Kieran Mansley Photography

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

I can see, I can see perfectly

One of those spur of the moment shots as Isabel woke up and found my glasses for me.

I'm quite pleased with this one, partcicularly as it was first thing in the morning, and I didn't have my glasses on.

Posted at: 15:39 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Rainbow

A rainbow landing in the NIAB fields between Histon and Girton.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Budding Strobist

Isabel was fascinated with a new softbox that arrived last week, so much so that I couldn't pursuade her to do anything but watch it and look for the flash firing. At least I managed to get one of her round the front of the softbox, rather than peeking in at the back.

Her most frequent "consumerist want" at the moment is a camera of her own.

Posted at: 15:53 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Isabel

Isabel is now three, and a big sister. You know that a shoot is going to be difficult when the model insists on sucking their thumb, so I was pleased to get a couple of good ones out of the few minutes I had.

Posted at: 21:21 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 30 May 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

One Day

Here's a content young Alice, just one day old, the latest addition to our family.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 12 May 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Green!

Look closely for the busy ants.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Crocus I

Spring is a great time in the garden, and of all the spring bulbs these are probably my favourites, particularly when they open up in response to the sunshine.

I hope to get a third to make a triptych.

Posted at: 21:08 | category: / | permalink

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Pigs At Play!

Took my daughter to Wimpole Hall at the weekend - a National Trust place near Cambridge with a farm. Pigs are definitely my favourites.

Posted at: 21:21 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Not Quite Spring II

Another mandatory picture of snow

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Not Quite Spring

Mandatory picture of snow!

Posted at: 16:34 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Winter Heather

Not many insects to pollinate these flowers in the cold weather we're having, but I appreciate their efforts.

Posted at: 20:13 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

New Jumper

A little long in the arms perhaps, but very cute. She has a talented Auntie.

Posted at: 09:42 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Raindrops

Plenty of rain on Saturday night left the garden, and car pictured here, drenched. This leaf succumbed to the Autumn weather.

Posted at: 13:07 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lavender Bowl

Bit of an experiment this one, trying out the strobist time in a bottle assignment technique of blending multiple exposures with the lighting in different locations to give a soft and wrap-around feel to the light. This was a combination of 14 different shots with a single Canon 540 EZ flash at 1/128th power hand held at different positions and heights around the bowl.

For comparison with a straight single flash here's one of the exposures.

It's a technique I'll be using again for still lifes; with a radio triggers for the flash, a remote shutter trigger for the camera, and a little script to merge the exposures it's quicker than it sounds.

Posted at: 12:48 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Shocking Pink

The contrast between this and the previous posting couldn't be greater. We had Autumn in August, but summer in September.

Posted at: 16:18 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Autumn is upon us

And winter won't be far behind I fear. Some unseasonal fog at the end of August saw me get the chance to take some familiar settings in unusual weather, and this was one of the shots I came back with.

Posted at: 16:43 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

I spy...

My daughter Isabel patiently watching a chicken lay an egg.

Posted at: 21:11 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Cave Girl

Taken on a recent trip to Bruges, sheltering in a cave from some rain.

Posted at: 10:36 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tree at Kew

This is, I think, one of the best photos I've taken recently. Usually there is something I feel the need to change in post processing once I see it on the computer, but this is as it came off the camera (other than resizing for flickr).

It's a tree at Kew Gardens and I find the pattern of the branches and straight trunk on such trees immensely pleasing.

Posted at: 16:29 | category: / | permalink

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Flower Power

Isabel has inherited her parent's love of all things windmill.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Grass

Another black and (almost) white. Just to add a little variation on my recent photos I put a colour cast on this, taking the tint from the original colour of the grass seeds.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Teddy and Me

We all have little moments of self-doubt, and Isabel is no exception.

There was a little post processing on this: curves adjustment to get the background properly blown out (it's a backlit sheet of muslin), then converted to black and white using the channel mixer (using mostly the red channel). Softened a little with an gaussian blur overlay.

Posted at: 21:28 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Peony in black and white

It was pink, but I took the shot late in the day and the white balance was well off. Normally I'd try to correct it but there was little white on the photo to base a correction on, so I decided to lose the colour altogether and go black and white. The channel mixer can produce some really powerful effects with this sort of thing when converting to black and white.

Posted at: 16:41 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Eggs

At Easter we added three young chickens to our family, and this weekend they rewarded us with four little eggs.

Posted at: 11:42 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Nearly Two

Despite my not taking nearly as many photos as I'd like, Isabel has clearly worked out that if someone points a camera at you you stop, stand still, look at the camera and smile.

Lots of processing of this one as it had a fairly extreme colour cast due to the indoors light.

Posted at: 20:31 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

My Heart Lit Up

I saw this and my heart lit up! Haha. It's actually a Christmas decoration in one of our local shops.

No post-processing other than a crop to get it square.

Posted at: 19:44 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Anglesey Abbey

A very pleasant walk around the Winter Garden with some friends this afternoon gave me this.

I did wonder about a more square crop (removing the bottom, to leave the line of the trees running diagonally from corner to corner) but decided to leave it more complete. It would probably also have been fun to take this raw and then blend multiple exposures, but I didn't think of that in time.

Posted at: 19:39 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Cake

I should perhaps point out that I did the icing myself.

Merry Christmas!

Posted at: 13:02 | category: / | permalink

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Savoy

Here's an idea: find something mundane, like a cabbage, and take an interesting photo of it.

It may please you to know that as I had this cabbage sitting on a lamp to provide the lighting, it started to warm the leaf and it filled the room with a lovely cabbagey aroma. Mmmm cabbage

Posted at: 19:46 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lowestoft #2

Another shot of Lowestoft beach, taken a month or two ago. Processed to bring out the colours and contrast of the sand.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:09:30 17:28:15
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/7.1
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 21:03 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lowestoft

There was something of a storm off the east coast a couple of weeks ago with plenty of sand and pebbles thrown up the beach and onto the front. The following day I took a walk while visiting some family, and just had time to take one photo. This was it.

Apologies for the lack of detail in the sand - jpeg just isn't very good at a texture like that, but I can assure you the original is much better!

Editing was mostly a black and white conversion using the channel mixer, and probably a curves contrast adjustment to boot.

Posted at: 19:38 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tree

This won't be to everyone's taste; I'm not even sure it's to mine. But hey, it's different, and that's what makes life interesting.

I don't really see this as a photograph as such, although it is. More as the kind of illustration that might form the picture on the cover of a book. It has a certain atmosphere about it, and I think it is that that I find most pleasing.

As to how the effect was achieved: despite being extremely soft and apparently blurred, it's not due to focus or camera shake issues. It's the shadow of a tree through a window on a wall, and as the shadow was ill-defined, it was naturally blurred. All I've done is add the colour cast and play with the contrast a little.

It rather gives me the impression of somehow lying in a pond looking up through the water at an overhanging tree,

Comments most welcome.

Posted at: 20:49 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Feeding the Ducks

We went to feed the ducks today

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Shadow Baby

One of those chance moments - I was lying in Isabel's tunnel, she was running from end to end to giggle at Daddy stuck in the middle. Fortunately I'd taken my camera with me, and the evening sun cast her slightly freakish and distorted shadow onto the tunnel as she ran forwards and backwards.


Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:08:29 17:06:01
Resolution   : 800 x 800
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.0003 s  (1/4000)
Aperture     : f/2.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

There's lots that could be improved about this, but I was lying on my back in the middle of a tunnel, so I'm happy enough.

Post-processing was just a curves adjustment to give it a little more contrast.

I particularly encourage critical comments.

