The Passionate Mute

We have relocated

2006-09-01T21:02:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Thank you for all that have visited my blog since it was open, even if it was mis-click. I am however, moving to a new a home, I will leave this blog as it is, and if you want to check out the new blog please follow the link below.

I will be posting an image everyday as well as the occasional tutorial, techniques and links to useful resources. Hope to see you soon.

The Passionate Mute (new home)

Bouquet

2006-03-17T03:10:00.000Z

Shot through the window, the sun was directly behind me reflecting strongly on the top pane. Picture taken in b&w and color altered in photoshop during post-processing. Thanks for looking.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/210s
Focal length: 17.0 mm

Abstract

2006-03-17T03:09:00.000Z

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Muse

2006-03-17T03:04:00.000Z

This is Olivia, my muse. I was feeling a lack of creativity and had some spare time so decided to take a walk in the near-by park. That's where I met Olivia who was being walked by her owner. She gracefully posed for the shot for long enough for me capture several shots. This is by far my favourite - it not special because of the technical aspects (lighting, composition etc.) but it helped me regain my confidence in photography.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/90s
Focal length: 9.0 mm

Cityscape

2006-03-17T02:55:00.000Z

I took this shot whilst on a random bus journey - when returing from university I took the bus which takes me back near where I live but I didn't know of the route. The bus took a extremely long way around (it took 2hrs+ where as the other route takes 30min). It did present me with great photographic oppurtnities, this shot was taken through the bus window - in the foreground is the railway bridge and in the distance is the church. I just liked the composition - the image was taken in b&w and I later adjusted the color to a darker grey in photoshop. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/52s
Focal length: 38.0 mm

Doorway

2006-03-17T02:51:00.000Z

So, lately I've just been in a monochrome mood - this shot is of the main entrance of the children's centre near where I live. It was nice sunny day and the glass reflected the light extremely well allowing me to meter to get a high contrast. I shot the image in b&w and later tweaked with the levels in photoshop to achieve what can be seen below.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/300s
Focal length: 18.0 mm

Nature abstract

2006-03-17T02:43:00.000Z

Sorry all, I haven't been posting recently but blogger has been rather erratic lately (at least with my account). Anyways thanks all who have commented on my photos, your comments are appriciated, so thank you again.

Right, an abstract then, this started as a mistake. I was photographing a flower and because of the camera shake i got a blurred image - it seemed intresting to me but something was missing! I then just went about placing random objects with the flower and taking shots this one is off the flower with part of my blue t-shirt in shot. Enjoy and thanks for viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

A view of passion

2006-03-07T13:03:00.000Z

Taken again during the performance of Pygmalion at Keele University. I adjusted the levels because I wanted a very glamorous look and wanted to make the image appear as if the two bodies were merging in to each other at least in the black area. It was of great help that the costumes and background contrasted so well. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/16s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

A character view #2

2006-03-07T12:58:00.000Z

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/60s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

A character view #1

2006-03-07T12:56:00.000Z

Picture take at Keele University during the performance of Pygmalion and edited in Photoshop CS2. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/100s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Artificiality - Part 2

2006-03-05T17:37:00.000Z

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/7s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Artificiality - Part 1

2006-03-05T17:36:00.000Z

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Experiment in high key

2006-03-05T17:31:00.000Z

I haven't really done many high-key photos before but when I saw this composition I had to try it out. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/240s
Focal length: 18.0 mm

A walk in the park

2006-03-05T17:28:00.000Z

As the title says - Just a simple photo converted to b&w in photoshop.

Photograph details:

ISO: 160
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure: 1/350s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Cottage

2006-03-05T17:20:00.000Z

I wanted to go for something a bit more unusual - I don't I seemed to have lost confidence in my photography recently, which is really bad as I've had to shoot gigs, plays and other such events recently.

I wanted different results, but I was quite happy with the results here. I loved the contrast especially with the trees and the sky. Have fun viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/320s
Focal length: 26.0 mm

Ducky

2006-03-05T17:02:00.000Z

I think this is a duck, I don't know - But anyways it was walking along the side of the pond near my house, I tried to get as close as I could and since I didn't have a zoom lens. But it was really fun to photograph this - it was freezing cold and I was lying on my stomach crawling bit-by-bit trying to sneak up on the duck(?) - it was awesome.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/210s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Bench

2006-03-05T16:47:00.000Z

I wanted an isolate feelings from this shot but at the same time wanted to put them under the spotlight. I don't know, I didn't like the shot at first but now well....

Photograph details:

ISO: 160
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/300s
Focal length: 22.0 mm

Piercing...

2006-02-27T08:30:00.000Z

We found this piercing on the floor (I think) - that's more or less it, no real story behind it - we were discussing what sort of piercing it was - I thought it looked cool so took a photo - simple.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/20s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Shadow play

2006-02-27T08:27:00.000Z

Again taken at the vagian monologues, I suppose I was just luck to capture this - it just intrigued me. Thanks for looking.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/110s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Monologues image #1

2006-02-27T08:22:00.000Z

These images were shot at the vagina monologues... which is an intresting play (to say the least). I like these especially because of the dramatic lighting and the expressions from the actresses. I apologise I don't the names of the actresses. Anyways, enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/240s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

P.s. Sorry I haven't been able to post much recently this is due a combination of blogger refusing to listen to me and me being too busy, will definitely try and do better.

