Morven Photo

New Home for Morven Photo

2005-07-31T11:25:00.000+01:00

After blogging here since mid May, I have taken the plunge and got my own hunk of web real estate. This blog is now closed, I will leave it here for a while, but the facility to comment here has been disabled.

The new home for Morven Photo is at morvenphoto.co.uk. Please update your links and bookmarks accordingly.

Thank you for your support over the past two and a half months, I look forward to welcoming you to the new site soon. Please call by and look around.

Flickr Favs: Storm Tree

2005-07-30T06:55:00.000+01:00

I like trees and this one stood out for me on a stormy day - It is on the route where I normally walk my dog. I guess I will post pictures of the dog eventually.

The scheme here is blue green!

Not sure where I will go tomorrow, I will decide in the morning. I am planing to move this blog to its own space in the near future, there will be information and a link from here when I do.

Flickr Favs: Dragon Squadron

2005-07-29T09:19:00.000+01:00

Out a couple of weeks ago on the day of the British Grand Prix at a country fair at Castle Ashby to get away from the race (we can hear the circuit from our house) I saw this.

I took several images and this one appealed to me the most - I cropped it square (top and bottom - edge to edge remains as shot) since it seemed to fit better and raised the intensity of the blue to give this backdrop.

This and Rebecca were the only ones this week taken with my DSLR all the other images (including tomorrow's) were taken using my trusty digicam.

Flickr Favs: Rainbow Tree

2005-07-28T08:09:00.000+01:00

I thought I would gratuitously post a picture of a rainbow taken from my back garden a while back.

Tried to capture it together with the neighbour's tree when it was in bloom to add interest. Sadly I have a new neighbour now who has chopped the tree down :-(

We still get rainbows from time to time :-)

Flickr Favs: Burning Bush

2005-07-27T06:22:00.000+01:00

Took this sunset a year ago - it has a few technical problems, but I like it anyway.

Flickr Favs: Rebecca

2005-07-26T07:23:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of my daughter Rebecca bouncing on a trampoline in our garden - taken August 04. This is he second picture of a person I have posted on this blog, the first was Solstice Jazz - as I have discussed elsewhere, I am somewhat wary of people pictures.

I have chosen this one because she is not easily identifiable and it has a surreal feel to it.

Flickr Favs: Midstream Challenger

2005-07-25T08:34:00.000+01:00

This was put onto Flickr shortly after my Scrapyard pictures which were not too well received, so I thought I would post one of my pretty pictures. :-)

This swan just landed when I took this and I was pleased to be able to capture it especially because I had to anticipate with the chronic shutter lag on my compact Olympus C50Z. Though I managed to blow some of the highlights (a sin in digital since they are irrecoverable) I particularly like the reflection - what do you think?

Flickr Favs: Reflected Tree

2005-07-24T07:41:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm back! What a wonderful sight greeted me as I opened up my blog for the first time to see all those lovely photographs together at once. I am really impressed with all the different styles and types of photography - of course I am not surprised by the quality since I knew what you guys can do (that is why I chose you!)

A big thank you to you all!
I am delighted with all the images. If you have not already, please check out these blogs:

David Kapp - Life Kapptured

Sidney - My Sarisari Store

Rock - RSK Photoblog

Jen - Seeing the World Through my Eyes

Jane - Ephemera

Lara - Lara Barrett: Photography

I am still on vacation this week, though I now have access to the internet. In order to keep it simple and, hopefully give a little variety with some quality, I am posting some of my most favourited images from Flickr which have not yet been posted here.

You can see a few others with 10 or more favs which have already been posted here:

Flowers: Rememberance

Southern France: Roof Rack Pattern

Barcelona: Reflected Bar

Around Buckingham: Columns & Shadows

Here is the first one - I took this on a business trip to Dayton Ohio about two years ago. This is of course Rock's neck of the woods!

The question is, where am I?

Walls Of Parchment

2005-07-22T00:00:00.000+01:00

Hello, all! My name is Lara Barrett, and I'm filling in today while Ian's off enjoying his vacation (the lucky duck!). This is a brand new photo of mine, and for some reason, the colors remind me of Ian, so I figured it would be an appropriate image for me to post here. I drive by this church all the time on my way home from work, and am always struck with how very interesting it is...so I've been taking lots of pictures of it lately.

