31st March 2008

This disused railtrack runs [under the A55] near Chester, and is regularly used by graffiti artists as a legal painting venue. It’s different every time I go back and you never know what amazing art you will find painted on the concrete walls here. I would love to meet one of the artists, but I have never seen anyone here. [Sustrans] are developing a cycle route along this track soon - I do hope the permission to paint here will still stand, so more people will get access this ever changing art.

30th March

Poor man's crème brûlée.

An ever changing combination of raspberries, blackberries, vanilla pod, crème fraîche, natural yogurt, maple syrup and sugar. This was the best one yet and only took about 5 minutes to put together. I won’t be trying to hold a blowtorch in one hand with a camera in the other again though.

All of these shots following the contemporary style for in-progress, close-up food photography. The informal presentation of the food is enhanced with the very shallow depth of field, perhaps slightly too shallow in some cases here. This style seems to be a good shortcut to the desired result of making the food look good enough to eat. I think it is probably much more challenging to get satisfactory results shooting product type food shots where everything in the shot needs to be perfectly presented and in sharp focus.

29th March

Dough balls and herb baked tomatos, pretty much straight from the oven.

These shots both using natural light, diffused with cloud, worked fine without any additional diffusion.

28th March 2008

This shot breaks the best practice [guidelines] I just learned for food photography – mainly as the light here is overhead tungsten lighting, which really shows in the flat look of the photo. The preferred diffused natural light was in short supply at 9pm though, plus our guests were looking at their withheld food threateningly. The [recipe] thankfully, was a real show stopper and also really quite easy to put together if you happen to have some Scottish flaky hot-smoked salmon handy.

27th March

I read an [article] on food photography earlier this week. The condensed version of the articles goes something like this; most food wants to be eaten, not photographed, and therefore looks rubbish when photographed. The advice was firstly to undercook the food, let it go cold, photograph low and close up on a non-fussy background, use natural diffused light, custom colour balance and finally to use a shallow depth of field. This shot uses most of those techniques, and although I can see I will be able to improve on this, it is my first attempt at food photography. The final point of the article is to know when not to shoot food at all, and with anemic looking cheese as a subject, this is probably one of them. More to follow this weekend with folk to cook for.

26th March

Eucalyptus Tree, after the rain.

25th March

Beer glass and water, glass 'borrowed' from Pizza Express

This backlit shot uses only a household lamp as the light source, but custom colour balancing before shooting makes all the difference. A flash, from the side of the glass, would no-doubt finish off the shot, adding more glass reflection.

24th March 2008

Sunset over the Isle of Arran from the mainland, Scotland.

Goodbye beautiful Arran, until next time.


The [Caledonian MacBrayne] ferry to Ardrossan.

23rd March 2008

Beinn Tarsuinn ridge and Goatfell from Meall Biorach, Arran, Scotand


Towards Meall Donn from Meall Biorach, Arran, Scotand

The Scottish island of Arran is the near perfect landscape photography location. Being one of the southerly Scottish islands, the weather is often more stable then the more northerly west coast islands/mainland. The main benefit though, is the size of the island; its possible to shoot/walk in the early morning light on the east coast of the island then drive over The String to the west coast for the late afternoon light. This combined with a hill range rivaling Skye's cullin ridge in drama, plus many glens, waterfalls and standing stones, makes Arran a great place to find accessible photo opportunities without having to walk all day for one shot.

22nd March 2008

Holy Island and Clauchlands Point from Merklands Point, Arran, Scotland


Cir Mhor from Glen Rosa, Arran, Scotland

I am starting to realise that to get any better at landscape photography, that the next level requires a big increase in the investment in not only time and effort, but also in (counter-intuitive) anti-social behavior. To get the magical shots means pre-visualising a shot, then going back to the location in ideal lighting (sunrise/sunset) at least once. On this trip this Easter trip, this would mean being on the hill at 4.30am, and therefore quickly using up any accrued brownie points with the already very patient other half!

21st March 2008

Meall Bhig from above Coirein Lochain, Arran, Scotland


Cul nan Creagan from Corie nam Meann, Arran, Scotland

20th March

The [Caledonian MacBrayne] ferry to the Isle of Arran, Scotland

19th March

Lake overflow and log, Delamere Forest.

I did to Delamere forest expecting to find much I wanted to photograph, but once I looked a little closer, there were a lot of little natural details worth hunting out.

18th March

I need to work on someone to have their picture taken in this location, its such a moody backdrop in early morning sunlight.

17th March

Frosty oak leaves, Winter is back today.

16th March

Old ruin, hazy hills, Snowdonia. Even in mid-March, this felt like one of those perfect summer days that you wish would never end.

15th March

The Golden Lion, Frodsham. I think a series on English pubs (inside and out) could be worthwhile this year.

14th March

These trails are the result of a powerkite session on the beach. The S-shaped trails tapering off into the distance come from being pulled along the sand by the kite's power - a technique known as 'skudding', or translated 'the wind is too strong or I am to scared to kiteboard today'.

13th March

Hamish - feeling very sorry for himself - he had a wound on his paw and was stuck inside for days.

12th March 2008

Kurly Cale. This plant has been growing none stop for two years, and the young leaves still taste great.

11th March

My pal Sue. Sorry Sue, I know you said I made you look like an 'ugly miffer', but I kinda like the retro lighting so you are getting published anyhow.

10th March

Tree bark detail

9th March 2008

Hodge Close Quarry, Coniston

This disused slate quarry is now a mecca for rock climbers seeking E-graded sports routes. We had taken climbing kit with us, but alas slate is a slippery as ice when even slightly wet, and in this case, water was streaming down these the bolted climbing routes.

I did some research on this quarry when I got home and found [this] most amazing autumn panoramic shot of this quarry by Gary Waidson, which quite frankly made me want to give up photography, or perhaps try a lot harder!

8th March 2008

Jem in action on the Rookin House Farm assault course, Troutbeck, Penrith

7th March 2008

Man in Cafe, Chester

I spotted this shot while passing. I was drawn to the reflection on the glass obscuring most of the cafe interior, apart from the well lit subject.

6th March 2008

Cool girl in front of the Kingsway estate. Thanks for letting me take your picture.

5th March 2008

Forest panorama, graphic details.

The original of this image is made up of three images blended to together to form a very high-resolution landscape image. Graphic icons added later.

5th March 2008

New Brighton lighthouse.

I think this lighthouse is probably a much photographed spot on the Wirral coast. I must time going back here with lovely 'golden hour' light or perhaps when there are stormy clouds in the sky.


I have incuded this shot as reminder to try more of this technique, i.e. the contrast of the motion blurred birds and the pin-sharp foreground elements.

Dispite the overcast skies yesterday, I spotted a enough potential in New Brighton to justify popping back today, this time in bright sunshine.

3rd March 2008

Young jogger, New Brighton promenade, overcast sky

I spotted this picture while driving past. I didn't quite get sorted in time to get the chap in the foreground as planned.

2rd March 2008

Ivy on Oak tree


Ivy on rock.

These two images are converted from colour to B&W using a new technique I learn't on a photoraphy course yesterday.

1st March 2008

This lovely old Triumph bike was given to me by my neighbours Eileen and Frank. It was Eileen’s engagement present from Frank, over 40 years ago.