Posted at: 10:54 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

After the rain

had a photographically productive ten minutes walking round the garden after some rain earlier in the week, and was particularly pleased with this one. I hope you like it too.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:08:16 19:00:47
Resolution   : 800 x 558
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s  (1/60)
Aperture     : f/1.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Post-processing was just a curves adjustment to give it a little more contrast.

I particularly encourage critical comments.

Posted at: 15:58 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Football is fun

Sorry for the lack of uploads recently. Just too busy, despite a holiday! Here's Isabel demonstrating the best way to play football: sit on it and bounce up and down. I'm sure she has a great sporting future ahead of her!

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:08:09 17:42:11
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equiv: 81mm)
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.33
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : program (auto)

Post processing: convert to black and white using the channel mixer (mostly red, little bit of green channel), resize, unsharp mask.

I particularly encourage critical comments.

Posted at: 13:17 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Dentdale

I was visiting my homeland of the Yorkshire Dales last weekend and tried to get a few decent landscapes despite the weather. This is Dentdale, taken from the Settle-Carlisle railway.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:06:30 15:50:36
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
Exposure time: 0.0050 s  (1/200)
Aperture     : f/4.5
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.33
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

I'd tried to edit this to get a bit more pop given that the day was so dull and grey, and was pretty happy with it last night, but on looking again today (on a different monitor) it seems to be lacking something.

I particularly encourage critical comments.

Posted at: 12:40 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Succulent #2

The second of two of the succulent, but I still have no idea what the plant is called. This shows the foliage. Anyone know?

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Flash used : No
Focal length : 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
Exposure time: 0.013 s (1/80)
Aperture : f/1.8
ISO equiv. : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Post processing was a crop, curves adjustment, and a vignette.

Posted at: 20:40 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Succulent

I've no idea what this plant is called, so would welcome any suggestions. I plan to post another photo tomorrow of its foliage which might help identify it.

This is the first of I hope many photos taken with my news lens bought for my birthday. It's the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and I think it should be a pretty good match for the sorts of photographs I take. Given that my birthday was 6 weeks ago I was hoping to have something to show for it a bit sooner, but I bought the lens on ebay and the first one sent was broken, so had to be returned. This one has a slight blemish on one of the internal glass surfaces, but doesn't seem to affect the photos, so I decided to cut my losses and keep it.

Anyway, how could I resist a bit of close-up narrow depth of field photography now I've got f/1.8 at my disposal? I'm sure things will become more sensible now I've got that out of my system, but the background blurring with this new lens does have a lovely quality to it.

Post processing was just a crop to 16:9 ratio and a curves adjustment to get a bit more pop.

Posted at: 09:42 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mullein Moth Caterpillars

I let some Verbascum Olympicum grow in our garden partly because it's a reasonably nice plant and very low maintenance, but also because it attracts these fantastic caterpillars.

The first has clearly been selectively colourised. I'm not a big fan of the selective colourisation - it's often used when not really appropriate - so I wasn't convinced this was the right approach here. However, the background was crying out for B&W as it was a really insipid green colour, with some noise due to ISO800, but the caterpillar in B&W would have lost most of its attraction. Any suggestions for a better alternative?

The second had almost no post-processing, just a very minor crop and slight curves adjustment.

Posted at: 11:56 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 18 May 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

One year on...

I thought this would make a nice follow-up to this photo from a year ago.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:05:03 08:13:41
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 400
Exposure bias: 0.33
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

For post processing, I cleaned up a bright patch from a reflection in the background, and adjusted the contrast slightly - couldn't really get what I wanted there (I think the shadows on this are too dark) but hard to remedy without changing the lighting.

Posted at: 09:32 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 11 May 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Osteospermum

I know it's just a flower, but it's one of the better flower shots I've taken so worthy of sharing. I had a couple of hours enforced spare time last weekend, and so took the opportunity to play with my camera and some flowers in the garden where we were staying made good subjects. Something I'd not been quite happy with in the past was the autofocus on close-up and macro shots with my camera - it would focus OK, but often choose the wrong bit. So this time I used manual focus at its closest point, full zoom, and just moved the camera till the object was sharp. Perhaps not the most sophisticated technique, but easy and seemed to work well.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:05:03 10:40:26
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure     : aperture priority

Post-processing was just a levels and curves adjustment to brighten somewhat and increase contrast as it was rather underexposed off the camera.

Posted at: 10:37 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Xylophone by Night

A fairly straight shot this week. It's one of my daughter's toys on a mirror reflecting the night sky, taken for a "Colour on black" competition.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:04:25 20:06:19
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 44.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 71mm)
Exposure time: 1.300 s
Aperture     : f/13.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Very little post processing on this: adjusted the white balance, resized (no crop) and a smidge of unsharp mask.

Posted at: 11:07 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

King's Cross

I went to London last weekend with Isabel for a jolly to the Tate Modern. It turned into quite a long journey, as the trains were diverted and half the tube was shut down, so I didn't get much time to stop and take pretty pictures. This one I was quite pleased with though.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:04:14 12:53:32
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0050 s  (1/200)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 400
Exposure bias: 0.33
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)
Jpeg process : Baseline

This is, I think, crying out for a bit of subtle HDR post work. Unfortunately, I've never done HDR, and didn't have the time to learn, or sort out the tools to get the RAW photo off the camera. Perhaps another time.

Posted at: 10:07 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Elvis Lives!

I have been rather lax uploading photos recently, and was in two minds about this as though I love the shot, its focus is off. I really must invest more effort in getting the fundamentals of focus and exposure right! Hey ho.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:04:01 09:46:16
Flash used   : Yes
Focal length : 48.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 78mm)
Exposure time: 0.067 s  (1/15)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.33
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 10:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Dawn

I got up far too early in the morning to do some shots along the backs earlier this week. Sadly, it would seem that I didn't get up early enough (or rather that the sun beat me to it). I rather underestimated how light it would be even before sunrise, and so wasn't able to achieve what I wanted. The problem is evident in this one, which is the best of a bad bunch, in that the sky is totally washed out. Had I been there an hour earlier I should have been able to get a more balanced exposure. Ho hum. Perhaps I'll wait till winter when it doesn't get light so early.

Still, could be worse. I'm quite happy with the composition. Was also suprisingly good fun being up and about taking photos at half five.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:03:14 06:10:51
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 22.0mm  (35mm equiv: 36mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 1.300 s 
Aperture     : f/13.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure     : aperture priority

Posted at: 11:19 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mr Froggy

Just an experiment in getting a black background using a mirror this week, which I hope will be useful in some stock photography. This is Mr Froggy - one of Isabel's bath toys.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:03:08 19:28:26
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 41.0mm  (35mm equiv: 66mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.250 s  (1/4)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.33
Exposure     : aperture priority

Post processing consisted of a levels adjustment to make sure the background was uniform black, and to set the black and white points (it was lit using a halogen lamp, so the colour was a little off in the original).

Posted at: 09:17 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Stinking Hellebore

I know it's another flower, but I was particularly pleased with this one. The depth of field is (in my opinion!) spot on and I love the composition with the repeated set of flowers in the background. The contrasting green and purple on the lips of the hellebores really sets it off. I'll try and get something non-floral for next week, but spring is definitely upon us in the garden now.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:02:25 12:25:40
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.33
Exposure     : aperture priority
Jpeg process : Baseline

Post processing was just a levels and curves adjustment to give a bit more contrast.

Posted at: 09:30 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Frosting

Postings here have been a bit lax of late I'm afraid, not due to a shortage of ideas, but time. This is one from the archives, just before Christmas. A little reminder of what winter should be like!

