Intrigue - Shot Composition

Intrigue
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

Little everyday objects can often give you that bit of inspiration for a great shot. For example this image and its partner shot:



these two are nick named the espresso shoot, the reason being that both of these were inspired by looking at the espresso cup i was drinking from at the time and, without the espresso cup, would be incomplete, it would look a bit daft having my arm hanging in the air for no reason wouldn't it.

Also, something you shouldn't forget when taking portraits, the background, in this image if the camera had been moved i would have lost the fantastic colours behind me, i would have had the lovely green backdrop of the plants of the beautiful contrast between the wooden support beam and the nature behind me, showing two for of the same product, trees.

and alternative composition could have been on a street,using the pose of the partnered image (which is basically the same pose but inverted), but with a crowd of people around me possibly with an extended shutter time, showing a contrast between hectic city life and the calm of the person just taking a step back and stopping for and taking a couple of minutes to watch the world go by.

Backgrounds are sometimes forgotten when taking a portrait, and while may want your shots to look natural don't be afraid to set-up a couple of photos once in a while with more detail. because as seen in the partner picture, staged shots can look natural as well

disaster area - sheffield

Livesey Street Bridge Demolished
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

ok a few apologies, for thoose who are looking for my usual type of photos and explanations your not going to be getting them for a while, im afraid i cant tell you when at the moment because even i don't know, it depends what the situation becomes.

secondly you may notice that ALOT of images in my stream at the moment have the same name, this is not an error, this is because i dont have the time to give each a differentiating name, whether it be with a simple number or a completely different name, ive took over 100 images of the recent flooding and its after math in sheffield and simply don thave the time or patience to go through them all and give them seperate names.

Tablets Anyone?

Tablets Anyone? - 60/365
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

The greatest inventions in the world are results of accidents, as are some of the greatest photos.

Take this shot for example, not much went right when i was doing this image yet it's turned out as something truly great in my opinion.

The focus wasn't on the tablets where i wanted it but i prefere it where it is. while manipulating the image to try some things out in my editing program i accidently negatived the whole shot which added to the image, especially round the eyes.

The addition of the negative filter also give a wonderfull juextopasition to the original image which had a rather innocent feel to it rather then the sinistar edge this shot has.

i don't think i could improve upon this shot if i tried.

External Effects

Two-faced - Not Me? - 53/365
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

There are a number of ways you can improve a shot by using things that are not connected to the camera, taking a photo through water for example, this is another one of thoose ways.

to get this effect i used a childs toy that you look through which breaks the image into the effect you see here, i held this up to the lens of my camera, pointed it at the mirror which i was standing infront of and then took the shot.

this can be rather hard if like me you dont have really steady hands, i found that forcing the flash to fire caused the image to steady and reduce blur.

ill try and get some photos of the toy up later today.

World In Motion

Traffic
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

One of the best features on the M627 is the ability to tweak the ISO settings, this allows for an extended exposure of an image providing better quality when use on static items, or when use on motion allows for motion trails.

It's fast becoming a favourite effect of mine prompting me to create my world in motion set, this set will focus on the world and the movement we see within it everyday.

Most of the images are creating by placing my M627 on ISO100 setting therefore allowing the shutter to stay open for 2 seconds. While this isn't very long when you compare this to some of the camera out there that you can do this effect on but i don't have the surplus cash (or patience for that matter) to buy and use a DSLR camera for this sort of thing. Beside 2 seconds exposure is just enough for what i want so as not to overdo the effect.

There something pretty cool about seeing the trail of a person that is moving or seeing the trail left by the headlights of cars in an image in my opinion so expect to see more of these images appearing within my stream.

Holding the Tripod - Spinning Around - 23/365

Spinning Around - 23/365
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

A challenge on the 365 days group is to hold the tripod over our head and have it taken a picture, for mine i decided that would set the iso to 400 in order to gain a motion blur, allowing me to get the the swirling effect in the back ground.

This is trickier then it sounds, holding the tripod in just the right position to ensure that your in the shot and also make sure that you dont drop the Tripod lol

this was also a great chance to try fiddling with a couple of settings on my new camera to see what i could achieve with it

School/College Vandelism

School/College Vandelism
Originally uploaded by simon 78.

walked into college late this morning because of the bus driver deciding to drive past me but now i'm glad that i did, because i walked in late i had to use a different route to my lesson meaning i got to see this.

i'm tipping this was a disgruntled (soon to be ex) student. But this is something i've been saying for years about the college/school.