February 2014 - Onwards and ever onwards.
You don't really want blurb do you? I'll just get on with the pics then.
February. Is this the real door... or just fantasy. I am starting a new theme today called "What can you see...?" and I have picked the very mundane choice of "What can you see... through your front door?". This is the real shot you should see the other one here.
February 27th. Possible Theme / Challenge? Marc( @jmrittle ) is starting a series called WITC which is basically "What's In The Corner?". I joked with him about setting up a new theme called "What's in your xxxx?" and in response he said "I love it! Paul, what's in your corner?" and here is my work station. You don't have to look that carefully to see several of the props that I used in last year's project!
So what do you think? Should I kick off a weekly theme called "What's in your xxxx?" where xxxx could be anything from garage to garden to garbage to whatever?
So what do you think? Should I kick off a weekly theme called "What's in your xxxx?" where xxxx could be anything from garage to garden to garbage to whatever?
February 26th. Conjunction. This morning as I returned from taking my child bride to the local railway station, I noticed that the moon was in beautiful conjunction with Venus. I had just a couple of minutes to dash indoors, grab the camera with whatever lens was on it (thankfully the 24 - 105mm), wind the ISO up and take a shot before the sky lightened too much. Heck, I didn't even have time to grab one of my tripods... Best viewed large.
February 25th. Dunky Doh would say "Hello!"... ...but he has his mouth full and it would be impolite. This shot is for Little D, daughter of the gorgeous @nicolaeastwood who wanted to see him.
Let me explain. Dunky Doh should be "Monkey Joe" but when I first received him as a gift some fifty four years ago, I couldn't pronounce his name correctly. So Dunky Doh he became and apart from a five year period when he mysteriously disappeared (into my parent's attic, as it turns out) we have been bosom companions. He is looking a little battered and his seams are coming undone but his leather skin is still soft and supple and I still love him. I think that this was the first banana he had ever been given and he seemed to be savouring every mouthful.
I shot this with my Orbis Ring Flash adapter, off camera and apart from being a little darker than I would like (I should have used the ETTL setting on my Speedlight!) and not having a reflector below to bring out some of the shadows under his eyebrows, I quite liked the overall sot. Best viewed large?
Let me explain. Dunky Doh should be "Monkey Joe" but when I first received him as a gift some fifty four years ago, I couldn't pronounce his name correctly. So Dunky Doh he became and apart from a five year period when he mysteriously disappeared (into my parent's attic, as it turns out) we have been bosom companions. He is looking a little battered and his seams are coming undone but his leather skin is still soft and supple and I still love him. I think that this was the first banana he had ever been given and he seemed to be savouring every mouthful.
I shot this with my Orbis Ring Flash adapter, off camera and apart from being a little darker than I would like (I should have used the ETTL setting on my Speedlight!) and not having a reflector below to bring out some of the shadows under his eyebrows, I quite liked the overall sot. Best viewed large?
February 24th. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Phil challenged me to "capture softness that is so soft and gentle that it makes me and everyone want to stroke the photo!"
I recently adopted an otter from the WWT for Donna for St Valentine's day http://adoption.wwt.org.uk/adopt/otter and part of the package was a soft toy.
When I saw this little fellow I recalled "Little Portly" from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" where Ratty and Mole come across Pan with his pipes as they search for "Little Portly" the otter cub.
"Ratty saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."
Shot with a Lensbaby for the gorgeous sweet spot focus and extensive outside blur.
I recently adopted an otter from the WWT for Donna for St Valentine's day http://adoption.wwt.org.uk/adopt/otter and part of the package was a soft toy.
When I saw this little fellow I recalled "Little Portly" from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" where Ratty and Mole come across Pan with his pipes as they search for "Little Portly" the otter cub.
"Ratty saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."
Shot with a Lensbaby for the gorgeous sweet spot focus and extensive outside blur.
February 23rd. Mundane to the max. I was a bit stuck for a shot today as the get pushed challenge doesn't begin until tomorrow so I thought that I would dive in with the mundane bottle challenge. So we have a bottle of sugar free tonic water lying on a table, in front of our stained glass front door with the afternoon sunshine not pouring through it. Now... if I could only find the mundane gin, some mundane ice cubes and a slice of mundane lemon I could make myself a really mundane G&T!
February 22nd. Simple Refraction. I have had this shot in mind for a while now. It is lit by a single flash very close to the subject just to highlight the etching. I made it monochrome in DxO Optics Pro and did the final tweaks in Photoshop. Probably best viewed large
Paul @steampowered
Paul @steampowered
February 21st. Get pushed challenge. Nia asked me to "pick a favorite well known song or book of yours, take 3 or more interpretive images that will have your viewers and I guessing the title."