As is often the case, I'd have liked a little more depth of field on this. I just can't resist opening up the aperture when I'm taking the photo, but regret it later.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:20 10:10:32
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.0003 s  (1/4000)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

This was shot at ISO 800 by accident, so most of the post processing was recovering from that - a Gaussian blur overlay to remove much of the noise in blue of the sky, and a bit of curves fun to brighten a little. It was also cropped and I toyed with flipping it horizontally, as I think it's nice to have things leading from left to right, but I just looked wrong that way (perhaps because I was used to seeing it this way).

Posted at: 20:08 | category: / | permalink

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

I Love You

Here's one for all the lovers out there.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.013 s  (1/80)
Aperture     : f/6.3
ISO equiv.   : 200
Exposure bias: 0.33
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Don't recall exactly what I did here, but think it was mainly an automatic levels adjustment.

Posted at: 19:37 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Happy

Isabel is on the whole a very happy baby; she always has a laugh for her mum and dad, which is very rewarding. I don't always understand what it is she's laughing at (stairs, for example, are apparently hilarious!) but it's nice to have captured this essential part of her.

Post processing was, if I remember rightly, convert to black and white using mostly the red channel, with a little green and a tiny bit of blue, then curves adjustment to give a bit more contrast, Gaussian blur overlay layer, and a tiny amount of unsharp mask to finish.

Posted at: 12:26 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Snow Flower

This is a great example of planning a photo ahead. I saw these flowers a week or so ago and thought to myself at the time that if we had just the right amount of snow they would look great poking through. This week we had just the right amount of snow. Unfortunately I didn't have time to stop and get a decent shot: I was late for work, it was dark, cold and snowing, and I had nothing to kneel on to get a decent angle at these very low flowers. As a result, there was quite a lot of camera shake on the photos that I took, the white-balance was off, and they were underexposed. So, while I planned ahead, I failed to take full advantage of it! I hope that the processing has rescued it to make a tolerably good photo.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2007:01:24 08:18:18
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 50.0mm  (35mm equivalent: 81mm)
Exposure time: 0.040 s  (1/25)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

To process, I adjust the white balance (fortunately the snow made for a pretty good white reference point), cropped to 16x9, minor curves adjustment to correct the exposure, and an unsharp mask.

Posted at: 12:23 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Stainless / Purple Rain

Two shots this week, both from the same shoot. Considering the mundane subject (a saucepan lid with condensation on it) I'm quite pleased with how these turned out.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:27 18:46:57
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:27 18:49:17
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 200
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Post processing consisted of a crop, convert to black and white using the channel mixer, and in the second one a colour cast applied to give it the purple hue.

Posted at: 13:34 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

The Seasons

First off I suppose I should say happy new year as this is my first photo to be posted in 2007. Hurrah.

Taken just before Christmas on a morning when everything was covered in frost. This is actually one of my favourite plants in our garden, especially at this time of year. Its seed heads are a reminder of autumn and sign of a spring to come. The frost provides a real sense of winter of course, and it was this that led me to choose the title "The Seasons", at least until I can come up with something better.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:19 08:04:24
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Post processing was a layers adjustment, curves adjustment, and duplicate layer to partially desaturate. I'd have liked to go more for a platinum look, but not sure how to achieve that, so I might revisit this another day.

Posted at: 13:07 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Through the window

I was moderately pleased with spotting this little juxtaposition of one of the best buildings in Cambridge (what was once Fosters' Bank, now Lloyds, on Sidney St) with part of one of the worst (Petty Cury and the Lion Yard).

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:17 13:18:27
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 49.0mm  (35mm equiv: 79mm)
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/13.0
ISO equiv.   : 800
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Minor editing - I shot this at ISO800 by mistake, and so needed to do a little noise cleaning up. I also adjusted curves and levels.

Posted at: 14:11 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

The First Christmas

Good news everyone! Shameless Christmas baby photo! Isn't she cute, and look, she's wearing a santa hat! And a present too! Awww! Isn't she cute!

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:29 11:16:43
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 27.0mm  (35mm equiv: 44mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 200
Exposure bias: 0.33
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 12:57 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Disco Loo #4

The last (you may be pleased to hear) in my disco loo series. This was the most posed of them all, and the only one where the people weren't moving, so a slightly different feel to the others.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:07 21:53:54
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.17mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : shutter priority (semi-auto)

Minor crop and a possibly a tiny rotation, and I widened the gap between head and post on the left (which might explain why he has such a strange shaped back of his head).

Posted at: 10:34 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Disco Loo #3

Third in my series from the Cambridge Disco Loo. Things were just getting silly now.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:07 21:52:33
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.17mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : shutter priority (semi-auto)

Again, just crop and possibly minor rotate on this.

Posted at: 17:39 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Disco Loo #2

So, continuing the "Disco Loo" theme, after failing to get enough strangers walking past to get decent photos, I went away and recruited friends to do it for me.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:07 21:51:50
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.17mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : shutter priority (semi-auto)

Again, only post processing on this is a crop and minor rotation.

Posted at: 11:20 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Disco Loo #1

First of a set of three, or maybe four, that I took at Cambridge's Disco Loos last week. Yes, I was standing outside in the middle of the night taking photos of a public convenience. I had quite definite ideas about what I wanted to take and this one is closest to that, but none of them came out quite as I'd expected. This is largely because so few people seemed to walk past at that time of night, so I didn't get many chances.

I'll post the rest in this little series over the next few days.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:07 20:14:09
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.17mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 800
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : shutter priority (semi-auto)

Very little post processing on this - just a crop, and possibly a minor rotation.

Posted at: 13:52 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Jesus Green

Compositionally, I'm quite pleased with this. Technically, there is a lot I would like to improve: I wanted more depth of field, but that would need more aperture and was already down to 1/20th of a second. As a result (it was handheld on a very windy day) there's a bit of camera shake on this full size. I really struggled to post-process this too; just couldn't get something that I liked. Anyway, here it is, for what it's worth.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:12:02 16:16:58
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.050 s  (1/20)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

I spent a long time fannying around with black and white versions of this, but couldn't get it to work. This version just had a crop, curves, vignette, and unsharp mask.

Posted at: 16:56 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

The Perspective of Peace

The American WWII Cemetery at Madingley near Cambridge.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:11:18 12:54:43
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.67
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : program (auto)

Crop and curves adjustment, but that's all.

Posted at: 15:04 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lane

Not a particularly original shot this, or even a good example of it, but we've all got to start somewhere. This was, for me, more an experiment with converting to black and white, which is something that I'm just starting to realise is quite complex.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:15 17:08:35
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.040 s  (1/25)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.67
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Converted to black and white using the channel mixer, mostly using the green channel, a little from the red, and a bit of negative from the blue. I can look out the original if anyone is interested.

Posted at: 12:13 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tricolore

I lost two hours of sleep trying to get this, which when you have a 6 month old baby is a very big deal, so I hope you like it! It involved a rather Wallace and Gromit-esque arrangement of common household items arranged in what can only be called an amusing, amateur and haphazard fashion to get the effect. I wish now I'd taken a photo of the setup for posterity.

I was originally planning to get them floating on water (they are on glass instead) but I just didn't have the time to do it. Water would, I think, have lent something extra, particularly where the surface would have deformed around the leaves.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:11:08 22:21:19
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 41.0mm  (35mm equiv: 67mm)
CCD width    : 22.17mm
Exposure time: 0.077 s  (1/13)
Aperture     : f/7.1
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.67
Exposure     : aperture priority

Almost no post processing to speak of: a crop to remove some extraneous black from the bottom of the shot (but I'm still in two minds about that), and a tinsy bit of unsharp mask.

Posted at: 12:57 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mist

Not sure how this one will be received; it's rather minimal, but I like it. It's a freshly ploughed field at sunrise on a misty autumn morning.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:14 07:49:19
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 49.0mm  (35mm equiv: 79mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s  (1/60)
Aperture     : f/7.1
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Very little post processing here, just converted to black and white, and a minor curves adjustment.

