I've just launched a brand new photo web site! You can check it out by clicking on this link!
30th June '09. Photo 365. The End!!!
Finally!! I've made it! I've made it right to the end! I stayed true to my word and took a picture a day for a WHOLE year (well, okay, there was a couple of occasions when I got a bit busy and had to leave it until a day or did it a day early!) but I did it.
My word, it had literally costed me my sanity but I'm so pleased to have stuck with it! But that was only because I've really enjoyed doing it and have learnt a lot about photography in the process. But golly, in the process of keeping this project going I've been trampled on, nearly got ran over, blown over, had abuse thrown at me, had frostbite and even nearly got struck by lightning! But still I kept this thing going.
So there you have it, I've reached the finishing line. 365 photos in one website spanning a whole year.
So! What happens now? Is it truly the end? Not quite . . .
Like I said earlier, I absolutely love photography and I don't want to stop it . . . so . . . the good news is that I will continue to take photos but any future stuff will appear in a brand new photo gallery web site. However, it will be at a much reduced scale where I will do things in my own pace. If I'm in a good photography mood and end up taking loads of pictures of the same thing then so be it. Naturally there will occasions when nothing is happening for ages and the camera could be sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
Details of the new web site will appear here shortly in the next post. But, for now I need a break!
My word, it had literally costed me my sanity but I'm so pleased to have stuck with it! But that was only because I've really enjoyed doing it and have learnt a lot about photography in the process. But golly, in the process of keeping this project going I've been trampled on, nearly got ran over, blown over, had abuse thrown at me, had frostbite and even nearly got struck by lightning! But still I kept this thing going.
So there you have it, I've reached the finishing line. 365 photos in one website spanning a whole year.
So! What happens now? Is it truly the end? Not quite . . .
Like I said earlier, I absolutely love photography and I don't want to stop it . . . so . . . the good news is that I will continue to take photos but any future stuff will appear in a brand new photo gallery web site. However, it will be at a much reduced scale where I will do things in my own pace. If I'm in a good photography mood and end up taking loads of pictures of the same thing then so be it. Naturally there will occasions when nothing is happening for ages and the camera could be sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
Details of the new web site will appear here shortly in the next post. But, for now I need a break!
Finally, I want to say a huge thank you to my legion of followers and how your comments had made the whole thing so worthwhile. I do look at your comments and how pleased I am to see it was all positive, so . . . thank you all you readers of IDJ's 365!
29th June '09. Photo 364. Mechanically minded? Not!
A "spoof" picture of me showing off my mechanics know-how (none whatsoever).
How was this done? The principle is exactly the same as the "Three Of A Kind" picture back in Photo 83 on the 21st Sept '08).
I took 3 pictures of myself, but the camera was attached to a tripod and activated using a radio-controlled remote control, this way it minimises camera shake.
Once the remote control was pressed, I then have 2 seconds to get into the pose before the shutter goes off, then I moved into a different position and again the camera was remote activated. And did the same thing for the third shot.
I then did some copying and pasting using my favourite paint program. Because the camera had not been handled the whole time, I was able to blend the three pictures into as one without showing obvious signs of joints or misalignment as all three pictures had been taken in the exact same position.
Oh, and it helps to have constant unchanged lighting the whole time. As you can see in that picture, it was a bright day with sunshine.
How was this done? The principle is exactly the same as the "Three Of A Kind" picture back in Photo 83 on the 21st Sept '08).
I took 3 pictures of myself, but the camera was attached to a tripod and activated using a radio-controlled remote control, this way it minimises camera shake.
Once the remote control was pressed, I then have 2 seconds to get into the pose before the shutter goes off, then I moved into a different position and again the camera was remote activated. And did the same thing for the third shot.
I then did some copying and pasting using my favourite paint program. Because the camera had not been handled the whole time, I was able to blend the three pictures into as one without showing obvious signs of joints or misalignment as all three pictures had been taken in the exact same position.
Oh, and it helps to have constant unchanged lighting the whole time. As you can see in that picture, it was a bright day with sunshine.
27th June '09. Photo 362. Mystical Fall.
A good photo web site isn't complete unless it has a cheesy mystical waterfall picture in it . . . and naturally I wanted to do one.
So, here it is, complete with fake "dream-halo" effect. If I want to do such a shot, might as well go the whole hog!
