Day 31

Well that's month one done! It's been a bit of a roller coaster to be honest and after a day like today I feel I, getting somewhere!

Had a really horrible trip over the crossing was fairly rough and then had a 3 hour drive to get to the hotel and then thought bugger need to take a photo. I read practical photography magazine on the ferry and thought a body part photo might be cool so I wrote how I felt right at the moment I was going to take the photo and here it is.

Converted to B&W and cropped.

 

 

 

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Day 30

A trip to Ireland this week has already opened up an opertunity that I've had countless times and have never done, take a photo of the old road bridge.

I can't remember the amount of time I've driven over this bridge and seen countless pictures of this too! As there is only one view point of this bridge that's easily approachable the view is the classic and tried and tested shot. The only difference you get is weather conditions and how you take the shot.

Well as you can see it was grey and dismal so I thought a nice long exposure to blur out any vehicles on the bridge and try and get a shadow on to the water.

The exposure is actually a 2 minute shot using a ND filter at f29.

Well here it is!

 

 

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Day 29

Work day today staying in Whitstable which in the sun is nice and even at night it's ok but when it's wet and just yuck there's nothing to see! So I'm glad I took a quick photo of a really nice church in Chartham.

I was hoping to get a bit of time today but as usual the world plotted against me so I grabbed this photo on the way to the corner shop to get my lunch. It's defiantly one place I would like to get back too at the right time of day to get a more rewarding picture.

 

 

 

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Day 28

It's late in the day and I've had the drive from hell to get to Kent accidents on the A11 and A2 only took 3:50 to do 150 miles. And talk about rain it was just plain yuck. So I'm glab when Ben said why not just take a banker picture incase and do the cat!

Brilliant idea says I! I'm really glad I popped in and saw Ben as his words of encouragement are needed and help with the motivation to keep on with this project, he's also a good sounding board for my idea was to where this project is going! More of that another day though so for now the cat!

 

 

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Day 27

It only seemed fair after doing the Wesley at pace to do a picture of our other dog in the family doing what he does best! The hardest thing about this picture was getting him with his eyes actually open!

Day 26

Been a busy day today!!
In a get out there thing Pam and I went to a Tango Taster Session thanks to one of our friends, Talk about rabbit in the headlights I've never put one foot on a dance floor before in my life and today I was taught to walk? Well a five minute run down on it any way.
The result  was a tired wife and I just couldn't resist a quick candid shot. Now I don't usually do people and I tried to capture the feeling of someone at peace with themselves.

Day 25

OK OK so it's a photo but really it's an intention! The ford is up and what with more rain forecast I took this to remind me that I need to go back soon with my D90 and tripod and do something more arty in the next couple of days.

I'm starting to get to grips with this project still and am beginning to have days where I just can't think of anything to take shots of so  by taking the odd snap with my iPhone I'm getting a compilation of places I need to go back to and do a "Proper job", I'm also still really struggling with the process the voice inside my head is still really trying to trip me up and judge everything I do.
I'm also doing this on a web site 365challenge.org and get some feedback on some of my photos, but as usual only seem to get few views on what I take, the tough thing is to believe that what I'm doing is as good as the others around.
One thing that came up in a chat with my better half was that part of this project will be to develop a style and even start to specialise in a type of photography so I guess this early phase is about finding what I like to shoot and what style works best for that.

Day 24

Church revisited, I thought I'd better go back and take a clearer picture of the church today so waited until the sun broke out and snapped this. Not much to say but inspiration short today!

It's been a tough week this week what with the weather and my general mental state not been in the best of places due to a bit of stress but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This project has kept me going and giving me focus which has helped a lot this week.

To be honest this wasn't the photo for today so sod it there is no doubt that the one I took for todays post is much more fun!!

It's been a long and dull week and I really needed to brighten things up!!

Day 23

After the panic of yesterday I'm feeling almost back to my best, so with a bit of planning and an idea in my head I purposefully strode out to the local church that fell down in the 50's. I wanted a kind of haunting and black and white kind of photo that would leave a lot to the imagination so I thought using a pin hole camera would fit the bill.
I got hold of a spare body lens and drilled a hole in it covered it with a bit of tape and stuck a pin through it! Simple really.
I went for the sun behind the main window to put the church into shadow to increase the old blown out look of the photo.

