Deadlines.....

Deadlines :: I guess that's how the world goes round. Doesn't mean I like them.

And I have another one on Monday.....

Good times.

A friend and colleague of mine picked up his new car today, which was significant for me in two ways.

The first, was that the car is much the same to that Sheens and I had a few years back, and we have many amazing memories from that time. Even though it was after Sheens accident, for a period of a year of so everything was perfect and the car reminded me of very happy times.

The second, was that it so lovely to see the joy in my friends face. He was in his element and loving his new toy. And when other people are happy, I'm happy. Period

So I took this series of shots at lunch today, and I was really trying hard to capture the mood rather than being focusing on getting everything technically perfect. There was no way to hold the camera steady, and there was no way I was going to ask my friend to stop. We were having fun, and I wanted to convey that. I found alot of reflective surfaces in which to catch his smiling face, and wanted to play on the depth of field between the macro object, and the reflection of his expression. And that is the bonus of the G9, in that I tend to experiment more with composition and ideas than I do with the 40D

So, some shots,

What does the future hold ?

Whilst I'm very busy with work, I had a couple of minutes today to ponder what is happening around us. Looking on my desk at my stack of very colourful business cards and I've built up over the years, I did ask myself, how many of these businesses will be out of business in a year. 10% ? 20 % ? More ?

I believe the only way to weather the downturn is to remain optimistic. Not in a, 'I'll bury my head in the sand and pretend it's not happening' kind of way, but by keeping a realistic, balanced but ultimately optimistic outlook on what lies ahead. Things will improve and the opportunities are definitely still out there, but business will have to change to find them. It's just sobering to think some of these cards will unfortunately end in the bin in the next few months.

Home::Work

Life's wonderful balancing act. Home. Work. Home. Work. Work. Work. Home. Home. Work. Home

I used to work way too hard, and then a few years ago I discovered the secret to getting that balance right. And it was fantastic whilst it lasted. However, recently, I'm wondering if I've reverted to my old life, that of constant work. At the moment there doesn't seem to be an end to it. Project work tonight, and article for the next few nights, then preparing for Geneva, then going to Geneva next week. I'm pretty sure the weekend will be stolen from me and it won't be mine.

So tonight, two relevant photos, (as I missed last nights), just to keep the brain going.

The computer keyboard with the 'Home' key has a wonderful sense of irony, and the other - we'll it's hard it is to focus just now as I'm sooooo tired. With this one have some fun with me, bring it up on screen and step back 5 meters. You'll then see the time clearly.....

Time to say Goodnight.

London - again !

I was itching to get out of the house again today, and after the lovely light in London yesterday, I took a risk and headed back in. I needn't have bothered as the cloud thickend in town and it was a different completly affair to that I had hoped. Quite grey and dark - it's amazing the difference an hour and 30 miles makes. Not to waste a journey, I decided to head to the Festival hall, and had a walk around inside with the G9. A few good shots, and a few enjoyable hours, and back in time to see Sheens when she woke. Sorted.

A trip to London

I didn't manage to post any images yesterday, even though the day was spent on a little photo expedition in London with Gordon and Miko - we just got back too late. We headed into town without a big plan, hoping that opportunities would arise and I like those sort of days, as you really have to look for the shots. Whilst the early afternoon was more difficult as our motivation was yet to kick in, the beautiful light later on transformed buildings, and London became extremely photogenic. However, I've decided not to show a building shot, as I want to post up the shot of yesterday that I'm most pleased with (that's because of it's technical nature... I was using off camera flash in manual, and pulled off a shot under pressure infront of the crowd).

I hope to go out today to get another shot for this picture a day project.

Published....

Today I'm a very happy bunny, and therefore happy to bend the rules of my blog and post an image I took last week. The reason - it appeared in today's Surrey Advertiser (again!!!). I had identified a potential news story last week, and made my goal to get an image in the paper, and today it was printed with a photo credit !

My Dad and I had been talking about the new steam train (The Tornado) which was in the headlines a few weeks back, and he mentioned that it was due to do a run in the Surrey hills last weekend. My ears pricked up as I thought an image of this train running through the hills could be quite nice and photogenic, but wasn't that bothered. However, I then thought that it may be a newsworthy piece for the local paper, "the new train comes to Surrey" - just what the Surrey Advertiser would be interested in.