Nonetheless, I really do like this image. I took it at 7.15 am on my way home from work, it was taken in Sandgate. I knew there is a stream there and once I found it, I walked alongside it looking for a decent location and it wasn't very long before I came across that photogenic waterfall feature. When I saw it I said to myself "Bingo! That will do very nicely", but it involved me clambering down on slippery rocks to get the angle I wanted, and then finding something solid to use as a surface to rest the camera on as I found myself dealing with 4-seconds long exposure timings.
But at least a very successful photo session came out of it. And it was taken with my knockabout Fuji S5600.
So, here it is, complete with fake "dream-halo" effect. If I want to do such a shot, might as well go the whole hog!
Nonetheless, I really do like this image. I took it at 7.15 am on my way home from work, it was taken in Sandgate. I knew there is a stream there and once I found it, I walked alongside it looking for a decent location and it wasn't very long before I came across that photogenic waterfall feature. When I saw it I said to myself "Bingo! That will do very nicely", but it involved me clambering down on slippery rocks to get the angle I wanted, and then finding something solid to use as a surface to rest the camera on as I found myself dealing with 4-seconds long exposure timings.
But at least a very successful photo session came out of it. And it was taken with my knockabout Fuji S5600.
26th June '09. Photo 361. Red Eye.
Just beamed an red-laser pen into the lens of an old compact digital camera I don't use any more.
Does it remind you of HAL 9000? That "emotional" computer in "2001, A Space Odyssey".
Oh, and the camera still works!
Does it remind you of HAL 9000? That "emotional" computer in "2001, A Space Odyssey".
Oh, and the camera still works!
25th June '09. Photo 360. A classic Sunrise.
"Classic" in the sense that this one had the clouds lit up by the rising sun. The ones I've taken and shown in here previous were of the "sky glow" type.
Taken from the back of my house at 4.30 am.
Taken from the back of my house at 4.30 am.
24th June '09. Photo 359. My "Magic" Orb.
Couldn't find any interesting outdoors subject or anything I've not done before to take a photo of, so I decided to think "art" and came up with this!
It is a section of some fancy wrapping paper and used my favourite paint program to turn it into a sphere.
But what I have noticed that after adding the stars and giving it a bit of a halo glow to the lot, the image has that slight 3D thing about it. Can you see the effect?
It is a section of some fancy wrapping paper and used my favourite paint program to turn it into a sphere.
But what I have noticed that after adding the stars and giving it a bit of a halo glow to the lot, the image has that slight 3D thing about it. Can you see the effect?
23rd June '09. Photo 358. Heat haze.
Taken on a beach only a five minutes walk from my house. Today was a day of glorious unbroken sunshine and while it wasn't actually that hot, the sunshine was!
The shimmering effect in the picture is heat rising from hot pebbles at around 3 pm, usually the hottest time of the day. I had to use a high zoom lens to bring out the effect. You might be able to see it better still by clicking on the image to view a larger version.
The shimmering effect in the picture is heat rising from hot pebbles at around 3 pm, usually the hottest time of the day. I had to use a high zoom lens to bring out the effect. You might be able to see it better still by clicking on the image to view a larger version.
22nd June '09. Photo 357. Heiligenschein.
Can you see a glow around my head? . . . Nope, nor can I. You might have to squint your eyes to notice it.
I tried to capture a heiligenschein on a wheat field while on my way to work at 5 am (I have done this before, on an area of freshly mowed grass way back in Photo 100 - Sept 8th 2008) but it was one of those things that a camera can't really truly capture. You have to see for yourself on how good the effect looks as you can "move" around to notice it.
A heiligenschein is an optical effect where sunlight is refracted inside millions of tiny dewdrops back to my line of vision. A bit like when car headlights shine onto a big road sign at night time giving it the appearance of it glowing in the dark.
If you STILL can't see the effect in this picture, at least the photo itself has a nice abstractness about it.
I tried to capture a heiligenschein on a wheat field while on my way to work at 5 am (I have done this before, on an area of freshly mowed grass way back in Photo 100 - Sept 8th 2008) but it was one of those things that a camera can't really truly capture. You have to see for yourself on how good the effect looks as you can "move" around to notice it.
A heiligenschein is an optical effect where sunlight is refracted inside millions of tiny dewdrops back to my line of vision. A bit like when car headlights shine onto a big road sign at night time giving it the appearance of it glowing in the dark.
