peek-a-boo

I spotted this bird poking it's head out of the heather. It was hiding from the men out shooting the birds for game. Poor things. I just managed to get a shot through the open car window before it flew off. It's not the sharpest of images as it was taken hand held, no tripod, and I'm not that steady with the large lens on the camera.

Settings

Shutter Speed - 1/160 sec
Lens aperture - f/6.3mm
Focal Length 200mm
ISO-100
Exposure Compensation 0 step

On the moors & Weardale

What a lovely sunny day, beautiful blue skies, a bit windy and cool, but nevertheless a wonderful day. It was so nice to see the sun all day. I decided i'd take a ride up on the moors and along by the reservoir. The views around are spectacular and my wide angle lens just doesn't do them justice.


Settings
(1st photo)
Shutter Speed - 1/125 sec
Lens aperture - F/11
Focal Length 22mm
ISO-100
Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation -1 step

(2nd photo)
Shutter Speed - 1/160 sec
Lens aperture - f/9mm
Focal Length 22mm
ISO-100
Aperture Priority
Exposure Compensation -1 step



This last photo was 4 photos stitched together in photoshop to make a panorama of Weardale

Day Out

I set out this morning to head for Walkworth Castle. It's was a lovely sunny morning and I was hoping to catch some beautiful blue skies as a backdrop for the castle with the dafodils on the bankside. Unfortunately, as the English weather typically goes, it started to rain. My shots were awful. I decided to make my way to Newbiggin to take the statue of the man & woman looking across the sea. Still raining but I took some shots anyway. After that I had some lunch and made my way home, popping into the hide at Thornley Woods Centre hoping to spy a glimpse of the fox. I was lucky, out he/she came for a bite to eat. I didn't have my 200mm lens only a 100mm but I got a half decent shot anyway. A nice end to a lovely day despite the weather.

I got 3rd place!

I'm over the moon tonight cos I got third place for my Kiwi Fizz photo at Washington Camera Club tonight, one of the camera clubs I go to every week.
This will be my second time now getting placed in a competition. The first time was at Consett Photographic Society where I also got third place with my four prints of waves at South Shields (The Theme Competition).

First signs of Spring

This is a bit of a grab shot taken today on the industrial Estate where I work. I spotted these beautiful Dafodils and got out the car and grabbed a shot before going to work.

Bolt

I've been pretty busy tonight and haven't really had time to go out to photograph. This is a macro shot of a bolt. Not the most exciting of shots I know but I tried out my extension tubes to take this.

Settings

Lens Aperture - f/18
Exposure time - 3.2 sec
Spot Metering
Focal Length 50mm
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Exposure Compensation +0.3 step

Souter Lighthouse

These are 2 images I took Monday and have tonemapped them in a programme called Photomatix. Just wanted to try it out as I've been very impressed with some people's work using HDR tone-mapping. It's very different and not to everyones taste. But as you all know I love to try things out. Adds to the enjoyment and excitement of photography.

Day out at South Shields

It's been a funny old day today. We started the day with brilliant sunshine which later turned to violent hail stones and then back to bright sunshine again. Despite the weather I had a nice day out at South Shields and got some (what I think) decent shots. I was watching two tug boats guiding a very large shp through the mouth of the Tyne safely into harbour. The sea was a little choppy, but the snow brought visibility down to nought at one point. Here's some photos showing the progress of the ship through the mouth of the Tyne.

Happy Easter

Hope everyone is having a nice Easter break.

It's snowing

Kimberley and her puppy Elly

I had a visit from my friend's daughter, her partner and his daughter Kimberley. They brought along their newest arrival, Elly, a golden ladrador puppy. They wanted a photo of the puppy so I took one of Kim and Elly together. A bit of fiddling with the background in Photoshop and a soft focus effect and this is the result.

Settings
Shitter Speed - 1/10 sec
Lens Aperture - F/3.7
Focal Length 46mm
ISO - 400
Exposure Compensation 0 step

Another try

Another day at the physio for my back. It's starting to feel a little better after my session today. Let's hope it lasts.

I went out to buy some more matches to have another go this time with my macro lens. For some reason last night i used my wide angle lens. I forgot to take it off the camera when I shot my storm clouds the other day. How silly of me. I think I was a little tired after a very hectic day at work. Anyway I won't bore you all with any more matches pictures after today. Thank you for your comments everyone.

