out of the darkness

ikon D70 @ 18mm, 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200

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So I managed to get out of work fairly early last night and took a walk up to the Royal Mile to see what was going on. I wasn't out for that long, but came away with quite a few shots that I was pleased with. The urban scenes were still shouting out to be photographed, so there'll be a few more of them to come over the next couple of days.

This particular shot was taken in one of the entrances to Lady Stair's Close. The graffiti on the wall initially drew me to the scene, but the girl walking by with her reflection on the wall on the otherside seemed to finish it off. Now, as for the colours on this one: on my new monitor they look spot on - just the right saturation for my liking. On my older monitor though, they look slightly washed out which is concerning me. Let me know how they work for you! :)

It's a nice day outside so I'm off to get some more snaps... have a great holiday weekend everyone!!! :)

ten by sixteen

Nikon D70 @ 17mm, 1/40sec, f/5.3, ISO 200

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A return to the urban style I have been preferring recently. I took this one last week on what now seems to be a rare wander after work. I liked the way the different textures came out on this one.

We have an early finish at work this afternoon (which is slightly depressing in itself given that an early finish is 5pm) so I might give the camera a little work out if the weather stays this nice. I have Monday off as well, so I can't complain!

Have a break

Nikon D70 @ 10mm, 1/30 sec, f/4, ISO 200

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It's the return of the super cool granny!

My gran doesn't mind me using her as my muse, so it's always a good chance to take some silly shots - this time it was her enjoying a cup of tea and a kit kat! I shot this one at 10mm, so her hand was practically touching the lens. I think these are the best kind of portraits - ones where you're capturing the person in their natural state, free from contrivance. The way we will remember them.

pure scottish hobo

Nikon D70 @ 38mm, 1/25 sec, f/4.2, ISO

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Ok, so it's not the most exciting picture in the world, but I've not got a huge choice of shots to chose from at the moment. I'm long overdue a good workout with my camera.

The sign base usually just reads "900kg" but someone has stencilled in the rest: "of pure Scottish hobo"

"Fantasy" Favourite

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/320 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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I'm sure that this one won't appeal to many, but there's something a little unusual about it that manages to hold my interest. There was also some light snow falling at the time which accounts for the white specks here and there.

I also entered into Moody Monday for the first time and was luckily enough to have one of my shots chosen as a "Fantasy" Favourite - sounds quite kinky, but I like it!

blurred visions

Nikon D70 @ 10mm, 1/3 sec, f/8, ISO 200

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I was just playing about when I took this one and thought it was perhaps worth sharing - if only because my hair looks so mental in it! I manually zoomed in when taking the shot to get the blurred effect and added a little grain in PP.

It's almost the weekend boys and girls - delighted!

Stormy

Nikon D70 @ 60mm, 1/320 sec, f/8, ISO 200

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A couple of (relatively) early finishes at work has meant that I've been able to go for a wander with my camera while there was still some light. But I've been finding myself extremely lacking in inspiration recently and I can't seem to shake it.

I don't think I've quite recovered from Monday's traumatic experience... Adam has been up for a while, so we thought it would be good to go on a little photo expedition on Monday. Up at 4.30 to be at Loch Awe (to get some shots of Kilchurn castle) for a glorious sunrise. Obviously with it being Scotland you never expect the weather to be good but it's still a kick in the baws when the weather turns on you at the last minute. I didn't come away with any shots and it all seemed a bit pointless. Ah well, better luck next time.

So on to this shot. If you haven't already guessed it, the silhouette is of Edinburgh castle. There wasn't really much of a sunset, but the cloud formations were very interesting, with a couple of darker clouds standing out in front of a bright background. I ended up heavily underexposing the shot to emphasise the contrast and colours.

Just realised that this is my 300th post - how time flies!

Ted's Mum Says: Clean up!

Nikon D70 @ 20mm, 1/25 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

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Man, what a difference two days of holiday can make. So much of a difference that it's almost worrying! Almost, but not quite... having Friday and Monday off gave me a much needed break and I almost feel as if I can face work tomorrow :)

I know I promised a lot of pics would be taken but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Not through lack of trying though as today's efforts went totally unrewarded - I'll probably explain tomorrow.

So on to the current shot. I took this one last weekend when out with my brother in Glasgow - it was taken from the rear entrance to the Ted Baker shop in Princes Square. When I saw the wall I was instantly drawn to it and had to get a shot. The writing on the wall alone was reasonably interesting, but it needed a little more. So in stepped my bro, who was looking particularly sharp... and who is always more than willing to get his picture taken ;)

Really pleased with this one... so much so that it's probably one of my favourite portraits.

On a completely different note (and thanks to Jem) I finally got my monitor through - a sexy little 19 incher. The quality is astonishing and puts my old one to shame - everything looks so much sharper and cleaner. So I've now got both my TFTs hooked up to the one computer and I'm feeling rather geeky!

Easily pleased :)

still night

Nikon D70 @ 10mm, 20 secs, f/4.8, ISO 200

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Looking back on this shot, it amazes me that this was a 20 second exposure - it must have been a very still night! I took this one down at St. Cuthberts, where most of my other graveyard shots have been taken. I was quite limited to the composition here as I had to wedge my camera in between the railings above me. Still, there's something about this one that appeals to me.

I've been crazy busy recently so am delighted that I've got Friday and Monday off... a woo hoo!!! Will definitely be getting some photography in and hopefully that will inspire me to get back to my daily updates.

Got a sweet shot of my bro coming up soon, so hang tight :)

Moonlight

Nikon D70 @ 56mm, 1.6 secs, f/4.5, ISO 200

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I feel that I should apologise for my lack of response to comments and my irregular updates... but I'm going to make an effort to try and get things back on track!

As for this one... taken at Edinburgh castle when the moon was occassionally being revealed by the passing clouds. One exposure.

Last one

Nikon D70 @ 24mm, 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 200

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Right, I think you're getting bored of the recent style of shots, so I promise that this will be the last one (for a while). Yesterday's shot was one of my favourites of late, so this was doesn't do it quite as much for me.

I haven't been very talkative recently but I'm hoping that get back to my normal self soon!

Have a good weekend everyone :)

evolution

Nikon D70 @ 44mm, 1/200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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If there's any sign of graffiti then I'll be there. This one was taken a few weekends ago, but I thought it was in keeping with my current theme of urban dereliction. I was intrigued by the composition and what felt like quite a natural progression from left to right and top to bottom. I think the heavy contrast and dirty tone works well with this kind of image...

I really must get shooting again... my shutter hasn't been getting much action of late. Gotta work on those motivation levels...

letterbox

Nikon D70 @ 20mm, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

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Man, where does the time go? I seem to be losing it all the time these days!

I'm going through a street phase at the moment - anything that's dirty, grungy or run down gets my attention. Not so sure there'll be many takers on this one though...

Looking down

Nikon D70 @ 10mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 200

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One of the few shots I took this weekend. I wanted to experiment with a slightly unusual composition/angle for this one. Does it work? I think so, but only just...

mural designing syndrome

Nikon D70 @ 20mm, 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

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Finally managed to find some time to squeeze in a quick update. I was walking past this scene when the "Mural Designing Syndrome" graffiti caught my eye.