An Internet search or two later and I had a specific timetable, and realised it would travel literally past the next village, and even more luck, it would briefly stop to take on more water (the only stop on it's 3hr journey) . As it would be dark, having the train stationary would be essential for any decent photos.

I managed to convince Sheens that I wasn't a train spotter, and this was a business plan to get more photo publications. Off I went expecting to take a pic and be back home within 30mins. What I hadn't banked on, was that the whole of Surrey had decided to descend on Shalford train station to see it that night. There were hundreds of spectators, and I battled past them all to get to the end of the platform. I knew the direction of travel, and the line it was due in, so setup in the optimal position.

Everything came together when the train arrived amid clouds of steam and I got the shot. It was sent off to the Surrey advertiser with a short description in the hope I'd be the first submission and that they may use it. So I was ecstatic yesterday when I received an email from the paper asking for permission to use the shot in print, and today it's there for everyone to see.

Pop ups....

I've been going through a phase of trying to capture movement on static backgrounds (see yesterday etc), and had a thought about a shot like this a while back. And whilst I was at work late tonight waiting for some software to install, I decided to have a go. I'll revisit it with some bounce flash and a tripod sometime soon - if I remember.

I could also tell you the theory why toast always seems to end up butter side down if you drop it on the floor. But that would spoil what is supposed to be one of life's great mysteries ;)

London

I missed another post yesterday as I had a long day out in London, which meant an early train in and the last train back. But I managed to take a number of photos, and below is one of the shots. With some time to kill mid morning, I went to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. I was pretty impressed last year, but this year's exhibition was truly amazing, with some very inspiring and beautiful images from some very talented photographers. They weren't just photos of wildlife - most were wonderfully composed and lit, and had that little 'something' to make them truly captivating (sometimes just great timing). On one hand I was greatly inspired, but on the other I felt I may as well give up ! I don't have the confidence to think I could ever be as good. Even the under 10's class made me sick ;) So, if you are in London, you HAVE to go to see it. I'd be happy paying to get in again and again before it closes in April.

Self Portrait.

Well, a bit rushed tonight as seems to be the norm the last few days. I need to get my passport application finished for tomorrow, so what do I do - I end up taking photos of it, as a pseudo self portrait. I like the idea, and could improve the execution, but literally no time to think, but wanted to get something up tonight. And I need to be on that 7.00 train tomorrow morning.


Here we go,

A pretty good day (not for photography though)

What a lovely day - well, for eating and drinking and little else ! I was planning on heading out to take some photos this morning and had some locations in mind, that was until I had a call from a friend who was wondering if I wanted to meet up for coffee, which was an offer I couldn't refuse ! Then later, Sheens and I decided to head to our favorite 'local', which isn't so local, but well worth the journey. With our dog in tow, we decamped to The Parrot in Forest Green where I thought there would be plenty of photographic potential. However, a beer and roast dinner and wonderfully relaxing afternoon later, I'd all but forgotten about the photos (shock , I know). So, I thought I'd post this (from this morning) which was me playing a bit - I liked it at the time, but am not so sure now. I love graphical images, but maybe this one takes the biscuit (I think I may still be hungry).

Glorious Goodwood.

A few things to catch up on. Yesterday was manic and I had no time to myself for anything else than trying to finish a project at work - so no PAD (my first absence since starting), but still feeling quite happy that I managed a constant two weeks of posting here, and knew I'd make up for it today.

I took a trip with some friends to Goodwood Motor Racing circuit this morning for breakfast (in reality breakfast was less important than the desire to take our cars our for a blast on some country roads for the first time this winter. I hadn't planned any photography, but still decided to throw the kit in the car. The sun was out, the tops were down - we couldn't ask for a nicer day.

One thing that struck me though was the amount of blue in the shadows, even though the sun was out. So with that in mind, I decided to play with the white balance and edge it towards some even cooler tones to see what the effect would be on some more architectural type shots.

I also took a few shots of the guys in convoy behind me exiting the circuit using my magic arm clamped to the rear of my car. Though they are less than successful as I had one go at it, we were keen to head north again whilst the weather was good.

So a few shots ....

It's not just taking the photo (sometimes....)

