Walk & Talk In Four Four Time

Well I did take my camera with me on the London ghost walk last night and to be honest I really didn't shoot a lot.

I thought I might shoot some more afterwards but there really wasn't much time and the streets were quite rowdy, there had been a football game I think (that's not a jest, I really don't follow or watch the sport at all).

Whilst we waited outside the tube station I did shoot a couple of frames, this being one. I've borrowed the title from a song but I'm going to let you guess what it is, can you?

CM2009

Pedal Through The Metal

I'm a few days into my holiday, I think I may have started to relax!

I spent all day in the garden yesterday weeding the borders etc, has to be the worst part of gardening but I feel better for getting it done and it's a good job I did because it rained all night long!

I don't know what the rest of the week holds yet except that we're off on a ghost walk around London tomorrow evening which should be fun. Now do I take the camera? Not for ghost catching you understand, I really don't know why people think orbs are anything other than dust! I might get the airbrush out and do a little model making later on this week, it's a hobby I've neglected for quite some time.

This is an image that I've thought about posting for a while but had never really got around to doing anything with it so having a little time an my hands this morning I thought I'd have a bash at it. I was going to leave it pure B&W but let some colour seep through at the last minute to give a hint of those rusty tones.

CM2009

To The Point

CM2009

Oi! You Looking at my Bird?

Some images are serious, convey a meaning or message that you wish to get across. Some are just humorous and I hope this is one of those? If you're not from the UK you might not get the title, not sure :-/ made me smile anyway :)

CM2009

Dirty Magazine

I'm nearly there, just one more day and then a week off :)

It'll be a heavy day tomorrow but it'll be worth it and then I'll have time to cut the grass, clean the car, paint the fence-hold on a minute it's starting to sound like work!! ;-)

This is another image from Languard Fort, underground in the magazine where all the shells would have been kept then sent up to the guns via an ingenious shell lift system. Apart from that I don't think I've got much else to say about it or indeed anything else.

CM2009

Fun Fair No Go Go!

Things are reaching fever pitch, I'm rushing around trying to get stuff finished before my week off and my brain is working twice as fast. I actually had a dream last night about a solution to a problem and it actually worked! First time for everything.

It'll take me most of the week to relax and then I'll be back to work, it's always the same so I might as well just accept it now, I'm crackers :-/

So on top of this I felt compelled to blog, I guess that whilst you're in this state of mind you get stuff done.

This is the pier at Felixstowe. I had read before I travelled that the pier had become derelict and whilst I was sad that this might be the case I thought it would make a good photo op. However it's not, the front section is still open with the usual £1 a go amusements ( remember the days when a small bag of 2p's would last hours?), the rest is just fenced off. There used to be a huge slide and other rides on here when I was a kid, hours of fun were had on those long hot summer evenings now it's just left to rot until it falls down I guess, a rescue plan was abandoned I read somewhere. Perhaps an MP could declare it a second home, be fixed up in no time ;-)

CM2009

Ye Olde Watering Hole

As you can see I did find the time for a little blogging this evening!

One thing with not blogging regularly over the last week or so is that I have had the chance to blow off any steam about current affairs.

All this lark about MP's and their expense claims, I could really go into one about it but then that could get me in trouble so I'll just say that this; it's affirmed exactly what I thought of them all in the first place! Know what I mean?

The image today is my local pub. Now I'm certainly no regular but it a nice place to go and unwind, have a pint, a nice meal and even a good conversation, just as a good pub should be ;-)

CM2009

Along The Towpath

So where the heck have I been?

It's been a week and a half I tell you. I've had two members of staff off sick for most of the week, one has returned the other is still off. Now these things certainly can't be helped but did I mention that there are only three of us to start with?

It always seems to be the case that leading up to holidays we seem to become busier than usual and then a spanner gets thrown in the works to boot. On top of this I've a couple of personal projects that are consuming my spare time and the net result is that photography and blogging have had to take a back seat. I guess that in the overall scheme of things it's not very important but it is important to me, I fear this next week may well be the same however, we'll see how it pans out! It's frustrating because I already have the shots but not the time to work on them.

I was also side swiped by the print issue that I spoke about, now my screen may not be calibrated perfectly but this print was way off, it made me feel that all the posts I've ever done were in vain. However after chatting with a friend last night it would seem the print was off and I've requested it to be printed again. We'll wait and see......

So I'm sorry for not posting on a regular basis and not commenting much either, I'm sure that you've all had periods like this so I hope you understand.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the image at all! This was taken along the canal towards Ware and again I've let the barest of colour creep through on the opacity slider.

CM2009

Standoff

I've had one of those days where you couldn't say everything went wrong but it didn't exactly go to plan either, too many things on the old grey matter! I've a week off soon and I'm looking forward to that immensely. :)

We went to Living Crafts at Hatfield House over the weekend. It was a nice day out and filled with lots of craftspeople making a myriad of different things which is right up my street. I took the camera along but I wasn't really in the frame of mind for images again. I did see these four though and thought it ironic that the dogs seemed quite friendly but the owners decidedly stony faced!

