2013 365-26

26th week of the 365 project, so this must be the half way mark. A good week for picking up some photo projects - managed to line up around 8 shoots for over the summer, all sports-related. The weekend saw me shooting a fairly big BMX jam in Belfast and I was also going to get to do some graduation photos for my daughter who graduates from Queens University Belfast next week.

24/06/13

Glenariff waterfall. Taken with a couple of stacked ND filters which allowed me to get a 20 second exposure. I would have tried longer but my cable release was playing up. Worth getting my feet wet for this shot though - seemed to capture just the right amount of movement in the water. I'd like to go back and try this again, preferable once i fix my cable release.

25/06/13

Some, but not all, of the poor people who have to work with me on a daily/weekly basis. Their patience is often stretched. That's me on the right, in case you hadn't guessed.

26/06/13

 On the day that many schools were finishing in Belfast, this was one of the shelves in a local charity shop. I couldn't get a picture out of my head - a very disillusioned teacher dropping off a load of this kind of stuff on their way home to open a large bottle of gin. The summer holidays start here.

27/06/13

My daughter's graduation photo. We did a standard gown/leafy background shot, which I'm sure her mother will love. We did a shot in the gown with Katie holding her rabbits, which I'm sure that Katie will love. This was my shot. Katie has just completed her degree in Biological Science and has been accepted for a PHd starting in September. I'm very proud of her, of her hard work and determination and am looking forward to having a Dr Barbour in the family very soon.

28/06/13

A weekend of BMX competitions and shoots. Due to the typical Belfast Weather this was relocated indoors to the T13 urban sports park. I was using a three light set up which gave me coverage of the two largest jump boxes on the track. This guy pulled this trick about 6 times during the afternoon. I'd noticed it during the warm up and then set myself up for it during the competition, and pre-focused on the edge of the jump box. He is mainly being lit by a speedlight to the right of camera with another speedlight providing fill light from the left and slightly behind. I loved this shot the moment I saw it.

29/06/13

Another absolute cracker of a shot. This is Fids, a rider from England and a slightly more mature guy. His yellow bike was really eye-catching but this shot was a fluke. I was expecting the same kind of crucifix trick most of the other riders pulled (sort of a "look no hands" thing in mid-air) but then Fids threw this in. I believe it is called "the nothing" probably because there's nothing attached to the bike. Had a chance to talk to him after he'd seen the photo and he really liked it. That put a big smile on my face.

30/06/13

Back today to the outdoor tracks at Mary Peters Track in South Belfast. Unfortunately, I just about got my lights set up and a couple of test shots fired off before it started to rain, making the jumps unsafe. This is Bob, who I had taken some nice shots of yesterday. Nice guy who took the time to have a chat about my photos. Got a lot of positive feedback from all the guys there, so I am well chuffed. A good weekend of urban sports photography for 2nd Shooter. Hoorah!

Boredom, String and a Maglite

As the title suggests, the three elements above came together tonight in an explosion of silliness. My daughter and I suspended a maglite torch (with the head removed - just the bare bulb) from the cross piece of a backdrop stand by some string. We set the camera on the floor looking straight up, put it on bulb mode (f22 and ISO 100) and then swung the torch in as close to an arc as we could. We used exposures in and around 1 minute for these. The plain light trials were then exported into photoshop and layered with a rainbow gradient layer (using multiply mode) to produce the final effect.

The first one is mine, the second is the work of a rather precocious 10 year old.

Dawn and Dusk

The plan for this Saturday was to get out and shoot sunrise and sunset shots. Therefore, it was up at 6am to get to Keel Point near Newcastle (Co Down). This involved a fair old walk from the car park to the part of the beach I was aiming for, in the dark and and cold. Reached the beach just after 7am and had time get set up. A big learning point was setting the camera's white balance. My first few shots were very "blue" in tone and setting the white balance to "cloudy" was crucial in bringing out the orange/red/yellow colours of the sky. Thanks to Debbie for that tip!

The tide was going out and from a previous visit to the beach I had noticed lines of wooden posts running out into the sea and had planned to use these as a focal point for some of the shots.

I've just re-read this post and realise that the two shots (above and below) need to be spaced out a little as I don't think they look right sitting so close together. Hence this inane but brief paragraph.

