2013 365-11

It's been a funny old week. I hit another low in terms of inspiration for taking photos and was giving serious consideration to jacking in this 365 project as I just wasn't enjoying it. Coincidence is a strange thing; I ended up having the chance to take some time away from work and spend it by the seaside with some very good company. This had the result of making me forget about taking shots and (conversely) allowed me to take some shots that I enjoyed taking and working with. Weird stuff?

11/03/13

Seaside it is then. Went out for a walk, took the camera and decided it would be a good idea to try to take some shots of the shoreline. Got this one and then it began to hail and snow which led to me legging it back to the house at top speed

12/03/13

Put this collage together today from a lot of shots taken at the weekend in Donegal. I think it works and might be a fairly good summary of the weekend. Way too much drinking.

13/03/13

This just leapt out at me today; a bottle of olive oil sitting in the kitchen with the light hitting it just right. Grabbed the camera, took one shot and this is the end result.

14/03/13

 Out for dinner this evening, to Saltwater Brig near Portaferry. Nice pasta, but made me realise that I could probably do every bit as well. Had a great evening though, and felt the urge to take something to remember it. Long exposure, with the camera set on the wall of the car park.

15/03/13

Beach huts along Portavogie beach. I was walking the dog here this morning when I saw these and had to return with my camera and tripod. This worked out well, although I actually liked a similar black and white treatment of the huts better. I might have a little wander further along this path next week when I get the chance and see what else there is to photograph.

18/03/13

Another shameless rip-off of someone else's idea. This would look so much better using a sparkler rather than a torch, but you get the idea. Need to work a bit harder at my Batman logo - it's just a wee bit rough in places.

17/03/13

I spent last night shooting a street art event and exhibition opening at R-Space Gallery in Lisburn, thanks to an invite from a friend of mine. By coincidence, my eldest daughter was also exhibiting some of her cross stitch work as well. I enjoyed this, nothing more so than watching this very talented lady produce a simply stunning portrait using a sheet of plywood, a couple of stencils and some aerosols. Simply breathtaking work all round. You can see more shots from the event on Facebook here:

2nd Shooter on Facebook

367-50 Week 36

Here we go with week 36 - that means that there's only another 16 weeks of the 367-50 project left to run. I'm not sure if that qualifies as being "on the home straight" but I think the finishing post is in sight.

16/07/12

Had the pleasure of attending a newly-formed camera club this evening and suggested a photographic scavenger hunt to get a small group of beginners out and taking photos. It all went very well (I think) and some pretty good shots were produced. This is my attempt to find a square, one of the items on the scavenger hunt and i liked the colours and textures on this post box. And yes, I did boost the colours a contrast a little in Lightroom.

17/07/12

Boredom. What to do. Lets pick a project at random from the pile of camera mags lying about in the house. An x-ray shot of a camera sounded pretty good. This is my back-up D60 shot with my D90. I shot this against a white background and used my macro ring flash for lighting - that's the reflections you can see in the lens. Quite bit of complicated messing about in Photoshop, and several abortive attempts finally got me to this shot. It's certainly different. I was also asked if you could reproduce this effect with a person. I tried and am pleased to announce that in fact you can.

18/07/12

Doing the laundry this morning and felt the urge to try to take a nice shot of "the octopus" which holds my socks. Too much information? The blue colour came out well, and there was a nice shallow depth of field shooting at f2.8 on my 24-70 lens.

19/07/12

So, sitting at home today when someone on a Facebook photography group posted a suggestion about taking shots with the good old "nifty fifty." There was an opportunity to combine the pile of reports I was struggling to write with the little men and specifically, the little mountaineers. Shot with the 50mm set to f1.8, hence the shallow depth of field. Wasn't the best shot posted on the group by a long way, but it was good to do it. As a way of avoiding work of course.

20/07/12

The on-going battle between me and the crappy lighting at the Valley Leisure Centre has been a source of annoyance to me for some time. When shooting Roller Derby Bouts for the Belfast Banshees high shutter speed means high ISO and a lot of noise. Went along to training last evening to try out a different camera rig and set up after seeking advice from anyone who would give it. The results were pretty good, I think. Depth of field is still pretty narrow but I was able to get a shutter speed of 1/400-1/500 which worked well for action shots and didn't end up with too much noise. The above shot was processed without any noise reduction either, so I'm happy and looking forward to the Banshees next bout on the 28th July. The training was taken by the one and only Diamond Destroyher (that's not a mis-spelling) and it was so good watching her skate and teach. That's her in the middle. Her Pat Benatar impression was pretty good too - what a shimmy! More shots from the session can be found at:

BRD Training July 2012

21/07/12

Visited the Belfast Custom Bike Show and then the NEST exhibition at T13. NEST was by far and away the standout of the day for me. A massive installation of found objects by two artists that covers the entire floor of the T13 warehouse. This was the opening day, complete with a choir hidden among the crowd and a full orchestra. Breath-taking and a photography treasure trove of the highest order. The wee monkey and I were tired by the time we got in at 4pm, but by god it was worth the wait. I may return for another visit when I have more time and energy. Couldn't recommend this highly enough. Check it out here:

NEST at T13 Website

22/07/12

Wee girl vs a fry. 8am this fine Sunday morning. Housework to be done, family visiting to be done. What better way to prepare yourself than with a veggie fry? Roll on this afternoon when I will lying on the settee snoozing and watching the Open golf.

Off tonight to visit the Peace Camp installation at White Park Bay - I've seen some pics of this and it looks really interesting. Camera and tripod job I fear, and I hope I've booked a time that will get the sun going down between 9.30 and 10.30. Hope to get a shot posted tomorrow so it will be in next week's update.

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