Thrown Away

Posted By Mark on May 17, 2012

Heading back from a fairly unproductive lunchtime (tomorrow's market day in the city centre so it has to be better (unless it rains (which it probably will))) I glanced at a bench as I passed it by and saw a baby's blanket left at one end; I could only assume that the baby in question had grown weary of its comfort and sought the adventure of a rough, tough, blanketless life while its guardian wasn't looking. This evening I opened the photo up and started tinkering with some processing options until I got to the point you see below. Yes, I thought, that's it! No doubt about it! I've definitely gone way too dark on this and I'm going to have to start again. But then another thought struck me: it's something that's been thrown away and I'm about to throw away my shot of this thrown away thing and I do declare that it's a Thursday which means there's a theme about thrown away things that this might just fit! And thus, I'm submitting it for #ThrowAwayThursday as curated by +lynn langmade, +Doug DeTraz, and +Mary Sass Clark. Google+: View post on...

Colourful Garden

Posted By Mark on May 17, 2012

Let me say this first: I am not a big fan of colour HDR shots. I don't really do them and quite often I find what other people do with them to be garish but I did realise yesterday that my stream here was looking a little monochromatic (not necessarily a bad thing and it certainly fits my mood and the dreary weather we seem to be stuck with right now) and that, coupled with the update to Photomatix 4.2 (a big improvement in speed, looks, and features), persuaded me to try one for a change. So this is a three shot (-4/3, -2/3, 0 EV), handheld (in windy conditions) HDR from the Bishop's Palace Garden in Chichester with Photomatix set to remove ghosts in one of the new soft presets, slightly adjusted. Google+: View post on...

Tony The Dancer

Posted By Mark on May 16, 2012

Evacuating The Area

Posted By Mark on May 15, 2012

What happens when you hand your camera off to a rodent so it can snap a shot from ground level for an unofficial photo theme? It turns out that nobody wants to stick around for a picture. #ratsview Google+: View post on...

Walking The Bike

Posted By Mark on May 14, 2012

You know how it is: you want to keep active so you cycle to work but then you find that your place of employment doesn't look too kindly on having bikes roaming the corridors or ringing their bells whenever somebody approaches the office door. It's a perfectably understandable reaction, of course. Fortunately, the fledgeling industry of professional bike walkers is at hand these days, providing an affordable solution to this particular conundrum. For just a small fee you can get someone to take care of your bike while you're a good drone; with just simple walking and companionship in your absence through to a full grooming service that includes brake-tightening and saddle-polishing there's now no reason not to get on your bike in the mornings. For #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...

Sports Bar

Posted By Mark on May 13, 2012

Another dip into my photo archives to see what I can resurrect from previously unprocessed or too simply processed or otherwise rejected shots and this is a picture of Churchill's, the sports bar on the Diamond Princess which was the ship we cruised on during our honeymoon in 2008. This was taken on the first day of cruising out of Hong Kong, which was the second day of playing with my then brand new Tokina f/4 12-24mm on the Canon 350D. It was early in the morning and we'd headed down to the bar specifically to watch some live American Football. We knew that Churchill's was the only place on board where you could smoke indoors and we knew that it was possible to buy cigars there; neither I nor my wife were or are smokers but we both thought it might be an experience to sit in an American sports bar, watching some football, maybe sipping on a bourbon, and allowing the smell of cigar smoke from some other patrons to add to ambience. Sadly, what we got was an inability to get any drink from anybody and only two other passengers plus a steady stream of staff members who nipped in to have quick – and decidedly revolting-smelling – cigarettes. Not what we were after. Google+: View post on...