Archive for April, 2009
I’m A Fan of Pizza
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes I look at Facebook and think…”what has the world come to?” I mean, I do love Facebook…I’ve heard from friends I haven’t seen in years, I keep up with little tidbits of info on friends I see now. But it seems Facebook is at risk of just being…well…stupid.
Nothing against my dear cousin..for which I can thank both Facebook and Twitter for helping me find…a chap who I had never met but ironically share quite a few things in common. This morning I read he’s a fan of pizza and in true Facebook style it has asked me if I too want to become a fan. I’m no pizzaist or anything, but I don’t understand why someone needed to write a Facebook app that allowed people to tell you they like pizza. I’ve also seen sleeping as well…one would think 2 things that pretty much all of us are favourable towards.
I don’t know, maybe this all piggy backs on the whole Twitter thing. For a test I’m going onto Twitter now to find some bit of fantastic info that I learned that I feel you should too…wait for it…oh sorry, I can’t really do that. Some chap, who will remain nameless, has managed to find some sort of automatic twitter updater that links to his blog and instead of selecting all things going forward, he’s selected all things ever and my twitter feed now 147 links to this numbnutzs’ website.
Time to go bury my head in the sand!
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Julia and Michael – Hertfordshire Wedding Photography
Posted by: | CommentsWhen is a Saturday wedding not a Saturday wedding…well, when you kinda start on Friday. Which is exactly what I did for Julia and Michael’s wedding at Moor Park Golf Club and Chalfont St Giles. Julia layed on a special (although some of the chaps might not see it that way) surprise for the boys who were playing a celebration 18 on the fantastic High Course at Moor Park. Being a golfer myself (who, rather unexpectedly, got to play a few holes on Sunday evening) I was chuffed to get the chance to shoot some golf…just not perhaps the way I normally thinking of shooting at golf. So before we move on to the wedding stuff, let’s check out what was up on the Bermuda Bent (ok…probably not Bermuda Bent grass in Hertfordshire, but golfers will be the point).
I said I wouldn’t mention that this wasn’t the first attempt…I lied!
Mike (the Groom)
I don’t often do pano…but this worked for me
Oh yes…the wedding. I remember now. I started at the church (or should I say we, as Darren joined me) but with any good groom, the church quickly gives way to the pub.
ah…the Amber Nector..see, all the marketing DOES work
Stop! Hammer Time!
Only a slight lie
Damn you Best Man (and Groom’s brother) for looking so much like Mike (to be fair, I could really get a line in on Mike so you’ll have to do)
There were two great beams on light in the church…this is the first…
…and this is the second. Sweet!
As they turned the corner, they stopped. I was flumoxed (is that how you spell that?). I gestured wildly, don’t stop, just keep going. Oh the pressure.
Not likely to win Flower Girl of the Year 2009
Don’t ask if its set up…it ain’t
Keeping your key in your cleavage is not recommended
Moor Park…more than just a little nice
One (just one) for the Mums
Sorry…I kinda liked those stairs
There was just something about this. She’s looking away from the light, down and her eyes are down…but it had a mysterious feeling about. Film like it you must ask. So much so I actually added grain to this image. Whodothunkit!
Amazing what ISO4000 will get you in todays world
FOB had his speech before the meal
Still reeling from the key incident
A wee bit about a supplier I met on Saturday at the wedding. Photography may be my thing but if I could pick some other talent I might we be persuaded to select table poetry. OK, what the hell is that I hear you ask! Think of a table magician, but instead replace him/her with a rather talented, quick thinking and comic poet who allows the table to give him 3 concepts, words or ideas and without a single bit of hesitation starts an amazing prose, rhyming every word and even going around the context of those words as well. So..if you are looking for something completely different and terribly unique (that’s a good thing by the way) have a look at Judge The Poet.
Judge on trial
Quickly administering the Heimlich Maneuver to comedic effect
White balance…hmmm…never heard of it. OK, I have, but I really liked the warm tones
Laughing about children, clothes and a rather bad memory
It seemed an odd time to start making shadow puppets
Hmm…yes…well…To say I could barely get any focus would be fair. The fact that even though this is a total cockup I have to say I really rather like it. I gave up on dance shots after this..
