Very near miss today - this one was taken at about a minute to midnight - not the worlds greatest shot, but time was not on my side.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
1000/622: 26 Oct 2011: Another assignment shot
And another assignment shot - for the curious I'm supposed to be taking shots that show a building in use, but I'm trying to do something a bit more creative with it - hence the invisible man stuff.
1000/621: 25 Oct 2011: Still working on my assignment
Base photo for another round of invisible man shots - this time I'm going to try ripping the photo - which feels a bit like book burning. Funny thing - culture.
1000/620: 24 Oct 2011: Setting up my new tank
Well here it is - the gravel and nice granitey rocks are all in place and I've filled it with water and set the heater and filter running. Now it needs to settle for a couple of days before I add some plants.
1000/619: 23 Oct 2011: Rocks
Buy these in a shop and you'll be paying a couple of pounds each - on the other hand - you can collect them for nothing from the beach and give them a good boil to sterilise them. Guess which I did!
I'm no geologist so I'm not quite sure what these are beyond being relatives of granite - but the range of pinks yellows and oranges they display on the aquarium is worth seeing.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
1000/618: 22 Oct 2011: Handle Detail
A handle detail from the new sideboard. Couldn't resist the crazy frog smile - it even has frog eyes.
OK - off to take the medication....
1000/617: 21 Oct 2011: My New Toy
Well, owning a Biorb has given me the aquarium bug. Used to have one as a teenager - I know, strange hobby for a teenage boy - and had harboured a long-term ambition to have another.
The Biorb made the urge stronger not weaker, and so, as part of re-modelling the dining room I now have this nice sparkly 170l aquarium, with a handy cabinet for Marion's piano music.
The bad news is that you're going to be seeing several aquarium shots in the next few weeks as I get it up and running.
1000/616: 20 Oct 2011: Thread
Another night - another hotel. Fed up with doing shots of bits of hotel rooms and hotel gardens, but it's too gloomy to go anywhere else - so in search of something a bit different. Think this may fit the bill - for clarity it's a bit of thread hanging from a lampshade.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
1000/615: 19 Oct 2011: Frankley Services
Travelling late tonight for personal reasons. This is Frankley Southbound on the M5. Went for a gritty high contrast look - which somehow makes it seem a bit more glamorous than it really is.
Used the roof of my car as a camera support which had the advantage of some nice reflections in spite of the grime.
1000/614: 18 Oct 2011: French Homework
Not my homework - obviously. Youngest daughter has been beavering away all evening on this stuff. Was a bit short of inspiration again - seems to be a recurring them of late - but the colours and graphic qualities of these books caught my eye.
1000/613: 17 Oct 2011: Gloomy, gloomy
A lot of my photos have been indoors in recent days - this explains why. Distinctly dismal and gloomy weather - although I suspect it's sunny further south :0(
1000/612: 16 Oct 2011: Bananas
Short of time and ideas but these came to the rescue. Like the pattern of spots in particular.
1000/611: 15 Oct 2011: Vacuum Cleaner
Just wondered how sinister I could make a vacuum cleaner look. That's it really!
Sunday, 16 October 2011
1000/610: 14 Oct 2011: Asbach Uralt
Not really sure what this stuff tastes like. IIRC it's some kind of German brandy. We've had two bottles in our glass cabinet for ever - can't quite recall where they came from.
Am being sorely tempted to crack them open and polish them off.
1000/609: 13 Oct 2011: Ready for a new carpet
Hopefully self-explanatory. Walls painted, skirting boards replaced and painted, old carpet stripped out. Expecting new carpet in the morning.
1000/608: 12 Oct 2011: Fern
Thought last nights technique was worth repeating so here we are again. This time its a fern - lighting as before - ring flash above and slightly behind the subject. Think this is slightly less effective - but only because I've slightly over-exposed the top of the fern.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
1000/607: 11 Oct 2011: Ivy
This one started of as colour shot, but it just works so much better in black and white. Was playing with my ring flash off camera - you can see the strange highlights in some of the leaves. Will definitely have to get some kit to play with off camera flash some more - it adds a whole new range of possibilities.
The subject is hanging over the coal shed and is mature enough to produce flower heads in abundance. I just love the glossy leaves and the structure of the flower heads - Ivy is much under-rated.
1000/606: 10 Oct 2011: String Fella
String Fellas - that's what it says on the back of this little guy. tried to find their website but no joy.
Anyway he sits on the shelf over my desk, and he hasn't spilled a drop of milk yet. If only Marmalade was that neat.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
1000/605: 09 Oct 2011: Rhiannon and Marmalade
Eldest daughter is home for a few days so we had traditional Sunday dinner with roast pork and significant quantities of wine. Riotous time was had by all, after which slumping in arm-chairs was the order of the evening.
Inevitably a slumped human is targeted by the cat as a convenient resting place, although I have to say he doesn't look that comfortable.
1000/604: 08 Oct 2011: Mandolin
Back to semi close-ups today. We bought this mandolin for Rhiannon some years ago, and after a brief spell she decided it was not for her.
I keep being tempted to have a go - in much the same way as I've had a go at the flute - as I can't play a stringed instrument of any description, and guitar is a bit obvious. Not sure that my rather chubby fingers are ideal for the tiny little fretboard though.
This feels like a bit of a commitment so may have to make some time for 'Tune a Day Book 1for Mandolin'.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
1000/603: 07 Oct 2011: Sunrise
The Solway area is generally renowned for it's sunsets, and I'm not generally renowned for early rising - so two contrasts today. this is the sunrise seen from my front window.
Shame about the telephone cable across the view, but the colours are still rather splendid. It's as well I acted when I did because the colours were gone 5 minutes later.
1000/602: 06 Oct 2011: Fruit basket
I was taken by how similar the nectarines and apples in this fruit basket look. The stalk is a bit of a give-away, but the colours and shading are pretty close..
Feel sure there's a sensible ecological reason for this, but it eludes me at the moment.
1000/601: 05 Oct 2011: My weapon of choice
Lots of fuss is made in Olympus camera forums about the 'classic' E-1 and the joys of using it, so I may be in a minority. I put mine in a box once I got the E-3 and haven't taken it out since.
I love using the E-3 - the buttons and dials are all in the right place for my hands it balances nicely and just feels right. I've used it under the Jet in geneva with water literally running from the body, and in the heat and dust of Egypt -. It's never faltered, I've never had any obvious dust spots on the sensor and it's earned enough money to pay for itself several times over.
So three cheers for the unsung hero in most of my photos.
Friday, 7 October 2011
1000/600: 04 Oct 2011: A bit of a turn on
Please excuse the dismal pun. Didn't have any inspiration today, so as is often the case, I have resorted to a bad joke.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
1000/579: 03 Oct 2011: Obscure Cumbrian Viewpoints (i)
A gloomy and dismal day gets a gloomy and dismal treatment. This is a view of the cheese factory in Aspatria, taken from the Co-op car park.
Not quite Wordsworth country, but it probably deserves kinder treatment than this. I'll have another go - perhaps.
1000/578: 02 Oct 2011: Christmas cake
Gorgeous smells permeating the house all evening as Marion has been hard at work on the Christmas cake for later this year.
Apparently we are having a 'small' one this year - although it looks big enough to feed a decent sized party.
1000/577: 01 Oct 2011: Geese - Autumn's Here!
There are few things more evocative of autumn than the sight and sound of skeins of wild geese flying in. This one went over the house this morning, and I just managed to grab my camera and run off a couple of shots before they disappeared.
Think we get lots of geese - living near the edge of the Solway as we do - and long may it continue.
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