365 Project - Days 90

Now don't get me wrong I know what the sign means, and a great idea it is, but what about the items on the top of this sign; decoration or a stern warning??

365 Project - Days 89

I had another chance to do some bird photography today and here is one of the visitors to the bird table; the beautiful Nuthatch.

Shot on my 30D with a 70-200mm lens and 1.4X convertor attached. Settings were ISO 800, f4 at 1/800 sec. A little contrast boost and crop in LR then into PS where I added a Topaz Spicify layer reducing the opacity a little and masking the background, I added two High Pass layers, one to boost contrast and sharpening, and one to reduce it a little and blur the background; both of these layers were reduced in their opacity and masked from the background. I added a colour saturation layer, again masking it from the background then added the frame and signature.

365 Project - Day 88

A Heaven and Hell theme tonight. I took these images in a local chapel, the first image is how I imagined it but I decided when I got them into the computer to change one of them to a flaming alter.

Both images were taken on my 5D with a 24-105mm lens attached. The light was provided by one 580 EX II at the front under the alter cloth pointing back and up. The settings for the first image were, ISO 1600, f4 at 1/30 sec, and for the second image, ISO 3200, f4 at 1/60 sec.

The first image has had very little manipulation. I boosted the colour a little and increased the contrast in LR then into PS for a some burning, to take out the flash (which was visible at the bottom of the alter) as I was using IR controls so needed to have it visible to the STE-2 on the camera. I added the flames to the candles (I didn't have a lighter with me) and the frame and signature.

The second image has had the colour changed and a contrast boost in LR, then into PS to lower the horizontal on the cross, add the flames to the candles, a lot of burning in, and the frame and signature added.

365 Project - Days 86 and 87

Two views of the same place tonight, one from last night and one from this morning. I know a bit boring but I have been very busy. I have been on a seminar and this is the hotel I stayed in, and indeed where the seminar was held; The Ardel Hotel and Country Club, near Birmingham airport and the NEC.

Night


Day

The technical for both images; G9 set to manual, ISO 400, night 1/5 sec at f4, day 1/2500 at f4. Both images had general adjustments in LR then into PS for a Bleach Bypass layer and the frame and signature.

365 Project - Days 85

Spring has definately sprung as this scene shows.

30D with a 12-24 lens attached, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec at f8. All of the post production, except for the frame, was done in LR which basically consisted of increasing the fill light to full, the blacks to taste, and reducing the saturation while increasing the vibrance.

365 Project - Days 84

Tonights image is of a painting done by a child at a school I was asked to take some images at today; I love the colours. The technical is of no interest as it was just a snap taken on my G9. Nothing other than converting it to .jpg and adding the frame has been done to it either.

365 Project - Days 83

Tonight's image is of the front of Pete's Suzuki. He has started riding much earlier than me, although I am getting mine road legal next week and then praying for sunny weather. Neither of us are all weather riders although he is much braver (and younger) than me.

Taken on my G9, set to manual 1/30 sec at f4.5, into PS for a Topaz Psychedelic layer, a Bleach Bypass layer, then 4 High Pass layers to really crank up the contrast.

365 Project - Days 82

I was at Solstice Park in Amesbury yesterday. This interesting piece of sculpture is opposite the Holiday Inn and is, I think, a dragonfly, although the tail definitely resembles and upside down helicopter tail. Any way I have given this some serious PS and included the original image for information.

Captured on my G9, on manual 1/800 sec at f4. I purposely underexposed it by a stop and a half to darken the sky. Straight into PS to remove the lorry, signs and path, then a Topaz Ghostly filter, which I then masked from the grass, hedge and the sculpture. A Nik Bleach Bypass layer to boost the contrast, some burning and then a High Pass and the frame added.

365 Project - Days 79, 80 and 81

Catch up time tonight. Football, as usual, takes centre stage for the weekend images as I watch both my sons win their matches.

Ed's team came out comfortable 4-1 winners to put them into the final of the league cup and Alex's team beat the league leaders 5-3 upsetting their perfect run of wins.

The images for today are from earlier in the year when we had all that lovely snow. I found these images on my phone today. They were taken on my Iphone whilst driving to work one morning. I had forgotten I had taken them, and before anyone says anything about using phones while driving, the phone was in it's cradle and I just stopped for a couple of seconds and pressed the shutter release.

Day 79

Day 80

Day 81

Mr Lear Concert

Yesterday I was at Norman Court for a charity concert featuring the works of Mr Lear, sung by the Salisbury Cathedral Choir and the Norman Court School Choir. It was a great evening with loads of money being raised for the Orpheus Centre, a performing arts centre for young disabled people.

365 Project - Days 78

My laptop screen at 59%. My laptop has been getting slower and slower, and with a large event to cover in a few weeks I decided it was time I wiped the hard drive and reloaded it. I have done this once before and was amazed at how quick it was afterwards. There seems to be so much rubbish loaded to it when you visit the web that in the end this seems to be the only way to clear it all and speed it up again. I am sure there is a computer wiz out there somewhere that could give me a better way, but for me this works.

