Good intentions.

It’s time to re-energise my blog again, but after my brief attempt at a PAD project earlier in the year, I've decided that I should focus on posting photographic ideas, completed shoots, articles, musings and mutterings, which I hope you'll find inspiring, even if only a little bit.

Whilst I loved the idea of taking and posting a shot every day to stretch my photographic legs, it became impossible to post daily updates with the workload and pressures of my day job, especially over these last two months. But my desire to share, discuss, document my images hasn’t diminished, and in fact there are a number of projects that I am currently working on that I want to post here for comment, input, or perhaps ridicule.

These projects include developing and producing two separate portfolio's for September : one as a 'book' of commercial automotive work, the other much more personal and fine art orientated. Other posts will have a more commercial bias, some will include CGI work, and others will simply be about kit, or post production techniques

There. I've said it ! I've put it out there and quite excited about where 2010 will lead. I know my aims for the year, and I hope that keeping a blog will help keep me on track

Oh, one book you should all be reading right now .... Visionmongers, by David du Chemin. I'm only a couple of chapters in, but it's one inspiring book so far. All about vision, less about taking photos

More on this soon.
//

My best friend.

A very quick one. Feeling soppy and wanted to post up a shot from the weekend just gone. I've still had next to no time to take pictures recently (though tonight I did actually take over 100 frames walking around Guildford for the SquareMile Project which you can see on my flickr account).


Not much to say about this shot, other than I had a ball this past weekend with my best mate (and wife!!). Thanks Sheens. xx (oh and if you get time go to the Abinger Hatch - great country pub in Abinger suprisingly. Though they lose track of whose next to be served, so you it could take a while to be served if you're not assertive enough)

Night lights.

Not much to say about this, but when I took our dog, Ben, out for a walk earlier I decided to take my little camera for once. I liked the idea of portraying these night lamps at a local school car park as large architectural installations. I don't think I've been 100% successful but can now see how it could be done if I was to re-shoot. Otherwise it makes for a nice simple graphical image with complimentary colours. As a viewer, I know it won't hold my interest for a long time, but as a photographer it's a good thing as it should prompt me to take another photo tomorrow to replace it and considering this was supposed to be a photo a day blog thing.....

Anyway, hopefully another one tomorrow, (don't I always say that ?!)

I'm back.....!!!

It's been a while - hello again ! And my excuse ? Work - my day job ! I've been working far too hard out at clients studios including alot of evenings, so there has been little time to take photos, let alone post a daily photo blog. I knew this would happen from time to time which is why I never promised to post every day - only as often as I could ! There we go, excuses, excuses !

Still, I have had the camera out a few times and taken a few shots - nothing to write home about, but one or two I feel obliged to post to make up for the last few weeks. Then on top of that, I've been thinking lots....dangerous I know, but these thoughts have manifested themselves into plans which I am currently researching. One biggy, and a few smaller ones. A bit ambiguous, but very very exciting and I now need to put some things into place so these plans can have some chance of happening. Sheens and I are very excited at what could happen, and hopefully I'll share these ideas with you in the next few weeks. I don't want to set myself up, announce to the world and then nothing happen.

The smaller one's I can share, and they include some photoshoots that are being arranged. A group of us are trying a number of things....

1. The Square Mile. A location (co-ordinates) is posted by Andy once a month and the group try to take lots of photos within 1 mile of this location. The idea is then to share these shots, geotag them, so we get a complete eclectic set of shots of that particular area. The first location is central Guildford to keep it simple first of all, but am looking forward to when the location is Peru !

2. A night shoot. A group of us plan to spend a whole night out shooting photos. We all tend to photograph during the day, so this will force ourselves to think differently. I think there is so much you can take of a night, and could imagine it will be lots of fun, and we'll see lots of interesting things. I need to decide a location for this though....

3. A shoot with only our compact cameras in London sometime soon. This will hopefully force us to use our eyes, and take some different shots, relying less on kit, and more on our legs and creativity.