Day 22

After spending most of the day thinking what the heck to photo and attempt to make a connecting photo, I tried walking dogs twice staring out of windows, stalking the postman ( sorry!!) but to no avail.
Kids toys interesting views of fireman Sam Nope no inspiration at all. Pour glass of wine and bingo something we can all relate to at times that nice relax in front of a warm fire with a glass of red happy days.

Day 21

Well it's a foggy day and there's only one thing for it. Take moody foggy pictures!! Instead of dragging Nikon D90 and loads of gear around this one was done with just My iPhone. I wanted to get the trees and road to draw the eye around the corner and give the feeling of the cold and enclosed feeling fog can sometimes give.

Doing this challenge everyday is starting to pay off as I'm starting to see the frame and structure of a photo faster and getting to see with more clarity! Although the fog doesn't help.

Day 20

So something that means a lot to me well after battling with depression for many years I finally came out of the dark side and apart from going out and buying the sports car I decided that I could actually learn music, so I picked up a course and taught myself to read music and play the guitar, I've been playing now for best part of two years and can pick a few tunes, but as usual for me I never seem to be able to put in the hours so as well as doing a photo a day this is going to be the reminder to practice for an hour a day!!

I have struggles the last few days to get my head into the right sort of place to do this but I promised myself I'd do it. This might not mean too much to any one else but it was a huge step in my life and one I am really glad I took.

Day 19

Well here we are again another day another photo. Today was all about a picture that I've always wanted to take and with the way this project is going I will probably revisit as I think a nice moon in the shot would add a little something to the picture.
The idea was to give a view of the mere in Diss at night time, I had an idea in my head how i wanted the picture to end up and I've pretty mach nailed how I wanted it the night time stars let you know it's at night and the reflections give a nice balance to the picture.
I'm really pleased with this photo as it only took 10 shots to get the feel I was after I will be going back to this place as there are a couple of other things I would like to try.

Day 18

Interesting discussion today with Ben about photography and where all this is heading and what the project is about. I am by my very nature a technical person I'm not emotional but logical and work my way through things in an ordered way.

So to try to put emotions into photos is not alien as I can do this sometimes but is not really in my nature, but I'm willing to give it go. I will also try to put a bit more of my thought process into this blog too so it gives me something to look back on and maybe help others understand how my tangled brain works. I'll also attempt to give some indication as to what I was after too!

Well this was taken on the walk back from the football what struck me was the way the lighting was just about perfect for the subjects although the lighting is nice the framing is important and u have attempted to get three zones if you look at the photos from left to right you have a square block of the church a thin rectangle of the street then a larger rectangle of the pub this gives a balance thought the photo and then the red light and lens flare gives a couple of points to draw into the photo, there are some people down the street too this gives the eye something to discover. Not too bad with my iPhone!

 

 

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Day 17

Well it had to happen, so much for artistic integrity and all that and apologies for anyone expecting perfect exposure and lovely composition sometimes you just got to go with it and James just did this and it's the only photo of the day that made me smile!!

Day 16

Another full day at work managed to grab a lunch break and went to Alsace called Barlow Mere it's a small nature reserve just outside Selby. As seems usual these days it was grey and miserable but just as I was bout to give up the sky cleared a little bit and I managed to get almost the photo I wanted. The lake could have done with being still or I could have used a ND filter and gone for a long exposure but hey ho.

This challenge throws up awkward moments everyday at the moment I'm finding it quite difficult at the moment to think of things to take photos of and am aware of the oh that'll do and the got to take something photo. I guess I need to be less harsh on my self and just take a photo!

 

 

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Day 15

After a full days work the last thing I want to do sometimes is take photos. Well this challenge is certainly that!

So I'm working in Selby at the moment and around that area are a couple of massive power stations I believe the biggest in the UK. As the sun started to set I was going past one of them so I turned around and found somewhere to park set up the tripod and took a couple of shots.

I did wonder if I was about to be arrested or something but no one turned up and I got an ok photo. I'm not too happy with the sky but with the clouds the way they are not much can be done. Hopefully when I get back up here the weather will be nicer

 

 

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Day 14

Well it's another long drive day and what with the weather closing in its what on earth to take a picture of time! Well Macro works when it's horrible out side so it was time to get technical. Years ago I made a coupling ring for 2 manual lenses made out of a couple of 52mm filters. This allows a ridiculous amount of magnification and a bit of a challenge focusing so a macro rail is required. Here is a photo of the rig,

 

Not a great photo. But it's the result that matters given that this has had no editing I think it's come out ok?