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and are as excited about the weekend as I am!

And thanks, Ian, for inviting me to guest post--I can't wait to see what you have in store for us when you return!

Homeless...

2005-07-21T13:30:00.000+01:00

A man sleeping on a stone bench outside the Central Reference Library in Manchester.

Hi everyone, I'm Jane, guest blogger for today. Many thanks to Ian for asking me to contribute to this week of guest posts and I hope that the vacation is going well!

You can find me over at ephemera.

Guestblogger Jen

2005-07-20T15:36:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Ian for asking me to guestblog today. This is the photo I began my own photoblog with, so I thought it would be appropriate to add it here. My photoblog can be found at Seeing The World Through My Eyes: A Photoblog. Have a great day, everyone!

Museum Neon

2005-07-19T05:59:00.000+01:00

Hello all.

I'm Rock and I'm Ian's sub for 19 July 2005.

I live in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

I make a large portion of my income from commercial photography.
But my real passion is just going out a seeing what I can find.

If you are interested in viewing more of my work please click below:

RSK Photography

Hey Ian - Bren says Hello! I hope your time away is going well.
I look forward to seeing you back and posting.

Rock

A smiling face.

2005-07-18T06:01:00.000+01:00

First of all I want to thank Ian for inviting me as a guest into his photo blog.

It took me some time to decide which picture I would post. Then I settled for a smiling face which for me is the symbol of the Philippines.

My name is Sidney and I live in Manilla. You can find my street photography at http://my_sarisari_store.typepad.com

I wish Ian a very nice vacation and everybody visiting his blog a nice day.

Sidney

The Galleria Ghost Town

2005-07-17T17:09:00.000+01:00

Today Ian has asked me to be a guest poster for the blog, and to kick off the weeks theme of "guest photographers."

Some of you may know me, but chances are a lot of you don't. My name is David Kapp from Life Kapptured. I shoot a mix of film and digital, and have a separate blog for each. Today's image is film, taken with my trusty Nikon F3 HP & Ilford FP4+ Black and White film.

The image is from the Galleria in San Francisco, just off of Union Square. I couldn't believe how empty this place was. It was Friday about 3:00 when I was there. I could almost count everyone in the mall on one hand. I guess its hard to pull traffic away from the famous shopping district.

I know this image is a bit small at 500pix wide, so I've uploaded a larger version if you want to take a closer look.

I had a bit of trouble trying to match my post format with Ian's. The center align I used throws off the site a bit, but hopefully its not too big of a deal.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be here all day :)

Dave

Patterns: Jumpers

2005-07-16T04:23:00.000+01:00

I took this in a shop in Oxford last year - the assistant gave me that young persons look of contempt for the idiosyncrasies of the older generation!

I am signing off now - have a great week and look out for some great photography apperaing here from guest photographers for the next seven days.

Ian

Patterns: Wine Rack

2005-07-15T10:21:00.000+01:00

I was in a restaurant in Dresden a couple of years ago when I saw this.

It said "Take me! Take me!"

I had my pocket camera with me so I did!

This is my penultimate post before my holiday in Scotland - we drive off in the small hours of tomorrow. I will make one farewell post in the morning and then that will be all from me for a week. Today will be my last visit to your blogs for a week as well. Next week I have organised seven high quality guest bloggers to post here in their own style - the theme is guest photographers! I look forward to seeing what delights they have served up (technology permitting) upon my retun.

Of course I will be taking my camera with me, so I am hoping to bring back tons of images.

Patterns: Orange & Green

2005-07-14T07:53:00.000+01:00

Whilst in France two weeks ago I took lots of wierd pictures since it was difficult to get out to see much other than the hotel since I was there on business.

This is the framework from an ornate lamp in my room. It was black really, but I played with the white balance in my RAW converter to give these hues. These are two separate individual frames I took. Both were made using a tripod, but one uses flash and the other no flash to give very different surface texture feel to the final images.

Patterns: Roof Rack

2005-07-13T05:33:00.000+01:00

I saw these roof capping tiles oraganised into this pattern all over the place during my visit to the south of France a couple of weeks ago.

I posted what I consider to be a better photogrpah for a variety of reasons in Roof Rack Pattern during my Southern France week. This one better shows the pattern though which is the theme for this week :-)

Have a great day!