And now without further delay, here's that shot from a few days back. Back on track, doesn't that feel better ! Hopefully another post tomorrow.

I love early mornings....

Okay, so that's a slight exaggeration, and I certainly don't like the idea when my alarm goes off at 5.30 in the morning, but once I'm up and out, the dawn starts are worth it. The birdsong, the peace, the sedate pace at that time of morning is a wonder, and when the atmospheric conditions are working in your favour I'd go as far to say early mornings are unbeatable.

After working really late last night in London, and not getting back home till well past midnight, I saw the fog had descended on our village, and I had the mad brained idea to get up early and head to back to Winkworth to shoot the bluebells in the mist. The idea of flat lighting, damp flowers and mist coming through the trees was so appealing the plan was a go'er.

Even though there was heavy fog when I woke, there was no fog at Winkworth which is only a few miles up the road from me and I had to rely on the mist rising off the lake to create the atmosphere I had envisaged, which meant heading to the lower slopes which were compositionally less favourable. However the sun was in the perfect position and the whole of Winkworth was beautifully lit as usual. I managed a few shots with some sun rays piercing through the mist, but it soon disappeared and the harshness of bright sunlight began to set it in. I was thinking on the way to work afterwards that I should probably get up even earlier to be on location for 5.15, ready for those magical few minutes when the sun first hits the mist.

I had a wonderful time, and hope the shots show this.....

More from today.... whats happening !

Today is like buses - no blog for a week, then two come along on the same day !

I was so excited about getting behind the camera today in the beautiful afternoon sun, that I just wanted to put up a couple of shots I took. I headed to Winkworth Aboretum, one of my favorite places in the world (!!!) to see the bluebells. And I wasn't dissapointed, being met with carpets of intense purple flowers - What a sight, the best I've seen them for years. So as I'm a bit tired, here are a few shots. One point to note is that I'm trying to break some rules, and do something a bit different - I tried today with limited sucess, but really love the light in the last shot. I'll explain later why it breaks the rules for me.

A bit of a catch up

I've been a bit busy this last month and my PAD has suffered, but it's only the last 5 days that I haven't actually taken any photos. I thought that working in London this week (not usual for me) it would be easy to see and take interesting photos, especially as I've been based in a client's Covent Garden office, but I've had my head down on the commute, rushing around to get into the office and home again. I managed to take one yesterday morning at Charing Cross station where all the tiles on the underpass created a messy but very geometric composition, enhanced by the aperture in the wall looking through to the stairwell.




And now a quick note to mention two other things....

My website is up and running at www.mark-pritchard.com where I will be putting my best shots up, and it will be more commercially based than my flickr photostream / this PAD blog.

And perhaps more exciting for me, is that one of my shots [link here] was published this week in the May edition of Surrey Life magazine [link here]. My tenth photo publications, so lets hope I can continue this !

5 minutes

Well, work continues apace and I'll have to be content with posting images that I stumble across rather than those that are planned. However, a slight twist tonight was I actually took 5 minutes to look around and force myself to take a shot or two within the confines of around 20 meters. Next to the car park is an old retirement home which has been derelict now for over a year, and there rumours it would be razed to the ground sometime before the economy took a nosedive.

Armed with the G9 as usual I had a look around as I thought there would be a few shots, and looking at the shots this evening, I'm quite pleased with them

I'm also headed off for a wedding on Friday, so whilst there will be plenty of scope for taking photos, I probably won't be posting again till at least Sunday night. I'm really hoping to take some good outdoor portraits of my family, so I will take my flashes and all my batteries plus chargers ! The big problem will be getting everyone to be somewhat patient whilst I get the exposure set up.

I also want to try and take some photos of the wedding using flash, but as I'd prefer it to be off camera I will be forced into manual mode, so I'm not sure how well I'll nail the shots with all the variables, but good practice I suppose. I have been reading all about guide numbers and the relationship of light to distance so it would be good to have a few subjects to practice on.

