tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35414439155073445912024-03-13T03:19:32.472-07:00Not the main path - Adam LongAdam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-88361227899245220112020-05-19T04:52:00.000-07:002020-05-19T04:52:20.247-07:00DIY Parabolic mic part II - the mic
Initial mic tests
I made initial tests of the rig with a few mics. Ideally, a mic should be sensitive with low self-noise while being light and small enough not to unbalance the dish. I had high hopes for my LineAudio CM3, one of the smallest and nicest sounding cardioids around, but it didn't sound right inside the tubular mount and with the xlr plug attached was still a touch big and heavy. Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-70650315894479867622020-05-10T05:50:00.003-07:002020-05-19T04:41:54.676-07:00DIY Parabolic microphone pt.1 - the dish Recording bird song and other natural sounds has boomed in popularity over the last few years, particularly in the recent period of Covid-19 lockdown with many having more leisure time and reduced noise pollution. For many novice recordists the first thing they seek out is the audio equivalent of a telephoto lens. Unfortunately that doesn't really exist. Sounds waves travel as modulations Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-35361266433192843442014-11-14T06:15:00.001-08:002014-11-14T06:16:34.247-08:00Cornwall eventThis is a tad short notice but I'm doing a slideshow tomorrow night with climbing legend Johnny Dawes, in Newquay, Cornwall. Johnny is also doing a climbing masterclass so not to be missed if you're in the area.
The event is to celebrate the opening of Deadpoint climbing wall, details on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1504085936511703/
Pressure Drop, E3, Speke'sAdam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-40944767408555790892012-10-07T14:37:00.001-07:002012-10-07T14:39:14.441-07:00Slideshow
BB starting up the South Howser Tower, Bugaboos, Canada
I'm doing a slideshow this Tuesday evening in Heaton Moor, Manchester (9th Oct). Life has been a bit hectic for blogging of late, so if you want to catch up with what I've been up to on the grit and further afield, this summer's highlight being the Bugaboos with Ben Bransby, this might be your best chance!
The night is organised by Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-597103325769683902012-01-26T11:06:00.000-08:002012-12-31T02:17:50.161-08:002011 in picturesFinally had chance to review last year's photography and thought I'd pick out a few favourites, and one near miss, that might be of interest.
Hazel Findlay, Apaloosa Sunset, E3, Five Clouds, January
One of those perfect Peak moments - the end of a great day and a reminder why we endure the rain. We started the day with a long drive to Bosley Cloud in middling weather, and after bagging some Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-62719982011241606442011-12-01T04:20:00.001-08:002011-12-19T14:55:30.521-08:00Review: Asus PA246q monitor
Asus PA246q
Monitors are not the most exciting bits of photo equipment. I think most of us see them as a fairly uncritical part of the workflow that helps us to get from the exciting bit at the start - the camera - to the exciting bit at the end - the print. But in the process of buying a new monitor I've come round to a different view.
My last two monitors were hefty but reliable - CRTs Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-44293510580601179112011-11-30T11:29:00.001-08:002011-12-01T11:25:01.799-08:00BooksOn of the more enjoyable projects I've been involved with over the last fifteen months or so has been photographing a walking guide for Vertebrate Graphics. The book is now in print and we're all pretty chuffed with the result.
Original image here
It should be in local book shops soon, or buy direct from V-Publishing here.
The book is illustrated predominantly with landscape images, but Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-22638362375448849802011-02-01T02:41:00.000-08:002011-02-02T05:24:53.518-08:00Public land in The Peak; good news and bad
Froggatt Edge: in good hands for the next fifteen years
Last week, the Eastern Moors Estate was finally signed over to its new management partnership led by the RSPB and National Trust. It hasn't been the easiest process, but its definitely good news for both the landscape and wildlife of this fantastic landscape - and the climbers, walkers, photographers and everyone else who visits it.
Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-53182402613269906242010-10-13T04:57:00.000-07:002010-10-13T06:08:47.839-07:00Peace of Mind
The Roaches, Staffordshire
In 1996 I was nineteen and, like most people, at a pivotal time in my life. In the previous twelve months I'd left school, got a driving licence, got stuck into what remains one of only two periods of full-time employment in my life, and then spent my earnings on a rack and a plane ticket. I spent more than a few days that winter at The Roaches, often aloneAdam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-5538503935025695862010-09-15T12:05:00.000-07:002010-09-15T12:06:44.886-07:00Turn, turn, turnCallow Bank, November morning Every year, around now, I take great delight in being a gritstone climber. As August slides into September, the summer ends. Holidays are over, its back to school, to work - another disappointing summer over, and a long winter ahead. For most, a good excuse to moan. For the gritstoner, every chilly morning, every dark evening, the strengthening wind and the Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-52959152504538322732010-06-28T13:36:00.000-07:002010-10-23T04:50:11.839-07:00Midsummer in WalesFinally I could rest. I wriggled down into my bivvy bag, breathed deep and slow the mountain air, and tried to sleep. It was well after midnight, and late on this solstice night the darkness was almost complete. The patch of sky framed by my sleeping bag was small, and a lone star glowed small in the centre. Below, the skyline was reduced to a black cut-out against the last glimmer of light on Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-30295636370939925342010-06-01T12:08:00.000-07:002010-07-07T13:42:04.263-07:00Life and Death at Donington
To the north, the fields and farms of the Midlands stretched away to the Ashbourne hills and the start of the Pennines. Closer, the parkland sloped downhill to the deer fence bordering the woods, through which the sparkling reflections of the lowering sun betrayed the River Trent. A little upstream, two swans turned gracefully on the current, silhouetted black on shimmering gold. Water Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-83711014205256998922010-05-04T01:59:00.000-07:002010-05-04T01:59:27.027-07:00Website moveMy main website, www.adamlong.co.uk, will be down for a few hours today whilst I switch host servers.
The new servers have much more potential, and will help me expand the site and its functionality. I'm looking into hosting the blog there too, or I might host a photography blog on there, and keep this just as a climbing blog... any preferences?Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-70586574366173122932010-04-23T03:13:00.000-07:002010-07-07T13:42:31.736-07:00Golden FeetI've been climbing a lot recently with Neil 'Nige' Kershaw, a man memorably described by Si Wilson as the 'beady-eyed, self-proclaimed cock-of-Lancaster'. We've got a lot in common in terms of size and climbing style, and a habit of regularly climbing with The Best without quite making the grade ourselves. Kind of Premier League reservists, if you will.
Nige
The last few weeks, though, have seenAdam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-39996132025446580152010-03-29T21:45:00.000-07:002010-09-03T12:52:11.335-07:00March RoundupWell its been interesting month for lots of reasons. Did my first new winter route, lost my job, appeared on TV, and easily repeated what I had thought of as one of my greatest achievements... lots to think about!
Last night the BBC's Countryfile ran a short piece on the Ring Ouzels at Stanage (skip to ~52:40). It was nicely timed - the first birds arrived back from Morocco last week - but Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-28196172000216932692010-03-06T04:56:00.000-08:002010-03-06T05:03:17.458-08:00Western Gully Ysgolion Duon - The Black Ladders When I was about fifteen, having kicked steps up the back of Cwm Ffynon Lloer, we walked the ridge between Carnedds Dafydd and Llewelyn and peered down into Cwm Llafar at the brooding mass of The Black Ladders. A big crag, a serious crag, I was told, not for the inexperienced. A couple of years later they were pointed out again, this time from the A55Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-4652590669950892412010-02-19T11:13:00.001-08:002010-02-22T11:24:09.923-08:00Raven's gullyI can't help being a bit of a believer in karma when it comes to the weather. Put the time in, slog it out even on the grim days, show the crag you're doing it for the love of it, and sooner enough you get rewarded with something special.
