A hat for new years eve...

Although I had many other photos of New Years Eve this was my favourite and i thought it rounded off the year with a certain whimsical.... ness!

The black and white effect was done by adding a infrared effect with a red filter within PS.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

A Stained Glass window

Below is the result of 25 minutes sat staring at the stained glass window at the top of our stairs!

The vignetting around the picture was done on picnik which is a free online picture editing website that you can link to flickr etc.. so it suits me being a tight Yorkshireman with short arms and deep pockets.

Keep the home fires burning

Gearing up for the onslaught of a new year, a quick attempt at macro photography using a telephoto lens.

Its worth an arm and maybe a leg

An over exposed indoor shot of my own arm  not the easiest thing to do I set the focal point on the cherry blossom in the middle and I think I got a nice blur in and out towards the edges.

Its my own arm in the photo and the tatooist in question for such great work is Fill wood (Black Crown Tattoo, Leeds)

Nobody makes Terry and Susie this good

Left over Tiramisu and I can whole hearted say this is the best i have had !  There was only enough time for me to snap this closeup shot.



NB; Food above made by (www.stickypinny.co.uk), added under marital duress.

The morning after the night before...

It is with a heavy head that I snapped today's photo... hair of the dog is required.

Little Charlie looking quite timid.. he was fine after he knew i meant a drink!

Merry Christmas !!!

Quick shot of the prezzies lovingly wrapped up by my wife !

The Night before Christmas..

Although Christmas is a busy time of year I am still trying to take a shot a day.. following work and a busy evening i had to settle for playing with Lego ( still much enjoyment to be had !!)







Doggy in the window

Ma & Pa's little dog Nerissa..i was amazed she sat looking at me for as long as she did!!



Wooden Bench or is it?

Another quick snap of a wooden bench on one of our walks its not really going to set your photographic world on fire but I like the angle and composition  of the shot itself.



Winding Snowy Valley

I happen to like the framing of this of this photo, not as focused as i would have liked. Later after analysing the details of the pictures i realised the F-stop was too low set to 6.3 when usually or so i have learned it should be around F11 ish...

More Snow Scapes

Taken on a walk over our local Viaduct.. Finally had another chance to use my telephoto lens.

More training required please

Still playing with photoshop effects i only wish i had more time to play around with the software...

Not bad for a background though... if you obsessed about cupcakes!

Every good boy deserves lego..

Came home tonight and found a box of old lego and had an idea to setup my own Photoshoot... And after adding some neon and grayscale effects to the photo i think it looks quiet film noir!

Can anybody say cupcake?

The next photo is my attempt at a macro style shot it's not taken with a ratio macro lens just my 18-55 standard lens. Its close up and inviting, but if I'm honest it doesn't do the cupcake justice and "some things are best eaten rather than seen" - This quote only refers to Cupcakes....

Also adding a little vignetting in PS added a frame to the photo

They be birds in them tharr trees

This photo was taken from the front of my house, the weather had a left a huge sodding veil of misty cloud above and even though the sun was shining it defused it quite well.

Ill be honest this has had a small bit of photoshopping to the light and shadows , but on the whole it was ok.

There's something to be said about this photography lark.

The Clearest Night Ever

This has to be my best photo yet.. Although i sacrificed 30 minutes in the freezing cold and caught a cold because of it i finally managed to pull off a focused shot of the moon.

Settings -  F14/ ISO 400 / 1/160s with a 300mm Telephoto Lens

Alot of the early shots were blurry & over exposed due to the fact i was leaving the shutter open too long. Two tips that really helped were using a Tripod & 2sec timer (to reduce shake) & disabling the anti-shake function itself.

No post for a few days...

Due to slightly Bad work & Weather news and other life altering events.. I seemed to have let things slip somewhat.The idea of taking one photo everyday is a good one all be it a  little hard when good photos are hard to come by especially when you are just starting out. Photos are on the camera but time seems to have eluded me so be prepared for an onslaught of uploads..

NB: Cats noses and camera lenses don't mix...

Updated: I have actually found a picture taken around this time not that it mattters but my OCD was driving me mad.

Photoshop anyone!

Seen as its been years since i have used Photoshop  in anger,  i was quietly chuffed with the two below shots both of which have already been posted for a little comparison.

Greyscale Saturated Rope Light

B&W Night Valley Shot

After the snow has melted..

Finally... the snow has melted and I can finally have a play around with the white balance on a green back ground.

I found that when using the tungsten WB setting it gave a blue filter to the shot and added a cold feel to it.

Maybe photoshop could be the next step to add further effects etc...

Indoor Festive Lighting

In keeping with my ideal of trying to take one photo a day, i managed to try a close up shot of some festive rope lighting.

Questions were asked when my wife came in to the room only to find me laying on my back trying to get the shot from the bottom of the Vase.

Over Exposed close Up

Another indoor experiment with over exposing. I ended up with a  high ISO which gave it a grainy colour  saturated look.

The actual picture is a red glossy wood shelf on our landing..

Wine Not....

Tonight was spent drinking red wine and listening to last FM and generally having a fun filled time with my wife. In between chatting I managed to snap a few shots of the fire / wine glass ( please note nearly empty) I changed the WB to give a warmer effect.

Quite a hazy yet warm picture which feels like home.

No Carrots Needed

Another cold night with frozen toes and a sniffy nose...

Without a remote I'm finding night shots quite testing seen as my camera will only expose for so long. As below I'm also still finding focusing in the dark well.. shall we hard without a torch its more guess work.

The shots i have taken seem a little blurry in part and not up to what i had hoped :(

Adapting the F setting to around 13 helped to try and wrangle things into focus. Jesus i know i have just started out but i am already wanting more tomorrow we re-install photoshop!

Although you cant polish a turd I'm hoping we can mask a fart!

The Night is always darkest before...

Right then the challenge... to take a semi coherent night shot !

30 minutes of standing on my doorstep in my slippers and a hoodie, not exactly David Bailey I'm sure but you have to start somewhere. After setting up my tripod trying not to slip on the inch worth of ice I managed to take a automatic shot as a measuring point.

This shot was taken with the camera on auto

This shot was taken using a fast ISO and slow shutter speed with the light balance on auto

This was taken as above but i switched to a tungsten white balance setting instead of auto

Maybe a few more tries before I get it completely right ...

Christmas Trees Lights and Long shutter Times

A rushed and distracted day at work led to a short but very enjoyable play time after dinner. Using a low ISO in conjunction with a long shutter speed I managed to capture a colourful shot of our fibreoptic christmas tree.

Experimentation is the Key

Today was spent seeing family and although a good time was has by all, sadly my life may be slipping into a photographical haze with every odd moment spent reading about aperture and ISO and "how best to use exposure".

Favourite quote of the day "Use the camera like a bath.. to overfill the film is to flood the floor"

All the above ring clear alarm bells... as a healthy (yet exspensive) obsession is afoot.

The First Day Of Photography

So i have finally bought a DSLR, a Pentax K-X to be precise. Its a basic kit with an 18-55 mm & 70-300mm Tele lens. If I'm honest i have a base understanding of the principles of Photography but its a brave new world full of intrepidation and blurry pictures of cats.

I have started with a walk near our locale via duct, a rolling wintry landscape with a few miniature farmhouses and pygmy cattle to boot.

The first couple of shots were spent switching the foreground and background focus whilst framing most of the pictures with semi withered trees or bushes ...which didn't turn out half bad in my very naive and sheltered view.

My favourite picture came from a bench in the playground pictured below maybe a little dark but i like the shadows..