Sky Watch Friday

Yesterday started off as an absolutely beautiful sunny day, but once I had finished work and able to go for a walk the clouds were moving in.

 but I managed to capture this photo before the sky became a white blanket.  This is also my photo for Sat 45/366.
Bernadette has been home for the weekend which has been lovely, she goes back this evening until Feb then home for a few days over half term, just a shame Amanda and I have been working all weekend :(, still we have had the evenings together. :).  For more skies from around the world click on the link below.

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

It is cold

It has suddenly turned very cold today, went for my run this morning and even though I was sweating  I mean perspiring I was freezing, then it rain, which didn't help and to top it off it HAILED, this convinced me that I am not a hardened all weather runner.  Took me ages to warm up as well :(

Anyway here is today's photo, yes yet more flowers (sorry Kathie) tomorrow's will be different, promise.

On a roll now

Well two days on the trot I have been running with my running partner - Nina and today we actually managed 3.5miles, so as you can image we are very pleased with ourselves.  It definitely helps to run with someone else to keep me going and as we go at 8.20am which is the start of the school run time we find that helps us as well, I mean you can't be seen walking too often in front of the children and mums can you now!!  I use to hate people seeing me run but I have certainly overcome that worry now and I actually like it now as I do get to see people and like the banter that goes with it.

Another dull miserable day here, so thought I would share yesterday's daily photo with you, hopefully brighten your day abit.

Some of my crocuses popped their heads out yesterday, so pretty.

26wk Photo Challenge - Zoom Burst

The theme for the next two weeks is to experiment with a technique called zoom burst, the effect you get can be seen below.

(AV mode, ss 5, f22, ISO 160.)

Ideally you do need a dslr and a zoom lens of some description, this one was taken with a 10-20mm.  The technique involves, keeping the camera still (tripod or table), using a long/slow shutter speed ie 2 secs or more, press the shutter then rotate the lens in and out and see what results you get.  You can vary the amount of zoom by how much you rotate the lens.  If you have a compact and can set the shutter speed, why not try using a slow shutter speed and whilst holding the camera turn yourself around slowly and see what effect you get, or up and down slowly to create an abstract image using intentional movement. Just remember though the longer the shutter speed the more light you will be letting in and if you use a ss of say 3secs +  in daylight you will probably end up with a white screen! So you may need to alter your exposure compensation dial or use a higher f stop (large numbers) which will let less light in than a lower one(low numbers) or reduce the shutter speed until you get a good exposure with the effect you want.  You can see examples on this flickr page .  Most importantly, experiment and have fun.  Upload by the 2nd Feb.  Any questions, post on here or email me :) 

26wk Photo Challenge - Weather

Well our theme for the last two weeks has been bad weather and to be honest prior to this theme the weather was awful, since it started it has been rather pleasnat, so we opted for images of the weather.  Here are my three offerings.

This was taken in the morning from the back garden, went out in the car shortly afterwards and I could see more than six foot in front of me, but it cleared very quickly to the sky in the third image.

 Manual mode, ss 1/50, f6.3, ISO 500, 50mm focal length.

Taken yesterday, looks beautiful but it was blowing a hooly.

 Manual mode, ss 1/50, f22, exp comp -1/3, ISO 100, focal length 18mm.

This was the sky approximately 2 hrs after the fog in the first image!

Manual mode, ss 1/80, f11, exp comp +2/3, ISO 100, focal length 120mm

You can see  Yvonne's, Joy's images as well.  Thanks for taking part. :)

366 project

On the 12th Dec I decided to start a photo a day project.  As a result of this I am having a lot of fun playing with different techniques and actually working through my list of items I want to photograph.  So I thought I would share with you some tulip photos I took this week (the third one was my daily photo).
Apologies to eveyone as I am still unable to post comments on a number of blogs and I understand others are suffering the same, hopefully blogger sorts it soon. :)

All taken using 90mm lens, natural day light,.

Fancy waking up to this.......

