30 Day Photo Challenge 2015 - Week 1

It's that time of year again - I saw a #30dayphotochallenge tweet and I've mentally signed myself up for it! It's going to be a lot tougher this year, as I now have a day-job to occupy most of my time (so I'll be taking the DSLR into work and nipping out at lunchtime in search of inspiration...). If there are any repeated themes with last year, I'll try to find a different angle...

Day 7 - O is for...
... Objet D'Art. I went for a wander at lunchtime today, trying to find something o-like that inspired me. And then I walked around St. Paul's Cathedral and saw this wonderful sculpture that I've never noticed before. The sun had just come out on the cathedral behind me, but recent raindrops were still present on the metal. The objet d'art is called Amicale, by the late Paul Mount.

Tomorrow's subject is Laughter, and time for a new week and new blog. Hopefully I'll feel the photography love a bit more during the next week.

Day 6 - Memories
I thought that walking down the King's Road this morning on my way to work would jog a few memories, and then I remembered a pretty important one - the place I got married. I always loved the steps of Chelsea Old Town Hall and for years walked past thinking that if I ever got married, it would be there. And so I did, just over five years ago. Great memories of one of the most fantastic days ever :)

Day 5 - I'm Not Crazy
The only thing I could think of for this was to photograph one of the things I have collected over the years. There were two choices - matches or cowrie shells. I decided to photograph my match collection, which I started back in the early '90s. Sadly bars and restaurants don't seem to give out matches any more so the collection is grinding to a halt (and diminishing, as I use them too). My hubby helped me sort them into similar sizes and we removed duplicates, laid them out on the coffee table and then I balanced the tripod on two feet against the side of the table so that the camera was roughly over the middle of the table. I decided to try a different lens but ended up having a little accident, with the camera toppling over and the 24-70mm lens hitting the side of the table, slightly denting the top of the lens (so now I can't screw in a filter to it). Now I'm definitely a little crazy -grrrrr!

Day 4 - Natural Light
Obviously it's a drab, grey day for this, so the amount of natural light was limited. Choice of subject was between the hubby and the dog. I chose the dog. He's not very good at posing, unless there is a treat promised, so most shots of him have a slight drool present! The main challenge, however, is that he has quite a big beak, so a shallow depth of field, which is useful in limited light conditions, renders his nose completely blurred. I compromised by yanking up the ISO (to 3200) and increasing the f-stop to f/8. He's also a complete scruff-bag at the moment.

Day 3 - Landscape
Seemed like an easy subject, but not when the only time you're out in daylight during the day is on your walk to work and your camera's actually locked away in the office. I was busy at lunchtime (taking portrait photos for charity), so the only chance I had was after work. I headed up to the roof at One New Change to get a view of the urban landscape of London, but without tripod the options were limited. I managed to prop the camera on a ledge, but again was not greatly happy with my shot for the day. Some views of the City show what a mish-mash of buildings there is.

Day 2 - Dreams
Seriously, how do you depict "dreams" in a photo? Especially when you're busy in the office all day and it's dark on the way to and from work? I took my camera to work, hoping to escape from the office to capture something "dreamlike" at lunchtime, but it didn't happen. Then I remembered that I was going out in the evening, walking past a certain bed-shop. So, a literal interpretation, rather than something meaningful and cool.... I'll try harder tomorrow.

Day 1 - Self-Portrait
As per last year, the first subject is the self-portrait (not a "selfie") - always a good challenge to start with. I was working from home today, so in a break I set my tripod up and tried to work out the focus distance, in order to get my eyes in focus, and take the shot using a remote trigger. Taking a self-portrait is actually quite hard, especially if you use back-button focusing. I took a few, but looked pretty dreadful in all of them (after an indulgent Thanksgiving weekend I'm not looking my best). Eventually I decided on a profile shot, showing off my Roman nose in its full glory - a view that's less familiar to me.

30 Day Photo Challenge - Week 2

My 30 day photo challenge, inspired by Photocritic, is now at the end of week 2!

Day 14 - Sometimes I...
Sometimes I spend hours photographing frosty leaves. There have been four frosts so far this autumn/winter and I've been out in the local park for each of them, photographing the beautiful frosty leaves and grass. Here is my favourite from this morning. More can be found on my website.

Tomorrow's subject is "4pm".

Day 13 - Distance

The photo I've chosen for today's subject of "Distance" could easily be for tomorrow's subject of "Sometimes I..." as sometimes I like to take photos of planes out of the window! They are the most distant objects that I can see from my window, apart from the clouds.

Unfortunately I live under the flight path, and apart from the long-gone sight and sound of Concorde the planes are pretty unwelcome. Occasionally I see planes pass through a rainbow or passing through stunning sunset skies, but mostly it's just an unwanted, continuous grumble in the sky. Today they look quite pretty, though, passing through fast-moving low clouds, lit up in the sun. I Googled to check the distance and think they're at about 3,000 feet above sea level when they pass over me here in Fulham. So this photo of distance is 3,000 feet!





Day 12 - Play

I feel as if I'm losing momentum a little. Today's subject is "play" and I didn't want to do another picture of the dog (which would have been an easy one, as he insists we play ball if we go to the park). Instead today's photo is of a bunch of young lads playing football - probably a scene seen all over the country (and world, in fact). It was raining slightly, with annoying washed-out skies. I also tried some time-lapse shots of the hubby and dog playing, but wasn't massively impressed with the results, given the white skies.