Posted at: 10:10 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Crossed Beams

Another shot of the church I visited for some photos last week, this time a cross on the gable end of the roof, with the sun behind it. As something of a fan of vignettes, it was nice not to have to add this one in post-processing; it is 100% natural. This takes, I think, my personal record for brightest subject photographed. What a claim to fame.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:19 12:57:16
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.0003 s  (1/4000)
Aperture     : f/36.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Auto
Exposure     : program (auto)

Only post-processing on this was a crop. The almost-black-and-white look is as it came off the camera.

Posted at: 13:18 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Hall

A extra free not-baby photo, as promised. This doorway is part of a church on Newmarket Road in Cambridge. I hope to post a couple more shots I got while passing last week.

Minor curves adjustment, vignette and tiny bit of unsharp mask.

Posted at: 12:54 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Teddy's Time Out

Been a fair few photos of the young'un recently, which might not be to everyone's tastes, and as I have plenty of photos in the pipeline at the moment I might put a non-baby one up later in the week. I happened to be editing this one last night though, so it's ended up here.

Isabel had worn herself out yesterday by the time I got home, so had to have a little nap instead of playing. Her teddy seemed relieved to get a break!

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:19 17:54:37
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 3.200 s 
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Whitebalance : Manual
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Very minor editing on this - just a duplicate layer with levels adjustment and layer mask to make a slight vignette.

Posted at: 12:55 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Can I come out now?

Isn't she cute? Well, I'm biased, and this is not her at her most cute (I've some ideas for unbelievably cute photos to come), but this is her just waking up after a walk asking if she can come out and play, and what is that thing you're looking through making the interesting clicky noises?

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:08 16:46:29
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
CCD width    : 22.20mm
Exposure time: 0.0050 s  (1/200)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 400
Metering Mode: matrix

Converted to black and white using the green channel - the check pattern was red and black, and quite distracting in the original. Then curves adjustment, guassian blue overlay, and thought about adding some grain (there's a little from the ISO400 already) but would need a bit of practice at that effect first.

Posted at: 12:46 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Honesty

Bit late this week, not because I'm lacking in ideas for photos, but because I'm lacking in time. No time, for example, to get a case for my new camera, and so I don't really want to travel with it and end up scratching it on my bike for example. As a result, all the photos have been pretty local. I hope to get something more exciting later this week though.

For those who don't know, I've called this "Honesty", not out of some pretention that it represents truth, but because that's what this plant is commonly called.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:10:08 16:43:23
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.0020 s  (1/500)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 160
Whitebalance : Auto
Metering Mode: matrix

Post processing consisted of turning this into a sepia shot using the natural colour of the seed heads as a tint. The original was almost sepia already, I just helped it along a little.

Posted at: 19:29 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Hot chilli stuff

Good news everyone! The new camera works. Hurrah. This was the first photo of it. I've not had much chance to play around with it yet - these chillies have been the only subject, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Thought the white balance and auto-exposure could have been a bit better on this, but I was using it after sunset trying desperately to get something to put up before it got dark, so will have to hold judgement for a while yet.

Camera model : Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Date/Time    : 2006:09:28 18:28:25
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 55.0mm  (35mm equiv: 89mm)
Exposure time: 0.300 s  (1/3)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Editing consisted of playing around with the curves to try and do some white balance correction, but that's about it.

Posted at: 13:12 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Hit me with your rhythm stick!

This chap was part of a percussion group taking part in the Market Harborough Arts Fresco - I don't know anything more about him, but I like drums, and they put on a good show. Not quite as good as "Mario Queen Of The Circus", but he was a hard act to follow.

In other news (Good News Everyone!) I sold a photo this week through fotolia - one of the many "stock photos from the masses" websites - so am rightly chuffed. I've celebrated by buying a new camera with my earnings.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:09:09 13:51:16
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0025 s  (1/400)
Aperture     : f/3.2
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program

Standard stuff for me in the post processing. Curves adjustment, overlay laer, vignette, and some unsharp mask - quite a bit more unsharp than normal.

Posted at: 10:24 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Nature Mimics Man

A cobweb built inside the metal lattice of a garden gate.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:09:10 08:24:14
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

I was very much in two minds when processing this: normally I go for a darker, higher contrast, more punchy colours sort of look, but with this image that style of processing lost some of the grey misty autumnal feel of it. I did it anyway as it was past my bedtime!

Posted at: 12:13 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Chain Reaction

Another Fujimugs Challenge entry, doubling up as a blog post. The brief was "Machine macro".

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.70
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Cropped, curves adjustment, and vignette using multiply layer with mask. No sharpening. Would have been nice to have a camera capable of a more genuine macro, but only a bad workman blames his tools!

Posted at: 12:49 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Smiler

Been a few weeks since I got some decent shots of isabel, so I tried to get some last weekend. Unfortunately it was quite dark by the time I got the chance to take them, and her happy wiggling coupled with the slow shutter speed meant most were blurred. This was the best of the bunch, but I think it's a something I'll revisit and try to improve. Can't get them all right first time, eh?

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 11.9mm
Exposure time: 0.013 s  (1/80)
Aperture     : f/2.3
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Post processing on this was fairly standard, gaussian blur overlay, vignette, etc. I also removed a mark from her cheek where she had scratched herself. There's an interesting description of post-processing work on Shutter Junkie's latest post, which is for a similarly framed shot, so I will have to try that perhaps.

Posted at: 12:32 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Cow Invasion

No new shots taken this week, but I hope to rectify that at the weekend. As my shot of some cows caused so much pleasure a week or two back, I thought I'd spread the love with some of the outtakes from that photo-shoot.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0031 s  (1/320)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Hurried post processing because I had to do three of them rather than just one: bit of cropping, overlay to boost colour a wee bit, resized etc to get them onto the same image, unsharp mask.

Posted at: 12:56 | category: / | permalink

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Empty

This was done for a Fujimugs challenge: Empty. In case it's not obvious, it's the inside of a wine bottle, taken through the neck. I had some that were plenty more abstract than this. I now consider myself an expert on the insides of wine bottles, having emptied and photographed a few to get this shot. Trouble is, you always end up taking photos when drunk. The things I do for art...

Very minor processing on this one: curves adjustment to increase constrast slightly, and an unsharp mask.

Posted at: 20:52 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mooove along, nothing to see here.

Sorry, couldn't resist a moo pun. Can't go to Yorkshire without saying hello to a few cows, and these were very friendly. Shame about the out of focus stick in the foreground - wish I'd noticed that when taking the shot.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 16.8mm
Exposure time: 0.0063 s  (1/160)
Aperture     : f/2.3
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program

Nothing special post-processing wise, guassian blur overlay, vignette, and a bit more sharpening than I usually use to bring out the texture in their skin.

Posted at: 12:30 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Enough to share.

Bit of a late one this week, as I've been away for a few days on holiday with my family, but I'm back now. As always, when hurried, the old flower plus insect combo has been wheeled out again, but I like this as it has had absolutely no post processing done. Not even a crop. And I'm really quite pleased with it, especially the gorgeous green in the background.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Posted at: 20:30 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Rain Rain...

The third, and probably final, photo in my little series of "it's been raining a lot this week" photos. As is often the case at this time of year we've had some impressive thunderstorms in the evenings, and this is the outcome on the surface of my water barrels.

I've not tried to capture water in motion before, and it was raining at the time so I didn't want to hang around and experiment for too long, but I'm tolerably happy with this as a first attempt. It was handheld too which probably didn't help.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:07:26 19:38:15
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s  (1/60)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:07:26 19:38:15
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s  (1/60)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

These two are the same photo - they only differ in the post processing. They were both converted to black and white, then had an overlay layer and colour tint. They differ in that on the first the overlay layer was sharpened, which on the second it had a small zoom blur applied. I couldn't make my mind up immediately which I liked better, so have posted both.