Don't play with matches

Just a little experiment to capture the striking and burning of a mtach. Can't you tell the weather isn't good at the moment and I cannot get out also due to work. Roll on Easter holiday, although it's forcast snow. But I may get some good snow photos so it can't be that bad. LOL

Grape Fizz

Another bash at the lemonade trick LOL. Here is the result of a couple of juicy red grapes that have been dropped into a glass of lemonade.

Settings

Lens Aperture F3.5
Shutter Speed 1/50 sec
Focal Length 22mm
ISO 400
Exposure Compensation -3 step

Daffodil

I love the spring don't you. The fist signs of beautiful blooms in your garden. Unfortunately i'm still waiting for my daffodils to bloom so this is an image I took of some I bought in the shop. You see where I live it is pretty high above sea level. It's still pretty cold here and everything is still bare. The buds on the trees are just showing now and bulbs are just poking their heads through the soil. So until mine are blooming I'll have to make do with shop-bought flowers.

Music

Just a little note to say I hope my music player isn't putting you all off.
I know my taste in music isn't to everyones taste so sorry to those who hate it.

Storm Clouds Ahead

I've had friends over for dinner today and haven't been out with my camera. Anyway it's been another grim day, but, as I was getting into the car to take my visitors home, I saw a chance to take a few storm clouds that seem to be brewing so ran in and grabbed my camera. I stopped at the side of the road and took this lone tree that was stark & bare and seem to add to the darkness of the sky.

Settings

Lens - 11-22mm
Shutter speed 1/25 sec
Lens Aperture F/4
Focal Length 15mm
ISO Speed ISO-200
Exposure Compensation - 1 step

St Mary's Lighthouse

I was visiting a friend Today that was staying in a caravan at Whitley Bay. Well caravan may not have been the correct term as when you got inside it was just like a small bungalow, central heating, Living room, Kitchen with seperate dining room, 2 bedrooms (one with en-suite bathroom) and a seperate shower/toilet. Yes, as I said just like a small bungalow. The view out of the front window was of St Mary's lighthouse, a famous landmark of Whitley Bay which is very well photographed by all. It wasn't a very nice day, overcast, raining and really not very nice weather for photos to be honest. This is one I took from the balcony of the caravan. I've converted it in photoshop to give it a feel of a lith print.

Settings

Lens - 200mm
Shutter speed 1/200 sec
Lens Aperture F/6.3
Focal Length 64mm
ISO Speed ISO-100
Exposure Compensation - 0.7 step

This is a picture showing a caravan for the people who don't know what a caravan is.

Apple

Another image i'm afraid taken last weekend. Just haven't been feeling too good and couldn't be bothered to be honest. I finally got to physiotherapy on Thursday and they gave me some exercises to do. I hope this fixes my back pain as it's really getting me down now. Sorry for moaning everyone. Hopefully next week will be better :-)

Lone cyclist

Sorry about not posting for a couple of days but i've been feeling a little under the weather. This photo was taken on Saturday out of my car window.It was a very blustery Saturday afternoon when there was a cycle race near Hartlepool where i'd been. One poor guy had fallen off his bike previous to me shooting this photo. He was ok though, he got up on his bike and cycled off. Poor things, they could hardly keep their bikes steady with the wind. What a day for a race eh!

Chilli

I have to apologise to my friend Anna for pinching her idea. I liked her photo so much I decided I had to have a try. Sorry Anna hope you forgive me. LOL

Settings

Aperture priority
Lens - 17.5-45mm
Aperture - f/22
Shutter speed - 6sec
ISO-200
Focal Length - 21mm
Exposure compensation -0.3 step

Chloe

Tonight was portrait night at my local camera club and Chloe was our model for the night. A very nice girl with a very pretty smile and big eyes. I've never really taken many portraits to be honest but tonight was another new experience in the world of photography. Everyone was really helpful to us poor things that are fairly new to the game and it was fun trying to get the 'perfect' shot. Here's one of the best of the ones I took tonight.

Settings

Manual settings
Lens - 17.5-45mm
Aperture - f/16
Shutter speed - 1/60 sec
ISO-200
Focal Length - 45mm
Exposure compensation 0 step

Aphrodisiac

Did you know that asparagus is a natural aphrodesiac? (Fact or fiction?)
It has been used from very early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter. It lost its popularity in the Middle Ages but returned to favour in the seventeenth century.

