Day 75 , the big move day and everything went swimmingly thanks to plenty of help from our family and friends. Surprisingly we were finished getting stuff in by about mid afternoon.
This left plenty of time to go for a pint with our friends and watch England lost the Rugby.
Wednesday 31 October 2007
Day 74 - White Van Man
The Friday of the weekend we moved I went over to Hyde Park to pick up a van for the move. It was virtually brand new with only 4000 miles on the clock and was great fun to drive.
Whenever I hire a van I always feel sad when I have to return it.
Whenever I hire a van I always feel sad when I have to return it.
Day 73 - Autumn Garden
Just before we moved house I took this shot of our old garden. The garden had quite a few trees in so this provided a great opportunity to try and capture the wonderful colours of the fallen autumn leaves.
Composition wise I think there's a bit too much going on here but I feel I've captured the colours of the autumn leaves quite well.
Composition wise I think there's a bit too much going on here but I feel I've captured the colours of the autumn leaves quite well.
Day 72 - Richard Thompson
The 17th and 18th October this month were exceptionally folkadelic with 2 folk gigs on 2 consecutive nights. On the Wednesday we went to see Richard Thompson at the Irish Centre which was amazing. I've heard much about his playing but have never seen or heard him before and he just blew me away.
I didn't get any shots but Gilly got this cool shot of the man himself in action.
How do you top that? Well try Davy Graham the following night at Leeds City Varieties. Once again an amazing night with brilliant support from John Smith a musician well worth checking out who has some amazing and original techniques as well as a stunning voice.
I also must mention the support at the Richard Thompson gig which came from Diana Jones it's not often a person with just an acoustic guitar and evoke such emotions but she was amazing.
I didn't get any shots but Gilly got this cool shot of the man himself in action.
How do you top that? Well try Davy Graham the following night at Leeds City Varieties. Once again an amazing night with brilliant support from John Smith a musician well worth checking out who has some amazing and original techniques as well as a stunning voice.
I also must mention the support at the Richard Thompson gig which came from Diana Jones it's not often a person with just an acoustic guitar and evoke such emotions but she was amazing.
Missing in action
As most of you are aware we moved house recently so we've both been pretty snowed under with moving, decorating and unpacking. The move went exceptionally smoothly, largely thanks to all the help and hard work of family and friends so thank you all.
I've a confession to make that some of the shots I've taken recently weren't shot on the actual day they were supposed to have been taken. However it's only a handful of shots and there is still plenty of good material taken on the right days.
Hopefully most of the work should be posted up here by the end of today so keep an eye out for the long overdue update.
I've a confession to make that some of the shots I've taken recently weren't shot on the actual day they were supposed to have been taken. However it's only a handful of shots and there is still plenty of good material taken on the right days.
Hopefully most of the work should be posted up here by the end of today so keep an eye out for the long overdue update.
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Day 71 - Decorating
The house is currently being decorated so I thought I'd try and document this change. A quick and dirty shot.
Monday 15 October 2007
Day 70 - Self Portrait
Today's shot was taken while I was playing with my camera at work. I fashioned a make shift tripod out of 2 stacked coffee jars on my desk. I'm quite pleased with the end product.
More of Elie Beach
I was going through my flickr stream and found another old shot of Elie Beach. I gave it a crop and a frame and it looks much better. People seem to like it too which is cool.
Sunday 14 October 2007
Day 69 - Telecom Hell
I'm afraid I'm going to have to have a rant, the state of the consumer tele communcations market is a complete joke and I'm totally fed up with it. Since we moved into our current house we've NEVER had a decent Internet connection. I spent hours on the phone with Onetel doing line tests and still didn't get a better service. Eventually we agree to part company with Onetel and they agreed to ignore any penalty fees I then tried TWICE to connect to Pipex for Internet and phone and they screwed up the order on both occasions. After having to phone up Ontel and beg them for a second MAC key without incurring charges I gave up trying a third time.
A couple of moths ago our contract came to an end with Ontel so I decided to switch again to Pipex (despite the previous cockups they still had the best deal and I was willing to give it one last shot). Due to the fact we had a didn't have a BT line we could move the phone over but I decided it would be just easier to keep this with OneTel.
Fast forward to last week and I phoned OneTel to arrange getting our line transferred to our new house. To my surprise they wanted in excess of £100 to do this, unsurprisingly I declined their wonderful offer. I phoned up Pipex to find out what I had to do to transfer my current ADSL and get phone with them as well. They (surprisingly for a call centre) were very helpful and explained I needed to speak to BT first and get them to put in a new line (as they basically have a monopoly on the infrastructure).
