Weekly challenge

Running late with this as well - obviously going to be one of those weeks.  Right this week our theme is to use a slow shutter speed, this can be to create a blurring effect from a moving object ie vehicles, water, light trails, star trails, painting with light photos. Or for night time photography when you need to have the shutter open for a longer in order to let more light in.  Anyway have fun and get creative.  Anyone welcome to join in just let me know so we can link up on Sunday.

Here is one of the first one's I did a couple of years ago.  Hopefully we will see an improvment at the end of the week!!

Weekly photo - shadows

Here I am a day late - basically I just ran out of time yesterday - or maybe I was just trying to fit too much into a 24hr slot!!  Anyway shadows was last week's theme and I have really enjoyed looking for them even if I haven't photographed all of them, but I can see it is a theme I shall carry on with.  So here are my offerings, they vary from patterns on the ground like the two below....

to obvious shadows with the cause of them being shown as well......

to an unflattering shadow of me - that is a shoulder bag sticking out of my back!!

to Amanda playing around as usual during an evening stroll on the beach to collect seaweed for work

Kathi joined us this week as well, her photos can be see here 

This weeks photo theme

This week our theme is 'shadows'.  Here are some examples on flickr,  most seem to be using the sun to create the shadows but unfortunately in traditional english summer weather we have clouds and rain - so I think we may have to be creative for this week's challenge and create some shadows or look very carefully.  Have fun and just link up to show your images by Sunday.

Weekly photo - candid

This week's theme was candid.  Sam is on the ball tonight and has uploaded her's from last week and this week's already, they can be seen here and I am sure Louise will be posting her's soon.  As for me well, I managed a couple, the first was taken during an evening in Truro on Thurs with some of the others from camera club.  We had a stroll around the cathedral and I saw this girl sat on the grass busy chatting on the phone.

The second is of Amanda, she had one of her guinea pigs out and she was busy talking to it, as I went to take the picture she looked up and had to pull a face!! Taken via the window.

In search of the lunar eclipse

On Wed 15th there was a lunar eclipse apparently!  I went off in search of it and saw absolutely nothing that resembled a moon at all, way too much cloud cover in Cornwall that evening.  Still the sun did peek it's head out momentarily to set and I managed to take this picture.  It fascinates me how the camera sees sunsets, skies etc totally different to our eyes.  This is sooc.

I love it, but the sky didn't look anything like that. It was taken with a fixed focal 400mm lens ( I was planning of photographing the moon!!), ISO 100 and cloudy WB and that is what it came out as.  A couple of minutes later I took a photo of some calves in the field next to the one above,

and it came out like this - which is more realistic than the first one.  Only difference in the settings were I had upped the ISO to 200 as the light was dropping.  Once again sooc.

I came across this article the other date and personally found it very interesting, hopefully some of you will as well.

Weekly challenge - candid

This week our theme is candid, I found this description of candid photography and thought it explained it fairly clearly.

"Candid photography is best described as un-posed and unplanned, immediate and unobtrusive. This is in contrast to classic photography, which includes aspects such as carefully staged portrait photography, landscape photography or object photography. Candid photography catches moments of life from immersion in it.
Candid photography is opposed to the stalking involved in animal photography, sports photography or photographic journalistic intrusion, which all have a focus on getting distant objects photographed, e.g. by using telephoto lenses. Candid photography's setup includes a photographer who is there with the "subjects" to be photographed, close, and not hidden. People photographed on candid shots either ignore or accept the close presence of the photographer's camera without posing.
The events documented are often private, they involve people in close relation to something they do, or they involve people's relation to each other. Candids are the kinds of pictures taken at children's birthday parties and on Christmas morning, opening the presents; the pictures a wedding photographer takes at the reception, of people dancing, eating, and socializing with other."

Hope that gives you an idea as to what to look for and I look forward to seeing the results. Anyone is welcome to join in just leave a comment and a link, up load by next Sunday the 19th June.  Most importantly - have fun, that is what it is all about.

Celebrating - at last....

During half term I was asked by a lady in the village who makes Chutneys and Relishes if I would be interested in doing some photography work for her for her new website and brochures - naturally I jumped at it - all be it a rather nervous jump - hoping I could delivery what she wanted.  Anyway last weekend I delivered a disc with the first set of images on and then waited nervously for the respond - I got it Friday evening via an urgent request for more images asap for a promotional leaflet she is having printed as she liked my first set so much. So all weekend I have been walking around grinning like a cheshire cat as well as taking pics of Beetroot Relish  here is one of them

I used my 90mm lens (which I am so in love with at the mo) AV mode and f2.8 to ensure the background was blurred so that the eye would focus on the relish.  Not a fan of beetroot but I have been informed it is delicious/
This following image was one of the first ones - just a jar on a white background for the website.

Once again using the 90mm lens, AV mode on f4 this time as I wanted more of the jar in focus but still no background.  I am such a happy teddy so off for a glass of wine to celebrate.

Weekly photo - animals

Animals one of my favourite subjects to photograph but unfortunately I haven't seen many this week other than a few cows that wandered into the field behind us hence they are my subject for this week's photo.

A friend showed me this link during the week http://go.jmleclercq.com/kr  ...... one day.

Weekly photo

I'm posting this early as Mick is home today so I probably won't get another chance today.

Reflections was the order for photos this week, I was going to try and be creative with this one but as the week started to unfold the creative ideas didn't materialise - still they are in my mind to try at a later date. The weather here has been pretty good considering it is half term and on Friday Yvonne and I went to Pine Lodge and I came away with these images,

I personally really love this one as initially I don't think it looks like a reflection and I love the colours.

Not as fond of this one, feel it is cut straight down the middle (lack of thought re composition) and it makes me feel as if it is top heavy and going to fall over!!   

Loise was very inventive and has a stunning image here

Sam has joined us as well and her lovely images are here

Next week the theme is 'animals' - I should have saved my previous post image til next Sunday!! "lol"

....the half term that was....

and it went so quick as always :(  It turned into a very busy week catching up with a couple of good friends who I haven't seen for awhile - good chat and lovely food - makes me realise how lucky I am to have good friends - thank you :)  I was asked to take some pics of a ladies dog during the week, bless him, he is 14 and didn't really want to do anything but sleep, so that is what he did!!!!!  Cruelly I did give him a gentle poke to see if he would wake up and managed a few photos.  I think the tongue says it all really :)

Mick is on the ferry and on his way back from his trip of France and Italy - so it will all be back to normal here tomorrow.  He has had a great time and has promised to take me next time.... yesssss!!!

As both girls were off work today we decided to go for a ride on the Bissoe Trail   http://www.cornwallcyclehire.com/  we haven't been there for years and I mean years.  Anyway we picked one of the hottest days we have had this year to do it - possibly mistake number one!  we set off and surprisingly we missed the signpost to Portreath which is where we were heading (those that know us will know that is not surprisingly - mistake number two and found ourselves on the roads and lanes of Cornwall and for those that don't know them - they are NOT flat like the path we were meant to be on is!  So after two and a half hours of cycling we all agreed that we could not go any further as our bottoms were too painful and it wasn't fun anymore so we turned round and headed back.  That turned out to be fun as it was nearly all down hill and I managed to do my Butch Cassidy impression much to the girls bewilderment and my delight!!  Oh we had to stop for the odd photo as you do :)

We actually had a great time and will head back another day - a cooler one - and follow the correct route this time.  Thanks girls for a great day.x