 

Here's to day 15!!

 

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Day 13

Well I must say that thinking of things to photograph is a challenge in itself! Lovely sunny day and as usual took the dogs for a walk. Now when you consider that I walk these dogs everyday you'd think I've seen everything well, now I'm looking for a photo I'm really looking and imagine my surprise when in a tree I saw this!

Beware the stick vulture my friends!!

So I found myself looking at a replacement body yesterday, my D90 is a few years old now and I started looking at the D7100 Hell of a camera and quite expensive so then looked at the D7000 which was the replacement point in the Nikon range to D90. It has all sorts of improvements to the AF system and 16.4 Mega Pixels twin card slots and the ability to use manual lens metering. Cool or what, then the new brain switched in and reminded me that it's not the camera it's the person taking the shot that counts! So I guess I'll be sticking with the D90 then folks!!

Day 12

Oh the pressure the pressure to deliver!!
It's proving to be a challenge alright when you look around and think what the f*** and I going to photo today! Well I was reading and thought well it's a bit of a cliche but what the heck!!

I actually like this for it's simplicity and depth of field. Technically it's a well exposed and post production was a simple case of conversion to black and white and curves. I have noticed that I'm doing a lot less tweaking in photoshop already so this challenge is starting to reap some benefits!!

Day 11

Well today I feel much better! I also had  a plan for the photo,Well two plans. The first was do a bit of macro work one of my hard drives failed overnight so after a bit of a panic and thank the lord for backups, Hint to all here copy Photos to two drives!! and a system rebuild I thought about doing some macro shots of the drive. My other plan was night time shoot of the local church.
Well the sky cleared and the moon came out so no choice really! and here it is.

Taken well after dusk it's a 180 second exposure at f11 and an ISO of 320 I filled in the church with a torch just to pick out some of the details. Not much editing to do with this just a bit of noise reduction and a sharpen.

Day 10

Long long drive back home feeling absolutely shattered but still managed to get a snap this time it's just our Wesley. But this time instead go getting just a sharp photo I wanted an idea of speed.

Not much typing too shattered for too much today.

 

 

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Day 9

Turmoil today I've pushed the boat out and actually got three really good pictures. While I type this I'll think about which one I think will be the winner. I managed to finish work while it was daylight this. This started a whole load of issues as to be honest I've been enjoying low light stuff and had a picture in mind for tonight that I may still take!

Ok decision time it's going to be this.

I'll put the others up on flickr later but this came out just as I wanted. It's a mast thing on Dundee quay you can go up to the top and take a view of the road bridge, however I looked around and saw this nice pattern and then waited while a cloud decided to move in the way, as soon as it had departed the light became most pleasing! I made today doubly hard by restricting myself to my nifty fifty! This made me walk around objects and frame more carefully.

Oh ok then the other is completely different and needs to be seen.

This one was taken in the middle of the Main Street in Dundee. I saw the statues and loved the purposeful stride of the large one as I started to look around I saw the old man hunched up and moved to a position where he might be in frame. I really like the contrast in the stance of the statue and the old man and is exactly what I had in mind.

Oh for those that are interested my Flickr name is chippy1965

 

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Day 8.

So the start of week 2. I'm still up on Dundee which means there's plenty to see. I had intentions of taking some photos of the road bridge but the evening sun setting over the rail bridge made it look a better shot. I didn't realise how far away the rail bridge was though so by the time I got there the sun was down and the light fading.

I started taking shots of the bridge that made it look straight and to be honest not too interesting. So I moved in closer and saw that the bridge made a pleasing curve. As the light faded I started to see the clouds blur slightly and the water blur. So I put on a. ND filter and slowed the shutter down to about 25 seconds giving this rather nice shot of the Tay Rail Bridge.

 

 

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Day 7

Wow a week gone and what a week it has been. The challenge is going well so far and I'm enjoying having to think about what photo I'm going to take and then making the time to actually get the shot. So far I've had a few excuses come to mind but have managed to negotiate with that little niggley voice and put it in its place.