Monologues image #2

2006-02-27T08:17:00.000Z

Same note as above.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/60s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Daisy again

2006-02-18T17:23:00.000Z

Another picture of a daisy taken early in the morning. I was experimenting with the capabilities of my camera and more specifically the macro lens on how close I could go.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/58s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

It also seems that I've been doing a lot of digital stuff lately, but because I haven't used Photoshop for so long I have forgotten much of it so I opened up this image in photoshop and jazzed it up a bit - I was trying for a fashion look. Thanks for looking.

Daisy

2006-02-17T03:52:00.000Z

Here in England, especially near where I live - there are no flowers, or aleast they haven't bloomed yet. So having some free time I decided to go around shooting anything that I could find. And the only thing I found was a daisy.

I love shooting daisy's they are so simple, yet can give a whole host of compositions. I wanted to display the full character of the daisy - how it stands alone but proud and glows in its own beauty. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/34s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Fallen

2006-02-17T03:28:00.000Z

Hi there. I haven't been able to sleep for two days, and I had a neuroscience test in the morning today. So after spending a entire night memorizing the anatomy of the fetal brain; I went out for a walk early morning with my camera so that I could relax. I couldn't find anything for a while and then I saw this feather just lying there, it was strange since there were no other feathers around apart from this one.

Again I was taking pics in b&w, and it was nice and sunny but because of the angle I used my two reflectors for additional light. I later edited the image in photoshop messing with the levels because I wanted a errored/degraded look as the bird is losing a part of it. Anyways, enjoy the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/42s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Abstract

2006-02-15T17:16:00.000Z

I was sitting in the bar, passing time in between lectures - with a choice of either studying or doing nothing I took the more obvious choice of doing nothing. So there I was, sitting around a table doing absolutely nothing - I took out my camera and started snapping away and anything that was around. Using my wide-angle lens and utilizing the macro function I pointed the camera on the table and I saw this awesome pattern.

Edited later in photoshop to get the colors that can be seen here. One thing I don't like about this shot is the engraved "M" that seems to be in frame. I didn't notice at the time I took the image, oh well... Thanks for viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Berries

2006-02-15T17:10:00.000Z

I saw these berries hanging off on to the pavement on my way to university. I ran back home grabbed my camera and took a shot. I didn't really know how to compose them, just that I had to take a photo. I was pretty happy with the composition, I did at one point think to fill the entire frame with just the berries. I tried this and it just didn't work for me. Anwyays, here it is - I loved the dew drop still hanging fromt the berries.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/26s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Zip

2006-02-15T17:09:00.000Z

This was taken on the same day, I was sitting on the bus and didn't have anything to do - its a grueling 40 min. journey. I had my camera still from the berries incident, so decided to mess about. I saw this compositon as I was taking the camera out of my bag. Luckily the sun highlighted the worn out zip and gave good contrast. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.9
Exposure: 1/6s
Focal length: 13.0 mm

Self-portrait

2006-02-14T05:24:00.000Z

This one was so hard to take. I must have taken about a 100 or so photos before I got to this. I think getting the composition was the hardest part. I had my camera set-up on my table tripod and with light from a single lamp shining more-or-less straight in to my eye and two reflectors set-up underneath to provide fill light.

I had to use auto-focus and not blink or move whilst the camera tried to focus. But in the end and about 100 photographs later I got this. Taken again in b&w (it's the only mode I seem to be shooting in these days!) with minor adjustments made in photoshop. Thanks for the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/6s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Kitty Kat

2006-02-14T05:19:00.000Z

Don't really know what to say. It's of a small kitten, taken using my digital camera with a wide-angle lens with a macro attachment. Edited in photoshop. Don't really know what else to say.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/28s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Water droplets

2006-02-14T05:15:00.000Z

Sorry, this isn't a recent picture, in fact this is quite old. It was taken when I had my SLR, so can't really remember the details precisely! Anyways, I took this quite early in the morning whilts the dew drops were still resting on the leaves of this plant. I took it using infrared film with a filter (can't remember what it was). Enjoy.

Photograph details (best guess):

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/250s
Focal length: 8.0 mm

Squirrel

2006-02-14T04:40:00.000Z

Sorry guys and girls, I know haven't posted for a while. But just been really busy. I've take a dew pictures over the past few days and just in the process of sorting them all out. In the mean time for your pleasure, I present this little critter. I took the photo in b&w, but I wanted a more glamourous feel from the image just messed about a bit in photoshop and voila. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/45s
Focal length: 47.0 mm

Moon

2006-02-11T14:39:00.000Z

Another shot of the moon, taken in b&w with blue tint added later in photoshop. Not much more I can say about this shot, but as a piece of advice for astrophotography in general - go for smaller apertures (4.5 or higher) for better results.Thanks for viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.0
Exposure: 1/200s
Focal length: 120.0 mm

Star trail

2006-02-10T02:45:00.000Z

This is the best photograph I have ever taken and probably will ever take. I love star trails - they look so mystical and just plain simple amazing. I've wanted to take one for quite some time, but would always find a excuse.

