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Hawnby Hill

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1000336 MO Hawnby USAnybody that has read my past blogs will know that I’m a keen advocate of the Panasonic range of cameras. Owning a G1 for the last two years I’ve always found the operation of the camera absolutely ideal for landscape photography. Of course this doesn’t mean I’ve given up on Large Format (not by any means!), but there are times I find it useful to use digital – particularly when I wish to make panoramic images or simple abstracts as mentioned in last week’s blog (oh for the want of a Phase One back – all donations gratefully received! ;).

1000336 MO Hawnby USFor the last five years my wife has been using a Panasonic compact camera for taking general family snapshots which she found very easy to operate and carry about. However, recently we found problems with the white balance when images were downloaded onto the computer. Therefore, we decided to call it a day and purchase a replacement.

Ultimately we decided to spend that little bit more than originally planned and splashed out on the Panasonic Lumix LX5. I know that Joe Cornish and Charlie Waite are big fans of this camera and having talked also to good friend, Peter Leeming we were in no doubt of its credentials.

Whilst my wife wasn’t looking I managed to sneak it into my camera bag and take it with me to Hawnby in Esk Dale. The idea was to set up the Ebony and, whilst waiting for the moment, play about with the LX5. This I did and learnt quite a lot about its features. One great feature I found was the ability to shoot in square format and I have to say I was suitably impressed both with the camera and of the square format. I decided to rest the camera on top of the Ebony to keep it steady and made the image as can be seen here. I used a filter ring that I purchased at the same time so as I could use my Lee filters to hold back the sky. This also worked brilliantly – very well though out.

I can see my wife finding this camera disappearing quite often!