Away in York...

This past weekend I went to stay with the wonderful Sarah in York.  The day before I was due to leave (Friday), I learned that I would finish college early, so I changed my coach ticket to arrive a little earlier than planned.  I got up early on Friday, got some work done, then headed to the coach station.  After waiting for the coach driver to finish his lunch break, I was on my way to York.  

When I arrived in York, It was very windy and rainy, and I got a little wet!  I managed to find my way to Sarah's accommodation, and was met with 'What are you doing here, I haven't tidied my room or done my nails!'  I think she was surprised!  

Over the weekend, we watched films, went shopping, and just generally had an absolutely awesome time!  On Sunday, we went on a walk (which was where the photos were taken) and it was freezing!  Both our faces were hurting from the cold, and it was also rather muddy!  I was using a flash and a graduated filter (to darken the sky) for the photos above, besides the one of me.  That one was taken by Sarah, and I really like it! I do look a bit gormless though....

I've had a new idea for a project that will hopefully take a long time.  I will try to document mine and Sarah's time together as best I can, which will mean having a camera, whatever the size or shape, with me all the time.  I have a book module coming up soon at college, and I could perhaps use some of the photos I take for the book.  We'll see!

Enjoy!

G

The Fog....

My brother Henry came to stay with me on Friday, and we had an awesome time!  I took some portraits of him, which you can find on my flickr.  Whilst out on our walk we went throughout the uni campus, and I found some new interesting pieces of architecture to photograph.  

So this morning I woke up to thick fog, it was so thick I could just about see 30 metres in front of me. I thought I would try and get some photos in the fog, so I went to photograph at the new locations I had found.  I think I will go back and photograph them from new angles, as I am not entirely happy with the results.  I will go back when it is cloudy and see what I can get.    

My camera decided to play up as well.  Normally the camera writes files to the memory card instantly, but today it was taking several minutes to write files to the card.  I don't know if this was because it was so cold and damp, but I will need to keep an eye on it.  

Enjoy!

G

Colour Calibration......

Sarah came to stay this weekend, and we had a lovely time!  We went shopping, watched films, chilled, and we treated ourselves to some cookie dough ice cream, which was amazing!  We also found a nice little Costa Coffee shop, with a downstairs which had some really comfy sofas, that you just sink into when you sit in them.  I think I'm going to have to get books from the library and do some research there!  

The weather over the weekend was very strange, it was sunny and clear blue skies on Saturday, which was beautiful, and on Sunday it was misty all day, and had that dusk/evening feel.  I love shooting in these kind of misty conditions; it makes for some very mysterious photographs! On our walks, I took a couple of photos of Sarah that she liked, and we saw a coach parked in the middle of one of the parks near Woodhouse Moor.  This is one of the more random things that I have seen since being here in Leeds I must say!

Today in my digital workshop, Paul (the tutor) shared some tips on how to create a digital workflow working with RAW files.  This included; ensuring that you try and do as much as possible at the shooting stage, post production, saving and organising your files, getting the best results from your chosen output (printers) and backing up your files.  Paul suggested, rather strongly, that we all get our computer screens colour calibrated, so that when we work on our images, the colours and tones appear how they should do.  The devices that are used to do this calibrate screens to an international standard, so wherever you go to process digital files with calibrated screens, the colours will render the same within a very small tolerance. I'm going to look for a calibrator that works with OSX Lion, so I can calibrate my screen properly.  I apologise to those of you that do have calibrated screens, as I know that the colours in my photos will probably look funny, and you might think I'm colour blind.  This should hopefully change soon!

Anyway, I need to get on with some work, so I shall stop procrastinating, and get on!  

Enjoy!

G

Parental Visitation.....

This weekend I had some very special people visit me....Mummy and Daddy!  It was nearly two months since I had seen them last! That's the longest I've been away from home!  They took me for meals, did a food shop for me, and we even went to see the fireworks and the bonfire in Hyde Park!  It was lovely to see Mum and Dad again, and I can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

On Saturday, Mum and Dad took me to Malham Cove, which is in the Yorkshire Dales.  When I woke up, the sky was a flat pale grey.  Not very nice to be taking landscape photos in!  I was picked up at 10 O'Clock, and we made our way to Malham Cove.  After a little detour around some roadworks, we finally arrived in Malham!  The sky had completely transformed.  There were now light clouds, and the light was amazing!  It was the sort of light that you get in the evening, but it was half one/two O'Clock!

After we had walked up to the top (I say walked, it was more like a climb!), I set my camera up.  The view from the top was amazing! I could see for miles, and they was a slight hazy mist on the horizon, which was perfect.  The limestone pavement was spectacular, I suggest you go if you ever get the chance!  It was like standing on giant teeth made of stone!  And to my surprise, some of the rocks moved when I stepped on them!  I would love to go back, there are so many photographs I could make!  I also shot a panorama, which Blogger couldn't upload, but you can find it on my flickr page, here.  May I suggest that you click on all sizes, and then original.

I would like to say thank you very much Mum and Dad, for a lovely weekend!

Enjoy!

G

Good, but Not Good Enough......

Today I had my first test shoot for my portrait brief, which you will find a brief explanation of on my college blog.  Whilst I was waiting to begin my shoot at 4, I cycled down to Merchants Quay, where this photo was taken.  My flatmate Brendan had mentioned to me that he had walked under this bridge (bottom Photo), and thought it might make for a good photograph.  He was right!

I struggled with exposures for the bridge photo.  The sun was coming under the bridge from the right rather harshly, as you can see from the blow-out bits on the right.  Had I had my ND grad with me, I perhaps could have controlled the brightness a bit better.  Oh well! At least it gives me a chance to go back and shoot it again.  Also, I would have liked more reflection of the steel beams in the water, but the water was flowing a bit too fast for a crisp reflection.

The top Photo was just along from the bridge.  I'm not entirely sure what it is, I think its a cooling tower and silos of some sort.  I'm glad I found this location, and when I reshoot here, I will put some more thought into the composition.  I think I might ask if I can get closer to get a better perspective/composition.

That is all for today,

Enjoy!

G

Halloween!......

Oh my lord.  Halloween was mental.  The party in my block of flats was amazing, there were some very creative costumes, which is what I expected from art students.  These are just a select few photos that I took with my 7D, I was also using my 35mm camera, with the flash gun attached, which was new to me! I can't wait to get in the darkroom and develop them!

Tomorrow I have my first test shoot for my studio brief, which I'm really looking forward to!  I shall let you know how it goes over on my College blog.

Anyway, I suppose I'd better go and help tidy up....

Enjoy!

G

P.S Pinch, punch, first day of the month, No returns!