Today's photo was right out of the comfort zone it was taken in Dundee at rush hour at the end of the Tay Bridge. So lots of traffic people walking around and then there's me with my camera and tripod set up in the middle of the pavement, talk about being nervous! Well I survived and no one really took any notice, how very odd I thought for a moment then carried on!

 

So the photo, I was disappointed to find a high fence around the ship as there is work going on around it! Typical, so I walked around to find an unobstructed view this was about the only view for a reasonable picture. The advantage is that with the curve of the road you get some nice light trails to guide your eye around. I'm pretty pleased with this but again will come back to this place hopefully when the road works have been completed.

 

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Day 6

Hey almost a full week gone and still snapping! Had a really long drive today saw lots of lovely places and wished I had time to stop. That's the problem with 450 miles to do in a day you have to blast up the motor ways.

So on to the photo as I was going up the M6 I thought doing something to show something of my evening would be cool so a new thing to try would be a multi exposure. Now back in the days you could disengage the sprocket and not wind on the film. Well on a D90 there is a multi expose setting this is the first time I've ever used this and to be honest it works ok. You get the impression of what is typical hotel life from this and it's something different.

I know this is cheering a bit but this is what is possible on my iPad with Photoshop touch! It's the same idea but instead of doing it with a multiple exposure this is three shots blended. I think my preference is for the multi exposure.

 

 

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Day 5

What a whopper!! After helping put up some shelves I noticed the view from the balcony of my sons flat. The sky to be honest is not great and I will definitely re-visit this some time soon. The major problem was I didn’t have my tripod and shot this balancing my camera on top of an upside down flower pot!

This is 6 shots of the Norwich skyline shot early evening I would have liked to have done this with a darker sky but without a tripod not really practicable so compromise it is.

Stitched in Photoshop curves and sharpness tweaked.

I will be revisiting this at some point soon I’m thinking clear evening as the sky turns dark blue.

Day 4

So It’s grey and horrible outside and enough of the Sunsets and clouds already! This is the first of the must try something else in Photography. The idea was to try and make a Bagel and jam look tasty and a bit glam!

Simple set up single flash to light it up and a 35mm f1.8 lens to give a pleasing shallow depth of field. A tweak or two in Photoshop to boost the contrast and sharpen up the seeds.

I’m fairly happy with this although a bit scared to post something like this as I’ve never done “Product” type shots before! I did toy with the idea of a tighter crop but felt losing the depth of field wasn’t quite right and I’m not sure about the white top left?

Weekend review.

Well that's the first few days done of the challenge, so I thought I'd put down something about how it's going.

Well the good things first. I managed to take the first three photographsand thought about each one before I took the shot. Which is part of why I'm doing this. However most of my photos have been with my mobile and already feel a bit like the same thing, I guess that's the problem with this time of year and spending most if my time in a car so far! But I am pleased that I've managed to at least take the pictures and not worried about viewing figures comments or anything else for that matter.

Of course this weekend the weather is still appalling so I guess I'll have to look around for something to take indoors time to get the Macro out or look at a fast flash image of some sort.

Next week I'm of to Dundee for work so I aim to take some photos in the city which should provide some interesting opportunities and challenges. This will definitely take me out of my comfort zone so will have to keep that negative voice out of my head!

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Day 3

Another long drive day! Horrible weather all the way so imagine my surprise that all of a sudden this happened! I saw the sun setting and moved until I got the trees to line up with the sun in a descending alignment with the sun. By doing this I think it gives a nice effect and with the large tree on the left and the sun on the right you get a nice balance within the photo.

 

So far this I'm finding that I'm struggling to find the time to get my Nikon out but I'm not too upset as I'm still looking and taking e opportunity to look around at interesting things as I'm driving about or walking the dogs. The good thing is I'm not looking for excuses not to take the photo but am looking for the shot!

 

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Day 2

Difficult day today due to work commitments and having a 6 hour drive wasn't helpful in trying to get today's photo. Driving down motorways you see plenty of nice places to get a photo but the problem is stopping! I think the police frown at you stopping on a hard shoulder setting up your tripod and taking a photo of something!

So after a long meeting if was back to the hotel after checking in I looked out of the window and saw the clouds forming nicely.

I had to dial in a bit of exposure compensation to expose for the clouds and sky. I don't think it come out too bad considering the snap shot aspect of the photo and shooting through a third story tripple glazed window!

 

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