Patterns: Underground Station

2005-07-12T06:22:00.000+01:00

I was wandering around London last year and took this photograph in Westminster underground railway station - I loved the pattern and depth that the image gave.

Patterns: Black Holes

2005-07-11T18:32:00.000+01:00

This is an image taken from shore of a fishing boat in Dublin during a visit in 2003.

The recurring pattern of these lobster pots(?) really attracted me.

Just to make it clear, I will be posting as normal this week (though I am a bit later today) and there will be guests posting for your enjoyment next week.

Patterns: Blue Slats

2005-07-10T07:31:00.000+01:00

This week I am going to share with you photographs whose principle attraction is some kind of repeating pattern. This could be simple or complex and might be abstract or show actual recognisable objects. I have very many photogrpahs depicting patterns since it is something I look fr all the time. I am not sure how the week will look yet myself.

This is another of my shots from my trip to the South of France a couple of weeks ago. I created this from an image of the slatts on my window shutters which were white. I have created this by adjusting white balance only in my RAW converter.

I will be on holiday next week (after these seven images from me) and will be unable to post. I have, however, asked seven people to guest on my blog and you can look forward to a week of diversity and some fabulous images.

Flowers: Rememberance

2005-07-09T06:42:00.000+01:00

Poppies have been associated with rememberance since Flanders in the first world war.

This image is manipulated using layers and multiplication of blurred images to provide this soft impressionist aura.

Not sure what I will begin with tomorrow yet - have a great weekend!

Flowers: Bluebells

2005-07-08T06:12:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of bluebells I took some time ago (April 04). It was taken with my C50Z.

This gives an expanse of colour as opposed to the fine detail of one single bloom in a close up shot.

Some of you have contact me privatly and through this blog and Flickr regarding the London bombing. It was personally worrying for me because my 16 year old son Ben was due to go to London yesterday with his school. The train was tuned around before it reached London - there was quite a period when nobody knew anything though.

Naturally like many of you my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the dead and injured. Words cannot express my feelings about the incident.

Flowers: Pink

2005-07-07T06:26:00.000+01:00

Wandering around Blenheim Palace on Sunday in the rose gardens I saw this rose - it just had to be captured.

This is as seen - a little contrst & sharpening added.

Somebody asked what RAW is yesterday - it is a format for saving a picture which closely resembles what the camera sensor captured and is not processed into a JPEG image. It is good because it contains much more ionformation and allows it to be converted to a JPEG in the computer choosing either camera settings or any other values chosen for a number of parameters as many times as you like. It is commonly called a digital negative.

Flowers: Butterfly

2005-07-06T06:11:00.000+01:00

OK, I know this is not a flower, but a constant string of flowers canbe overwhelimng - I have seen several blogs and Flickr sites which post nothing but flowers and it becomes difficult to differentiate between them eventually.

I spent some time in the butterfly house at Blenheim Palace last weekend. Here is my favourite shot from the many I took.

bcw among others has asked what camera I used for these pictures.

I own two digital cameras (I now shoot exclusively digital) an Olympus C50Z which I have owned for two and a half years and a Nikon D70 which I purchased end of July last year. The pictures on the site are about 50:50 with these cameras. This week so far I have posted pictures which i took on Sunday using my new toy which is a 90mm Tamron Macro lens. They were all taken using apertrue priority to control dof and have only had adjustments to contrast, sharpness etc. The exception is Frilly Orange where I tweaked the shadow contrast in my RAW converter to give the black background (I suspect this is curves in PS). As discussed extensively, I generally try to produce an image of what I saw albeit more vivid and larger than life, though I am beginning to experiment with my own creations - mainly colour tweaks.

For the past couple of months I have started shooting exclusively RAW. To process I use RAW Shooter Essentials (which is free), GIMP (which is free) and Paint Shop Pro 9 (which is a snip conmpared to Photo Shop - I do not use pirate software)

Flowers: Life Goes On

2005-07-05T00:35:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of a flower in our garden at home taken over the weekend.

I loved the spent flower echoing the one in all its glory - I also pinched it out and took several frames without it, but in the end I liked this one the best.

Flowers: Fuchsia Budding

2005-07-04T07:52:00.000+01:00

Judi - my wife - has worked hard on our garden this year to turn it from a square of grass into something beautiful (well I did all the rotavating/digging/wheelbarrowing and she did all the planting).

