No Time to edit Part 2

9/10 February 2014



The attached photos were taken on a trip to a hospital to see a relative. I regard the experience as the first time I have faced persecution for taking a photo. As I took the pictures of the front entrance a young security guard came running up to say that this was private property and I could not take photographs. I apologised and said that I would never do it again.

I must in the future try and take more interesting photos of buildings using natural and artificial light sources

The apples were taken in a bed pan which makes a good fruit bowl.  Just wish there were more grapes and bananas to make it more interesting

Life is quite hectic so I have not done any editing apart from the basic crop and contrast. The apples was done on fully automatic in elements 10.

No time to Edit

6/ 7 February 2014

Photos from a day trip to Malmersbury. There has been no time to edit to make them more interesting


The keys to taking a good photo from an online course I did several months ago on lynda.com

1. Balance
2. Simplicity
3. Point of focus
4. Fore and back ground (I think)

I intended to take interesting photos but it was raining the light was poor and I had no tripod. I will use photoshop elements to see how I can improve what I have done. Watch this space.

The abbey at Malmsbury taken from a carpark with one hand holding the camera and the other holding an umbrella!!

360 Photo Valentine Card

5 February 2014

The intention was to take a photo that describes the stormy weather battering the UK (It won't last long) However I spent most of my day off playing with photoshop elements trying to create various birthday cards. And as Valentine's day is fast approaching I thought I would do a card for wifey and the below effort is it.

Please note the black border and the 2 inch 'mount' - I was impressed with the result. I just hope wifey will be, The photo was taken at Stoke Bruene Canal centre. http://www.stokebruerneboats.co.uk/

The image was on a post and was cropped to produce the below. The writing was obviously added using elements.

Photography used to be about the taking of the picture and for most of us the sending of the film to Bonusprint and hoping for a good result.

For those keen photographers, who I admired, they would develop their own photographs. Now the photoshop world is available for us all to edit, print and publish our photographs. And as I develop my photographic skills I will, in tandem, develop my photoshop skills. Unfortunately this does not come naturally to me so I am continuing to search Youtube for help. One excellent company is lynda.com but I did not use it enough to warrant the monthly subscription - but well worth a visit.

lynda.com

I will continue to use the monthly Digital Photo magazine for help and youtube to improve my editing. Any suggestions will be gratefully received

360 Photo Flowers

4 December 2014

One does get inspired looking at good photographs on the web and flowers do seem an easy object to capture. Particularly indoors where there is no wind to move them about and take them in and out of focus.

Again as with most things in life, it is easier said than done and here are my efforts. 

And talking about life, the below verse is somewhat relevant as the poor rose that reluctantly agreed to pose for the photos is now somewhat dishevelled. It is past its best and now en-route to the compost heap.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

The challenge for today is somehow capture the storms that are battering our green and pleasant land. Although I should have plenty of opportunity as the jet stream is settled in its current position and is quite content to bring depression after depression into the UK.

With regards to the above efforts, wifey was impressed however I am still disappointed that I can not get sharp focus and looking at the photos on the blog perhaps I used too much editing so they look unnatural.

360 Photo, Bon Appetit

3 February 2014

Photographing food is quite difficult as the point of focus is so important. 

I used an F11 stop to have a large depth of field and used a tripod with the subsequent slow shutter speed. But even now the food is not that in focus and is rather disappointing. But I must add that the vegetable curry was absolutely delicious. It is as good as it looks. 

I did like the black hob and reflection in the saucepan.

After taking the photo I checked the website for inspiration and instruction. I should have done this first. The BBC had a page on how to take photos on food and I thought the images of food on Charles Ward site were brilliant as is the rest of the photos.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21235195

http://charlesward.com/site/photographer/food/

360 Photo Birmingham

30/31 January 2 February 2014

I have been in Britain's second city for the last few days. I did take pics with the phone with the noble intention of uploading them via the phone and/or tablet whilst away. With a poor wifi in the hotel and not really knowing what I was doing this was not possible.

The first photo shows quality of the hotel we were staying at. The missing letters and no directional arrow depicts the cheapest hotel we could find. As my mum says, "You get what you pay for."
The other photographs were taken on a run  early Saturday morning

The statue is of Joseph Sturge. I had never heard of him either but thanks to the internet now you can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sturge

The photo for the 2 February is a selfie whilst running along when I returned from Birmingham. For those still interested in my running I did four miles at an average speed of 8.35 mins per mile. Quite pleased but I need to keep this pace for a further 9.1 miles.

And finally the below link is photography I aspire to do. Wonderful and very emotive photographs that tell stories and get people to linger and look. 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/01/26/russian-mother-captures-atmospheric-photos--family-portraits-of-sons-on-farm