I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the kitchen window this morning to be greeted by this sky.  Just wish I had known it was going to happen and I would have gone out somewhere for a better view.  Funny thing was 10mins later when I met my friend for a run (only 3 miles today!) she hadn't seen anything and the sky was just a light bluey/grey, think she thought I had been on something I was so excited!!

Just to let everyone know for some reason blogger won't let me leave comments on a number of blogs at the moment, when I click on post comments I get a blank page.  So I hope no one thinks I am ignoring their blogging I just can't comment. 

Where is January going?

Having spent most of December and the first few days of January blogging every day I seem to have come to an abrupt stop and I am actually missing it - how sad it that eh?  One day seems to be flowing into another at the mo, so this week I think I need to slow down a little bit and get sorted as to what is happening, what needs to be done and what can wait awhile. 
Slowly I am sorting out photos and taking them off this computer and storing onto an external hard drive.  I have realised that am very bad, in the sense I take photos, upload them, glance at them then forget all about them.  Hence I found this little beauty the other day, I call it a beauty because I have fallen in love with it - is that a bad thing to fall in love with one of your own images?  No I don't think so.

I do remember reading somewhere about some famous photographer who takes photos but never looks at them until a year later, apparently he says you view things differently after a period of time. Maybe I am just following his guide, either way I am enjoying going through them.  It puzzles me that I even keep the rubbish ones, such a waste of hard drive!  At this rate I shall have no excuse to need a new computer, not that I want one, a new monitor would be nice and a bigger desk, but not essential or top of my shopping list.

Catch up time again!

As usual I am way behind with blogging this week, so catch up time now.

First Sky Watch Friday

A long day but weather wise a beautiful one. This was the sky that greeted me as I came out of St Michaels Hospital Friday afternoon.

 Though it was very cold, for more lovely skies from around the world go to ..

MONTHLY PHOTO

Taken a day late but hey who's checking only me!  The sky was brighter than last month and it wasn't wet, in fact it was a nice day on Thurs.  I took this then went for a walk down by the river and took the one below.

Looking very baron, guess the tide being out didn't help.

Amanda had her knee operation on Friday, (hence the hosp comment above) all went well and she is weight baring straight away which is good, she has crutches as a back up if needed but she isn't using them much.  Into college tomorrow for an exam then home again.  She is hoping to be back at college by Wed, which is good, so not too much time missed.  

Time to stop and think!

Now that I am doing this 365 project I am finally getting around to photographing things that I have thought about photographing for ages, one of them being my grandad's fob watch.  I really like the kind of image you see with very soft focus and neutral tones and a shallow dof.  So that is what I tried to create with these. 

 manual mode, ss 1/25, f4/0, exp comp +2/3, ISO 200, focal length 90mm

manual, ss 1/8, f2.8, ISO 200, focal length 90mm, 

manual, ss 1/6, f2.8, exp comp - 2/3, focal length 90mm.  The only alterations to these on the computer have been to crop, and put a watermark on, all shot in raw, using natural daylight through the window.

Now I know these aren't everyone's cup of tea especially this last one, but personally I really like them and I'm very pleased with them.   Camera club members would pull them to bits by saying they are  totally blown out, no focus point, focus is way to soft, not pin sharp - not acceptable therefore not a good photograph.  I do agree with all most of those comments because technically they are true,  but I don't agree that it doesn't make a good photograph.  Surely at the end of the day it is what the author likes and is happy with, everyone's tastes are different and surely there is room for all.  What are your thoughts?

26wk Photo Challenge - One Lens

The theme for the last two weeks on the 26 wk challenge was to use only one lens for all your photos, I chose my 10-20mm lens as I haven't used it much.  Well I have really really enjoyed using it and apart from a couple of sessions when I was doing some macro work when I used my 90mm, it is the only lens I have used. :)  I feel I really do know what it is capable of now.  I have already posted some images taken with it (ie my new header and here and here) but will show the eggs again just to show the lens off.

 AV mode, ss1/13, f3.5, ISO 200, focal length 17mm.

 AV mode, ss 1/13, f3.5, ISO 250, focal length 17mm.

