Hi there, I'm sorry that I've neglected this...............

Blog lately, but what with the Christmas holiday, then that awful wet time up until mid March here, in Wales. Then I had two family bereavements. I have one more funeral to attend shortly. Then, I hope to be back out with my Samsung NX300, and Samsung Galaxy NX, taking photo's. I hope this year, to document the different ways that one can travel into, or out of, the Rhondda Valleys. Yes it is Valleys, (plural), as there are two Rhondda's. The Rhondda Fawr, (Tonypandy, Treherbert, etc.), and the Rhondda Fach, (Maerdy, Ferndale, etc.). I have mentioned this because, even here, in Wales, there are some people who don't know this. I was in Tredegar a while back talking to a lovely lady, named Delyn. She was telling me that a friend of hers had somebody in hospital in the Rhondda. I told her that it must be in the "other," Rhondda valley, as there are no hospitals in the Rhondda Fach. She looked at me in a very disbelieving manner, as if to say, "Aye go on, pull the other one, it's got bells on." I had the Devil of a job trying to get her to accept that there are two Rhondda valleys. I'm not sure, even now, that she believes me. Anyway, to anybody that has watched the programme on Sky called, "Stella," by and starring Ruth Jones, you should know that the bulk of this show, is filmed in the Rhondda Fach. Indeed Ruth states her thanks ti the people of the Rondda Fach, in the credits, at the end. So that is my project this year. To show you the entries, and some of the views, of the Rhondda valleys. They are a lot greener now that we have lost all the coal mines. We have also lost a lot of community "feeling,£ that went along with the mines. Our pubs are closing, our streets are becoming ghost towns. Even in Pontypridd, a once thriving market town, thngs are bad. There was a time when, walking through Taff Street, in Ponty. there would be a throng of people on the footpath, and a lot walking the road itself, especially on "Market days," on a Wedneday, Friday, and Saturday. The latter being extremely busy.

               So that's it for now. Take care and we'll speak soon. Cheers Butty, Twm.

Well at this time of year, there is................

not as lot to photograph that doesn't include Autumnal colours. After a while it get a little monotonous, don't you think? So we took the camera a, Samsung Galaxy NX and its 18-55m.m kit lens, for a short trip around the valley.

 So we went for a walk up Pen-Rhys where we saw the statue of the Virgin Mary holding her baby Jesus.
At least the grass is green here.

In a lay-by we found some blackberries, and autumn leaves.

A little further, and we saw the road signs below. Someone should tell them, that's not a ramp, it's a hedge. Lol.

Then we went up Darran Parc in Ferndale where we found a very lonely bench, just sitting there by the lakeside.

 

 After walking a few times around the lake, we took a look back, snapped the photo below and said goodbye to the Parc.

That's all for now folks, take good care of yourselves. Regards, Twm.

I took the Samsung Galaxy NX to Barry Island

Hi there, last Saturday, Mrs. Twm, and myself went down to Barry for the day, for a bit of photography, then on for a few "jars," and a steak. So our day started with a few photo's of a lovely dawn sky. In the first you can clearly see how the Samsung Galaxy NX handled the darkness of the sky, capturing the crescent moon and the pre-sunrise coulours in the sky, along with the darkness of the hillside.

I think this image ably displays the Samsung Galaxy NX's abilities, regarding its sensor. Of course, we expected nothing else, seeing as it has the same sensor as the Samsung NX300, which we have shown on previous Blog entries. But have a look at another dawn shot below.

 The Samsung Galaxy NX shows a lovely colour tone, don't you think?

Then we set off for Barry Island, via Porthkerry Country Park. When we got to Porthkerry, we were treated to some beautiful colours, both on the trees, and on the ground.

 
The leaves still on the trees showed some lovely shades. But. look below too.

 

What a pretty coloured carpet.

 

After some time at Porthkerry Parc we moved on to Barry Island itself, where we went on the Clement Colley Walk to Jackson's Bay.

 

The building on the left is the Nell's Point Coastal Watch, the concrete path being the walk to Jackson's Bay. While strolling there we watched the Barry Harbour Pilot boat returning to its Berth.

Around the corner and we came to our first look at Jackson's Bay. Hmm. not many swim suits around today. I wonder why that could be?  ;-) After spending some time there, not to long as it was a little chilly, we walked back towards Barry Island, and Whitmore Bay.

Back, past the berries, and leaves. Back past the sum on the sea.

Back, to within sight of Barry Island and Whitmore Bay.

Barry Island is not normally this quiet, just try visiting here in the summer months and you'll quickly see the difference, lol.
The peninsular that one can see pointing out into the bay below, is Friar's Point.

Below you can see, we are back at Whitmore Bay now, and at the end of today's little outing with the Samsung Galaxy NX, which I am very pleased to say, has performed admirably.

 

 

 So, my friends, until next time, it's good bye for now. Take care everybody.

Kindest regards, and Best wishes to you all. Twm.

The Samsung Galaxy NX take photo's of a beautiful model.

Hiya there, I've already told you that I was approached by Samsung to be an Imagelogger for their Samsung Galaxy NX camera. Well, with the cold. wet weather that we've been having, I've been struggling to find something, or someone, to photograph. Then suddenly Shazam, right out of the blue, this stunning female turns up on my doorstep, just begging me to take her photo. Well, me being the gentleman that I am, I could not refuse her. So I grabbed the camera and snapped away.


This is Wendy, (Wendy Wood Louse). posing for the camera. as you can see, she is not in the least camera shy.  ;-)

Here below, is a 100% crop of the above photo of Wendy.

I think you'll agree, she really is a stunner, isn't she?

Obviously, I've taken a "LITTLE," bit of artistic liberty here, as I have no idea of my models gender.

   That's all for now gang, speak soon, take care. Regards from, Twm.