Life

A little cheat this morning and I'm putting up a shot I took a few weeks back and re-discovered this morning whilst getting Lightroom organised (part of my strategy for moving forward and getting things done).

It's of St Thomas' hospital in London and those that know me know I hate hospitals. My brain has managed to code itself to think of hospitals as portals where I see them as places that we use to enter and leave the world. I've spent too much time in these places watching friends and family being examined by doctors and nurses, which in turn gave me too much time to watch people I don't know suffer and grieve.

Some will make the connection what this shot is all about and what it means to me, which is more than just a pretty pattern. But although this photo has a dark side, happily with it being Easter and all about new life and beginnings I can look at this photo a bit differently this weekend.

Can't see the woods for the trees.

I had hoped to have an even more productive week on my PAD project, and whilst I could make up all the excuses this last week was the most difficult yet.

So what is holding me back ? Well I think it's because I feel I have a mountain to climb and have been overwhelmed with all that I'm tying to do (with photography and my day job). You should see my to do list and goal list etc etc ! It's far too long and I haven't been great in keeping it short and specific. It has all my wants and desires with tons of irrelevant stuff on it's no wonder I can't see the woods for the trees. Time to step back a little and get more organised I think.

Lots of thinking still to do, but I managed some of that this morning whilst out with the camera in the local woods (The match between location and title of this post was entirely coincidental !) I hoped that the sun would pierce through the thick fog, but unfortunately it remained grey. Quite atmospheric, but could do with a little accent of sun, similar to the conditions I saw a few weeks back.

Taking a picture.

I kinda got out of the rhythm of posting for a few days, so a late but quick one tonight to keep things running. I've been working a my website for a few days which I hope to complete by next weekend. My photography isn't slowing down; on the contrary. The website is to support a couple of articles which should hopefully come out over the next few weeks.

I'm also planning a few trips over the next few months, the longest will take me to the lakes for a couple of weeks in June so I should have plenty of opportunity to discover new locations. What excites me is it will be the first time I have spent any significant time there, so I plan to research the area as much as I can, and see how I can capture a unique view.

So tonight, an image ?

I was pottering around Guildford earlier on Saturday, and amongst many things I spotted this pair of legs in a photo booth. I think this has been photographed many a time, but I like the 2D compostition and the colours of the machine against the brick wall and the thin black wire hanging off the rear. If the person presses the button, what will happen ?!! Bang ??!!

Not a great week with the camera

Not sure why I'm posting this shot from tonight ?!!

I always pass these old greenhouses on route to work and the light was bouncing around quite nicely this evening and my eye caught glimpse of a nice shot. But to be honest getting home and looking at it.... I'm completely ambivalent to it ! It just doesn't do anything for me, so I think I'll have to put a bit more effort into it these next few days, as I feel haven't taken anything good since Saturday - the shots I wanted to post on Sunday last week didn't turn out that great (well some were ok-ish), and don't think I'm pushing my boundaries that hard. We'll see if I can rectify that this weekend.

All it takes it a some beautiful light

I haven't posted for a couple of days as time is just flying past and I have lots to do, but I am still taking photos ! Everything seems to be happening, but a few things are getting me excited and I think 2009 will be a good year.

My name is in print once again - I was commissioned to write a magazine article / software review a month or so ago, and it's now been published in issue 116 of 3D World Magazine. Following from that I have been asked to act as an industry judge for a national competition this magazine is currently running. The awards for the competition are later in the year so should be a bit of fun.

I have also been approached today by another magazine to supply some images for a 'spotlight' feature on photography, and that all looks promising, and should be published in May.

Finally, after all that, onto some images I took today! The light was stunning tonight when I left work - the sun was just setting, and everything looked golden. What I was struck by was a flickering street lamp at the car park which against the deep blue sky looked very graphic and strong. Although I want to explore other styles, it's easy to revert to type and take this sort of graphic image.

