Monday 29th August 2011

Some quite striking graffiti in Manchester.

10.8mm, 1/125s, f/4.5. (auto)

Sunday 28th August 2011

The weather wasn't as nice today so I didn't take as many photos, but I took this one of some aesthetic lichen on a rock.

4.6mm, 1/80s, f/2.8. (auto)

Saturday 27th August 2011

I was completely spoiled for choice for photos today, it was a lovely day out in the hills with better weather than expected and I had my compact camera round my neck so I could snap away without it delaying our hike. This is the lochan below Sgurr an Iubhair with the attractive Stob Ban on the right-hand side.

4.6mm, 1/500s, f/2.8. (auto)

Friday 26th August 2011

I was rushing from Glasgow Buchanan bus station to Glasgow Queen Street train station when I took this, but I'd seen the feature when we pass it a few moments early on the bus and I thought it was cool. It was unexpectedly extravagant too, being on the side of a car park.

10.8mm, 1/60s, f/4.5. (auto)

Thursday 25th August 2011

On my way home from work today I went for a stroll down the canal from Westport Lake towards the Middleport Pottery. I've been meaning to take a photo of this for a while, and thought it might be easier with the wide angle lens - which it was. It's still in use now, although from this side it looks rather ramshackle. The pottery is currently owned by Denby but for the most significant stretch of its existence it was the Burgess & Leigh pottery. You can read more about its history here.

12mm, 1/160s, f/4.5, ISO 320

Wednesday 24th August 2011

Cutting it fine tonight, this was taken at ten minutes to midnight,after our film finished. The Odeon in Stoke.

17mm, 3s, f/8, ISO 320

Tuesday 23rd August 2011

I pass this row of houses almost every day. First the chippy closed down and all the windows were boarded up. Then they knocked down the house on the left and left the ground to grow wild and it's now covered in red poppies and looks rather wild and beautiful. Then they knocked down the house on the right, and one in the middle. Then after a while, oddly, they put up scaffolding and repaired the four end walls. And it's been left like that since, apart from the gradual decay caused by louts or who knows who - broken windows, missing board, holes... all making it make me want to take a photo. While I was doing so the police drove past and stopped as they were curious what I was up to! I should have delayed them a little longer, they would have caught the boy racer who went screaming down the street just after them.

20mm, 3s, f/7.1, ISO 400

Monday 22nd August 2011

I just like this picture so it's going in as my photo of the day. This are my two new chickens who are all curious about their new home. Unfortunately they're not being allowed to explore it as they'd like as the older two are being rather defensive over their home, but hopefully they'll settle in and be accepted! I put them up on the chair so that they had a bit of personal space.

14mm, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Sunday 21st August 2011

I really love this photo. I love the angle of the tree and I like the way the carpet of fallen green leaves reflect the leaves on the branches against the sky.

I gave this version a tweak with HDR/tone mapping and it really brought a nice balance to the scene - it took some of the contrast out of the leaves at the top so they're not too stark against the sky, and brought some warmth to the fallen leaves in the foreground so your eye is drawn to them more.

10mm, 1/6s, f/8, ISO 320

Here's the non-HDRed version for comparison:

Also here's a photo of the same tree the day before. On this occasion the sun had just come out powerfully after a downpour, and the tree was steaming in the damp heat. I needed more time and a tripod to get a good photo of it though, so this didn't make it as my photo-of-the-day for yesterday.

10mm, 1/8s, f/9, ISO 200

Saturday 20th August 2011

A little shadow play, taking advantage of the wide angle lens and SLR that I've kindly been lent.

20mm, 1/100s, f/9, ISO 320

Friday 19th August 2011

Taken with the Kodak, but this is what it's probably best at. This is a model of an Osprey at the annual Rutland Water bird fair. Made of sheets of plastic, it's taller than a person and quite imposing. I went to take a closer look and the sign informed me that using my fair ticket I could go to the other side of the reservoir and view the real life Ospreys, so after I'd finished looking around the stalls I did just that. I took two cameras with me, one a wide angle and one without a memory card, this giving myself zero opportunity to take photos of the Ospreys through the binoculars but some things are worth watching with just your eyes. I quickly spotted a specimen through my binoculars, seeing it fly past at a distance just as I was asking someone where to look. The male switching between flying in a little circuit and sitting on a perch near the nest, and occasionally he'd plummet towards the water, making a splash then flying off. Apparently this is so that they can clean the back of their talons that they can't clean in any other way, and is characteristic of Ospreys only, helping you identify them. When he was sitting on his perch I could really appreciate the grace and beauty of this striking bird with its dominant white markings and head held high.

