Learning to paint and take photos in France

23 Aug 2009: Just back from a fantastic week at a fantastic holiday cooking school in France – except Mrs R and I didn’t avail ourselves of the opportunity to cook, but instead spent the week learning to paint (Dawn) and taking some intermediate-level photography classes (me) at the same venue. It really is a great setup which Jim and Lucy Fisher have at Bombel, and I’d thoroughly recommend it. Situated in the heart of the Dordogne region, their converted farm and barns can accommodate something like 16 people who can be taking any combination of courses in cookery, painting or photography, making it a great opportunity for couples who have differing interests. So, how does it all work? In our week, there [...]

Why I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

12 Aug 2009: Well, here it is, my brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 camera, which has just arrived here at Cherry Hinton Blues Towers. It took me several weeks of research and indeed soul-searching to opt for this groundbreaking camera, and I thought I’d pass on the information which helped me choose one here. If you’d like to add any more helpful links, please use the comments below. Firstly, why the soul-searching? Easy – it wasn’t a Canon or a Nikon. Every (and I mean every) decent photographer I know told me the only choice in an SLR is between these two. Even when I discovered that for the first time, genuinely high quality video recording has now become available in SLR – [...]