367-50 Week 41

Week 41 will be along shortly so I hope you'll be patient.
I received an anonymous comment on this blog last week and have been mulling over how to respond. It went along the lines of:

"who is this silly and self-indulgent man who thinks people are interested in his pictures. They're pretty average."

I don't make a habit of publishing anonymous posts but this really pissed me off at the time that I read it. My natural reaction was something along the lines of suggesting that the person posting this hadn't even the balls to leave their name, but that would have been crass and ignorant. After due consideration, I'd offer the following slightly more measured response:

I've been called worse than silly and self indulgent in my time, although it's hard to take on a year long, shot-a-day project without coming across as a wee bit self-obsessed. When I'm trying to find things to photograph each day, I often come back to what I'm doing, seeing or experiencing that day. It can't be avoided and therefore a lot of this project is about me and what's going on in my life but then given the rationale for my 367-50 project, it was always going to be. I'd like to point out that I'm also lazy, feckless, insensitive, selfish and impulsive and also have a tendency for self-destruction. I don't actually spend time worrying if anyone is interested in my photos - although it's nice that people take the time to have a look and give me feedback on shots, and I'm flattered that some people make a point of checking the blog each week for updates. Again, this was my attempt to document a year in my life, not to gather an audience for my photography (whatever that might be). My photo's are pretty average? I'd probably take that as a compliment, although I'm tempted to wonder what or who I'm being compared to. If my anonymous poster would like to drop me a line with a link to their own pictures/photography then I'd be happy to have a look and see what I'm being measured against. I know a lot of very good photographers and I'd be well pleased to be described as being average in their company - although in that company I'd be probably well below average. Now - wasn't that much better than my original response?

Week 41 it is. 41 is a pretty big prime number. I can't even remember being 41 anymore. This week looks like being a wee bit barren, with no photoshoots lined up and a serious lack of inspirational mojo. That was what prompted me to go walkabout on Monday. God knows what the rest of the week will bring.

20/08/12

Ok - this was taken yesterday but processed today. I have gotten a day behind in posting shots. This is a  (hopefully) lightly HDR'd shot of Ballycopeland Windmill near Millisle, Co Down. I had never visited the windmill, even though I grew up about 3 miles away from it in Donaghadee. All I remember about the old windmill were ghost stories of hauntings and horrible suicides inside it. It's now a pretty nice place to visit and you even get to go inside and see the workings. Based on being inside, it's fair to assume that millers were either quite small people or they spent their lives with constant headaches from banging their heads. I'm just noticing now that the mill is slanting to the left - obviously I corrected the horizon in a bit of hurry. Whoops.

21/08/12

Street shots are maybe my favourite things when it comes to photography and particularly shots of people doing what they do. In terms of photo's I do tend towards taking them without the subject knowing they're being photographed rather than asking permission and getting something posed and maybe unnatural. Caught this while on walkabout in Belfast City Centre when I had an hour to spend and took my Lensbaby for a walk - just for the practice.

22/08/12

God, but the skies have been absolutely beautiful these last few evenings. Bright blues, fluffy clouds and then big red sunsets. Thought I'd grab a shot before it all turns grey again and starts to rain. One of those cables is my phone line - this is the the pole with everyone's phone line in our little cul de sac; 21 houses, 21 lines.

23/08/12

A warning about shooting portraits with a wide angle lens. I was outside the house trying to take a wide angle shot of the street I live in with little success. I had grabbed my back-up D60 since it still had the 10-24mm lens attached and was less than impressed with the results of my street shot. My dog, Muffin, decided to sit beside me and I happened to take a few shots of her with the same lens. It's not a great shot, but I like the distortion on her face, if it makes her look like a very sad dog. I think she's having issues at the moment - she's started randomly chewing anything made of paper (mostly work stuff, NIPA photography certificates and my car insurance documents) and has become very clingy. Maybe she is just a sad dog at the moment. Not sure how to cheer her up, apart from walks and a bot more attention.

24/08/12

I spotted this place this afternoon while picking my daughter up from a friend's house. It turned out to be a derelict nursery, boarded up and falling into serious disrepair. I only wandered in out of interest but ended up taking a load of shots of the detritus that was lying about. Cups, walkers, toys (especially duplo bricks) were all over the place. Lots of peeling paint as well. I had fun.

25/08/12

My daughter was modelling at the Retro Show at the Baby Grand this afternoon. Stars of the show were the BelleHoppers who put on a fantastic spot of 1920/1930's Charleston and Swing dancing. The fashion show (courtesy of the Rusty Zip) was OK, but I have to say that my girl was the only one who looked like she could actually model clothes. This is Jenna from the BelleHoppers, by the way.

26/08/12

Belfast Mela festival today - very big, very busy and bursting with colour. Seeing this guy on stage reminded me how long it's been since I pointed a camera at a musician - it's been way too long. Way too long. Time to track down some music photography opportunities I think.