Digital photography

Oh, and I'm also fascinated by ghost towns--whole abandoned towns, probably even more than by individual abandoned houses. And lost cities.

Just as I think I'm getting back into the black, I get a repair quote for £1100. Joy. I hate how expensive photography is.

I agree, they're fascinating pictures. I remember seeing a photographic series of such houses a few years ago. There would once have been full terraces into which these individual houses used to be integrated.

Strictly speaking, the city, within the city limits, is depopulated; however, the same cannot be said of the wider metropolitan area, which is still very large and to which many of the former residents of the urban core have migrated.

In the age of mass motorisation, American cities were de-cored by policies of 'decentralisation'. Prevalent ideas of the time included worries about quality of life in traditional cities (which at the time consisted of old houses without mod cons which often didn't get much light and unsanitary conditions, similar worries as in London, of course). The hope was that higher mobility would enable great flexibility of where people lived and where they worked, so that they could live on more land per person and in larger houses, driving their cars to wherever they needed to go. The hope was that economic activity could take place anywhere, as geographic centralisation was no longer seen as important as before for defining potential markets. Thus, you might have seven out-of-town shopping centres within half an hour's drive of a million people, and people would vote with their wheels where they wanted to go. City authorities would no longer have to invest heavily in public transportation to congested city cores (it is always important to stress that congestion is actually a symptom of success of cities), and orbital travel would take precedence over radial travel.

To a limited extent, such policies could be beneficial; it is perfectly conceivable for a city to be over-centralised and for a little bit of loosening of the distribution of activity to be a good idea. However, in many places the policies went too far and ended up taking away the economic vitality of the core. The actual result was that the unique function of the urban centre in being able to combine many specialist activities that made not only the city but also the surrounding area vibrant and attractive was undermined by fewer people coming together there. In some places, like Detroit City, there was obviously also problems like racial segregation and industrial decline; deeply ironically in the case of Detroit, as it obviously used to be the world's largest manufacturer of the very same motor vehicles that drove decentralisation.

The upshot are houses like these ones; probably the result of a very few people choosing to stay on while the terraces around them were demolished, although they themselves appear to have been long gone.

The Government's disastrous 'Pathfinder' programmes enable quite a few StreetView/photographic opportunities in areas awaiting demolition in this country, too, usually still fully integrated into undemolished terraces.

Yeah, I like the pretty colours.

Just came home with my new toy - Nikon D600! The sun now has to shine over the weekend! I will be selling my D7000 with lens soon if anyone is interested...

jealous

ExTra, what lenses you got going?
I recently bought a D7000

It's a pretty good deal at the moment, I got the body and a 24-120 F4 lens and with Nikon has given / will be giving me a total of £220 saving (£150 cash back for the body ad £70 off for the lens at the till), that's about 10% of the total, I think it's as good as it gets for new digital equipment.

ExTra, what lenses you got going?
I recently bought a D7000

I have a Tarmon 17- 50 F2.8 that I probably will sell with the body as a kit (a good general zoom and all that) and a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm F1.8 DX - this I can sell with the body or on its own, depending on interests.

Just as I think I'm getting back into the black, I get a repair quote for £1100. Joy. I hate how expensive photography is.

New heart? New telescope? new small planet?

Nice one ExTra. Post some pics when you get around to it!

Will do! I am really looking forward to playing with it!

I also want to give a big thumps up to Fixation, they spent a long time answering all my questions, comparing models with me, chit chatting with me about photography and life and other stuff that might or might not be important - holiday, friends taking avtanage of us photogrdphers etc... They might be a touch more expensive than the likes of Calumet and WEX, but if you ask them nicely, they will try their upmost to price match when they can (bare in mind they are an independent store so they got their stocksprobably more expensive then a chain to begin with). Most importantly, they are only a 5 mintue bike ride for me from either work or home... What more can I ask for? I love them, I always have and probably always will!

+1 for Fixation as well. I've only used them for repairs/servicing for my Nikon gear, but they've been brilliant. Nice people too.

I wondered if anyone could give me a bit of advice? I got myself a new compact camera with a WI-FI feature, its a Canon s110. To be honest the wireless connectivity appealed to me more than anything but Im struggling to get it connected to my WI-FI network.

Ive got it to 'see' the network and my pc name but it wont connect. I wondered if anyone had one of these or could suggest where I am gong wrong?

Many thanks in advance,

New heart? New telescope? new small planet?

Fixation repair quote. My 17-35 & 70-200. Both old and well used, so understandable. Though is it worth it? Just tempted to get new ones.

What ever could the story be here?

House look like it was damaged in a fire? pure speculation but it look like a child die in a fire.

I see what you mean but arson of abandoned homes is common in Detroit, you can easily find dozens of burned out homes in a small area. Preventing it is one of the reasons thousands are demolished every year, leaving empty lots and what is known as 'urban prairie'.

+1 for fixation also. They replaced a flashgun bulb for me as a freebie because i'm a long term client. Very helpful and efficient repairs service, if expensive for sales.

Can't rep you Will, i'll get you next time.

+1 for fixation also. They replaced a flashgun bulb for me as a freebie because i'm a long term client. Very helpful and efficient repairs service, if expensive for sales.

I was so confused with this thinking it's related to the abandoned houses, wondering what did the flashgun did that made everyone relocated, and why are people are a client for these houses.

I wondered if anyone could give me a bit of advice? I got myself a new compact camera with a WI-FI feature, its a Canon s110. To be honest the wireless connectivity appealed to me more than anything but Im struggling to get it connected to my WI-FI network.

Ive got it to 'see' the network and my pc name but it wont connect. I wondered if anyone had one of these or could suggest where I am gong wrong?

You may have already read this but some info here http://support-asia.canon-asia.com/contents/ASIA/EN/8201651300.html

+1 for fixation also. They replaced a flashgun bulb for me as a freebie because i'm a long term client. Very helpful and efficient repairs service, if expensive for sales.

They are only more expensive marginally with certain items, but like i said, I wanted a price match with a lens I bought yesterday and while they couldn't quite match the price at Calumet 100%, it only ended up being £5 more. And they trust what you say as well. Try price matching at John Lewis, it's like doing a final exam of sorts...

Is it the little plastic tab on the memory card?

They are only more expensive marginally with certain items, but like i said, I wanted a price match with a lens I bought yesterday and while they couldn't quite match the price at Calumet 100%, it only ended up being £5 more. And they trust what you say as well. Try price matching at John Lewis, it's like doing a final exam of sorts...

I may also be slightly out of touch, as i don't usually touch new equipment. If I do, I buy at microglobe.