Today, as I was making my way back from university, I saw the night sky and how beautiful it looked and decided no matter what happens I will make an attempt at capturing a star trail. So ignoring the freezing (-5ºc) temperatures, picked up my camera and headed out. After deciding on a spot far enought from any light pollution I set my gear up.

For those, wanting to know how to capture a star trail your here's my mini tutorial:

The most important things is that you try this on a clear day for the best results. Find a spot that is free from any light pollution and set-up your tripod as low to the ground as possible (and if you have a wide-angle lens there is no better time to use it). As the Earth rotates on the same axis as the North star (Polaris), this can be an excecllent point of focus. To find Polaris locate a group of stars called Ursa Minor (it looks like a upside down plough), Polaris is at the end of this. Find a composition that you're happy with and fire your shutter. The longer the shutter speed the better the results - you'll need to use the bulb setting on your camera for the best results. With long shutter speeds (4/5 hours) it is possible to get complete circles. Experiment and you can some intresting results.

Thanks for viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1 hour 18 mins (approx.)
Focal length: 12.0mm

Waking gibbous

2006-02-10T02:43:00.000Z

After so many days we had a clear night sky - Seeing this as an oppurtunity not to be missed I grabed my camera and headed out. I haven't done much of night photography before, for the simple reason that it hasn't before intrested me much.

Anyways, I headed out to take pictures of a star trails and since the moon was out I decided to take a picture of that as well. I didn't really have any foreground intrest to include so just zoomed in as much as I could (even using digital zoom) and this is one of the many shots I took. For those intrested in the night sky and such field this certain moon phase is known as waking gibbous (hence the title). Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 310.0 mm

Gig photo 4

2006-02-07T22:24:00.000Z

Photo 4, in the series of gig photography. This of The band My Awesome Compilation, whilst they were playing as warm-up for funeral for a friend. I took a series of continuous photo of the drummer in order to capture the dramatic actions - this was the best out of about six or seven. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/10s
Focal length: 22.0mm

Group pic 3

2006-02-07T00:52:00.000Z

Okay, so third image of the gig photography series. Again taken at the same gig - It's a very similar angle - reason for this was I was only allowed limited access during this gig because the manager of a certain band has some sort of problem with photographers. But still, enjoy viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 47.0mm

Gig photo 2

2006-02-06T23:30:00.000Z

Okay, the second in the series of gig photos then - This one of the vocalist/guitarist Justin Pierre from the band Motion City Soundtrack. This is one of my favourites - I love the lighting in this shot - I was quite lucky to capture the image at the right time. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 47.0mm

Gig photo 1

2006-02-05T22:28:00.000Z

It seems that I recently I've just been taking photographs at gigs which is great. But it also means I don't really get time to go around and take pictures anywhere. So for now, I'll just be posting a few pics I have a taken recently (past week) at different gigs.

The image here is of the lead singer/guitarist of the band My awesome compilation.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/13s
Focal length: 31.0mm

Group photo 4

2006-02-04T23:29:00.000Z

This one again of a band - Fandangle be their name. They are a really awesome band, then again I've gotta be somewhat biased as I'm putting a pic up a of them up. Anyways I like capturing bands they seem to always want to perform and don't mind if others capture their performance (as seen here). Thanks for looking.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/60s
Focal length: 16.0mm

Group shot 3

2006-02-04T21:31:00.000Z

This is of the band, My Awesome Compilation, they were touring with Funeral for a Friend. I took this after the gig, the band were really down to Earth (then again most rock bands are, aren't they?!) and were quite happy to pose for several pics - this is one of my favourites.

Not much else I have to say about them, except if you ever get a chance to see them I would definitely recommend it. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/20s
Focal length: 9.0mm

Group shot 2

2006-02-04T21:20:00.000Z

Another shot of the girls from the previous post. They were really cool and forward coming (?? dunno that sentence doesn't make too much sense ??), and yeah they were just enthusiastic. Yeah, I dunno, I don't really have much to add. I know these shots aren't technically excellent (or even good). But I liked them a lot because they just show people who just absolutely love being photographed - plus they have everything I look for in a photograph.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 8.0mm

Group shot 1

2006-02-04T21:10:00.000Z

Apologies again for not posting for a while, haven't had the time to upload images on to my computer. Anyways, I decided to post a couple of group shots. Personally I love taking group photos because you always get that portrayal of emotion, of exicitement and the feel for the moment.

I haven't exactly been out and about (not with my camera at least!) but also I haven't exactly felt the need to or had the inspiration to go out in the wildeness or in towns and through streets capturing moments. Anyways so here it is - a small collection of images, a piece of my life, my aspirations and inspirations. Have a good time viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 8.0mm

Walk

2006-02-01T01:07:00.000Z

Again, taken in Keele. I've recently been talking to a few people about their idea of love, romance and such issues. I thought this image demonstrates the conclusion that I have made from these conversations. I don't personally entirely agree with these but none the less I liked this image.

From what I've learned a vast majority of people (both couples and singles) believe that there is someone there with whom they are meant to walk together for the rest of their lives (from the point they meet this person).

With this image I wanted to demonstrate that - it shows that there is a darkness until we fall in love and/or find this person. Until this happens we're like the tree in the foreground - out-of-focus and barren but as we find this person life seems to get better and everything lights up and become focused.