Here is a shot I took yesterday of one of the many fuschias she has grown, taken from a low angle. I love the various pinks and the way it is just full of latency about to burst. Just playing around really with my new macro lens and tripod.

Perhaps this week's series should be dedicated to wives - Judi likes these kind of photos better than some of my stuff - I think I will also dedicate it to Bren who I guess will like them better than the abstracts too!

Flowers: Frilly Orange

2005-07-03T19:22:00.000+01:00

I thought given the time of year it was time for me to post some flowers this week.

Wandering around Blenheim Palace today in the rose gardens I saw this rose and thought its form and colour were exceptional.

A little late posting today, I have actually been out taking photos for upload! I will catch up with all your lovely blogs in the next 24 hours.

Kams asked for a sepia version of this rose - here it is. What do you think? Which is better? Personally I prefer the colour version because it is so unusual.

Southern France: Refectory Roof

2005-07-02T06:45:00.000+01:00

Looking down on a covered area provided this abstract - I liked it so I captured it!

This is the end of the Southern France week though I have a shed load of photos left - I will gradually put some of them up on Flickr. Some of them will no doubt fit into future weeks.

Thank you for all the discussion on manipulation and the nature of photography, I have enjoyed it.

Not sure what I will start with tomorrow.

Southern France: Psychedelic Golf

2005-07-01T05:42:00.000+01:00

There was a big golf course at the hotel and lots of electric poered golf buggies. This picture shows some of them lined up in one of the battery charging bays. Typically these carts are white which is pretty boring, so I turned this into pop art in my RAW converter.

This constitutes the most extreme form of manipulation for me to date since it is the first photo I have presented which obviously could not have existed due to post processing manipulation unlike the purple umberellas. The image Solstice Jazz is also obviously not as seen, created by manipulating camera controls - is there any philosophical difference between these pictures?

In some respects this one and the Jazz shot are more honest than the umberellas because it is immediately obvious to the viewer.

I have really enjoyed the interesting discussion on this topic in the past couple of days and look forward to youre responses today. Thank you all for your continued support.

Happy Friday! 8-)

Southern France: Roof Rack Pattern

2005-06-30T06:08:00.000+01:00

I saw these roof capping tiles oraganised into this pattern all over the place during my visit to the south of France last week. This image just had to be captured - I had no choice.

Thank you for the lively discusson yesterday regarding altering images, manipulation etc. I found all the view most interesting. It would seem that the overwhelming majority view is that changing pictures in PS is perfectly OK for blogging, perhaps with a less strongly expressed caveat that most people mention it in their write up/caption.

It is definitely true that we never capture reality anyway since we are compressing a 3D world into 2D and being heavily selective in what we capture/show.

For me, most of my photographs will be 'as seen' with a little digital darkroom, but increasingly I will be uploading altered images - particularly in the colour department.

Have a nice day!

Southern France: Purple Rain

2005-06-29T04:42:00.000+01:00

This is a picture from above of the sun shade umberellas covering the outside dining area in the hotel where I stayed. Each one is big enough to cover a table set for about eight people. These umberellas are really white and whilst I liked the pattern, this colour suits me much better! The original white version looked a little grubby and flat.

This is the first picture I have blogged which has been altered, so I feel a bit guilty - all the rest received only what I call digital darkroom work such as adjusting saturation, contrast, sharpness (mostly only these) one or two have been straightened and/or cropped with my best endeavour to show what I actually saw, albeit from my particular perspective and to give a pleasing image.

What are your thoughts on this kind of manipulation where colours are changed or objects are removed or added? How does this differ from Solstice Jazz where a motion effect was obtained in camera? - I never actually saw this scene. I know several of you play with colour in particular to give great images - most notably Lara.

Southern France: Tile Study

2005-06-28T03:19:00.000+01:00

Tile Study: Intersection

Tile Study: Diagonal

Tile Study: Straight

Whilst in the South of France last week I got the opportunity to look down on a roof top so I took three photos to show aspects of this.

Somebody asked about my thought procees and how I make pictures. For yesterday's I saw the shot and thought about is for a day or two then took several shots using a tripod and a variety of shooting conditions to get the best shot - the lighting was not the simplest. For today's I saw the intersection which I took first and thn took Digonal and Straight in that order. These were the only three frames I took without tripod and then moved on to something else. Hope that helps.

