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February Flower Updates

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This is February's flowers in all their glory. I only managed to process one oil painting image this month in Photoshop. As the second picture just did not look right and after numerous attempts I finally gave up. So thanks then to Chris and the ladies at he Bramblesrist and Flowers to yours and Amy for her arranging and help.

Thank you for visiting the blog. Apologies for its shortness this month and please come back for more in March. That is if we are settled in where ever we go.

Thank you.

Take Care

X

Projects Update – Abstract

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I haven't done much with this project in a while, but have saved up a few images for what I have done. Scenes from the Train Station ceiling. Stacked comic books. Picture frames and a Rolleiflex camera. I hope you like them.

Projects Update – Landscapes

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Just a few landscapes this time. We were a bit tired that day, yet still managed to find a few little gems to photograph.

*NEW* Still Life - Minimalism

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'Minimalism' is a section of photography that strips every picture down to its base component and subject matter. No clutter, no distraction for the eye that more regular images may contain. The pictures are often turned Black and White so it not only becomes stark, but makes the viewer think more about the shape and texture of the subject, not distracted by colour. So that is what I have gone for here I have done similar before but having read up on it, I wanted to dedicate a gallery on its own to it.

Projects – Architectural Metaphor

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These Architecture images were taken on a recent visit to Nottingham when I was going to do a location shoot with Mercybomgo. We had some time to kill and got the camera out to snap the tram station, the lace market square and the Nottingham Contemporary Art gallery.

July Flower Updates

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I have cut the work load down starting from this month with only three flowers from the shop this month rather than the normal four. There is a good feel to the 'Power 3' concept. Best regards and speedy recovery to Chris and thanks the ladies at The Bramblesflowers and Flowers to yours A thanks also to Amy of course for her ever needed help and organisational skills.

That's it for this July. Please come back in August to visit us again.

Thanks

x

June Flower Updates

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Back again with the flowers this month after last months self imposed break and we have some interesting flowers.

We start off with a peony which is always one of my favourites to snap. Delicate and full bloom when in heated rooms, the look of this flower is always a delight only got three flowers this month from the shop, but Amy brought home a small thistle that she found close to her work place and that made up the fourth flower. At this point of writing the blog the flowers are now going over. So we will be trying something new with them tomorrow involving white spirit (turps) and a fag lighter. If it works I shall post the results up to view in next months blog, so be sure to tune back then.

That's it for this month, but a big thanks then to Chris and the ladies at The Bramblesrist and Flowers to yours And thanks also to Amy of course.

That's it for this June. Please come back in July to see us again.

Thanks

x

Project – 'Landscapes'

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We went down to Newstead Nature Reserve on our day out, but got there to soon. I had hoped that the grass would be long and uncut, but we were far to early for that. There still was not a lot of leaves on the trees either. Still it did enable us the take some good pictures of some of the many Silver Birch with peeling bark trees. We also carefully avoided the ever present dog shit that litters the path I know they have to go somewhere, but why in a public nature reserve? Still we managed to get some half way decent snaps of the landscape there.

Project – 'Architectural Metaphor'

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Friend and chauffeur with taxi James, took Amy and I out on a run down the road close to junction 27 of the M1 For the chance of taking snaps of the hotels there. The one we went to is called the Mour Hotel. Its a big place set back from the road and looks like its made of solid black granite.

On our journey we also stopped at some flat roofed buildings in near by Kirkby after seeing them when I last visited the health centre there. The sky was clear, but if you look at the pictures it looks like a dark patch floating high above the flats, almost like a storm cloud. I really do like those pictures from our day out. I have also thrown in a few black and whites I took of the old Capital One building (Now the DWP), close to the train station as an extra viewing bonus. Thank you both James and Amy.

February Flower Updates

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Finishing off for this short month we have another great offering of plant and flowers from our friends at the florist. Including two freesias that are always good to photograph. They especially look great on the square black and white. So thanks again to our friends at the Bramblesrist and Flowers to yours To Chris and the ladies in the shop, as well as a thank you as always to Amy.