I don't believe this - you may. But it is like many other things in life a question of belief. I'm gonna leave it there for now, leave y'all to ponder over this.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/150s
Focal length: 18.0mm

Lovers

2006-01-31T00:06:00.000Z

I went, with a friend, on a trip (I suppose it can be called that) to Keele to take pictures of various areas of my intrest. As we got off the bus and started walking, I turned around for whatever reason, and noticed this couple.

At first I hesitated to take this picture so kept walking but after a few paces, I had a change of mind and decided to take this image anyways. I wanted a tighter shot, but when I looked at the picture I [sort of] liked it. To me, it has a warmish feel to it, and the sunlight combined with my trusty fish-eye lens gives an nice soft blur.

I wanted to crop and/or do something creative with this picture and just play around with it in photoshop but I haven't had the time so far. But don't be surprised if I post an edit of this later on. Anyways, enjoy as always!

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/110s
Focal length: 47.0mm

Patterns (abstract)

2006-01-30T01:14:00.000Z

Believe it or not this is a picture of my leg. Of course I'm wearing jeans, but still. It was a sunny (but cold) day and I was making my usual journey on the bus when I noticed this pattern. It was created as the sunlight shone off the banner on the bus window. I noticed it as the bus was leaving the station and quickly managed to get a few shots before the sun was shining through the other window. I wanted a flat feel from the image (I wanted to emphasize the pattern) so pressed my placed my camera on my leg as I took the image. Enjoy the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/150s
Focal length: 8.0mm

Preferences

2006-01-29T01:51:00.000Z

Here you go then, another random pics. I was just looking at some of the pictures I have taken in the past (last 6 or so months) trying to work out what I'm better at. But there is such a range (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) that I can't pick out a certain field.

I have manage to work out two things tough - firstly I love taking pictures in b&w with a lot of grain and that I love my soft focus (and I mean really love, it's in around 90% of my pictures).

Secondly I've managed to work out that I'm a semi-perfectionist. Why semi? I like to perfect everything I do but at the same time I also try to do a lot of things at the same time which means that I don't leave myself enough time to perfect anything fully!

And... why am I putting this all on the blog? I honestly don't know. Just thought something should go with the picture below (even if its nothing related). Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/8s
Focal length: 10.0mm

My love/hate relationship

2006-01-28T22:33:00.000Z

No no, it's okay I'm not going to spew my heart out about my love/hate relationship with some girl. This is still about photography.

I have an love/hate relationship with digital photography. I don't have a very extensive background with film photography saying that I know a lot of people who do, and I've seen a large number of their images. Now the problem I have with film photography is that it doesn't allow me to review my images instantly and plus not to mention the cost in developing the films.

However the quality of the prints are amazing, I mean to me, if you were to show me a image taken by a 3 year old child with a film camera and one taken by a amateur photograher using a digital camera. Chances are that I'll prefer the one by the 3 year old child.

I mean, I love using digital and don't really want to go back to film (mainly because of the price). But the prints just don't hold the same ethernal quality. This is especially the case with b&w/sepia prints. True that the look great on screen, but once printed they just do nothing for me. The main problem methinks is that it is extremely rare to be able to get b&w prints printed on matt paper.

I have found that from all the shops that I have tried to get my prints they don't offer a matt option. Why? I don't know - I would think it's not just me out of all those with a digital camera who wants matt prints! Yes, it is possible to print them yourself but isn't the whole point of having shops so they could provide the service to us for a smaller price.

Anyways, the reason I thought to mention this topic is because of the image below. Taken at the Reel Big Fish concert I mentioned previously. I had this image printed and it looked absolutely hideous. I loved this shot when I took it, it had a timeless feel to it (probably because I'm a sucker for b&w pictures). But having it printed just removed that quality that I had in mind when I took this image. Anyways, enjoy the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.9
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 12.0mm

Thank you

2006-01-28T03:13:00.000Z

Thanks a lot all you dudes and dudettes. It's been nearly a month and I've recieved over 500 visits so far from 14 different countries around the world. I hope I can keep you all entertained in the months (years?) to come. Thanks again. Ab.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/10s
Focal length: 8.0mm

Childhood inhibitions

2006-01-28T02:50:00.000Z

Okay, I went with these guys (Fandangle) to Peterborough after the gig and we ended up in a house for a girl who was also tagging along. First of a special thanks goes her, Kirstin (I'm hoping this is how you spell your name), for being so lovely and amazing and for feeding us (and what great food it was as well).

When we got there, Alex (drummer) just mounted himself in front of the T.V. We were watching music channels for a while but Alex but SquareBob Spongepants on and it just seemed so funny to me (I don't know why!?). But yeah I managed to get a quick snapshot. Just goes to show that those childhood inhibitions never do go away. Enjoy!

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/5s
Focal length: 26.0mm

Explanations

2006-01-28T02:42:00.000Z

Right, so last two images I posted. They were both taken at the end of the gig (aforementioned). They were both taken in quite dark conditions (hence why the ISO is something crazy like 640!). I don't know what more to say about these images, but I met the fans in the picture and seemed really cool. I promised them I would post it on here, though I am now nearly two days late with my post.

I'm really sorry I have forgotten your names, so if you do even wander on to this site give me a email/comment and I'll put your names up here. Guys again guys for a great picture.