Today was pretty hard to contemplate taking a photo, let alone posting one. I had alot to do (what's new) and was due out all afternoon. But this morning I decided I had one chance, so stopped at a field that I always pass on the way to work. I always wanted to take a shot of the horses standing cold in a sunlit field, and this morning, luckily, the conditions were pretty good, if a tad bright.

As I had my G9, and not my other kit with ND grad's, I knew I would struggle to capture the bright sky and backlit horses, and I didn't have a tripod so couldn't accurately bracket. I would have to rely on photoshop later to bring the image up to scratch. So, I have uploaded two images - a before and after to show some of the work that goes into bringing an image back to my original vision. Whilst this doesn't happen on every image, I always tweak to bring the best out in an image. If my end image looks manipulated, I know I have gone too far.

Rain, traffic, and friends.

I've arrived at 11 o'clock tonight, feeling tired and uptight, where it seems very little has gone my way today. Not a great feeling to have, but I am going to be brave and post two shots I took today as they completely sum up my mood. A beer after work with some friends managed to lift my mood a bit for a couple of hours (thanks Miko and Nick!) , and I hope to be completely back on form tomorrow.

I seem to have spent over 3.5 hours driving today, probably a total of 40 miles, if that. Getting to the dentist first thing was an issue, getting to work was even harder, and getting the the pub tonight, the worst. I sat in rain and traffic at standstill, and the mono shot conveys that perfectly. The colour one, in hindsight, is also very apt. It shows the power that is available in an instant, but even with all the power, you aren't going anywhere. 0 mph. And today, that's me - even with all the energy, skill, and some say a bit of talent, I couldn't move my project work forward. It seems there are always obstacle's in life that you can do nothing about.

mmmmm. Deep. Time to go.

My other two loves in life

A quick one tonight. My PAD was to be taken in London tonight when meeting a good friend for dinner, but he unfortunately cancelled. But as my day has been pretty hectic, I ended up working late to play catch up. In fact, this is a little break, and I intend to do another few hours tonight. So, my shot for today ? I think it's good enough to post, as a bit of thought went into it. My camera and iPod are always sitting on my desk now, so I had a play with both before I left. They show two of my passions in life - photography and music. The blur of the iPod logo is because all to often I feel music is always secondary to photography. I really wish I had more time for music, and that is slowly happening. There's so much I want to do, but never seem to have the time - can I have 48hrs in a day please ?

Haircut time....

I accidentally booked our haircuts on the same night as my photography club, so it's quite apt that I used the opportunity to take a few shots and post here (the other bonus was that I got an additional night in with Sheens!). I was struggling for time to take any shots today and thought that I may have to resort to a quick snap around the house which isn't that exciting, or use my 'get out of jail free' card and not post today, and make up for it tomorrow.

But sitting in the hairdressers I decided I could use the time wisely, and asked if I could take some shots. The hairdresser was extremely obliging, as were other customers, and I had pretty much free reign. Although I had only the dim ambient light of the salon, my G9 coped really well. I can honestly say, I love these shots. Indeed, I'm posting two ! And the best compliment - My gorgeous wife likes them too.

I would love to go back and take some more in the salon with some off camera flash, and maybe that's what I should try and organise this next year.

Red and light.

So much to say about this but for now I'm keeping quiet, but all will be clear in a few weeks. My photo from today.

Relaxation

Not a terribly exciting day for photography, but a lovely day for relaxing and spending time with Sheens, which after the week I've had is very welcome. So, my G9 accompanied Sheens and I to a number of coffee shops, which at times can be very relaxing, and like today, sometimes more akin to an expensive creche. It got me thinking about trying to take some images which would work together and convey a feeling of relaxation, similar to the images you may see in hotel brochures - the only way to do this was to focus on details to avoid the crowds and kids. Looking at the results now, the images work well together, it's just they don't excite me much. The upside was it did lead me to look for details with nice soft lighting.

Tomorrows plans ? Well they do say a bit of snow is on the way, but I'm in a portrait mood which means I'll have to persuade Sheens to be my model for the day.

Colour in a bleak winter

I was wondering how to find the time to take an image today - I had a deadline or two, and quite a few other things to finish before the weekend. So it was perfect timing to have a moment of inspiration early this morning as I was making the first coffee of the day at work . I've always liked out Pantone coloured mugs, so decided I'd take a shot.