“I couldn’t dance with another…..WHOOOOO!”
Ceee-garrr
‘Thing’ and his 3 friends
And of course, its never complete (well, Saturday weddings that is) until we see a few from Darren
He’s really rather starting to scare me
I just like the thin plane of focus and the story that it tells
I was kinda hoping he missed me sleeping on the job
And with that I now call him a Jedi Photographer
Love that he’s getting the car in motion thing…but at F22 on a 3 year old 5D the dirt takes a few minutes to remove
Great observation of light and eye contact…as I say, he scares me
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You What?
Posted by: | CommentsSo Evan goes into the bathroom at the inlaws caravan and touches the radiator. It was on…it was hot. He comes out to explain to all those in the room..”that radiato is bloody hot!”. Cue holding back the laughter as we really don’t need that kind of expression from a 4 year old. I mean, he get the bloody thing perfect but can’t get that its a radiator not a radiato.
I mentioned earlier this week that I was bachelor man for a few days. I did get out with the camera so here we go:
Luckily, I never did find Death – -FWIW, this is an abandoned house at a local abandoned quarry. Its like a red rag to a bull for photographers
Digital!
Film! More on that later
Welcome to Toyland…sadly Noddy has been a bit delinquent
Film (again). What I love is the weed bottom left with the shadow.
Graffiti, whilst certainly a pain, can be very interesting…just not on my street thank you very much!
I’ve now moved on to South Parade Pier in Southsea…only took about 22 seconds to be annoyed by yobs
Perhaps my favourite shot of the night and ironically one I nearly deleted
Ghost Ride
C’mon…someone tell me who had the bright idea to call a burger chain Wimpy?
Would you really eat there?
…and a bottle of anything….TO GO!
Fun fairs are sad places when they’re not open
So damn possessive Clarence wrote his name on the building
The master Ben Chrisman with his Skywalker students Kerridge and Dickson
Lauren and her laptop. That’s pretty much the view we all got all week :)
It was something like 6:30pm in March. Mick and Bianca anyone?
Jill checks her email (twitter, facebook, linked in, bebo, flickr, bbc news)
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Shiny Happy…
Posted by: | Comments…Website? Yep, decided I needed to upsize (would you like fries with that) my wedding photography website so I did. Got my old web skills out of the cupboard and created a simple but hopefully effective site. Let me know what you think: http://www.shootinghip.com/index.asp
I’ll be living the life of a bachelor man for a few days. Nicola has taken Evan and Holly to stay at the inlaws summer caravan in the New Forest. I’m staying behind to tie up some loose ends. (sorting out the website has taken a good bit of my time) I am planning on going out in the evenings to play a bit with my camera…something I don’t ever really get to do.
Holly continues to sleep through the night…however her weight only increased by 1/2 ounce this week. The Health Visitor has advised us to leave it another week and if she hasn’t moved on then we’ll invoke the dream feed. We kind of figured it was coming. I don’t really think we’ll have too much trouble with her sleeping through even if we wake her at 10:15pm.
Wednesay Morning
Evan : “Mummy…can I wear my Batman shirt?”
Nicola: “Its in the wash buddy”
Thursday Morning
Evan : “Mummy…can I wear my Batman shirt?”
Nicola: “Its in the pile of clothes to be ironed…not today”
Friday Morning
Evan : “Mummy…can I wear my Batman shirt?”
Nicola: “Its in the pile of clothes to be ironed…not today”
Saturday Morning
Evan : “Mummy…can I wear my Batman shirt?”
Nicola: “Its in the pile of clothes to be ironed…not today”
Evan: “Geez mummy…would you just IRON it!”
The cheek!
We had some our NCT friends around on Sunday for lunch and afters (sounds dodgy eh). With the great weather we made tracks for the park. I took along my camera and got a few I like:
To Infinity….For Free!