That is it for this month. Apologies for the delay and see you all next month.

x

Portraits – Floating Heads

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Something I would really like doing more of is portraits of normal people. I am not too fussed who, just as long as they are not family pictures of kids. 'Hey mister, can you take a picture or two of my little Charlie, he has such a sweet face ….' NO, NO, NO ! Been there, done that and hated every minute of it. Adult portraits please, the older the subject the better as the elderly have interesting faces that tell stories of their lives. These portraits were taken and edited in a 'Floating Heads; style where just their heads and not their clothing or surrounds are viewed to focus the eye on the subject matter. I know it might not be everyone's taste, especially in monochrome , but I think it looks good and would hope to do more.

Projects – Landscapes

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As I mentioned before, here are the landscape images we took while away in Northamptonshire. Amy and I took them (hers are in colour) on a good day. It was bright enough to get a good shot and no threats of rain anywhere. The sky was interesting as well. I did not need to enhance it in the edit stage. I really wish I could have done and do more of this. Its my fault as I could have done more when I was fit and young and owned a car. One of life's regrets I suppose.

January Flower Updates

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Back on track again with the start of a new year of flower photography with thanks

to everyone at the Bramblesrist and Flowers to yours To Chris and the ladies in the shop.

We had a clematis in flower this month, which always looks good. Such and interesting shape and flowers. This month we have done some extra quirky images through the use of a prism to refract light. It was a heavy thing and awkward for Amy to hold in front of the lens, but it was worth the hassle. I am going to practice again with it sometime in February on another subject and see how it turns out … or .

That's it for this January. Please come back in February to see us again.

Thanks

x

Project – 'Architectural Metaphor ' Update

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This is it folks, this is what all the fuss was about!

The front, back and sides of our local Amazon Depot I have been asked why I take pictures of these, soulless buildings, but I like them. Its all in the lines. Note the lines in the walls and even the lines of the road markings. Lines lead the eye into a composition, and I am captivated by them. So there you have it was the lines Officer …. And to this day, they still have not come to arrest me?

There are also a few shots thrown in of a new building next to my GP's surgery. Very square, very uniformed.

Project – 'Landscape' - Updates

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Going down to Northamptonshire is one of the few chances I get to explore the countryside and practice landscape photography. Its quite a flat county, not being a million miles away from the flat lands of the Fen country in Cambridgeshire. But if you get lucky, there are still some views worth venturing out for. All black and white, I hope you enjoy this offering and thanks to Amy for her help and Mum and Dad for taking us around.

Project – 'Infrared' Update'

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Seeing as how its Summer, it was a good excuse to brush off the cobwebs from my two Infrared Chipped Nikon's and have a go at taking some strange picture colours. Some of the views are taken of my parents garden, as you can see their conservatory in the background, but most were taken of the Northamptonshire countryside. One of my favourites is the colour Infrared picture taken of a stream running under a bridge, from the bridge looking down. You can see the read moving in the current and its has an unearthly beauty about it. I have put the image as the first one to see in this gallery. I made a cock-up with the black and white infrareds as I had not got the camera set to RAW, only jpeg. So limiting what I could do in post editing. Never mind. I will not make that sloppy mistake again.

Project – 'Abstract' Update

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Abstracts taken mostly in my parents downstairs toilet, as well as a prop from the Boardroom Studio in Derby. Can you guess what they are?

Project – 'Noir et Blanc' Update

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Something new for this project gallery with a theme we have already covered before, but what the hell … I wanted to do it again. The coffee and teas and food on the table at Magazine Heaven shop and cafe in Rushden Lakes shopping centre. Sitting behind us was the old disgraced ex Tory MP for Wellingborough, who normally has a lot to say or just likes the sound of his own voice. Mr. Peter Bone, He looked all forlorn and rejected. I don’t like to kick a man when he is down (after all, we have all been there at sometime or another), but in hindsight he probably should have kept his trousers up and not been such a bully!

How the mighty fall.

Project – 'Abstract'

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Here are a few bits and bobs I photographed around the place in an abstract manner. Most of them should not be too hard to guess. There is one odd one, think Dr. Who and the …. to get it.

Please enjoy.

Amy's stuff for the streets of your town site

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She has been at it again !!!

Amy has been out and about, snapping away at people and places and doing a brilliant job at it. I especially like the man with his two dogs in a shop and another picture with a large young man playing with his mobile phone outside a shop door. She is brave because she goes up to people and just asks them if she can take their picture. Sometimes they say no, but most times they agree and she gives them a business card with the web site address on it. So thank you Amy.

If you want to see more of her work please visit the Streets of your town web site. x