Taken with the G9, I found it was hard to get close enough to the mugs to show the detail, and to block out the background. I'll also retake this sometime with the 40D, as I'm realising the only limitation of the G9 is noise control.

There we go - short and sweet tonight.

A long tiring day.

A different day, a different light. I woke up early again today and was greeted with thick fog which made me somewhat happy, as the combination with the remaining snow meant for some really monochrome images which I love. I think most people stay home when the fog arrives, whereas I generally head straight out. After yesterdays disaster, I ensured I had a memory card this morning and took the camera back to Newlands corner to have a look and wasn't disappointed. So, I can now post the obligatory single tree black and white image. Not my best bit of work but adequate enough, though I am very pleased I took it as I've only just got home from a very long day at work, and there has been little opportunity to take anything else. I'm now very tired and want to get some sleep :)However, tomorrow looks like it'll be the same, so hoping I have a moment of inspiration sometime during the day. And I can sleep well knowing that I have now completed a PAD for one week !

Really angry with myself....

It takes alot to wind me up, and generally I'm a placid person. However, when I do lose it , people know it must be a big deal. So I find myself in an odd sort of conundrum - I've managed to wind myself up this morning and I'm in danger of losing with myself !

Up early to avoid the traffic on my commute, I also allowed myself time should I want to stop and take a photo or two. It was a beautiful serene morning, with lovely pink cast to the sky, the occasional cloud, and slightly later a real intense sun that kissed the sides of all the snow lined roofs, creating amazing deep but soft shadows against the pure white. Immediately feeling creative, I saw three opportunities, but I couldn't stop as there was no where to pull in. Making it to the top of Newlands corner, a local viewpoint, I took a short walk, saw a shot, and composed a scene. I was so excited, all around me there were many more shots to take. Perfect conditions I thought would make up for being at work yesterday.

Click.

I stood back looking at the screen - 'Failed to write - no memory card'

What ?

In my haste to leave this morning, I'd forgot to replace the card in the camera and it's still at home in my computer. I couldn't believe it as this morning was all stacking up to be fantastic.

So, have I learned a lesson ? We'll see over the next 360 days. I'll leave it with the following PAD.... gutted.

Turning icy

Today is where my PAD became difficult. I had a full day at work, and no luxury of a photography expedition ! I began to panic about getting a decent shot onto the blog today.

Despite wanting to be out photographing the rest of the beautiful snow, I had to keep my head down and work. Which was incredibly frustrating as there were blue skies and sunshine to illuminate the snow laden landscape, even more frustrating as I know two friends were out today in close to perfect conditions. However on my journey in, I noticed how much ice there was around today, where the temperature had crept above 0c yesterday, and frozen overnight. A bridge formed the perfect graphic background to a number of backlit icicles. Window down in the car, G9 on, compose, underexpose for the backlighting, and click. Done. I guess that's the bonus of my new little compact - it travels everywhere with me now.

On a side note, can you believe how many happy people there were today ? The day of snow seems to have been the best thing for all the doom and gloom. Forget the amount of cash businesses were supposed to have lost - I sort of detect a little improvement in the general mood. Just look at the headlines in the papers - how refreshing to have pictures of people having fun on the front !

A rare sight.

Well, what an amazing day ! I woke up to a complete white out today (like everyone else in the south east I guess). So a dawn start for some more traditional scenes on the hill that my house backs on to, and then to the high street for some more photo journal shots. The main road was completely at a standstill, not surprising, when I saw this snowplough suddenly overtake the queue of traffic. He played chicken with the cars coming towards him, and looking at the back of the plough, didn't really do much to help either ? I had been taking some slow shutter shots, so my camera was all setup for this action. Although slightly lucky, I really like how it turned out.

Right, off out again I think. the sky is looking clearer and I want to go and play !

Behind the blue door.

I had hoped there would be some snow around today - what's the point of it being sooooo cold without snow ? There wasn't, but I was content with a little potter past a local coffee shop and started to read the 2009 Freelance Photographers handbook. I think there is some decent information tucked away in there, so it adds yet another thing on my list to do - start approaching magazines.

So today's photos - on the walk home, I noticed the very blue doorway (which I always notice), but the difference was today I captured it. It will become part of a series of 16 images, which I will post the end result in a while - the complete body of work should be quite strong.

The others - well, couldn't resist....