Before and After

Before:

Smallford Pit: out-of-camera jpeg.  1/640 sec ~ f/4.0 ~ ISO 80

and after:

Smallford Pit: Post-processing in Lightroom 3

Amazing the difference a bit of treatment in Lightroom 3 can make.  An almost HDR-like affect, purely by a couple of graduated exposure adjustments.

Taken on a cycle ride along the Alban Way.

Alley

1/60 sec  ~  f/2.6  ~  ISO 400

Sometimes, high-ISO noise can work to your advantage.  This is a crop from the centre of a much larger original.  The camera chose an exposure of 1/60 sec at ISO 400; if I'd been paying attention I'd have used a slower shutter speed as the LX5 has excellent image stabilisation, and dropped the ISO for a cleaner result.  But then I'd have missed the opportunity to take advantage of that noise by sharpening it to give the film grain effect which seems to suit the subject so well.

The Poet Dreams of the Mountain

Sometimes I grow weary of the days with all their fits and starts.
I want to climb some old grey mountain, slowly, taking
the rest of my life to do it, resting often, sleeping
under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks.
I want to see how many stars are still in the sky
that we have smothered for years now, forgiving it all,
and peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know.
All that urgency! Not what the earth is about!
How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only.
I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts.
In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Hat tip to Panhala