If you STILL can't see the effect in this picture, at least the photo itself has a nice abstractness about it.
21st June '09. Photo 356. Tornado.
A god-awful photo of Tornado passing through Folkestone taken half an hour ago. Waited two bloody hours and by the time it arrived at 9 pm, it was dark with heavy-looking cloud. Out of six shots taken in burst mode using my D40, this is the best I could do! Whoever organised the trip obviously didn't have photography in mind.
Anyway, as a side note, Tornado is the first steam locomotive that has been built from scratch in over 40 years. Completed only last year, it took three years to build and at a cost of £3 million.
Now it is in active service doing special trips around the UK.
Anyway, as a side note, Tornado is the first steam locomotive that has been built from scratch in over 40 years. Completed only last year, it took three years to build and at a cost of £3 million.
Now it is in active service doing special trips around the UK.
20th June '09. Photo 355. Tractor.
You've seen that deserted tractor picture back in Photo 342 (6th June), now here's a brand new one I spotted parked on a field while on my way home from work this morning.
19th June 09. Photo 354. Assorted tomatoes.
From my tomato greenhouse workplace. Although I have taken literally thousand of photos of my workplace (sad I know), this one is unusual because it contains EVERY variety of our tomatoes (apart from the beefs).
18th June '09. Photo 353. Split Personalty.
Bit of an experimental affair, but it does sums up me!
Oh I'm not a schizophrenia or anything like that but I do believe there is a multi personalty in all of us. After all, how do we make decisions? How do we know what is good and what is bad for us? And we do need our bad side to counteract our good side otherwise we wouldn't be able to stand up for ourselves, while our good side controls the bad side so that we can show compassion.
It's all about keeping the balance and using our multi-personalty as a tool in order to get on in life.
I guess this is what our conscience looks like if we can actually see it.
Oh I'm not a schizophrenia or anything like that but I do believe there is a multi personalty in all of us. After all, how do we make decisions? How do we know what is good and what is bad for us? And we do need our bad side to counteract our good side otherwise we wouldn't be able to stand up for ourselves, while our good side controls the bad side so that we can show compassion.
It's all about keeping the balance and using our multi-personalty as a tool in order to get on in life.
I guess this is what our conscience looks like if we can actually see it.
17th June '09. Photo 352. Another dawn shot.
I seem to capture a lot of them, but when they are as beautiful as the one above, I can't just "leave" it out.
Taken at 5.15 am just off Folkestone.
Taken at 5.15 am just off Folkestone.
16th June '09. Photo 351. A field day.
Another risky HDR attempt. Does it work or it is enough to make you want to slap me in the face and make me promise never to dabble in the dark art of HDR?
On my way home from work this afternoon, I noticed this burnt-off section etched in a wheat (or barely) field and decided to use that for today's entry. I do wonder why there's that brown stretch while the rest of the field is lush and green. Maybe a runaway for alien crafts? Or perhaps it's just a shortcut created by the farmer of that field.
On my way home from work this afternoon, I noticed this burnt-off section etched in a wheat (or barely) field and decided to use that for today's entry. I do wonder why there's that brown stretch while the rest of the field is lush and green. Maybe a runaway for alien crafts? Or perhaps it's just a shortcut created by the farmer of that field.
15th June '09. Photo 350. That's handy.
A bit of abstractness for today's entry, just to keep you wondering what this is all about!
14th June '09. Photo 349. Running rings around me.
Spotted this very well defined sun halo at about 12 pm today. I used a cheap ebay-purchased fish eye lens attachment on my D40 to capture the whole phemomenon in one go, and as you can see it worked!
A sun halo is created by light being refracted by millions of ice crystals found in cirrus clouds.
I've tried for ages to try and capture a complete halo for show in this web site but it didn't seem like I was going to spot one . . . and just when I was about to give up as this project is drawing to a close, this beauty showed up!
A sun halo is created by light being refracted by millions of ice crystals found in cirrus clouds.
I've tried for ages to try and capture a complete halo for show in this web site but it didn't seem like I was going to spot one . . . and just when I was about to give up as this project is drawing to a close, this beauty showed up!
13th June '09. Photo 348. Beam us up, Scotty!
It's been a while since I've done a still life project!
