Twitching at Eden

Popped down to the Eden Project the other day to take some photos of the birds with my Sigma 170-500 lens as I really haven't used it half as much as I should have done.

Click on the photograph for a larger version

I found a male and female chaffinch:

And a Dunnock:

So nothing too exotic! Still, it's all practise.

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Sparrows

I went to a fantastic talk at St Austell Camera Club the other day. Sue Earnshaw showed us some amazing wildlife photographs taken all over the world, but also shots of the birds in her garden which she practises her skills on.

I felt inspired and since I enjoy sitting on my window sill and watching the world go by, having a camera in my hand seemed the natural progression.

These sparrows live in my roof, so they are always about.

Click on the photographs to view large versions.

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Candid Kids

Went to a BBQ the other day and chased the kids round the garden with my camera. Was reasonably pleased with the results. Click on the photo for the large versions - they look better that way.

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Strobist Experiments

Inspired by a rainy day and an excess of garlic, I thought I would experiment with off camera flash.

I used two strobes, one fired into a white umbrella to the right on 1/4 power, another bounced on the ceiling above set to 1/2 power. I tried to balance the flash with the natural light coming in from the window to the left.

I then did a spot of dodge/burn in photoshop. Here are the results - which look much better in a larger size - click on the image for a larger version.

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The Legend of the Cheesewring, Bodmin Moor

I went back to Minions a few days ago, to show some friends how beautiful the landscape is around Bodmin Moor.

I climbed up to the Cheesewring and tried to make the most of the dramatic lighting conditions... because the light was bright with a lot of cloud the light was very patchy - and didn't always light up the bits I wanted it to!

View larger versions on flickr

The Cheesewring is a granite tor in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor.

The Cheeswring is a natural geological formation, a rock outcrop of granite slabs formed by weathering. It gets its name because the piled slabs look like a "cheesewring", a press-like device that was used to make cheese.

A local legend about this rock formation is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about it. The Saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred.

One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the Saints. He confronted the frail St Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall. If St. Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity.

Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe's Hill. St Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was 12 stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. St Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that.

Thanks Wikipedia

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Monochrome

I have been playing around with monochrome images lately and thought it was about time I posted some of them here.

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To Touch the Clouds

Taken at Hells Mouth, Cornwall, a notorious suicide spot.

Just Like Old Times...

Seine Net Fishing at Hemmick Beach, Cornwall

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Textures & Despondency

I have been feeling a little despondent about my photography lately.

I feel like I am getting my head around the camera finally but I have been focusing so much effort into this (spot the unintentional pun) that I have lost sight of what I want to do creatively.

I think part of this is down to suddenly being part of a photographic community with so many conflicting views on what is good and what isn't I can't hear the sound of my own photographic voice.

It will come I suppose. More research required. I've always been impatient.

Still, my latest experiments with textures seemed to go down well on flickr, so in the absence of trusting my own judgement, I'll be happy with theirs for now.

Click for larger size.

Little Red Boat

Sea Grass

2008 - The Beginning...

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In the beginning there was a birthday.

Finally I had a real camera. Not the convenient shove-in-your-handbag point and shoot I had used forever, but a shiny new Canon EOS 450d, complete with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens, and a Tamron 70-300mm f4/5.6 DI LD Macro lens.

I had to take it out for a trial run, so headed up to Warrens wood at St Blazey to make the most of the Autumn colour scheme. I had a quick look at the manual, but with so much to take in, decided to dial it to manual and experiment with the settings in the hope that I might take a shot that I liked.

My macro lens still needed testing, and with the Autumn weather giving way to the chill of Winter, I felt some indoor practice was in order. Water seemed like a good place to start, so to the bemusement of those around me, I spent a weekend taking photographs of various combinations of water, oil and cds... as you do!

Flowers seemed like the logical progression, and since I was new to the world of macro, I headed outside to shoot the only flower still standing (in my defense - it was December by this point!)

What my back garden lacked, the supermarket provided, and I bought some flowers. I must be naive, but I didn't realise they actually dyed flowers... I thought I had bought blue flowers, but it turned out I bought white ones that someone had dyed blue.

I felt duped, but they were still pretty!

I finished the year trying to make a crap Christmas tree look better.

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