarah Wilkinson (below) at Spotlight Productions – which is a youth musical theatre group based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. I’ve now taken photos of several productions. Graham and Sarah are an inspiration and have made such a difference to young people in the area. To date, they have put … Read full article
The National Trust describes Anglesey Abbey as a Jacobean-style house with gardens and a working watermill. Over 100 acres of grounds contain a range of gardens and walks, which were laid out by Baron Fairhaven in the 1930s. This includes popular rose and dahlia gardens that house a large number of varieties. The Lode Water … Read full article
Time has flown so quickly. While it does not seem that long since I bought my first Digital SLR camera, it’s now ten years since I became ‘serious’ about photography. I purchased my first digital SLR camera back in 2006 (the Canon 350D), and I had just one lens – the Canon 50mm f1.4 – … Read full article
As one of my favourite cities, Cambridge is relatively small, with a population of about 129,000, including 25,000 students. With the clear influence of its world-renowned university, Cambridge possesses a host of cultural must-sees and beauty spots. I love visiting the city with my camera. I am delighted that some of my Cambridge photos have … Read full article
I always try to capture images is as high as resolution as possible – not really to display on mobile phones and today’s display technology but for posterity. In many years, display technology will have advanced rapidly and those images that look fine today on a small screen will look distinctly blurry, noisy and lacking … Read full article
On this blog, I like to feature interesting places to visit in the Cambridgeshire area. My younger daughter absolutely adores museums so we recently visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. To be honest, I saw the trip as a bit of a photography challenge as interiors can be very dark. The Fitzwilliam houses a collection of … Read full article
With the proliferation of mobile phones, it seems that many people are increasingly relying on their mobile phones to capture their lives. It is reassuring that many still opt to capture ‘big’ events such as weddings with high-quality camera equipment so they have something great to look back on. In decades, the display technologies available will … Read full article
The Ouse Valley Way is a 150-mile footpath that follows the River Great Ouse and provides great opportunities for walks. The length of the Ouse Valley Way Walk gives lots of flexibility in terms of where you start and end your walk. We began a walk at Buckden in Cambridgeshire, which is home to St … Read full article
Ely Cathedral is an amazing building in Cambridgeshire, which needs to be visited to be truly appreciated. It attracts visitors from all over the world. It is a huge cathedral for a relatively small city of about 14,000 inhabitants. Before Ely Cathedral became a cathedral, it was a monastery. Work on the present Cathedral began … Read full article
When the weather is nice, I enjoy going for walks around Cambridgeshire with my camera. One of the most pleasant places to visit is St Ives, which is situated five miles east of Huntingdon. I am no landscape photographer, principally because I do not want to get up really early to photograph at ‘Golden Hour’, … Read full article
One of the most popular walks in Cambridgeshire is the one between Cambridge and the nearby village of Grantchester. The walk is about 3 miles (5.5 km) in each direction. You can park in Grantchester (as the parking is much easier) and do the circular walk to Cambridge and back. In Cambridge, you have the … Read full article