Mark's Mutterings

Alps Climbing 2011

2011-08-03T05:35:00.001-07:00

Alps Climbing 2011, a set on Flickr.

Some photos from my recent climbing trip to the Alps. I'm particularly plased with teh sunset shot as that made it into Flickr's EXPLOPRE @ #229. My best showing yet.

Despite a couple of bad weather days we managed to get a lot done and I got some great photos with a borrowed Canon G12. We didn't achieve our main objective of Mont Blanc due to the weather, but thats just an excuse to go back next year.

We climbed ...

Petite Aiguille Verte
Traverse of the Valle Blanche
Cosmiques Arete
Mont Blanc du Tacul
Gran Paradiso

The Joy Of Running 1

2011-04-27T08:38:00.001-07:00

The Joy Of Running 1
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Getting quality shots of moving subjects is relatively simple using a DSLR. Here are some tips.

Shoot in RAW, it means you can fine tune the white balance later, as well as have more leeway in finding details in shadow areas and avoiding clipped highlights.

It was a bright sunny day so I was able to shoot @ ISO 100 and still have a high enough shutter speed. If it's a bit dull or less light consider increasing the ISO to raise the shutter speed.

Set the camera to AI servo mode, this tracks moving subjects and keeps them in focus so long as you keep your finger half pressed ont he shutter buttton.

Set your camera to high speed burst mode and rattle off shots of the moving subject.

Don't start shooting too soon though, remember you are shooting in RAW and the buffer may fill up before you get to the real action you want to record.

Take a look in your manual to refresh your memory on how many shots your camera can take per second in high speed burst mode and how many shots in RAW will fill the buffer, causing the shot rate to drop.

Import the shots into your viewer (I use Lightroom) select the keepers and flag those short of the mark for deletion. You can then convert the RAW file as you wish, playing around with teh sliders or using a preset. I opted to use an x=equals preset called warm storm. This has given a great separation of the subject fromt he background and really accents the bright sunny day that we had on the beach.

Three from Four ?

2011-02-27T12:26:00.001-08:00

Three
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've not been taking many photos over the last 3 months or so due to a severe outbreak of decorating in the house !! But what I have shot has been very purposeful and specific. This last week I shot based on the theme of the number 3 ( a competition at work) and these 4 shots are the results.

2 out of the 4 are water drops on a DVD. one is treated with a quadtone conversion (a speciality of mine) to give a really rich B&W. The colours on the other one were just spectacular so I left them be and enhanced them some.

The third shot is a digital recreation of a film effect called the "Harris Shutter". Read here for more details. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/5464828842/in/set-72157626028668207/

The final shot is the word three from the Oxford English Dictionary with a heavily processed texturisation in photoshop.

I've also finally got around to creating my 2011 signature.... and it's already nearly march !!

Fionas First Float

2010-11-14T15:37:00.001-08:00

Fionas First Float
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

....alternative title suggested by my other daughter is "Wingardium Leviosa".

When I joined Flickr over 2 years ago one of the first photos I faved was this levitation shot by Miss Aniela http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndybisz/2915848831/in/faves-marklandon/

I'd told my girls about how I could make them "float in mid air" and so on rainy saturday evening we gave it a try and this is the result. Here's a basic overview of what you'll need to do

Set the camera to manual and dial in an appropriate shutter speed, aperture and ISO to get a well lit background. Using a tripod is critical to avoid movement between shots. A remote release is also useful or you could get by with the self timer. If using flash, also set that to maual too, so that the results are consistent. Take a shot of the background with no subject. This is the image that you will have at the bottom of the layer stack in photoshop, so that when you erase things later the background will show through.

Next introduce your subject and have them lie down on a chair or similar (in this case I was actually holding her up by lying underneath. Take a second shot with the subject and support in frame. You'll later remove the support in photoshop to create the illusion of levitation.

Load your images into photoshop and using a layer mask (allows for non destructive erasing) paint over the support area to allow the background to show through. You may have to do a bit of cloning to ensure that fabrics and hair appear normal vs creased/obscured and heh presto you have a levitiation shot.

I'll be doing more of these with the girls as they thought it was great fun.

Fractalius Fireworks : How to Create the Effect..

2010-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Fractalius Fireworks.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

To create a similar dreamy/ethereal firework photoy ou'll need a good base image to start with. Some advice for shooting fireworks can be found here. http://marklandon.blogspot.com/2010/11/watching-in-awe.html

This image was from the Legoland Windsor, fireworks display last weekend, which was truly spectacular.

You'll also need the Fractalius plug in for Photoshop to create the dreamy effect. Read more here. http://www.redfieldplugins.com/filterFractalius.htm

As you can see from some of the fractalius images at the above link I toned the effect down a bit by having it as a duplicate layer with reduced opacity.

Create a duplicate layer of your image and run the fractalius plug in on it and play with the sliders/experiment until you find an effect you like. There is a back button that reloads previous settings so you can find your way back if you continue to explore settings. Once you have an effect you like save the changes and let your computer churn away and then change the blend mode opacity of the fractalius layer until you have the look you want. Save and post to your favourite photosharing site.

Have fun.

Watching In Awe

2010-11-08T08:04:00.001-08:00

Watching In Awe
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was one of many shots I got from yesterday evening at the Legoland Fireworkds display.

The others can be seen here. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?id=542234067&aid=260216

To get decent shots of fireworks you need to use a tripod and use "bulb" mode, and ideally a remote release. I only had a small tripod which is really for a compact camera vs a big bulky 40D but it worked OK.

Mount your camera on the tripod. Turn image stabilisation and auto focus off. Using IS on a tripod is not necessary and can even create negative results as the camera tries to remove shake that isn't there. You need to use manual focus as the light levels are so low auto won;t work and your lens will "hunt" trying to lock focus. Manually focus on a distant object and check againt hat your lens is set to manual focus.

Set the camera to manual (or bulb if you have that setting) and dial up the shutter speed to 30sec ... the next click after this should be BULB. This means that the shutter will remain open for as long as you keep the shutter release pressed down... this could be 1 second or 1 minute.

Set the aperture to a noimal value of f/8 and ISO to 100. If you press the shutter release now you'll get pretty much a black frame as light levels are so low but a firework will have anough light to give a good exposure.

Set the widest angle you can (ulktrawide zooms would give a great creative effect but the max I have in my lens is 17mm) and create a composition for where you think the fireworks will go off. Connect your shutter/cable release if you have one.

When the fireworks start to go off use the cable release to start and end the exposure. the longer you leave the shutter open the more light trails you'll get. Experiment with differnt times until you get an effect you are pleased with.

Outdoor Autumn Portrait : Tutorial

2010-11-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

Find a location that has some nice coloured foliage in the background.I used some stunning red acers in Windsor great park. The place where your subject is positioned should ideally be shaded from direct sun to give a more flattering/softer light. Use the aperture priority setting on your camera and set the Aperture as large as possible. The aperture is lens dependant. Remember a large f nmber = small aperture, so you want a small f number to have as large an aperture as possible. A large aperture lets in more light giving a faster shutter speed and creates a more limted depth of field. It's the limted depth of field which will give the bokeh/blurry background... and if you have chosen well you'll get some lovely colours blurring into each other.

