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This year I will be mostly... taking a photo every day, and posting it up here for you all to see and comment on if you feel inclined (please do). It's not an original idea, I stole it off a friend and many other people are doing the same as I speak, but I thought it seemed like a great idea to get used to my new toy, my Canon Eos 500D with Tamron 18-250mm Macro lens - my first digital SLR.

A lot of sites online talk about 'project 365' where people are encouraged to take a photo every day, but while their take on it is to create a personal history of the photographer, I wanted to make it a bit more abstract, more about the world around me. So this isn't meant to be a photo diary of my life, I am striving for each photo to be 'good' because of its artistic and technical merit, not because it's personal to me. Having said that personal subject matter will inevitably creep in as inspiration, but that's allowed, the book I'm reading claim that "every picture we take is merely a self-portrait of our inner psyche"!

I had a think of a couple of ideas for themes and settled on 'moods'. Then I was hit by indecision as to what to do if I take a photo I like and want to upload as my daily snap, but it doesn't fit the theme. So I have decided that the theme is just for inspiration rather than as a criteria, the photos can be of anything. That way I get the most flexibility of what to upload, and still have a muse.

While I'll be taking photos every day, I'll only upload them every few days, so keep checking back. I'm not anticipating the photos to be groundbreaking (at least not to start with!), the whole point is to improve so I won't be great initially. But I'll still try my best which will hopefully keep it interesting. Please feel free to add whatever comments you like (hopefully constructive!) as that will help me as much as the process of actually taking a photo a day, I will endeavour to reply to them all.

For my trip reports blog see http://fidgetsadventures.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Tuesday 27th December 2011

This is my cousin Rob, and his youngest daughter Maisie. I love this photo, it's something a bit different and I think it conveys a nice sense of motion, an instance where the built in flash works really well.

I'm going on holiday to Austria tomorrow, I'll be taking my final few photos while I'm away, and I shall upload them once I'm back.

18mm, 1/15s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Monday 26th December 2011

Boxing Day, and my brother and his wife came round for another lovely meal, and this time it was time to cut the cake. All except the blue-hatted snowmen were made by hand by my mum.

270mm, 1/30s, f/6.3, ISO 400

Sunday 25th December 2011

Christmas Day, and into the final week of my blog! I'm at my parents for a few days over Christmas, yesterday evening on my arrival I was treated to a BBQ, and today the indulgence continued with Dad-made cocktails. This one is an Amaretto Martini, and very nice it was too. The flash also helped me to create a fairly black background without the aid of a studio setup.

85mm, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Saturday 24th December 2011

Chestnuts roasted on an open... BBQ! Yes, on Christmas Eve.

76mm, 5s, f/6.3, ISO 400

Friday 23rd December 2011

A little chuckle.

39mm, 1/60s, f/5, ISO 400

Friday, 23 December 2011

Thursday 22nd December 2011

Home grown parsnips, all ready for Christmas dinner! I'm quite proud of these, the ones on top are a little straggly but the ones on the bottom are good, strong, shapely parsnips, not as thick as the ones you get in the shops but they smell amazing.

42mm, 1/13s, f/5, ISO 400

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Wednesday 21st December 2011

Fairy on the Christmas Tree. Thought it was time to include something festive!

54mm, 1/5s, f/5, ISO 400

Tuesday 20th December 2011

Home made festive fudge!

76mm, 1/60s, f/6, ISO 800

Monday 19th December 2011

A collection of Christmas Pixies.

25mm, 1/200s, f/4, ISO 800

Sunday 18th December 2011

The musical accompaniment to the Powderkegs Border Morris side.

100mm, 1/200s (auto from aperture priority), f/5.6, ISO 800

Saturday 17th December 2011

The Picture House pub in Stafford, a really lovely building with really colourful stained glass.

35mm, 1/8s, f/4.5, ISO 400

Monday, 19 December 2011

Friday 16th December 2011

No transport is really ideal in these conditions!

50mm, 1/50s, f/6.3, ISO 400

Thursday 15th December 2011

1980s wallpaper and 1890s flooring, in the derelict Oakhurst House, Ambergate.

18mm, 1/40s, f/4.5, ISO 400

Wednesday 14th December 2011

Not an amazing photo, but the layers of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire reminded me oddly of the sprawling city of New Crobuzon in China Miéville's steampunk novel Perdido Street Station.

100mm, 5s, f/8, ISO 200

Tuesday 13th December 2011

"Eyes Wide Shut".

35mm, 1/50s, f/4.5, ISO 400

Friday, 16 December 2011

Monday 12th December 2011

Serene lighting.

46mm, 1/80s, f/5, ISO 400

Sunday 11th December 2011

Stained glass in Penkhull.

119mm, 1/4s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Saturday 10th December 2011

The Florence Colliery Band, playing valiantly in the freezing cold to an audience of 1 (and two more on the telephone)!

130mm, 1/15s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Friday 9th December 2011

Another aquatic shot, the waving fronds of a coral.

2s, f/10 (approx), ISO 800

Thursday 8th December 2011

Desperation tonight, I've been super busy at work and unfortunately haven't had time to spend on photography. So here's a second photo of the light in my lounge (first photo here)

20mm, 1.6s, f/22, ISO 100

Wednesday 7th December 2011

I loved the play of light across this washboard.

85mm, 1/4s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Tuesday 6th December 2011

This photo was quite a challenge due to the fluorescent lighting and the refraction of the water. After a little tinkering with the settings and some post-processing of the colours, I got it looking fairly realistic.

54mm, 1/100s, f/5, ISO 800

Friday, 9 December 2011

Monday 5th December 2011

Late rose in Tunstall.

169mm, 1/250s, f/6.3, ISO 200

Sunday 4th December 2011

Saggy roof tiles housing the workshops and steam engine at the Etruria Canal Museum.

85mm, 1/13s, f/8, ISO 400

Saturday 3rd December 2011

Not an enemy, the other one...

270mm, 1.6s, f/11, ISO 200

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Friday 2nd December 2011

I haven't taken a self portrait for a while.

142mm, 1/80s, f/5.6, ISO 400

Thursday 1st December 2011

Last month of the 365 blog! I went up to Hanchurch Woods because I had been told it was free of light pollution, and wanted to recce it as a star watching spot. Not exactly free of light polution, the orange glow is light reflecting off the clouds, but it made for a pretty photo!

18mm, 30s, f/11, ISO 200

Wednesday 30th November 2011

Pylon shot.

76mm, 1/40s, f/11, ISO 200