Lots to put up, but too tired to do anything tonight.

mmmm.... too tired to post anything tonight, but needless to say I today was a bit of a photo fest and I have loads I could post up. A every enjoyable talk by Joe Cornish in Southampton was sandwiched in between two photo sessions with friends today. So, this is really a placeholder and I will try to put up photo from today up tomorrow. If that makes sense.....

Until tomorrow.

Earth Hour

I was intent on posting a few shots from my afternoon trip out to Hampshire, but then remembered that tonight was Earth Hour between 8.30 - 9.30 pm.

The idea started a few years ago ( http://www.earthhour.org/home/ ) , where for one hour of an evening as many people as possible would turn off their lights. It was specifically aimed at corporations and office blocks who often leave their lights on, wasting much energy. We decided to join in the Earth hour fun tonight, and switched off everything in our house. The tv, stereo, and even the computers. So there we sat in peace for that hour by candlelight. Bliss.

The organisers were encouraging those who were running blogs to put up a representative photo of the hour to show what you were up to and to try and spread the event. So tonight's shot, was quite simple.

Sliding Doors

Loved the film, loved the concept. Well, perhaps I loved the concept more than the actual acting.

I'm intrigued by the idea that something can get in your way and suddenly you are on a different path into the future. The idea that there are many parallel lives happening, and like a train changing track, you can divert from one to another. On could lead to disaster, the other leads to great things.

This morning I was in a playful mood for some reason - I know this is hard to believe - and watched my reflection in the bathroom mirror skip across the (sliding !) doors of the bathroom cabinet. It created two characters, perhaps two lives - what was going to happen to each of them today ? I could get my eyes pointing in different positions, and create two people, and pondered which one I wanted to be for the day. Wasn't it lucky that I became one person again by the time I got into the car.

Just don't comment on the bags under my eyes or the lack of shaving. This was first thing in the morning you know.

Bath time

I've been a bit busy the last few days and haven't been able to take any photos. I'd hoped to take some today, but getting to tonight I still hadn't taken any shots. But that changed within 5 mins of me arriving home after work, and I discovered a naked woman in the bath - okay, I shouldn't be coy about it, it was Sheens ;) Surprisingly, she was up for me taking some portraits of her in the bath - she just looked amazing - and we agreed from the start that obviously no 'nudes' would be posted and the only shot I would post would be one of her legs submerged in the water and would have her complete approval.

I've been going through a bit of change recently as I want to take photos that I want to take - not ones that are conceived to win in a club or specifically do well in competitions. I want to develop my own style further and try to convey more mood and emotion in my shots. Tonight was a complete departure from what I usually take, in subject and in style, and in the end (well the session only lasted 5 minutes) what was brilliant was that I loved them and more importantly so did Sheens. I think she was pleasantly surprised how good they looked, and how she looked ;) There is one photo however, that no one will ever see, but I have to say it's the best shot I've ever taken. It perfectly conveyed the serentity and peace Sheens has when having a bath. Beautiful.

But I won't post it, and will post another one instead that I also love.

I don't think I'm going to be in a habit of shooting nudes, far far from it, but the feel and tone of these shots are new to me, and signify the start of some serious experimentation.

Proof that spring is here

It must be ! We started gardening... well when I say gardening, I mean mowing the lawn. As much as I'd like to have gone out today and enjoy the sun, this year we are going to try desperately hard to keep the garden in shape. If we don't, I think our neighbours will apply to have us evicted ;) So, as with most things that move these days, I decided to strap the camera to the mower for a shot :) A bit of fun really...

A few problems getting the shot, though not at all straightforward. Things I had to consider follow,

I was going to use my 40D but as it was too heavy, I used the G9, which had a limiting wide angle so it was difficult to get a good composition as the magic arm wasn't long enough.

