Olympus Cameras - The Longest Ever Picture Post to Get You Through the Day

For someone as oppsessed with photography camera becomes more than just an artistic tool it becomes oject d'art in itself. So I can spend all day looking throgh the pictures of the cameras. So if you are as obsessed as me here is your daily fix of camera porn.  

Compact Olympus Camera

Olympus Camera OM10 Black

Olympus Pen

Olympus Cameras to buy and own for life time

Olympus is the leader in the digital camera world. Olympus has encridable range of camras for every ability and pocket size. On the lower price range of the digital camerals this basic compact digital camers from Olympus features a 5x optical zoom and a 16 million pixel sensor. This camera is best suited to those who don’t want to take control of complicated settings, but rather concentrate on composition and so on, thanks to a range of automatic modes. On the downside, it’s not capable of recording HD video.

olympus digital camera

On the other end of the price is Olympus Pen F camera. Voted the best camera of 2015 Olympus Pen F is both high performance and stylish. The 'rangefinder' revival is hardly a new trend, but Olympus has led the way from day one and the PEN-F is its latest effort. Coming in at around £1,000 body only, it's going up against the likes of the Panasonic Lumix GX8 and the Fujifilm X-Pro2. It's also the first PEN camera to feature an viewfinder, a much requested feature up to now. That's a good start.

Fabulous Furs At Milan Fashion Week

A few surprises came out of Milan Fashion Week, when designers came together to showcase their work for the A/W 15 season. Geek Chic glasses (Geek Chic! In the home of thigh high splits and plunging necklines!), voluminous puffer jackets, and floor skimming skirts all made an appearance, but one of the most unexpected trends to emerge was the abundance of fur covered boots and loafers, seen at Gucci, Fendi, Aigner and Antonio Marras.  

  At Gucci, Michele Alessandro’s tawny, fur covered loafers gave the impression of elaborate slippers or house shoes, with fur so impractically long, thick, and lustrous that models had to schlep down the catwalk in them. As the slightly madcap cherry on top of Michele’s debut collection, they provided an element of thought provoking surrealism within a show that took Gucci in a new direction overall.

Over at Antonio Marras, models’ toes showed through a
miniscule gap in cheekily open-toed fur sandals, whilst at Fendi, chic, fur covered boots featured in a variety of colours, also appearing in a modified design where the fur, legwarmer style, started just above the ankle. Voluminous fur collars, trousers and coats meant that the look wasn’t just confined to footwear.

  Had we consulted them, Freud et al. would’ve had a lot to say about this season’s love affair with furry footwear (and its partner in crime, the yeti coat, which was another fur-friendly Milano trend). Broadly speaking, fur, with its connotations of fetish and seduction, is synonymous in psychiatry with some sort of latent or repressed sexual desire, so that according to Freud, for A/W 15, designers are effectively replacing the overt and obvious sexuality of previous seasons with a more discreetly seductive element. A/W 15, it seems, was still as sexual as its predecessors, just in a way that was more deeply psychological than before.

  Because, bizarre as it was, there was something attractive about the fur that appeared on Milan’s runways: something tactile, and inviting. This was fashion that was crying out to be touched, stroked, petted and loved. But there was also something unruly and dangerous about it. Where it appeared, fur indicated a wilder side to designer’s imaginations, an outlandish and unruly streak that looked to upset conventions and challenge the norm.

Whether or not fur covered slippers will replace the little black dress as a woman’s go to killer seduction item remains to be seen. But in Milan, Michele, Lagerfeld and the rest of them have taken the all important first step, challenging our perceptions of sexuality, and showing that beauty, too, can take on many, sometimes unexpected, forms.

images via http://www.vogue.co.uk/

Red & Yellow - The Colours Of Wes Anderson

Like any graphics, movies can easily be broken down into colours as this tumblr proves. The directors we look up to, seem to have their favourite colour palette to stick to. Think Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Amelie and Micmacs using green, red and yellow. Or Wes Anderson with red and yellow, as this video beautifully shows: 

Red & Yellow: A Wes Anderson Supercut from Rishi Kaneria on Vimeo.

London Fashion Week 2015 Trends: The Psychedelic '70s

London Fashion Week has gone digital. With a front row made up of fashion bloggers and editors, heads buried in their phones as they frantically post each outfit to social media, and a digital portal for home viewers to live stream the shows, Fashion Week has truly entered the 21^st century.

  But even in spite of this, there was nostalgia in the air, with designers Roksanda Illincic and Jonathan Saunders drawing inspiration from the psychedelic ’70s.

