365/344: 29 January 2011: It’s Saturday morning, so it must be Silloth

Unlike last week’s freezing fog, this morning we have gorgeous sunshine. Went down to South Beach to take some photos of myself for my course, and thought I’d catch the sun on the dunes as well. Love the colours in this one.

365/343: 28 January 2011: Home again

..and enjoying a quiet moment in the lounge in my favourite armchair and away from the steering wheel.

365/342: 27 January 2011: Still travelling

Another night in the Tortworth. To be honest I simply couldn’t motivate myself to go out in the freezing cold for a photo tonight, so I went for an interior shot to add to my Hotel Anywhere collection.

In case you were wondering it’s the joint between the legs and the upright pillar of the coffee table in my room.

365/341: 26 January 2011: It’ll be nice in the summer…

…but currently the patio at the Tortworth Court is rather too cold to enjoy. Yet again arrived at my final destination in the dark – this time after a trip from Snowdonia to Gloucester. Blew away the cobwebs of the drive by spending an hour in the gardens taking shots using the available light.

Love the starburst effect on the pillar lights.

365/340: 25 January 2011: Anglesey

On Anglesey today visiting colleagues at Wylfa. Overnight in the Tre-Ysgawen Hall hotel. If you’re ever staying on Anglesey – or even fancy a quiet weekend, I can recommend this place. It has a nice leisure club, the food is good and the service likewise. It also has real character – a country house hotel as country house hotels should be. The only downside is that it’s a bit remote if you want to eat or drink somewhere else – but I can’t imagine why you would.

Anyway, this is a rather fancy statue in the grounds. I arrived too late for a daylight shot.

365/339: 24 January 2011: Self portrait by screen light

You know it’s an obsession when you think “I know. I’ll sit in a dark room and take a photo of myself by the light from my computer screen”. I need to get out more.

365/338: 23 January 2011: Happiness is…

…a warm rug in front of the fire. And it’s even better if it’s under the chair. I’m sure Marmalade knew I was taking this but frankly, he didn’t care.

 

365/337: 22 January 2011: Silloth again

The usual Saturday trip to Silloth with youngest daughter for keyboard lessons. As always I took the camera – but this time without much hope of a shot because it was thick freezing fog. But then I thought – “Damn it! just take some photos”, which i did, and proved to myself again that you can a get a picture from almost anything if you set your mind to it. Would have been happy to show these more or less as they came from the camera, but decided to have some more Lightroom fun with them.

 

365/336: 21 January 2011: Cumbria Mean Streets

Lots of freezing fog tonight so thought I’d go for something a bit moody – then I found a nice Lightroom preset to make it even moodier. These are the mean streets of my home village.

365/335: 20 January 2011: Tebay Services - again

Not much to say really – was hoping for a nice foggy shot when I got here , but sadly (happily?) I left that down near Lancaster.

365/334: 19 January 2011: More moonlight fun

Pretty similar technique to last night – with added spooky. Have a sneaking suspicion I scared some poor dog-walker half to death while doing this shot.  She got half way up the road towards me, said something to her dog, then turned around and disappeared. Can’t say I blame her – I was engaged in some pretty odd behaviour!

365/333: 18 January 2011: Dancing in the Moonlight

To make up for the lack of effort last night I tried something a bit more deliberate this evening. Bit of special effect fun here.

For those what are interested I did it like this: as it was a shot by moonlight the exposure was around a minute long – which gave me time to dash round the far side of the pool and wave a Maglite torch about to make the streaks. Then I dashed back and used the same torch to light up the bush. then a bit of Lightroom jiggery-pokery to tart up the colours and the contrast and hey presto – here it is.

365/332: 17 January 2011: Getting Complacent

Went to bed without taking a photo today – fortunately had to go back downstairs to do something and suddenly realised – so this is not the world’s greatest shot, but at least I didn’t blow it with only 33 days to go. In case anyone wonders – it’s an energy meter from E.on, which tells me how much electricity I’m using minute by minute. Geekery – it’s great.

365/331: 16 January 2011: Workington Harbour at Dusk

Needed some fresh air today and as we were down at Clay Flatts buying DIY stuff we went for a quick stroll round behind the harbour. The wind was – shall we say – bracing, but the sky was very pretty and the sunset was quite dramatic.

365/330: 15 January 2011: Degree Module Completed

yay! I’ve officially completed all the practical work for the first module of my degree course, and I have a certificate to prove it. Onwards and upwards – I’ve already stared the second module People and Place – and I still have to submit this first module for formal assessment.

