paulbish.co.uk

Let’s face it camera bags are hardly stylish things and while most makes like Lowepro, Tamrac & Billingham are no doubt very practical and sensible they still stand out a mile as “camera bags”. The same cannot be said for Crumpler who’s range is surprisingly both stylish and practical. The brand has a rather funky logo which wouldn’t look out of place on range of surfing/skateboarding clothing. Crumpler also go a stage further and give their bags various “cool” names like the Long Schlong, Budgie Smuggler and Pretty Boy.

I choose the Pretty Boy XXL in the more discreet Olive green colour which is big enough for my current equipment. It easily stores a DSLR body, a couple of lenses and various accessories although anyone with a large collection of lenses and other stuff may need one of their bigger bags. The quality of the Pretty Boy is very good and all items are well protected. I do wonder how it would fair in really wet conditions but overall I’m very happy with it. Price wise they are not really cheap and mine cost £39 from an eBay seller called Crooked Imaging.

Along with the bag I did purchase a Polarizing filter, ND Grad filter, Rocket Blower & an LCD screen protector. Sadly the intention of stopping there didn’t last and the urge to buy another lens was too strong and I now have a Tamron 55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di II LD Macro lens on it’s way to me.

After owning various digital cameras over the years I’ve finally decided to upgrade and get myself a DSLR camera. The one I chose was the Canon 400D with the EFS 18-55mm kit lens. This seemed a logical step up as my last three cameras have all been made by Canon and I find the size of the 400D really comfortable. The downside of all this is the temptation to spend more on accessories and I’ve already added a couple of filters, rocket blower & a bag, however I suppose the latter two are fairly essential. I’m trying to resist the urge to buy more lenses as it will become very expensive and may be a waste of money if I find the more serious side of photography isn’t really for me.

Now having my own webspace and gallery software like coppermine I didn’t intend on using any other sites but I’ve noticed how popular Flickr is and after having a good look at it I’ve decided to sign up. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can upload some of my first photographs using the 400D.

Last weekend saw the Download festival take place at Donington Park and I’ve added 44 of the pictures I took over the wekend to the gallery. Click Here to see them.

Thankfully the weather was once again dry and sunny making it yet another great weekend of live music. Sadly the pictures I took of koRn on the Dimebag Darrell stage were awful and not worth uploading. The tent was jam packed which made it really hard to get a decent shot.

Every football fan knows that the game brings its highs and lows and many have suffered anxious moments during a game whether it is a cup final, fight for promotion or relegation but nothing can compare to being just 35 minutes away from going out of the football league. On Saturday 7th May 2007 that was the exact fate that Wrexham fans like myself were looking at after going one nil down to Boston in a relegation showdown at the Racecourse Ground.

By the final whistle the panic and trepidation had been replaced by a huge sense of relief and utter joy after three glorious goals secured our league status. Fans celebrated as though we had one the biggest trophy available to a league club and quite rightly so. Although it turned out to be a day of celebration I can honestly say I never want to experience that again.

Below are our goals, the last clip taken from the kop of our second.

Once again it’s that time of year when most magazines and online forums compile their top ten CD’s of the year. Here are mine as originally posted on The DVD forums. For a direct link to the thread click here.

1. Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.
Dismissed by many as “Emo crap” P!ATD easily produced the most melodic and catchy album of the year.

Released back in Feb I still play this in it’s entirety on a regular basis .

2. The Prize Fighter Inferno - My Brother’s Blood Machine
The driving force of Coheed & Cambria, Claudio Sanchez brings us a tale of child abuse and murder in a stripped down form.

Not one for the Metalheads but still one of the best albums of 2006.

3. Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May

Second album from Corey and the boys, this album takes some beating and contains some of the best metal tunes of 2006 like 30/30-150 and we once again see their softer side in the form of Through Glass which along with Breed 77’s Look At Me Now is the ballad of the year.

4. Papa Roach –The Paramour Sessions.
A Papa Roach album is always guaranteed to have a few great tunes and this one is no exception, in fact I’d say it’s their best album to date.

Download …To Be Loved to get a feel of what the album contains.

5. Peeping Tom – Peeping Tom.
Dubbed by many as Mike Patton’s pop album this release sees him collaborate with artists like Kid Koala, Kool Keith, Dan The Automator & Nora Jones and it’s without doubt his strongest material since the demise of Faith No More.

6. Slayer – Christ Illusion.
Another old school metal band that can still make great albums. What can you say?

Except SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

7.Iron Maiden – Matter Of Life And Death.
This is another quality release from Maiden who have gone from strength to strength since Bruce’s return to the fold. Is it better than Dance Of Death I don’t honestly know but it’s still superb stuff. Truly the best British metal band of all time both live and in the studio.

8.Glenn Hughes – Music For The Devine.
Once again he’s joined by RHCP Drummer Chad Smith who co produced the album with Glenn which they recorded at Smith’s home. Another RHCP John Frusciante also appears on a couple of the tracks. Check out the epic album opener The Valiant Denial or the funky Steppin’ On to see what you’re missing.

9. Tool – 10,000 Days.
It could be said that there’s nothing new on offer here and while it may not convert the non believers Tool still made one of the best albums of the year. 2006 als0 saw Tool vist the UK with a great headline slot at the Download festival as well as a UK tour later in the year.

10.Hoobastank – Everyman For Himself.
Album number three from Hoobastank and another great slice of melodic rock.

Yet another act who choose 2006 to release their best album.

Just missing out but thoroughly deserving a spot in the top ten are:

11. Pearl Jam - ST
12. Breed77 - In My Blood
13. The Mars Volta - Amputechture
14. Kasabian - Empire
15. Johnny Cash - American 5: A Hundred Highways
16. Black Stone Cherry - ST
17. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
18. Lostprophets - Liberation Transmission
19. The Twilight Singers - Powder Burns
20. Rob Zombie - Educated Horses
21. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
22. Audioslave - Revelations

and the rest:

23. Mogwai - Mr Beast
24. Evanescence - The Open Door
25. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime II
26. Juliette and The Licks - Four On The Floor
27. Rodrigo y Gabriela - ST
28. Tenacious D - The Pick Of Destiny
29. Placebo - Meds
30. Trivium - The Crusade
31. Incubus - Light Grenades
32. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of The broken Seas
33. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
34. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
35. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
36. Wolfmother - ST
37. The Black Keys - Magic Potion
38. The Sword - Age Of Winters
39. The Answer - Rise
40. Jet - Shine On
41. Lacuna Coil - Karmacode
42. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
43. James Dean Bradfield – The Great Western
44. Kris Kristofferson - This Old Road by
45. Neil Young - Living With War
46. Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly - Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager
47. Thea Gilmore - Harpo’s Ghost
48. Snow Patrol - Open Eyes
49. Fightstar - Grand Unification
50. Richard Ashcroft - Keys to the World