JANUARY 1st

JANUARY 1First day of the challenge and I want to try something different.  It is New Years day, a day to celebrate the start of a new adventure.  Maybe a glass of wine to celebrate?  I set up a light in the kitchen pointing towards the camera, mount the camera on the tripod and tape a wine glass to an upturned jug to keep it tilted.  Everything set to manual I carefully set the focus to the midpoint between the front and the back of the glass setting the aperture to give enough depth of filed without bringing the background light into focus.  I test with water to get the right shutter speed which is ideal at 1/800 sec to 1/1000 sec.  I test with wine but its too dark.  As much as it pains me too I water down the wine!  a 50/50 mix gives just the right amount of light.  After a few tests i get the pouring angle right and i'm ready to shoot!  with the camera set to 12 frames per second I am ready to go!This is the image I chose for January 1 to represent the celebration of the new year.  It is one shot from a continuous sequence of 20 shots showing the glass fill up and the wine settle.

JANUARY 2nd

Looking for inspiration on day 2 i wandered into the garden and saw how the winter sun, low in the sky, was peeping over the fence and bouncing back off the kitchen window onto the grass. I quickly got my camera and called my dog to the garden asking him to pose (he's used to that!). This was a quick shot and i love the lighting.

JANAURY 4th

While in Earls Barton I noticed this traditional red phone box. Unfortunately I could not take the photo as a car was parked right where i wanted to stand! I returned hoping the space would be empty and it was. The red box dominates the frame and represents my home country; England.

JANUARY 3rd

Time to return the New Year fancy dress costumes to Earls Barton! This image is a doorway next to the church. I think the off straight angle and conversion to black and white gives it an uneasy feel creating some tension and drama in the image.

JANUARY 5th

The winter sun creates dramatic shadows and these tress along the Nene Valley Way made the perfect subject for it. This was shot straight into the sun with the camera on fully manual and a small aperture to increase focus range. I tired this will the horizon parallel (something i am usually pretty fussy about) but I actually prefer this with the horizon deliberately tilted.

The last day of Christmas

Blowing out the Christmas candle for another year.

Square eyed dog

This is more about the reflection in the eyes than the dog itself. My dog loves watching other dogs on TV. You can see the excitement in his face.

The Nene Valley

This is what is known as an HDR (High Dynamic Range Image). It is actually 7 different exposures combined together to enable the viewer to see both bright and dark points in the photo. The details have also been enhanced to give a half photo/half painting look.

Sweet Sensation

The weather was bad today so I decided to do an indoor shot. Looking in the fridge i found a lonely strawberry. The spoon is wedged between a pile of cookery books on the worktop and a studio black background placed behind. Lit with a constant studio light via a snoot to ensure the light does not hit the background. A slow shutter speed turns the moving sugar to a fine mist of sweetness.

JANUARY 10

I didn't have long to get a shot today but managed to sneak this in between appointments. Taken at Summer Leys near Great Doddington. Would love to get a face on photo of these geese.

Earth's closest freind

My plans to take a different photo today were thwarted for various reasons. On my way home i noticed the full moon shining through thin clouds. I would have preferred the moon to have been lower with trees in front to create a sense of perspective and drama... maybe next time.

paper clip character

This was my first attempt at freezing motion. The studio flash isn't fast enough to freeze fast falling objects totally. Tomorrow i will use a speedlight (flash gun) which should totally freeze the action. I will also explain how this is done.

Oops

This was taken using a device called a TriggerTap. It connects to an Iphone and can be used to trigger a flash gun when it hears a sound. So, in near darkness, a piece of carrot is balanced on the end of a ruler positioned in just the right spot above the glass. The shutter is opened for 15 seconds and then the carrot pushed gently off the end of the ruler into the glass of milk. The sound of it hitting the milk triggers the flash and the splash is frozen in time.

Radley (on iphone)

I was at a friends house and couldn't resist some photos of Radley. I hadnt got my camera with me but there is a saying "the best camera is the one you have with you" so I thought I would try a photo on Iphone. Whilst the cameras are "high resolution" the results when zooming in or cropping degrade very quickly. This is due to 3 factors, the sensor size , the lens quality and the amount of compression in the image to enable you to store more on the device. I believe the latest iphone (7) enables you to save images uncompressed which may improve this. Converting to black and white and going for a more "arty" feel i think works.

Iphone

Today I decided that instead of taking photos with the Iphone (as i did on Saturday, i would take a photo of the iphone. The image on the screen is from a photoshoot i did last year in North London.

An Old Neighbour

A neighbour from 25 years ago (and now a good friend) needed a new passport photograph. I wasn't going to miss this chance to get a portrait. This was set up in her lounge with one studio light, backdrop and me perched on the back of her sofa to get far enough away to get the photo.

Not my Type

This was taken with my Iphone inside a Heathrow hotel before our trip to Sweden. I like the shape of the old fashioned keys. Why cant we have those on our iphones?

I had no tripod for this photo so had to wedge the camera firmly against the railings on the footbridge. The light was amazing and the reflections in the icy river too. A 2 second time exposure also created some trailing lights from passing cars and buses on the bridge.

Some welcome Fika

Fika (kettle boiled coffee with cake) in the wilderness of northern Sweden

Illuminated Ice hotel

We were lucky to get a fantastic view of the northern lights over the Ice Hotel. The sky was constantly changing and it was a matter of predicting, patience and a long (30 second) exposure to capture this image of the Northern lights swirling above the Ice Hotel.

Snow Lodge

A snowy lodge and the essential spade hidden amongst the trees in Northern Sweden during falling snow

Find a tree older than me

I counted over 60 rings in this tree making it over 60 years old; considerably older than me. It is now part of a horse jump in Delapre Park.

An Apple a day

I am feeling the effects of Xmas and my vacation so its time to start eating healthy again! Fruit, salad and fish will be my main diet once again. This is actually 8 images taken with a close up (macro lens). With this type of lens you cant get the whole image in focus so I took 8 changing the focus slightly each time and then took the best parts from each image to make a final "composite".

misty lane

i went to see some friends today in rugby and this lovely avenue was irresistible for today's photo! I love the depth created by the mist and the detail in the bark on the lime trees.

The Soap Bubble

For today's photograph I am experimenting with a crystal ball and the TV using a shallow depth of field to blur the TV leaving the upside down reflection in focus.

Winter Walk

I was hoping to capture the frost on these trees but it vanished so quickly this morning! I still managed to get a few images I was happy with and selected this one as my photo for today. Trees seem to be a recurring theme this week!