The header photo settings were manual mode, ss 1/125, f16, ISO 200, focal 10mm.

Please pop over Eileen's, Yvonne's, Joy's, Louise's to the other images taken in this challenge.  For the next two weeks the challenge is to photograph the weather! Maybe something other than rain!!

Sky Watch Friday

I have been abit remiss with this over the Christmas and New Year period, but hopefully back on track now.  We have had awful winds this week, so on Tues I headed down to a nearby beach to see what the sea was up to, the dark sky was rapidly moving over to show a beautiful blue.

Taken this morning before the blue gave way to the grey.

To  see more skies from around the world click on the link below.

Journal Your Christmas the final entry!

Catching up on the last few prompts for JYC (determined to finish it!) and part of the prompt for the 2nd Jan was asking if you witnessed anyone going out of their way to be kind or calm at a stressful time?  Well as I write this Christmas and New Year seem to be a distance memory now  - I guess that is due to our lives being so busy that everything that happens has to be enjoyed at the time because in the blink of an eye we are doing something else.  Certainly the case in our family and I'm sure a lot can relate to this.  It is abit like coming back off holiday, you want to keep the feeling going but you can't as life returns to routine as soon as you walk through the door. (I seem to have digressed slightly)  I think the acts of generousity that stood out for me this year was the girls gifts to each other and Mick and myself.  I had to laugh when I heard myself telling them off for wasting their money on me and Mick -  that was just what my mother use to say to me lol.  History repeating itself I guess.  Whislt shopping in town I decided to play a game that a friend and I use to play whist working in London on early turn.  The aim was to smile and say "hello" (or Merry Christmas) to as many complete strangers as you could and get them to return the gesture. I am pleased to say I did fairly well this year and most returned the gesture, though I did get a few scowls and odd looks - but generally a good reponse - so maybe good will isn't lost after all.

Jan 3rd prompt - favourite moment of the season or to photograph fog.  Hmm ... have to say we haven't had any fog OR a single bit of frost, I have never known us not to have frost this time of year, does that mean we are going to get it later or never see it again!!!
My favourite moment - can't really think of one to be honest, probably Bernadette coming home and making the house complete, then Mael (the boyfriend - Bernadette's that is) arriving as well, which seemed to finalise the completness (if that makes sense). Having a full table on Christmas Day as well.

No fog but this is what greeted me when I went to Pendower to photo the crashing waves in the wind!!  As you can see not very stormy -  it was beautiful anyway.

Jan 4th prompt - to make a list of things I want to remember for next year.  Definitely the sprouts and bacon and the sausagment stuffing, though I think I shall be doing those throughout the year any way. Yummy. 

Nothing to do with the entry for today but I couldn't resist taking a photo of this, it just made me smile, daffs with Christmas decorations!! Doesn't seem right.

Jan 5th prompt - packing away.  I have to confess and say the decs all came down on New Year's
Eve, though the wreath stayed up until today.  I tend to take all the cards down prior to Amanda's birthday on the 4th so that her cards can go up.  This year the rest just followed the cards, and it didn't seem as painful and labourious as past years.  
The photo prompt for today has to be my favourite and one I have thought about a lot.  It is to set yourself a photography goal and go for it, I could list so many that I want to do but will try and decide on just two possibly.  I'm doing my 26wk challenge already and I have started a 366 project as well, which easily falls in with the 26wk challenge.  I think one of my biggest goals this year is to master my flash gun, I had a book for Christmas which should help me along.  I'm thinking about a couple of others but knowing what I am like, I tend to plan too much and achieve nothing, so before making a decision I shall think alittle longer on them.

Sharing this with you because I really like it!



At the moment I don't intend to post each of my 366 images on here every day, (they go on flickr) but sometimes I may do.

