Sunday 30 September 2007

Day 49 - More Candles


Day 49 - More Candles
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
I was kindly given tripod by Gillan's mum and dad this weekend so I thought I try another still life shot indoors. The tripod is brilliant, thanks very much Liz and John, hope you like the photo.

Tuesday 25 September 2007

Day 48 - Countryside near Brough


Day 48 - Countryside near Brough
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
On our way back to Leeds on Sunday we took a slight detour in an attempt to try and get a photo. This shot was taken on a country ride just outside Brough, the shot's not too bad for a last minuter but I really need to get the hang of editing skies in photoshop.

Cloisters, University of Glasgow


Cloisters, University of Glasgow
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
I took this shot without a tripod and I'm quite pleased with results. Hopefully the shot conveys the beauty of the architecture on the university campus.

Day 47 - Glasgow Art Galleries


Day 47 - Glasgow Art Galleries
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
On Saturday we were out in Glasgow for a lovely Italian meal, after the meal I was lucky enough to be able to take a quick tour of the university campus. I took a few shots, mainly of the building but most of these weren't brilliant as I forgot my tripod. I did however manage to a nice stone bench positioned just at the right level to sit my camera on and take a picture of the art galleries by night.

I really think coloured lighting makes city architecture look even better at night.

Day 46 - Friday Night


Day 46 - Friday Night
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Friday night and as usual I'd left it till the last to get a picture. I decided to go and shoot out in the street and capture the beautiful night sky. Unfortunately after 2 shots my camera battery died so you all I was left with was this basic street scene.

Friday 21 September 2007

Day 45 - Alabama 3


Day 45 - Alabama 3
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Last night we went to see Alabama 3 at Leeds Met, as ever they were amazing. They played a fair bit of new stuff as well as plenty of old classics.

I'm looking forward to getting the new album.

Day 44 - Clothworker's Centenary Concert Hall

Today I tried taking a shot of the Clothworker's Centenary Concert Hall at the University. It was pretty overcast so there's no real sky in the shot. I had a dabble at trying to modify this but didn't really get that far. I'm definitely going to have to start reading up on how modify skies in Photoshop.

Thursday 20 September 2007

Elie beach


Elie beach
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
I found this old shot I took at Easter on the beach at Elie and it suddenly struck me how good this would looked cropped. I've shopped with a crop and few tweaks and am very pleased with results.

We're looking forward to visiting this part of the world again in November, I can't wait to take more photos.

Day 43 - More HDR


Day 43 - More HDR
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I decided to have another stab at HDR. After uploading this shot from my laptop and looking at it on a higher res screen I can now see the image is incredibly blurred. My tripod really is fair too flimsy and doesn't tend to stay in position when I adjust the camera.

I really must buy a decent tripod.

Monday 17 September 2007

Day 42 - Sunset


Day 42 - Sunset
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I had another go at trying to capture the sky at sunset. I feel today's attempt is better than yesterdays.

Hopefully no more sunsets tomorrow.

Day 41 - Headingley Sunset


Day 41 - Headingley Sunset
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Sunday evening we popped over to Headingley and I saw this beautiful evening sky. This shot was rather awkwardly composed from window but I'm reasonably happy with the result.

Day 40 - Street Musician


Street Musician
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Whilst in town on Saturday I noticed this guy playing just off Briggate in Leeds city centre. Most of the street performers are fairly familiar but I'd never seen this guy before, I found it hard to catch him with his head turned so I could get the expression in his eyes, too many people distracting him and getting in the way.

I'm pretty pleased with the result for a first attempt at street style photography.

Saturday 15 September 2007

Day 39 - Telegraph pole


Telegraph pole
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
I took this shot on impulse yesterday whilst walking to the bus stop. Looking up at the sky on a sunny day I've observed this telegraph pole before and thought it would make a great shot. I really like the way the pole stands out against the blue sky and the connecting wires intersect it.

After a few days of talking shots that I've not been particularly pleased with I'm really happy with this picture.

Day 38 - Robert Peel Overlooks Leeds


Robert Peel Overlooks Leeds
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
For todays shot I decided to go over to Hyde Park and get a shot of the Robert Peel statue with it's classic John Peel tribute graffiti. Alas the graffiti has gone and the statue has been restored to it's former glory.

Instead here's a shot of the statue overlooking Leeds instead, shame its not got a traffic cone on top but I'm sure it will soon as it's freshers week next week.

Day 37 - Raw test


Raw test
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I decided to try experimenting with RAW file format photography. I took a number of images and spent some time tinkering with them in the raw file editor but found that all I was really doing was adding a great deal noise to the shots.

This is a technique I'm going to have to do more reading on as I feel it may take some time to grasp.

Tuesday 11 September 2007

Day 36 - Padlock


Padlock
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I tried experimenting with in camera Black and White photography settings. My overall aim was to try and produce an image with distinct textures and tones which you see in good black and white pictures.