I bought these two figurines from Sainsbury's the other week and thought I'd put them to good use today. Bear in mind that it's the "new" Kirk and Spock from the hugely successful Star Trek film that is currently doing the rounds.
I've had to do a fair bit of cloning to get rid of the "toy like" joins around the elbows, shoulders, knees and even the crotch area! Then adjusted contrast and colour ever so slightly to give it that "in outer space" look. Lighting was a mixture of natural light coming through the window to the left and a reading lamp to the right and the background was just a sheet of black cardboard. I tried using a picture out of a massive space book I have on me, but the glossy nature of their pages resulted in too much "false" looking reflections.
I used my D40 for this one because I can set the aperture really tight so that it doesn't create that depth of field effect which would make the picture look too "close up and toy-like" but had to use a tripod as I ended up with having to use 3 second-plus exposure timings.
It's not as easy as it looks!
I bought these two figurines from Sainsbury's the other week and thought I'd put them to good use today. Bear in mind that it's the "new" Kirk and Spock from the hugely successful Star Trek film that is currently doing the rounds.
I've had to do a fair bit of cloning to get rid of the "toy like" joins around the elbows, shoulders, knees and even the crotch area! Then adjusted contrast and colour ever so slightly to give it that "in outer space" look. Lighting was a mixture of natural light coming through the window to the left and a reading lamp to the right and the background was just a sheet of black cardboard. I tried using a picture out of a massive space book I have on me, but the glossy nature of their pages resulted in too much "false" looking reflections.
I used my D40 for this one because I can set the aperture really tight so that it doesn't create that depth of field effect which would make the picture look too "close up and toy-like" but had to use a tripod as I ended up with having to use 3 second-plus exposure timings.
It's not as easy as it looks!
12th June '09. Photo 347. Power Shower.
This was taken yesterday when a short but very sharp rain shower went over us. One minute we were basking in sunshine, then it tipped it down for five minutes and then sunshine returned just as quickly.
It was like looking at a jet of spray coming from a bathroom shower head. The reason why the lighting looked so strong while it was still raining is that the sun was still shining in the background at the time.
11th June '09. Photo 346. Mad cows!
I saw this group of cows feeding on a trough on my way home from work and a brainwave hit me. But it was lucky for that they all lined up in this way as I prepared to fire up the camera. The title was already springing to mind as I clicked on the shutter.Just thought I'd do a twist on what is probably a tried and tested theme. Mind you, I had Gary Larson and his famous "The Far Side" cartoons in mind when I took and processed those two photos.
10th June '09. Photo 345. Can't see the wood for the trees?
Wandered into a local woodland, then aimed the camera straight up.
9th June '09. Photo 344. Cloud Time Lapse.
I'm no stranger to time lapse videos, but thought I'd do one for today.
This is the view as seen from my hobby room window where I've compressed 5 hours video into a 30 seconds snippet. I used a Sony Handycam Digital 8 with it's "Interval Recording" mode.
This is the view as seen from my hobby room window where I've compressed 5 hours video into a 30 seconds snippet. I used a Sony Handycam Digital 8 with it's "Interval Recording" mode.
8th June '09. Photo 343. Dawn Break.
It's occasions like this when being up at daft-o clock in the mornings really does come into it's own. I'll never tire of misty scenes with the rising sun giving it that glow. No processing, colour or contrast adjustments had been carried out on any of these photos. All straight out of the camera (Fuji S5600). Yes I know the point of putting together a 365 photo web site is to issue just the one picture a day, and yes it is true that I have taken something similar to this one earlier on in this web site but I just could not let this one go by unnoticed. Besides, it was cloudy and uninspiring for the rest of the day so it was just as well I took this set of pictures.
Taken at 5.15 am this morning while on my way to work near Folkestone.
7th June '09. Photo 342. Bloomin' nice start to the day.
This mid-morning sunshine certainly helped to bring out the colour on these flowers (identification I have no idea of, perhaps someone could tell me as I'm not into floral-related stuff). We actually had some rain very early in that morning hence why these flowers do look a little wet and droopy but refreshed all the same.
6th June '09. Photo 341. Deserted tractor.
Revisited that mysterious "final resting place for machines" area and took this tractor's that obviously had seen better times.
Gave this photo a "pseudo" HDR effect type thing. HDR is the dark arts of bringing out the dynamic lighting in a photo using a photo manipulation software thus creating that strange artistic look about it. While it does add a little bit of interest to this photo, I'm not sure it does actually work, especially since I'm not a big fan of heavy image processing.