Posted at: 18:35 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

10 weeks

I'm very proud of little Isabel, she learns something new every day, and while these little achievements would no doubt be rather boring for everyone else I think she's amazing. This is her at 10 weeks old.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  9.5mm
Exposure time: 0.0031 s  (1/320)
Aperture     : f/2.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Light Source : Daylight
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

I think this just had a gaussian blur overlay layer for post-processing, with a mask to keep her eyes nice and sharp.

Posted at: 10:46 | category: / | permalink

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #46 - One Year On.

Special bonus post. My photo blog is one year old this week, so I have collected together a mosaic of some of my favourite images of the past year. I've made 46 posts, containing 59 images, so while I've not managed one every week as promised, I'm satisfied with that. I'm also very pleased with the way my photography has changed and improved over the year, particularly the way I've become more particular and critical of my own work, and the quality of the post-processing.

To celebrate this truly momentous occasion I've decided to try to title the posts from now on rather than just have a number. Exciting, isn't it!

Normal service should resume on Friday.

This one has had no post-processing as such, but the mosaic was produced using one of the handy Flickr Toys tools.

Posted at: 12:54 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #45

Good news everyone! I had a number of successes last weekend, so this week's photo tries to unify them into one offering.

It was the Girton village show, the highlight of our social year, and the focus of my gardening over the previous few weeks. So off I merrily went with my broad beans, photo of a flower (and you know what I think about those!), and jar of marmalade. I was most pleased later in the day to discover that my beans got first prize (and "Best Novice Vegetable"), as did my photo - it was the osteospermum after the rain if you're interested. Sadly, the marmalade fell short in light of the stiff competition, but I shall return next year to rule supreme.

So, this is a shot (by an award winning photographer) of my award winning beans! Compositionally, I'd have liked it to be a bit more balanced, but there is only so much time you can spend piling beans on a plate in an artistic fashion when there is a baby around. Even if there wasn't a baby, you'd start to look silly after a while!

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.067 s  (1/15)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Nothing special in the post-processing: curves modification on the green channel and an overlay layer. Perhaps most notably there was no unsharp mask applied as I rather like the softness. Something I'm really happy about in this one is the depth of field - just right!

Posted at: 20:41 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #44

As always, not entirely happy with this. Will there ever be a photo that I am happy with?! I doubt it! :) What is particularly a shame with this one is that it has some visible jpeg artifacts, which there's not a lot I can do about unless I get a better camera. What I do like is the strong diagonal lines.

This was an attempt to illustrate rain again, as although it's not been too wet this week, there was some pretty strong stuff.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:07:06 18:17:15
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0080 s  (1/125)
Aperture     : f/3.2
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Processing was hurried. Curves adjustment, convert to black and white, colour overlay, two vignettes, crop and sharpen.

Posted at: 20:49 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #43

After last week's short diversion, it's back to the plants. At least it has an insect in it, but that doesn't really improve the cliche! As I've spent the last year looking at photos in much more detail, and more volume, I've realised that photos of flowers (often with insects on) are two a penny, and while occasionaly you do get something that is really out of the ordinary most fall into the category of (like this one) "pretty but nothing special". Given that you're starting with a model that has pretty infinite patience, lovely colours, and very pretty, it's hard not to end up with a photo of a flower that isn't at least nice. This realisation has made me try to look elsewhere for shots, to find something more challenging. Lack of time (and no post last week) meant I decided another flower was better than nothing though!

Sadly, with this one, I think I'd have been better waiting for the sun to get lower and less strong as the highlights are totally blown out. I wonder what time bees go to bed?

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:06:30 17:33:43
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0063 s  (1/160)
Aperture     : f/3.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Post processing was quick and dirty: a curves adjustment to increase the contrast a boost the colour a little (in reality the lavender is much more purple than this - I think the strong sun is to blame for it coming out more pink), and a very slight inverse vignette to lighten the corners.

Posted at: 20:37 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #42

It's not a plant, and it's not a baby. Something of a novelty for my photos recently!

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Date/Time    : 2006:06:03 09:20:45
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 15.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/2.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Not much processing on this - just a crop to make it square, a curves adjustment, and a slight unsharp mask.

Posted at: 17:13 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #41

Isabel was a month old earlier this week, so seemed a good idea to take some more photos.

Camera model : Olympus C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 14.5mm
Exposure time: 0.0063 s  (1/160)
Aperture     : f/2.3
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : program (auto)

This is fresh off the camera - no post processing at all. I could probably do some to improve it if I had the time, but currently don't. It was taken by my wife, rather than me, but it was a joint effort!

** Update ** I've now had time to do a bit of processing, and thought I'd post the resultant version. On reflection, I think I could have taken a bit more of the colour out - we're both on the pink side - but I could carry on fiddling for hours. This had a curves adjustment to boost contrast at the bottom end without blowing the highlights even further, a gaussian blur overlay to soften it, and a desaturation layer (set to about 50% transparency) to take out the strong colours from the overlay.

Posted at: 13:38 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #40

A triptych of three shots around the garden in between the heavy rain we had this week.

Camera model : C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/3.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera model : C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera model : C2040Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 12.4mm
Exposure time: 0.0015 s  (1/650)
Aperture     : f/3.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Almost no processing on these - no time! - just cropping, and I think a vignette on the lupin leaf.

Posted at: 12:32 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 26 May 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #39

Again, nothing to write home about with this photo. It's been raining a lot, I took a photo of the rain. Others have done much better shots like this: Shutterjunkie and London Rubbish to name but two. However, that doesn't put me off - I appreciate someone else's photo much more once I've tried to do something similar myself, and although I rarely come close on the first attempt, I get to experiment and learn, which is the whole point. Because I'm still learning, there's lots I don't like about this one, so I might try again next time it's raining and I've nothing else to put up.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.30
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

I discovered a whole new reason to buy a new camera today! While mine is fine for work such as this, if I wanted to start producing and selling stock photos (through a website such as iStockPhoto for example) it wouldn't have the resolution to produce anything other than their absolute minimum requirement. I'd need to sell around 1000 photos for it to be justifiable economically though, so perhaps it's not such a good reason after all!

Posted at: 19:54 | category: / | permalink

Tue, 23 May 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #38

A rather hurried and late entry this week. I tried to get some new shots last night in between the torrential rain showers, but nothing I was happy with, so I've raided the archive.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

No real post-processing on this, just cropped and unsharp mask.

Posted at: 10:20 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 12 May 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #37

Well, given that I've been somewhat tied to this little bundle of joy this week, I've not had much else to photograph! She likes the noises the camera makes, which is good because she'll become pretty familiar with them over the next few years I reckon.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006:05:12 11:20:13
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 12.4mm
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Somewhat rapid post processing this time - I'm going to have to master doing it while holding a baby I think. Added sepia layer and vignette. No cropping or sharpening.

Posted at: 12:42 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 05 May 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #36

Another couple of shots where the subject vastly outshines the photographer, although I would say that as I'm biased on both counts!

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006:05:05 18:08:36
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.400 s  (1/2)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006:05:05 18:10:08
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 14.5mm
Exposure time: 0.333 s  (1/3)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

No post-processing on these - no time with this little one to care for! I'm mildly annoyed that the focus is off on them both. It's impossible to spot this sort of problem from the screen on my camera, and it catches me out every now and then. In case you're wondering, they're shots of my daughter's hand and it's reflection in the side of her cot.