6mm, 1/506s, f/4.8, ISO 80. (auto)

Thursday 18th August 2011

Another thing I can do with the Ixus is continue with a theme I started early on in the year. Two themes in fact - highlight some of the cool buildings in Stoke, and do a series of photos of Stoke sub-stations, since most of those are in cool buildings with cool brickwork. I've taken photos of this one before but wasn't happy with them. This one is better, but having reviewed what I took I also know what I'd do if I returned. Which I may, I just love the intricate patterns and the variety of tiles and bricks!

4.6mm, 1/125s, f/2.8. (auto)

Wednesday 17th August 2011

Since it looks like I won't be able to sort out my broken camera for a while (I really miss it!), I really have to rise to the challenge of the alternative options and use them in ways they provide good results. My old Ixus can be coaxed into life for a little while as long as it has a newly charged batter in it, so that is preferable to the poorer picture quality of the Kodak. So what does the Ixus do well? Blue skies, colourful objects, and getting in close. Thinking of the latter two, I went to a patch of beautiful flowers I've photographed previously, and took a variety of snaps. A hoverfly was kind enough to enhance this shot, so I chose it as my top shot, although pleasingly I had a few contenders.

4.6mm, 1/500s, f/2.8. (auto)

Tuesday 16th August 2011

I tried an experiment tonight, using the Kodak on its basic mode but making the subject the interesting thing, rather than the technical aspects. Unfortunately the photo is rather low quality as the camera didn't seem to focus well, but I've tinkered about with the photo to try to make it look a bit spooky, so hopefully it doesn't detract too much. I miss my SLR already.

6mm, 1/64s, f/2.7, ISO 80. (auto)

Monday 15th August 2011

Today I sort of forgot that compact cameras (see yesterday) have very little ability when it comes to shots at dusk (an area where the SLR has so much potential). I took a stroll round my estate taking snaps of a few things, with a little Kodak camera as my Ixus wouldn't turn on. Normally where-ever I go I get *something* I'm happy with, but the photos I took tonight were sorely inadequate when I put them on the computer try as I might to rescue them in photoshop, unfortunately it was then too late to take anything else. I need to start to think in a different way while I'm stuck with limited technicality.

7.6mm, 1/74s, f/3.0, ISO 200. (auto)

Sunday 14th August 2011

My worst nightmare came true yesterday and my dSLR took a dunking in some water which has fried the electrics and it's now totally kaput. A friend has very kindly offered to let me borrow their spare camera but in the mean time I'm stuck with a couple of temperamental compacts. This was taken with an Ixus 850, which is a good quality camera but has a power issue and doesn't last many photos. I'm reasonably happy with this photo though, although I have no idea what they are!

14.7mm, 1/100s, f/5.6. (auto)

Saturday 13th August 2011

This Moroccan inspired conservatory (this is the outside) was made from scratch, by hand, by a friend of mine - haven't they made it lovely.

18mm, 1/160s (auto from aperture priority), f/3.5, ISO 800

Friday 12th August 2011

Another sewing snap - my pin cushion. I made this with my mum's help many years ago.

92mm, 0.8s, f/5, ISO 400

Thursday 11th August 2011

I took photos of the weevils that I found in the risotto rice this evening, but with my setup without natural light macro photos don't come out too well, and none of them were any good. I'd been for a stroll round a park earlier on in the day though and I actually quite like this snap, it's a new play area that's still being built, and I like the way the trees frame my view of it.

109mm, 1/200s (auto from aperture priority), f/5.6, ISO 400

Wednesday 10th August 2011

A fold of fabric.

183mm, 0.6s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Tuesday 9th August 2011

Bit of a sewing theme this week. Here is my sewing station!

39mm, 1/30s, f/4, ISO 400

Monday 8th August 2011

Bubble-icious.

