Sony pictures of the week / 4 January 2015

[howardstanbury]

<p>Happy New Year! Here's to another year of enjoyable photography.</p>

<p>I've been around Oxford photographing buildings new and old.</p>

<p><a title="Radcliffe Observatory /2 by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7463/16159469926_868d6d2baf_c.jpg" alt="Radcliffe Observatory /2" width="800" height="535" /></a><br /> ^ The Radcliffe Observatory is an 18th century building built to an older style (those are the eight ancient Greek winds decorating the upper sides of the tower, and both Atlas and Hercules support the globe on top). (NEX-7, LA-EA2, Sigma Super-Wide II 24mm)<br /> .<br /> .<br /> <a title="New Biochemistry by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7533/15557338904_87606cbf4e_c.jpg" alt="New Biochemistry" width="536" height="800" /></a><br /> ^ The new biochemistry building shimmers when it catches the light. (NEX-7 and Sigma E 30mm f/2.8)<br /> .<br /> .<br /> <a title="Construction by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8622/15993911447_3cd0dc606d_c.jpg" alt="Construction" width="800" height="238" /></a><br /> ^ The Blavatnik School of Government building is emerging on the edge of Jericho, Oxford. It stands next to a redundant church that is now a cafe, and you can see the Radcliffe Observatory on the left edge of the picture. (Three-frame panorama, NEX-7, LA-EA2, Sigma Super-Wide II 24mm; larger version <a href=" )</p>

<p>As ever, please add your selection of pictures taken with Sony/Minolta gear, digital or film, to a maximum of 3 photos.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>A Scottish man was visiting his son in California where he experienced day after day of glorious sunshine. His son saw him moping about the house and asked him what was wrong. He responded " Laddie your weather is beautiful but sometimes I could do with a wee bit o' gloom". The Indiana winter would really make him happy. Since I missed last week, I rooted about for something that was a cheery winter pic from 2014. It is not as nifty as your pictures but it is definitely brighter than the present and the predicted future. Happy new year!</p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Howard I love the juxtaposition between the Radcliffe dome and the tower building, all the more so because the latter looks almost like an architectural version of an elaborate wedding cake sliced in half. I wonder though, why did they build a taller structure right next to the telescope dome - was it maybe a deliberate attempt to block out some city light?</p>

<p>Wouldn't it be a nice new year resolution though, for photo.net to finally vow to enable posting larger images within forum threads? Panoramas especially aren't done justice by the 700px size limit... </p>

<p>For me 2015 started in Arizona with some hungry prairie dogs muching their 2014 leftovers at the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area near Sonoita:</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Here's a smaller and slightly more weight-conscious cousin from the fringes of the Sonoran Desert National Monument near Gila Bend, AZ:</p>

<div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Oops - the caption should have read Harris' antelope squirrel, not white-tailed! Probably not a smart idea to have a white tail, with hungry neighbors around like these five rodent terminators (this shot taken with a65 + Minolta 100-400 apo, both above with a450 + Min 600 f4):</p><div></div>

[howardstanbury]

<p>That dome is a much later building, Paul; it did house a heliometer which went to the Science Museum in London in 1905. It's now a college reading room. The tall building dates from 1772 and is the original observatory, even if it is wedding cake in style.</p>

<p>Great wildlife as ever - especially the prairie dog!</p>

<p>And I'm all for wider pics on photo.net!</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>Howard, I see the Radcliffe featured in a fairly recent episode of Inspector Lewis. As usual, a don was murdered in the top room. Oxford is so dangerous: this is one advantage of going to Cambridge instead!</p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>Robin, I'm not sure I saw that episode - it wasn't the more famous Radcliffe Camera was it?</p>

<p><a title="Radcliffe Camera and Square by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5580/15047087867_9d1b204c8a_z.jpg" alt="Radcliffe Camera and Square" width="640" height="468" /></a></p>

<p>Of course Oxford is a dangerous place. Not only do we have all the Morse/Lewis/Endeavour murders to contend with, Midsomer Murders is set in the county too. Apparently Midsomer has a murder rate of 32 per million (similar to a country like Chile). Morse and Lewis used to average 4 murders a year - quite close to actual figures for the city. According to <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-08-03/from-midsomer-to-cabot-cove---tvs-murder-capitals">this article</a> Cabot Cove in Maine (Murder, She Wrote) averaged 5 killings a year.</p>

<p>But according to official <a href="http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/crime-in-university-cities/">crime stats</a>, Cambridge is more dangerous than Oxford (13.87 vs 13.47 reported incidents per 1000 people), so just because they're not on TV it doesn't mean that it's safer!</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>Hi Howard,</p>

<p>Yes Midsomer is a massacre - such fun though. No: the one I saw was in the most recent Lewis series and it was definitely the observatory as I remember thinking what a great building it was (especially as I didn't know it). The Camera does indeed appear in about every episode. Surely, there are usually at least 2 murders in each Morse/Lewis/Endeavour episode and about 6 episodes in a series so that makes c.12 a year? I'm a Cambridge man, so I refuse to believe the stats (13.87 vs 13.47) about crime incidents: the statistics must be at fault!</p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>Robin,</p>

<p>Well, it's a good place to get murdered in (the Observatory).</p>

<p>There was a great episode of Midsomer where two rival factions of the camera club (film v digital) had a quarrel. As the synopsis says,</p>

<blockquote>

<p>In the build-up to Luxton Deeping's annual photographic exhibition, a battle rages between the traditional and digital photographers of the pretty village. The dispute seems harmless enough - until Lionel Bell is found murdered in a nearby woodland, strangled with the cord of his light meter. Barnaby soon gets to work tracking down the killer, but it seems someone is trying to implicate the detective in the murder. And once he is replaced on the case, finding the culprit seems less likely than ever. But who is trying to frame Barnaby? Was Lionel's murder related to artistic differences? And where is the victim's long-lost wife now?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Great fun.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>Professor Plum, in the observatory with the camera overexposed the victim (he was making too much noise!). We love the clue game but do not get the mystery series you are discussing, wish we did.  {8-)<br>

Randyc</p>