I hope you guys aren't too sick of my foggy shots yet! This was the tree I'd planned on shooting when I first grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out. After hopping the fence and taking about 5 steps into the field, I instantly regretted not wearing wellies! In my excited haste to get out and shoot, I'd completely forgotten that fields of long grass tend to have a small ocean of water stashed within their blades. My feet were freakin soaked through instantly, but that at least made me think that I'd better bloody well make the most of being out there :P
p.s. I accidentally discovered a great tool in Lightroom, no doubt made to straighten out unruly horizon lines. When you use the crop tool, hold down Ctrl (on a pc, i think on a Mac it's the Command key) and click a point on the horizon (or whatever line you want to be flat in your image), followed by another point further along on this same horizon/line. Et voila, the image is now perfectly rotated, without you having to just eyeball it. Just thought I'd share that, though everyone else probably already knew :P
Tags: 365 field fog grass long exposure mist moody painterly project365 solitary surreal tree square crop 1x1 calm somber deep
I went for breakfast at a great cafe on Grey Street today, called Blake's. It's been there for years now, cos I remember frequenting it from before I moved back to the States in 2001. They haven't changed anything, from what I could tell, but this is by no means a bad thing. They're going for an American coffeehouse/cafe decor & vibe and have pretty much nailed both. Wooden floors, chairs and tables, art deco and jazz posters on the walls and a bonnie young staff taking care of business. They serve tasty grub and it's normally bustling busy. As is probably apparent, I like the place :)
But enough about the cafe already, right? The only reason I mention it, is because the lovely Katie here works there. She caught my eye as I was finishing my coffee cos she was wearing a pretty rad red-print dress type thingie (I'm not great at describing ladies clothing, sorry) which, combined with her short hair, pretty face and slight build, was really flattering and totally worthy of a picture.
As I was getting ready to leave I asked her permission to take a photo. I think this took her aback somewhat and I was a bit anxious too, for a number of reasons:
1) I didn't want to get her in trouble for not working or some-such nonsense (I don't know if the bosses there are cool)
2) While I would gladly have photographed all of her interested coworkers too, I thought for sure that would be disruptive and I didn't wanna get dirty looks from waiting customers or the kitchen staff
3) I didn't want to get knocked back - it's akin to asking someone out!! You have to quickly sell them that you're not creepy! Anyway, hopefully I succeeded :)
I really like this picture, but with the exception of the other staff member's hair poking out from behind Katie. They were busy though and since I didn't want to be too disruptive, I held off on asking anyone to move. Also, only this first shot was tight, with my 35mm's autofocus deciding to have a bit of a run around after this one, even with my silly AF-assist light on and Katie smack dab in the middle of the frame. I know it's only a poor workman that blames his tools, so I'm not going to, but I really wish I knew a foolproof workaround. When you're working on seconds, it's a bit of a pain when you have to fight your equipment.
Anyway, this turned into an epic yarn so I should definitely wrap it now. I'll just finish with this:
Thanks Katie, for being such a good sport and a brave soul :)
Cheers!
p.s. This is part of my 100 Strangers project, and here's the link to the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page. Lotsa nice people to look at - you should check it out! After you look through my photostream *ahem*
Tags: 100 Strangers Blake's Cafe Katie Newcastle blue eyes feminine girl lady portrait pretty short hair strangers woman
My mate Danny is a magical being & apparently can do a mean Mary Poppins impression. This was taken on our exodus from our friend Cassie's wedding reception at the Baltic art museum. She's amazing too - mo' pics to follow :P
This is the full colour uncropped version, my original treatment is below. Kudos to any who lets me know their preferred version!
Tags: brollie. jump brolly business man click heel jump mary poppins suitcase umbrella
After seeing it in the Flickr Blog, I decided last night that I want to do my own 100 Strangers project :) It seems like such a good way to practice portraits and get images of interesting people. Here's the link to the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.
I'm extremely happy to report that everyone I approached today agreed to to photographed! The distinguished gentleman here was the first stranger I ever asked for a portrait of :) He caught my eye because he was wearing a smart outfit and seemed to be waiting for someone, and so I figured I'd have a better chance of him allowing his picture be taken. In my haste though, I neglected to ask his name or even talk much with him, so I don't know any of his story. I'll be better about getting people's information from now on though, in keeping with the spirit (and the rules!) of the 100 Strangers group. Cheers everyone!
Tags: 100 Strangers Newcastle dignified portrait smart suit tie 1.8g 35mm
San Diego Gaslamp area has a gang of gorgeous Russian pedicab drivers. Best gang ever. Some post in Photoshop, cross processing and high pass sharpening.
Tags: Pedicab Gaslamp San Diego Nightlife Motion Blur Camera Panning Panning Shot Gaslamp District Gaslamp Quarter