I remembered having to do this when we moved last time, I basically had to take a line out with them and then cease the contract to enable stuff with my new provider. It now turns out they have extended their contract period to 12 months and they penalty clause is £70.
I'm basically being shafted as I've I transfered everything over to BT I will have to keep paying for Pipex for 11 months and if I go totally with Pipex I'll have to shell out £70 to BT.
I'm absolutely raging as I'm being totally exploited as a consumer and financially screwed whatever I go. I can understand the business reasoning on BTs part but this isn't my concern, all the deregulation of the utility markets has done is made the consumer suffer.
Broadband and telecoms in this country is a joke and really needs sorting.
A couple of moths ago our contract came to an end with Ontel so I decided to switch again to Pipex (despite the previous cockups they still had the best deal and I was willing to give it one last shot). Due to the fact we had a didn't have a BT line we could move the phone over but I decided it would be just easier to keep this with OneTel.
Fast forward to last week and I phoned OneTel to arrange getting our line transferred to our new house. To my surprise they wanted in excess of £100 to do this, unsurprisingly I declined their wonderful offer. I phoned up Pipex to find out what I had to do to transfer my current ADSL and get phone with them as well. They (surprisingly for a call centre) were very helpful and explained I needed to speak to BT first and get them to put in a new line (as they basically have a monopoly on the infrastructure).
I remembered having to do this when we moved last time, I basically had to take a line out with them and then cease the contract to enable stuff with my new provider. It now turns out they have extended their contract period to 12 months and they penalty clause is £70.
I'm basically being shafted as I've I transfered everything over to BT I will have to keep paying for Pipex for 11 months and if I go totally with Pipex I'll have to shell out £70 to BT.
I'm absolutely raging as I'm being totally exploited as a consumer and financially screwed whatever I go. I can understand the business reasoning on BTs part but this isn't my concern, all the deregulation of the utility markets has done is made the consumer suffer.
Broadband and telecoms in this country is a joke and really needs sorting.
Day 68 - Slowly Moving
I'm rather pleased we can now see our floor in the dining room of our current house. We have spent all weekend shifting stuff from house to house. Its been going really well but we're knackered as we've barely stopped.
The sight of and colour of cardboard is becoming very familiar but hopefully not for too much longer. Most of the boxes have been moved, we've just to move solid furniture.
The sight of and colour of cardboard is becoming very familiar but hopefully not for too much longer. Most of the boxes have been moved, we've just to move solid furniture.
Day 67 - Dream Theater, Manchester Apollo
I've a confession to make, I didn't take this on Friday, in fact the first pictures I've taken since Thursday have been taken today. We're mega snowed under with the move at the moment as we move in next week so I've barely had a chance to pick up a camera.
Despite the fact we're busy trying to move house we managed to get away to Manchester for the night and see Dream Theater at the Apollo. The gig was brilliant with the band playing an excellent set but like a lot of gigs (predominantly millionaire American rock bands) we weren't allowed to take pictures, this was strictly enforced.
However despite this slight annoyance we had a fab time, Symphony X supported, a band who I was eager to see. Like any gig though the sound for the support act was awful which really didn't do Symphony X any justice. Despite the poor sound though I thought they put on a great show.
A fab night and more importantly a welcome break from box shifting.
Despite the fact we're busy trying to move house we managed to get away to Manchester for the night and see Dream Theater at the Apollo. The gig was brilliant with the band playing an excellent set but like a lot of gigs (predominantly millionaire American rock bands) we weren't allowed to take pictures, this was strictly enforced.
However despite this slight annoyance we had a fab time, Symphony X supported, a band who I was eager to see. Like any gig though the sound for the support act was awful which really didn't do Symphony X any justice. Despite the poor sound though I thought they put on a great show.
A fab night and more importantly a welcome break from box shifting.
BridgeWater Place
I was originally going to use this for my photo of the day however I came up with something better so I didn't bother. I've decided to upload the shot though as everybody with a camera in Leeds ends up taking a shot of BridgeWater place (the tallest building in Leeds) at some point.
Leeds City Markets
I took this shot a while back on the Leeds Flickr September speed shoot and a lot of people seem to like it so I thought I'd share it with the rest of you.
Thursday 11 October 2007
Day 66 - Winding Way by Night
My original shot for the day was going to be a boring shot of Bridgewater Place until I snapped this. I wanted to try and capture the nice evening sky on our street so I popped my camera on top of my car and took a couple of shots.