Zoom in (the higher the level of zoom the more the background will blur) and compose your shot. Remember to position your main subject off centre rather than in the middle. Think of the rule of thirds and position key elements on or near intersecting points of the 1/3 lines.

Set your ISO as low as possible to maximise image quality but keep your eye on the shutter speed. In this case the shutter speed at ISO 100 was too low and would have resulted in camera shake ( I didn't have a tripod with me) so I ramped up the ISO to 400 to give a shutter speed of 1/80 allowing me to comfotably hand hold the shot.

Fire off a few shots and remember to keep the camera ready as you quite often get t he best shot when your subject thinks you've finished and relaxes. The most natural expressions, especially in kids can't be forced or requested, they just happen and you need to be ready.

2010-11-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

A selection of Halloween portraits. These were all taken with a bare Canon 580EXII flash @1/4 power triggered by a cactus wireless trigger. All processed in Lightroom 3 with use of the local adjustment brush to paint in more shadows and colour the eyes.

Egham From the Rooftops

2010-10-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

Egham From the Rooftops
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This photo opportunity was enabled by the scaffolding currently around the rear of our house This allowed me to climb onto our new flat dormer roof (part of our loft conversion) and set up a tripod to capture the sunset. I took three bracketed exposures (-2,0, +2 EV) and then merged them in Photomatix to create an HDR image.... with which I'm very pleased.

I don't do HDR very much and some of the examples I've seen give HDR a bad reputation as very over processed, I especially don't like the halo effects around high contrast edges. With a little bit of effort these downsides are avoidable.

Bob Macdonald P&G CEO

2010-09-25T12:44:00.001-07:00

Bob Macdonald P&G CEO
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Last week I was in Cincinnati with some colleagues to receive an award from our CEO, Bob Macdonald. It's not every day a mere minion gets to meet a king pin, responsible for running an $80 Billion company...

Geronimo....

2010-09-04T15:36:00.001-07:00

Geronimo....
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Geronimo....

At the start of the week he wouldn't even let go of us in the shallow end but after a few days he was happily jumping into the deep end on his own with a cry of "Geronimo"

Technical bit. The shots were taken in manual mode to ensure even exposaure between frames. I had prefocussed and switched to manual focus to avoid any hunting between shots. I was in high speed burst mode which on my 40D means 6 frames per second.

The composite was ll put together in Lightroom's print module and exported to jpeg instead of printing.

Slide Show

2010-08-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is a slide show of the pick of my holiday photos.

Rule Of Thirds

2010-08-10T07:48:00.001-07:00

Rule Of Thirds
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

The rule of thirds is a classic photography technique. Using an ND110 filter (that you can't see through) really makes you think about the whole photographic process, framing, composition focus, exposure etc before you attach the filter, switch to maual and bulb mode and open the shutter for several minutes.

Rave Run...

2010-06-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Rave Run...
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Two of my friends from the running club, Sally and Helle, asked me to do an action shoot for them. This is one of the results. We're going to try and submit this to Runners World magazine for inclusion int heir monthly "Rave Run" feature.

Strobist info. Bare 580EXII @ 1/2 power camera right just out of shot set to wide angle and triggered with Cactus V4's.

The Light was failing rapidly so to balance sky and get a decent shutter speed I had to ramp the ISO up to 800 and do some noise reduction later.

They've got 17 shots to choose from (this is my fave) so I've not done any post processing other than raw conversion until I hear back from them.

A great learning experience... including don;t shoot with a polarising filter on as a 2 stop reduction sucks up the power of small strobes.

Heavily Textured Bluebell

2010-06-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

Heavily Textured Bluebell
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've not posted much recently but have been playing with textrues... with what I think is a great result.

I'm thinking about having this printed out onto a canvas to grace our hallway.

Spelbound Win Britain's Got Talent

2010-06-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Gymnastics group, "Spelbound" have won, in spectacular fashion, the Britains Got Talent TV show.

I feel very privileged to have seen some of these performances in the groups Christmas display before they "hit the big time" and acheived countrywide recognition, through the auditions, the live semi an then the final itself.

As a result of their success my Flickr stream, with a set of photos documenting their Christmas display, has got lots of hits due to the Spelbound tags.

You can see their winning performance from Britiains got talent below, it is truly amazing !!

Watching the World Go By

2010-05-31T11:35:00.001-07:00

Watching the World Go By
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

An ND110 (10stop) filter can turn a mundane garden scene into a spectacular array of streaky clouds on a windy day.

@f/22 this was a 1/15 second exposure but add the 10 stop ND110 and a 2 stop polariser and it added up to a 3 minute exposure in broad daylight.

Just Chillin

2010-05-26T08:56:00.001-07:00

Just Chillin
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

More fun with a borrowed wide angle lens. It's a Tamron 10-24mm. I attached a circular polariser witht eh deliberate intent of getting a close up portrait to distort the legs, making them look even longer and having a super satureated blue sky and grass (courtesy of the polariser) I used some fill flash to lighten the harsh shadows from the direct sun.

Valley Gardens, Punch Bowl Panorama.

2010-05-21T06:24:00.001-07:00

Valley Gardens, Punch Bowl Panorama.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've been meaning to get this shot for the last 3 years.... but have always been foiled by arriving too late in the season or bad weather. I'd have liked a wider angle lens to have done it more justice.... but resorted to a stitched panorama.

This is a panorma stitched from 7 shots. The "Punch Bowl" in Valley Gardens (Windsor Great park) is full of amazing colours at t he moment as you can see.

The stitch was done in Photoshop and then the blown out white sky was replaced for a more dramatic sky from a streaky cloud shot with an ND110 filter.

The sky was replaced using alpha chanel layer masks and a refine edge plus multiply layer blend mode to ensure the detail around the trees, leaves and twigs was not haloed. I'm quite pleased with the result.

I also added a velvia film effect using the channel mixer upping each channel individually to 130% whilst compensating the other two by -15% to give a balanced tone with no colour cast.

Surreal Santa wishes You a Happy Fractalius Friday ... Ho Ho Ho

2010-05-14T06:05:00.001-07:00

Surreal Santa wishes You a Happy Fractalius Friday ... Ho Ho Ho
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've recently been playing with a new Photoshop plug in called Fractalius. It has many different effects to pull out the natural "fractal" nature of many things. This is a shot of Father Christmas that I reworked with the plug in.

“The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are socommon. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be themost startling event in the world.”

2010-05-10T05:55:00.001-07:00

“The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world.”
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Despite Dandelions being the bane of any lawn they are pretty to photograph... and I took pleasure in plucking out the seeds to leave only one using tweezers. (does hurting flowers/plants make me a masochist ??)

There are several quotes I liked about Dandelions that didn't make the title. “Oh, hardy flower, disdained as weed,
Despised for head of feathery seed,
Your unsung virtues rate a ballad,
Choice roots for wine, crisp leaves for salad.”