Posted at: 22:13 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #35

Despite a few attempts, I didn't succeed in taking anything that I was happy with this week. I suspect that the quality of shot that I'll tolerate on my own blog is increasing over time. As a result, I've another one of my pregnant wife.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 11.9mm
Exposure time: 0.013 s  (1/80)
Aperture     : f/2.3
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

I originally had Fujimugs "rule of thirds" photo challenge in mind when I shot this. It doesn't show her at her most bump-tious, but I still like the shot.

Very little processing on this - just minor cropping, adjusted the background to get it a bit more blown out, fiddled with the contrast using the levels, slight rotation, that sort of thing.

Posted at: 12:51 | category: / | permalink

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #34

Two notable successes last week: firstly, the photo of my pregnant wife was very well received, and has generated far more interest and views than any other; secondly, the photo of a frog won 4th place in a Fujimugs challenge. I am mighty proud.

This week will be, I fear, a return to normal, as this is a much less interesting photo! Apologies for the anti-climax.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  7.3mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/1.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Yorkshire is famous for its damp weather, and while this might not be universally appreciated, it does have some pleasant side effects. It being extraordinarily green is one of them. This was taken mostly for my own benefit, and I never expected it to become "blog worthy", but I quite like it.

It's another gaussian blur overlay to soften and saturate. I seem to be doing a lot of those at the moment.

Posted at: 21:05 | category: / | permalink

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #33

This one follows on nicely from the frogspawn last week, and also fits into the occasional series I've had following my wife's pregnancy.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  8.1mm
Exposure time: 0.077 s  (1/13)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.30
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority

Portrait photography is not something that comes naturally to me, but I'm quite happy with the way this turned out, which probably owes more to my wife's patience than to my skill as a photographer. The background was produced by hanging a length of white calico in a window with the sunlight behind it.

Post-processing consisted of two layers - the first to desaturate, set to 70% opacity, the second to provide a gaussian blur overlay to soften and boost some of the colours again.

Posted at: 10:03 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #32

Spring is in the air, or more precisely the pond. This week saw the annual frog orgy, and this chap is I think smoking a metaphorical post-coital cigarette. I particularly like the metallic quality that the water takes on in this shot.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0040 s  (1/250)
Aperture     : f/3.2
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Processing on this was pretty simple. Cropped, and a vignette applied using a different technique to normal: a multiply overlay layer with mask.

Posted at: 12:58 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #31

I don't think these will win any prizes for photography, but it's been something of a tough week and so not many pictures were taken. These two little fellows are my sister's guinea pigs who come to live with me for extended holidays when she's away. As they were going home again at the weekend, I decided to take a couple of shots before they went. To do this I put them on a sheet of glass and after bribing them with copious amounts of carrot, took some photos from underneath. This was inspired by someone else's photo of a cat done in the same way, but I can't find it now to give it proper credit. The cat was much better anyway, and these were intended to just be for practice, but sadly Ginger Monster (on the left) died this week, so I won't be able to take any more.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  8.1mm
Exposure time: 0.040 s  (1/25)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  8.1mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

These are pretty much as they came off the camera, but I removed a few specks that were on the glass, and gave them a slight unsharp mask. I made my usual mistake (you'd think I'd learn) of using too large an aperture and so not having enough depth of field. Next time I'll remember!

Posted at: 12:41 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #30

Not particularly proud of this one, but it's all I've got this week. Taken on the same trip as last week's shot, I feel it's lacking something but can't quite put my finger on it.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 10.6mm
Exposure time: 0.013 s  (1/80)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.70
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

I don't recall exactly what the processing was, but not much - crop, adjust the levels a bit, unsharp mask, or something like that!

Posted at: 12:53 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #29

No photo last week I'm afraid, the first week I've missed since starting this 6 months ago, but with good reason. Some good news, however, came in the form of flickr. I was persuaded to add these photos to a flickr account by a friend, and one of them has since been "favouritised". It's not much of an achievement, and I don't particularly mind if others don't like the same photos as me, but it is pleasing none the less. I've also taken the step of starting to enter my photos in online competitions, but we shall see how that goes. The main reasoning here is that you get much more feedback through the judging process than people will provide through a blog/flickr.

Anyway, this week's shot was taken on a lunchtime walkabout when I needed some photos earlier in the week. There's quite a lot of this brickwork in this bit of town for some reason, and although the composition could be better (I was trying to get the shadows through the trees to provide a natural vignette rather than having to post process it) I'm reasonably pleased with it.

I also had to endure the witty put downs of teenage boys from the nearby school who though it was rather odd to be taking pictures of a hole in a wall. To be honest, I had to agree with them.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 11.9mm
Exposure time: 0.0020 s  (1/500)
Aperture     : f/3.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

The post processing was pretty simple - gaussian blur overlay layer to soften and boost the saturation, with a mask to protect the highlights (which were a bit overexposed to start with). Finished with an unsharp mask filter.

Posted at: 12:53 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #28

Another slightly abstract one, which I suspect while immediately recognisable to me, that's only because I have prior knowledge of what it is.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 10.6mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

This is something I've been meaning to shoot for a while. These are a set of the fluorescent lights in the office where I work. They have a rather complex grid of reflecting surfaces to, I suppose, get the light out without having any glare on computer monitors. As a result, when looking at them, you can see very many more bulbs than there really were.

I took a few shots of this, and was particularly interested in one where due to the shutter speed you can see a pulse of light travelling down the tubes. It's exciting here! Can you tell?

Quite simple post processing: it was cropped slightly, converted to greyscae, back to RGB and a slight colour cast added using an overlay layer. I didn't notice until I posted this that the colour cast chosen is remarkably similar to the theme colour of my blog.

Posted at: 13:19 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #27

The subject here should be pretty familiar to many of my viewers - it's the cycle park roof at the William Gates Building in Cambridge. There are some less abstract shots of it here, if you want a better impression.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 2.500 s
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 1.00
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 1.300 s
Aperture     : f/4.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.30
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority

These are pretty much as they came off the camera - although they look greyscale that's just due to the lighting, and although I considered giving them a tint in the end it seemed easier not to. There was some cropping, and the second one was lightened slightly to match the first. I had intended to make a triptych, but the third shot I didn't really like. There were quite a few hot pixels as well that I had to clone out - my camera seems to be developing more of them than it used to, or perhaps I'm just looking more closely.

Posted at: 10:42 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #26

I'd be interested to see if you can immediately tell what this is. Explanation below.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : Yes
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : program (auto)

My wife thinks I'm obsessed with photographing fire, but that can't be true as it's only the second fire shot I've posted. I do find it interesting to see what fire looks like when photographed, and I reckon it's a pretty difficult thing to capture, so there is certainly a lot of experimentation.

This is the grain at the end of a log after it has been burning for an hour or two. I've long been curious about the mechanism that turns the very black charred wood into the the very white ash (I'm guessing), while still maintaining the structure of it. It was this and the shapes created as the log splits, that I was trying to capture.

This one isn't that different to the image as it came off the camera, but it has been converted to black and white (was almost so anyway), bit of fiddling with the curves to tweak the contrast, an attempt at adding some subtle film grain (but not sure it's really noticable or appropriate) and a vignette. It's also one of the very few shots I've posted using a flash, and that was unintentional - the camera decided it new better, and on this rare occasion it was right.

Posted at: 13:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #25

So here is the other foggy one I didn't use last week. Again, I'm not 100% happy with it, but ran out of time processing (I find after a while of looking at a picture I can't judge whether a change has made it better or worse) so it will have to do. As is becoming common, I've got two different versions of the same shot.