All in all, very happy with how these turned out. After being focused on the sunrise, I then had the wit to have a look around me and the beautiful scenery of the Mournes at that time of the morning.

So, sunrise worked well. After an enormous veggie fry and a spot of lying about, it was out again at 3pm to try to catch the sunset. The plan was to head up into the Mournes and shoot sunset somewhere like Spelga Dam. Sadly, the weather decided not to play ball and the clouds and lack of light defeated me. However, I did have my backpack full of filters and other gear from this morning and wasn't going home empty handed. This was taken at a little bridge near Rocky Mountain with two ND filters and an exposure of 1 minute. Came out very Zen in the end, with some nice detail in the rocks and that nice milky quality to the water. I think this is the first time I've managed this effect - quite pleased even if I didn't get the sunset.

367-50 The Final Round Up

Only four shots left to see me through to the end of this year long project, finishing with my 50th birthday on the 15th of November.

12/11/12

Don't mess with me when I'm doing the washing up. That's all. I'll cook all day and all night but I really hate doing the feckin' dishes.

13/11/12

Old-looking hands. These hands have now taken 365 shots for this project, plus a few thousand others across the last year. This is my hand doing something it does too often. I had thought of having my other hand holding a glass of wine.

14/11/12

A final light trails shot, taken with the assistance of my daughter Sarah. Set the camera and tripod up in the back of my car and set the camera for a series of self-timed 8" exposures as I drove along a busy road. This was the best of the batch, although I'm not totally happy with it and might give this another go at some stage soon.

15/11/12

And there it is - the last of 367 shots. That's me, on my 50th birthday. The beard is back and the hair needs a trim, but I'm saving my next haircut for a special, photographic purpose. I'm taking a bit of a risk wearing a white shirt to go out tonight as there's a pretty good chance that things will get messy. Very messy.

Thanks for taking the time to have a look at the blog and thanks to everyone who got their picture taken at some time over the last year. To quote the Beatles, "some are gone, but some remain."

367-50 Week 48

Week 48 and heading inexorably towards the end of the 367 project. I have something extra special planned for next week - a bit of a photo trip to somewhere I've always wanted to visit but that will need to wait.

8/10/12

Re-visited the same spot as last week to try some test shots for a possible poster photo shoot for the next Roller Derby bout at the end of November. This was the shot I was thinking of as the backdrop, then adding in some fire-spinning (which I did and which worked reasonably well). The next trick is to develop the suggestion of a Star Wars theme by putting two skaters in front of the fire spinning with light-up light sabres and pick them out with some rear curtain flash. It's shaping up to be the most difficult and intricate shot I've ever attempted and will involve a small crew of people and some willing volunteers. I wasn't too happy about the complete arse in the block of flats overlooking this piece of waste ground deciding to shine a green laser on proceedings once I got started with the fire spinning but I've realised that my photo antics are starting to draw a little attention now and again. If that was you with the green laser - you're an arse my friend.

9/10/12

I went down to the Lagan this evening with the intention of doing some light orbs around the river. Got some good shots; don't know specifically why I chose this one to post, other than it was one of the last I took before heading home. I'm having problems making my orbs perfectly circular - this might be a matter of practice. There was also a train going across the bridge behind me - it's the streak of light above the bridge.

10/10/12

Here's a learning point. When your youngest daughter is doing a viking project and needs to make a helmet and shield, don't let her and her big brother loose on the project. I don't recall pictures of vikings with mutli-coloured/striped hats and shields. This cost me four rolls of electrical tape. The helment looked like something that an american football player would wear. Don't get me wrong - it looked spectacular. Just not like something a viking would wear. I thought sepia-toning might make the photo look more.....historical. And less like the Minnesota Vikings.

11/10/12

10.30 and no shot for the day. These were heading for the bin as I has no excuse for using them. Lovely red and green chilli peppers. At least they weren't purchased in vain.

12/10/12

I can't remember the last time I felt so desperately in need of a glass of wine. It was a long day with way too much driving between meetings in work and several long and difficult telephone calls once I'd got home. My plans of an afternoon nap and something dull on Film4 were well and truly scuppered by work. It was 7 o'clock by the time the wine got poured and I drank it like man who had been lost in the Gobi desert for a month. And then fell asleep on the settee at around 9.