Gave this photo a "pseudo" HDR effect type thing. HDR is the dark arts of bringing out the dynamic lighting in a photo using a photo manipulation software thus creating that strange artistic look about it. While it does add a little bit of interest to this photo, I'm not sure it does actually work, especially since I'm not a big fan of heavy image processing.
5th June '09. Photo 340. My Hobby Room.
This is where all my ideas and inspiration comes to fruit. I have very recently put together those book shelves to store all my books. I am a bit of a hoarder and cannot bear to throw anything away, but had to do something about it as I was running out of space to store tham all . . . hence those book shelves.
Yes, those are a set of keyboards to the far left in that image, I play the synthesizer . . . badly.
My PC is out of view at the bottom right hand side.
Yes, those are a set of keyboards to the far left in that image, I play the synthesizer . . . badly.
My PC is out of view at the bottom right hand side.
4th June '09. Photo 339. Lone walker on an endless path.
Spotted this chap walking up this hillside pathway while on my way home. I waited until he was quite a way off, then I whipped my S5600 out, set the lens to max zoom and went for it.
Location; just off Etchinghill.
Location; just off Etchinghill.
3rd June '09. Photo 338. Poppy field.
Taken just off Etchinghill, near Folkestone.
While unfortunately it was a very overcast day today, it hadn't prevented all these poppies from looking outstanding in a rapeseed field. What is peculiar is not just them poppies growing in their thousands, but how it was exclusive to that field, where not a single poppy had been seen growing elsewhere for miles around.
While unfortunately it was a very overcast day today, it hadn't prevented all these poppies from looking outstanding in a rapeseed field. What is peculiar is not just them poppies growing in their thousands, but how it was exclusive to that field, where not a single poppy had been seen growing elsewhere for miles around.
2nd June '09. Photo 337. Horse at first light.
Took this picture while on my way to work at 5.10 am. While I admit to not being at all a morning person, I love the warm subtle hue and light the ultra-early mornings has to offer and I thought the photo above captured it perfectly well (no alterations had been carried out on that photo whatsoever, the colour was exactly how the camera saw it).
Location is just off Lyminge and my Fuji S5600 was used.
Location is just off Lyminge and my Fuji S5600 was used.
1st June '09. Photo 336. Wind Turbines.
Located near New Romney, taken two days ago.
But the trouble I had in trying to get near to them! There doesn't seem to be any access roads or pathways leading to them so that I could get close up dramatic imposing shots, I even got lost and ended up in East Sussex!
In the end I settled for this zoomed in type shot using my Fuji S5600.
But the trouble I had in trying to get near to them! There doesn't seem to be any access roads or pathways leading to them so that I could get close up dramatic imposing shots, I even got lost and ended up in East Sussex!
In the end I settled for this zoomed in type shot using my Fuji S5600.
31st May '09. Photo 335. Samson.
A steam locomotive belonging to the RHDR Light Railway, the small railway with a big heart. Despiting using 15 inches track gauge, the locomotive looks anatomically correct in scale when compared to a full size version. And it even functions in the exact same way as a proper full size steam locomotive works.
This locomotive is called Samson and is being turned around on a hand-pushed turntable in preparation for hauling a train.
I will be honest and say that this photo was taken yesterday but since she'll be around on a day like today doing the same thing along with glorious sunny weather, so I think I could get away with it.
This locomotive is called Samson and is being turned around on a hand-pushed turntable in preparation for hauling a train.
I will be honest and say that this photo was taken yesterday but since she'll be around on a day like today doing the same thing along with glorious sunny weather, so I think I could get away with it.
30th May '09. Photo 334. Bones Of Contention.
This is located down at The Crypt in St Leonard's Church at Hythe. Apparently some 4,000 skulls are kept in there, a lot of them has no records, date of birth and death certificates connected to them, but they are about 150 years old on average.
Note the two small ones right at the bottom left hand corner, you could be forgiven in thinking those are of a child's, but in actual fact they belonged to a pair of adult pygmies. Young skulls are identified by those wriggly lines on their top parts, the older the adult are, the more featureless and smoother the skull top are.
This was taken hand held (without a tripod) using my D40. It was quite gloomy and dark in there (like all good crypts are supposed to be) and the faster shutter speed I could manage was 1/30th of a second. That was just borderline for taking handheld photos without camera shake showing up in the final image but keeping the exposure high at the same time.