2010-04-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

With Spring rapidly springing all around there are a wealth of Photographic Opportunities. This little flower is a Grape Hyacinth from my garden, they're really cheery little flowers. I picked it, put it in a small glass, repositioned it to a shady spot out of the direct sun and made sure I had a nice uniform background. The background was a holly bush in the direct sun and the light glinting off the leaves has given the circular "bokeh" effect. To acheive a similar effect use a lens with a "long" focal length (say>50mm). Shoot in aperture priority mode with a wide aperture f/5.6 - f/2.8 or even f/1.8 if you have a lens that'll open that wide. Finally ensure that the camera - subject distance is << than subject to background distance. Having a background that has very bright specular highlights will give the best bokeh. The light in the shaded area was still sufficient to hand hold the shot without resorting to a tripod but if your shutter speed starts to drop below 1/focal lenth then think about using a tripod or resting your camera on a solid surface to avoid shake.

In terms of post processing. This was done entirely in Lightroom 2 as part of the raw conversion. I boosted the colours slightly with Vibrance and an increase in the blacks. Clarity was increased and then some further sharpening. I played with the tone curve to increase the highlights and lights and decrease the shadows and darks to give a further contrast boost. Exported to my flickr stream using Jeffry Friedl's excellent lightroom plug in (Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Jeffrey’s Lightroom Goodies (Plugins and Tools)) and also using the LR2 Mogrify plug in from Timothy Armes to provide the borders and signature direct from ligthroom on export. Photographer's toolbox - Best Plugins and Web Engines for Adobe Lightroom

2010-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

My flickr stream showed a bizzarre anomoly today.. views were trickling along nicely and it was looking like anothe rday with 200+ views and then BANG it shoots up to 900 in literally minutes. No single photo was the culprit but it looks like someone viewed pretty much very photo I have. A quick google showed that doing this in slideshow mode doesn't increment the counter so they must have looked at every single shot.... how bizzarre.... and no faves or comments in the process.

I'm also trying something else... embeding my most popular shots here as a slideshow.

Sycamore Bud

2010-04-06T15:51:00.001-07:00

Sycamore Bud
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was a very bland, flat and boring shot so I gave it some textrue treatment in photoshop and heh presto... something far more interesting and visually appealing.

Thanks to skeletalmess for the following textures (bokah2, ageing effects5 and painted canvas) I applied a layer mask to delete the bokah2 texture from over the bud itself.

Epiphany....

2010-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm on a mission to reach Flickr's Explore. This is a portfolio of the top 500 shots uploaded to Flickr each day. There are something like 5000+ uploads a minute but only 500 make it into explore each day. It's an honour to have your shot chosen.

The exact algorythm they use to reflect "interestingness" is highly secret but it's common knowlege that it's based on number of views, faves, comments etc so having a lot of people looking at your shot and leaving comments and faving it is good, as is the speed with which it gernates those views/comments/faves.... but. You can't go pimping your shot to many many groups, spreading your next wide... as this goes against the interestingness rating. Keeping it to 5, certainly less than `0 groups is supposed to help.

Over the last week I've consistently been doing unto others as I would have them do unto me. I've been visiting more contacts home pages, commenting and faving their stuff.. but still only stuff that I truly like and I've been getting the same in return. more comments, more faves, more contact requests and a lot more views. My views have gone from an average of < 75/day to over 200 for the last 6 days with some simple yet seemingly effective behaviour changes on my part.

Next I need a stonking great photo at the top of my stream and then go faving, commenting a lot of other people's photos. I'll only post it to a few of my best groups that I know gives me a lot of views (probably strobist).. and we'll see how we go !!

Happy Easter.

2010-04-04T16:32:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

From our Easter Egg hunt at Robin and Liz's today. 3 familes (4 if you count the dogs... mother, father daughter) and 10 kids so it was a bit manic but great fun. The kids loved hte Easter Egg hunt and despite the dad's thinking they were being devious it only took the little blighters about 10 mins to find them all.

I learned a new trick in lightroom today. You can add a title and caption to the metadata and when you upload it to Flickr or facebook it's there automatically in the right fields. This will save me a lot of time in the future.

Long Exposure

2010-04-02T16:15:00.001-07:00

Bollard
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

A very long exposure in broad daylight using my ND110 (10 stop filter) to give a streaky effect to the clouds. This shot is of one of the ball bollards at the side of the access road at Guards Polo Club on Smiths Lawn in windsor great park. This is the first time i've had my ND110 out to play in a while and I'd forgotten how difficult it was to use. You need to take a meter reading with it off, focus, switch to manual focus, (autofocus doesn't work when you screw it back on as the viewfinder is virtually black) screw the filter on. Switch to maual mode, dial in +10 stops (e.g. 1/15 second becomes 2 minutes) hit the remote release, start the stop watch, keep the kids amused for 2 mins or so and then go and turn the bulb remote release off. As you cans ee it's quite involved.... but worth it I think for the efefcts you get.

Processed in lightroom with the Alice in Wonderland "Creative catalyst 19" preset.

see here for other ND110 shots from today

www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157623151244607/

April Fool..... unfortunately.

2010-04-01T08:44:00.001-07:00

April Fool..... unfortunately.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

So I got well and truly April fooled today. I usually visit Flickr in the morning to check out the Explore section (it's a great way of seeing some great photos and getting inspiration for my own shots) Every single shot on the first 5 pages was either rainbows or pandas !! What the .... ??

I thought nothing of it but when I checked back a few hours later it was still all pandas and rainbows. I left a few comments to that effect (there were still some great shots) and then based on another comment above mine I twigged !! It's an April fool. Flickr uses an algorythm (affectionaltely called the "magic donkey" to define interestingness and choose 500 photos it rates as the best (most interesting) to put on explore. Getting on Explore is a real honour as there are only 500 each day and flickr has something like 5000 uploads a second !!

The second part of the April fool was from "Big Huge Labs" and their flickrscout application. This is a tool whereby you can search for your own photos and find if they have been or are currently in "explore". Scout had been set up to show all of your photos... making it look like all of your stream had made it into explore.

I couldn't resist making a Poster of this. If only it were true though !!

In reality only 2 of my shots have made it into explore.. although obviously I thinkl I deserve more.

The Wonder of FLICKR

2010-03-30T15:56:00.001-07:00

...and now textured
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

It's amazing where Flickr can take you... I'd commented on some textured shots from http://www.flickr.com/people/augcott/ and she replied with some comments about the textures and how good they were as they were free.... I checked them out and they were excellent. They're from "skeletall mess" (strange name) on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/

So I had a play with one of my most recet uploads, a shot of Ben winning his race int he Cubs Swimming gala (we're now the district champions) and this is the end result of applying 3 textures at varying opacities and blending modes. I like the effect.

Mexican Jumping Bean.... Hatched

2010-03-27T05:51:00.001-07:00

Mexican Jumping Bean.... Hatched
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

The Mexican jumping bean I've had on my desk for the last 5 months (bought as a souvenir when I was re-routed home from Cincinnati via Dallas, Texas) finally hatched... the little moth flew off when I opened the lid, circled a light bulb and then got zapped by the insecticutor !! 5 months in a bean 30 seconds flying and then a milisecond of a million volts !!

I love the perfect little hole that he dug out of the bean.

