1000/483: 29 June 2011: Haldor Laxness

1000/483: 29 June 2011: Haldor Laxness, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Halldor Laxness is a 20th century Icelandic author - the only Icelandic Nobel Laureate - who I first encountered on the way back from holiday in Iceland a couple of years ago. 'Under the Glacier' was a fairly short, and quite light, introduction to the weird world that is Laxness' Iceland of the 18th/19th century.

Iceland's bell is a considerably weightier read plotted a bit like an Icelandic saga, and written in a style that could perhaps be described as offhand Dickens - a mix of social commentary and detail written in such a casual way that it is almost black humour - but not quite.

You're left in no doubt that life was tough at the time - "His homecoming was as might be expected considering the dwellers there were either lepers or half-wits, if not both." but it's so bad it's almost Pythonesque.

The main characters include a good for nothing convicted murderer - although his guilt is always in doubt - a fair maiden, and an academic concerned only with Iceland's legacy and helping the poor receive justice whether they want it or not. There are a couple of 'leper with a trade' moments when criminals he has reprieved complain that no-one has sympathy with them any longer, but these are rather offset by, for example a convicted 'wizard' wishing that he could be beheaded rather than burned at the stake.

The plot wanders around Iceland, with the occaisional side trip to Denmark and is concerned largely with honour - Iceland's, the fair maiden's and the academics.

I could go on but I would eventually give away the plot so I'll shut up. Suffice to say I rather enjoyed it, but if you fancy giving Laxness a go I think 'Under the Glacier' would be an easier starting point.

I'm going to finssih with one mor qu

1000/493: 28 June 2011: The Mersey: A rural idyll

1000/493: 28 June 2011: The Mersey: A rural idyll, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

An interesting one this. If someone asked me to take a stab at what river this was the Mersey would be as far down the list as the Humber and the Clyde. Which just goes to show the value of a good brand reputation and the downside of a bad one.

This is, indeed , the Mersey about a half mile east of the Thelwall Viaduct and delightfully rural it is too. This section of the river appears to be given over to the Cheshire Cheese Fishing Club - a club which really needs a hyphen somewhere in it's name to help avoid the wilder flights of the imagination that 'cheese fishing' invokes. "There she blows Cap'n - the great white cheese herself!" "Ready with the cheese knife Ishmael!"

But I digress. I wish I'd discovered the riverside walks accesible from the Holiday Inn at Woolston Grange years ago - I feel I've missed out on some delightful evening strolls. There's even a tempting signpost to Rixton Clay Pits nature reserve to drag me further afield.

1000/492: 27 June 2011: Bank Vole

1000/492: 27 June 2011: Bank Vole, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Found this little guy on the footpath alongside the Mersey near Thelwall viaduct. Pretty sure it's a bank vole from the rusty brown colour on the back.

Poor thing was sat in the middle of the path quivering. I took this photo and then realised there were a couple of large dogs coming - so I trapped it between my insteps. explained what I was doing to the dog owner - who gave me a pretty quizzical look - waited 'til they'ed moved on and then popped him safely into the hedgerow.

Hope the little guy is OK.

1000/491: 26 June 2011: Spider - you've been warned

1000/491: 26 June 2011: Spider - you've been warned, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

With apologies to all you arachnophobes out there, but I'm rather pleased with this one.

was busy snapping the frog in our pond when this little guy popped his/her head over the parapet.

Quite a challenge as it was less than a centimetre long, but it was obliging enough to stand still and pose for me.

Another shot with the ring flash - hence the circular highlights in all 6 of the eyes. Seem to have caught the focus on the face just right as well. This shot is cropped to about quarter the overall area of the original - so I think the quality has held up well.

1000/490: 25 June 2011: Abstract glass

1000/490: 25 June 2011: Abstract glass, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Experimenting with my ring flash today. Took it off the end of the lens, sat in on the table top and sat a couple of objects inside it. This is a Bristol Blue glass goblet, which I thought made a nice abstract. I've turned the image upside down to add to the effect.

