A grim morning in downtown Giubiasco. Helped along by another good dose of high contrast black & white (not to mention underexposed) Ricoh grit.

There’s some pretty remarkable stuff hidden away in the steep woods that rise to the East of Giubiasco. Today, while searching for feeder pipe which comes down from a dam much higher up, to the small hydro power station at the foot of the Morobbia valley, I found the remnants of a seemingly long disused funicular railway. Maybe it was used during the construction of the pipe, some 100 years ago. Who knows. It’s not telling, and very few people seem to care about their history.

Feeder Pipe. Ricoh GRD4, via Filterstorm Pro

Ghost. Ricoh GRD4, via Filterstorm Pro

And later, following a new-looking sign, I discovered a really overgrown, long disused trackway leading back down to the old village - and the truly horrendous hodgepodge of unimaginative, sterile concrete bunker architecture which I’m sorry to say only the Swiss could love.

Around a month ago my life suffered something of an upheaval, when I was diagnosed with diabetes. Although it was obviously a shock, it wasn’t really a surprise: to say that it runs in the family would be an understatement. So far, it seems that it is not too drastic. With light medication and a significant lifestyle change, my glycemic levels are tending towards the low end of the normal, healthy scale, or indeed lower. The lifestyle change essentially involves not spending all day stuck behind a computer, avoiding the horrendous British / American idea that it is commendable for lunch to be a shrinkwrapped sandwich rammed down your throat as you “do email”, and basically getting out more.

So I do. And often I take a camera with me, just in case. This led me to another idea:  publishing a series of photos taken on the hoof, as it were, and uploaded directly from my iPad. I’m usually really finicky about fine tuning photos, and working with RAW files only, so this is a bit of a change of tack. There are actually some useful photo editing applications on the iPad, so this alo gives me the opportunity to pass on some of my experiences using them.

The place I work, Giubiasco, at a passing glance seems a drab, boring place devoid of any interest or charm. But the unique (for Ticino) village-green type Piazza Grande gives some clue to the more fascinating remnants of past times hidden away from the busy main road in the old village. And just beyond the village, there are old tracks, a rock-strewn stream, and plenty of places to explore for half an hour or so. So none of this is going to be high art, but hopefully it might be interesting. Here’s the first.

The Strada Vecchia leading up from Giubiasco to Val Morrobia. Taken with the Ricoh GRD4, processed in Filterstorm Pro.

I must write some more about the GRD4. It really is a remarkable little camera. It is more sophisticated than many a DSLR, has superbly good handling, and a fantastic lens. The 28mm-equivalent focal length may be a little too wide for really general use, but personally I find plenty of subject matter that suits it.

The sky looks a bit weird in the photo. Probably for the first time ever I’m going to need to think about in-camera JPEG settings. Old dog. New tricks.

Some XPan shots of and near Diga di Contra in Val Verzasca, Ticino, taken a few months ago one dark wet & gloomy evening. Processed in Silverfast 6 HDR. Probably I could be more creative with gradients and desaturation and whatever, but that’s just not me.  Kodak E100G, f/22 and be there. Diffraction ? What’s that, then ?

I’m pleased to say that the latest report for Switzerland for the Carbon Disclosure Project has rather a fine photograph on the front…

It’s not too often that I get photos published, although possibly if I tried harder I might, but I can’t pass up this opportunity for a little tiny bit of self-promotion!

A very interesting client too:

The Carbon Disclosure Project launched to accelerate solutions to climate change and water management by putting relevant information at the heart of business, policy and investment decisions.

Certainly sounds like a cause I can subscribe to.

The photo itself was taken back in 2004, using an Olympus E-1. Who says that 5 Megapixels are not enough ?