Then I found the lawn to be way too bumpy so camera shake (the mower skews and flexes all over the place, unlike a fairly rigid car) was a real issue. I had to move the mower so slowly to limit shake, but that compromised the background motion blur which I'd preferred to be longer.

I also wanted grass to be flying out the back, which meant added vibration because of the motor.

I thought using a off camera flash would be good to then freeze the grass and sharpen the mower, and allow me to darken the background. However, I couldn't figure out how to hold the flash in position. In hindsight, I could have put it on a tripod, but at the time I didn't think of that so didn't use a flash.

The grass cuttings were just put in the mower ready to be 'ejected' when the mower was switched on. Cutting real grass would have been much more difficult and I would have had to push the mower further.

The final shot isn't as sharp as I'd like, but has a sense of lots going on and I love the grass cuttings shooting out the back.

Off to bed early tonight, so I've only time to post two shots that I took today. I'll add commentry to this tomorrow so it makes sense.

Dawn till dusk.

I leapt out of bed this morning after being woken by Sheens telling me how beautiful it looked outside. A little frost, a little sun, a little mist. Perfect, though when I finally left, the sun had burned through the mist. I headed to my spot from a couple of days back hoping for some more mist as it lies in the shade, but most had disappeared. The trees still had a beautiful light, just lacking the depth I had wanted. I tried desperately to home in on a clutter free solid composition, which I managed to achieve. In addition to photos, there is something very relaxing about wondering around alone with no disturbances, no worries, just birdsong and peace. It's worth getting up early just for that/

On the way home I was treated to an amazing sunset, which meant I just had to stop at Newlands corner to watch it till darkness. With no tripod, I had a little play adding sideways blur to a longish exposure. The reds and the blacks worked well, and it's another 'Last five minutes of sunlight', which will probably get a six or a ten if I were brave enough to enter it in the club competition ? !!

High Noon

One of the rules of photography is that you should avoid taking pictures between late morning and mid afternoon, especially in the summer when the light is very harsh. However, today being at the start of spring when the sun is alot lower in the sky, and the fact I like to ignore rules, meant I took a lunchtime excursion to the common in the village I work. There's not too much around which meant I had to really use my eyes, and also being quite flat I really had to search for the added interest. What caught my eye was a broken wooden fence surrounding what looked like a practice 'alley' for cricketers. The astro turf provided some saturated greens, and the harsh sun created lots of shadows which intertwined with the leaning fence.

Underexposing by -2/3 stop due to the extreme brightness helped preserve the hightlights in the wooden sticks. I knew I would probably punch up the shadows in Lightroom later, but looking at the images now, the exposure was pretty much spot on, just slightly lacking in contrast.

I also thought at the time, a square crop would work better with the diagonal lines, which was the case for most of the shots I took, but a few lent themselves more to a wider horizontal crop.

Trees in the mist

I woke this morning to brilliant sun, the start to another glorious day where I wish I was out with the camera rather than in the office. Work is good and mostly fun, but when the sun shines and the light hits our local landscape everything looks amazing, and I imagine anyone who is handy with the camera would be wishing the same.

Much to my surprise, passing Newlands corner this morning (well, I shouldn't be that surprised as it has it's own little micro climate) it was shrouded in mist creating a beautiful eerie atmosphere, the perfect backdrop to the beginning of a film, or a even a fashion shoot. As I didn't have any models, or film camera's with me, the landscape on it's own would have to do.

I took the path and spent some time wondering around the woods, getting my bearings and for once, just observed, letting all the surroundings soak in and to get a feel for the place. I had remembered this as a common tip from some of the top photographers, and true enough, my head and eyes began to identify areas of contrast, silloheutes and pattern as the sun had brightened the mist somewhat. I was intent on shooting in black and white, but there was an incredible warmth in the air which I thought I'd keep in my shots.

