Saturday, 10 September 2011

Monday, 29 August 2011

My wanderings for August

Well I am back again after a very busy month !
Been around a bit, including Skin Deep tattoo magazine's Tattoo Jam, tattoo show / convention held for the 3rd year at Doncaster racecourse and to Ireland for a week, where we had one or two typical Irish moments !

But first, Tattoo Jam. I was very pleased to be issued with a press pass for this years event.

The event again gathered top class artists from all over the world into a fantastic location to show off their skills and allow collectors from all over the world grab a new bit of skin art from artists they normally would not have a chance to have work on them. Great atmosphere, facilities and a good time had by all who attended.




Now the trip to Ireland with some good friends proved to be a fun time with some stunning scenery as a bonus, also little moments that just added to the holiday. Like me being chased and nearly caught by a bull while photographing a old ruined Friary and then the incident with the horse in the road !
While we were based just outside the village of Corofin in County Clare, we had a good old toby around the south west of Ireland. taking in places such as the Burren, Galway, Cushel, Connemara, the cliffs of Moher, Ennis and numerous other locations.



But I have to say that coming across the parochial house of Craggy Island, the home of Fathers Ted Crilly, Dougal McGuire, Jack Hackett along with their house keeper Mrs.Doyle. Was a completely unexpected highlight !



Thanks all, until next time.
Please check out my photos on my website or my flickr pages.

Monday, 25 July 2011

Tutorial time - Quick and dirty colour IR

I have just recently been shown a quick and dirty way to simulate an image in colour Infra Red. So after a few people asking me how it is done, I thought it would be easier to do a tutorial for it.

OK, this is being shown in Photoshop CS4 for the Mac. This will work with Elements as well.

Start by opening the image you want to process as shown below.

Now create a new adjustment layer, selecting 'Invert' for the type.


This will give your image the following look.

From here it is a simple case of now altering the blend mode of this layer. So click on the blend mode and from the list select 'Hue' as shown below.

And this change in blending mode is what give the impression of a Colour IR image. The finished image is shown below.

The image can be seen on Flickr at this LINKY

Hope this little tutorial / walk through has been of use. I know I migh need to brush up on my skills in writing a tutorial, but hopefully it is easy enough to follow.
If any one has any comments or ideas please let me know.

Cheerz for looking

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Slacking off !!

Well, I had not realised how long since I last posted !!!
That is me being very slack, I seem to have been very busy. But not much to show for it, I think this is how the modern world operates now. You seem to be constantly charging around doing other things that cut into the time you should have to relax, be with family and friends and doing other things you enjoy.
I am in the process of looking at my website and how to update it to more of the way I want it to look now. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is something that I will work at over the next few months. I seem to be posting more images to my Flickr account than to my proper website. I think this is where the time factor comes into it again!

There are no images to this update as I am just having a ramble / chunter on at myself for not keeping up with what I said I would do with this blog. Boring stuff it may seem, but I think it is when you realise that your life and the world is moving on past you at an alarming rate. It may be that time to take stock, slow down and enjoy what you have.

Cheerz for reading this.

G

As they are more updated, please have a look at the images on my flickr stream at Linky to my Flickr page

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Monkeys take photos with camera stolen from photographer David Slater

Spotted an article in the free Metro paper yesterday on the way home from work and it made me smile. Could not find any reference to it on the metro webs site. But found it on another.
Source
  • From: news.com.au
  • July 05, 2011 2:00PM
  • 1. ahh please can I have it back !
    2. Just me !
    3. How's this for a winning smile !
Images taken by the apes with david Slater's camera.

    • Monkeys pinch photographer's camera
    • Use camera to take hundreds of pictures
    • It was amazing to watch - photographer
    SNAP happy monkeys have commandeered a wildlife photographer's camera and taken hundreds of photos.
    The crested black macaques were obviously not content with just stealing wallets and food from tourists' pockets.
    Photographer David Slater set his camera up on a tripod to take some shots of the “not so clever” monkeys. He left the equipment for mere moments and when he returned one of the animals was monkeying around with it.
    He told The Guardian: "They were quite mischievous, jumping all over my equipment. One hit the button. The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it.
    "At first it scared the rest of them away but they soon came back – it was amazing to watch
    "At first there was a lot of grimacing with their teeth showing."
    But then the animals seemed to settle down.
    "He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back."


    Read more: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/monkeys-take-photos-with-camera-stolen-from-photographer-david-slater/story-e6frfq80-1226087883987#ixzz1RJ5ChM6s

    Friday, 13 May 2011

    The heathen and art

    I would not say I am the biggest fan of a lot of 'art', but last weekend I was part of the Leeds flickr group outing to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It was a day out, but it was also to look at the new featured exhibition by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. I have to say despite my heathen attitude, I thought it was fantastic and thought provoking. The scale of some of the pieces was surprising to say the least !!

     But for me the highlights was the pieces in the underground exhibition space. The Alabaster Heads were amazing, very soft looking features in the light, they almost looked like they were projected. 
    For the noise lovers amongst us, the piece Jerusalem is worth a visit. As it consists of a number of etched gongs that are suspended from the ceiling. You are encouraged to make them ring or boom, but not to hard as they are loud. But also as they are pieces of the exhibition.