365/329: 14 January 2011: King of the Beasts?

This rather cute stuffed lion lives on the top of one of our bookshelves. He was a souvenir of my first trip to Africa a few years back. Not sure that he really captures the king of the beasts feel - more like the ‘after a bottle of red’ feel – he even has a slightly shiny nose.

365/328: 13 January 2011: Pineapple in the dark

Lovely graphic things – pineapples. So thought I’d go for a high-contrast black and white treatment for the fun of it.

365/327: 12 January 2011: Thanks Mr Taxman

Got a very handy letter several months ago saying I didn’t need to worry about a tax return this year – then less than 20 days from the deadline they change their mind. Well, thanks a bunch. How to make friends and influence people – I don’t think.

365/326: 11 January 2011: Self Portrait

The mirrors in the hotel room were arranged such that I could see a proper profile of myself in one of them – which is relatively unusual so I took a photo of myself – obviously holding my stomach in as far as possible – who am I trying to kid?

365/325: 10 January 2011: Speech bubbles – a truly awful pun

Was idly playing with bubble wrap this evening when an inspiration for a truly terrible visual pun struck me. For years I’ve suffered for my art – now it’s your turn. I’m sure Churchill started rotating the moment I pressed the publish button

365/324: 09 January 2011: Madeira

Tradition seems to have it then men should like super dry sherry as an aperitif – ignoring the fact that, obviously, real men don’t drink aperitifs (particularly before eating quiche). So – to hell with tradition. I particularly like amontillado style sherry, and like Malmsey Madeira even more.

Literary tradition suggests that this is a drink preferred by little old ladies who are about to set off to solve some specially horrid murder in a train full of rich people, but I find slurping a couple of glasses while carving the joint and turning the roasties is an excellent way to start a Sunday evening.

Right then, where are my slippers, my monocle and my knitting…ooo! Is that a gunshot and a blood-curdling scream I hear upstairs?

365/323: 08 January 2011: Solway Sunrise (for a change)

The Solway is famous for its sunsets but the view across to Criffel can look pretty stunning at sunrise as well if the weather is right. This was taken on the beach about 2/3 of the way to Skinburness. Very icy – had thought to walk across the pebbles but they were all coated with a thin sheen of ice - twisted my knee and nearly broke an ankle.

365/322: 07 January 2011: Fighting Fish

A new addition to my tank this week – been struggling to get a half decent photo, but finally managed it. He seems to have settled in well – no aggro with the other inhabitants – and you have to admit that even in a relatively poor photo he does look rather gorgeous.

365/321: 06 January 2011: Boys will be boys

Asked Ashley to fold the table cloth - should have known better - as this is the result. I guess it is actually folded, but it's not quite what I had in mind.

365/320: 05 January 2011: Cedric the Snail

Catching up a bit as I’ve not managed to post for several days. This is animal photography at it’s simplest. Even when he’s dashing about at his top speed I have plenty of time to compose – even if I do forget to clean the outside of the tank. Cedric is an apple snail, and I employ him to keep down the algae in my tank – which he does with a certain je ne sais quoi.

365/319: 04 January 2011: Christmas is over :(

So Christmas is officially over. get home from work and all the decorations etc. are stowed in plastic boxes waiting for me to stash them in the garage until next year. What happened to the time-honoured tradition of keeping decorations up until the end of Epiphany? Guess it went the same way as anyone caring what Epiphany represents. That’s the way it goes.

365/318: 03 January 2011: Axolotl

Went to visit Marion’s sister today. Daughter has just got a pet axolotl in a lurid pink-topped fish tank (classy – very classy ). Forgotten its name already – old age I guess – but it was quite fascinating to watch.

365/317: 02 January 2011: I’m blue

Or something like that. Not much to say about this one really  - its a lantern and its blue. That’s it really.

365/316: 01 January 2011: New Year’s Resolution

Found this piece of soft-drink road kill in the local lane, and took it as a sign that I need to lose weight this year. Actually I was lucky to see it beneath the overhang of my growing stomach.

365/315: 31 December 2010: More roses

I know – I’ve done roses before – but I still think they’re hard to beat as a subject.

365/314: 30 December 2010: Wine, wine wine

Cooked dinner again this evening. Marinated some tuna in a mix of oil cayenne and herbs and then grilled it so that the marinade formed a nice herby crust. Never sure whether red or white goes best with tuna so compromised and went for both.