Finally when I took the shots, it all seemed to flow and compositions came easily. I was looking for depth and mood, as well as the usual 'graphic' structure I like. The shots were also lightly processed in Lightroom, not requiring anything other than a smidge of toning, and the usual sharpening. Looking at them tonight I'm still very happy with the shots, the problem now being which one is my favorite ?

The end of the day

A brief one from me tonight - those that know me, know that I like my abstract shots, where I major on colour and simple graphic composition, and today is no exception. The journey home provided the neccessary colours - blues, reds and horizontal movement, accented with a slight dip in the light trails creating a focus to the image. Quite random, and quite cool I think.

The sun is officially out.

The advantage of working in our studio is the amount of light we get. One side is all glass, and with three skylights and white walls, it's a great place to be on a sunny day. That said we take every opportunity to still get out of a lunch time, so grabbing our sunglasses, and leaving our winter coats out we went. Hope you all managed to get some sun today too.

With that in mind I thought a nice black and white shallow dof photo of my shades was in order - obviously to celebrate the end of winter. Shame I neglected to clean them first...

vroom....

After a particularly late and lovely evening last night, I managed to pick myself up out of bed for an early start, and drove across Surrey to join a group of other motorcar obsessives stand around and ogle at a few fancy cars. Chris Evans, the radio DJ had organised a supercar meet at The Mulberry, one of his pubs on the outskirts of Chiddingfold. Whilst not that bothered about modern day supercars, even the seriously exotic ones, it was on my doorstep and I was mainly tempted by the chance of a bacon and egg butty in the morning sun, and the chance to catch up with some friends.

Even though the turn out wasn't nearly as varied or rare as I'd hoped (you can often see a similar display of Ferraris and Astons in the local Waitrose car park) it was worth watching Chris Evans arrive in his F40 - in white - which was as close as you'd ever get to Automotive porn. He reversed into the car park of the pub, and climbed out wearing a cruppled white blazer, skinny jeans, and tiny black driving gloves, greeting everyone with a loud 'Good morning' and headed inside. How cool ? Driving an amazing car, to your own pub, with everyone gawping ?? Teenage dreams are made of this stuff, and how I wish I was 8 again !

Working in the auto industry, I've become used to alot of these cars and they are no longer that special. But for the kids and their dads running around, this was probably an amazing sight. So to get back on track, as this is a photograph a day blog, what was the photographic element ? Well there was one, and I had decided to focus on the kids getting all excited and running around. So I'll post three shots today that I think convey the awe the kids had ..... my favorite is the second. (And sorry, no pictures of the bacon and egg butty but it was pretty tasty)

Where did my creativity go today ?

Maybe I left it at the house when I left this morning ? Or did I leave it in the back garden when I let the dog out last night ? Or perhaps I dropped it when getting out the car in town earlier ? Where ever it is I better find it quick or I'll be posting another 300 or so random shots like these over the next 10 months.

Actually, I guess I like them, however they're just what I'd 'expect' to produce from a wander around town. The Kingston Church image made me chuckle a bit - a church only for locals and only 8 spaces ?

A self portrait

A friend (thanks Gordon) sent me some links to a few new photography sites / blogs today, which I had a nosey at this evening. Some really interesting stuff there, and whilst I won't be following the lead of one of the sites and start removing my clothes, I saw one shot which I really liked and wanted to try to work out how it was put together. My final shot was nothing like it (shows my creative gap) but it did involve posing with a guitar ;)

It was my first proper play with my camera tethered to the computer, and the setup of two remote flashes on radio triggers. The biggest problem was getting myself to pose naturally whilst holding the guitar - I know nothing about posing, and became extremely frustrated by having to get up and down throughout the session to alter my lights and forgetting the pose I was in. A big learning curve ahead, but like all things should get easier. I can see why assistants are useful, and hopefully next time Sheens will be around to help.

Strobist info for those interested.

580EXII off camera right at head height, manual, 1/32, with diffuser
430EXII off camera , directly above pointing down, 1/32.
No Ambient.