Jan 6th  Summarise our Christmas, ...... weather wise, very wet and very windy.  Health wise, sniffles and coughs and now vomiting!!  Relaxation ... yes definitely.  Batteries recharged for the New Year, I would say so.  As said in a previous post I have really enjoyed doing this and thank you for all the comments that have been made, it is really nice to know that others have enjoyed reading it.
So that is it all complete, just need to print it off and put in a book!!  That is after I have finished two other books that have been waiting an age to be completed.  Thanks for following this Christmas Journey. xx

Back to work -JYC 28 - 1st Jan

Up at the crack of dawn to go to work (should have stayed in bed but then someone else would have to have got up!!)  This afternoon was the family get together that normally takes place on Boxing Day, it was at Mick's brother's this year - I decided that it wasn't a good idea for me to go out again, so curled up on the settee again and stayed there til the family came home - with doggy bag for me.  One home made pasty and steam pudding and custard for desert.  Certainly was good.

Photo of the second pair of bed socks, really enjoying knitting socks, (four needles as well!!)

I find I am running out of steam with this now so shall combine the last few days together to get through it.
Dec 29th - why did I start this Christmas Journal in the first place?  Well have seen lots of beautiful books created around this idea and like them.  I so want to do one, but know it isn't going to happen so decided to blog it instead.  Am I glad I did?  Yes definitely.  It has certainly made me think more about it all and reflect.  Will I print if off as originally planned?  Yes.

Dec 30th - what happened in 2011 a brief account - in no particular order.

• Changed jobs,
• Bernadette off to uni,
• Amanda off to college,
• Bernadette passed her driving test and turned 18,
• Went on our first cruise,
• Met up with cousin and his new partner twice,
• Lost Uncle Lew, (the last Uncle),
• Lost Sammy,
• Nephew got engaged, (a wedding is well over due in this family!)
• Done a lot of photography,
• Did a 100ft abseil,
• Signed up to do a 10K charity run,
• Climbed one of the Brecon Beacons (sugar mountian, I believe!),
• Met Louise from Boys, Bugs and Beautiful Buttons  and her gorgeous boys,
• Cemented some good friendships,
• Grown in myself.

So all in all a pretty good year :)

Dec 31st

Pretty unadventful.  Mick decided yesterday after five years of asking to decorate the spare room!!  So that was today.  The less said the better really. 

Jan 1st 2012  already posted about resolutions here

  The sky today at lunch time

The sky early evening!!

The photos have nothing to do with the Journal your Christmas but they are from my 366 project that I started on the 12th Dec and were taken on the said days.  They also link in to the 26wk challenge of using a set lens oh apart from the perfume bottle (I did change there tut tut I know - hanging head in shame)

Boxing Day - JYC 26/27

Not much I can say about today other than I got up sat on the settee and there I stayed til I crawled up to bed.  I felt like I had been run over by a steam roller and hung out to dry in the rain!!!  Not good, though by being on the settee I did get to see 'Singin in the Rain' on TV - which lifted my heart no end.  It was wonderful :)  Mick and the girls went for a walk round Mevagissey and said it was lovely.
No photos to show (just as well there are 366 days in my 365 project!!)  so I thought I would share this with you instead 'What is Boxing Day'  http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/boxingday.html

Decided to add the 27th into this post as well as it was pretty much the same as Boxing Day for me, alittle more life in me than yesterday but not much so settee it was for me again.  Though I did manage a photo :)  so must be getting better.  Another Christmas decoration.

Christmas Day - JYC 25

Gone are the days when the girls are up before the crack of dawn, nowadys I'm the first one up (normal) and I potter around enjoying the peace.  Today I was active, a quick surf whilst I had my morning cuppa, then on with the sausage rolls, as I know once Mick's dad arrives they will be gone in a flash.  The rest of the morning is chilled, pressies opened, granny and grandad arrive (Mick's mum and dad), lunch is cooked, eaten then major chill.  We didn't get out for a walk.  Instead we sat and watched Lee Evans's dvd of his Road Runner tour.  The one I bought tickets for Mick last Christmas just to find the ticket company was  a scam and I was out of pocket for four tickets and over night accommodation for four!!!  It was such a good show as well :( 

So not a very exciting day but a relaxed one, the bonus was I didn't get called out to work as expected so that was nice.  Sausage roll anyone?