1000/397: 23 March 2011: It's been a hard day....

1000/397 a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

More self-portraits today - a series of exercises looking at the impact of limb position. This one is just a bit of fun - I clearly look drunk or drugged, although it is actually a genuine self-portrait - I have the remote camera release in my hidden hand.

OK! Own up time. Which of us has not woken in this position at 4:00 in the morning after deciding to have a little lie down before getting ready for bed?

1000/395: 21 March 2011: Skirting Board

1000/395 a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Not much time between arriving from the office and going off to dinner this evening - bit of a shame because it was a lovely evening. Am finally beginning to struggle for hotel room shots, but not given up yet. Concluded that changing the angle of view would probably throw up some opportunities and I wasn't dissappointed. Paricularly liked the receding lines on this one.

1000/390: 16 March 2011: Loose Change

1000/390 a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Hmmmm! Didn't really expect to be here again tonight - gleefully checked out this morning, looking forward to being home again, only to find that I'm needed at head office for another day. Fortunately I packed some spare smalls.

Arrived late back at the hotel and then not much time before dashing off to find some sustenance so grabbed this shot - just in case I didn't get back until after midnight.

1000/389: 15 March 2011: Hotel bedroom

1000/389 a photo by nmonckton on Flickr.

Not much to say about this - busy day in the office - arrive late at hotel - colleagues waiting in lobby so we can go to the restaurant. I do quite like the mix of circles and rectangles in this shot.

1000/382: 08 March 2011: The full tea-set

Another night in the Holiday Inn at Woolston Grange. Had dinner out with some colleagues, but returned early and spent some time doing self-portraits (no – you’ll have to wait). Thought this would make an interesting shot, and I’m not disappointed – although your mileage may vary.

365/353: 07 February 2011: Hotel Anywhere

Not going to name this hotel as it’s not as bleak as this shot makes it look, but I couldn’t resist this shot. Quite challenging to take because I didn’t have a tripod and light levels in hotels are not generally very high. Note to hotel designers – have a good look at this and imagine spending a lot of time here – then try again.

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.

365/326: 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?

365/298: 14 December 2010: Guess the subject

Taken in another hotel room.

365/291: 07 December 2010: Christmas Cheer

Rather a fetching tree in the hotel lobby of the Tortworth Court this evening. Couldn’t resist this shot from the atrium

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.

365/252: 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.

365/229: 06 October 2010: More hotel trivia

Travelled to London today for an internal Comms course starting tomorrow. Apparently the cheapest hotel the booking agency could get was on the Strand – so nicely located. Sadly it was essentially dark when I got there so taking a shot of the sights was not a goer. The room was cell sized but had some rather attractive resin lampstands – so here’s one for the record.

365/206: 13 Sept 2010: More hotel abstraction

Amazing what you can find to make an interesting photo when you’re pushed. No prizes for guessing what it is.

365/147: 16 July 2010: Holiday Time

No – I haven’t given up, but I’ve been in Egypt for 2 weeks and didn’t want to advertise the fact to the whole world. So now I have 16 days posting to catch up – starting with the hotel room the night before departure. Just another of those slightly odd abstracts I’m afraid – this time from the Premier Inn at J21a of the M6.

365/135: 04 July 2010: Mystery Object

Seems a shame not to put in another picture of the centre of Manchester but the weather was at best gloomy and overcast so have gone for something more abstract. Think it shows that you can get a photo from quite unpromising locations if you really try.

365/122: 21 June 2010: Toilet roll holder

Another in my occasional series of bathroom fittings from hotels around the country. this time its the loo roll holder from the Days Inn at Warwick Services. No-one can say I don’t  know how to live. Spending the night here on my way to collect Ashley from London at the end of his diploma course.

365/108: 07 June 2010: More random stuff from a hotel room

Love the contrast between the shiny chrome bar and the fluffy white towel in this shot. Took several goes to get right because the average hotel bathroom is not brightly lit once you move a way from the shaving lights. In the end I used my flash gun bounced of the ceiling to give a reasonably diffuse light source that didn’t reflect too dramatically in the chrome.