Fans - Part 2

2006-01-28T02:41:00.000Z

Edit: I recieved an email from these guys and have been informed that the girl in the middle is Jay and her friend is Rach. Thank you for getting back to me.

Photograph details:

ISO: 640
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/60s
Focal length: 9.0mm

Fans

2006-01-28T02:38:00.000Z

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/30s
Focal length: 9.0mm

Update

2006-01-28T02:29:00.000Z

Just a quick update. On Thursday 26^th January. I was asked to photograph a gig for the University (plus/minus a few other people). It was Reel Big Fish who were playing at Keele University with Fandangle and Zebrahead supporting them. First of all let me say it was an absolutely awesome gig and I had a blast.

So, I’m not really a gig photographer – saying that I’m not going to say no when I can combine two of my favorite things (photography and going to gigs). So just so you know the next few pictures I’m going to be posting will be from that gig. Have a good view.

Long wait

2006-01-28T02:20:00.000Z

Sorry peps, again have been too busy with so much lately. So haven't had the time or the resources to post anything. Anyways, this one strictly isn't a portrait (actually it's not a portrait at all!) but I like this image a lot.

I took this in a bar - I had a meeting there and as we were leaving just saw this - it looked a bit plain so I put my empty coca-cola glass to serve as the foreground intrest. It was after a lot of days that I had seen the sunset. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 160
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure: 1/640s
Focal length: 8.0mm

Darkness - part 2

2006-01-25T23:24:00.000Z

The image posted earlier kept haunting me mainly because I thought the face was too obvious (or at least very easy to see). I went back to the drawing board and set everything up again. I wanted the body (or face) to blend in more with the background and sort of a "glowing eyes" effect. Again I restricted myself to a single lightsource (the candle) and shot away. Out of about eight images I prefer the one below the best. Enjoy.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/5s
Focal length: 26.0mm

Darkness

2006-01-25T23:23:00.000Z

Okay these two pics taken today and yesterday. I wanted to achieve something dark with a hypnotic feel to it. To achieve the dark feel I used a candle as the one and only light source and stared right into the camera with the aperture set to max. This is what I got after a few tries and was quite happy with.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1.0s
Focal length: 26mm

2006-01-23T19:25:00.000Z

So I've decided that this week's challenge will be portrait photography. This is something that I don't have any experience in, so bear with me. Also over the next few days I might not be posting dayily I will try my best but I can't make any promises.

So anyways onto business. Here you have it picture 1. This picture was both intresting and annoying to shoot. I had a single backlight (my lamp) and two reflectors to direct some light as fill. I had the composition in mind so set-up wasn't very hard.

But since this is a self-portrait I had to set-up the camera imagine myself in place and take the image (using a 10 second timer). Worst were to light reading, with me out of the pictures I could get a nice light reading but as soon as came in there were dramatic changes. So it was a matter of trail and error. In the end out of all the images I was most happy with this one. Anyways, enjoy the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/2s
Focal length: 9.0mm

End of day

2006-01-22T18:56:00.000Z

Here you have it then, picture 7 and the last in the series of street photography.

There is a tea-cup ride that comes to town every once in while. I hadn't actually seen one for a long long time and standing there watching this one just brought back some amazing memories. I wanted to capture some children having fun, maybe something with a motion blur by the time I got there it was too late and no one was really riding it.

None the less I waited there for around half-hour hoping for someone to go on - but nothig! It came to packing up time and the operator/owner was walking around checking things and I managed to get this shot. I love his expression, like he's given up on life and is just riding around in a circle.

Sorry about the quality, but it was dark and I didn't have a tripod handy. But I tried to get as clear a picture as I could. My hands were shaking too much that day so couldn't use a very long shutter speed. Anyways, enjoy the viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/10s
Focal length: 17.0mm

Kindness theory

2006-01-22T18:55:00.000Z

Sorry first of all for not posting yesterday, but had extremely busy day and got back at 5 in the morning today, so anyways.

Here it is, picture 6 of the street photography series. Basically every weekend this dude (I'm really sorry but I don't know his name but I will find out next time I see him) sets up shop outside the mall. He's a really cool guy, when I approached him to ask if he had objections of me taking a picture or two - he gave me a free ice-cream in exchange for a copy of the picture.

I mean you don't that sort of kindness with big coprate businesses, one of my friend's theorized that the small the business the kinder the people, which so far is a pretty accurate theory.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/15s
Focal length: 20.0mm

P.s. Really sorry if there are a too many spelling mistakes, I usually take some care but not today.

Street traffic

2006-01-20T16:16:00.000Z

I went out shooting in small town near me, hoping to find some nice busy street shots only to find half-deserted streets. But none the less, not giving up hope I found a nice comfortable spot out of everyone's way and waited first of all for around 25 or so minutes just hoping for a nice composition. But after getting quite bored (and maybe a bit annoyed) and having had strange looks from every passer-by (as well as some questions and even had a conversation or two) I decided to change my approach and go for using multiple exposures.

