The boiler pressure dropped to virtually zero twice last weekend, and it wasn’t til Sunday evening that I noticed a damp patch on the carpet just next to the radiator in my bedroom. My heart sank further when I couldn’t identify the exact origin of the leak at the valve or piping above the floor. The underlay immediately neat the radiator was very wet and my obvious concern was that of a possible leak under the floorboards. Luckily, I have cover and the engineer was to come the next afternoon, which meant I had to take half day’s annual leave, which was annoying but better that than flooding the house.

The engineer came early actually and he found the leak in no time – the leak was coming from a small perforation at the back of the radiator, one place which I didn’t even bother to check. I was told that they could order a radiator and come again to install it, which meant another half day off work. The engineer then made some calls and managed to source a new one on the spot, meaning he’d get it done the same day. All done in two hours and a bit, and I didn’t have to pay anything for it. Well, actually from the cover I’ve been paying, I’ve probably paid enough for ten radiators all these years. The old radiator was brought down to the front yard and as expected, it was gone the next day!

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I have been mulling over what photographic equipment should I bring on my Japan trip. To this effect, I told myself to get cracking on using what I have in my limited arsenal and try it out in Sheffield. Just to have a feel. As I have alluded earlier, I had purchased a Sigma 24-70 mm f/2.8 on the cheap, and after the radiator job, I thought it would be a good idea to do a short city walkabout. Especially when I did a walkabout late last year, the light had gone and this time, the late afternoon sky was clear and the setting sun gave some good light and shade all around. Subject-wise, I was really uninspired. Nevertheless, the glass on the Sigma was just fantastic. I am getting used to editing on Lightroom now and with minor tweaks, I’m just blown away with the clarity of the Sigma. Imagine what would it be like if I had the dosh to buy an actual Canon.


I am so bringing this to Japan. I know it’ll be heavy but this is my first trip and I think I will regret not bringing the DSLR. I did think of buying a decent compact but to spend another £500-800 on one so soon after buying the TZ30? Talking about the TZ30, I may just bring it anyway, in the event I could get a fellow tourist to take a photo of me with Kinkaku-ji in the background.

I have not forgotten about the GoPro. One thing I am keen on doing is time lapse photography, inspired by this video:

Again, I had looked up tips on Google and YouTube, and I think I kinda figured it out. 1 shot per second for a moving crowd and traffic for the Shibuya crossing, if I can get a window seat at Starbucks. I may just try doing a time lapse of Shinjuku on the first night from my hotel room too. A sunset would be great if the room is facing the west, which means I could leave the GoPro on shooting at a rate of 1 shot per 30 secs or more, and by the time I get back from my dinner, it should be fantastic.

Editing for time lapse on the iMovie is pretty straight forward but I had to do the edit twice – the first edit is of the invidual shots added to the project area. Editing the colours in post is extremely slow as there would hundreds of images for such a short shot. So, once I was happy with what I want, I created a video in 1080p, and reimport it in a new project for the second edit. This means, I only have one video to do the post on, as opposed to a few hundred photos.

Have a butcher’s at my attempt today at a time lapse vid:

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Before my little walk about with the camera earlier this week, I had a coffee at this new(ish) place called Tamper, just off West Street.

You could smell the coffee a few hundred yards away, actually. The place is kinda studenty but it has character – I like the way it has the old tables and chairs without looking too contrived. Most importantly, they serve a perfect flat white. Which is obvious as the place is run by a barista from NZ. So good that I actually had two.

They also have a restaurant called Seller’s Wheel on Arundel Street, which I may just check out for brunch tomorrow after my run.

9 Westfield Terrace
Sheffield S1 4GH