06/02/12
7/02/12
Had one of those days when I wonder why I bothered doing degrees and spending 25 years becoming an experienced professional in my particular field of expertise. Yep, I was detailed to accompany my line manager to clear out the garage attached to our old office. It was full of the most incredible crap; confidential documents mixed with minutes of pointless meetings. Most of it was his too, dating back to the early 1990's. It wasn't pleasant work but I did sneak a picture of him and he did buy me lunch. Even after I broke the "up and over" garage door and we had to call property services out. At that point, I made my excuses and left.
8/02/12
Back to Monday's idea again as I had nothing to show for the day except a full tank of heating oil and a well-bled boiler which was working again. Thankfully Sarah was more than happy to oblige. I'm liking this wee idea.
9/02/12
Sixth form formal for Hannah tonight. Rushed this way too much and ended up not getting a really good shot. It's funny looking at the pictures from the formal. The girls (all of whom are 17-18) look much older and very elegant. The boys look like 12-year olds dressed in badly-fitting suits at their cousin's wedding. I suspect this is a universal law of nature.
10/02/12
Conway Square, Newtownards in the rain. Trish and myself were attending a photography talk by Ciaran De Bhal from Dundalk held in the Town Hall thanks to Ards Camera Club. Great show - this guy has some amazing images in his portfolio. He's fond of the Photoshop - many shots were collages, with people pasted in to backgrounds. It was very well done but I'm still left thinking about where this approach fits in photography. It's art, in that the images produced have visual impact and appeal but it's also a big step away from photography as being reportage; capturing what is there in front of you. The latter is probably my preferred way of working. Perhaps that over-used saying of Dr Samuel Johnson might get a run out here. Dr Johnson noted that "a woman preaching is like a dog standing on it's hind legs. The wonder is not that it is done well, but that it is done at all." All of that said and noted, but it has to be said that Ciaran's pictures were excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring. I came away with a few new ideas and that's always a bonus. Anyway, stepped outside for a smoke, realised I hadn't taken my shot for the day and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. And my iPhone. If you fancy checking out Ciaran's work (and it's well worth a gander), his website can be found at:
http://www.wix.com/cdebhal/picture-it-website
11/02/12
For Christmas presents, I bought all the big un's a day out at Todd's Leap Centre near Omagh. I'm getting to like the idea of buying "experiences" as presents rather than "things." There's only so many toys or electrical gadgets you need. We had an afternoon of off-road driving - Conor was a star, given that he'd never been behind the wheel of a car before. On the other hand, I managed to dig out a trench with the front bumper of the land rover we were in. Sharp left? Sharper next time. Zip line was great fun, body zorbing was violent and being driven fast in a hill rally jeep was the scariest thing I've done in a long time. All finished off with pizza (my old friend, how I've missed you these last six weeks) and red wine. And before you point out that I didn't take this shot, I set the camera up before passing it onto the member of staff from Todd's Leap to press the button.
12/02/12
We went out for lunch before Lynsey leaves for Australia tomorrow and visited Katch 27 in Kircubbin. Regular readers might recognise the name - I featured a picture from a photoshoot Trish and did at the restaurant before Christmas (this blog, week 3 - 2/12/11). I had planned to re-visit a photo I had taken of a tower in a hillside overlooking Strangford Lough. Alas, I had all the gear with me...except for my plate to attach the camera to the tripod. Plans foiled, I resorted to plan b and got Trish to stop a this deserted farm house on the main road between Newtownards and Greyabbey which I had noticed before. I figured I'd be able to get at least one good handheld shot. Lightly processed in Photoshop and also used the new content aware feature to clone out a couple of branches in the top corner.
There it is - shot number 90 out of 367, which makes me about one quarter of the way into the project. Still enjoying it and not feeling like it's a chore.
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