Note the two small ones right at the bottom left hand corner, you could be forgiven in thinking those are of a child's, but in actual fact they belonged to a pair of adult pygmies. Young skulls are identified by those wriggly lines on their top parts, the older the adult are, the more featureless and smoother the skull top are.
This was taken hand held (without a tripod) using my D40. It was quite gloomy and dark in there (like all good crypts are supposed to be) and the faster shutter speed I could manage was 1/30th of a second. That was just borderline for taking handheld photos without camera shake showing up in the final image but keeping the exposure high at the same time.
29th May '09. Photo 333. Blue Sky.
Had brilliant blue skies this afternoon and tried to capture it using a cheapo fish eye lens kit.
28th May '09. Photo 332. Golden Sunrise.
Rather than just show the one picture, I think I'll go ahead and show you a set of them, all taken in the space of 20 minutes. Besides, it'll make up for my slackiness in the past couple of days.
Those were taken at around 5.15 am while on the way to work. I thought the murkiness coupled with the rising sun made for excellent lighting. No alterations or enhancements had been carried out on any of those pictures.
I want to dedicate the House Of The Rising Sun one to Uncle Martin who died from cancer five years ago. He played for a local music group called "The Sundowner" and House Of The Rising Sun was one of their tracks.
Those were taken at around 5.15 am while on the way to work. I thought the murkiness coupled with the rising sun made for excellent lighting. No alterations or enhancements had been carried out on any of those pictures.
I want to dedicate the House Of The Rising Sun one to Uncle Martin who died from cancer five years ago. He played for a local music group called "The Sundowner" and House Of The Rising Sun was one of their tracks.
27th May '08. Photo 331. Spiderman.
Well, not quite.
I caught this chap scaling up the side of a railway viaduct, I think he was a railway worker checking for cracks and loosened bricks in the brickwork.
I have to be honest and say that this photo was taken three days ago. Today the weather has been AWFUL for outdoors photography (dark cloud, rain and heavy drizzle all day), and I'm tired having done an 11 hours working day at my greenhouse workplace. So I've decided to use a "back up" photo for today's entry. Still a great-looking photo, though!
I caught this chap scaling up the side of a railway viaduct, I think he was a railway worker checking for cracks and loosened bricks in the brickwork.
I have to be honest and say that this photo was taken three days ago. Today the weather has been AWFUL for outdoors photography (dark cloud, rain and heavy drizzle all day), and I'm tired having done an 11 hours working day at my greenhouse workplace. So I've decided to use a "back up" photo for today's entry. Still a great-looking photo, though!
26th May '09. Photo 330. Tickled Pink.
Oh go on then, just one more of my famed colour montages. This time, it's pretty in pink.All of the shots in that single frame had been taken this afternoon between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm. It seems that in the colourful world of nature, it's pink's turn this time round.
25th May '09. Photo 329. Angling Times.
I will be honest and say that this photo was taken yesterday. And just as well I had this "back up" photo as it's been a long ol' day at work.
And besides, went I went past this pond earlier on today, there were still some anglers round it.
And besides, went I went past this pond earlier on today, there were still some anglers round it.
24th May '09. Photo 328. Dog tired.
Don't worry, it isn't a dog that had been left for dead after having been knocked over by a car. It's just a random pooch lying on a quiet side road soaking up the heat during a fine warm sunny Sunday afternoon.
23rd May '09. Photo 327. Windows To The World.
This is the front part of The Hotel Burstin, a large scale hotel close to the Harbour (a two minutes walk from my home).
Thought it would make for an interesting abstract shot.
Thought it would make for an interesting abstract shot.
22nd May '09. Photo 326. Little Ben.
A nice relaxed shot of one of my friend's son. This is little Ben aged 6 years old.
Actually, this is a VERY unusual shot, and has a completely unique property about it. Why's that? . . . . As well as it being a "people" shot (something I rarely do), this was taken on film using a traditional SLR film camera. For a 25 years old camera using old style 35 mm roll film, I thought it came out really well! The original photo was scanned and no alterations were needed to make it "look" better.
