Recycling

This weeks blog is different for two reasons.

1. As the more astute will notice this blog is going out on a Monday (Last night was spent investigating why my bathroom had flooded my neighbour downstairs!)

2. This weeks photography blog did not require me to get my camera out...... Read on.

Today's blog is an experimentation with scanners, photoshop and the recycling aspect is the attempt to resurect an old photo of my Dad when he did national service. The original picture is signed on the back by all the people in it. I wonder what they are all doing today? One thing I'm sure of is that they wouldn't expect to stumble accross it on the internet. The picture was given to me by my late Aunt a few years ago and I've always wondered if I could get it repaired..... And this is where the task began. I've played with photoshop before in most of my pictures, but never have I tried to mend an old picture.

Todays pic shows the before and after. You can see the creases across the left hand picture that obscures three seperate paths accross the people (Four legs, three chests and two faces to be precise) And for the more observant I'll include the shed and the barracks wall too. Needless to say this picture required lots of clone tool (where you copy other parts of the picture to reconstruct the original). If you look hard you may be able to spot who's pockets / tie / boots and even an eye and a smile have been transplanted. This pic took some time to complete, but it was a really interesting project. And I even get the benefit of having a rendered copy of the original without the creasing. So it just goes to show that photography skills and attaining results is not always about whet you point your camera at.........

Until next SUNDAY. Job Done.

Portrait along the lines and style of Venture

This weeks pic is of a very good friend of mine called Dominic Holingdale. He has stepped up to the plate and allowed me to have free reign of creating a portrait. This was my first attempt at capturing a persons personality whilst attempting to recreate some of the aspects of modern portraiture. The image was taken using no studio equipment at all, the setting was Dom's hallway (for a blank background). I had hoped to do a bit more adventurous pic with some hobby items along the lines of moto cross or motor racing. But I hope you'll agree that sometimes simple is just better. I'll be having a go at some adventure shots later in the year so keep tuned.

This portrait should be immediately inviting to anyone that know's Dom. I think it captures his natural calmness and modicum of vanity. The pic was taken with a 105mm Sigma macro lens at 2.8 aperture and 320th second speed with a camera mounted flash. There has been some photoshop action to whiten the eyes and also a sepia effect to give some deeper skin tone.

All in all about 15mins of productive work to change the image from "as taken" to the published picture. The original file size is A3 and so can be blown up extensively without distortion.

Thanks to Dom and thanks to all that view. Comments and suggestions for next weeks blog are welcome.

Cheers,

Sam.

Snow Halts Training!

If you live in England you will probably have seen snow this week. The white cold stuff has had a pretty acute effect upon the cycling training this week; However Sunday saw a brief respite in the deluge of ice and slush that has become the norm.

Whilst training for Lanzarote Ironman 2009 I have heard many stories of woe regarding winter miles (cycle training in England between december and March). This week I have begun to understand that winter miles SUCK! It is cold, often windy and as today's picture demonstrates pretty snowy!

Today's picture is of my trusty winter steed standing upright unaided in about six inches of snow. The picture was taken at the turn around point of today's bike ride using my mobile phone! (how has technology improved over the years).

I've worked the photo in photoshop CS3 to make the bike posterized and the background improved! The overall picture took about 45mins of playing around with and I'm pleased with the result. Let me know what you think A) about the actual picture and B) about people who cycle in the snow!!!!

Until next week when I hope to do a featured shot for a couple of friends! See you in seven.

Animal Magic

This weeks photo was always going to be a portrait. The subject was the only decision to make. Would it be a self portrait (very tough to make good I think). A work colleague came up as subject idea; however the colleague suggested that my cat should be recorded in the history archives of the blog.

I have recently moved back to my flat in Leamington Spa and I've brought with me a mini Tiger of a pet (google images for "Maine Coon"). He is a great companion and a real handful at times. "Spikey" (don't ask where the name is from) is going to be a very large cat. His father is a show champion called Angus and weighs in a 24lbs so far (he's only 2 years old and they grow for up to five!!!).

