A year has passed!

Crikey, well I didn't think it would be a year until I posted again but there you go. Now with Google+, Facebook, FlickR and my Digital Photography School interests I guess it has been pretty hard to keep this up!

So I fully intend to post a few more images in here and tell you all about my development towards photographing my sister's wedding in Cyprus in 5 weeks (!). I think I am improving, getting used to my equipment and making my way towards being a little confident, so I hope you will find some enjoyment in following me until then!

I will restart my blog here with a small image I took in the dining room whilst trying to impress my mother and sister that I did have some ideas for taking interesting pictures at the wedding (of course they all come from various inspiraiton around the web and various other places, but then, doesn't everything?).



Thanks
Tom

Revisting a favourite

It has often been said that we learn from our history not from our future (has it?), and this was one of the reasons why I like to look through my old favourite photos. The other reason being that I now have Adobe LightRoom 3 and this means I can tag, flag and rate my pictures so I have been reviewing through my old favourites.

As part of this process, I came across a picture I had liked when I took it a few months ago, but was never fully happy with it. With my new expertise (?) in photography I now know a lot more about converting images to B&W and making them 'pop' and whilst it is still difficult to achieve a really good image, I think I am improving.

So my latest effort is a shot of Harry sat on my desk in the workshop after falling over outside - he had been upset, but now looks very contemplative, pensive almost. The light is coming from behind him through the window and this created an interesting halo effect, but it wasn't until I desaturated the photo (to make it greyscale) and then turned up the black levels and contrast until it looked very black and white rather than shades of grey. A little sharpening and the use of Lightroom's adjustment brush to lighten his face, and this is the result...



Appreciate your comments!

Tom

Amnesiac smiley

Hi everyone...

So I was challenged on DPS to try a water droplet picture on a CD or DVD to try and get the refracted light and the rainbow effect.  I took it one step further and make the droplets into a smiley face and also I tried to frame it onto one of my all time favourite albums - Amnesiac by Radiohead.

Unfortunately, I was the last person to post on that thread and now no-one seems to want to comment - it sems the way lately on DPS that almost every one of my posts kills the thread!  I love feedback and I thought I was funny enough to cover up for my lack of talent taking photos - perhaps I'm just a moron.

So I'm sticking with DPS but trying a few more forums now - in the interests of learning more about photography and getting feedback about how I can improve my shots.

In the meantime, here is 'amnesiac smiley'...



Tom

Shocked Chicken (Part 1)

So this is why I came up with the name - this series of images I just loved having fun and taking...

Shocked Chicken - Crossfire Chicken.

A mixture of Playmobil, Ben 10 aliens (and Ben himself), army men and the ubiquitous 'shocked chicken' in various compositions to create a fun series.

  Shocked Chicken - Mistaken identity

Introduction

Hello, this is my first post on my new blog.

I have been interested in Photography for a while, music for years and my family forever and this blog will be used as a way of expanding my Facebook and Flickr web presence to allow me the flexibility to share with you the things I enjoy.

I will be using this to share my favourite photos which I have taken with my Nikon D40 and various elements of equipment, some bought, some home-made.  I am no pro, but one day it is my hope that I am decent enough to earn enough money through photography to expand my collection of gadgets (photography and other gadgets) - If I can't win the Five.tv Gadget Show competition, then I can sure as hell buy some of my favourite things!

I will also be keeping the blog up to date with my DJ'ing exploits - I am an Indie Rock DJ with occasional stints at the Little Civic in Wolverhampton on Friday and Saturday nights, and I also DJ the occasional wedding and birthday party, usually when the bride/groom/birthday celebrant is into Indie music and doesn't trust a moer traditional 'party' DJ.

Finally, I have 2 small boys (2 and 5 at the time of writing this) and I plan to share my experiences in being a father with you all - for better or worse.

Shocked Chicken is a theme I came up with whilst taking some photographs in a light box I built for myself and I like the theme - it conjurs images of fun, children, humour and, well, chickens, so I hope that you will forgive me this momentary lapse in wit and accept that not all of this blog will be about chickens, shocked or otherwise, but I hope you get comfortable and enjoy my contributions.

Tom