I am pleased with the intersection and the straight since they both have points of interest; intersection with the strong diagonal and the straight with the broken tile optimally placed within the frame. The diagonal ought to be a stronger composition than the straight, but I was careless and misplaced the broken tile - shame really.

Have a great Tuesday!

Southern France: Seat of Many Colours

2005-06-27T06:41:00.000+01:00

This is a sofa in my hotel room on my recent trip - I could not resist it!

This one is for Rock who did as painting like this a few years ago :-)

Southern France: Solstice Jazz

2005-06-26T07:06:00.000+01:00

By popular :-) request, this week's theme is photos taken on my trip to the South of France last week. I was mainly trapped in the hotel/conference centre so this is really a collection of quirky pictures that I snatched between meetings.

We were able to get out into the local town on Tuesday - the evening of the summer solstice - the tradition is to make music in the streets. I had a fabulous meal with my colleagues followed by several hours wandering from bar to bar listening to all kinds of music; in particular, jazz.

I took this picture without flash and on low ISO to deliberately blur the image - to be honest, I made several attempts before getting this one which is quite pleasing. I moved the camera to avoid it being a little bit blurred which just looks out of focus.

There is another of my photos from the South of France blogged today by my good friend Frédéric over at Nomad Photo. He asked me for a picture to post, so I took this one (Neapolitan Shadow) because it is the closest I can get to Fred's own distinctive style. This picture is my gift to him - Thank you Fred.

Eiffel Tower: Reward

2005-06-25T06:32:00.000+01:00

This is part of the reward for climbing the tower - I climbed up it because the queues were too long.

There were a number of great views from the top, though it was a little hazy in the distance. I have chosen this one because it shows a small piece of traditional Paris contrasted with the march of modernism in the towerblocks beind - the latter could be anywhere in the world.

Not sure what to start tomorrow - perhaps I should put up some pictures of my visit this week to the South of France after this brief microcosm of the North. What do you think?

Eiffel Tower: Elevator Machinery

2005-06-24T06:22:00.000+01:00

This image shows part of the Eiffel Tower elevator machinery - I never used it - I walked up :-)

Again striking red colour in amidst the drab beige. I liked the curves contrasting with the main structure which is essentially straight lines.

I am returning from the South of France today and I will catch up with the blogs I have missed

Have a great Friday.

Eiffel Tower; FIre Suppression System

2005-06-23T05:15:00.000+01:00

I saw this which I assume is some kind of hose connection point to water ring main to help combat fire. I am not really sure, but it is probably related to the large vessels I posted on Monday in the picture Red & Yellow.

Eiffel Tower: Outsized Nut

2005-06-22T05:28:00.000+01:00

A very large nut holding down the lid of a pressure vessel half way up the Eiffel Tower.

It would have been rude not to take this photograph!

Well I am now here in the South of France - it is fabulous. We had, a superb meal in the local town yesterday evening and then listened to street musicians at the summer solstice festival.

As you see there is a wireless LAN at the hotel which means I have fast internet access to get my work email and streaming UK Radio 4 (though I have fluent German, my French is somewhat shaky so the TV is a non starter) - the plus side is that I can post and visit your blogs.

Eiffel Tower: Tangle

2005-06-21T05:47:00.000+01:00

Another perspective on the Eiffel Tower showing the amount of steel in this structure.

Close up it is mainly this buff colour.

I love this one because it looks such a mess, though it is really an ordered structure with symmetry - if you look long enough it is possible to see this (the engineer in me coming out!) here were many advantages to walking up.

I am flying off to a business conference in the south of France today at a posh hotel (tough but someone has to do it!). I am hoping there is internet access and I will be able to post. It may be difficult for me to get round to comment on your lovely blogs for a few days - if so, I will catch up at the weekend.

Eiffel Tower: Red & Yellow

2005-06-20T11:07:00.000+01:00

On the way up I saw these two pressure vessels. I am not sure what they are for, perhaps for fire prevention or hyraulic fluid for the elevators.

Whatever they are, they provided me and my pocket camera with a photo opportunity.

The red one was near the bottom (from memory) and the yellow one part way up - you can see some steps in the background.

Eiffel Tower

2005-06-19T09:27:00.000+01:00

I went to Paris for an interview for my current job mid 2004. ALthough I travel quite a bit in my profession, I rarely get to see anything!

