Bag... that is all.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 17 SEPTEMBER
Tourism in Caernarfon.
Not the kind of cruise she was hoping for this summer but ok then...
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 16 SEPTEMBER
After saying 'no work pics' here's yet another work pic.
The lovely work of David Jones at Oriel Ynys Mon.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 15 SEPTEMBER
I hadn't planned to post any work images here, just fun/hobby pictures, but for the first time in the 'One a day challenge' I just didn't make it outside to shoot yesterday. This was because I was inside shooting a 'floating shelf' stack of beautiful books for Ruthin Craft Centre, check out their amazing catalogue of extraordinary applied arts books here.
Ruthin Craft Centre books on ceramicists Simon Carroll, Gillian Lowndes, Emmanuel Cooper, Michael Casson and Walter Keeler.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 14 SEPTEMBER
I know this isn't glamorous but I liked the colours and the very specific set of restrictions – it was a bugger too as I had some waste oil, paint tins and tyres in my camera bag I needed to get rid of.
No, no, no...
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 13 SEPTEMBER
A blatant homage to (rip-off of?) Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Yipeeeeeee...
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 12 SEPTEMBER
Three West Highland White Terriers, braving the slightly gusty weather.
See no evil, hear no evil, bark no evil...
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 11 SEPTEMBER
Nothing much to say about this really, I just liked the dark, shiny, slightly oily looking reflections.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 10 SEPTEMBER
It's sometimes bewildering, the things I stumble across while out and about. They say every picture tells a story but I'm pretty confused what story this tells, what random chain of events led to this eventual outcome. I don't find cricket very exciting but certainly, the introduction of a flaming bat would add some much needed urgency and excitement to what is generally a very dull game. Maybe it was an attempt to destroy the evidence of a bat related murder? I'll leave it for you to decide your own back-story for this.
The Ashes?
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 09 SEPTEMBER
Well, that's just rude! It seems that even out at sea, men and women still manage to have little tiffs – or maybe she just asked 'how many lobsters have we caught today?' – 'two, we've caught two lobsters'.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 08 SEPTEMBER
Street photography is incredibly popular at the moment, I guess everyone who owns a smartphone is technically a street photographer but even amongst the 'proper' street photographers, those making a living from it, the quality and depth of images varies wildly. Some say that street images should have a deeper meaning, a social message or commentary or an interesting observation on the human condition and our life experiences in shared spaces. The alternate view is that a street photography can be simply a pleasing image, the classic or clichéd collective description of which is 'a yellow hat against a blue wall'.
I think I probably sit somewhere in the middle, I enjoy seeing thought provoking and challenging images but I can also appreciate the simple aesthetic of a shot with nothing more than a clashing colour or well timed play against a store window display or advertising billboard. The shot below was too much of a gift not to take... no social commentary, no clever message... no satire... no deeper meaning, just red wall, red bag, purple wall, purple scarf...
Red and purple...
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 07 SEPTEMBER
I've not really shot street portraits before, I'm more of a candid shooter but this guy and his little buddy were just too cool.
He said 'this is my best friend in the world'.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 6 SEPTEMBER
Since starting this challenge less than a week ago, I'm far from happy with the results overall, a couple of images have been ok – the 2nd and 3rd but beyond that, they've been uninspiring and well... a bit crap, just grabbed snaps rather than truly considered photographs. Today's is no exception, it's just a fun little street snap which takes a second to see what's going on but it's not a shot I'm proud of or is worthy of being on here. The problem is I'm taking me camera out with me while doing other the things and hoping to stumble across interesting things to shoot, I'm not planning, thinking or really 'making' shots, I'm just 'taking' them. This is the last of the mediocre shots in this challenge, I'm making a determined effort to do better, to try harder, I promise.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 5 SEPTEMBER
I don't know much about inflatable canoes but I don't think this is how you use them.
Reflecting on her husbands nautical knowledge... and maybe his choice of shorts.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 4 SEPTEMBER
I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding wind farms, a lot of resistance to them but I find them quite beautiful – especially the larger farms out at sea.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 3 SEPTEMBER
There's no point in explaining this image too much, it should be immediately apparent, if not I've kind of failed. What I saw was the circularity of life, how we all eventually end up, exactly where we started.
From a photographic perspective, there's lots wrong with this image, the first little girl looking straight down the lens, the dad's head being cut off and the general lack of any sort of dynamic structure to the composition, it's very square on and from a slightly dull head-height viewpoint. If I had been more on-the-ball I would maybe have crouched down, taken more time over the composition but that's street photography, fleeting moments present themselves and you have to be ready, more than ready, you have to see them unfolding ahead of time and grab them.
My settings were a bit off too, a total rookie error, walking into the shopping centre from shooting outside and not quickly enough adjusting for the indoor lighting conditions – I know better than that but that's what this month is all about, practice and learning.
We all end up exactly where we started.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – 2 September
I stopped off at Colwyn on my way back from Liverpool and took this shot of the old Victoria Pier. I was very lucky with the timing, the storm clouds almost mimicking the outline of the structure. The weather was crazy all day, I've not seen rain like it in years, the sky was black. I'm not sure when but it's scheduled for demolition so I guess there's a metaphorical cloud as well as a very real cloud hanging over it.
The soon to be demolished Victoria Pier at Colwyn, North Wales.
ONE A DAY CHALLENGE – Every Day Throughout September
I'm sure many of you reading this will feel the same way, massively passionate about photography but juggling many other 'life responsibilities' work, families, friends etc. and finding the time to shoot as often as possible becoming increasingly difficult. Even if a small window opens and a little time becomes free, finding even the energy once the responsibilities of the day have been taken care of can still be tough.
All that said, for the month of September I'm going to try to shoot and post/upload an image a day. I'm going to do my very best not to post anything substandard and never miss a day but we'll see how this plays out... this may just be an unrealistic target.
Photography, like any other skill requires practice, it's like learning an instrument, you can't just occasionally pick up a guitar and expect to play face-melting riffs, likewise, you can't expect to occasionally pick up your camera and take fantastic photos, no matter what level you're at, practice is key and September is my month of intense practice sessions. I'm hoping the resulting images will be interesting and worth looking at but I'm also hoping that I'll show some improvement and learn something new every day too.
I just liked how this crusty and original Series 1 Land Rover looked (plus it has the same SRH license initials as my marginally more recent Land Rover!) Not the best photo ever, taken more for my fondness of Land Rover's but an ok start to my September challenge.
Ornithologist
Ok, so, he cycled for hours carrying his binoculars to catch a glimpse of some interesting sea birds but with no success. If just one bird would show itself, just one..... nope, nothing.....
Pier
I saw this little guy on a small pier while walking today. I thought I would see how far I could push the negative space in the composition... admittedly, this is too far really, it's a bit daft but I sort of like it.
