Talking about lenses with John

I met up with Bruce W. to discuss the next stages of graphic design work which he will provide for the communication of the Neighbourhood Development Plan over the next few months.  I was late arriving as I hadn't realised that the thin covering of snow had actually frozen on the car and it took longer to get it cleared than anticipated.  In fact where we live is above the snow line and as I drove down the hill into town the snow disappeared.

I had taken some pictures from my study window soon after sunrise of the snow patterns on the hillside across the Golden Valley.  The sun was shining onto the houses at Butterow, which still had their lights on and the view looked delightful.

Bruce and I finished our work chat quite quickly and then we got on to discussing photography.  He is a very good and keen photographer of birds and he gave me advice about longer focal length lenses which I am interested in.  Then he very kindly offered me two of his lenses to test for a few weeks, which will be very useful as I only really learn when I do things practically.  His 170-500mm has a problem with the auto-focus but I will be able to test it out manually using a tripod.  The other lens is a 70-300mm Canon lens and he will be selling it secondhand, so if I like it I could possibly buy it from him.  I was looking for a longer reach, especially for bird photography but it might be very suitable.  I shall try it and see.

I left Bruce at lunchtime and drove over to see John and Liz W. at their home on a remote hillside near Whiteshill, on the upper edge of the Painswick valley.  Liz offered me some delicious homemade soup and bread and we caught up with what we have been doing since before Christmas.   I have known John since we were at school together and Liz since she met John in the 1970s.  

John and I then retired to his workshop and knowing he is expert in macro photography and microscopy I picked his brain about lenses as well.  He showed me how a lens converter changed the image potential using one of his macro lenses which was interesting to see for myself.  He is a really good teacher of the physics involved in camera lenses and explained to me about terms such as 'chromatic aberration', which I had previously never understood.  While he was talking I attached my macro lens to my camera and I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of him here at his desk, which he said I can blip.  

We are going to meet again soon to carry on our discussions and hopefully go for a walk to see some traditional English beech trees he has found growing locally.  Apparently the vast majority of beech trees in Britain are not native, but were grown for the straighter timber which they produce.  John knows a lot of things like this.