Week No. 8 - 26th February 2011

This week's theme is 'the view from here', where here is is up to the photographer and I have cheated a little bit. My 'here' was the hide at Calke Abbey. I have passed the hide several times and always wanted to go in and try my hand at photographing the birds feeding at the special stations that they have set up.

I could have spent a lot longer in there but was conscious of everybody waiting for me in the car (the weather was appalling). The birds landing and feeding are so FAST! I used continuous shutter and crossed my fingers. This is about the sharpest of a blue tit that I got but I got a few squirrels who moved a lot slower. This is a view I will definitely be taking in again!!

Week No. 7 - 19th February 2011

'Open your Heart' is the theme for this week, hope your valentine was good to you? Mine cooked me a lovely meal and told me that he did think about sending for a card for me from Moonpig.com but then decided cards are a waste of money. He would rather I put the money towards camera equipment or something I need - who said romance isn't dead needs shooting. Only joking Carl!!

Gave this packet of Love Hearts a bit of photoshopping, what a sign of the times, these hearts now have messages including "text me" and "e-mail"!

Week No. 6 - 12th February 2011

Sorry this post is a bit late, guess what I was up to at the weekend? No prizes for guessing it was a wedding, Dan and Emma's to be precise and it was my first time being the 'official' photographer. I loved it and am still wading through the images editing them ready to show the new Mr and Mrs Smith! I'm sure they won't mind me using this photo of their name cards for this week's theme of words. I thought about the most important words we use and 'Mr and Mrs ....' came as close as any I could think of. What those little words mean and how life changing they can be. Also by conjuring up memories of the actual wedding day, which to me is what a photo is all about. I've had fun putting this in Topaz (a plug in for Photoshop) and this effect is called 'Vibrance' which has nicely brought out the silver handwriting which was a challenge to photograph!

Week No. 5 - 5th February 2011

Marilyn - My Muse

This week's theme is muse and I have pondered long and hard on this. The definition in the dictionary is either 'to think about a subject' or 'a goddess that inspires poetry, art or songs'. The latter was what I thought a muse was, so I wondered who inspires me. The girls? I certainly take enough photos of them, I suppose they are really my models once a technique has inspired me. Who started me looking at photographs and appreciating them. Well it was Marilyn, I have loved her since being about 13/14. I remember having her posters on my wall along with Richard Gere and Frankie Goes to Hollywood! I love photos of her, reading about her life, watching her films and I have even drawn her in the past.

Looking at the stack of books (how much dust?) that I have collected over the years I can see why my bookcase is bowing and how I have come to love photos so much, I must of looked at thousands of her. I still love seeing new photos of her that I haven't seen before and am amazed that there are still photos out there that no one has seen yet.

Carl said I couldn't take a photo of a photo so I have taken one of my books instead, the book in the foreground is my first one about her and the reason I am potty about photography I think. Might not be the best photo ever but it shows my personal inspiration, now I have to put them all away without reading them. Don't worry, I'll dust them first!

Week No. 4 - 29th January 2011

'Soothing Repetition"

What a gift this week's blog was, I went to see my friend who has just had a baby girl and look at the name of her new cradle chair/rocker. We laughed that her older children and mine were rocked by the 'foot' technology which made your legs really ache! Her baby wasn't too keen on this new calming experience but I'm sure she'll get used to it.

I used my 50mm lens with no flash in front of a window and upped the ISO a little bit. Put the image in photoshop and added a lighter vignette instead of a dark one.

Week No.3 - 22nd January 2011

At first I thought this week's theme would be a breeze, Shades of Grey, surely I could just turn a colour photo black and white. But when I tried that is just what it was and not really grey! Humph. Loving Photoshop as I do I thought I would try applying a grey filter or a texture to a grey(ish) photo. The texture I have used on this picture is actually a piece of carpet (thanks flixr downloads) and is just something different.

If this doesn't work it's grey hairs (?) or Pixie the grey rabbit!!

Week No. 2 - 14th January 2011

'Diamonds and Pearls'

As this week's theme is 'Illustrate a Song' I decided to do the Prince classic! (Thanks for the idea Lydia). I've been messing about with flash as my beloved studio lights are acting up and I have decided they definitely need some specialist attention so my flashgun was called upon to save the day.

Is a collage/triptych cheating? Who knows.