This shot was taken at Cheltenham Racecourse station in late afternoon, with the sun low in the sky and that glorious golden evening light.  Processed in Aperture and Photoshop to control shadow and highlight detail.  DSC03101

I love the contrast between Winter’s dead leaves and the breaking through of the Spring flowers.  Taken in early March, Pittville Park in Cheltenham, UK.  Minimum processing in Aperture.  DSC03043

It’s a while since I posted anything to this blog because I’ve been out of sorts with my photos. I’m not sure exactly what I mean, but now it seems time to post again.  This shot was taken as I was passing the park in the snow we had back in January.  The cold ground and the bare trees are fairly standard, but the lonely man lifts the image as does the faint colour from the abandoned band stand.  More poetic and evocative than many of my photos.  Taken with a Nikon S740 compact camera; jpeg in Aperture.  P1053131

Last week I bought a new point and shoot camera – a Nikon S570 – so I was testing it out at the weekend and shot this portrait of my wife just as we sat on the sofa.  A little bit of Photoshop later and I think it’s quite a respectable portrait.  The camera seems pretty good although I wish it’s resolution was better on video.  If you must you could compare it with an older shot here.  Nikon S570, Aperture and Photoshop.  DSCN0015

I’ve seen a number of blog posts showing people’s best photos from last year, so I thought I would follow suit.  This set on flickr is formed of photos which flickr considers “most interesting” and others that were favourites or well commented.  All photos were posted to flickr last year, although they were not necessarily taken last year since a few were re-works of older photos.  The image itself is just a screen grab from flickr.  Take a look and leave some comments!

Winter at Moonlight Beach can be pretty bleak, with the Pacific Ocean definitely on the cold side.  This photo was taken late on a December afternoon; there were a few wetsuit clad surfers in the waves, but there were also two boys intent on surfing a heap of sand by the lifeguard station.  They were probably warmer than those in the water!  Taken with my Sony a350 and processed in Aperture.  More from California this winter here on my flickr.  DSC09243

While I was on Oceanside pier shooting surfers three groups came down for photos – 2 girls in white dresses, one in a purple dress and this one in a blue/turquoise dress.  Quinceanera is the celebration of the coming of age of a girl when she reaches her 15th birthday and is usually celebrated with as much style as the family can afford.  The dresses were all fabulous and the boys were dressed in either in navy uniforms or in traditional long pin-striped jackets with black and white shoes. This was shot over the shoulder of the professional so the pose is not quite as I would have liked, but it’s the best of the few I was able to shoot.  It was taken with my Sony a350 with the 70-300 mm lens I was using for the surfers; then processed in Aperture, Photoshop and Topaz as usual.  Other shots from California this Christmas appear on my flickr here.  DSC09774

I love this portrait photo because it is so revealing of the relationship between the two people shown.  As with any good portrait, it does not just show a picture, it tells a story about the person or persons shown.  This was shot at my son’s wedding using my standard (at the moment) Sony a350 and 17-50 mm lens and processed in Aperture with a little sharpening and noise reduction in Photoshop, Noise Ninja and Topaz Adjust.  Unlike yesterday’s image it has not been softened but left basically as out of camera.  Yesterday’s wedding photo is here. DSC00563

A rare personal photo this time – one of my son’s wedding which took place just after Christmas in downtown San Diego, California.  It was actually on top of the Hard Rock Hotel – a bit breezy but not too bad.  The weather was a little dull and overcast and the sun was setting so light was definitely an issue.  I used fill flash with this shot, taken over the shoulder of the official photographer, whose shots were much more “arty” than mine.  It’s been processed in Aperture and Photoshop, with noise removal by Noise Ninja and skin smoothing by Topaz Adjust.  It’s supposed to be high tone and romantic soft focus but my wife prefers the original!  More portrait shots can be seen on this blog here.  DSC00621

Shot from the pier in Oceanside, the sun was going down fast shedding a lovely golden light over the waves and the surfers.  In this photo I love the way the spray is lit up as well as the movement in the water suggesting its power.  Taken with a Sony a350 with Sony 70-300mm G lens and processed from raw in Aperture.  More surfing shots here.  DSC01339