As the days grow shorter, sunset is beginning to arrive well before I come to the end of my usual afternoon walks. No matter how lovely the morning is – and autumn mornings can be truly beautiful – mornings are not a great time for me to be out and about these days, for reasons of (in)convenience most late middle-aged / elderly men will understand, so I need to make the best of whatever the afternoon provides. Which can pose challenges, photographically, both technically and aesthetically.
Technically, because the overall drop in available light means slower shutter speeds, bigger apertures, and higher ISO ratings, all of which combine to give unsatisfactory results when using a very small pocket camera, hand-held. [1] In compensation, the bright raking beams of warm sunlight that penetrate the general gloom and illuminate the autumnal colours can make for exciting moments of contrast that may only last for seconds, before gathering clouds or the slow roll of the planet shut them off.
Aesthetically, because, well, sunsets... As I say, I try to make the best of it.
As late middle-age has begun to kick in for me I now start the day at around 5am. By the time the dogs drag me out of the house at dawn the (in)conveniences have passed and I can usually get a couple of hours of walking in without discomfort.
ReplyDeleteThat said, with daytime temperatures in Alberta now well below freezing my photography for the next five months will revolve around sorting and editing.
I particularly like the first two photos in this post.
Thanks, Brian -- the first two were with an Olympus E-M5 iii, recently bought 2nd hand. I seem to be moving away from Fuji and back to micro 4/3rds in recent times.
DeleteYes, winter in Alberta is rather too cold to nip behind a hedge for yet another pee, although actually no further north than, say, Manchester, so your days will be shortening at the same rate!
Advice from One Who Knows: if the "comfort breaks" are starting to run your life, get that PSA level checked...
Mike
Nice pictures, Mike. I particularly like the first one (wonderful when done well, easy to do badly!) and the red and orange of the penultimate one.
ReplyDeleteHuw
Thanks, Huw -- the pictures have taken a bit of a back seat to the words, lately, so I've been rebalancing things a bit.
DeleteMike
PSA and other related tests seem to be in the news quite a bit lately Mike.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few well-known faces have had prostate cancer recently —Giles Coren, Stephen Fry, and David Cameron come to mind. There are others, but I can't think who they are at the moment.
Stephen,
DeleteYes, there's debate on whether a screening programme is or isn't a good idea. The danger is over-diagnosis and needless surgery with unfortunate side-effects: as a doctor said to me, prostate cancer is more likely to be one you die with, not of...
But, if you're getting up several times a night, or experiencing restricted flow, it's time to get tested.
Mike
Thanks Mike. I'm in that age range now, and it's something I've thought about. No major problems just yet though, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteMy father died of (not with) prostate cancer at 68, so this is weighing on my mind as I recently passed 50. I am terrible with blood tests though...
ReplyDeleteHuw,
DeleteThis is clearly turning into a proxy for the "prostate cancer" post I've been meaning to write for a decade...
Unless you've got symptoms, I wouldn't worry about it yet. Your GP will want to do the "finger up the bum" test first, anyway... The problem with PSA is that it's prone to false results, and if the score looks high then scans and biopsies will be needed.
Non-medics like Cameron take a political view -- "all men should be tested!" -- but medics are more cautious and evidence-based. Prostate surgery can have bad side effects -- mainly impotence or incontinence -- so it's not a simple choice where the need is not obvious. All that unnecessary scanning and biopsies could really jam up the NHS for no good reason, if based on false PSA results.
Symptoms are the thing -- peeing too often, difficulty peeing, etc. Once they start to occur, it's finger up the bum time! Also, an enlarged prostate is not necessarily cancerous -- it's just something that happens as you get older.
Trust me, though: once they become a regular thing, you quickly lose any anxiety or sqeamishness about blood tests...
Mike