Tried to think of a profound name for the image, but failed.

The next image is a cut crystal bud vase. Don't know about you but the surface plays tricks on my eyes so I'm not sure which way it curves. Whatever, it's a bit of fun.

1000/489: 24 June 2011: Off to the Prom

1000/489: 24 June 2011: Off to the Prom, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Well I was going to post a picture of Annan today as I was there on business, but I've decided to lead with our youngest in prom-night mood.

Of course Dad gets to do taxi service to the White Heather, and back, which means all Friday night without so much as a glass of wine but I cxan't complain - I am, of course, as proud as Punch, as well as a little sad at yet another landmark event having come and gone.

Quite like the effect in this shot as well - it was done with a ring-flash and processed to give a 'fashion' shoot feel to it.

For good measure I'm throwing in Annan Town Hall below.

1000/488: 23 June 2011: Road to nowhere

1000/488: 23 June 2011: Road to nowhere, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Looking for something different to capture our evening stroll down one of the local lanes I came up with this idea.

Not sure what the plant is, but I like the way it looks like a little tree growing in a field of boulders.

The lane runs from Allerby road end towards Gilcrux - a typical British lane that joins nowhere exciting to a nearby backwater.

1000/487: 22 June 2011: Eurest Noodles

1000/487: 22 June 2011: Eurest Noodles, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Work-life balance day at Chapelcross, and I'd agreed to take a few photos for the in-house magazine, intranet etc etc. Lots of interesting people happy to talk about ways to spend your spare time, together with health clubs, lifestyle advice and the like.

Eurest provided a marguee with some healthy eating options, including this rather excellent and very tasty quorn/noodle/veggie concoction which tastes as good as it looked and smelled.. If there's something like this on the menu I'll definitely be missing the chips next time I'm in the canteen.

And while I'm at it - three cheers to the Occ Health team for putting on another excellent event.

1000/486: 21 June 2011: In need of lubrication

1000/486: 21 June 2011: In need of lubrication, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Another high contrast black and white - partly to hide the sorry state of the chain and gears on my daughters bike but more because I actually quite like this treatment. You have to choose your subject carefully but relatively simple graphic images like this, and yesterday's mud, seem to work pretty well.

Right - off to find some oil to give this thing a birthday treat.

1000/485: 20 June 2011: Baked Mud

1000/485: 20 June 2011: Baked Mud, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

A quick dash today between finishing in the office and heading off to find dinner, but this one convinces me there is always something to photograph.

This is the baked silt left over from a puddle at the lower end of the car park at the Park Royal. I quite like this rather high contrast b&w treatment because of the way it emphasises the patterning.

It does make me wonder how many 'parched desert' photos are really just dried puddles somewhere. This one is a good example of how choice of viewpoint and subject can give the impression that the photo comes from somewhere else entirely.

1000/484: 19 June 2011: Busy as a bee

1000/484: 19 June 2011: Busy as a bee, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Managed to get myself a bargain ring-flash on e-bay earlier this week, so thought it was time to try it out.

Proper close-up photography is rather more challenging than I expected - particularly the exposure angle, but this one came out well enough to show as my photo of the day.

Am looking forward to trying out the flash for other purposes as well - it has some interesting uses in portrait photography. Watch this space.

1000/483: 18 June 2011: On the beach

1000/483: 18 June 2011: On the beach, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Raining this morning, but what the heck. It's on day's like this that I'm glad I chose a weather-proof camera, because I'd miss loads of shooting opportunities without it.

There seemed to be a lot of orange and bright green seaweed washed up on the shoreline at Silloth today, and what with the nice overcast lighting and the rain water bringing out the colours of the pebbles, shells and bits of stick I thought this colourful close-up was too good to miss.

The other thing with this kind of shot is that by pulling back a few inches you can achieve another, and to my mind equally interesting, shot – all without moving your feet.

1000/482: 17 June 2011: School's out

1000/482: 17 June 2011: School's out, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Now I feel old. Youngest daughter has completed her GCSEs and is clearing out the exercise books that no longer interest her.

