Summer... finally!

The sun finally came out! Hopefully this will motivate me to get out with the camera a bit more in the coming months.

To start, a simple shot of some buttercups - shot upward to give a different perspective and to add some nice blue sky to contrast with the bright yellow petals. 




Some more shots to follow shortly.

Chrysanthemum

A macro shot of some flowers bought for my girlfriend (by me!).

Purposely shot with the smallest DoF I could achieve (f/2.8) and from the side, I think the white petals on a dark background have resulted in the 'dreamy' image I'd wanted.

Christmas Nativity

A family trip to Rove's Farm in Wiltshire for my Niece and Nephew before Christmas. Some unexpected subjects on the way to the Nativity: a sheep, llama and cow. Low light levels resulted in a relatively high iso setting, but I think it suits the black and white image. All at f/1.4, 50mm.



 
 
 
 

Something different...

It's been a while since I did, let alone posted any 'proper' photography. At least anything I'd taken with my camera as opposed to my iPhone anyway.

A trip to 'Oktoberfest', a mountain biking event on the grounds of Bristol's Ashton Court made for a slightly different subject matter for me.

The event featured a mixture of professional and amateur riders, including Steve Peat who I confess I mainly know for a pair of handle bar grips I bought for my own bike which are branded with his name.

Most of the days weather was perfect for riding, and photography. The day also provided me the opportunity to get some use out of my 300mm f/4 L lens which has mostlly gathered dust since around 2001 when I last did any Formula 1 photography.

 

A quick downpour was welcome, at least because with a telephoto lens I could hide under a tree for this shot.

  

At the time we didn't realise that most of the races were four hours long, it explains some of the looks on the riders' faces as they passed us.

  

Some attempts at motion blur which were largely failures, this being one of the better ones - aided by the rider having to drop his foot on a reasonably quick and downhill left turn.

  

I just thought that this guys face said it all, he was in some pain after this race!

  

The good light enjoyed during the 'golden hour' extended to allow for some nice portraits of riders as they dismounted their bikes. This one being my favorite.

  

My friend Steve.

Instagram...

A random mix of recent pictures taken using the Instagram app on my iPhone. I enjoy being forced to use one focal length (zoom on iPhone is awful), while the filters offer some interesting processing options. I also really like the square compositions.

I'm using an iPhone 4, so these are limited to 5MP - not that the lens is going to be overly capable of doing much more anyway!

Milford-on-Sea - Rocks used to try and stop long-shore drift.

Electricity or telephone cables - not sure but I like these!

Beetle on a leaf - macro capablity hardly amazing, but not bad either!

Beach huts at Milford-on-Sea

View of the Isle of Wight and the Needles

A farm field

Cabbage white butterfly - again showing the macro potential of the iPhone!

Paris - July 2012

Some shots from a trip to Paris in mid-July. I really haven't been getting much use at all from my camera of late, to be honest I'm finding Instagram more enjoyable at the moment - I will post some of my favorite recent shots with that later.


A vandalised van, saw a lot of these - I thought they were quite photogenic. Filters applied in Lightroom to enhance the colours.



A day or two before the end of the Tour de France - this was a charity event, though I couldn't tell if this was the start or the finish.



Entrance to the Louvre



And finally, an Instagram shot from the Arc de Triomphe

Pembrokeshire: Part 2

As promised, more photos from our time in Pembrokeshire this week.

I spotted this boat through the bushes on the coastal walk and thought it would make for a nice shot - I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

A wider view of the site of the castle remains at Newcastle Emlyn, I quite liked the direction of the vapour trails from the aeroplanes in the sky.

Some rapeseed growing a field that we walked through along the Cardigan Bay coastal walk.

Buttercups growing in another field along the same coastal walk

Some white wildflowers, these were growing everywhere but I have no idea what they're actually called.