Leaves turn red on a tree on Hampstead Heath. North London, England.

When the leaves change colour every year it’s an amazing time.  I intended to go to the park to film some short video clips with my Sony NEX-5. Most of the trees were brown and yellow.  The weather was cold.  The ground was muddy.  However this particular tree was covered in red and stood out amongst all the others.

I took this picture with a manual focus lens (Canon FD 50mm) with the aperture almost fully open – about f/2.8 – to blur out the surroundings and isolate the leaves but keep enough of the leaves in focus.  If I had used f/1.4 less of the leaves could be seen clearly.

A man hails a taxi in the rain in South London, England.

The idea of shooting in the rain has always appealed to me.  The reflections from the water on the ground.  People huddled under brollies. Others running for cover because they have no brolly.

Unfortunately, I’m always scared of damaging the camera!  I’ve got rain covers for my DSLRs but I rarely take them out unless I also have a tripod – not ideal for street shooting.

Now, I think I’ve found my camera of choice.

I recently got a Sony NEX5 which has a screen that tilts out and allows me to shoot at waist level.  It’s fantastically small and I’ve found it doesn’t scare people like a large DSLR with large lens does. What a difference this makes – I think this will be my new ‘street’ camera of choice.