I've been out and about a little so...........................

Hiya there, I have been out using this Samsung Galaxy NX camera a little. It is the same sensor, as my beloved Samsung NX300, so I'm hoping for great images, ('cos that is what the NX300 delivered, especially during my trip to Germany, in very bright sunshine). I have to say, so far the camera has delivered on the image quality anyway. The Galaxy NX is a bit more of a "handful," than the NX300. It is more of DSLR size and weight. It is a fully integrated camera, in that it has the Android operating system built in. So, it has the ability to send pics straight out of the camera to the internet. One can also download any Apps. that they need and operate them on the camera. It has a huge rear screen, so you can do any post processing of your image before sending it to the internet, too. Marvellous!

 

The above photo was taken on our walk through the woods at Darran Parc, Ferndale.

 

The above image was taken at Pen-Rhys, in the Rhondda valley. It shows the statue of St. Mary, at the famous St. Mary's Well shrine, which is a site for religious pilgrims, and has been for hundreds of years. You can also see the flipping Wind Turbines that this Tory Government are erecting all over the place. What an eyesore. I agree with generating Green Energy, but why can't they be erected off shore, or use wave power and tidal force to generate it, instead of these God awful turbines all over the landscape.

 

 

 Above is another photo taken at Darran Parc, Ferndale.

Yet another at Darran Parc, it was very cold there, do you think the lady in the pic shows it to be cold?

Another pic of the St. Mary statue with a Rhondda Fach landmark in the background, to the left. It is Llanwonno Twmp. This is a left over scar, (landmark), from the days when Coal was King. It is a slag heap. This tump is now two thirds smaller than it originally was. After the Disaster at Aberfan, the N.C.B tried to clean up the mess it had left around the valleys. They wanted to remove this tip, but were prevented from doing so by the Civil Aviation Authority, (C.A.A). The C.A.A said it was a landmark for aircraft flying over Wales, and, as such, could not be removed. In the end, the C.A.A and the N.C.B came to an agreement and the tip was reduced in height, by two thirds, but left to serve as a plainly visible marker, for any aircraft in the vicinity.

                                      That's all for now guys, the Galaxy NX did well in documenting my little outing around the nearby area. Speak soon, take care all. Regards Twm.

Hello there, how are you all you doing?

I have just been given a Samsung Galaxy NX camera to try out. Samsung have invited me to be an Imagelogger for them, using this camera. This device was supplied by the Samsung Imaging Dept. I have this camera, complete with the 18-55m.m kit lens. This is the same lens that I was so happy with while I worked with the Samsung NX300, (which I loved, both camera and lens), so I'm expecting good work from the lens. Given the fact that the Galaxy NX has the same sensor as the NX300, I hope that this camera, can match the great straight out of camera, (SOOC), pictures that the NX300 produced. We shall see, over the coming weeks, if the Galaxy NX can live with the NX300, image wise. Physically of course, these two cameras are as different as chalk is to cheese. The Galxy NX is basically a smart phone with the ability to put different lenses on the front. By this, I mean that the camera has an Android operating system. So any user of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, should be able to pick up this camera, and after a few minutes setting up the image capturing parameters to their satisfaction, be able to go out and start taking great pictures. Imagine your phone, only with a huge, (compared to phone sized sensors), APSC 20.3 mega pixel CMOS sensor. It may mean nothing to you, but what it means, simply, is, the larger the sensor, the better the Image Quality, (IQ). One can print out a good photo from one of these cameras up to 30 inches by 40 inches, and retain excellent image quality. Try that with any smartphone images. While the NX300 is a rangefinder style camera, smaller, lighter, and no view finder. Instead it has a tilting rear screen on which to compose your images. Conversely, the Galaxy NX is a DSLR style camera, having ab electronic viewfinder, and a huge rear screen, which is fixed.

Over the coming week. I shall be trying this camera out, in various places around Wales. Weather permitting, I hope that most of the photography can be done outside, but, well we all know our Welsh weather, don't we. Wales must be one of the few places in the world, where we seem to get samples of all four seasons in one day. ;-)

Above is a quick pic for you to look at. This will have to suffice, for now. But there will be lots more, over the coming weeks.


Speak soon, be good, and have a great day. Regards, Twm.

Well...................

Hiya, well thngs have taken a turn for the worse, haven't they? Weather wise I mean. Since my return from Germany, it has been almost continual rain here in Wales, making photography a real challenge, so it has been put on the back burner for a while. I hope soon, to resurect my hobby, and the use of my Samsung cameras.

On a side note, my wife and I just purchased a used, car. It is a 1400 Nissan Micra automatic. I won't tell you our ages, suffice to say, that we are NOT in our first flush of youth.  My wife, who is a great driver and has been driving for quite a few years, and never had an accident, got in the driving seat. After familiarising herself with the cars controls, she started the engine, put it into R, (reverse), and touched the throttle. We shot off doing about forty miles an hour, BACKWARDS, lol. You should have seen the look on her face, I wish I had my camera with me then, it was priceless. It seems that this little car, is a Sport, model. What had happened, we found out later, was there is a little button on the auto gear selector, with an "S" on it. Yes, you guessed it, this engages the "Sport mode," of the Micra. This mode gives the car a different range of gearing for, " a SPORTY driving experience." What an experience it was, lol. Luckily, there was nothing at all behind us, or she would have ruined her impecable driving record with dented vehicles, ours, and theirs. Now after a week of handling tyhe car, Mrs. Cati says she would never want to go back to a manual transmission vehicle. 

I'm not here to write a lot today, as I have to shave and shower for our little trip. We are taking the Micra for a little run today, down to Barry to try to take some photographs, and then go for a meal somewhere. Bye for now.
                                       Kindest regards Twm.