I feel I made a good start with this but couldn't quite get the desired effect, some more research is required I think.

Day 35 - Parkinson Building Clock Tower


Parkinson Building Clock Tower
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Another day and another clock tower although this one is somewhat larger than the one in Fulneck. For the unfamiliar this shot is of the Parkinson building at Leeds University a familiar local landmark that can be seen across the Leeds skyline.

Sunday 9 September 2007

Day 34 - HDR Test


HDR Test
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
It had to happen sooner or later I suppose so for todays shot I decided to give HDR a whirl. I was kinda tired after having a fairly late night last night so I quickly nipped out and took a few shots of our street to use.

I pretty pleased with the overall result but from this quick experiment I can see that HDR is one of those things that's easy to do but hard to master. I'm definitely looking forward to using this more.

Day 33 - Moravian Church Clock Tower


Moravian Church Clock Tower
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
This weekend saw the Heritage Open Day for a number of venues across the City so on Saturday we decided to visit the Moravian Settlement in Fulneck near Pudsey. The tour gave an informative insight into Movarian life around the world and in Leeds.

I only took a few shots so here's a simple shot of the Church Clock Tower.

Day 32 - Bucking Bronco


Bucking Bronco
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today there was a festival for staff at the University of Leeds, it was the first time such an event was held. It was a great day and thanks must go to all the people who worked extremely hard to organise the event.

There was loads to do including this bucking bronco ride which my colleague was particularly good at, I think this photo kinda gives you the idea.

Friday 7 September 2007

Notoriety

This week I've been lucky enough to be featured on the blogs of both a successful writer and a fellow photographer.

Leeds based and all round good bloke Steve Mosby dedicated a post on Monday to my photography and the new blog project. Steve is the author of 3 superb crime novels with a 4th in the pipeline, I highly recommend reading his work as well as his blog. Steve's books encompass the crime genre with cracking sense of social satire and sci-fi futurism (is that a word).

Later on that same day, Eric Tan identified himself as the man in a great candid I caught at the recent West Indian Carnival.

Eric blogged the shot along with his brilliant set of the carnival and kindly added some links to my sites.

Cheers for the mentions guys.

Day 31 - Motorway


Motorway
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
For day 31 I decided to try a shot I decided to try and shoot a slow shutter speed shot of cars on the motorway bridge just next to the university campus. A particular problem I found in taking this picture was that my tripod wasn't high enough to position the camera over the motorway railings (damned health and safety).

To get round this I ended up balancing my camera on top of the surrounding wall and railings instead. I doing this I was able to steady the camera for using a slow shutter speed but unable to get a good angle of composition.

Walking past the site this morning, I think I found a few better spots to shoot from so I may try this one again in a wee while.

Day 30 - Dalek


Dalek
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I plumped for a quick and dirty shot of a Dalek.

what else can you say?

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Day 29 - The Waterfront


The Waterfront
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
We went out for dinner last night near the water front, after a few glasses of wine and a lovely meal we headed over to the river so I could take a few shots.

I'm really pleased with results as I had no tripod and the bridge was bendy so there was a great deal of motion caused by people walking past. What I'm happiest about though is the fact that it turned out at all considering the amount of wine I'd drunk.

Monday 3 September 2007

Day 28 - Lion


Lion
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today I tried to take a shot at the Town Hall, most of the shots weren't that great but I liked this one of the Lion Statue. I tried to capture the evening sky and I'm reasonably pleased with the result.

Day 27 - The Grand


The Grand
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
On Sunday night we went to see Ross Noble at The Grand. Great gig which amongst other things involved Elton John being shot out of a cannon, being off yer tits on Kinder Eggs and George Michael having sex with rubbish in hedges.

Unfortunately as you're not allowed to take pictures in the theatre you'll just have to settle for this.

Sunday 2 September 2007

Day 26 - Kirkstall Abbey


Kirkstall Abbey
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
On Saturday afternoon we decided to pop down to Kirkstall Abbey and have a look at the Museum. I've been for a wander around the Abbey before but never had my camera with so we decided ,after looking round the Museum to pop across to the Abbey and take a few pictures.

I always find it quite difficult to take pictures in Abbeys and it was no different on this occasion. I really need to look at some other shots of Abbeys and study their composition. I reasonably pleased with the end result but recognize where the shot could be improved.

I think ill be going back to do a shoot there again at some point, hopefully with a few fresh ideas about composition.

Day 25 - Boring shot


Fountain near Millenium Square
Originally uploaded by dodgeMc
Today's shot is pretty awful, to be honest I'm not to pleased about having to post it but as I have nothing else for Day25 I have little other option. My aim was to try and shoot a decent shot of the Water Fountain near Millennium Square using a slow shutter speed. I didn't really get the desired effect and basically ran out of time.

Hopefully next Friday's shot will be a bit better.