365/283: 29 November 2010: It’s hard on the birds

Delightful as it is to look at the weather gives our wilds birds a bad time. Have had quite a flock on my patio all day munching through the seed I’ve thrown out for them. These aren’t the greatest quality pictures, because they were taken through a less than optically perfect patio window, the light was poor and they move quite quickly (enough excuses – ed.) but I don’t often get the chance to get this close to yellowhammers or tree sparrows – so I’m gong to claim that the softness was deliberate as an artistic ploy.

First up then  - the yellowhammer. This ones a female – the males are much brighter.

And then the tree sparrow – rather dainty country cousin to the familiar house sparrow, or spuggie, (as it seems to be called in these here parts). Easy to spot the difference. It has a brown head patch (rather than grey) and a nice black cheek patch. Generally a lot rarer, but our garden seems to be a good spot for them.

365/282: 28 November 2010: Snowy Bassenthwaite

Managed to get more time out in the snow today. Snow provides just too many opportunities – everything looks so clean and sparkly, so am posting more than one shot today. First off a shot from the lakeside next to the lay-by which is just after the dual carriageway section of the A66 eastbound between Cockermouth and Keswick.

And then, by way of contrast, a bit of detail. This is the kind of stuff I really like doing:

And finally something in town. Challoner Court in Cockermouth to be precise.

365/281: 27 November 2010P: Snow!!!

Certainly wasn’t expecting snow when I looked out of the window this morning. Didn’t have much time as we were dashing all over the spot with kids/shopping/decorating etc., but did manage to pop next door and get this shot. Just love the contrast between the warm colours of the low sun lighting up the rush and the cool blues of the sky reflected in the snowy background.

365/280: 26 November 2010: Ivy by Night

Popped out to the coal shed to get some coal (strange to relate) and noticed these overhanging the door so made another trip with the camera.

365/279: 25 November 2010: A walk by the canal

This is the Bridgewater Canal, just before it crosses over Red Brow Lane, below Daresbury Park  - which is a handy lunchtime walk when you’ve spent all morning going googly-eyed in front of a screen. Weather was - great cold and crisp and from this angle you don’t see any of the man-made intrusions all around I even managed to find an angle without my own shadow.

365/278: 24 November 2010: All dressed up

Now it’s my turn for fancy dress. Off to another awards ceremony just after I took this one (we won a gold by the way – wooyay!).Not quite sure about the rather self-satisfied grin I’m wearing but I’m obviously happier behind the camera than in front of it.

365/277: 23 November 2010: Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

Need to be careful what i say here in case my mum-in-law is reading this. This plant seems to like the conditions in our house as we’ve had it for ages. I lit it with a flash bounced off the wall to the left and really like the bold shapes and stripes.

365/276: 22 November 2010: Fish Tank

Hmmm! Photographing shiny spherical objects with a single flash is an interesting challenge. In the end I used a long shutter speed on the camera and fired off the flash with my other hand while pointing it at the wall. Not perfect, by any means, but about as good as I could manage with the resources at hand.

365/275: 21 November 2010: A new degree module

Thought I’d make a start on the new module – People and Place – with a portrait of Marion.

365/274: 20 November 2010: A trip to IKEA

Had to drop youngest daughter at school at some absurd hour for a school trip. Then we went on to the Metro Centre for some serious shopping. Bizarrely we got to IKEA before it was open so we had a delicious Asda fry-up before having another go.

Not seen this stuff before, but it’s basically instant, self-assembly, rye bread. Just add water, shake, transfer to a baking tin, cook and take a bow. Guess what’s on the menu tomorrow.

365/273: 19 November 2010: Phalaenopsis

Which is kind of white orchid – fairly common as a house plant – for the un-initiated. Like a lot of orchids the flowers can look vaguely erotic, vaguely threatening or just very pretty. Went for the middle one with this treatment – the strange lighting is a result of the sun coming through a window and hitting the flower from the back left as you look at the photo.

365/272: 18 November 2010: Paramore Tonight

..and in the excitement I almost forgot to take a photo. Didn’t seem much point in taking a proper camera all the way to Newcastle to have it confiscated for the duration of the show, so grabbed a photo of the ticket on the way out.

As I've said to anyone who’ll listen – they played an excellent set – although the sound system was a bit iffy at times – way too much bass and the vocals sometimes too far back. Considering that they haven’t been around that long Hayley Williams played the crowd like a veteran – everyone sang, screamed, clapped, jumped to order and a good time appeared to be had by all.

Could have managed very well without B.o.B, the support act, though. Is it my imagination or do all rappers now sound like sad and inadequate pastiches of Eminem?

I wasn’t the oldest person in the arena – I saw at least (well actually, only) one other person who looked older than me (in poor light, through rose-tinted glasses).

365/271: 17 November 2010: Moldovan Merlot

Can’t remember whether I ordered this or whether it was one of the extra ‘free’ bottles I get as a reward for membership, but I’m pretty sure it’s the first Moldovan wine I’ve ever drunk. And very pleasant it was/is too. Thought I should photograph it before my camera arm lost its steadiness.