I'm really pleased, I didn't expect the sky to come out quite like this.
I'm really pleased, I didn't expect the sky to come out quite like this.
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Day 65 - Town Hall from Park Square
Today we went to meet a friend at Park Square where I've never actually been before. I quite liked the view of the town hall from there so took this shot.
Day 64 - Mitch Benn and the Distractions
Last night we went to see Mitch Benn at The City Varieties as it's a theater I couldn't get a picture of the show so here's a shot of the new cd instead.
As ever a brilliant gig, and I'm totally in agreement with him about murdering James Blunt, perhaps they could turn the idea into a reality TV show.
As ever a brilliant gig, and I'm totally in agreement with him about murdering James Blunt, perhaps they could turn the idea into a reality TV show.
Day 63 - Decay
I was given the task of setting the theme of the week this week in the Leeds flickr group, I chose decay. I had a shot of this crumbling house along Alwoodley Lane, it's not quite what I had planned but is OK. I tried snapping in black and white but couldn't get the look I was after.
I'm going to have to come back and shoot this one when I've more time as everything is pretty crazy at the moment with the house move.
I'm going to have to come back and shoot this one when I've more time as everything is pretty crazy at the moment with the house move.
Day 62 - Cleaning
Packing it seems is not the only order of the day but also cleaning and ridiculous amounts of it. It would seem the previous tenants are unfamiliar with even the most basic of concept of a damn cloth so we have have quite a bit of cleaning to do.
I promise tomorrow's shot won't be able moving.
I promise tomorrow's shot won't be able moving.
Day 61 - Packing
Getting the house keys is great but we've not actually moved yet and still have plenty of packing to do. We're starting to getting pretty familiar with the sight of cardboard.
Day 60 - House Keys
Friday night and in need of a shot for the day. How about a picture of the keys for our cool new house.
Friday 5 October 2007
Day 59 - Champagne
Yesterday we got the keys to our new house so we celebrated with some champagne.
Now all we have to do is move.
Now all we have to do is move.
Thursday 4 October 2007
Day 58 - Apple Crumble
Today Gilly made a very tasty apple crumble. I took this shot of her having a mad moment taking it out of the oven. It kinda begs a caption competition.
By the way she's not really mad.
By the way she's not really mad.
Day 57 - Town Hall
I tried capturing the town hall today but the sky was far from what it was yesterday. Despite the sky being totally washed out I quite like the angle of the main clock tower.
Tuesday 2 October 2007
Day 56 - Civic Hall
Walking home yesterday I was stuck by the nice autumn weather and the shadows cast by the evening sun. I've tried to capture that with this shot of the Civic Hall and I'm fairly pleased with the results.
Monday 1 October 2007
Mosaic Greetings
At Thursday night's flickr meet I was chatting to fellow group member,
Zenith Phuong who decided to take a few shots of me. I'm not normally one for photos of myself but I really like this.
Check out Zen's work it's brilliant.
Zenith Phuong who decided to take a few shots of me. I'm not normally one for photos of myself but I really like this.
Check out Zen's work it's brilliant.
Day 55 - Monkey
Sunday night after coming home from a trip to my parents I needed to do a quick last minute shot for Sunday so I took a completely random shot of a drunken monkey.
Day 54 - Hawrich Redoubt Fort
On Saturday we were down south visiting my parents and popped out to Harwich where we stopped in to look at the Redoubt Fort. Unfortunately it was closed as it's out of summer season so I took this picture from behind bars.
Day 53 - Friday Not
Today I tried to experiment with light metering by a shot with a more accurate exposure. Alas I forgot to actually take anything else that day so all we have is a test shot of the work car park.
Next Friday I will hopefully submit a better shot.
Next Friday I will hopefully submit a better shot.
Day 52 - Greetings Card
Thursday nigth was the monthly Leeds Flickr meet, the theme for the speed shoot was "A stylish greetings card". Above is my interpretation of the theme taken in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds City Centre.
Day 51 - Casanova
Today I thought I try and capture the evening sky(again). We're moving soon so I thought I'd capture the great view whilst we're still here. I'm pleased with results but confused as it looks better/worse depending on the computer I'm viewing it on. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion the colours on my work monitor aren't that good.
Day 50 - Alwoodley Sky
Today I thought I try and capture the evening sky(again). We're moving soon so I thought I'd capture the great view whilst we're still here. I'm pleased with results but confused as it looks better/worse depending on the computer I'm viewing it on. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion the colours on my work monitor aren't that good.
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