CM2009

The Last Defender#Take Two

Phew, it's been a busy day, a busy weekend actually.

Apart from my usual break to watch the Grand Prix of course, can't miss that! What a fairytale season it's been so far for Jenson Button eh? Well deserved too, he's had a rough few years!

I deliberated hard over this post as to whether I should post a straight B&W or this textured version. First because I like to vary my work and second because I'm always conscience of the fact you might get bored. In the end though I preferred the textured version as it has more atmosphere for me. I tried to imagine a wartime photograph that had been kept in a wallet or carried around in some way for the last sixty odd years, have I achieved that look or gone over the top?

As a side note I think I may have a screen calibration problem. I had the "A Postcard From Hertford" image from the other day printed. I used a reputable lab that's had very good reviews and when I received the print I was pretty happy-until I got it home and compared it to the version on my screen. It's too dark, a lot of the foreground highlight detail has been lost. Now did the lab get it wrong or is my screen not set up properly? I know that I've noticed a difference when I've viewed the blog on other screens but I put it down to cheap screens.

My question is does anyone know a good way to calibrate your screen without spending a fortune to do it?

CM2009

When The Boat Comes In

Despite it being a short week I feel tired tonight, it's been a hectic couple of weeks so a short post tonight!

This was just one of those moments in time, a quick click of the shutter before it was gone. No time to compose or remove distractions. I just loved it for the two turned heads and bacon rolls at the same angle and in the same hand.

I'd just like to say; No1 you need a haircut and you're running a high risk of me doing it for you! No2, that's a darn silly hat!

Love you boys :)

CM2009

A Postcard From Hertford

Funny old things bank holidays aren't they? The Monday feels like Sunday, the Tuesday then feels like Monday and despite have an extra day you seem to achieve less than you would on an ordinary weekend! It's a conundrum for sure! :-/

This is an image from our recent walk along the canal through Hertford and it's another that changed direction whilst processing. I did not intend to add any textures but as I went along the older the scene felt, looking akin to something that had been hand tinted until I arrived at what you see here.

I guess it could open the whole debate of photography becoming digital art but such things in my own work don't concern me and each to their own I say. That's not to say you shouldn't voice your opinion, I'm always happy to have a friendly debate :)

CM2009

The Last Defender

So that's another bank holiday over in flash then, I bet if I was at work the it'd still be morning!

I did get the chance to go out shooting this morning, I was offered the chance by a fellow photographer to go and shoot on a country estate where he works. It was a very interesting visit, I was shooting with a particular project in mind which is not for the blog and I haven't had the chance to look through them yet. I hope I might get the chance to go back and shoot some more in the future, I could see some subjects that would work for my own interests and the blog, we'll see!

Back to Languard Fort for today's shot. This was one of those images that you start off with a vision for and halfway through you change direction, does that happen to you? I had a clear idea that this would be B&W and I was thinking of adding a texture too. Halfway through I changed my mind to colour and ended up with something rather different!

This fort fought off the last invasion of England by the Dutch in 1667. The two towers you can see here were built much later and were used in WWII to defend the port against German E Boats. These towers are not actually accessible to the public which is a shame, I used to climb them when I was a kid!

Let me know your thoughts as always.

CM2009

Passing Fashion

We spent the day out at Duxford today. It was their Spring Car Show, they hold lots of different events there throughout the year and it's nice to go along and see something different.

They also had some military vehicles displaying, after which you could take a trip in an armoured personnel carrier so Thomas and I took a ride. It was a bit hairy and you had to hold on for dear life but it was fun. There are some fetching photos of us both in hard hats and rubber goggles which I hope never see the light of day!

I have to say I wasn't feeling that inspired when it came to photography. I'm not the biggest fan of car photos but there were some gorgeous cars there including my favourite TVR's (what a sound they make :))))) but these sort of events are not good for images I find. There's always something distracting in the frame, lots of people for a start and if you manage to get a clear shot then you've other cars close by, buildings etc in the background. I think I only have two shots that were ok and may or may not blog them-we'll see!

I mentioned some time ago that us chaps seem to spend a while waiting for our female counterparts. So sitting outside the loos :) I noticed that there was a constant flow of people in and out of the building. I have admired and been inspired by a series of images by my old pal at ID7 called "The Passerby Series" so this is my take on that and tipping my cap to him and his work. Go check them out!

CM2009

Nessy Returns

Well how many posts that have this part of the estuary in can you stand before you stop visiting?

The truth is that this in response to some critique on the last image that included Nessy here. As you might know this blog runs in two places and on AM3 there's a critique area in the forums, if you haven't visited yet do so! It's a great place to get some constructive but friendly feedback on your images with a view to improving.

I mentioned there that I had another shot that didn't include the distracting tower in the corner of the shot. I said in the forum that I probably wouldn't post the shot but I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out so I thought why not?

Let me know your thoughts as always and if you have the time how it compares to the previous shot? There's only two minor things that are bugging me with this version; There's some slight lens distortion that I can't seem to correct well and Nessy seems a little stark against the sky, almost as if this is a tone mapped HDR but it's not. These are just niggles and not enough to stop me liking it.

CM2009