Failure is the Key to Success

When I replaced my monopod in December with a Manfrotto 681, it didn’t occur to me that I would have to find an alternate method of carrying it while cycling. My previous monopod, Velbon UP-4DXII, had a handle on the tilt head and I used to slide this through one of the connection loops for the harness on my LowePro Toploader case. I could then tuck the other end into my belt and it stayed out of the way for cycling.

My Manfrotto monopod with the 234RC head doesn’t have a handle, not that you need a handle to pan with a monopod. It is also longer as it is in 3 sections not 4. This meant that I had a substantially larger item to carry, with no way of attaching it to me. I started in my usual way, by turning to Google. It didn’t seem too common an occurrence; I found a few suggestions of tying the monopod to the frame, but nothing from anyone who had done it. Then I came across this monopod quiver on a motorbike, that got me thinking.

I had also been looking at the pump holder on Jo’s bike. The pump clipped in and was held in place with a velcro strap. If I could find the right diameter….no, that wasn’t possible, bike pumps are small and lightweight, not built like a section of drainpipe. So thinking about the monopod quver than I had found, I started experimenting to find a support for the bottom of the monopod. I cut a section of plastic waste pipe, yes, white is a lovely inconspicuous colour and attached it to the frame with cable ties. I had to play around with the positioning, to get it as low on the frame as possible without the pipe fouling the pedal. There wasn’t a lot of room to play with as the monopod also added to the space taken in this area due to the leg clamps. As a temporary solution at the top end I used a piece of rubber and a strap to prove the concept. It worked! Due to the minimal surface contact between the pipe and the bike frame, the pipe was liable to twist around the frame if knocked, so you had to be a bit careful. I found this while out testing it and added some rubber between the pipe and the frame to reduce the slip.
Continue reading » Carrying a monopod on a bike

Tags:lowepro,manfrotto,monopod,ridgeback mx2,toploader 75AW

We were considering going over to Aldbury, a picturesque village in Hertfordshire, for their May Fair today, but true to form for a Bank Holiday Monday, it started raining. While it would have been great to see the dancing around the maypole and the morris dancers, standing in to rain to do so didn’t really appeal.

Anyway, this year, there was a carnival procession again. Last year the procession had to be cancelled as there were too few entrants. It was going to be leaving the council offices at 12:00 noon on the route through the town to the Bennett Memorial Recreation Ground. We walked up to the end of the road with some of our neighbours just before 12 and other than a policewoman, were the only ones there. As the rain was coming towards us, I took my camera to the other side of the road so it was coming from behind me. The road filled up quite a lot before the procession came by.

The parade was led by Harpenden Pipe Band, who led the 2007 Dunstable Carnival procession. They had dressed for the British weather! I got several photos of them, a couple of which I have put on in a gallery of Dunstable Carnival 2009 photos. I have tried to include photos of all of the entrants in the procession in my gallery, although, I seemed to have missed the mayor!

The one that made me smile the most was the clown at the end, she seemed in a world of her own walking in the rain, and then she realised she was quite a way back from the others and had to catch up. All in all it was all over in about 20-25 minutes, but worth watching.

It’s just a shame after the effort people put into the procession that the weather couldn’t have been better. I was very pleased with the clarity of the images I got considering the poor light. Not all the photos were good photos, more a record of being there.

Tags:dunstable carnival,Harpenden Pipe Band

Also known as ‘The right and wrong way to deal with an internet order problem’. This also applies equally to telephone and any other form of distance selling. Here is the sad saga of my dealings with Bristol Cameras Ltd. It is preceded by a couple of problems with internet orders that were well managed and resolved.

Before Christmas, I ordered 2 books from the Aikido Journal website, Traditional Aikido Volumes 1 & 2 by Morihiro Saito. These were books that Jo and I used to clarify our techniques many years ago; we never owned them, but were looking after someone’s library for them. The originals were printed in the 1970s and had been out of print for many years. Occasionally, you would see one or more of the 5 volumes on Ebay, but they would go for in excess of £100, usually a lot more. In early November, Aikido Journal announced that Volume 1 was available immediately. This was a brand-new edition done in the exact style and format of the original books by Saito Sensei. These are hardcover volumes made for durability featuring a semi-gloss paper like the originally published volumes. Anyway, back to the problem, after completing the order for volume 1 and confirming my credit card details, instead of a confirmation, I got a series of database errors displayed. I left a message detailing the problem on the contact form and within a few hours I had received an email back from Stanley Pranin, the editor-in-chief of Aikido Journal, confirming that they had received my order and that it should be shipping on the Monday. I had the same problem when pre-ordering volume 2 and had the same swift response and confirmation.
Continue reading » Bristol Cameras took my money

Tags:Adri's Dream,aikido,Aikido Journal,Bristol Cameras,Digital Depot,Elida Trading,manfrotto,mollenhauer,monopod

We went out to the zoo this afternoon, which gave me a chance to try out my ‘bigma’. What, you might ask, is a bigma. Well, it is a camera lens, to be precise, it is the Sigma 50-500mm f4-6.3. I had been considering getting a longer lens later this year for my birthday and had concluded that this was the lens I would get. About 3 weeks ago, while checking a photography forum, I came across a post talking about price rises for Sigma from the 1st February 2009. Because of the changes in the value of the pound and the yen, they are having to increase their prices to reflect the change in exchange rate. This change is in the range of 40% – ouch! The recommended price on the Sigma site was £880 at that time. After a brief discussion with Jo it was agreed that I would buy my birthday/xmas present a few (!) months early. I placed a collect in store order with Jessops in Milton Keynes, who had yet to increase their price and collected it the following day on my way home from work. The current Sigma recommended price is now up to £1350 (53% increase). Jessops have increased their price this weekend, it is now £430 more expensive, I’m glad I got in when I did.

Continue reading » Trying out my ‘Bigma’

Tags:bigma,sigma 50-500,whipsnade zoo

While we were on holiday at Center Parcs, we bought a bird feeder at the Nature Centre and then added a pole to put it on. They are made by CJ Wildbird Foods, and were very reasonably priced. After we got home we were looking at their website and found that they only charge £2 delivery for orders under £50 and free for orders over. We wanted to add a base to support the pole and also got a variety pack of the peanut cake tubes and a squirrel resistant peanut feeder. I had them delivered to work and they arrived on Thursday; I’m glad I did as the box was enormous, it only just fitted in the car.

Continue reading » Birds galore

Tags:bird feeder

Yesterday we went to London Zoo; we were going to visit a couple of weeks ago when I was on holiday, but I went down with a streaming cold, so we put it off. The weather forecast for yesterday had been looking good all week, so we got up fairly early.

The kids were excited, they hadn’t been on a train before and there was the zoo as well. We travelled from Hemel Hempstead station rather than Luton, it’s a smaller station and made the London change easier. We had previously bought a Family and Friends Railcard which gives discounts on family rail fares. It would have made a bigger saving if we had been travelling during the week as originally planned, but still saved us some money. We only had to wait about 5 minutes on the platform for the train and were able to get seats as the train wasn’t full at all. After about 35 minutes we arrived at Euston and (after a toilet break for the kids at 30p a visit,) changed onto the Northern Line underground for one stop to Camden Town. I had printed out the zoo’s directions for getting to them, but didn’t need them as it was signposted from outside the station. It took about 15 minutes to walk from the station to the zoo and then we were there. After presenting our Friends of ZSL passes we were in. Time to take my obvious camera bag out of my plain backpack.

Continue reading » Our visit to London Zoo

Tags:Gorilla Kingdom,London Zoo