When I brought htis back home my kids (and wife didn't believe me that there was anything in side., but there again I am known for practical jokes) I had to show them this Wikipedia article for them to believe me... nad now with it hatching out it proves the point !!

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

Green

2010-03-25T15:43:00.001-07:00

Green
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

From my recent trip to Germany. The Green of the Europcar desk at Frankfurt airport was so vibrant I had to take a shot of it.

The other shots from my trip are here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157623681000324/

My particular favourite is the 5 second exposure on the travelator at Heathrow giving a "warp effect"

Lines

2010-03-11T15:12:00.001-08:00

Lines
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I just loved the symetry and contrast of this view from my front door. I find myslef looking at scenes and thinking that'd make a great photo.

I need to start carrying my camera with me more to take opportunistic shots like this more often.... this time I was lucky as I only had to go inside and get it out of the dining room.

40 Today !! (well last week)

2010-03-11T15:10:00.001-08:00

40 Today !!
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I'm behind on my blog as can be seen by the fact that my 40th was actually over a week ago but it's been a whirlwind !!

I was made to wear a flashing badge to work by my cruel kids to proclaim to all I'm past it !! (but secretly I enjoyed the attention) then it was a family meal and cake that evening.

I already had my main present (me to me) from a few weeks back !!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/4279405334/ but there were still a few nice present to open.

Friday saw the celebrations continue with a day off and a fantastic surprise from my gorgeous wife. Lunch at the fantastic 3 michelin star restaurant "The Waterside". I can do nothing other than rave about it and thoroughly recommend it. http://www.waterside-inn.co.uk/

Then on saturday it was mountain biking in the morning, joint 40th birthday party with my best friend int he evening with fine wines and entertainment round at his house.... followed by some brilliant chinese lanterns.

I've been playing with proshow producer software recently and this is the result posted to you tube. It's a really incredible peice of software, really easy to use and create some stunning results. I look forwards to playing with it more in the future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La5uelflZF0

Red or Blue ?

2010-03-11T15:03:00.001-08:00

Red or Blue ?
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

If you are ever in need of inspiration for a theme or a shot just use flickr to get some ideas.

The February theme for our work Photo competition was Red. I use Flickriver (http://flickriver.com/photos/tags/red/interesting/) to search for tags and inteesting photos of "red" and heh presto loads of ideas. I finally went with this shot becasue it was so simple.

The depth of field and bokeh was easy to produce with a 100mm macro lens fully open @ f/2.8 and the shooting on a tripod made composition easy to set up with the rule of thirds in mind.

I found out yesterday that I placed third in the competition.

As always the procesing was done from RAW in Lightroom 2 with some simple exposure adjustemnts and increase in clarity and blacks to give a snap to the red colour.

Carnedd Llewellyn Summit Ridge HDR

2010-03-11T14:57:00.001-08:00

Carnedd Llewellyn Summit Ridge HDR
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

For my annual climbing trip I decided to take my big hefty SLR with me to get some nice mountain shots. I was inspired by reading this article.... http://www.alexandrebuisse.org/writings/articles/A-guide-to-digital-mountain-climbing-photography

Whilst my picture isn't quite up to the same standard as some of these it did do justice to a fantastic day out int he mountains, climbing Broad Gully on Pen Yr Ole Wen in Snowdonia followed by a brillaint ridge walk in perfect Alpine conditions along the Carneddau.

The other shots from the trip can be seen here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157623447587058/

Textures, Shapes, Colours : A Photowalk Montage

2010-03-11T14:48:00.001-08:00

Textures, Shapes, Colours : A Photowalk Montage
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

It's been a while since I've blogged and am trying to catch up.....This montage is from a lunchtime photowalk in February around my work with the Photography club. There were various themes and I chose to focus (pun intended) on shapes/patterns, colours and textures. This is the result compiled together as a montage.

I've had lots of positive comments from people at work about it :-)

Air Force Memorial meets new Recruit ND110 Filter

2010-01-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

Air Force Memorial ... alternative processing
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

It's been crazy busy at work (and play) and has therefore been a while since I blogged. I've missed the therapy of writing stuff down.

Anyhow, this is currently my best shot with my new toy. I got me a B&W ND110 filter and i'm sure I'm going to love it.

Inspiration for getting this came from some of my flickr contacts the the great shots they're produced with it. It basically reduces the light by 10 stops so there is 1000 less times light reaching the sensor. It's so dark it's almost black to look through, so dark that autofocus and metering don't work. You need to set the shot up, focus, take a meter reading and then screw the filter on. Switch to manual focus and bulb mode and leave the shutter open for the amount of time you calculate (+10 stops + a bit for good measure) based off of the original meter reading.

This is the same shot of the Airforce memorial in Englefield Green as the others in this set www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157623151244607/ but with processing done in Photoshop after the basic RAW conversion in Lightroom. (the others were just lightroom)

So we start with a 5 minute exposure using an ND110 filter to give the streaked clouds. Basic raw conversion in LR, import to Photoshop, a bit of healing to remove a few dust spots, noise reduction, conversion to mono using a gradient map, convert to grayscale from RGB then change to duotone and apply a quadtone (richer B&W's) (tutorial from Scott Kelby) . I think I then did a curves adjustment layer to fine tune contrast then convert back to LAB colour and then a large amount of unsharpmask shapening on the lightness only channel which avoids halo's and artefacts. the Original shots for comparison can be seen below. I think I much prefer the richness and sharpness of this one.

New Toy ....

2010-01-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

My new toy has just arrived today, a B+W ND110 filter. This has the effect of cutting hte light by 1000 times (log factor 3) to create long exposures even in Broad daylight. This has the creative effect of rendering wavy water flat, giving clouds a streaked, smudged look.

The BWVision website (Joel Tjintjelaar) is is a great website for some info about long exposure photography using ND110 filters. See Joel's work on Flickr

I just hope the weather is kind this weekend so that I can experiment. I also hope that I can aspire to some shots like these guys... watch this space.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjintjelaar/4106459317/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27595401@N08/4271558172/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37151423@N05/4230896521/in/pool-nd110-filter-group

Alternative Nativity Scene

2010-01-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Alternative Nativity Scene
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This is my "fastest viewed" flickr photo to date. Achieving 300 views in a single day. It got picked up by a "Lego" Blogger and that generated a lot of views. I also joined and posted to a few new flicker groups.. secret life of toys and lego. Both of which seem to have a more active following than some of the groups I usually post to.

About the photo.

This is an alternative nativity scene I put together for a photo compeition with a theme of "The Festive Period" with the help of my kids. You can spot the influence of the girls with the animlas and my eldest boy with dinosaurs and his lego figures. Unfortunately he didn't have a darth vader other wise the scene would have been much simpler with a caption of "the force is strong in this one"

strobist info 580EXII into shoot through brolley @ full power about 2ft above scene. Seemless white background. Triggered by cactus V4's

Snowy Frozen Washing Line

2010-01-10T11:16:00.001-08:00

Snowy Frozen Washing Line
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Been quite a while since a blog post. Been too busy over Xmas New Year to spend much time on the computer..... but taken a lot of shots and now just need to clear the back log and do some processing.