13/10/12

Had a lovely autumnal walk round Castlewellan this morning. I don't think I have been there since I was about 12 years old and my parents used to take us for family picnics. Instead of walking round the lake, we walked to the Annesley Gardens and walked through these and up to the old greenhouse at the far end. This is over-grown and dilapidated - a real waste of a fantastic glass house. Spotted these drops falling off a stem while trying to get some shots through a broken window of the inside. Fired off a few - this is maybe the best but even it isn't totally sharp. A macro lens, a tripod and some patience may have made for a better shot. Unfortunately, I had none of those at the time.

14/10/12

So, a damp Sunday. What to do? Why not go the the pumpkin festival at Castleward? I'll tell you why not. Parking in muddy fields miles away from where things were happening. Having to walk too far to see too little. Trying to get the free shuttle bus back to the muddy field only to find that some coach driver had parked his bloody coach on the road, blocking the traffic and guess what - had to walk back to the car. Mind you, I do have to point out that I ate amazing pizza (goats cheese and olives) and had a decent cup of coffee. And had nice company while I stomped around complaining. Here's some people carving pumpkins for small children. Bah Humbug.

On a more positive note, I am happy to announce that I will be going on a much anticipated photo expedition next week to somewhere I've always wanted to visit, and even visit more since picking up a camera. This time next week, I'll be boring you with holiday snaps.

367-50 Week 42

Lets hope for a rant free week this week. In contrast to last week, I received a comment this week from a lady who is interested in buying one of my shots from the blog. That is a little bit of a contrast from last weeks comment. The print was duly ordered and looks really good, so it's heading off on a journey to Canada.

Here goes with week 42.

27/08/12

A romantic scene, or a warning on the perils and evils of drink? Make your own mind up on that one my friend.

28/08/12

I'm not sure what draws me to taking pictures in old graveyards. I always pass this very old one going to and from my house, but have never (in many many years) actually noticed it being open. It's very small and very overgrown with headstones dating back to the early 1800's. Everything seems broken and at some kind of a slant. Having ventured in today, there is really nothing much of great interest, but at least I've managed to get inside.

29/08/12

This is last night's shopping from B&Q (DIY/Hardware Store). These rather fine items are for a photo project which I was hoping to do tonight, but have been stymied by the rain and general bad weather. The metal whisk, chain and caribiners were made by my own fair hands. I'm not saying too much right now, but stay tuned for the results. As soon as I get the right weather, I'm out there.

30/08/12

Took my own advice and got on my feet and went walkabout in Ballyhackamore with my camera at lunchtime for half and hour. Snapped away and found that I quickly switched on in terms of my concentration. I was looking specifically for detail shots and this one presented itself pretty easily (and pretty early in my walk). A single untouched strawberry sitting on a bare table outside a cafe in the sunshine? I couldn't resist. And then I had lunch with my eldest, her treat. A pretty good afternoon all round.

31/08/12

First experiment with burning wire wool as per the photo posted earlier in the week. That's if you don't count trying it in the back garden and setting fire to the neighbour's hedge. I chose this stone bridge because I knew there was nothing that would catch fire and there was water on each side. I set up my camera on a tripod, manually focused on a torch at the spot I was going to stand on and used a ten second self-timer to trigger the camera. Settings were 30" exposure, f11 and 100 ISO. I got around four burns completed before I started attracting attention and had to quit. Either that or I had stumbled into a dogging hotspot, given the cars that started appearing out of nowhere on a dark and previously deserted country road.

1/09/12

Chanced upon the opening of the Art in the Garden sculpture exhibition in the grounds of the Culloden hotel this afternoon. I'd heard about this on Radio Ulster's Arts Extra programme a couple of nights ago and made a mental note that it might be worth checking out. And worth it it was. Some lovely pieces (around 150) set within beautiful gardens. A huge range of sculptures which I had great fun photographing. The exhibition runs until the 23rd of September and I'd recommend a visit for anyone who is looking to spend an enjoyable hour or two. I've posted a few more pictures and a short write up on the Demotix news site and you can check them out here:

Art in the Garden on Demotix

2/09/12

"The Blue Orb" was a result of an expedition last night. I wanted to try out some of the wire wool shots from earlier in the week in a tunnel or somewhere closed in. This was taken in a set of cycle underpasses in East Belfast late at night. The orb was made by swinging a set or battery-operated fairy lights (£4 from Ikea). Settings were the same for the wire wool shots (30" exposure, f11, ISO 100) and the focus was set on a torch placed where I was going to spin the lights. A 50p coin on the ground was sued to centre the swings and give a relatively consistent orb shape. I used a 10-24 wide zoom here to get as much of the underpass in, particularly the graffiti on the walls. Slight cropping in Lightroom and an adjustment to the white balance, setting it to tungsten to get the blue tone to the picture.