  At Roksanda, the self-styled label of Illincic, coloured fur made a comeback, appearing on clutch purses and coats. Models wore a range of deliriously colourful outfits, each showing variations on a theme of waved lines, shapes and curves. Gently swaying fabrics blurred even the brightest of colour clashes, and in doing so provided a gentle, playful look. Models were made up to appear wan and washed out, with burgundy lips protruding from amidst the pallor. The contrast between subdued make up and chaotically colourful clothes helped to update the collection, providing a modern, more sophisticated and elegant take on the ’70s look.

  Over at Jonathan Saunders, the ’70s motif appeared on bright, wave-patterned dresses and coats. Polo necks, a big trend for a/w ’15, further emphasised the 1970s look. Other looks featured racing stripe designs, printed onto swinging silks, accompanied by knee high boots and dangling silver earrings. Again, the palette clashed, Saunders favouring lavender purple, reds, and neon pinks. Showing shorter clothes, with dresses cut to follow the a-line, Saunders’s collection was sharper, somehow snappier than the clothes at Roksanda, which played to the kookier side of the psychedelic trend.

  In our increasingly technical world, one of focus, clarity and hyper precision, it is somehow refreshing to see clothes and colours that softly swing and blur. The lack of definition relating to shape and pattern was a soft reminder of the lessons we can learn from a more romantic phase in human history, one that both Roksanda and Jonathan Saunders have learned from, and adapted well. 
by Sarah Hand
images via http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/

Valentine’s Gift Guide for Men

As much as men bemoan the trials of shopping for their wife or girlfriend, it must be said it’s infinitely harder when the roles are reversed, particularly when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Short of buying them a pair of tickets to the next England international at Twickenham, a bottle of their favourite spirit or another shirt to add to their collection, it can feel like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. Yes, we might be stereotyping but the fact is, the Valentine’s gift market for women is much, much bigger than for men. So here we are to lend a helping hand with some original ideas that’ll blow their socks off (and no, we’re not suggesting a new pair of socks).

If you’d rather have a day out together and live in the South East, try the Greenwich Observatory. For anyone with even the slightest interest in space, the Planetarium shows are a remarkable experience, the closest you’re likely to get to a trip to Mars in this lifetime anyway! Or slightly further afield, motor enthusiasts will go potty for Beaulieu National Motor Museum in Hampshire. Home to an enormous collection of automobiles from F1 Grand Prix machines to famous cars from the silver screen, there’s even a ‘Top Gear World’ to explore if you’re feeling particularly generous…

To up the romance-ante, an evening of blues and jazz could be just the ticket and Brasserie Toulouse-Latrec in Kennington is something of a hidden gem. On Valentine’s Day you can tuck into oyster canapés and smoked salmon while being serenaded by some of the capital’s finest jazz crooners. For a gift that will last all year, it’s worth considering a membership to one of their favourite museums or galleries – an added incentive being that most include free entry for a guest. The Tate scheme is particularly appealing as it includes access to their riverside Members’ restaurant. But if your partner is more of a film buff, a year’s membership to the BFI is a fabulous way for them to indulge their passion. Each month features different seasons, from Westerns and Golden Age classics to foreign films and new releases.

So there you go, Valentine’s Day for the man in your life all sewn up, no excuse for socks and ties this year!

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for Her

Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t matter how long you and your significant other have been together, it doesn’t matter if you both profess to find the whole occasion a little sickly sweet and it doesn’t matter if you’d rather just spend it together on the sofa – you must NOT let the occasion go unmarked. Perhaps you really believed it when your wife or girlfriend casually queried “shall we just skip it this year?”, perhaps they really thought they meant it – they didn’t. So for those of you who know better, here are just a few ideas to spark some romantic inspiration.

You know your partner best so try to find a gift related to their interests and hobbies; preferably something you can enjoy together. If they’re an art lover why not book tickets for an exhibition? With canny timing, Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends opens on 12 February at the National Portrait Gallery and they are even hosting a special Valentine’s Day event – you can find out more on their website. If you both enjoy fine dining or cookery, sign up for an afternoon or evening with L’Atelier des Chefs. Based in London, this popular cookery school offer classes in everything from macaroon making and baking to all manner of world cuisines, you can even learn all about how to pair your creations with the perfect wine!

For those with a love of adventure and travel, Smythson offer a gorgeous range of travel accessories including chic travel wallets, passport cases and travel sized jewellery boxes – all of which are even better when presented with two tickets for a surprise weekend away inside!

If you want to make a really ‘dramatic’ statement, theatre tickets are sure to impress. Whisk her away to the birthplace of Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon for his sparkling comedy of love and mistaken identity, Love’s Labour’s Lost. Or how about a night at the opera? This Valentine’s weekend you can see Verdi’s great tragic romance La Traviata or the more uplifting Wagnerian masterpiece, The Master Singers of Nuremberg at the opulent London Coliseum.

Finally, a little luxury goes a long way so whatever you plump for, don’t forget the chocolates! As the saying goes: “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”