Here's hoping 2010 is a great year photographically. My New Years resolutions... photographically speaking are....

1. Create a website
2. Do some paid shoots.
3. Develop my style further, focussing on portraits.
4. Complete my 100 strangers project.
5. Teach a few classes/seminars at my work photography club.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T15:40:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of Santa from the weekend. My kids think he could be the actual real one on account of his beard being "a proper one"

Santas Little Helper

2009-12-18T02:54:00.001-08:00

Santas Little Helper
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I couldn't resist getting a shot of Santas Little Helper from our weekend away at Ribby Hall IN Lancashire.

The rest of the shots fromt he wekeend can be seen here on my flickr stream.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157622890714809/

Smiths Lawn to the Obolisk

2009-12-08T10:51:00.001-08:00

Smiths Lawn to the Obolisk
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

First attempt at HDR. I wanted to make it as subtle as possible vs some of the extrem "in your face" HDR's that seem to be in vogue.

This was taken during a photowalk around Windsor Great Park (Saville Garden/Bolisk/Cow Pond area. Check out the rest of hte shots from this walk on my flickr stream. Each shot contains a geotag/map link for where it was taken.

www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157622956964952

Inspiration....

2009-12-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this today and found it really inspiring. I'm still struggling to find my style and as a result probably putting too much pressure on myself to improve vs just enjoy the process and let it come naturallly.

http://www.zarias.com/?p=284

This second video http://www.zarias.com/?p=465 about street portraiture also reminded me to get my ass into gear again regarding my own 100 strangers project. I'm currently on 17/100 (as I have been for several months)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157611320280959/

Quad Toning In Photo Shop ...

2009-12-05T14:12:00.001-08:00

...this time Quad Toned
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I really like the richness of the B&W image you get with ha quad toning effect.... A trick I learned in Scott Kelbny's excellent book CS3 for digital photographers.

The shot is of a face paining in progress from my works Xmas party for the kids of staff. The face painter was excellent.

Virginia Water Waterfall After Heavy Rain

2009-11-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

I hoped that the amount of rain we had this weekend would mean that the Waterfall on the outflow of Virginia Water in Windsor Great park would be in spate.... I wasn't disappointed. It was very late on Saturday evening before I had chance to get down there. Infact it was nearly dusk. I didn't have my cable release with me so I had to resort to upping the ISO and the aperture to reduce the exposure to 30 seconds. Processed in lightroom with an X=equals "super punch" preset and then a bit of fine tuning.
The second shot of the upper level, looking down has the road in the background which is where the orange glow comes from as cars were driving along plus the street lights.

Obviously both of these shots were taken with a tripod.

Little Man

2009-11-28T00:35:00.001-08:00

Whilst doing the Photoshoot of the staff at school yesterday my wife came to pick me up, so whilst I had the lighting set up I couldn't resist getting a shot of "The Babsa", "The Little Man", "The Maestro" aka "My Boy"

First Follower.

2009-11-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

I have my first follower.

Hello Angelique whoever and where ever you are.

You have the honour of being first..... but hopefully not the last person to visit these humble pages :-)

I'll have to try very hard to let my new found fame and notoriety not go to my head.

Another Photo Shoot Tomorrow...

2009-11-26T14:46:00.001-08:00

I've just been preparing all my gear, formatting memory cards, charging batteries etc ready for the second half of the school photoshoot tomorrow.

I'm looking forwards to it. Apparently the (part time) staff who couldn't make it last time are really excited as they saw the photos from the first session and loved them.

I'll post some shots afterwards. Things I'm going to do differently tomorrow based on what I leanred first time around...

Turn the ambient (flourescent) lighting off.
Seperate subject from the background with more distance and get the background light in a better position to blow the background white.
Get them to lick their lips before taking the shot. (can't remember where I read this)
Interact more and direct the posing . Get poeple to smile more naturally via interaction jokes.threats of photoshopping in warts and spots :-)
May be set the short lighting up from the opposite and swap poses 180degrees so not all facing left.

And one thing I must remember is to ask people if it's OK to put their photos on my blog and add them to my long neglected 100 strangers project. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/sets/72157611320280959/

...and finally I must get some business cards printed out. I've been looking at some from "moo" via Flickr. Having some cards to give out to people at these shoots wouldn't do my word of mouth advertising any harm at all !!

Full Spectrum

2009-11-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

Full Spectrum
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Another attempt at water drops on a DVD and I'm much happier with the results this time. This was done in day light with a much more definitive light source... the window is fairly obvious in the reflection.

Processed in Lightroom with a large amount of clarity and increse ont he blacks slider to make the colours really pop and the dark grey DVD surface go black.

This reminds me of my favourite Pink Floyd Album " Dark Side of the Moon"

I love how the streak of colour coming in from the left goes from red/orange through to yellow/green.

Taken with a 100mm macro lens with a 250D screw in filter attached for extra magnification. Each water drop was probablt < clear="all">

Splashing Around

2009-11-23T05:47:00.001-08:00

Splashing Around
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Splashing Around
I was running out of time to come up with a shot for the Autumn themed monthly photo competition at work . The recent storms and rain have brought most of the foliage down off the trees. There is one nice bit left in Windsor great Park but when I went up there on Saturday it was raining so the camera stayed firmly in the bag... I've learned my lesson about getting it wet (see my star trails photo).

I thought I would take advantage of the rain and the puddles by having some fun with my kids. Dress them up in bright clothes and welies and try to get some frozen water and refelction action going on as they jump up and down in puddles. Half an hour and lots of fun later this was the best shot of the bunch and I have my entry to the autumn competition.

Canon EOS 40D, EFS 17-55mm IS USM, 580EXII strobe.

20mm. 1/250 sec, f/8 +1EV flash. Manual exposire mode to ensure the low lighting di not lead to a slow shutter speed and blur. Using manual means that camera uses the flash to expose the subject vs using ambient to expose for the background with the subject "filled" with flash. Slightly cropped plus boosted exposure, blacks, clarity, saturation and sharpening in lightroom.

Flickr 50,000 Hits Since I Joined

2009-11-20T15:32:00.001-08:00

Flickr 50,000 Hits Since I Joined
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I joined Flickr back in June 2008 and was fairly slow uploading images. It was only when my Canon 40D DSLR arrived in September that I got more serious. I've experimented with a lot of things over the last 18 months, portraits, still life, macro, strobist lighting, freezing motion etc etc and I've certainly learned a heck of a lot. I've been really pleased to have been asked and be able to photograph a friends wedding, 2 christenings, a holy communion and recenlty a set of head shots for a local school.

When I look at my "most interesting shots" see link below I am really pleased with the quality of what I can produce, not just out of camera but with some post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop to take things to the next level. Looking at some of the other shots on Flickr that I admire I've still got a long way to go... but I will find that magic explore place sometime soon !!