The only problem was that again I didn't have a tripod and even if I did I wouldn't have been able to use it. But I tried to capture three images in which the passer by's were staring at me, but I also wanted to show a sense of population. I wanted to potray this based on past experiences - on busy days in big cities such as London if a person was to stand in the middle of the street and shout/take pictures/do anything unusal not many people would pay any attention to him/her because they are so consumed in their own rush. Whereas in small towns such as here, all it takes to turn a head is a boy with a camera.

So here it picture 5 of the street photography series. Hope you enjoy the viewing.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure: 1/40s
Focal length: 29.0mm

A thought....

2006-01-19T22:57:00.000Z

Something that has been stuck in my head for quite some time now is a quote:

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to faliure is to try to please everyone" [Bill Crosby]

For a long long time this has been engraved in to my head but I couldn't place who said or where I heard/read it. Anyways... I was noting an appointment down in my planner and there it was at the top of the page staring right at me.

Anyways, I've actually requoted (if that's a word) to so many people - But here's the thing I'm probably the best candidate to take my own advice. So here's my question to you, why is it that we seem to quite others advice and not take it ourself? Think about this, how many people d'you know that give you constant advice (and whilst you're doing that be happy that they do) and think would they be better off taking their own advice? And if so, you should let them know not in a harsh or a rude way (maybe subliminaly).

Anyways, I don't really know why I'm wrtiting this, maybe its because I'm trying to procrastinate, or maybe just maybe its because I think it's good quote and I feel like sharing it with the world.

Anger and sorrow

2006-01-19T17:56:00.000Z

Picture 4. I was heading back home, somewhat annoyed, as I hadn't taken and good or meaniful pictures today. When I saw this contruction crane as the sun was setting.

I didn't want to be selective about my focusing but try and get the entire scene to be in focus (but the wind was picking up hence resulting in the blurred trees in the foreground). The image got me thinking about a conversation I had a few days earlier. About the lack of wildlife and greenry (don't think that's word actually!). What I don't understand is that everyone blames each other for creating pollution and other by products, but as soon as the goverment/local council start addressing the issue we request more offices and malls to be built.

In the end what we're going to see is what's happened here, you start building a park, abandon it and building a car park or an office structure.

I love this picture personally because of the color of the sky, for me in symbolises "mother natures" anger and her sorrow and the tress rustling as if to agree and to grieve. I'll let you decide for yourself.

Photograph details:

ISO: 400
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/140s
Focal length: 42.0mm

Street photography - Abstract

2006-01-17T23:40:00.000Z

The third in the street photography series. First of all this isn't strictly street photography. I was taking a few shots at the local mall (The potteries shopping centre) and as an experiment decided to set a slow shutter speed. The first couple of shots I took I had the aperture wide open, from around f/2.8 to f/5.6, but the photos were way to bright. So I set the aperture a lot smaller and instantly loved the results.

The escalators look so magical and colours are so deep and amazing. The only thing I was missing was a tripod so I could try out even slower shutter speeds maybe have someone riding the escalator. Oh well... life goes on - hopefully next time.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure: 3.0s
Focal length: 10.0mm

Dave - Part 2

2006-01-17T18:28:00.000Z

Because Dave is so wonderful I think he deserves to have two pictures posted of him.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/10s
Focal length: 29.0mm

Dave

2006-01-17T18:16:00.000Z

This is Dave, he sells the 'Big Issue' on the Hanley high street. He is an absolutely wonderful and magical person, he always smiles and makes anyone around him smile. And even though not many people buy his magazine, which by the way for £1.20 is an absolute bargain, he always wishes them all a good day and other pleasantries.

He is an artist - he can just think up these amazing catchphrases and slogans off the top of his head. And most of all he can't understand why people stop themselves from into stepping in to other people's shots, which is great question. He is one of the most amazing persons I have met to date (and i've met some amazing people!).

I spent about 20 mins talking to this man and it made my day.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/14s
Focal length: 20.0mm

Tricks

2006-01-16T00:45:00.000Z

The first photograph of the the street photography series. A couple of kids were doing tricks on their bikes outside the theatre - an oppurtunity I didn't want to miss capturing. I later increased the contrast of the image using photoshop to make it appear more gritty.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/250s
Focal length: 18.0mm

New challenge

2006-01-15T17:13:00.000Z

Okay so as the new week starts its time again to set a new challenge. This week the challenge is street photography, and no this is not just taking pictures of empty steets. Street photography is about the human society, the enviroment and the people involved. So stay tuned starting tomorrow this challenge shall begin.

Pansey

2006-01-15T17:11:00.000Z

This shot of a Pansey is picture 7 and the last one of the b&w series. It was amazing I had actually never done any floral photography in b&w before - but I was astounded how much better a cliched subject can look in black and white. Using b&w in both macro and floral photograph oftentimes makes the photograph look a lot more poweful and eye catching as it breaks the norms. How many macro pics (especially macro nature) photos have you seen?

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/20s
Focal length: 7.8mm

Image two

2006-01-14T21:35:00.000Z

Okay here it is then the second image and also image 6 of my b&w series.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 8mm

Image one

2006-01-14T21:32:00.000Z

Okay, well then here it is the first image.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.0
Exposure: 1/4s
Focal length: 17mm

A bonus

2006-01-14T20:58:00.000Z

Today as a bonus I shall be posting two images. Both of them of my little companion that I got last St. Valentine's Day - who knows what deviant ideas he is conjuring up in his mind. Plus I also found out that on Jan. 12th it was the national break-up day (which in my opinion is something that's really not need, but none the less..) and so I thought this picture was apt for that reason as well. Enjoy the viewing, all comments welcome.