Posted by: | CommentsEver since I moved into my new office I’ve always have a plan that I would take photos of some of Evan’s favourite toys and frame them for his playroom. Its taken quite a while to get to it. But last weekend I finally did. I reckon it took about £5k worth of equipment to produce this (but to be fair, you could do it for a lot less, I just happen to have the stuff to hand). Basically, if anyone would like any of these at full res for themselves simply email me and I’ll get it over to you.
If you’re interested in how it was done (and TBH, it was quite simple) here are the specs:
28in Westcott Umbrella Box propped up and used as the background (with a 580ex speedlight inside set at 1/4)
White cloth draped over a laundry bin with with the umbrella box propped up behind
A4 perspex photoframe from SuperFrame with both layers…the frosted layer to get rid of the wrinkles in the cloth and the clear to set the toys on
Another 580ex on 1/4 power camera right to light the toys
Photoshop highlight tool to get rid of some crap
As I say, if you want them (one or all), just ask.
The Shake of Disapointment
Posted by: | CommentsLife is good ’round our house. The British Olympic Crying champion has decided that the 2012 games were not her thing and has now turned into a lovely, cuddly, smiley 10 week old baby girl. Bless…she’s so much fun to have around. She now only cries when she’s hungry, tired or if her brother decides to tie her up with the ‘hooker’ on his plastic crane. To be fair, Evan is a fantastic big brother. He is so keen to help out. He insists on having his car seat next to her. If she cries in the car, usually because she’s not asleep and has dropped her beloved dummy, Evan is quick to put it back for her. If Nicola forgets a grow, a vest or tights for Holly Evan lunges for the stairs screaming “I will get it”. Its not like we’re offering chocolate or anything…he just does it. So, it would seem that calmness (as much as can be expected with 2 kids) has come to our house. PLUS…in a sensational bit of news that does cause us to have a moral dilemma, Holly is sleeping through the night. With Evan we gave him a dream feed at 10:30. However, with Holly we’ve just left her to see how long she wants to go. This meant a few weeks of me getting up between 12 and 3 (she’s bottle fed at night, breast fed during the day). On Saturday night between 12 and 3 became 6am. Sunday night…ditto…last night it was 7:30. Of course, this leaves us wondering if she needs that dream feed. Time will tell…if the weight suffers we get her up. But for now…wow, 7 hours of straight sleep is…well…amazing!
Darren and I shot a wedding in Essex on Saturday. Travelling with Darren to distant weddings is always a laugh. The journey starts out slow with Darren filling me in on all the gossip at Sainsburys. I bore him with some photography gossip or some new product I found out about that week. The gig starts and we sort of bump into each a bit…but after 10 hours the ride home is always amusing. For instance, on Saturday night some wally was in the 3rd lane of the M25 doing 60. A 4 lane motorway now becomes 1. I launch a few choice character assasinations and as we pass Darren looks left. Afterwards he says “…don’t worry…I gave him the ‘shake of disappointment”. A second passes and I nearly drive off the road laughing myself stupid. Where did this fit of comic genius come from? Of course I have to retort “mate, whatever failings you feel at the urinal are all down to you”. Score: Rob 1 — Darren 0. A few more miles go by and now we’re buzzing through the iPod to see if we can find anything interesting. Suddenly a song comes on…its very girlie, but perfect for a wedding video. I say “I know, its a bit girlie…but think of it in the context of a wedding”…silence from the passenger seat then suddenly “crikey Rob. “Why don’t you think of it in the context of a MAN!”. Score: Rob 1 — Darren 1. Sadly, no goals in extra time.
Finally, our favourite game to play on the journey back from a wedding where a) its night time and b) we’re on a motorway is ‘GPS Bingo’. We’ve decreed…and yes, in our world we can decree whatever we wish…that map view is superior to road view. So, if we roll up to someone in road view we simply scowl, then laugh and now we give them the ‘shake of disappointment’.
My two girls
Uh oh…Scooby Doo on the telly!
“I will not watch Scooby Doo”
…I would have gotten away with it too…