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/marklandon/popular-interesting/

2009-11-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

I'm helping to set up a photography group at work and it's great to see that there is so much interest ranging from complete beginners to seasoned experts. There will be a range of themed monthly competitions and regular seminars, tutorials etc. It's the subject of this first tutorial that I'm blogging about today. I've always suspected I was a bit of a geek when it comes to gear and kowing how to use it but this was confirmed on Wednesday lunchtime when I took a few fellow Canon DSLR owners "under my wing" for some basic training on their camera. I take my own level of knowledge forgranted and was very pelased to be able to share some basic information with the group that they just didn't know and were very grateful for. This was as simple as focus screen adjustment using the dioptre dial. Focus point selection using the quick slect wheel. SHutter half press to focus and recompose. (I know... I was amazed they didn't know how to use this either... does noone read the manual ?) They were basically using their expensive DSLr's as point and shoots and not venturing off the green "auto" function. We went into the basics of aperture and shutter speed and how to control DOF using aperture. I think shutter speeds was also a n insight for them too and made them realise why they were getting blured shots in low light. Basically theu were expecting this "majic" expensice DSLR to do everything for them without understanding the how and what limitations it has. In all we made good progress, I enjoyed teaching and they took a lot away and have some new skills to practice. Next time I think I'll use the camera tethered to a lap top so that we can get input from the group on how to change settings for a particular situation or effect, change them, and see the results straight away on the screen.

I Won a Photography Competition With This Shot !!

2009-11-19T06:08:00.001-08:00

If The Pumpkin Closes Her Eyes, the Witch Can't Hypnotize Her !!
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

OK, so it's no big deal, there was no prize or anything... but the Kudos of being "voted" the winner. Come on, thats big !! Humungous !! ... and reward in enough itself :-) . The competition was in the "Unbearably cute" group on Flickr for their Halloween themed monthly competition.

The title of this shot is "If The Pumpkin Closes Her Eyes, the Witch Can't Hypnotize Her !!"

Here's my "winners notification"

"Kimberly Lynn says:
Congratulations, you are our first place winner of The Cutest Halloween Costume Contest! Unbearably Cute! "

Click on the image to go to my Flickr stream and see the lighting details.

Pro-Bono PhotoShoot for local School.

2009-11-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

I had a great time this morning doing a "proper" photoshoot for a local school. The brief was to create some simple head and shoulders shots to update their website and school notice boards.

I spent a fun hour putting a lot of what I have learned into practice and look forwards to posting more of the resulting photos to my Flickr account soon.

This experience was invaluable and helped me to learn a lot including..... how difficult it can be to get some people smile.

Knowing your gear, how it works, dialing in settings gives you confidence.

Checking and readying gear (according to a checklist) the night before gives you peace of mind and lets you focus on the creative process vs technical issues.

Turn off ambient lighting sources to avoid colour casts.

Having a few poses in mind prior to shooting saves time and puts you in control.

"Narrow" lighting is more flattering than broad.

Interact with your models to make it less scary (for them) and a fun experience.

Seperate the subject from the background more (difficult due to space limitation)

Show people the shots you got on the camera LCD to get initial feedback.

Some people just don't like being photographed OR the result... even if others love it.

The strobist website has been invaluable in my learning experience.

I am able to turn theory into practice and get a pretty good result.... judge for yourself when I post the images.

A large school whiteboard makes a great background.

I need more lighting gear !! (to blow out aforementioned white background)

Psychedlic Smoke : First Attempt

2009-11-15T11:48:00.001-08:00

Psychedlic Smoke
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Bought some insence sticks at the wekeend to try this, inspired by the "tutorial" below.

www.flickr.com/photos/antsplan/1439859052/

Strobist. : 580EXII into Lumiquest "Ultrasoft" diffuser @1/4power camera right triggered with cactusV4's.

Bubbles @ Bathtime

2009-11-14T07:21:00.001-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/4101016649/
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've not shot any portraits for a while so I thought I'd give this some special treatment practicsing a few Photoshop tricks I'd not done for a while.

In low light conditions if you shoot with flash in Av mode the camera tries to expose for "ambient" conditions by having a really long shuuter speed with the flash for "fill". You can compensate by nicreasing ISO to get a daster sutter speed but that introduces noise. In certain situations you can shoot in manual mode in which case the flash exposes for the subject completely vs acting as fill. (read a more complete article here)

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html

I bumped up the flash exposure compensation to +3EV to get a high key effect. The rest was done in Photoshop...

Converted to mono in using a gradient map with a layer mask to reveal the eyes which were further enhanced with a little saturation. A high pass filter used for sharpening with a vivid light blending mode, again with a layer mask to accentuate the eyes only. A few other features were slightly sharpened by painting away the mask with a lower opacity brush.

The image was reinported to Lightroom then exported to flickr using Jefrey Friedel's excellent plug in. I also used the "mogrify" plug in from Timothy Ames to add the graphical watermark. I really like the functionality of these two features.

Despite the amazing blue eyes I struggled for ages and failed to be able to print this out with the same effect... no matter what print setting I tried I was getting a sepia effect vs B&W and no blue in the eyes ?? I tried multiple different colour management profiles including "printer controls colour" and they all came out the same ?? not sure whats happening there. (didn't try to print any other phots to check though. May reboot and try again.

What Am I ? #2/10

2009-11-13T02:55:00.001-08:00

What Am I ? #2/10
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

The game is simple, I take a macro shot of an object I find in the house. To make things more difficult to identify the shot is from a strange angle and has a narrow DOF. All you have to do is guess what it is by putting your idea in the comments section. I'll then tell you if you're right. No prizes, just for fun :-)

...and the best thing about this shot... not a dust spot in sight which means the "dry" sensor clean using my new "rocket blower" worked.

Here is the first "what am I shot". This series was inspired by the arrival of my 100mm macro lens..... which I'm still loving !!

www.flickr.com/photos/marklandon/3981876530/in/set-721576...

Noisy, Dusty, Badly lit, But I like it

2009-11-11T06:28:00.001-08:00

Noisy, Dusty, Badly lit, But I like it
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I'm not over happy with this image as I was just experimenting and was therfore lazy with the set up. I did learn alot though about how to do these shots and will revisiti them sometime soon to improve on my technique.

I've started fequenting "Digital Photography Shcool" website, I've been subscribed to the newsletters for a while but have now dipped into the forums too. Whilst I'm impressed with the tutorials and such the critiques are all very much "nice shot " "love it" even when the shots are less than mediocre. A few noteably examples are offering honest critiques so I'll stick around and see what happens.

Rain Stops Play on Star Trails and Kills Camera with Err 99

2009-11-08T10:18:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd try some long exposures on "Bonfire Night" with the plan of stacking them together to form star trails with plane tracks accross and perhaps the odd firework if I was lucky.

Great plan ... but unbeknownst to me the weather had other ideas !!

My tripod was set up in the garden. Camera, lens (IS switched off, focus set to manual) and cable release were all ready and off we went. A series of 30 second exposures with the camera set on "burst" and the cable release locked down meant continuous shots.... so off I went to watch x factor. Planning to return in an hour or so to check on progress.

X factor over, out I went and was HORRIFIED to find it was raining.... and looked like it had been for a while. The camera (Canon EOS40D) worked fine to review the images I had but then started to do strange things and the dreaded "Err 99" appeared. Bugger !! I only get 14, 30 second exposures before it started to cloud over and then another 30 before it started to rain (there was no sign of any clouds when I started !!)