This was shot on Jesus Green in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago when there was a serious amount of fog. I found it quite interesting that my camera could see through the fog much better than I could at the time.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 15.8mm
Exposure time: 0.0063 s  (1/160)
Aperture     : f/2.3
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

As far as processing goes, they differ in the tone and the vignette applied, but otherwise are the same.

Posted at: 13:10 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #24

I had a few I could have put up this week, and the ones that I didn't use may well make an appearance in the future, but in the end I decided that as I'd posted two monochrome shots recently I'd avoid another foggy one.

Having decided on the subject, I then couldn't choose between two different shots, so you've got both. I've been looking to do more photography at night, and as I cycle past these greenhouses (at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany) which are lit 24/7, they made an easy target. There is a whole row of them - about 100m in total - and they look very impressive on an otherwise dark evening. These photos don't quite capture that, but I'm just about happy with them.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006:02:26 18:09:47
Flash used   : No
Focal length :  7.3mm
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/1.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.30
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006:02:26 18:11:52
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.067 s  (1/15)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 1.00
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

As far as processing goes, they've both obviously been cropped, while one was colourized and the other left pretty much as is. I think there was a little curves adjustment and unsharp mask too.

Posted at: 12:17 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #23

Earlier this week we had some really quite impressive fog in Cambridge, and so I got up early and spent half an hour before work by the river taking photos of people and trees in the mist. It was cold, but a fun way to start the day. Anyway, I got a few that with a bit of editing might make it this far, but my favourite was this one. It was the last one I took, and actually taken from my office window. It's rare that I can take a shot of the sun without it fully saturating the camera.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0025 s  (1/400)
Aperture     : f/9.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

I like it because it gives Cambridge a vaguely industrial and run down feel, which is not really typical, as well as being rather tranquil.

Posted at: 19:06 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #22 - Glint in your father's eyes.

A few months ago I pondered how to create a photo that would let my friends know that my wife and I are expecting our first child. This resulted in what became popularly known as "the yeti with a biro", and I wondered if I could create others that would convey the same message. This one is designed to be along the lines of the saying "glint in your father's eyes", and I had quite a lot of fun taking it - it involved far more setting up, lighting, mirrors, tripods, ladders, and so than I'm used to, and considerable coordination to be subject and photographer at the same time.

It's not quite what I was aiming for, but I'm happy enough with it for the time being. I would have liked the catchlight in the eye to be more interesting, given that it's the subject of the photo. In the end I couldn't choose between two slightly different versions, and would welcome feedback. They differ only in the vignette applied: one to lighten the left hand side, the other to darken it.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Date/Time    : 2006/01/15 16:36:38
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.050 s  (1/20)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: 0.70
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 12:01 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #21

It's Friday the 13th, no less, and that means I have another photo for you. Nothing scary or unlucky (at least I hope not) and probably the last of my ski-trip shots.

Camera       : Olympus C2040-Z
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 14.5mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

As far as post-processing goes, this one had a bit of cropping (to remove the feet of the ski-lift passengers from the top), some contrast enhancement, a gaussian blur layer (I think) and an unsharp mask (again, I think).

Posted at: 12:22 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #20

Happy new year everyone! The photo I'd prepared in advance for this week is languishing on my PC at home, so instead I've rushed one off in my lunch hour as normal. It's another from my trip to Val d'Isere.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 12.4mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/5.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

As you can see, we are extreme skiers!

Fair amount of processing on this one: quite a bit of clone work to remove the cables that made the fence that the post was part of. Then, increased the saturation of the yellow and added a bit of a vignette to emphasise the sign, and a little unsharp mask to finish.

As an aside, I recommend this photo blog lark to any of you who enjoy photography by the way; it's certainly motivated me to do more of it as well as learn more about digital processing, and I'm quite pleased with the results. To me at least there is a noticable progression in quality of the photos I've been taking and posting over the few months I've been doing this, which is most pleasing.

Posted at: 13:29 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #19

Good news everyone! Despite an absence while away for the last couple of weeks, I'm back, and I have photos. I spent the week before Christmas on the slopes of Val d'Isere, and I expect there will be a couple of shots from that trip that make it this far. This is the first.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 13.4mm
Exposure time: 0.0080 s  (1/125)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Some obvious post processing on this one to produce the selective colourisation, plus a slight vignette, cropping, etc.

Posted at: 11:45 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #18

Good news everyone! As I live in Cambridge, I thought it was time I included a few "Cambridge" shots in my photoblog. This one, taken a friends wedding, is in Peterhouse.

Flash used   : No
Focal length :  9.2mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/2.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

I'm also starting to experiment a bit more with post processing. This was has had sepia toning and a vignette applied, which I think vastly improves it. Shame about the lens distortion making the parallel lines in the brickwork and bike rack not as straight as they should be!

Posted at: 13:41 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #17

Good news everyone! A lovely, if rather cliched, Cambridge sunset for you all. Sorry - it's all I've got at the moment.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.025 s  (1/40)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -2.00
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

The only post processing on this was cropping. I'd have liked to have sharpened up the trees on the horizon, but I think that I'm hitting the limits of my camera's resolution there, so not a lot can be done.

On a more general note, photography is a bit frustrating at the moment - I just don't have time to go hunting out the sort of images that I want to take, and so find those that I do take rather disappointing. There are two solutions to this: (i) devote more time; or (ii) lower standards.

Posted at: 12:50 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #16

Good news everyone! Despite wranglings with pyblosxom, I'm still able to bring you another high quality seasonal picture. Taken just last week, we've got some lovely frosty leaves.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 11.9mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Only minor post processing to this one: boosted the red curve slightly and a little unsharp mask.

Posted at: 16:24 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #15

Good news everyone! After my abscence last week (holiday in Bristol), I'm back, and I have photos. In fact, partly because I didn't put one up last week, and partly because I couldn't choose between these two, there are two this week. As you can see, I was experimenting with long exposures. These are 2 and 4 seconds long, I think, which means I really needed a tripod, but even though they're hand-held I think they capture the motion of the anemone swishing in the water quite nicely.

Flash used   : No
Focal length :  7.3mm
Exposure time: 0.167 s  (1/6)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Flash used   : No
Focal length :  7.3mm
Exposure time: 2.000 s
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Actually, on reflection, I think something between the two would be best - the first has too little motion, the second too much. Ho hum.

Posted at: 13:14 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #14

Good news everyone! The shorter days are making it hard to get out and take photos, so I'm going to have to either make better use of my weekends and lunch times, or do some indoor stuff. I might even experiment with some super-long exposure stuff. However, this week its a reminder of warmer, lighter, days: sunset in a pine forest on the south coast of Spain.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 10.6mm
Exposure time: 0.020 s  (1/50)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 12:58 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #13

Good news everyone! I should probably have saved this one till next week, when it is Guy Fawkes Night, but consider it a taste of things to come.

Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0050 s  (1/200)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -1.00
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : shutter priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 17:09 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #12

Good news everyone! I went to Edinburgh this week, and so got the chance to take some photos. Here is my favourite of the bunch: my good friend astride Arthur's Seat.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 17.5mm
Exposure time: 0.0020 s  (1/500)
Aperture     : f/10.0
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Posted at: 15:55 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #10

Good news everyone! I was too busy to take a photo this week, so I've had to go back in time to retrieve a good one from my collection.

Date/Time    : 2003:03:16 11:07:07
Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 12:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #10

Good news everyone! I thought I was going to struggle to get another picture for this week - still busy - but then decided to try and take something a bit more abstract and everyday. You'll also be pleased that it's not a plant.

While stripping wallpaper to do some redecoration, I exposed some old paintwork that had crazed and lifted. A strong side light, and a bit of post-processing to really bring up the contrast, et voila!

I could start posting the raw, unprocessed images too if there's interest. This one in particular is very different in appearance to the one the camera took.

