Saturday 20 December 2008

Alice in Wonderland / Doll Parts

Thanks once again to my fabulous models, Faye and Kasia.

Kasia's shoot was inspired by Tenniel's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrations - we tried to emulate Alice's poses in the original illustrations, so they could be superimposed. Kasia makes a soopa little Alice!

Faye's shoot was inspired by poseable dolls, including thisisblythe.com - Blythe being a doll more edgy than Bratz could ever aspire to be, and Faye out-edging them all!

Photos taken in a spare meeting room in our office, no less! Gotta love quirky black wallpaper...

























































































Tuesday 4 November 2008

Y Viva Espana!

I was very lucky to spend last weekend up in the hills of Chulilla, nr. Valencia, Spain, at the wedding party of a lovely friend of mine who moved out to Spain five years ago. She and her husband are in the process of renovating her third house out there!

Chulilla itself is a tiny village flanked by hills and canyons but is remarkably picturesque - especially from the castle on the hill, and especially at night!

Here are a few choice shots for your delectation!




















Above, Chulilla by day





















Above, moody tree on the hillside!





















Above, living on the edge





















Above, a prickly pear! (10x macro, that old chestnut!)




Left, Chulilla by night!

Sunday 12 October 2008

Early autumn

The leaves are on the turn - out with the camera!

Taken in Tonbridge, a town that is not usually this colourful! I varied a kit lens (18-55mm) with a screw-on macro lens (10x), and adjusted the saturation only slightly - for the most part the colours speak for themselves.

And the cobwebs are rather marvellous this time of year!















(left) bad berries!















Tuesday 7 October 2008

ROCK CHICK!

Time: A chilly Friday afternoon
Place: London's South Bank
Model: The Fabulous Faye, working a quality rock chick look despite the cold!




































(left) The album cover!

Sunday 28 September 2008

Beside the seaside

Monologue for a Sunday in September:
"What to do... what to do...

But wait! What is this glowing ball of fire I see in the sky?

Why... 'tis the SUN!

Right. Forget the housework, I'm off to the seaside, and I'm takin' the camera with me."
---

Brighton was certainly bright this afternoon - maybe a little too bright but the West Pier was looking decidedly sorry for itself in its derelict state. So I took pity on it and took photos of it in its misery.
































And then, to ensure the fully-functional Palace Pier didn't feel too left out, I took photos there, too.














Friday 26 September 2008

Flower power

Some more shots taken in my parents' garden on an uncharacteristically sunny but dewy morning, with the 10x macro lens again, on an 18-55mm kit lens.


































Tuesday 9 September 2008

Megan

Megan is another of my willing volunteer models (thanks, Megs!).

On a grey, drizzly day we drove to Priory Park, Reigate, to hijack the playground (what is it with me and playgrounds?!) and got some fun shots, before setting up in our church.

Unfortunately the light is poor in the church building so many of the shots I took were blurred, but a few were definitely workable!

Here is just a small selection.

Wednesday 3 September 2008

How does your garden grow?

These floral photos were taken in my parents' garden, early August (with a 10x macro lens).





































I'm all about the frames at the moment...

Nikki

Nikki kindly volunteered to be my subject in Redhill - not the most picturesque of towns but Nikki was very amenable, spinning round on a roundabout while I tried to capture motion blur (of course my ISO setting was too high at 1600 so the motion blur has been added in Photoshop Elements, which I'm still grappling with - live and learn!) and posing naturally, despite the dizziness...

Frames also added in Elements, using templates from Digital Camera magazine.









Monday 1 September 2008

Faye and Kasia



These two lovely ladies (Faye, left, Kasia, above) are my colleagues and were kind enough not only to pose like absolute professionals but also to let me post a few of their shots here on Blogspot.



I'm getting used to the manual setting (although being boss-eyed inhibits the ability to focus somewhat - that's my story and I'm sticking to it...) and I'm thoroughly enjoying taking portraits. The trick is, of course, having willing subjects, and Faye and Kasia are game for another shoot in October!

Below: with thanks to Digital Camera magazine's free, downloadable frames - that's what ya get!

Monday 21 July 2008

Bella Toscana

Just a few shots from a holiday in Florence, Italy, around the city, plus visits to Fiesole, Siena and Pisa.

Some of these shots are experiments with the hallowed manual settings. Early days but - good practice.
1) Santo Spirito, Florence, at night












2) Moon over Florence












3) San Romolo, Fiesole

















4) Il Campo, Siena

















5) Alleyway, Siena


















6) Passage to the Uffizi, Florence


















7) Florentine sunset...

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Street and Studio Exhibition - Tate Modern, London

Went to see the Street and Studio exhibition of urban photography at the Tate Modern today and it fired me up completely - made me want to sit in subtle corners and take countless photos of passers-by and pay the extortionate price of a permit to photograph the London Underground (maybe one day...)!

Do go and see the exhibition if you have a chance. It's quite pricey at £10 a ticket (some concessions) but the exhibition is generous and jam-packed, with photos of urban and street life dating from the mid-19th century to today. Some disturbing WeeGee images of corpses in New York City but also some striking Diane Arbus shots (Child with Toy Hand Grenade) being one of them.

Meanwhile... below are a couple of my shots of the Turbine Hall - a wonderful, vast industrial-size space, in this building that was previously the Bankside Power Station (hence the huge chimney).





Also - the BFI (I think!) on the South Bank - not sure what the steel structures are but I like them!



http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/streetandstudio/default.shtm

Sunday 8 June 2008

Dancing in the Moonlight

My quest for night shots continued this evening with a rather impromptu shoot at my friend's birthday BBQ.

I took most of the shots with the camera on a night portrait setting at a high ISO (1600) - here are just a couple. The motion blur adds a wonderful, surreal element to the pictures.