Indeed, lately I have been experimenting with film photography but the trouble with it is that you have to buy the roll of film in the first place, you can't see what you have taken, then you have to send the film off to be developed and once they are done you have to pay for that. To be honest, after having looked at the round of photos I have taken with my old Pentax SLR film camera and taking into account the hassle and cost in developing, I think digital camera technology won out very easily.
However, this photo of Ben will be preserved for years to come, can the same be said for a JPG file kept on a hard drive or CD rom?
Actually, this is a VERY unusual shot, and has a completely unique property about it. Why's that? . . . . As well as it being a "people" shot (something I rarely do), this was taken on film using a traditional SLR film camera. For a 25 years old camera using old style 35 mm roll film, I thought it came out really well! The original photo was scanned and no alterations were needed to make it "look" better.
Indeed, lately I have been experimenting with film photography but the trouble with it is that you have to buy the roll of film in the first place, you can't see what you have taken, then you have to send the film off to be developed and once they are done you have to pay for that. To be honest, after having looked at the round of photos I have taken with my old Pentax SLR film camera and taking into account the hassle and cost in developing, I think digital camera technology won out very easily.
However, this photo of Ben will be preserved for years to come, can the same be said for a JPG file kept on a hard drive or CD rom?
21st May '09. Photo 325. Mystical Rocks.
Last night at 9 pm, armed with my D40 and a tripod I took myself down to the beach (it's only a stone's throw from my home). I wanted to do an experiment involving wavelets splashing against rocks using long exposures. Timing was crucial on this occasion as I needed the lighting to be dim, but not too dark and not too light. The half hour after sunset provided perfect conditions (the weather was fair at the time) but I only had a 10 - 15 minutes window to do it all in. The end result is what you are seeing above.
This was actually my first ever attempt at doing this type of photography, not bad for something I've never done before! I didn't even need to do much processing to those two photos (only a slight contrast boost in the first one, but the second picture was untouched).
I took loads of pictures and had a lot of trouble deciding what one I wanted to use as today's entry to this web site, so I decided to bend the rule books a little and show two today.
This was actually my first ever attempt at doing this type of photography, not bad for something I've never done before! I didn't even need to do much processing to those two photos (only a slight contrast boost in the first one, but the second picture was untouched).
I took loads of pictures and had a lot of trouble deciding what one I wanted to use as today's entry to this web site, so I decided to bend the rule books a little and show two today.
20th May '09. Photo 324. Observer Of The Dawn.
This was taken at 4.50 am using my Fuji S5600, and no processing or alterations had been carried out on the image.
The bucket-shaped building to the left is a Martello Tower, one of several similar-shaped buildings dotted along the south east coast. In medieval times, they were used to watch out for approaching enemy ships and when one was spotted, a fire was lit up on the tower as a warning beacon. The smaller building to the right (the one with the antenna) is actually a coastal watch station. Not sure if it is still in use or it's been abandoned but there's a certain irony that the old and the new was built close to each other.
The bucket-shaped building to the left is a Martello Tower, one of several similar-shaped buildings dotted along the south east coast. In medieval times, they were used to watch out for approaching enemy ships and when one was spotted, a fire was lit up on the tower as a warning beacon. The smaller building to the right (the one with the antenna) is actually a coastal watch station. Not sure if it is still in use or it's been abandoned but there's a certain irony that the old and the new was built close to each other.
19th May '09. Photo 323. Cumulus clouds.
Or "fairweather" clouds as they are more commonly known.
A thought had occured to me as I took that picture during the course of this afternoon. I've never really taken any actual "cloud spotting" type pictures, especially since I'm passionate about meteorology!
And so here it is, which I think is a fine example of cumulus clouds filling the afternoon sky. Cumulus are little pockets of rising warm air as the ground is warmed up by the overhead sun, those pockets (called thermals) cools as they rise and condensation take places in the process. A bit like steam puffing out of a train engine, really! Sometimes this type of cloud may grow large enough to produce rain or snow showers (depending on the time of the year) which can get locally very heavy.
But here in this case, these ones were content to remain as cheerful fluffy cotton wool-type affairs.
But if they do grow really big, then they become as cumulonimbus as their tops hit extremely cold air as high as 10 miles up in the atmosphere and freezes up, hence their wispy appearance, known as anvil tops. Those beasts most often produce hail and lightning and even tornadoes.
These ones as shown below were crossing over the English Channel as viewed from the back of my house, the picture itself was taken a couple of weeks ago.
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