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 16

Into week number 16. Nearly forgot to take at least one shot this week and ended up coming up with something in something of a hurry - can you guess which one it is?

27/02/12

So, I put my camera on the floor near my feet, pulled it put to a nice wide angle (24mm) and used a cable release to takes pictures of my socks. This should confirm two things for everyone; I have big feet and I have terrible taste in socks.

28/02/12

I had read about camera tossing a while back and tonight I decided to give it a try. After some experimentation, I found that setting the camera on shutter priority and using a shutter speed of 0.5" gave me some nice shapes. The camera was set on a 10" self timer and the trick seemed to be getting the camera in the air and spinning just as the shutter opened. I would like to point out that I wasn't using my big camera and the really expensive lens. Instead I was throwing my daughter's second-hand D-60 in the air. Over a tiled floor. With no safety.

29/02/12

Shadows round at the City of Belfast Photographic Society. This is the one that I didn't produce during my week of table-top shots with my desk lamp. Taken in the holiday chalets at Cloughglass in Donegal, this was a grab shot of my friend Damien sitting inside the house, with the sun sinking and his shadow projected onto the white wall of the fireplace. Damien's face is sharp, as is the shadow. His nose is really that shape.

1/03/12

Welcome to March! Busy day today and I ended up at Aikido training without having taken my photo for the day. I took my camera into the dojo (it's actually a scout hall) in the hope that an opportunity might present itself. At the end of the class, I grabbed Shihan Millar for a quick portrait. I love taking Davy's picture as his face has fantastic character. It's also worth noting that 14 years ago when I started out on my own Aiki journey, Davy was the man who had patience with my inability to learn anything. Many a Saturday morning was spent with Davy trying to teach me how to stand, never mind move or do a technique. 74 years young and still has it on the Aikido mats.

2/03/12

This would be the empties after Friday night's debauchery. Two bottles of Whiskey (the Crested Ten was superb) and a bottle of wine each. I have a serious blank in my memory between the hours of midnight and 3am.

3/03/12

I think I made Colin look almost angelic this shot. After our walk and couple of pints in an empty bar in Glen we repaired to The Rusty pub in Teelin. The sun was going down and was shining through the windows of the bar. The light was lovely.

4/03/12

Sunday morning - up early to fall on my arse at Muckross and return with no photo's worth talking about. I took this out the back of Damien's house, looking towards Slieve League. The right-of-way along the side of the house has recently been cleared and the removal of the old trees and bushes has improved the view immensely.