Category Archives: photography

Retrospective- “RetroSpektives” :)

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | 1 Comment

Hi everyone,

For fun I thought I’d re-post one of my very first blog posts from 2014, a lot’s happened since then, what happened to my youth?. 🙂

Best wishes

leigh sig 2

RetroSpektives

A small selection of my 2014 work most of which were taken in or close to my home town of Kingston upon Thames with the occasional foray out to other parts of the UK.  I hope you enjoy viewing them, I’ve had quite a prolific year :). I have also linked to larger size versions of the works on my Flickr page. Each  RetroSpektiv is linked to my corresponding Flickr Album.

14561600648_f6466f8e8a_z RetroSpektiv I – “Pictures on A Wall”

“Horses for Courses”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14450154473/

“Skateboard Park”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14630902801/

“A Quite Morning at the Shopping Centre”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14350768796/

“Time Stands Still – Redux”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14621525296/

“Poet For Hire”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14475573576/

Just visible “The Sun God Has Risen”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14420484913/

14564367599_e8005a6302_zRetroSpektiv II – “Abstractions”

“Lillies”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14392613129/

“Skateboard Park 2”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14468458267/

“Noddy Rides Again”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14333642847/

“Skateboard Park”,https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14630902801/

“Sea, Sun, Sand and Souvenirs”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14541491252/

“Attention Seeker”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14317850768/

“Shopwindow”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14500518911/

14568914238_18e3f57009_z RetroSpektiv III – “Black and Whites”

“Of Gods and Men”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14007404028/

“Shopfront (Rectangular”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14212633121/

“Ham House – Below Stairs”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/13818771415/

“Contrasting Architecture”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14167319726/

“Where The Daisies Quietly Grow”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14132161575/

“Silent Sorrow in Empty Seats”, www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14477373799/

“Street Entertainer”. www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14183621991/

Retrospektiv IV - Panels RetroSpecktiv IV – “Panels”

“Bubble Panels”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15159444995/

“Three Boats Down From The Candy”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14113903789/

“Up, Down, Round and Around”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15276957246/

“Branching Out”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14120791840/

“Around, Round, Up and Down”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15506769755/

“Spaces In Between”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15331665950/

Retrospektiv V - Minimalist RetroSpektiv V – “Minimalist”

“Less is More”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14946226555/

“E”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14955227964/

“The essence of time”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15407510219/

“Lamp Detail”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14926835926/

“Soft and Vibrant”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15572883101/

“Suspension in blue”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15400105107/

Retrospektiv VI - Muted Colours RetroSpektiv VI – “Muted Colours”

“Focussing and Stabilisation Malfunction!”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15548941931/

“Muted Guitars”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15520455386/

“Autumnal wall leaves – Pastel, Abstract”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/15426380386/

“Makin’ Music”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14989996890/

“Eye Tech”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14876294481/

Retrospektive VII - Non Rectangular

RetroSpektiv VII – “Spherical and Pentagonal”

“Sphere of Opulence”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/13853441543/in/set-72157644745539961

“‘Round, ‘Round, Get Around, I Get Around“, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/13855733964/in/set-72157644745539961

“Dandelion Spheres”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14036756280/in/set-72157644745539961

“Shopfront (Pentagonal)”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14215923995/in/set-72157644745539961

“Bird’s Eye View”, https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/14643004898/in/set-72157644745539961

New work: “In my element”

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I’m rarely happier than when wandering around a beautiful landscape with a camera, I guess you could say that I’m “in my element”.

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ohmyprints-15012019-204845.jpg

Best wishes,

leigh sig 2

Blog update

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

I’ve been giving my blog an early Spring clean up. I’ve added a “Selected Themed Collections” section to my site menu with links to the collections on my website. I’ve edited my “Flickr Explored Page” and made a few other graphical updates.

Kind regards to all,

leigh sig 2

New work : “Looking Up!”

by in digital art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | 4 Comments

Hi everyone,

A painterly work of pine trees and pine cones.

