Two weeks ago, we spent four days in the south of the island. With the virus raging, we decided to stay home and do some local tourism. We didn’t get very far. Barely 1.5 hours drive. We could also have made the road every day from home to go to the different spots we had targeted, but it’s a change of scenery for the children and for us not to be at home. We had booked a charming little chalet that looked like a treehouse just 20 mins from the sea. (more…)
I was offered a Ricoh GR3 in October of last year. Since then I had hardly used it. It spent more than 2 months in after-sales service because of an overheating problem. Pentax had changed the optical unit without giving more details. What is funny is that I had sent a Ricoh GRD4 some time ago and there too, the optical unit had been changed … Is this the magic repair of Pentax ? The Ricoh GR3 slept peacefully in its box. I was using the Ricoh GR and I didn’t see the point of changing cameras as it did the job very well. I nevertheless wanted to test this Ricoh GR3 to find out how good this camera was. So I shot exclusively with the GR3 for 4 weeks. The problem is that at the end of these 4 weeks, I went on vacation with two cameras: the GR3 and the GRD4. From the first day, I did not hesitate and I took the Ricoh GRD4 to take my photos. It’s not a very good sign when a camera released in 2011 has my preference … It’s true that I love it, but it’s not to say that I’m shooting with a retro camera ! This is simply because this camera is better for what I use it for. I do not do landscape, architecture. I exclusively do Street Photography in addition to documenting the life of my family. Undeniably for these two practices, the Ricoh GRD4 outclasses the Ricoh GR3. Let’s get straight to the heart of the matter and I’ll tell you about the Pros and Cons of the Ricoh GR3. It is not a test like you are used to seeing.
The photo I used to open this Blog is absolutely irrelevant except to tell you about the subject that I will discuss in this article. This is the confrontation that can happen when you practice Street Photography. In more than four years on the street, I have very rarely had problems with people who did not want to be photographed. From memory no more than 5 people in Aix-en-Provence. I only tried once to discuss in a constructive way to explain things, but as you can imagine, it does not work. People tend not to have an open mind that allows them to discuss this. Confrontation is part of the game when you do Street Photography.
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For 3 weeks already I have resumed work following lockdown. After 2 months at home, I was looking forward to coming back to work to find a social life even if it comes down to working at the control tower of Roland Garros, Reunion International Airport. It may seem pompous and pretentious, but it is indeed an international airport ! Ok, a very small international one … Besides, speaking of work, like everywhere in France, aeronautical activity is very limited at the moment with very few flights to Reunion. But despite the low traffic, it feels good to work and resume the course of my training which was also impacted by this pandemic. I will stay in training for a while.
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For the past week, I have come out of hibernation a bit. The Pentax/Ricoh episode that I told you about in my previous blog had the effect of waking me up. I wanted to dust off my GoPro. Imagine that I did not even know how to use it ! I bought it last August before coming here. I had used it very little because I was quite busy. I nevertheless looked in the internal memory and I found some videos made last year that I hadn’t even worked on. I found some photos related to this video and I assembled everything to have this last T.M.E made in Aix-en-Provence. You can see below what it is.
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This week after more than two months confined, I went 3 days in a row on the streets of Saint-Denis. Don’t get too excited, it was just before going to pick up the kids from school. In the end, quite a bit of time spent on the streets, but it was nice to get back in touch with the playground. Even if I told you that I had taken advantage of the confinement to recharge my batteries a little photographically, I still admit to being impatient to find myself in the streets of Saint-Denis.
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I do not know when was the last update of my site … Besides, in the About me page, it is always indicated that I live in Aix-en-Provence. It is not in itself very serious, I left Provence not too long ago, but it is time to put some order in certain sections. I had already indicated that I did not like post-processing very much and that I much preferred the time spent on the street to take photos. Well imagine that I like even less to update my site. And yet it is necessary so that the people passing on the site have a faithful image of my work. I stayed 2 months confined to my home and I did not even bother to update things. Since the end of the lockdown I went back to work. I take advantage of this weekend to rework my portfolio a little and also to put some order back on my site.
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During my first years of blogging, I wrote a lot about the Ricoh GRD4. A little normal, I used this camera for almost three years continuously. Since then I switched to the Ricoh GR which is the camera that I now use on the street. But I have the impression that my blog is still associated with the Ricoh GRD4. Many people end up on my site after having researched on google for infos concerning Ricoh GRD4. These are 2 or 3 year old blogposts. Recently a person called me on YouTube asking me if it was relevant to buy a Ricoh GRD4 today and what about color photography with this camera?
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We have been confined for more than 45 days. When this period started, the children were on holidays. Nothing has changed … Today the children are officially on vacation. In the meantime, my wife and I have spent all of our time teaching them school at home. One thing is certain, I am not made for that. Not enough patience and surely a lack of education too. But I don’t think we were too bad during this confinement. We hope that the deconfinement planned for May 11st in France will go well. Children should start school on May 18th. It is still conditional. In principle, we would like them to resume school, but we are awaiting more details on how to resume classes. The virus appears to be under control in Reunion Island. In the past two weeks, we have counted fewer than 20 cases. (more…)
For several months now, I have lacked inspiration in my blogs. I’m struggling as not possible to find something interesting to write. It coincides a little with my departure from Aix-en-Provence … It would be a little simple to put that on the back of my life change, even if I think deep down that something broke with this move. Do not think I regret this choice ! No, I repeat that I am very happy to be on the island where I grew up surrounded by my family. (more…)