5D set to manual 1/80 sec at f4, ISO 400, the lens was my 24-105mm. No post just the frame and signature added.

365 Project - Days 77

Stuck for an image tonight, and too tired to go looking for something, I saw these sunglasses on the side. My wife tells me they belong to a female friend of my son, for me they were the perfect subject for tonights shot.

Lit using two 580 EX flashes, both set to manual 1/128 power, one camera right, the other in my hand above and to camera left. Shot on my 5D with a 24-105mm lens set to manual f11 at 1/200 sec, ISO 400. Basic enhancements to the contrast in LR, then into PS for a high pass filter and the frame; shot created and edited in less than 10 mins.

365 Project - Days 75 and 76

Two for the price of one tonight. I was out last night at a local meeting and took this image from the road outside our local village hall. It was a very interesting meeting and one I hope will bring more publicity and therefore business opportunities to the Winterslow businesses. It was nice to see so many people at the inaugural meeting last evening and I was amazed at just how many businesses are in our village. Well done to the organisers and a big thank you, as always, to Guy Doms of Business Link for supporting this initiative.

A bit of a lottery this one! The image below is my ticket to a life full of photography; I hope. Why did I hang it on the washing line; no idea! it just seemed like a good idea at the time.

No technical tonight as both images were snaps taken on my G9, so no technique involved.

365 Project - Day 74

A night of battery charging tonight. Short of time so only a brief post I'm afraid.

5D with a 100mm lens attached, 1/200 sec at f4 on manual, ISO 400, flash at camera right set to manual 1/128 power, fired with a STE-2.

365 Project - Day 73

I saw this the other day and it made me chuckle a little. I did not have time when I saw it to take a shot but I knew it would have to become one of my 365 project shots at some point. I was driving past again today and stopped for a couple of seconds to get the shot. It is a local garage to me but I have removed the name and telephone number to avoid any embarrassment.

A snap shot taken on my 30D with a 70-200mm lens attached, set to aperture priority f4, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400. Basic correction in LR then PS for Topaz psychedelic, Nik bleach bypass, PS high pass and the frame and signature.

365 Project - Day 72

A bit of vintage soccer action today; well vintage in its editing anyway. The image was captured during my son's football match this morning. They finally went down 2-5 but the score doesn't reflect the game at all as we were far better in positional play and passing but they were far more clinical in front of goal that us.

30D with a 70-200mm lens and a 1.4x extender. Set to aperture priority f4.5, 1/1600 sec, ISO 400, EV-1/3. Basic adjustment in LR, in to PS for some Topaz psychedelic at 60%, high pass, desaturate, a sepia tone layer, and to have the frame added

365 Project - Day 71

I had my hair cut tonight in my local hairdressers in Winterslow. I spoke to the owner a few weeks ago about putting up a couple of nice, framed images to decorate their walls and advertise my business. They readily agreed so tonight after my hair cut I put them on the wall above the cutting station mirrors; you can see them in the top left and right of the image below. If you look carefully you can also see a strange man in the centre mirror trying to work out how to use a Canon G9.

I won't bore you with the technical on these images as there really wasn't anything technical about taking them. They were shot on my little G9 compact camera that I carry just in case. Below are the images that I had framed.

365 Project - Day 70

I've been tango'ed. Stuck for an image tonight I was looking around my lounge. My son had left an empty glass on the side (nothing new there) and there was an empty Tango can beside it. I put the can in the glass to take it out and hey presto, I saw my image.

A two light set up was required to give this a three dimensional look. Taken on my 5D with a 24-105mm lens, set to manual 1/125 sec at f10, ISO 100. I put the glass on a piece of black material and set the lights up as below. The lights were my 580 EX and EXII both set to manual 1/128 power, set at a ratio of 5:1 in favour of the light behind the glass. In the image below that is the flash on the left. Basic adjustment in LR then into PS for a bit of Topaz Psychedelic, High Pass, and contrast, and to have the frame added.

365 Project - Day 69

Continuing the theme of rubbish from yesterday, and indeed right next to the fire extinguishers I photographed for day 68 we have this old staircase. My eyes lit up when I saw the paint coming off in long strips as I could immediately see what I wanted from it.

I decided to start with the set up image to show how very easy this was. The first image is shot using the available light and you can see my flash in the bottom right hand corner ready to go; a very boring image really. Now take a look at the next two images, this is how easy it is to change a boring subject into a piece of art by just adding a bit of light. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Shot on my 5D (on manual) with a 100mm macro lens, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/200 sec, aperture f14. The flash was also set to manual at 1/64 power.

The set up for this image was the same as the previous one except for closing the aperture down to f20.

Post processing was identical for both images. Straight into PS, hit with Topaz Adjust Psychedelic (I love this plug-in), back into PS for some High Pass to boost the contrast, and to add the frame and signature.