So I have chosen one of my favourite books of all time, by one of my favourite authors of all time, Harry Harrison (and I have just found out that he died in 2012 - that is a blow!)
Anyway, I will leave people guessing for a while (and I am sure that some of you will get it almost right away!)
(BTW It was "The Stainless Steel Rat" by Harry Harrison for those who wanted to know)
So I have chosen one of my favourite books of all time, by one of my favourite authors of all time, Harry Harrison (and I have just found out that he died in 2012 - that is a blow!)
Anyway, I will leave people guessing for a while (and I am sure that some of you will get it almost right away!)
(BTW It was "The Stainless Steel Rat" by Harry Harrison for those who wanted to know)
February 20th. Feltham in the rain. I've felt 'em everywhere else, so why not? :o) Donna asked me to take a few shots at a presentation she was giving in Feltham today (some of her, some of the other presenters) and in the absence of any other relevant picture, here is my child bride cowing the audience into submission. Not a very inspiring picture - there's not a lot you can do with a cheap MoD building - but there you are.
February 19th. Presenting. Another go at Album Cover Challenge #23.
My band name is "Odd molecule" and the title of the album is "funny how that works" because of the quote from Colleen Wainwright:
"Being friendless taught me how to be a friend. Funny how that works."
My band name is "Odd molecule" and the title of the album is "funny how that works" because of the quote from Colleen Wainwright:
"Being friendless taught me how to be a friend. Funny how that works."
February 18th. Satsuma tree. Another fasting day, another satsuma for lunch. Ho hum. But what is this? A photographic opportunity as I pulled the peel and central core from the citrus fruit. Out with the camera and macro lens. "Lo and Behold" (a bit like Kim Kardashian's dresses?) we have this rather gorgeous, gnarled tree. Now I took a meter reading with my new toy, a Sekonik L-478DR light meter and it disagreed with the camera by about two thirds of a stop. That is the difference between incident light and reflected light in this case. In the end, I boosted the contrast a little to give me what I thought was a better picture even though the meter gave the truest and closest value (the histogram was spectacular). Best viewed large if you have the time. Thanks
February 17th. May we never meter 'gain! Another spiffing day up in London with the indomitable and incredibly generous @padlock. This time there was plenty of time to chat and wander and to take things less seriously. We got some business sorted out and then had an excellent lunch and all. @padlock paid for the lot. I don't care what everyone else says, I think that he is a good guy! ;o))
February 16th. Another shot from yesterday. Beautiful Ella. I'm afraid we couldn't quite get the right physical settings for the lighting so there is a bit of a shadow under her nose.
February 15th. Gorgeous Clare. Clare was one of the other people on the Speedlight intermediate one day course. She was a super model. This was shot with a single Speedlight shot through a diffuser.
February 14th. Lensbaby love. It's Saint Vaseline's Day... so what? Patron saint of lubricants? I ask you! :o)
I had to get my lensbaby onto my camera and give it a whirl on these biscuit cutters that I found in a National Trust gift shop a month or so back.
Alternate shot here:
http://365project.org/steampowered/hodgepodge/2014-02-14
I had to get my lensbaby onto my camera and give it a whirl on these biscuit cutters that I found in a National Trust gift shop a month or so back.
Alternate shot here:
http://365project.org/steampowered/hodgepodge/2014-02-14
February 13th. It's in the bag. I was playing with my new ring flash adapter and found that it is absolutely ideal for macro work. This is the outside of a Canon EX600-RT flash case. I know that it isn't that inspiring a shot but I was seriously impressed with the beautiful soft light that the ring flash adapter threw out. BTW this is in colour, not B&W, probably best viewed large (and the tagline joke is quite funny too)
P.S. Because you won't see the joke from this page, here it is. "A nun stole a large piece of bright red cloth from a tailor's shop. The tailor said to a reporter 'I hope she doesn't make a habit of it.'"
P.S. Because you won't see the joke from this page, here it is. "A nun stole a large piece of bright red cloth from a tailor's shop. The tailor said to a reporter 'I hope she doesn't make a habit of it.'"
February 12th. My what big feet you have! They are almost as big as me! Sem asked me to do a forced perspective shot for this week's get pushed challenge so here is my first attempt (I think that there will be more). Why the stupid grin on my face? Well, you know what they say about a man who has big feet... (yeah, yeah, he wears big shoes!)