Day 11 - Work

I spent the day taking part in a great photography project - #lapselondon - where 60 of us went off to create some time-lapse shots around London, organised by TriggerTrap, which has produced a dongle and iPhone app to help take time-lapses. Today's photo challenge subject was "work" so I captured one of the TriggerTrap team (Thomas) demonstrating how to use their dongle and app. Work doesn't have to be boring...

Day 10 - Happiness

Today's photo challenge subject is happiness, something that seems pretty easy to depict. I could've taken a photo of my dog (but he was yesterday's star), my hubby (he's at work), my camera or a host of other things that make me happy, but as a typical tea-obsessed Brit I thought I'd capture a simple symbol of happiness - a cup of tea in my favourite mug (Scottish Highland Stoneware, purchased in Ullapool in 1997). You just can't beat a good cuppa!

Day 9 - Fear

This was a tricky one. How do you depict fear? I guess I could've walked down a dark alleyway at night, but I don't actually want to do that. And it's a bit obvious.

The next thing I thought of was how Henry, my dog, always hides under the coffee table when he's afraid of something - me approaching him to put on his raincoat or with a grooming implement (without an edible bribe) are the main two. I'm trying to avoid taking too many photos of him during the photo challenge, but he is a handy subject. So here he is, under the table, peeking out to see if the coast is clear (has the comb gone...?).

Day 8 - Mother Nature

As soon as I saw today's topic - Mother Nature - I thought of a couple of little trinkets that I picked up in Cusco, Peru, back in 2001. They are small pewter statues, representing Pachamama and Pacha Kamaq - Mother Earth and Father Earth. I rarely collect souvenirs on my travels these days, so it was nice to dig them out again!

For Week 1 - have a look here.

30 Day Photo Challenge - Week 1

I read about a 30 day photo challenge, suggested by Haje Jan Kamps of photocritic.org, and decided to give it a go!

Day 7 - Upside Down

Today is the end of the first week of my photo challenge. It's been fun, and challenging, and I've taken quite a strange selection of shots, most of which I wouldn't have done in a normal week. Today's topic initially seemed quite straight-forward - "Upside Down"; I've taken plenty of upside down shots before - of the reflection of Battersea Power Station in the River Thames, of the dog lying on his back - but everything I tried today looked plain odd. Finally I came across some stark winter trees along the edge of Tooting Bec Common in South London, nicely silhouetted against the moody skies. I turned the camera the wrong way up and came up with this.

Day 6 - Tell a Story

How do you tell a story in just one photo? This was quite a challenge! I tried to think of something in my own life that told a story. For as long as I can remember I've been collecting match books - from bars, hotels, restaurants, companies, at home and abroad - wherever I've seen them, I've taken them. I have hundreds. The collection rarely gets added to these days, given that most places stopped producing them when they banned smoking. They tell a story, mainly of my twenties - of places once-visited, of places much-loved, and of places long-gone...

Day 5 - In Motion

As a Londoner, the first thing that came to mind for the topic "In Motion" was a moving tube. As we were going to see a friend across the other side of the city for lunch today, a tube ride was definitely in order, so I got my opportunity. I didn't have the right lens or a tripod with me, so didn't really get a shot I liked, but this will have to do. Some of the light trail shots I took a few nights ago around Oxford Circus would've been better, but I didn't get the chance to recreate any of those today.

Day 4 - Friends

I spent most of today with my friend Helen, who I met on an organised trip travelling around China, ten years ago. She is a fantastic singer and her husband bought her a session at the Crypt recording studio in Crouch End for her birthday, so I went along with her to take a few shots, together with her old friend Barbara.

The topic of today's photo challenge was "Friends", so this was an easy one, given that I was with two women who've known each other since their first day of secondary school. Here they are, Helen on the right with Barbara.

Day 3 - Ground Level

Today's photo subject was "Ground Level". Since I spend a while each day out and about with the dog I thought I'd get down to his level for today's challenge. He is a bit obsessed with playing ball, and he's started doing a puppy bow, barking with the ball in his mouth, before running around like a bucking horse. Here he is just before sprinting off, tail wagging madly.

Day 2 - Black & White

This was an easy one. Well, lots of choice of what to photograph, anyway. As I've just bought a replacement set of extension tubes (who know what happened to the first lot) I thought I'd do a macro shot. I have a massive collection of cowrie shells (yes, I know, I probably shouldn't pick them up from beaches...), so decided to capture one of my favourite ones, and then convert it to black and white.

Day 1 - Self-Portrait

This is not as easy as it sounds! Trying to hand-hold a heavy camera and lens with one hand and focus with the other (and getting both eyes in focus) is quite tricky. The shot needs to be fast to have any chance of sharp eyes, so the aperture has to be wide open, meaning the focus has to be spot on. Even if you're using a tripod, trying to get the eyes in focus is a big challenge.

Also, vanity comes into play - you want to get a shot of yourself looking halfway decent. I noticed how big the bags looked under my eyes, how lined my skin looked, how wonky my nose was, how thin my upper lip was... I sat in front of the window, with the natural light on my face, and pointed the lens in my face, over-exposing a little - I find this usually helps hide a few of these areas of concern.

Needless to say, quite a few shots were taken, and this was my favourite. I've flipped it over so it looks like what I see in the mirror, so probably looks a bit weird to people used to looking at me normally. I also did a little post-processing to hide a few blemishes and soften the lines a little...