Only the young shoots of asparagus are eaten. Asparagus is low in calories, contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of folic acid, potassium, dietary fiber, and rutin. The amino acid, asparagine, gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.

Settings

Aperture Priority
Lens - 17.5-45mm
Aperture - f/14
Shutter speed - 1.3 sec
ISO-100
Focal Length - 42mm
Exposure compensation -2.3 step

Tulip

This is an image I took of a tulip and decided to change it digitally to look like a Lith Print. Because I'm not getting around very well due to a bad case of sciatica to take landscapes which is my passion, I am having to concentrate on studio work which I have barely touched on till now. Anyway, after a talk we had on Friday at a camera club I go to on black & white images and different techniques, I decided to try out some of them. Lith printing was the first. With the help of a book I have called "Creative Digital Photography" by Lee Frost, this is my first attempt at a digitally manipulated image of a Lith print. I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

Pears

Bought these pears today and thought they'd make a great photographic subject. Just to add a bit of interest I added some water. They were taken in natural light coming from a window.

Settings

Aperture Priority
Lens - 17.5-45mm
Aperture - f/22
Shutter speed - 1/80 sec
ISO-200
Focal Length - 30mm
Exposure compensation -1.7 step

A piece of art

Above is a piece of digital art manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. The image is the underside of a gerbera. I decided i'd try out a technique a friend has shown me. The image was put into photoshop, a new layer made, and then inverted. The colour was altered with the Hue slider then softened with the saturation slider by desaturating slightly. A play with flip/rotation and crop, the adding of a border and that's it, all done.

Below is the photo of the original image.

Dinner Time

It was a little bit windy today when I took this on my way back home from work. The sheep were all fighting for a place to eat the hay. Not a great shot but I thought it would be a change from the still life ones.

Settings

Lens - 200mm
Aperture - f/4.5
Shutter speed - 1/80 sec
ISO-100
Focal Length - 200mm
Exposure compensation 0 step

Masquerade

A quick photo for tonight. Took this mask down from my bedroom wall and decided to lay it on a silk scarf for added effect. I hope you think it works. I've always wanted to go to a masquerade ball.

Settings

Lens - 17.5-45 kit lens
Aperture - f/22
Shutter speed - 0.8 sec
ISO-200
Focal Length - 17mm
Exposure compensation -0.3 step
Spot metering
Light Source - Tungsten

Smoke gets in your eyes

I've been trying to capture smoke from an incense stick but it's been such a hard task for me. I haven't got a remote flash which you need so i've spent two hours trying to fathom a way round it. I finally managed this with a flash attachment pointed up towards the ceiling. It's not the greatest of shots but it's not bad for a first attempt I suppose. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Settings

Lens - 17.5-45 kit lens
Shutter Priority
Aperture - f/8
Shutter speed - 1/3 sec
ISO-400
Focal Length - 17mm
Exposure compensation -4 step
Spot metering
Light Source - Tungsten

Left on the shelf

Poor Pineapple left on the shelf because no-one wanted it all bruised. I know it's not the best of specimens, but I couldn't resist buying it for 20p in the supermarket (they were selling it off). Not to worry, It's only for practicing with LOL)

Settings

Lens - 17.5-45 kit lens
Aperture - f/18
Shutter speed - 1.3 sec
ISO-200
Focal Length - 17mm
Exposure compensation -2 step
Spot metering
Light Source - Tungsten

Oh and it would've been Mum's Birthday today. Happy Birthday Mum, I know you are always with me, maybe not in body but always in spirit!

Mother's Day

Dedicated to my Mum who passed away in 1975

Mum, I miss you so very much
On every Mother’s Day;
And not just then, but every minute,
Since you went away.

You were the center of my life
Before your soul passed on;
It’s sometimes hard for me to believe
That you are really gone.

But I celebrate the life you lived
And all the things you gave me;
My wonderful memories, Mum, of you
Are the things that will comfort and save me.

Please think of me, as I think of you
With heart so full of love;
I'm looking up at you, sweet Mum,
As you look at me from above.

(By Joanna Fuchs)

Birds

A few bird images taken today from the Thornley Woods Hide.