It was great to have a bit of spare time to get up this beast.

Due to the enormous queues, I decided to walk up which provided me with the opportunity to take a number of pictures on the way up and down with my pocket digital camera.

I got the job which bizzarely is as an English employee working in Germany for a French company - you cannot get more European than that! As a gift to myself for getting this job, later that July, I bought my first Digital SLR.

This one is a typical tourist shot from the ground.

I decided on the theme this week because of a request by Potpourri who claims to be sweet, smart and sexy!!

Have a great week!

Journey: Luggage Rack

2005-06-18T06:08:00.000+01:00

This is the luggage rack in the Frankfurt to Wiesbaden S-Bahn train. It looked like it would make a neat abstract. Being in the carriage on my own, it was easiret to take pictures of oddities without attracting attention to my self in a foreign country.

I work in Germany and most of my colleagues think I am completely nuts anyway - they put it down to me being English - what they do not know is that I am nuts, even by English standards.

New series tomorrow, not sure what I might do yet, perhaps the Eiffel Tower, perhaps something else. I will decide in the morning.

Have a great weekend!

Journey: Roof Strut

2005-06-17T10:00:00.000+01:00

This is a roof support at Frankfurt Main Railway Station.

I love this sort of metal work, it makes me think about a number of issues:

Who designed this - some giant embroiderer?

Why does it look like an upside down Eiffel Tower?
Who were the guys who built it, placed every rivet, risked their lives?

Have a great Friday!

Journey: Blue and White

2005-06-16T05:55:00.000+01:00

The corner of the smallest room in the railway station. ;-)

I have deliberately severely under exposed it (using manual settings) and then used my raw converter to put the exposure back to nearly where it should be to create this form of noise.

The attempt was to create a feel of a snatched shot with a cheap concealed camera.

Just playing really.

I love minimalist shots and blocks of colour - the way this creates an optical illusion intrigues me - is this corner inward or outward facing?

Journey: Packing Boxes

2005-06-15T03:14:00.000+01:00

These packing boxes were stacked outside a flower shop at Wiesbaden railway station.

The combination of straight lines nd circles together with the minimal colour set attracted me to it.

Journey: Blue Seat

2005-06-14T05:45:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of a blue seat in the Wiesbaden to Frankfurt S-Bahn train.

I thought Frédéric over at Nomad Photo might like this one since he is seriously into minimalist art - check out his picture from yesterday!

Journey: Cleaning Up

2005-06-13T04:04:00.000+01:00

A squeegee mop left at the end of the railway line in Frankfurt. I think it is used to clear the windscreen of the train before it leaves the station.

It caught my eye, looking like a brightly coloured planted in amidst the foliage.

Journey: Train Reflection

2005-06-12T07:16:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I took a railway trip from Celle in Germany, where I am currently working, to Wiesbaden for a business meeting. I had my trusty D70 with me and took the opportunity with the various changes of train to take some photographs.

This set is a different style to those I have posted before, a little more abstract and odd than some of the chocolate box stuff I have presented previously.

The first image is a train standing in Wiesbaden railway station reflecting the surroundings - it is difficult to see what is train and what is the world.

Barcelona: The Watchmen

2005-06-11T07:46:00.000+01:00

This is the last of the photos from the Barcelona series that I am currently posting.

It is my take on the famous chimneys by Gaudi. This is a set of chimney stacks on top of a building several stories high designed by Gaudi. Not sure they are actually used as chimneys (I doubt it).

The masks are about the right size to fit over a human head made from a ceramic material. Several correspondents in Flickr have suggested a similarity to Star Wars characters; I can see their point, if there is any plagurism going on here though, then Lucas copied Gaudi not the other way around!

Imposing n'est pas?

New theme tomorrow, not sure what it will be yet, but I am open to suggestions.

Barcelona: Gaudi Park

2005-06-10T08:38:00.000+01:00

A Gaudi sign to a Gaudi Park and Gardens.

In many ways this sign is not typical Gaudi - what is typical is that we do not get a square sign with a boring typeface.

Tha park is a joy to behold - have a great Friday :-)

Barcelona: Reflected Bar

2005-06-09T08:55:00.000+01:00

Wandering around Barcelona with my wife, I saw this reflection of a bar in the port area of town.

