Sunday, 16 September 2012

367-50 Week 44

I have a few things planned this week, and my exploits with wire wool have attracted a bit of interest from a couple of different sources. A few people have been in touch for advice/info on how to do these shots and a band have been in touch to ask if I could look at doing a promo shoot for them using the technique. Need to scout some locations over the week or two and see what I can come up with.

10/09/12

It was World Suicide Prevention Day today and I was invited to go along to PIPS on the Antrim Road in Belfast where they were having a chinese lantern launch. I was made to feel very welcome and it was very moving to see individuals and families bereaved by suicide lighting and releasing lanterns into the night sky, many with cards and messages attached. I've sent some images to PIPS in the hope that they can use them for publicity with some of the local newspapers. This is my favourite shot from the evening by a long way. It's also (I just realised) shot number 300 on this project - I'm glad it's something meaningful.

11/09/12


So, a total lack of inspiration this afternoon ended up with me resorting to some cheap camera/iphone trickery just so I could say that I've taken a shot. Urggghhhh. I need to get out and burn something. Soon.

12/09/12


I love this shot. Sarah and I had been talking about trying something like this for ages after seeing a couple of shots that involved rings and hands. First, we had to save up our 20p pieces for a week. Then we had to find a local garage or shop that sold rings (20p each) out of a vending machine. After a couple of attempts and a bit of searching we tracked one down. If only we'd been looking for bouncy balls, temporary tattoos or stick on moustaches. After spending £2.40 we had 8 rings, three bracelets and a necklace. And here's the final shot.

13/09/12


You've just got to love this. My son Conor and I went out for an evening of camera fun and games underneath a big bridge in East Belfast. We did some light painting, made some light spheres and burned some wire wool. I'd seen a shot earlier in the week that made me think of trying something like this out. It worked very well, was reasonably simple to do and just needed the same camera settings as I'd used before (30" exposure, f9 and ISO 200). I like the way the streaks of sparks are coming towards the camera and the light trails made by them bouncing on the ground. More of this is definitely on the cards.

14/09/12

Autumn, I fear, is upon us. Snapped a shot of my little maple tree as the leaves were beginning to wither. Love the colours this tree has all year round although until next spring it's just going to be another twig in a pot.

15/09/12

Travelled to Dublin today for Dublin Roller Girls vs Brighton Rockers. It was my first time shooting in the National Basketball Arena and the lighting is even worse than the Valley Leisure Centre. A couple of things helped - setting my white balance to tungsten to match the overhead lights was very useful and batch processing the raw files through the noise reduction software within Lightroom4 seemed to do a pretty good job. It was certainly faster than individually processing each shot through my normal noise reduction software and produced good enough results for posting on line.

16/09/12

Another form last night, although all my shots were processed this morning due the late hour I got back from Dublin. That and the need for a large Indian take away and a glass of wine. Enjoyed shooting this as the style and approach to the game are very different from in Belfast. Didn't enjoy being offered a photo pass and then being asked to pay to get in or being told where/what I could shoot. Guess I'm just used to the easy-going nature of Belfast Roller Derby. It meant I wasn't able to get shots of the team benches or the penalty boxes, both of which I love to take shots of between jams. Pity about that, but other wise a worthwhile trip.

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