I looked up Err 99 on the web and got more nervous. Following the troubleshooting guides I removed the lens, still Err 99, replaced battery, still there. Removed CF card, still there. Got the hair dryer out, still there !! Finally I left the camera with everything detached and open overnight in a warm room... and thank god it worked in the morning. Lesson learned... don't

leave expensive gear unattended outside in the UK climate.

Now, onto the image. The individual shots were tacked together in photoshop with the great photoshop action below to form the Star Trails. Obviously I was hoping that they would have been longer with more plane tracks but you can clearly see the clouds starting to scud in. The orange glow is from the distant lights of Heathrow and London.

http://www.schursastrophotography.com/software/photoshop/startrails.html

Textured Red Acer

2009-11-07T01:37:00.001-08:00

Shot a few weeks ago but only recently tweaked in photoshop by overlaying some textures. Sctratched metal is the main one.

This is the first blog post I've uploaded direct from lightroom using Timothy Ames' excellent plug in. http://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/lr2blog.php

Test.... Upload

2009-11-07T01:13:00.000-08:00

Just testing the upload feature direct from lightroom... needed to create a Picassa album to do it so just a quick test....

Sparkler Macro

2009-11-05T15:26:00.001-08:00

Sparkler Macro
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

My attempt to try and recreate this shot by Pixel Addict....
www.flickr.com/photos/pixel_addict/2301302732/

Rather than increase the ISO (as he did) to get a fast shutter speed I opted for strobist off camera flash to freeze the sparks and provide some fill light to the sparkler shaft.

Strobist info : 580EXII with stofen diffuser camera left @ 1/4 power fired with Cactus V4 wireless triggers.

Pretty much SOOC apart from a tight crop and minor adjustments, including sharpening in lightroom as part of the raw conversion.

Exported to flickr using Jeffrey Friedl's excellent plug in and also the "mogrify" plug in to add a graphical watermark (signature) which lightroom can't do on it's own.

This was taken with the recent addition to my lens armoury, the Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro. I'm really liking hte stuff it can do !! Lots of fun.

King Gardens "Planet Panorama"

2009-11-02T14:35:00.001-08:00

King Gardens "Planet Panorama"
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

My photography is in a somewhat experimental phase at the moment, trying out lots of new things and generally playing about.. Recently I've been macro'ing with my new lens, light painting, and now creating "planets" from panoramas converted into polar coordinates. This "planet" is of the lovely "KING GARDENS" where I work. It was created using the following tutorial and using photoshop. I was surprised at how easy it was....

http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/create-your-own-panorama-planets/

Shrek the Pumpkin Goes Strobist for Halloween

2009-10-31T16:50:00.001-07:00

Shrek the Pumpkin Goes Strobist for Halloween
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Halloween fun with a pumpkin made using a carving template from http://www.zombiepumpkins.com/

Equipment used.....

Canon EOS40D
EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM lens
Hahnel Battery Grip and IR remote
Manfrotto 190XDB tripod and 390RC2 head
Cateye LED bike light
Canon 580EXII Strobe on lightstand
Cactus V4 wireless triggers
Sainsbury's carrier bag to gel flash orange.
Tea light inside shrek's head.

8 second exposure @ f6.3 (ISO 100) with 1/4 power flash camera left
about 2ft from the pumpkin. Flash head had the orange plastic bag wrapped around it a afew times. After the flash had fired I used the bike light to light paint in the background. Shutter triggered remotely by IR remore for battery grip. Flash triggered by Cactus V4'swireless triggers.

Dublin Marathon 2009 HR and Pace Plot

2009-10-30T13:01:00.001-07:00

Dublin Marathon 2009 HR and Pace Plot
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This is the plot of HR (Heart rate) in BPM and pace (mph) from my Polar S625x watch from the Dublin Marathon on Monday 26th October 2009. HR zones are shown as the coloured horizontal bands. The HR curve is the black line, the pace curve is the blue line and the altitude (relative not absoloute) is the grey solid background.

As you can clearly see the HR for the opening 9 miles was unsustainable and then a run walk strategy was adopted with increasing amounts of walking vs. running until the final few miels when I managed to pick myself up. I didn't hit the wall, I didn't struggle, I just couldn't run any further, faster without walking as a result of 5 weeks of inactivity froma virus. (and putting 7lbs on) 5 weeks ago training was going great and I was hopeful of a time around 3 hours 20... but on the day I was pleased to finish in a somewhat dissapointing 4:35:38. Still, it was an enjoyable expereince and I now know I can still "finish" even off a less than ideal build up.

A Lens' Eye View

2009-10-09T02:27:00.001-07:00

A Lens' Eye View
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Messing about with my new toy... and some older borrowed bits of gear. The new toy is a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro lens and a Hahnel battery grip with IR remote.

A bit about this shot. manual mode at highest flash sync speed of 1/250sec @ f8. The MR14-EX macro ring flash was ETTL metered off of these exposure readings with an A/B ratio of 1:4.

The lens had a 250D close up lena screwed in too. Gettign the framing was hit and miss and I had to take a bout 20 shots ebfore I got one nicely framed.

Processed in lightroom with a bit of clarity adjustment, sharpening and then a nudge up on the blacks slider to increase the colour.

I like the reflection of the macro ring light and you can clearly see the A/B ratio setting inth e left and right hand side of the flash tube.

Autumnal Macro Triptych

2009-09-29T14:26:00.001-07:00

Autumnal Macro Triptych
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

description says it all really.... but I really like this composition... even if I do say so myself

Lightning

2009-09-24T02:45:00.001-07:00

Lightning
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Not posted anything for ages... bit of a backlog of stuff to wade through. This is from my last business trip tot he US when I got strended in Atlanta airport due to a massive electrical storm. The shot was one of 50 or so long exposures from 6-30 seconds. This was the only one that actually captured any lightning. They were all hand held with the camera lens flat against the window to avoid flare and braced aagsint the frame to avoid shake during the long exposure. I think it worked out quite well.

Motion Blur Bike

2009-07-20T00:59:00.001-07:00

Motion Blur Bike
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

My eldest son got his first "big bike" for his 8th birthday a few weeks ago. It's got 24 gears, disk brakes, front and rear suspension. He just loves being able to get up the hills and go offroad now and is starting to get quite adventurous....I don't know where he gets that from ?? (:-))

This was an attempt at a panning/motion blur shot with a slow shutter speed. It's worked quite well but you can see from the curve of the blur I was quite close. Camera set to AI servo mode to track a moving subject. Developed in Lightroom with a Direct Positive preset to punch the colours.

Harry Potter : The Set for "The Deathly Hallows"

2009-07-19T15:46:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter : Deathly Hallows
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was taken in Windsor Great park, just by Virginia water lake. Over the last few weeks they've been building this mazing castle and galleon. Apparently for the new Harry Potter film. I finally got round to taking a shot of it last weekend but have only just downloaded and processed it.

