367-50 Week 32

Here we go with another week. I've been finding it harder to keep going taking a picture every day for some time now and I feel that I've lost inspiration somewhere or at least that very few of my ideas translate into half-decent pics. I'm keeping going, though, but right now it feels like I'm going through the motions. Or to be more accurate, it feels like I'm trying to run a marathon through quicksand with concrete blocks strapped to me. Backwards. And uphill.

18/06/12

So. my Monday ends up in Glengall Street in Belfast. There are few things of interest in Glengall Street although there was a lot of action at the stage door of the Opera House with a few massive trailers being unloaded. I was here for my first counselling appointment with Relate - it's in the big glass building. My stress levels were pretty high going in and being my normal 10 minutes early for any appointment, I had plenty of time to get even more anxious. The counsellor was very good; she let me talk and brought me back on track when I started to lose focus and ramble on. She asked some good questions and made some interesting and quite challenging suggestions and observations. I left with things to think about, and with much less anxiety than when I went in.

19/06/12

Another Tuesday Aikido picture. I'm wondering how many of these I've taken so far? This is my club badge, and my belt. I've never been 100% sure what the symbols on my belt translate as, but here's my interpretation. On the right side, the top three kanji are the symbols for Ai-Ki-Do; that I'm sure of. I think the bottom two are the symbols for "shodokan" - the style of Aikido I practice. On the left hand side I think the kanji are the phonetic Japanese version of my name. I stand to be corrected by anyone who can read Japanese. On a tangent, getting on the mats and practising has always been a way for me to forget about whatever else is going on and concentrate only on moving and on technique. There have been times in my life when Aikido kept me sane, that's all I'm saying. And yes, I admit that I've not been doing any serious training lately. Last summer I said that over the summer I was going to stop smoking, get fit and lose weight. I've lost weight, gotten a lot fitter but am still smoking too much. I think it's about time I got back to proper training. August/September should be interesting.

20/06/12

Another day's work in Glenarm and another chance to visit the old factory. I had put some wee men in place last week (my last visit) and wanted to see if they were still in place. They were and I took some half decent shots. However, I got sidetracked by the factory stuff - it's not the first time that has happened. The rust fascinates me - the colours and patterns make a lovely abstract image, although I realise that it's probably only me that looks at this lovingly. This is my favourite shot, but perhaps not the best technically.

21/06/12

OK, I'm well aware that my hands are not the prettiest in the world, even under the best of circumstances. Like an old friend, my pompholyx eczema returned this week after approximately 6 months. I can't say I've missed it. But, given that this is a year long project, odds were it was going to happen and when it does, it really messes me about. This was a relatively small outbreak, just affecting the index finger and thumb of my right hand but christ it is sore. Blisters followed by raw skin for a couple of weeks, and itching that would drive you mental plus tightening of the fingers, making my index finger look like a hook. Hard to work a camera, impossible to play the guitar, can't hold a pen, and so on. The worst outbreaks of this I've had involved not being to drive (couldn't hold the wheel/change gear), not being to dress myself (buttons and laces? Give me a break) and not being able to cook. Be thankful for small mercies.

22/06/12

And then the rain came down in a seven plagues of Egypt way. All day. Stuck in the house, I decided to have a crack at taking a half decent photo of my wee dog, Muffin. I set up a backdrop, speeedlites and brollies. I tried to get Muffin to sit still. To lie down. All with no success until my little assistant turned up and got Muffin to sit and look in various directions. I thought that this might be a more fitting shot. I'm not working with dogs again. Children yes, dogs no.

23/06/12

I never thought I'd see the day when I'm actually providing a cucumber update. Went in this morning to water the plants in the greenhouse to discover a load of little yellow flowers on the two cucumber plants. There does seem to be quite a lot of them - I'm suspecting they may need to be thinned out a little when the actual cucumbers start to appear. A little on-line research is needed I think. Stay tuned for further cucumber updates.

24/06/12

Big snail on the bin this morning. Totally the wrong lens for this sort of shot, but I couldn't be bothered running upstairs to get a macro lens on the camera. I'm in a moral dilemma - something has been eating the pepper plants in the greenhouse and I suspect it's either snails or slugs. There are also a couple of frogs living in the greenhouse and I was hoping that they would keep the snails and slugs under control. To nuke them or not. I'd prefer not to.

