walk in the park

Nikon D70 @ 18mm, 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

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Thanks for all your words of encouragement on the previous post - they're all very much appreciated. And I do mean that.

I took this shot tonight as I was wandering through Princes Gardens. I could hear some live music playing and so was attracted to the old band stand where a group of people were dancing to some ceilidh music. The sun was on its way down at this point and so helped create a very pleasant backdrop for the scene.

I also got a chance to try out my new tripod - a little Verbon Ultra Maxi F. I have to say that it's pretty cool. Very compact, light and perfect for those occasions when you can't be bothered hauling a heavy tripod around. It also has a twist mechanism to extend the legs which is a very clever idea and easy to use. Although it's incredibly compact, its maximum height is a respectable 155cm. It certainly isn't the most stable tripod when fully extended but you can't really expect that given its specs. It does make me fully appreciate my uni-loc 2300 major system and manfrotto 332 RC2 head combo, but boy is that thing heavy!

IReturn

Nikon D70 @ 18mm, 1 sec, f/9, ISO 200

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Apologies for the lack of updates of late. It's been a combination of a number of factors. Primarily laziness I suppose and a recently continuing thought that perhaps this blog has run its course. I've also been busy with a couple of other photography projects - one of which would be pretty exciting if it succeeded... I'll let you know if it works out...

So, this is one from the archives. Not because I didn't like it first time, but because I couldn't find it on my hard disks! I had tried taking a picture of this before, but with the area always being in shadow the exposure was always too difficult (and I didn't know about hdr at the time!). So infra red it was. The weather was very interchangeable on this day and I had just finished sheltering by the river after getting seriously p***ed on.

I'm quite happy with this shot - I like the dark and ominous feel to it. Also enjoyed playing about with the colours (instead of going for the normal IR colour approach).

Your opinions are always welcome...

Andybro

Nikon D70 @ 50mm, 1/60 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200

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Guitarist... poet... brother.

Glasgow Uni

Nikon D70 @ 10mm, various shutter speeds, f/8, ISO 200

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I went back home to Glasgae on Friday night and as I was just about to go over the Kingston bridge I thought I'd get a couple of night shots of the uni. The main shot I had in mind was one of the cloisters at night but with the lights on. Unfortunatey, by the time I got there it was after midnight and all of the lights were off. So no cloister shots for me... this time.

Instead I got a couple of other shots, including this one which was taken in one of the entrances to the main building. It's an HDR image consisting of 7 images with different exposures. Here's a bigger version" to get the full effect of the image.

Wet Paint

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

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Sorry about the lack of updates recently, but it's been a combination of being really busy at work and upgrading my other website. I'll let you know when it's finished and you can let me know what you think.

I actually really like this shot. It has a slightly unreal feel to, I think. Taken a few weeks ago on the same day as the May Day march.

Eat, Sleep, Work.

Nikon D70 @ 50mm, 1/100 sec, f/1.8, ISO200

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Eat, sleep, work.

That's all I've been doing recently. Although there's definitely a heavier emphasis on the work - the eating has been consisting of a lot of takeaways and the sleeping has been cut down to the bare minimum.

So I thought this self portrait fairly acurately represented my general mood at the moment.

A good sleep tonight (work permitting of course) and I'll be back to my happy self again!

Old News

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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I wonder if the paper boy was having a bad day? Taken last weekend on one of the alleys off Buchanan Street in Glasgow.

Pretty in Pink

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/15 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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I managed to escape from work at 8 o'clock tonight. Not the best, but it was a glorious night so it felt like it was still the afternoon. I dashed home and straight back out again with my gear. I planned on getting a nice shot of the castle with the moon in the background, but it didn't quite work out.

Instead I saw the opportunity of getting a shot of some of the lovely trees mid-bloom on Princes Street, and the bike here seemed to finish it off. I did take a load of shots with people walking past, but they were more distracting than not. I think keeping this shot simple works best.

It's not quite as dark, contrasty and depressing as I'd like... but it is pretty, isn't it? :)

P.S. I thought I'd treat you to a bigger version of the picture... the resizing wasn't very favourable to the image.

bring the troops home

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/3200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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Another one from the march a couple of weekends ago. This woman had a very solemn look on her face throughout the whole march and I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she had a son or daughter that she wanted back home...

The man on the other hand... well, he just looked like Gazza :)

no barking

Nikon D70 @ 40mm, 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 200

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I'm trying hard to like this one, but thought I'd post it anyway to hear your thoughts.

full bloom

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/2000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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It's been a while since I've been able to get that kind of shutter speed! I took this shot last weekend when the sun was out and the weather was glorious. Given that the weather was back to being crap again today, I thought that this one might cheer me up.

Summer is coming, and I can't wait...

New Life

Nikon D70 @ 38mm, 1/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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Taken one night last week when I managed to escape from work at a reasonable hour.

room 101

Nikon D70 @ 50mm, 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200

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Room 101... where all of your worst nightmares come true...

Fight poverty not war

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/2000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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I like this one.

The colours in this shot are quite clearly photoshopped, but I felt that the bright bold colours of the original didn't really fit the overall mood and feel of the shot.

For me this shot - and more importantly, the people in the shot - convey what this day meant for the different people there. On the one hand you've got the young girl smiling happily, enjoying herself and the glorious weather. Then you've got a few people who look plain bored - the march is almost over and it's probably just as well for them. And then you've got the man in the foreground on the left hand side, holding his hand written placard, standing alone. He looks as if he really cares: he's there for a reason.

People not Profit

Nikon D70 @ 70mm, 1/1000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

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Only a few minutes left of my holiday and then back to work... can't wait...

It's been a glorious couple of days over in the Burgh so I managed to get out and about to take a few shots. On Saturday morning I went out for a wander around the city centre, amazed at seeing what the place looks like in the sunshine. I knew that the May day march was on but didn't know when or where it was to take place. So I was delighted when I bumped into them just off the mound.

I followed the march along Princes Street, up the Mound and onto the Meadows where it came to an end. There wasn't a huge turnout, but enough people to warrant quite a few press photographers. I think I was as interested in watching them and how they were operating as I was the rally itself. But it was a good experience and I came away with quite a few shots. Nothing too inspirational, but I felt as if I was limited by my kit lens (18-70mm) being my longest lens. It certainly gave me itchy feet for the sigma 80-400mm OS, that's for sure.

As for the shot itself, I'm quite pleased with it. I particularly like how the various boards have covered the faces of all the protesters, except for the man holding the newspaper (the headline reading "People not Profit") and the police officer. The various messages can clearly be seen on the placards, so I don't think much more needs to be said about the image.