Canadian goose

2006-01-13T14:43:00.000Z

Picutre 5 - Another shot of the Canadian Goose. I went back hoping to get a better shot than the one previously posted. But personally I prefer the previous shot, though this one the goose is posing at least!

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/85s
Focal length: 47mm

Canadian goose

2006-01-13T13:53:00.000Z

Picture 4 for my b&w challenge Canadian goose taken in Hanley park. They are awesome little creatures but its so hard to get them to pose. Enjoy the view.

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/3.1
Exposure: 1/58s
Focal length: 47mm

Negative space

2006-01-11T19:03:00.000Z

The third in the series of pictures for my b&w picture challenge. I was just experimenting with negative space. This scene catches my eye everytime I walk past, finally today was a clear enough day to take the shot.

Photograph details:

ISO: 160
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure: 1/280s
Focal length: 307mm (35mm equivalent)

And the number is...

2006-01-09T07:41:00.000Z

Okay so the second in the series of b&w shots for this week is "Nº 26". It doesn't actually signify anything universally for example, the number 18 is highly significant in Judaism:

The word for "life" in Hebrew is "chai." The two Hebrew letters that make up the word "chai" are chet and yud. In Gematria (the numerical value of Hebrew letters), chai is equivalent to 8 and yud is equivalent to 10. So "chai", chet and yud together, equals 18. Giving money in multiples of $18 is symbolic of giving "chai" or life.

But to me the number 26 will forever serve as a reminder of a blissful journey on which I met one of the most intresting people to date. Enjoy the view.

Challenges...

2006-01-08T06:27:00.000Z

So... here's the problem, I have a extremely short concentration span and hence why I get bored quite easily. That's why whilst I was sitting there, staring blankly into space, I thought to myself - I need to set my self challenges.

I have therefore decided, at least in terms of this site and my photography, I will set a weekly challenge for myself. So as of this week for a whole week, any and all photos I take will be in b&w. I'll start with this photograph of a white rose

Photograph details:

ISO: 200
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/10s
Focal length: 8mm

Daisy (edit)

2006-01-07T14:48:00.000Z

I was messing around in Photoshop and got this as a end result. Thought it looked cool so am posting it.

Daisy

2006-01-07T14:47:00.000Z

Quick picture of a daisy.

More cityscapes

2006-01-07T02:46:00.000Z

I haven't been able to get out much so all I have to post are more cityscapes, sorry peps.

Train journey

2006-01-06T02:01:00.000Z

This was taken on a train journey down to Stoke-on-Trent the cup and bag fell down and the shot just came into view.

Bloom of youth

2006-01-06T01:33:00.000Z

Bloom of youth is suppose to be one's best time of youth, that's what I got from looking at this Buttercup.

Cityscape

2006-01-05T06:35:00.000Z

Another one of the silhouettes taken in chester, all done thanks to correct metering.

Silhouette

2006-01-05T06:32:00.000Z

I wanted to experiment a bit with creating silhouettes, so here a couple of shots I took over the last few days. All taken in Chester, Cheshire.

Depth of field

2006-01-02T04:10:00.000Z

I was having a discussion about what seperates a good photography from a bad one (I'll post the full discussion later on). One of the things we both agreed on was f/stop and the shutter speed, which in turns defines the depth of field (DoF), hence the reason for the photo below, just showing what can be done.

Happy new year

2006-01-01T04:16:00.000Z

For all those that visit this site hope y'all have a great new year.

A question of time

2005-12-31T22:54:00.000Z

I was talking to someone yesterday and after a while we drifted off to talking about one of our random road trips. She was complaining that I spend more time composing and taking a picture than she does getting ready, which I suppose is true in most cases but then again I'm trying to capture something in paticular. Obviously she didn't like my argument so I was digging through all of the pics I had taken on our road trips and I found this one. I just pointed the camera and clicked there's no editing involved.

Looking down

2005-12-31T06:42:00.000Z

One of the most common things I find people do is ignore what's underneath their feet, socially its something thats looked down upon. Well all it takes sometimes is to rotate your camera 90 degrees. I saw this amazing composition on a walk in the woods only because of my untied shoe laces. Hope you enjoy.

A Walk through the park

2005-12-31T00:38:00.000Z

So I was taking a walk through the park, it was 6.30 or so in the morning (so still fairly dark) I was hoping to get some candid shots of joggers or something - what can I say I was taking a break from revising all night and needed to strech my legs. Anywho I got there and there was no one there (and I don't blame them it was like -6 or something crazy like that) but a old man walking his dog.

When I say walking his dog, I don't mean some puny little shithound but a full blown thing (I don't really know what breed it was). Anyway the dog wasn't really on a lease or anything so I assumed that it was trained and asked the dude if he would mind if I took some photos of the dog.

He didn't seem to have a problem with this so I tried to get the dog to follow my instructions and pose which I have to say he did quite well but everytime I would get the camera out he would get up and get in the face of the camera try and lick the lens. After about 20 mins I decided to give up and thanked the owner, who by this time couldn't stop laughing (I would have found the sitution funny if only I wasn't covered in gallons of dog mucus). Anyways I managed to get this shot before I left and before the dog ate the flower.