Anyhow, that's this week. I have a photo safari lined up tomorrow, to visit a couple of places I've never photographed and probably everyone else has. Next weekend is a visit to my son in Nottingham and there's a rumour of a work outing to go Karting on Thursday. Shouldn't be a problem filling the photography week.

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367-50 Week 29

I'm going to take a break from self-flagellation this week. If your not sure, look it up. Looks like I'm off to the Pigstock music festival at the weekend (against my better judgement and after being effectively bullied by my children) so don't be surprised if a few shots from there turn up.

28/05/12

I went on a spider hunt this afternoon in my newly acquired greenhouse. I was amazed at how many different types of spider I saw in there. I was hoping for a shot of a zebra jumping spider, the extremely aggressive little striped spider. I'd seen a couple but sadly none came out to play today. This fine fellow was sitting happy as a clam on the inside of one of the glass panes. The old Sigma 105mm macro was pressed into service but the shallow depth of field doesn't quite work for me in this shot. If he had stayed still long enough I'd have liked to try focus stacking. He didn't.

Kids aikido class as usual this evening with the amazing Lance attempting his 8th kyu grading. I'll let you into a secret - when Lance started aged 8, he was dreadful to teach. Poor concentration, never listened, always looking somewhere other that where he should have been. That and doing head spins when my back was turned. So, I had a quite word with him, of the "health and safety" type. Since then he has been the model pupil and tonight turned in one of the best 8kyu demonstrations I've seen in almost 14 years of practising aikido, either from a child or from an adult. I know my own wasn't that good. Excellent attitude, posture, balance and timing. I was well chuffed for him. He's a great kid. As his his older brother Daryl - the one on the end of the arm lock.

30/05/12

I promised no self-flagellation this week but I end up having to do some work in Carrickfergus today. Those of you who know me will know that I have some history with the place, having lived there for just under two years. I make no secret of the fact that it's a place I could never warm to and moving back to Belfast was one the best things I ever did, particularly in terms of being geographically closer to my children. I did feel oddly compelled to take some sort of photograph today while passing through. In the end, I went for a very dull black and white shot of the castle. My creative juices have shrivelled up right now. I need something to come along and give my photography a good kick up the hole.

31/05/12

Out with some of the Aikido club tonight for dinner. I had taken to the camera to get a group shot, but that went on Facebook, This was the keeper - and taken almost accidentally while trying to get the light levels right. Daphne is the club's first ever lady/female/non-male black belt and she's really rather good and very dedicated. She also takes a good picture - it's the bone structure in my humble opinion. Now to persuade her to do a proper portrait shoot. This shot was taken at way too high an ISO so it doesn't bear close inspection, but it's not bad for all that.

1/06/12

So, after a long day working in Dungannon and the most expensive half hour of my life to date in Kwik Fit at Ballyhackamore I got home and opened a solitary bottle of beer that had been hiding in the fridge. While opening it, I noticed this little chap lying on his back. Being the good Samaritan that I am, I naturally tried to poke him with my finger to get him the right way up. The little fecker clicked and leapt a good foot into the air, making me spill the solitary beer and scaring the crap out of me and the dog. Next time, he can stay on his back.

2/06/12

I spent all of today shooting bands at the Engine Room Stage at Pigstock, yet this is my shot of the day - these two guys just summed up everything that's great about the festival.  It was strange this year not being there as part of a couple, but I have to say that it was great to meet some old friends and make some new friends. Katie and Conor were fabulous craic and there was a smidgeon of beer and red wine consumed. I also think that the crowd seemed smaller this year that last - especially around the main stage. Recession? Or maybe it was that the Download Festival is next week and people have chosen to go to it. Anyway - more pics from Pigstock can be found here:

Pigstock 2012

3/06/12

A spider at the start of the week, a beetle in the middle and a snail to finish it off. Saw this wee fellow this morning at around 7am as I was having a smoke at the back door. The light was just lovely on the leaves and the background blurred really nicely at f2.8.