0.4s, f/11 (approx), ISO 400

Sunday 7th August 2011

I wish I'd made more of this. I was on a walk and we were going at a fairly swift pace so I didn't really have time to stop and take photos, plus I was wearing running trainers on mud and polished rock which wasn't the best choice so I was constantly playing catch up anyway. I was taking the odd snap but I didn't think they were coming out well - it was a little dark in the valley and the shutter speed was too slow for a hand-held camera, but more importantly I didn't find a composition I liked so didn't stop to fix the technical issues. However, when I looked at the on the computer I quite liked a few, and with a bit more time and effort I could have made something nice out of them. I'll have to make do with this one! I like the dominance of the gunnera plant, and the matching colour of the lichen on the side of the stepping stones.

18mm, 1/15s (auto from aperture priority), f/7.1, ISO 200

Saturday 6th August 2011

A little something I'm working on (the object, not the photo).

168mm, 1/20s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Friday 5th August 2011

Time to get the caterpillar spray out in the greenhouse! It's a shame to lose a potential butterfly, but on the other hand I don't want to lose my aubergine plants either!

1/40s, f/13, ISO 200

Thursday 4th August 2011

Now I have a selection of macro shots I'm fairly happy with, I'm experimenting with a few other areas of interest. I've been interested in astronomy since I was younger and used to star gaze with my Dad, but have never really followed up on it. With my new camera though, the potential is there to take star trails, I've always thought these are amazing so this is something I've been keen to experimenting with. Astronomical photography will probably be more of a winter activity for me because I need my beauty sleep, but I've started following a couple of astronomy news and events blogs so I have an idea of what's going on up there, so who knows when the mood will take me. It turns out that we're in the middle of two meteor showers, the Delta Aquarid which is coming to a close, and the Perseid which peaks on the 12th August, so I've been eagerly awaiting a clear night to go and watch. Tonight there finally was one so come nightfall I headed up to Ramshaw rocks with a friend, to let the camera record a start trail while we occupied ourselves watching for meteors. In the dark I failed to find the bit of rock I was looking for to use as an interesting foreground profile, but since this was just an experiment really I just put the tripod down anywhere with a little rock showing in frame. There are a couple of different ways you can take star trails - either take a series of 30 second exposures and stitch them together later in software, or take one long exposure. The former has the advantage that if the battery dies or lens frosts over or something lights up the scene you won't have lost the whole thing, and also there is less of an effect of light pollution. The latter has the benefit that it's simpler, there is less post-processing plus if you don't have a remote control timer to keep taking photo after photo you can just set the camera going without having to press the button every 30 seconds. Since I don't yet have a remote timer (only a remote controller) I went with the latter. It's fairly remote at Ramshaw but there is still a degree of light pollution from Manchester, and you can see that after only a 45 minute exposure the sky is quite bright (and I've darkened it a little with software too). Next time I'll try it a little differently.

18mm, 2651s, f/3.5, ISO 400

Wednesday 3rd August 2011

More Cajun antics down the Greyhound with the ever entertaining Boat Band.

32mm, 1/50s (auto from aperture priority), f/4, ISO 800

Tuesday 2nd August 2011

Waterlilies at the dragonfly pond.

168mm, 1/500s (auto from aperture priority, f/5.6, ISO 800

Monday 1st August 2011

Light spirograph.

29mm, 8s, f/4.5, ISO 400

Sunday 31st July 2011

Ben Nevis! I've made an aim to walk all the Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000ft) before I'm 40. For Ben Nevis, I wanted to tackle it via Tower Ridge which is a scramble-cum-rock-climb up the North Face. This is something I've fancied for quite a while, and even though I don't engage in rock climbing much any more, it still appealed to me as it was a more interesting way for me to take on the hill, as well as being a 'through route' (a route that goes through a hole in the rock, I made a list of such routes and used to enjoy ticking them off). I traveled up with two friends the night before and had an early night. We were packed, fed and ready to leave the hut by 6am, and started walking just before 7. This photo was taken at 7:51, and was our first view of the route, the middle ridge of the three, it certainly looked dramatic from here (although not a great photo). A fuller write-up of our trip will appear on my sister blog this week (link at the top).

18mm, 1/50s (auto from aperture priority), f/7.1, ISO 400

Saturday 30th July 2011

Today saw me and two friends at a Climbers' hut in Roy Bridge, Scotland, having a little stroll along the river before a very early night to prepare for taking on Ben Nevis (see tomorrow). The river was fairly in-obvious from the road, but had some lovely sculptured boulders and flat skimming stones, then opened out into a broad, stony bottomed, still river, with a fly fisherman catching his dinner off to one side and his wife reading a book on the stones.

22mm, 1/100s (auto from aperture priority), f/5, ISO 400