Dying flowers

Some flowers, now getting near the end of their best period. I liked the murky water and view through the glass. Quite nice, muted colours and shapes.

Sony Cybershot mobile phone, macro mode.

Ivan

Morning Light on glass

A simple shot, taken because I liked the light and shade on the patterned glass we have in our front porch. The little cybershot has slightly over-exposed the most intense area of light, but has handled the shade part very well, and overall exposure is good considering how tricky this must be to meter. It actually has spot metering, would you believe..!

Ivan

Clematis Explosion

Last of this summer's crop of clematis flowers. Wonderful colours.

Taken with the cybershot from mobile phone. This time on macro mode, which is actually not too bad - there's a lot of detail in this image, and it's only had a marginal amount of sharpening.

I'd like to enter one or more of the technically better mobile phone shots to a projected image competition at Cambridge Camera Club this year. 3.2MP is more than enough to meet the size requirements for projection, so it's down to me getting a good enough shot from this little beast. What kudos, to get placed with a mobile phone snap, proving the old maxim that it's WHAT you photograph, not what with.

Ivan

A closer warm welcome

Same place, but closer in. I think this accentuates the elements - the grimy pavement, the vomit on the ground and the smiley face.

Sony Cybershot from mobile phone.

Ivan

A warm welcome?

A bit like the "Paradise Lost" image recently posted, this one is from a back alley in Cambridge, where often you see homeless folks sleeping. I liked the contrast of the bleak stained brick with the playful face.

Taken with the Sony Cybershot again. It definitely does better in good light, but I think I didn't quite let the (slow) autofocus do it's thing before moving a little. There are better pics than this (next post)

Ivan

At the horse show

A snapshot taken at a local horse show, where the kids were having races. I liked the poses of the watchers, the man with his hands on his hips, the old woman and youngsters sitting down, the action going on in front of them. I am trying out a more "in the moment" style of photography, perhaps with elements of what Damian does, less thinking more capturing and seeing what it comes out like. A bit like some of the street photography I've been getting into recently.

This was taken on a 3.2MP sony cybershot, which is part of my new Sony Ericsson C510 mobile smartphone. It's not powerful, no manual control, but it is with me all the time, and is ideal for this type of thing. It powers on in seconds, and is easy, immediate. Not a replacement for the SLR, but something separate.

I can manipulate to minimise any artefacts in photoshop - these are very small sensors, so can be quite noisy, but I think this adds to the feel of these captures.

More to follow...

Ivan

Bridge

Taken in Cambridge last winter, I loved the soft early evening light on the brick and water.

Ivan

Mother and Child - part 2

I posted this image about a year ago, but got no comments. So, I think it's OK to post again! I am thinking to enter it as part of the 6 image assault on the 2009/10 CCC Digital Projected Image Competition, so all comments gratefully received.

Ivan

Peak District Leaves

A simple, long exposure shot, taken in the Peak District a few years ago. Not pushing the boundaries of the aesthetic, but quite challenging to get right.

Ivan

Get a Life..

Who hasn't been guilty of this from time to time...?



Ivan

Cartoon (c) Whattheduck.net

Paradise Lost

A shot, taken a couple of years back, from the small town in the west of Scotland (Linwood) that I grew up in. When we moved there, I was 3, it was 1971, and everything was shiny and new; the schools, the roads, the parks, the houses. It really was very nice and community-spirited and a great environment to grow up in. All the men worked at the newly opened car factory and the women either stayed at home to look after kids, or had jobs in Paisley (5 miles) or Glasgow (15 miles). The car factory shut, and it all changed.

Now look at it. This is taken at the shopping centre - mostly closed, boarded up, rubbish and dirt everywhere. The town is penned for re-development, but it'll likely never be what it was again. Very sad.



Ivan

Photolife - Emerging Photographer

I entered this image into the Emerging Photographer contest with the magazine Photolife and was successful. The image is listed along with several other photographers of different styles.



Damian

Quick snap

Gentlemen - it's August so it's time for a monthly post. This was taken as a bit of an abstract snap whilst in Notre-Dame la Garde, Marseille in March with my Canon-G9. I use LR2 to convert the RAW and add a bit of colour back. I was trying to post something a bit different to my usual offereings - I'm not sure I like it myself, but anyway, let me know. A.

Regularity

In the spirit of regular contributions, I'm posting this image. A free bag of onions to whoever first guesses what this is.

Your thoughts? Too much black? Not enough? Does it need more puppies?

--Colin

Keeping the ball rolling?

I thought I should add something, anything, in light of today's email.



I played a little with Adam's image, desaturating the red and yellow a lot. The idea was to make things look gloomier. I wanted to keep the sky fairly colourful, though, to emphasize the gloomy foreground. It was a very quick and dirty fiddle. Thoughts?

BTW, is this some sort of tidal river?

Back from the dead......

I'm back and promise to post at least once a month...here's a shot a took at sunset in march at Blakeney. Any thoughts welcome. 24mm, f11, 1/10, iso 100, with tripod. Adjusted levels in LR2 and used LR2 graduated filter to darken sky two stops. With regard to the discussion around calibration, I've used Spyder2 for a couple of years and I'm very happy...more soon, A.

Halifax Pride

Well I don't want to be the one that causes the collapse of Critical Light so I vow to post at least one blog a month...well, we will see...

So, here are a few pics from past Pride Parades. Another is coming up this month and I always find them a photographic treat...

Evolution of a photograph

I enjoyed reading this essay from an experienced professional - gave me hope that it's not just us "fumbling amateurs" that need multiple gos to sometimes get the image we see in our minds eye...

Close, but no cigar...

I missed the last meeting of the Cambridge Camera Club season (well, I missed pretty much everything from end Jan to end of the season), but, at the Annual Prize Giving, I came 2nd in the serial projected image competition. This is a 3 round, 2 images per round, open theme competition, running September to Feb. In my first CCC season, I came third overall in the club, then nowhere last season, and now 2nd! No cup, just a certificate. As this requires a degree of consistency, and I used 4 new images (all taken in the UK with not a spectacular foreign vista in sight), I was pleased with such a good result.

Although somewhat disillusioned with the Camera Club set-up, and now sans my partner-in-crime (and new Dad) Gareth, I will rejoin for season 2009/10, in the hope of learning something or being inspired.

Ivan

How to get monitor and printer to match

A useful link, from Colour Wiki. My new LCD screen is way off, and I am seriously thinking to get a colour profiling device, like a Spyder or a Huey. Any experience from you guys and/or advice?

Ivan