365/270: 16 November 2010: Damp Towel

For once I took a photo first thing in the morning. This caught my eye as I left the bathroom with my wash-bag, so I grabbed the camera and popped off a couple of shots before checking out. Had trouble getting enough depth of field but I think it works OK. I just love the mix of textures/patterns with the ‘wood’ grain, the chrome and the fluffy towel.

365/269: 15 November 2010: M6 (J21 Southbound) at Night

Always enjoy taking light trails – it seems difficult to take a really bad one. As I was staying in the Holiday Inn next to J21 it seemed obvious to go and spend a few minutes on the bridge over the motorway capturing the lights of vehicles heading south over the viaduct.

365/268: 14 November 2010: Cousins

Nice family photo today as we‘ve had Marion’s sister and her son visiting for the weekend.

365/267: 13 November 2010: Another Rainbow

Fairly dramatic rain shower this morning produced this, which as usual cried out to be captured. Just a pity I had to get soaked to take it.

365/266: 12 November 2010: Self-portrait in a laundry basket

Thought I’d celebrate reaching less than 100 days to go with something a bit off the wall. So another addition to an occasional series of self-portraits This one is my reflection in the bottom of a chromed laundry basket – fudged up a bit in Photoshop to increase the blueness and general oddity.

365/265: 11 November 2010: My Favourite Movie

Spent the evening in front of a nice warm fire sheltering from the howling wind and rain watching The Last Samurai for about the 20th time – it’s just brilliant – just love watching Omura get his comeuppance at the end. (now there’s and old-fashioned word)

365/264: 10 November 2010: Salford Quays

At The Lowry in Salford this afternoon for another award ceremony – this time the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards – and pretty successful we were. Some fairly dramatic buildings around and about just called out to photographed.

365/263: 09 November 2010: The Old Blacksmith Shop

What more can I say. it’s the Old Blacksmith Shop at Gretna. Not sure what’s romantic about being forced to run away from home to marry someone you love, but I take my hat off to the PR maestros who managed to turn a small smithy that must have seen a lot of heartbreak and desperation into a top marriage venue. Each to their own I guess.

365/262: 08 November 2010: Tin Can

As made famous by Major Tom, who was, IIRC, ‘floating in his tin can’. One thing I like about photography is that even the most mundane objects can become interesting in their own right. I find the range of colours in this one fascinating. By the time you read this it’ll be on its way to recycling.

365/261: 07 November 2010: All Dressed Up

No 1 son dressed up for a cocktail party – not sure if it was fancy dress or black tie – either way we don’t see him looking like this very often. My dad use to describe this as ‘dressed up like a pox doctor’s clerk’ – a rather evocative turn of phrase I feel.

365/260: 06 November 2010: Lichen

Wandering along Silloth sea front this morning I was struck by the colour of the lichen. For reasons I can’t work out it appears in patches, and then you go some distance without any, then some more patches. Feel sure there's a PhD in there somewhere.

365/259: 05 November 2010: Apples

Well, I can cope with going to bed at 02:00, but being woken by the fire-alarm at 05:30 definitely makes for a shaky start to the day. While I was stumbling about trying to pack for check-out I noticed these and thought I’d go for the snap. Had to reflect some light back into the shadows with a handy piece of paper to get the right balance of light, but given how I felt at the time I’m quite pleased with the outcome.

365/258: 04 November 2010: A brief visit to Edinburgh

In Edinburgh tonight for the CIPR PRide Scotland Award ceremony.  A bit bigger than the Cardiff a couple of weeks back, but otherwise pretty similar. Happy to report success for my colleagues here as well.

The hotel was very nice (although just a teensy bit pretentious), and for some reason chose to floodlight all it’s trees with weird blue lighting, to give this rather ghostly effect.

365/257: 03 November 2010: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Colourful and tasty – I love chicken in sweet and sour sauce.

365/256: 02 November 2010: Wet, wet wet!

No, not the dire boy-band – the weather. Seems to be a feature of November in Cumbria in the last couple of years that we start with masses of rain. Here’s hoping that the barometer is right and it eases off soon.

365/255: 01 November 2010: Self-portrait in a ball-bearing

Beginning to regret all those indoor shots I took when the weather was good outside. Its now to dark for outside by the time I get home so am having to think a bit harder. this is not really a ball-bearing – it’s actually one of the Chinese style stress balls with the chimes inside that you roll about in the palm of your hand. I’m the large black blob hiding behind the camera lens.

365/254: 31 October 2010: The long drive home

Well – the celebration went well – lunch with family and friends went just as well, so now it’s the long drag A33, M4, A417, M5, M66, A66 and home. Think this was Keele services, although they all blend into each other after a while.

365/253: 30 October 2010: Autumn colours

It was a gorgeous autumn day so what better way to celebrate than the colours of autumn. Took this one as the sun was going down and my better half was trying to catch 60 minutes shut-eye ahead of the celebrations.

365/252: 29 October 2010: More hotel-ism

Spent most of the day travelling to Burghfield, near Reading, for a family golden wedding do. As photography on the M6 is pretty risky I fell back on the trusty ‘Detail from a hotel room’. This time it’s the hair dryer, which is not something I generally have need for but does make an interesting subject.

365/251: 28 October 2010: Wicked

Honestly – how can anyone drink this stuff? But it is very pretty.