I think this picture shows that he seems to have settled in fairly well? The picture was taken using natural light, The focus is centred on his eyes and an f2.8 aperture was used to distort the background to further enhace his face and intensify the eyes.

There has been a little bit of bluring of the outside edges in photoshop and some lightening for brightness. During this project I investigated many framing options and have absolutely learnt that no matter how much time or effort it takes to work on a photo, it is always best to trust your instinct. I did a couple of heavily worked versions of this picture that I couldn't decide if I liked or not. At this point I have learnt to just hit delete and try again. And do you know what? Sometimes it's just better to keep it simple. I hope you like.

See you in a week.

Sam.

Sports Sports Sports

Sports have always been an integral part of my life. Whilst I can usually be found Swimming, Cycling or Running these days, I do still like to participate with any sport that's going. (Quokka soccer being the weirdest! but that's a story and pic for another time should I ever get back to Perth one day). The one sport that has been a part of my life since I was eight years old is Golf. It is the one sport that I actually can win at. I guess all of those long days in the school holidays doing nothing but hitting golf balls has left me with a relative competence that I am really pleased about.

There are a number of quite remarkable things about golf. For instance we all know what the ultimate goal of the game is, but how often do we ever question just how monumental the task is. In no particular order of importance here are a few facts and figures. The golf ball is 43mm in diameter, The hole is just 108mm in diameter (which means that you have the size of the ball and 3/4 the size of the ball on each side should you hit the hole in the middle). We now must consider that the ball has to be hit from anything up to 690 yards away for a par 5 (that's well over a third of a mile!) Finally you have to hit this tiny ball to a tiny hole a very long way away with a club that is approximately the length of your leg and weighs half a kilo give or take. Oh and there will be undulating ground, trees, water and sand traps in your way! Talk about hand eye co-ordination, strategy, tempo and control. I think I'm starting to understand the appeal to conquer.

And eventually to todays picture. Sport Sport Sport requires practice practice practice. People who PLAY golf will never really master it. People who PRACTICE at golf will reap the rewards. My advice has always been, and will always be to practice frequently and play occassionally. OH! and the sooner you start the better!

Today's pic is a junior at The Warwickshire golf club staying till the floodlights come on and the sun sets. It reminded me of my youth and was a pleasant trip down memory lane. The pic has been doctored in photoshop and that's why some of it looks blurred or painted. I like the contrast of clarity and art. I hope you enjoy.

Comments on this blog are welcomed and any suggestions for future picture projects are gratefully received.

See you in a week.

A mixed week of joy and woe

This week has been a really strange one in the sammy house hold. On one hand a new lease of life and on another a lot to think about. The importance of real friends was realised when a couple of my greatest friends came over to visit this week. It didn't matter that we simply went for a curry and a beer (it's probably been 5 years since the last time we did this simple act) The importance was the support, encouragement and general feelgood factor that only occurs when you know that you are completely comfortable with your surroundings, and are truley looking forward to the company that you will be sharing. Thanks to Tom and Charly for being there.

Well 2009 has started fairly poorly and as an eternal optimist I decided to get out of bed at 5.30am on Saturday morning and headed out to TAKE this weeks blog pic. I say take because I literally stole the moment. The day was glum, rainy and I was extremely tired. I hunted around the usual pictureque and well photographed areas of L'Spa and couldn't find any inspiration. I then started to head home when I refused to admit defeat and found this scene awaiting me. I hope you like it. I have since decided to test my photoshop skills and I'm going to compose a compendium of shots like this to create a complete L'Spa montage. Piece by piece to create a large image encompassing houses, businesses and the tourist areas. I'll post it up when it's complete.

Cheers,

Sam.

HDR Trial

Here are my first attempts at combining images to create "Art" from a photo. Like most things artistic in nature the results draw highly subjective conclusions from different people. HDR (High Dynamic Range) see here http://www.vanilladays.com/ are the marmite of the camera world. Love it or hate it they are here to stay. I'm still practicing, but I like what I see in some of the examples. More practice and I may just get one right!