Close Encounters

As a child, I had a recurring dream of alien craft, not unlike the ones in Close Encounters of a Third Kind, passing by the house on a moonless night.

When I looked through the lens and saw this, the dream came back.

Autumn Colours

A Cold One

For the second shot of the pint glass I set the camera's white balance to Tungsten which resulted in a different cast at the rear; a wider aperture gave the left side of the glass soft focus.

Texture: Woodworm

A friend told me about this tree and I just had to get a picture. It will be interesting to see how long it is before the tree falls down.

The Lonely Row

I can only guess that, at one time, these houses would have been occupied by farm workers, or possibly by people who worked for the Duke of Devonshire.

A Lamp in the Dark?

I decided to add two new labels which would feature Shapes and Silhouettes. These are two easy subjects for the amateur, like myself, to capture.

The lamp and alarm clock are pretty much the things that most of us see first upon waking and our eyes usually take a little time to adjust to any light that might be present.

With these shots, I wanted to show how my eyes see things in that first waking microsecond of a morning, that time when I am usually cursing at the alarm clock.

Seaside Drinkers

I took this shot of my dad and one of my older brothers at Ingoldmells, near Skegness, on the east coast of England.

Skegness and the surrounding places have a reputation of being "tacky". This reputation is all wrong. Lots of families holiday here and it's just gold old fashioned fun, fairgrounds galore, donkey rides for the kids on the beach, markets, pubs, cafes...just places to have fun.

In the last ten to fifteen years it's been cheaper to holiday abroad, in the "Eurozone", than to visit the east coast of England. Now, with the pounds value against the Euro, perhaps these places will become popular again.

Certainly, there isn't much in the way of history, and the weather always unpredictable on the Lincolnshire coast, but holidays shouldn't always be about weather and history, they should be about fun. And if the label of tackiness is applied here, then I don't mind being tacky if it means having fun.

Oops!

First ever picture taken with my new camera. Of course, it was taken by accident, but at least I didn't shoot a picture of my feet as usual.

Portrait

A 13 second exposure and f/2.8 aperture captured my PC tower perfectly.

Rise of the Machines

Freightliner

Even with a shutter speed pf 1/160sec there was some blur on this shot.

Journey Home

Lens Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec.

I was lucky enough to open the shutter just as the motorbike was coming the other way. Given the slow shutter speed, you can tell how slow it is going.

Town Hall

I wish I had got there before it got too light and while the lamps were still lit. Does the fact that some of the snow had been cleared add or detract from the photo.

Before I hit the button on this shot, I was unaware of the car sliding all over the place in the right hand side of the shot.

Church Spire

With the camera angled backwards, this created the impression that the whole thing is leaning, rather than just the spire.

18th Century House

The sky is overexposed in this one.

Lens Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec.

Turntable

The Chains

Lens Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 sec.

Will these survive, or will the smaller firms outlive them?

Black and White Portrait

Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec.
Lens Aperture: f/4

There is quite a lot of glare in the mirrors and from the wall lights but everything else is exposed quite well. I would appreciate any tips on cutting out the glare in such shots.

Order Amongst Clutter

Obviously, some herbs get used more than others.

One Minute to Midnight

ISO: 100
Lens Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
Flash fired

Shower Tap

Cropped from the original. I just like the craftsmanship that went into making the tap parts; simple but elegant.

Lens aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/15 sec

Sunset and Clouds

Lens aperture: f8
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec

For some reason this shot always reminds me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Traditional British Pubs

Lens aperture: f8
Shutter speed: 1/125 sec

This is one of the few remaining traditional pubs in the area.

Canal Side

Taken in March 2007 - I tried to capture as much of the building as I could in the reflection on the canal. In hindsight, I think somebody on the footpath would have served the image well, maybe someone walking a dog.

Beads

Lens aperture: f2.8
Shutter speed: 1/250 sec

I think I was lucky with how the light changes shade, from left to right, as the sharp focus of the beads becomes blurred.

Travelling Back in Time

If I could go back I would have framed this shot differently.

Lens Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/25 second