367-50 Week 37

Another week, another week closer to the end of this project and I'm already starting to think about what to do next. The NEST2012 exhibition at T13 made me start thinking about found objects and photos of these. We'll see. I have the Belfast Banshees roller derby bout to look forward to on Saturday night as well. The rest of the week is, always, a mystery.

23/07/12

So here's the story. Around the coast of Britain between the 19th and 22nd of July these installations were being put up. A collection of illuminated tents with accompanying soundscapes of poetry called Peace Camp. We had two here in Northern Ireland and I opted to book tickets to the one at White Park Bay. My daughter Katie and myself set out before 9pm for a 90-minute drive. We arrived at White Park Bay at 10 o'clock to be told that the event was cancelled because of freak winds and freak high tides. I noted that there wasn't actually a breath of wind and the waves were being very well behaved and were in fact, quite far away. In the face of this, Katie and I had a cup of tea and decided to walk down to the beach anyway. All the tents had been taken down (except this one) and no poetry was to be had. Not to be put off without a fight, I tried a few ideas to get some sort of shot before we hit on the idea of getting Katie to go into the tent and wave a torch around it. This was the result on a 30" exposure at f-16, which shows up the tent but keeps a bit of detail in the sky and the foreground. At 10:31, I received an e-mail and a text from the organisers to inform me that the event was cancelled. Go figure.

24/07/12

Just saw this shot in the morning. The light was nice, the colour of the flowers stood out against each other and I thought that a shallow depth of field would work quite well with this.

25/07/12

A wee bit of spare time today and while doing some housework I was struck by the number of dead moths on one of the windowsills. A mystery - time to call in the CSI guys to investigate. I'm really liking the quality and the detail that the Nikon 60mm f2.8 gives. This was taken with the lens nearly pressed up against the subjects, but it came out pretty well. Razor sharp depth of field again.

26/07/12

This was my project for the day. I'd picked up a little Polaroid pocket printer and set about taking a series of headshots of myself. I roughly cropped these shots down in-camera and ended up with about 24 pictures (20 mins roughly, allowing for coffee). I then printed each shot off on the Polaroid printer and assembled the shots (about 30 mins). Took photo of finished piece and voila! I'm looking more like Eric Cantona as I get older and don't shave. A man can dream.

27/07/12

This was taken yesterday during a scouting trip for potential photoshoot locations. The Abbey at Greyabbey has masses of potential, with lots of possible set-ups that don't involve visitor information boards and bright green railings. It is handicapped by very photographer-unfriendly opening hours - 10am - 4.30 pm thus managing to avoid both early morning and evening when the light would be at its best.

28/07/12

Off to shoot Roller Derby this evening, with Belfast Banshees taking on Parma Violents from Scotland. As always, it was a great night and great fun to shoot. I've said it on this blog many times, but the Belfast Roller Derby crew are the best bunch of people to work with. Managed to fill a massive amount of storage space with shots and it is going to take most of tomorrow to process the photos, but it'l be worth it. I'm posting this pic simply because I like it. The framing, the light and the expression - no post-processing; this was how it came out of the camera.

29/07/12

Yep, it's now something like 6.30pm and I'm still sorting through shots from last night to get them posted to Facebook and to Flickr. I'm impressed with how the D800 coped with high ISO and was able to shoot on manual at 1/500 and f4 for most of the night with the D800 on auto ISO. It ranged up to ISO 6400 and these shots haven't been put through any noise reduction software. That will be a job for another day should anyone want them printed or published I suppose. And it was a real boost to see my headshots for the team in the bout programme. They looked really well. Better than the other teams, anyway. The full set from last night's bout can be seen at:

Belfast Banshees vs Parma Violents on Flickr