Blow Your Own Trumpet (Terrell Stafford)

2009-07-17T13:30:00.001-07:00

Blow Your Own Trumpet (Terrell Stafford)
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Whilst staying in the Kempinski Hotel in Falkenstien (Near Frankfurt in Germany) I was lucky enough to stumble accross this amazing Jazz musician playing a gig in the hotel bar. He'd flown in from the US, met with his backing group (Piano, Double Bass and Drums) did a 30 minute rehearshal and then went straight into the gig. What an amazing sound they had and the improvisation they managed with only having met that day was incredible. Great musicians.

You can find out more about Terrell here. www.terellstafford.com/

Terrell is #17/100 in my 100 strangers project. Go to www.100strangers.com
to find out more.

My Boy

2009-07-10T04:48:00.001-07:00

My Boy
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Haven't posted anything for a while and stumbled accross this shot in an old folder. I reprocessed it with some of my new techniques learned from Scott Kelby's book CS3 for Digital Photographers. (B&W conversion with a gradient map, quad toning for a richer B&W and then selective sharpening of the eyes (using a layer mask with a high pass filter), toned down a bit with a reduced opacity.

Joanna Rodriguez : Runner

2009-06-26T02:18:00.001-07:00

Joanna Rodriguez
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I completed with Jo a few times over the last few years in various races. We were pretty closely matched but my running bacame interlaced with injury and hers went from strength to strength. I'm not sure what time she did int he handicap last night but the speed she ran past me to get this photo I'd say it would be around 32 minutes. (avg speed for 5 miles being about 6:20 min/mile. I'll post the time when the results are up.

2009-06-25T01:17:00.001-07:00

Coy Smile
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was taken at the weekend at my Son's first Holy Communion. He was busy playing with his friends and gave me this coy smile as he paused for a moment in between rushing around playing catch and chase.

Dragonfly Heart in a sea of Bokeh

2009-06-24T08:37:00.001-07:00

Dragonfly Heart in a sea of Bokeh
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

This was taken in my garden a few weeks ago. I'm using a Nikon 105mm micronikkor f2.8 lens, strapped to my canon 40D with a cheapo adaptor from Ebay. It mean you can still do auto metering once the aperture is set (set aperture manually) but all the focussing in manual. It's a bit of a pain doing macro work on a manual lens as the depth of field is so small. I would love to get a canon 100mm macro lens but htere are other things ahead of that in my must have purchases.

Loosing My Triathlon Cherry

2009-06-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well today was my big day. I lost my triathlon virginity. The knee injury of a few weeks ago and the cold that still lingered had put paid to any ambitions of a fast time but I was very pleasantly surprised to exceed my expectations with a time of 2 hours 47 minutes. The swim was as bad as I had expected, getting swum over and kicked in murky river water is not nice and frankly after only 100m I felt like turning round and bugging out. I'm glad I stuck it out though as it got better after I warmed up. On the downstream leg of the swim I was getting into a rhythm and starting to gain a few places back. I was in such a groove I went 20m last the last buoy and had to double back to the exit pint. My legs were all wobbly and I felt dizzy getting out of the water. Transition went well as I whipped off t he wetsuit and got the bike going. Within a mile my hamstrings were cramping badly though. It was another 2-3 miles before I was able to start cycling properly. A bit of electrolyte drink (2L through the bike leg) sorted me out and I was able to start cranking the pedals. I was making good progress and was steadily overtaking people, and only being overtaken myself by some really fast guys. I took great pleasure on my 15 yr old steel framed bike overtaking £3-5K carbon machines ridden by people who obviously had all the gear but no idea. The most pleasing thing about the bike was the average speed being a shade under 20mph. Onto the run. There is a nasty hill up past Windsor castle that you have to tackle three times, luckily I'd stationed the family at the top so there was always an incentive to get to the top for cheers and high fives. The run was survival mode at the end but I was quite pleased with my time of 51 mins 56 seconds for the 10k. All in all a fantastic experience, not as hard as a marathon but say 2/3 the difficulty. Even so I've still been wiped out all day and having to power snooze regualrly.... and when not snoozing, eating and drinking. I'll definitely be doing another.

James Cracknell OBE

2009-06-13T14:12:00.001-07:00

James Cracknell OBE
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Today I was "racking" my bike in preparation for my debut triathlon in Windsor, which takes place tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous to say the least. Just as I was preparing to register I saw James Cracknell, Olympic rower, adventurer and all round nice guy. I asked if he wouldn't mind me taking his photo and he kindly obliged. We chatter for 5 minutes or so about his adventures, skiing tot he South Pole, rowing accross the atlantic and obviously his Olympic rowing successes. He was interested in my triathlon debut, as he's a hardened campiagner and he put my mind at rest. He's starintg the race early tomorrow so he can be back in time to cover the event for Channel 4 TV where he is a "celebrity pundit". James is #14 in my 100 strangers project and my second famous person.... I don't think I'm going to be able to maintain that kind of ratio !!!

See more about James Cracknell here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cracknell

Smile !!

2009-06-11T04:18:00.001-07:00

Smile !!
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I was looking through various folders in Lightroom last night looking for images that I had missed or that would offer an opportunity to try out the quadtoning technique on. I decided that this portrait would offer itself nicely. I'm very pleased wit the results and think it does the beautiful smile justice. This was a random and somewhat opportunistic "snapshot" taken in the car whilst stopped at a level crossing. You have to catch her unawares to avoid a terrible posed toothy smile/grimace.

Now I've got the quadtoning technique sorted I think I'll move on to another in Scott Kelby's book, CS3 for Photographers.

Jumping For Joy

2009-06-10T03:33:00.001-07:00

One of my favourite shots from our recent holiday. B had a great time jumping down the sand dunes. I say sand dunes but really they were man made mounds that were being dumped by huge trucks to try and repair some of the beach erosion from previous years. You can see the trucks in the second shot

Flying Vizsla :Quad Toned

2009-06-10T03:13:00.001-07:00

Flying Vizsla
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

I've been using Scott Kelby's book "CS3 for Photographers" to help me with different post processing techniques and one I tried recently I really liked. It's quad toning to add extra depth and contrast to B&W images. This shot is of our grorgeos pooch, Jasper. He's a Hungarian Vizsla, very photogenic and a bit of a poser. This is one of his favourite tricks when we're up on "Smiths Lawn" polo fields, jumping over the fence.

Water Drops.

2009-06-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to take macro photos of water drops a few times now with some pretty good results.... but it "aint nothin" compared to some of these. See video ont he Strobist.com blogspot. There is some amazing footage.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-photograph-water-drops-with-one.html

Naughty Boy (Sorry Mum)

2009-02-03T09:05:00.001-08:00

Naughty Boy (Sorry Mum)
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

Just testing out attaching a photo to a blog entry.... and again. Sorry Mum !!

OMG

2009-02-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Oh My God..... I've got a blog. Now what do I do ??

I'm hoping over the coming weeks and months I can use this new (to me) tool to let my hitherto constrained creative juices run wild.

This seems woefully inadequate for what is a milestone event in my life !! My first blog entry.

At least now that I've popped my blogging cherry I can relax a little. Next I must think about a witty and smart profile.

...and thankfully there is a speeling checker too. Sorry, very poor joke.