The small apple

I got talking about travelling and holidays tonight, and remembered the fantastic times Sheens and I had in New York several years ago - it became one of our most favorite places ever, and one day we'll get back there. But it did make me think about today's photo, and lead me to have a play with the 'New York in a Bag' (from Muji) that Sheens got me one birthday. A bit of motion blur on the little taxis - fab - just like the real thing ;)

And I also want to say a 'yay!' to Miko and Nick - Miko got her visa renewed so they can both relax ! Really really good news....

Heavy skies

I had a few ideas for shots today, but I became distracted and actually did some proper work ;) But I looked out our windows mid afternoon and saw some really heavy skies. The light was beautiful, and I only had time to take what I considered a snapshot. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some opportunities as I'm in Coventry for a meeting or two, and I'm not driving. Lets see if I can make some time and get a good old dose of creativity.

Like being back at school

That's how I felt tonight, and not something I've felt for a while. I won't go into what happened at the club tonight, but it got to me.

But a relaxing pint with my friends afterwards helped calm me down and on the journey home I stopped at a location I pass every day that is perfect for a nightime car shoot I have in mind (cars were on my mind as Gordon kindly lent me Intersection, a pretty cool car / fashion / photography magazine he gets from time to time). The location feels slightly seedy due to it's strip lighting, and in the fog it is even more eerie. I took a few test shots and will start to plan a shoot. I have something in my mind, even though the vision is slightly blurred, I think I know what I want to do. Here's the location



And don't talk to me about blown highlights - I'm breaking the rules today, and it's my creative decision. So there. ;)

Vision

What a word ! What began as me 'playing' with my Dad earlier today, has lead me to think lots about vision today. What is my vision ? What do I want my photography to show ? What do I want to achieve ? What is it I want to tell the world ? Lots more thinking to do, but there will be a time soon when I'll have to answer these thoughts, or I feel I won't progress, and in my life so far I have always strived to move forwards and achieve things. Unfortunately for me this trait is beginning to manifest itself in my photographic life and I'm finding myself asking - now what ! I don't see this as a negative, in fact it's the complete opposite as I see it leading to exciting times.

Just relaxing.

Not much to say today, probably because I'm enjoying myself, not much is on my mind, and it's fun just meandering around town with my family. I didn't want the camera to take over the weekend, so only took a few shots, but actually I quite like them. The first a longish exposure whilst descending a spiral staircase, the other a wall at a favorite restaurant of mine. Probably more tomorrow.

A little spring cleaning.

After a couple of weeks running around, tonight was spend tidying up the house a bit, well at least so my parents could sit down somewhere when they're visiting this weekend ! So, after a spot of hoovering I had a bright idea.... I clamped my camera to the hoover for a spot of action photography. Made me laugh, but Sheens was just rolling her eyes in disbelief.

Geneva.

I've returned from a busy couple of days at the Geneva Motor Show, to an evening where I can at last put my feet up. Ok, a bit of housework to do, but I'll get an early night for once. It's nice to be back home with Sheens.

I was actually going to take an image to go with the story of a 'jobs worth' security lady I encountered on Tuesday morning at Gatwick, but as it'll wind me up I'm posting a few images I managed to squeeze in the last few at the show. No gratuitous shots of showcars or indeed the showgirls , just a couple of shots that interested me. The first is an odd one for me as I love it as it is due to it's simple graphic, almost mundane feel, but many would want to add a person to balance the doors. Whilst I may have agreed with that once, I'm not so sure - I like the idea that the action or people, or interest lies behind the doors. After all doors are through which you pass to move between defined spaces, Maybe a tad too conceptual ?

Early flight.

I shouldn't be doing this as I have an early morning flight in the morning, but I just woke as I had a great idea for a photo, and I hadn't taken one today. Well, I gave myself 2 mins, and unfortunately this was the best I could do. Like alot of other photos, I will try again, properly with some assistance some time soon . But that plane in the photo IS flying unassisted ;)