The bar/restaurant was outside and there was a curved window/mirror on the building behind it which has made for a fantastic reflection - if you look you can see the individual panels of glass.

This photo was taken at 10:40am according to the EXIF data - but I remember there were very few people around yet so I waited until this one person moved to a corner of my frame to add a point of interest. This is my first blog that contains a person (other than my eye logo).

As I said in a comment yesterday I am normally nervous of having people in my photographs, particularly recognisable individuals, for a nuumber of reasons.

a) I worry I will not do them justice
b) I worry they will not like it - trees and stuff do not complain!
c) I would like to take candids, but am a coward at heart - I love sidney's stuff for example.

Barcelona; Old Town

2005-06-08T04:59:00.000+01:00

Part of an older tourist area in Barcelona. Not sure where it is exactly (perhaps you know).

The buildings, the curve of the road and the arch appealed to me as compositional elements. I had to wait quite a time for a clear shot!

Barcelona: Canadian Transition

2005-06-07T06:56:00.000+01:00

This leaf which I saw on the pavement looked interesting on the patterned pavement below.

It was autumn time in Barcelona (October 03). I have rotated it following a suggestion from Wilk on Flickr that it looked like a symbol of Canada.

Barcelona: T-Shirt Art

2005-06-06T08:44:00.000+01:00

Took this shot in a souvenir shop and liked the t-shirts hanging there.

I believe they all represent the work of famous artists - the just looked great hung there to me!

Barcelona: The Thinker

2005-06-05T19:02:00.000+01:00

In October 03 Judi (my wife) and I managed to get a weekend away together in Barcelona. The children were on a school trip to Germany and there are now many cheap flights available in Europe so it seemed like a good thing to do. We had a great time!.

This week I am taking Barcelona as my theme, though I am not necessarily going to put up pictures of the city itself, rather some interesting (to me) photos whic I took. Of course I got lots of the normal ones to bore the family with as well ;-)

This is one of the many statues adorning the partially complete Gaudi designed cathedral in Barcelona. I found it attractive and the pensive nature of the sculpture made me think as well!

Scrapyard: Extinguished Extinguishers!

2005-06-04T05:25:00.000+01:00

This is the last of my series of scapyard photographs - a week has gone by already!

A similar subject to the opening one (It's a Gas) in some ways with a view of pressure cylinders. I like this with the red colour.

These are most likely collected together because there are some kind of rules on their disposal. I wonder if these were cylinders spent in action and what great fire was prevented by them sacrificing themselves to save life and limb. More likely, their useful life came to an end due to being out of date after a lifetime of service waiting, waiting, waiting ... for a chance to show their mettle. Now discarded for shiny new ones with, perhaps, more modern contents which are more environmentally friendly (but not as good at putting fires out!).

Tomorrow a new theme begins, a couple of ideas present themselves to me and I will choose on the spur of the moment when I load the first picture. This whole blogging thing has been good for my photography since I have begun to take a few more pictures. If anyone has a suggestion for a theme, I would gladly hear it and perhaps try to take a series of photographs to present my cut on that theme.

Scrapyard: Let's Make Tracks

2005-06-03T04:55:00.000+01:00

This is what delivers the Grim eaper to his victims.

I loved this detail and the perspective it engenders.

The small pieces missing show how some of our friends in the scrapyard have fought back in some small way before the inevitability of death in the powerful mandibils of the reaper.

Scrapyard: The Grim Reaper

2005-06-02T04:41:00.000+01:00

Smash them, bash them , break their bones. Swoop without warning like a monster in the night. There is no hope you are in my grip!

This is one of several machines in the scrapyard used to move, break up, crush and stack the scrap.

I have tried to picture it to show a menacing sinister side to its character with respect to the scrap in the yard. To me this has worked to some degree with a kind of gothic horror feel. Though it was a beautiful day, the sun popped behind this one black cloud and created the atmosphere of an electric storm brewing which is of course deadly to machinery, presenting this silhouette.

Scrapyard: Car Heap

2005-06-01T05:59:00.000+01:00

Discarded cars forming a tower, stacked like some colomn of child's toy bricks. These were once somebody's pride and joy as they drove them home from the showroom with that all new smell and painted tyres.

For the first few weeks proudly displayed to neighbours and friends, lovingly cleaned and serviced and carefully driven - mum dad and 2.4 kids.