February 11th. Xarifa Mimi 1996 - 2014. This is the last photograph that I took of my little grey girl as we waited for the vet to come and administer the final kindness last night. At seventeen and a half, almost everything had given out on her and all she had left was her dignity which we so desperately wanted her to keep. It's a special photograph even if it is just a camera phone snap. Yet another little grave in the garden...
February 10th. The early worm catches the fish
"Pink" and "Fish"
When I drew "Pink" and "Fish" for Tag-Challenge 92 I was horrified that I could have "Pink" two times in a row but a quick scan of the shelves in my study showed me that I have a small glass fish ornament that is a mix of reds and yellows so a quick boost of the exposure and it came out quite pink. Once again, my trusty monitor is playing the backdrop and this was a five shot HDR. The hook from which the fish normally hangs made quite a useful prop with an elastic band worm as bait! It will also do for the six word story challenge as well... Talk about killing two birds (fish?) with one stone!
"Pink" and "Fish"
When I drew "Pink" and "Fish" for Tag-Challenge 92 I was horrified that I could have "Pink" two times in a row but a quick scan of the shelves in my study showed me that I have a small glass fish ornament that is a mix of reds and yellows so a quick boost of the exposure and it came out quite pink. Once again, my trusty monitor is playing the backdrop and this was a five shot HDR. The hook from which the fish normally hangs made quite a useful prop with an elastic band worm as bait! It will also do for the six word story challenge as well... Talk about killing two birds (fish?) with one stone!
February 8th and 9th. Days off. The weather was so horrible on Saturday and I was so tired on Sunday that I just didn't feel like doing anything photographic.
February 7th. The one that got away. You won't find this one on the 365project.org website because it wouldn't post properly. So here it is in all of its glory, hand built and animated using Photoshop (but you will need to click on it to see it animate)
February 6th. Music was proper, in my day. This is my response to my get pushed partner's request. Jenni @onepursuit asked me to "Shoot something in a 'old fashioned' style -- set it in black and white or sepia, or mimic the soft focus and burnt edges of a daguerreotype... but focus on or include something in the picture that doesn't belong in an 'old time' shot." So here it is, an old daguerreotype I found in the attic of a portable CD player and speakers. Hell's teeth they were advanced in those days! It will also do for a six word story as well!
February 5th. Stripy and Dotty. I realized that I hadn't posted a picture today so have fallen back on this one from my Marwell Zoo trip. It is one of the world's most charming and endearing creatures, the Ring Tailed Lemur. It has a beautifully stripy tail but why Dotty? Well, back in my childhood there was a television program called "Animal Magic" hosted by Johnnie Morris. Dotty was a Ring Tailed Lemur who would appear on that show. She would sit on his shoulder and munch the occasional grape for the pleasure of the adoring television public. I was enchanted for life.
February 4th. "Pink" and "Bike". OK. Tag challenge time. I drew the words "Pink" and "Bicycle" and shuddered because short of finding some parent who would let me photograph their little girl sitting on a Barbie bike I just knew that I was going to have trouble. I took to surreptitiously looking in bicycle shop windows "just in case" but I didn't want to walk in and in a loud voice say "Do you have a pink bike?". Then as I was driving through town today I saw my saviour. A bike being used as an advertising hoarding and me with Brutus in the car! Lovely jubbly... job done.
February 3rd. Allow me to lick your lens. Another Marwell Zoo shot. I just missed the real action where the giraffe had its tongue touching the lens hood on Dave's camera. If you enlarge the shot you might be able to see the string of giraffe drool (Ewwwwwwwwwwww! Gross!)
February 2nd. I'm all ears. This is the ear of a White Rhinoceros. They are the most charming and gentle creatures I have had the pleasure to meet. The pair I encountered at Marwell Zoo on Friday were dozing gently. We had been warned about the danger of the horn coming through the protective fencing and this individual had a horn that was five feet long which he proceeded to show us and true to fashion, he poked it through the security fencing. However, he wasn't trying to be threatening. All he wanted was a good slap on his side and to have his ear tickled. (which was fine if you were side on to him otherwise you risked impalement). I did both. Actually, no one told me that rhinos are dangerous at both ends. He and his lady friend were very free and "musical" with their wind!
February 1st. Just look at my whiskers. A real leopard this time. She was gorgeous. I missed a couple of cracking shots as she walked towards me because I had to shoot through some rather unclean glass but she climbed onto her platform and then gave me a long and languorous yawn. Sorry that you can see the wire but privileged access or not, the keepers drew a line at letting us into the actual cages with their charges.