Showing posts with label Abstract. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abstract. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Urban Graffiti I
On one of my routes to the River Crane, I pass close to a sunken walled area which features some of the best Urban Graffiti I have ever seen. In the absence of any new wildlife shots this weekend I thought I'd post up the first of a number of shots I took there this weekend. I've adjusted the shot for perspective and cropped the surroundings which makes it hard to get a feel of scale. The original mural was probably about thirteen feet wide.
After taking these shots I spent a happy half hour chasing three juvenile kinfishers. Sadly they were just a little too skittish to get any decent photos - but it was lovely to see them.
After taking these shots I spent a happy half hour chasing three juvenile kinfishers. Sadly they were just a little too skittish to get any decent photos - but it was lovely to see them.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Grey and wet
The title says it all. Grey and wet. And cold. Mustn't forget cold!
Hopefully this weather will break soon and I can get back to photographing some wildlife. Tum ti tum...
Hopefully this weather will break soon and I can get back to photographing some wildlife. Tum ti tum...
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Light and water
Well as expected I failed to make it out with the camera this weekend - so here are a couple more shots from my recent time in the Lake District. The first is a long exposure shot of the stream that flows from Grasmere to Rydal Water. I've sat in that exact spot on several holidays always looking for a shot which captured the place. This time is the first time I've come away happy.
I'm not so sure about including the second shot. Technically everything about it is wrong. But somehow I quite like it. Taken with my 400mm and 1.4x teleconverter whilst I waited for a bird that never quite came close enough. Looking at it now I should have taken it a second or two earlier to fully include the rear yacht and composed it slightly higher to not clip the tops off the sails in the background. But somehow, for me at least, it still has something.
I'm not so sure about including the second shot. Technically everything about it is wrong. But somehow I quite like it. Taken with my 400mm and 1.4x teleconverter whilst I waited for a bird that never quite came close enough. Looking at it now I should have taken it a second or two earlier to fully include the rear yacht and composed it slightly higher to not clip the tops off the sails in the background. But somehow, for me at least, it still has something.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Abstract London
Some time ago I was looking back over my website and realised that whilst I've been concentrating on wildlife photography, my favourite images are abstracts - many of which I took with my Minolta A2 when I was finding my way in digital photography. So today I set myself the challenge of shooting some more. I don't have the Minolta any more - but my 1D MkIIN is now back from Canon and I recently picked up a secondhand 24-105 f/4 so I headed into London armed with these.
It was not an ideal day for photography - the weather was distinctly grey with intermittent drizzle. My initial plan had been to head towards the Gherkin, but in the end I just let my feet lead me. It's quite enjoyable to wander aimlessly in London. There's so much to see. Every street corner becomes a choice. Eventually I found myself at the back of Fleet Street - which is where the best images of the day came from.
I'm not sure that they are up to the standard of my Minolta images, but I had a great time. Definitely something I plan to repeat - hopefully on a day with more dramatic skies and better light! The good news is that the 1D performed flawlessly, so I am now hopeful that the recent repair has indeed fixed its problems...
It was not an ideal day for photography - the weather was distinctly grey with intermittent drizzle. My initial plan had been to head towards the Gherkin, but in the end I just let my feet lead me. It's quite enjoyable to wander aimlessly in London. There's so much to see. Every street corner becomes a choice. Eventually I found myself at the back of Fleet Street - which is where the best images of the day came from.
I'm not sure that they are up to the standard of my Minolta images, but I had a great time. Definitely something I plan to repeat - hopefully on a day with more dramatic skies and better light! The good news is that the 1D performed flawlessly, so I am now hopeful that the recent repair has indeed fixed its problems...
Monday, 11 June 2007
On the absence of time...
Time is a funny thing. It races by when you're busy and drags when you're not. Which means that there is never enough of it in the right places, and far too much in the wrong ones - or so it seems. All of which in esence means, I have not been out with my camera in far too long, and I miss it. And to be honest, there is no excuse; I've allowed myself to lose sight of the things that really make me alive, and accepted pale substitutes. If I can't make time for the things I love, no-one else will...
Countdown to Falklands trip: 180 days to go
Countdown to Falklands trip: 180 days to go
Monday, 26 February 2007
On light and weather
One of the recurring mantras of photography is the need for interesting light. And its generally true. A stunning location on a dull day all too often means a dull shot, whilst fantastic light in an below-average location can still yield a stunning image. Having taken many thousand dull photographs one becomes something of a light snob. My camera rarely leaves its bag on an uninteresting day. In fact, in recent months I have tended to not even bother go out with the camera on an overcast day, unless there is some other reason to do so.
Last week, however, I had arranged to meet a friend to walk round the future site of the 2012 Olympic games, and as it turned out it was a very dull day. Despite that I managed some halfway decent pictures. I mostly stuck with the abstracts. Close cropped, minimalist shots with no sky. Some of these worked quite well.
Given the location I wasn't expecting anything noteworthy on a wildlife theme. So imagine my surprise when, halfway through the day, a heron graced us with his presence. Fortunately I'd just swapped my 17-85mm for a 70-200mm, but everything else was wrong. The camera was set up for one-shot, not the continuous auto-focus I'd normally select for flight shots. The IS on the lens was not in panning mode. Quite why the aperture was f/3.5 I confess I have no idea. Nevertheless, as the heron flew by I squeezed off a single shot. I wasn't really expecting anything, but when I got it back, I found it was pin sharp (got to love that EF70-200 IS!). And yes, the light is not great, but (for me at least) the photo still works.
Maybe in future I'll be less of a snob...
Countdown to Falkands trip: 285 days to go
Last week, however, I had arranged to meet a friend to walk round the future site of the 2012 Olympic games, and as it turned out it was a very dull day. Despite that I managed some halfway decent pictures. I mostly stuck with the abstracts. Close cropped, minimalist shots with no sky. Some of these worked quite well.
Given the location I wasn't expecting anything noteworthy on a wildlife theme. So imagine my surprise when, halfway through the day, a heron graced us with his presence. Fortunately I'd just swapped my 17-85mm for a 70-200mm, but everything else was wrong. The camera was set up for one-shot, not the continuous auto-focus I'd normally select for flight shots. The IS on the lens was not in panning mode. Quite why the aperture was f/3.5 I confess I have no idea. Nevertheless, as the heron flew by I squeezed off a single shot. I wasn't really expecting anything, but when I got it back, I found it was pin sharp (got to love that EF70-200 IS!). And yes, the light is not great, but (for me at least) the photo still works.
Maybe in future I'll be less of a snob...
Countdown to Falkands trip: 285 days to go
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