I'm told that recycling is just not the same as a bonfire. Ah well! - out of respect for the greenhouse effect - recycling wins.

1000/481: 16 June 2011: Birthday Lunch

1000/481: 16 June 2011: Birthday Lunch, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Took a half day today to celebrate my birthday with Marion. After dropping Naomi at school for her last GCSE we headed into Dalston and The Blue Bell. Good Decision.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I have 'memorable steaks'. There was one in Northern ireland about 20 years ago, another at the Craggs Tea-room about 10 years ago and I now have a new contender for my top slot. The 'Bistro steak fillet' was melt-in-the-mouth fabulous - it looked gorgeous and tasted better still.

As Marion also had the steak I can't comment on the other dishes, but if they're half as good I say "Go there tomorrow".

As is the way with these things I'd already started to eat this when I thought it would make a nice photo - so a bit of clever composition and cropping was required. I think I've done it justice, which is good.

1000/480: 15 June 2011: Slightly surreal

1000/480: 15 June 2011: Slightly surreal, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

There's a delightful wildflower meadow developing at Allerby Community Gardens whic is where I got this shot.

Had real trouble with the colour balancing, and in the end went for this slightly odd treatment because I quite liked its retro feel.

1000/479: 14 June 2011: Grass

1000/479: 14 June 2011: Grass, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Cereals yesterday, which are, when all is said and done, simply grasses with a few airs and graces (unintentional near pun), so today I thought I'd go for the original article.

The grasses are all in flower at the moment, and the variety is quite surprising , once you get your eye in. May be producing a few more of these in the next few days. I think this one may be Colt's Foot, but I wouldn't swear to it.

1000/478: 13 June 2011: Cereal Photographer

1000/478: 13 June 2011: Cereal Photographer, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

This field of barley (?) is opposite the entrance to the hotel. I love watching the wind ripple a field of cereal crops, but haven't yet worked out high I might capture that.
While I'm waiting to come up with a solution to that one, I thought I'd have a couple of shots anyhow. In this one I've used the opposite of yesterdays technique, where everything was blurred together, by using a shallow depth of field and sharp focus to, hopefully, isolate a few ears from the mass of detail.

Just for good measure I've thrown in, below, another schmocus attempt, this one relying more on the interplay of light than of colours.

1000/477: 12 June 2011: Focus - who needs it?

1000/477: 12 June 2011: Focus - who needs it?, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Something a bit more experimental today. I've paid a goodly sum for nice sharp lenses, but to hell with that, let's go for some creative blur. It's not a new technique - an old colleague of mine who I found on Flickr (daruma) has a set of photos dedicated to the idea, and there is a Flickr group for photos with no point in focus.

The idea is that the out-of-focus picture should stimulate a reaction in its own right, because the subject is to all intents and purposes blurred beyond recognition.

Not sure that this first shot meets these high ideals - I was trying to capture the impression of a mass of flowers, rather than concentrating on individual blooms - but I hope it's a decent start. I've added a similar shot with rather more subtle colouring below.

For those that want to know I simply set my lens manually to its closest focussing distance and then used maximum aperture to get as little depth of field as possible.

1000/476: 11 June 2011: Dead Gannet

1000/476: 11 June 2011: Dead Gannet, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

By way of a contrast from yesterday's sunset something a bit macabre.

Gannets are beautiful birds, but they have something of Jurassic Park about them.

Both these things seemed to be captured in this long dead specimen washed up on the sand at Silloth - there is still a hint of yellow/gold in the head feathers , but the bill leaves you in no doubt that this was a wild - even primitive - creature.

1000/475: 10 June 2011: No apologies - it's another Solway sunset

1000/475: 10 June 2011: No apologies - it's another Solway sunset, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Tend to think, living where I do with a good view west over the Solway, that sunsets are almost as easy an option as flowers, but todays was exceptional.

I've done very little to this shot except increase the contrast and crop it to a panoramic format. I just had to wait until the sun was almost completely behind the hill, then underexpose a bit.

