It was a good day for photo's all in all. Although it was very overcast the bland lighting called for shots that you couldn't get in brighter light. The reflections in this window would have been too much to see the light shining though. And yes it is persipration on the windows - it's a gym inside!
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
House - HDR.
It's nice to be on the learning curve with photography and the ability to take a good photo when you see something interesting is a lifelong skill. I'm slowly feeling more comfortable with the camera, having had to progress (regress?) back from using the display on the back of the camera to using the viewfinder. I'm still in the habit of framing the shot as I take it and need a little practice pulling back a bit, and thinking about how It's going to be framed 3:2 ,1:1, 16:9. There's a lot to be said for looking for intersting lighting and compostiotins, and I'm much less hesitant is progressing up the ISO range with the DSLR. This photo was enhanced using picturenaut, taken at dusk at -0.7 0.0 and 0.7 stop intervals. Maybe some other sofware would bring something a bit more striking but nonetheless it's a bit of HDR.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Boring boring boring
Either I'm setting my own standards higher or I just had the most boring photo-shoot in the world. I don't know wether it is just the winter or if I'm getting too obsessed with DOF that it's all blurring into one big mess. I want some colour, some motion, something fun... but it is not to be. Eeesh, I need something anyway....
Sunday, 8 February 2009
The Forest
The morning was beautiful, but just as the afternoon light approached the clouds loomed over. In retrospect it would have been better to leave earlier - to catch the light falling though the trees. Nothing could have been better, however, than a lovely cup of hot chocolate and a piece of cake in the forest on a Sunday.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Onwards to the park
Being a Saturday we went out to the park. The bright winter's light was terrible but it was becoming dangerous at home when Jamie insisted on climbing on absolutely everything that looked as if it could take his weight for a few seconds, before collapsing. These wooden posts looked sturdy enough and much to my relief, he had a good time playing on them. Unlike his sister, Jamie remains particularly photogenic - approaching him with a camera results in a natural looking picture as he continues in his own little world. It's the kind of thing you don't get very oftern - most children preferring not to have an enormous lens pointed at them.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Space
I grabbed some texture to a space bar in this shot with the help of picturenaut v2.12. I know, it looks like a sales brochure but I have a thing for glowing keyboards.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Besides the sea
I was awarded with a whole hour and a half today, so I took a stroll with my trusty sony A200 DSLR to catch the beauty of the morning sunshine. Strangely I was drawn to posts signs and fences, which are rather dull and ubiquitous. I don't even know why I feel compelled to venture outside at all. Maybe I should stay inside and play Jenga, like Jacodub. I think it all started when I was molested by a group of bollards who insisted on starting up a conversation. Or maybe I started it. I can't remember who started it but it finished up like this:
The one on the right said I could move along while the others kept watch, which was quite a relief, I can tell you. Well I was quite wary from then on so that's why I took a good close look of this red and white post, who as it happens, was quite friendly and advised me to follow the fence if I wanted to go to the beach. He was up for a snapshot, so I obliged.
Fences, as it happens, are mute. And for good reason.
Signs on the other hand like to converse. Well, more accurately they like to tell you something but aren't interested in discussion. Some of them can be quite persuasive, although I must admit this one didn't tempt me in the slightest.
So I took the stairs down to the beach while the seagulls squawked overhead. Beach being the loose term for sea on one side and land on the other. It's one of those beaches you went to as a kid and ended up a bit depressed because there wasn't any sand and you couldn't swim unless you really wanted your legs to end up looking like flagella. And to be honest there wasn't much there apart from some water, some rocks and a bit of string. Not very inspiring particularly and I might say quite cold being the beginning of February. I ended up just sliding around on some rocks, admiring some graffiti and coming home. I've decided that taking a picture of anything involving rocks and sea is particularly difficult unless you happen to be a dab hand at post processing and HDR. Otherwise they just look like holiday snapshots. Patricsmithphotography knows a good shot when he sees one, have a look there if you want to see a stunning seaside shot to avoid the disappointment of reading all this ramble. You're in for a treat.
In the mean time, I'll chalk that down to experience and stick with the easier stuff. Like posts. Fences. That kind of thing.
The one on the right said I could move along while the others kept watch, which was quite a relief, I can tell you. Well I was quite wary from then on so that's why I took a good close look of this red and white post, who as it happens, was quite friendly and advised me to follow the fence if I wanted to go to the beach. He was up for a snapshot, so I obliged.
Fences, as it happens, are mute. And for good reason.
Signs on the other hand like to converse. Well, more accurately they like to tell you something but aren't interested in discussion. Some of them can be quite persuasive, although I must admit this one didn't tempt me in the slightest.
So I took the stairs down to the beach while the seagulls squawked overhead. Beach being the loose term for sea on one side and land on the other. It's one of those beaches you went to as a kid and ended up a bit depressed because there wasn't any sand and you couldn't swim unless you really wanted your legs to end up looking like flagella. And to be honest there wasn't much there apart from some water, some rocks and a bit of string. Not very inspiring particularly and I might say quite cold being the beginning of February. I ended up just sliding around on some rocks, admiring some graffiti and coming home. I've decided that taking a picture of anything involving rocks and sea is particularly difficult unless you happen to be a dab hand at post processing and HDR. Otherwise they just look like holiday snapshots. Patricsmithphotography knows a good shot when he sees one, have a look there if you want to see a stunning seaside shot to avoid the disappointment of reading all this ramble. You're in for a treat.In the mean time, I'll chalk that down to experience and stick with the easier stuff. Like posts. Fences. That kind of thing.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
School is closed.
I had the joys of taking my children home from school today, having been informed by the caretaker (nice guy that he is) that school was closed today because of the snow. That is despite the fact that I drove in, the roads are clear and most of the snow is melting. Maybe Boris has it right - it's just an excuse for a mass skive. I had planned on playing with my own toys - to enjoy the personal freedom and space without my two little bundles of joy but it was not to be.
Regardless, I took them with me for a spin in the car and took a few photo's as I went in the early hours of the morning. As it happens, they had as much fun as I did - throwing snowballs and sliding around in the snow.
The photo's do no justice to how absolutely freezing it was. And how dumb I was for tring to carry a metal tripod with me without gloves. Yes, I know I started the last sentence with a conjunction but I'm claiming artistic license. Damn it, I've started having a conversation with myself and this is only the first entry.
Regardless, I took them with me for a spin in the car and took a few photo's as I went in the early hours of the morning. As it happens, they had as much fun as I did - throwing snowballs and sliding around in the snow.
The photo's do no justice to how absolutely freezing it was. And how dumb I was for tring to carry a metal tripod with me without gloves. Yes, I know I started the last sentence with a conjunction but I'm claiming artistic license. Damn it, I've started having a conversation with myself and this is only the first entry.
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