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ohmyprints-14012019-215512.jpg

https://leigh-kemp.pixels.com/featured/looking-up-leigh-kemp.html

Regulars to my blog will know that the site that I’ve been using to try and sell my artwork does all sorts of home decor and other items so I thought I’d post a few of them.

 

Best wishes,

leigh sig 2

PS. I’m delighted that this work is now my second Flickr Explore of 2019.

Hanging about: A system that ticks all my boxes.

by in digital art, Leigh Kemp, photography, Photography equipment, Travel | 1 Comment

Hi everyone,

A while back I started getting in to the Op/Tech range of straps and connectors. This is the most versatile system I’ve found to date. With this system I can quickly attach my camera to either a neck strap, hang it from my backpack straps or fit a wrist strap thus:

Figure 1.

optech system 2

Fit the straps to the backpack making sure the male connector end is on the right hand side as you look at it. Connect the uni-loop connectors to the camera with, importantly, the male connector on the left hand side as you look at the camera with the the lens front end pointing towards you.

Figure 2.

optech system 1

Detach the uni-loop connectors and keeps as spares or for use with another camera,binoculars etc.).

Figure 3.

optech system 3

Detach the padded part of the strap and keep the straps as spares or to use with another camera, I used mine for my binoculars.

Figure 4.

optech system 4

With the system set up you can

  1. Attach the camera (or my binoculars) directly to the backpack straps or….
  2. Connect the camera (or binoculars) to the straps shown in figure 2 with these connected to the padded part show in figure 3 and you have a neck strap or….
  3. Disconnect any straps and attach the camera to the wrist strap. As an added safety measure I like to fit the wrist strap to the camera when changing between the backpack straps or the neck strap so that there’s always at least one strap connected to the camera.
  4. You can even use the straps shown in figure 2 and attach them to the backpack straps and extend the length even further but the straps are already long enough for my needs and the camera hangs comfortably resting on my chest.

Personally I’m enjoying using the camera attached to the backpack straps. The weight of the camera is taken up by the straps and ultimately by my shoulders and not my neck and also there’s one less strap hanging around my neck to get caught up in things.

In use:

optech backpack straps

Camera connected directly to the backpack straps shown in figure 1.

optech neck strap

Camera connected to the the strap shown in figure 2 and the padded neck part shown in figure 3. I leave the straps and padded part connected together and stowed in my rucksack.

optech wrist strap

Camera connected to the wrist strap shown in figure 4.

I’m very impressed with the quality and design of the Op/Tech gear so I have ordered up one of their neoprene camera cases to replace the one shown above which should be a perfect fit for my Olympus EM-5 Mk 2 and M.Zuiko 12-40mm lens combination. This case has the advantage that it will remain attached to the camera when the camera is being used by means of a strap which attaches to the camera’s tripod screw fitting. They do a range of these cases to fit various makes and types of camera.

optech case

I have absolutely no affiliation with Op/Tech, I’m sharing because it might be of interest to someone out there on the Worldwide Interwebnet thingy. 🙂

If you are interested in the backpack shown above see this post for further information.

Kind regards

leigh sig 2

Refreshingly good customer service

by in digital art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

In a day and age when I’ve come to nearly always expect, and generally get,  poor customer service from most of the companies that I deal with there are a few shining examples of excellent customer service that I’d like to highlight.

First off there’s Olympus Cameras who very kindly replaced a camera with the latest model free of charge when they could fix a fault. Then there’s Anthropics Technology that were extremely helpful in supplying me with a new software build to try out when I had problems with one of their software products. Most lately, OP/TECH who have kindly offered to send me some replacement Uni-loop connectors as I had a manufacturing tolerance problem with one of them.

I’m extremely happy to continue doing business with these companies and any others that offer the same high quality products and after-sales service.

Thanks guys,

Kind regards,

leigh sig 2

 

“Once more to the bridge dear friends!”

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

A new full-blown painterly work of one of my favourite locations, Richmond Bridge on the River Thames.