Over time taked for granted as a tool for getting from A to B, hardly noticed. Eventually sold on several times, owned by many, sometimes roughly handled, sometimes gently treated.

Ending life at the hands of a boy racer. Old age was no fun, incontinence of fluids, breath smelling toxic, struggling to keep up.

The car graveyard beckons.

Scrapyard: Battery Lace

2005-05-31T04:19:00.000+01:00

This old battery terminal cabling from a truck caught my eye. In other circumstances from other material it might be considered beautiful. It had indeed been put to one side since its new cannibalistic owneres obviously feel it has remaining usefulness and coud be sold. For these guys, thérefore, it has a kind of beauty which could be turned to gold. It is however a kind of utilitarian beauty which does not even warrant a clean up.

Clearly beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Scrapyard: Skip Texture

2005-05-30T07:03:00.000+01:00

Some commented on the texture and colour in the skip from yesterday's post - It's a Gas.

Here is a closer view of the side of the skip (from another angle) showing the yellow almost vanished to be replaced by a beautiful undulating rust texture.

I love capturing textures and patterns in photographs, particularly where they are items which are commonly ignored. There are many on my hard drive - perhaps I will do a textures week sometime.

Scrapyard: It's a Gas

2005-05-29T07:20:00.000+01:00

The decision for a theme this week is 'Scrapyard'. Back in February, I had a little time with nothing better to do, so I took my trusty camera off for a day out to the scrapyard. It is relatively easy to take beautiful pictures which are well received of photogenic subjects such as babies, buildings and wildlife. there is, however, a wealth of opportunity in places such as scrapyards.

These bottles form a small multicoloured family. I loved the colours and the textures in the (what was once) yellow of the skip behind.

I have added David Kapp - life kapptured to my small selection of links (two at the moment) to outstanding blogs with high quality pictures - check it out if you have not already!

Around Buckingham: Invasion of Ivy

2005-05-28T05:44:00.000+01:00

This overgrown window detail is a picture I like.

Technically it is not good and does not necessarily represent my best photography. It does though show a detail showing how a number of 'ordinary' buildings (i.e. not one of the normal tourist ones like public buildings) around here look.

The reason I took it is not for the building, rather the invasion of nature into the man-made structure. The building is several hundred years old, but you know nature will get it back in the end.

Tomorrow I will start a new set of photos. Not sure what yet though - perhaps trees, perhaps a random set.

Around Buckingham: Paladin Bridge

2005-05-27T07:41:00.000+01:00

This is the Paladin Bridge at Stowe Gardens.

There is a massive array of things to photographe there - architecture, plants & trees, wildlife, people ...

Around Buckinham: Davey Brothers

2005-05-26T05:39:00.000+01:00

This old workshop was once the focal point of a thriving business.

I have tried to give it the look of an old newspaper story.

Ironically, the aged picture and the run down subject work photographically, but in reality it should be one or the other!

Around Buckingham: Columns and Shadows

2005-05-25T03:56:00.001+01:00

These columns with their shadows provide a setting for a perspective photograph with depth.

Around Buckingham: The Church

2005-05-24T06:44:00.000+01:00

A different angle on a much photographed subject.

I love to make some of these buildings look like they are looming over the viewer. I have taken a number of postcard style versions of this church, but I prefer this one.

Around Buckingham: The Mill

2005-05-23T04:36:00.000+01:00

The reflections attracted me to this old mill in Buckingham near where I live.

I am on my way to Germany this morning, hence the post at an ungodly hour! :-)

Around Buckingham: The Old Gaol

2005-05-22T11:01:00.000+01:00

This week, I am kicking off with a set around Buckingham - a towin in UK where I live.

This is the Old Gaol taken at an angle with an interesting sky.

Red Carriage

2005-05-21T11:30:00.000+01:00

I was wandering around Buckinghamshire Railway Museum in Quainton the other day and saw this carriage. I really like bold colours and simple compositions.

Red Tiled House

2005-05-19T22:59:00.000+01:00

I took this picture whilst wandering around Celle in Germany where I am working at present. The evening light on the tiles attracted me to it.

New Blog

2005-05-19T22:41:00.000+01:00

Hello,

I am new to the world of blogging.

Not sure if it will be the right thing for me, but I am looking to put some photos up over time.

Links

2005-05-19T22:40:00.001+01:00

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