Glencoe
It might seem a just case of buying more lottery tickets, but the other way round seems to apply too - go out too fast, too keen, aim for a big Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-8349948003146311332010-01-31T14:10:00.000-08:002010-02-02T10:02:38.049-08:00'But can we still claim them?'So said Grimer to me yesterday, with a kind of glazed glee in his eyes. He was drunk, drunk on being handed access to rock normally out of reach, and so were we. In a few, crucial places the snow has redrawn the landscape and, as far as certain climbs are concerned, all of history has become but a footnote. Forty-foot walls have become bouldering height, boulder-choked gullies have become soft, Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-42460976945800201182010-01-10T04:55:00.000-08:002010-01-11T02:51:29.510-08:00Snow funOne of the things I try to do is not fight the weather. In fact its more than that, on any given day I obsess about how to get the most out of it. Despite having well over half the days in the year at my disposal, it never seems like there is enough time. Climbing and photography have different requirements, so the first decision is which to prioritise, though both sets of gear usually make it Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-50138378253548214272009-12-18T07:46:00.000-08:002009-12-18T07:46:42.623-08:00Nine out of tenI work alternate weeks at the mo, and the way I like to think about it is this: five days on, nine days off. Throw in a lucky early finish on friday, and that week off makes for ten chances to get out climbing. Last 'week' was great - I only missed one.
Sunday
Nige Kershaw on Narcissus, E6 6b. Pads help, but the hard bit is at the top...
At the base of Froggatt's Downhill Racer is a Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-62626490371933720852009-12-10T12:01:00.000-08:002009-12-10T12:04:27.758-08:00Peak appealMountaineer Andy Cave has just finished his 2009 lecture tour. After his life-changing trip to Changabang, Andy returned home bewildered and unsure about his continuing motivation for climbing. Ultimately the gentle beauty of his home landscape drew him back in, and he found some catharsis through the simple joy of movement on the boulders.
To try and illustrate this in his slideshow, Andy got Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-86538318682220708162009-11-27T06:12:00.000-08:002009-11-27T06:12:46.108-08:00Our LotI'll not dwell on the past few weeks, suffice to say the weather in the Peak has been as bad as I can remember - wet, dull, windy.
That's My Lot - originally E8 7a, now 7c+/ 8a?
Nige took his weather frustration out on lichen. One route in particular - That's My Lot at Rivelin quarries. A perfect twenty-five foot quarried edge, slabby on the right but leaning out on the left. A few footholdsAdam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-41666282154623289662009-11-11T06:01:00.000-08:002009-11-11T12:55:14.564-08:00Font videoChar has put his film of our trip to font up on vimeo. There's a fair bit of me climbing in it, and although I get up a few problems I look rather petulant. All down to Char's editing, amazing what they can do eh? I was made up really...
Some Mid-Grade Classics from alexander char on Vimeo.Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-21834663695943749782009-10-24T08:55:00.000-07:002009-10-24T08:55:01.232-07:00Lookout - egg chefs!
I spent last week in Fontainebleau with a few friends and the weather was perfect, too good in fact. A full day's bouldering can be hard on body and skin - five in a row is debilitating. The first two days were spent at rather open crags enjoying the warmth of the sunshine, doing the kid-in-a-sweetshop thing which is hard to resist. With conditions on the fine-grained sandstone are less Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3541443915507344591.post-85080076626684121282009-10-08T02:13:00.000-07:002009-10-08T02:38:34.591-07:00ClimbThe November issue of Climb is now out with my Grand Capucin article as the headline feature - including Caff on the cover leading the second pitch. I'm pretty chuffed, its pretty much the most you can hope for after a trip, but was a bit surprised as I would never have picked this out as a potential cover. The main reason being, I suppose, that although its a tough pitch he's actually on Adam Longhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08603542673366722974noreply@blogger.com1