The splash of colour reflected on the water is what does it for me.

1000/474: 09 June 2011: TOMS shoes

1000/474, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

I think this is a briliant idea. Buy a pair of shoes from TOMS and they give a pair to a child in a developing country.

These are a little out of the ordinary - my family have said - almost in chorus 'Why did you have to get a weird colour scheme?'. In truth I don't know, but I like them anyhow.

If you're not convinced by this colour they have lots of more sensible choices in a variety of styles - so go on - buy a pair and help someone in need at the same time - you know you want to.

1000/473: 08 June 2011: Tea at the Tortworth

1000/473, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Not mine unfortunately. Lighting was a little drab today so I was looking for something that might not be bothered by that when I found these on the patio.

Thought it caught something quintessentially English - not to mention something to test the spell-checker

1000/472: 07 June 2011: Cranesbill

1000/472: 07 June 2011: Cranesbill, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Have been trying to steer away from flower photos as they're a bit of an easy option and can all end up looking much the same, but I was in a hurry tonight because we're off to see Journey/Foreigner/Styx in Newcastle.

Anyway the sun catching this particualr bloom from behind lifted it a bit out of the ordinary. Not sure what variety this is but it seems essentially unkillable and is spreading rather vigourously. Think I'll be splitting it up this autumn.

1000/471: 06 June 2011: Bra on a beach

1000/47: 06 June 2011: Bra on a beach, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Right - not sure what's going on here. This was washed up on the coast at Maryport. Did someone try harpooning Aerial and end up with a situation that wasn't in the Little Mermaid? Was it someone fishing for mermen with a lure? Haaf netting with a GG cup?

1000/470: 05 June 2011: Home-made bread

1000/470: 05 June 2011: Home-made bread, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

What a wonderful invention the bread-maker is. The smell of baking bread has to be one of the most enticing smells in the world.

This one is made with Country Grain flour from Allinson's and was absolutely delicious. My real problem was not immediately eating the whole loaf while it was still warm.

1000/469: 04 June 2011: Unidentified Shopper

1000/469: 04 June 2011: Unidentified Shopper, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Out in keswick today doing a bit of 'street shooting' for my People and Place course. Still find it more than a touch intimidating, but slowly getting used to it.

This couple were buying cheese in the market - for fans of Monty Python I doubt it was venezuelan beaver cheese, and this guy certainly had more stock than the owner of MPs cheese-shop.

1000/468: 03 June 2011: Unidentified caterpillar

1000/468: 03 June 2011: Unidentified caterpillar, a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Well I thought this would be easy to ID, but apparently not. of course, that doesn't mean it's not really common, just that I can't ID it.

Impressive little fella anyway

1000/467: 02 June 2011: Another Solway Sunset

Yep! it;s not very original, but it’s the first time in ages there’s been no cloud at sunset and the colours were delightful. Tried to echo the shape of Criffel with the trees in the middle distances but black doesn’t show that well against very dark blue.

I’m tempted by a paraphrase along the lines of ‘a person who is tired of Solway sunsets is tired of life’.

1000/466: 01 June 2011: Ornamental Poppy

Another night in the Tortworth,but the gardens are looking magnificent so lots of opportunities for photos and plenty of excuses to drink less and go outside more. Tried a variety of angles on these poppies but this was the one that caught the feel of them best.

1000/465: 31 May 2011: Lamplit Tree

Not quite sure what kind of tree this is – it isn’t more than about 5-6 ft tall – but it sits under one of the street lights at the Tortworth Court hotel. I rather enjoy the effect that man-made – particularly fluorescent lighting – has on colours, and the pitch black shadows and high contrast.

Did get a bit of a funny look from a passing fellow resident though – of course, I’m getting used to that.

1000/464: 30 May 2011: Weather Fronts

 

Hmmm! Have reached the stage where the shots taken on our regular evening walking route are beginning to feel like 'same shot, different subject'.

Tried pointing the camera up tonight to capture this weather system moving in from the west.