A picture and an story

2005-12-30T19:00:00.000Z

I have a friend (or so she claims everytime we talk) and her life is that of the salacious, of course she doesn't, for reasons that are beyond me, enjoy it when I tell this to her.

She used to be kind of my muse, someone who would repeatedly inspire me - maybe it's because we were always be playing around. Its amazing how comfortable we are with each other, I don't really know why I know on my part its because I respect her so very much (but also because she's just about the only girl who intimidates me, but I don't tell her that!). But she never lets me photograph her and she's about the only person I can photograph comfortably.

Anyways, the point of all this - well I was looking at some recent photo's some that I took some taken by others and I realised how amazing any picture with a face looks, it doesn't have to be artistic, you don't need to worry about composition, the lighting or any of that. Just as soon as the person comes in shot, most people for one reason or another relate to it - it doesn't matter if they know the person or not, because that way a picture does say a thousand words (as compared with a picture of say a leaf).

Take for example the picture above, it's not really anything special, it's not even good (ha, like my other pic are!). But anyways, what I was trying to get at was it takes a special talent to just go up to people and take a picture or to just point the camera at someone random (something which I can't really do very well). Some people put it off as it being a question of confidence and being a "people person" but I'm fine with people but give me a camera and I can't shoot a person to save my life. I was reading a article earlier and that be the reason for this post. Anyways the article read:

Above and beyond the narcotic of attention that is the camera and lens I think it’s the photographer’s personality. The creepy introvert that spends his day masturbating isn’t going to exude what it is one needs to exude to succeed. Conversely, the Howard Stern listening misogynist no matter how good looking, well, he’s not going to succeed either. Nor do I think the troll-type could succeed either. A subject or “muse,” in the context of what we’re talking about right now, needs to be comfortable. Instantly comfortable. Otherwise it just isn’t gonna work. [Quest of the muse, Chris Weeks]

Anyways I thought it was funny and more importantly true (to a point) so there you go, hope it helps in some way.

And the sun rose...

2005-12-30T07:38:00.000Z

More as less same as the previous post but with different lighting conditions, as the sun rose it gave this beautiful yellow tint.

Oh, by the way the only bit of editing was me applying the crosshatch filter (for both images) and cropping them.

When it works it works

2005-12-30T07:37:00.000Z

Sometimes things just fall in to place, I was photographing a rose petal and I put my camera down to see this in my viewfinder - the lighting, the composition it was all there all i did was press the button.

The art of portraiture - The principle

2005-12-30T05:52:00.001Z

When I was getting started in photography (basically when I realised there was such a thing as a camera) I was given a great bit of advice in relation to taking portraits. I was told that the difference between a good portrait and a great portrait is the eyes.

I know all that crap that's out there (and though you're probably bored out of your minds hearing it over and over again) about how looking in to ones eye you can feel what they feel, look in to their soul and so on and so forth. Showing the eyes clearly in a portrait captivates the viewer and that's I've decided to put these two pics online.

With b&w portraits its harder to do this but with colour pics you can do this quite easily and it will dramatically improve your pictures - have a look for yourself.

The art of portraiture

2005-12-30T05:52:00.000Z

Okay here's the b&w version. As you can see the eyes can't be seen as clearly as compared with the color. Of course having two beautiful models pose for you works as well, combine the two and voila, therefore a special thanks is in order for the two lovely ladies. Thank you.

Why oh why is everything in black and white?

2005-12-30T04:53:00.000Z

Whilst I was editing the pictures below on the train down from Stoke-on-Trent to Slough (a marvellous three and a half hours journey) , I was asked by nice lady sitting adjacent me "did you take those yourself?" after getting a somewhat annoyed look, she tried to go for a save and asked me "why I took all of my images in black and white?"

Well the answer is simple, I'm no photographer I've never in my life done a proper course in photography i.e. I don't know about composition, lighting or anything else for that matter. So I tend to go for techniques that make crappy pictures look somewhat presentable and in case of snow b&w gives it more depth and definition. I tried with all of the images to not focus on anything in paticular and some may argue that's bad photography as it makes the viewer search for something to focus on.

Well to them i say - get bent (nah I'm only kiddin' I would never say that - I always welcome crtique) . I wanted to the viewers to feel the entire scene not just any paticular section of it. Anyways that's enough ranting from me for now, so have a good day y'all.

Snow wonderful snow

2005-12-30T04:52:00.000Z

By the way click on the pictures to get a bigger and more importantly clearer picture.

By now, whilst trying to unscrew your eyes from your eye socket, you're probably wondering why on Earth you've decided to visit this site. I can't answer that question for you, but I can promise that I will try and make things intresting and the pictures will be a bit better. But on the plus side the snow collection is over (whew!).

Snow collection - Part whatever

2005-12-30T04:48:00.000Z

The snow collection - Part 4

2005-12-30T04:47:00.000Z

The snow collection - Part 3

2005-12-30T04:44:00.000Z

The snow collection - Part 2

2005-12-30T04:42:00.000Z

The snow collection - Part 1

2005-12-30T04:40:00.000Z