46692878421_974d1d07f7_z.jpg

ohmyprints-10012019-214528.jpg

Best wishes,

leigh sig 2

Goodbye shoulder bags, hello rucksack!.

by in digital art, photography, Photography equipment, Travel | 1 Comment

Hi everyone,

After years of carrying shoulder bags, I’ve finally given up on them or rather my neck, shoulders and back have 😦 . After getting repeated health-related problems with them I’ve switched to a rucksack/backpack.

After looking around I found a very nicely made one made by National Geographic/Manfrotto which ticks all the boxes for my needs, doesn’t look like a camera bag and also gives more room to pack a few extra items like a waterproof, drinks bottle, passport, travel docs etc.. It spreads the weight much better and I’m hoping that it’ll help with alleviating my various aches and pains. The clincher was that this backpack is currently on sale at half price on the Manfrotto website. I found an excellent review article here that goes into a lot of detail – http://stevelosh.com/blog/2015/07/nat-geo-mc5350/ . It also has the extra benefit of fitting my National Geographic rain cover 🙂 and its small enough to qualify as carry-on luggage on aircraft and will go in an overhead locker.

Some pics –

backpack1

The flap cover has a small zip up pocket where the stripe design is that can hold a few items. There are also two generously-sized zip pockets on the sides shown in the photo below. Above one of the pockets there is a strap so a small monopod or perhaps a table top tripod (not a big tripod) could be attached on the side.

backpack2

I added OP/TECH Uni Adapter Loop XL System Connectors to the D-Rings to fit in with my other OP/TECH straps and fittings so that the camera can be hung directly from the pack which in turn will take the weight of the camera and lens away from my neck. EDIT: I found a better way to connect the camera to the backpack straps, see this post for details.

backpack3

Padded camera equipment compartment (removable if desired) containing Olympus OM-D EM-1 with grip and 12-40mm zoom lens and OP/TECH HAT/HOOD attached, 2 spare batteries in waterproof storage cases, 40-150mm zoom lens, 7.5mm fisheye lens and spare memory card case (under fisheye lens). All the gear I need to get to frequently.

backpack4

Inside: National Geographic rain cover for the bag (the orange-coloured thing) 🙂 , ThinkTANK emergency camera rain cover and pouch, small first aid kit, GPS data logger, Anker Astro 6.7 mAH USB powerbank and waterproof  jacket. You can’t see in the photo but in front of them is a large zip pocket in which I’ve packed a few other items including a couple of ND filters, Micro USB cables, USB camera battery charger, OP/TECH wrist strap and the straps that go with the OP/TECH systems connectors. See this post for more information on my OP/TECH and thinkTANK gear.

alt camera loadout

Alternative gear load out.

I have no affiliation with any of the manufacturers of the equipment mentioned in this post.

Kind regards

leigh sig 2

PS. I forgot to mention that the backpack also has a very large padded compartment which they claim will accommodate a 17 inch laptop. You can just see the zip for it on the left in the second on my photos. I’m not using it but I have no reason to doubt them on size and it swallows up my 10 inch Android tablet with ease. I’m using it to store a large dry bag folded flat which is capable of going over the whole backpack if required.

 

Important, if you’re on Facebook please read.

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

As someone who posts my work to my Facebook pages this is of particular interest. Posted on Facebook yesterday by a friend:

Quote:

“I agree with this even if it is not law Just in case – A solicitor has advised me to post this, which is good enough for me. The violation of privacy can be punished by law. NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be tacitly understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates to be used. I HEREBY STATE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION for Facebook to use any of my information or posts.
Copy and re-post.
Deadline tomorrow!!! Everything you’ve ever posted becomes public from tomorrow. Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry. The News talked about the change in Facebook’s privacy policy. I do not give permission.”

End quote.

Kind regards

leigh sig 2

PS. I have gone one step further and disabled my Facebook account so I’ll not be posting there again, I’ll not miss it!.

Another day, another Wey :)

by in art, digital art, Fine Art, Leigh Kemp, Paintography, photography, Travel | Leave a comment

Hi everyone,

39702124793_dc615d6455_z (2).jpg

Best wishes,

leigh sig 2