    So as this is a photo blog(ish) here are a couple of shots from my visit.



    More shots from my visit can be found at my flickr pages @ flickr.com/photos/geordi69

    Thanks again for dropping by...

    Wednesday, 20 April 2011

    A model turns up !!


    Well I had a turn up for the books, a model that arranged a shoot turns up.
    She has not been modeling long, but had an better attitude and work ethic than a lot of 'models' that have been around for much longer.
    It has been a thing recently for models to arrange shoots, both paid and TF and then not bother turning up or canceling at seriously short notice with very poor excuses. I have been told by quite a few different photographers, both male and female ones that it just seems the norm at the moment. But hey ho, we pick ourselves up and get on with things.

    Now here are some images from the shoot we did.




    I will have to give my arse a bit of a kick as I am not keeping regular updates as I said I would.
    I have this set to finish of processing, a couple of events to do and then catch up on some well deserved rest !
    So again my thanks for stopping to read my rantings and ravings.

    Cheerz everybody

    Sunday, 27 March 2011

    Weekend in Whitby

    Well, Whitby has hosted a goth weekend for a good few years now. One is around the end of March / April time and a second one around the October / November time. But this year was different, the original organisers have apparently had a fall out. So they each have decided to have their own weekends, which has split the events to four weekends now across the year. The first which was held this weekend will be followed by another next weekend. I personally think this is a very bad thing for the event as a whole. Lots of friends and other people who attend agree, but it is one of those things that will will have to wait and see the outcome off. I did notice a definite reduction in numbers compared to last year.
    But as this is supposed to be a photography blog, well nearest dam it ! I want to rant about the attitude, rudeness and just downright disrespect that a lot of so called photographers behave when at this weekend. I could liken them to a bunch of pack predators, but there is always a hierarchy to the packs. Not with this bunch, they pushed, shoved, wandered in front off etc. They see a single or a pair of photographers with a model of just even a event goer that was kind enough to pose for a photo or two when politely asked. Next thing you are surrounded by these GWC's trying to get a shot in, for what use in some cases I dread to think!
    I get every so slightly p'ed off when I see this happening all around, but when it happened to me I wanted to explode. But a quick look sorted the problem, straight away.
    The one's I feel really sorry for are the ones having the shots taken, as they might feel overwhelmed, intimidated etc. But one thing for sure they won't know where to look because of all the lenses pointed at them. The people who go to this put so much time and effort into their costumes / outfits and appearance, please let them have a weekend without all this crap!
    My friend, whom is also a photographer was having to adjust her hat due to a bit of a breeze at the time and one just pops up beside her snaps away then just walks away with out any courtesy at all!
    Right my bit of a rant over !
    I have just managed to sort out one or two shots from this event, so I get one up at the end of the post. I could add more as I get more processed.
    This lady over the couple of times I have managed to grab her and get a quick shot or two has always impressed me with her attention to detail and inventiveness of her outfits. The first one is from yesterday and the second image is from last Octobers event.


    Thanks again for dropping by. Till next time !

    Saturday, 12 March 2011

    Lighting the dark in my mind!

    Well that past few months has been very hard on myself and my creativity. I am starting to allow the juices to flow again. So I set about a task to use the darkness of the past to create something new!
    My images can swing from one end of the spectrum to the other, this one comes from the dark end.
    I am working on a few more shots that will be at the darker end of the scale, far removed from my landscape or nature shots. But variety is the spice of life !

    All Hope is gone !



    I also have been working on a longer term project which I call my 'Bodies' series. This can be seen in full on my flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/geordi69/sets/72157624782083508/  (edit) well I have just figured out, that the link will only work if you have a flickr account and safe search turned off. It is set as restricted due to the nature of the images.
    So if anybody would like to be a 'body' for me, please drop me a line.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Wednesday, 23 February 2011

    Well that was a different weekend!

    I am finding limited time to fit in all the things I want to do at the mo!
    So Sunday was a busy day, was out in the morning taking part in a architectural photowalk around Leeds city centre. This was part of follow on from Exposure Leeds 21st C exhibition, in which I had two images. These are still on show I believe at Dysons Chambers lower Brigate, Leeds!
    This is one of those images

    The one below was one from the photowalk, it is the Dark Arches.
    Later in the afternoon I was taking shots at an 25th memorial event being held in Leeds.
    So all in all a busy day for me.

    Friday, 18 February 2011

    Nothing ventured nothing gained !!

    Well, after putting of blogging for ages. I have finally sucumbed to the temptation. Another thing to keep on top off ! Well hopefully it will help me to be a bit more organised, but then again may be not!!

    Some images I have finished processing tonight, taken on a little urban explore at the weekend. this was quite a little discovery as locations go. From the outside it looked totaly trashed, but inside it very quickly showed it's photographic potential. Plus it has loads of very good graffiti inside.




    Cheerz everybody, thanks for dropping by.