Posted at: 12:33 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #9

Bad news everyone! I struggled to find a picture this week: too busy to take any new ones, so this one is from August. In retrospect, I wish the front right portion of the stone was in sharper focus, but every photo can be improved in some way.

Flash used   : No
Focal length :  9.5mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s  (1/60)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.30
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

The stone in question is in Peterhouse's old court. They've really started to let the place go now I've left!

Posted at: 16:04 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #8

Good news everyone! Another nature photograph! I really will have another subject soon, but nature ones are so easy and convenient. I couldn't decide between two of them today - my wife liked one best, and I liked the other, so I've put them both up.

Focal length :  8.9mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.70
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 17.5mm
Exposure time: 0.0012 s  (1/800)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Exposure bias: -0.70
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

They remind me of Anil's head.

Posted at: 12:23 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #7

Good news everyone! Last minute entry today - taken yesterday. I was actually out to get a completely different shot, which didn't work out (light was all wrong) but the light was just right for this on the way home.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0020 s  (1/500)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : aperture priority (semi-auto)

Posted at: 11:57 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #6

Good news everyone! It's Friday again!

Slightly frustrating week photo-wise: lots of "almost" good enoughs, most of which were spoilt by the auto-focus on the camera managing to select the wrong thing to focus on, but getting it wrong by small enough that it wasn't obvious on the screen of the camera. If I hadn't been going for such tight depth of field on them, it wouldn't have mattered, and on some that was a bit stupid of me, but still frustrating.

This week's photo should probably have a title. Any suggestions? I left a selection of our traffic-light coloured watering cans out and the squash and pumpkin plants made short work of claiming them for themselves.

This is the first of my photo blog entries that has had any digital processing done: in this case to improve the saturation of the colours of the cans. For some reason (low light level perhaps?) the camera colour balance didn't reflect reality very well on the original photo.

Posted at: 11:49 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #5

Good news everyone! I remember on Friday this week! Thought I was going to get some cracking cloud shots for you yesterday as I cycled home (in the rain) but by the time I'd made it to my camera, they'd all blown away. I'll have to save them for another rainy day. Anyway, instead, you've got another flower, but I'm quite pleased with this one:

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 10.6mm
Exposure time: 0.0025 s  (1/400)
Aperture     : f/3.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Like this one it was also taken at Barnsdale Gardens when I was on holiday a couple of weeks ago. There's another of the same plant here

Posted at: 12:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #4

Good news everyone! To make up for me being a day late (too busy not working - it's tiring stuff you know) with this photo blog post, I thought I'd provide two photos. Double the fun!

First up is a biology lesson. A few weeks back my photo blog featured a dragonfly emerging from its chrysalis. Well kids, to get there a mummy dragonfly and a daddy dragonfly (who don't really love each other very much - in fact, they just met) do this funky dance thing around the pond while flying joined together. This picture doesn't do it justice, but thought it would provide some interest.

Second up, and the main image for this week, is another creepy crawly. This one I'm not so happy with, and I ummed and ahhed for a while about whether it was good enough, and it probably isn't, but nevermind. I feel I've over-done the very short depth of field, trying to blur the background and foreground, and I ended up bluring some of the caterpillar too.

It'll be a large cabbage white butterfly when it grows up, by the way, and was enjoying my broccoli very much when I found it.

Posted at: 12:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 12 Aug 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #3

Good news everyone! Another photo blog entry!

I visited Girton Allotments last weekend, so you've got another damn flower picture. I'm in a bit of a floral rut at the moment, but hey, take pictures while the sun shines on the flowers, that's what I say.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 15.8mm
Exposure time: 0.0025 s  (1/400)
Aperture     : f/3.2
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

So far I'm pretty happy with my photo blog experiment, so I'm going to carry on. It's certainly making me carry my camera around with me more, so that's a good thing. I don't think I'm prolific enough to do more than one a week though, so we'll stick with that.

Posted at: 12:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #3

Good news everyone! As promised last week, I took some photos while on holiday, and this is one of my favourites.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0025 s  (1/400)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Having said that, I'm not entirely happy with it. I'd have preferred the butterflies to have been the right way up, but when you're working with divas like these you just have to take your opportunities as they come.

It could also probably be improved with a little cropping, but at the moment I prefer not to post-process my photographs to any great extent.

Posted at: 12:00 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 29 Jul 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog #2

Good news everyone! I was on holiday at the weekend, which is why this photo blog post is a little late (but hey, I discovered "touch" can set the file timestamp to anything you like, which lets me munge this post to look like I did it at the right time). Hopefully some of the pictures I took will feature here in coming weeks.

This picture was taken at the end of June, of a clematis (I don't know the name of the variety I'm afraid) in my garden. In reality it is a much deeper purple, but as it was taken at sunset after a shower of rain, the light was a little weak and the camera tried to compensate for all that colour.

Flash used   : No
Focal length :  7.3mm
Exposure time: 0.033 s  (1/30)
Aperture     : f/1.8
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Posted at: 07:32 | category: / | permalink

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Photo Blog

Good news everyone! I don't often have anything sufficiently interesting to say to write a post for sn17.org, so I'm going to branch out in pictures. Although you'll find much better photo blogs elsewhere, it will encourage me to take more photos. I'm going to try posting one a week to start with.

The first was taken quite recently, on 27th May 2005, at around 8am. It's a dragonfly emerging from its chrysalis and warming itself in the early sun at the edge of my pond.

Flash used   : No
Focal length : 21.0mm
Exposure time: 0.0100 s  (1/100)
Aperture     : f/2.6
ISO equiv.   : 100
Metering Mode: matrix
Exposure     : program (auto)

Posted at: 12:49 | category: / | permalink

Sun, 09 Aug 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

I can see, I can see perfectly

Thu, 23 Jul 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Rainbow

Thu, 16 Jul 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Budding Strobist

Sat, 20 Jun 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Isabel

Sat, 30 May 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

One Day

Tue, 12 May 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Green!

Tue, 17 Mar 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Crocus I

Wed, 11 Mar 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Pigs At Play!

Sat, 14 Feb 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Not Quite Spring II

Fri, 13 Feb 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Not Quite Spring

Tue, 06 Jan 2009Comment on this article via email or flickr

Winter Heather

Sun, 23 Nov 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

New Jumper

Mon, 03 Nov 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Raindrops

Sun, 12 Oct 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lavender Bowl

Sun, 05 Oct 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Shocking Pink

Sat, 06 Sep 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Autumn is upon us

Mon, 25 Aug 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

I spy...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Cave Girl

Thu, 14 Aug 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tree at Kew

Wed, 06 Aug 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Flower Power

Sat, 28 Jun 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Grass

Sat, 21 Jun 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Teddy and Me

Thu, 19 Jun 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Peony in black and white

Thu, 03 Apr 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Eggs

Thu, 13 Mar 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

Nearly Two

Thu, 17 Jan 2008Comment on this article via email or flickr

My Heart Lit Up

Sat, 29 Dec 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Anglesey Abbey

Thu, 27 Dec 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Cake

Wed, 19 Dec 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Savoy

Thu, 22 Nov 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lowestoft #2

Sun, 18 Nov 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Lowestoft

Thu, 01 Nov 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tree

Sun, 07 Oct 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Feeding the Ducks

Mon, 03 Sep 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Shadow Baby

Sat, 18 Aug 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

After the rain

Tue, 14 Aug 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Football is fun

Fri, 06 Jul 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Dentdale

Sat, 23 Jun 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Succulent #2

Thu, 21 Jun 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Succulent

Thu, 07 Jun 2007Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mullein Moth Caterpillars

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 30 May 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 12 May 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 18 May 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 11 May 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 Comment on this article via email or flickr