365 Project - Day 68

FIRE! I found these old fire extinguishers this afternoon and thought they would make a great subject. I saw them as a stylised image so I have been quite heavy on the photoshop. It is always good to try and get a final image in your mind before taking a picture.

The set-up was quite simple as I knew what I wanted and how I wanted the final image to look. Taken on my 5D, set to manual, ISO 100, 1/125 sec at f4.5 with my 70-200mm lens attached. The light was provided by my 580 EX II, set to manual 1/64 power and put on a pile of concrete slabs behind the extinguishers pointing towards the camera. By setting the flash and camera to manual you have complete control over the flash and ambient light which makes creating an image much easier. The colour enhancements were made in LR, then into PS to use the OnOne Phototools to stylise the image, and finally back into PS for the addition of the frame and signature.

365 Project - Day 67

I could not resist using this as my Day 67 image. My GOLD AWARD for the picture of a Great Tit which I blogged a few days ago. The first of many I hope; I will certainly be trying for more anyway.

Does that make me an AWARD WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER? :o))

365 Project - Day 66

Today was my son's first game of football for some weeks due to the weather. This image is of the team huddle before the game which they drew 3-3.

Shot on my 30D with a 70-200mm lens and 1.4x convertor, set to aperture priority f4 + 1/3 EV, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/6400 sec. Colour enhancements and sharpening in LR, some burning around the edges and the frame added in PS.

365 Project - Day 65

Inspired by my good friend Michael Martin who is doing his own version of a 365 project, I decided to visit Salisbury market today to see if I could get a photo of one of the traders. This lovely young lady was very helpful and readily agreed to pose for me as she was serving a customer; one of her colleagues thought he would help out in image 2.

If you are going to try this please ASK, these lovely people will be only too ready to help you but they do not want someone pointing a long lens at them from a distance like a stalker. Remember they are traders too and have a living to make, so buy something from them after you have taken their picture; they will certainly appreciate it.

5D set to aperture priority with my 24-105 lens attached, I set the aperture to f4.5 and the ISO to 800, the shutter speeds ranged from 1/250 sec to 1/400 sec. All the conversions and colour enhancements were done in LR with the frames being added in PS.

365 Project - Day 64

Tonight I have hit a wall; well photographed it actually. The biggest thing I have got from this project so far is that I am seeing pattern and detail in everything. I have been walking by this wall for more than 30 years and this is the first time I have photographed it as a piece of art. I love it.

5D set to manual, 24-105 lens, ISO 100, 1/30 sec at f9. Given an HDR (High Dynamic Range) treatment in LR to bring out the detail in the render and brick work, then into PS for a bit of sharpening and to have the frame added.

365 Project - Day 63

I decided to use the beautiful sunset tonight. I had quite a few to choose from as well but I chose to post the clematis seed heads as I love the way the sun has lit them.

Shot on my 30D with a 100mm macro lens, as usual I shot on manual, ISO 400, 1/640 sec at f2.8. I shot wide open to create the soft misty look, and 2/3 stop under so as to render the stems silhouette.

365 Project - Day 61 and 62

Two for the price of one tonight as I did not have time to upload yesterday's image.

Day 61 is the front of my new portfolio. Purchased from Plastic Sandwich through Damien Lovegrove this is the bees knees of portfolios. Made from leather with John Rose Photography and our logo pressed into the front, I am very pleased with the material, manufacturing, and service of both Damien Lovegrove's PA, Blaise and Joyce at Plastic Sandwich.

Taken with my 5D with my 100mm macro lens attached, the image was lit using a 580 EX II flash. The camera and flash were both set to manual, the flash set to 1/8 power and the camera at 1/160 sec at f32, ISO 100. Very little enhancement was given to this image, I removed a few dust spots and sharpened it up a bit, then added the frame, all in PS.

Day 62 is a little bit of spring. These Crocus have only recently come through; this week's sun convincing them to show themselves.

As usual taken on my 5D set to manual, this time with my 12-24mm lens attached. Lit using nature's own, the camera was set to 1/50 sec at f5.6, ISO 200. A bit of colour enhancement and sharpening, followed by a bit of burning in and the frame added, all in PS

GOLD in the SWPP monthly competition

A very nice present to wake up to this morning; I have a gold for my image of a Great Tit in the SWPP monthly competition. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally get a Gold.

File information
Filename: John-Rose-Wildlife-Wiltshire-February-2010.jpg
Album name: member / Wildlife Feb 10
SCORE: G
File Size: 569 KB
Date added: Feb 27, 2010

365 Project - Day 60

I have been wanting to try this shot for some weeks now but the weather has put pay to it most days. This bit of fencing runs along one side of our garden and I had a thought of putting a flash on the outside firing in and another one at 45 degrees to the model (Ed in this case) camera left and high. Tonight I got to try it and I am reasonably happy with the outcome. It was very dark which made setting it up quite difficult as I could not see Ed through the lens so had to take a shot and then adjust the lighting on what I could see on the back of the camera.

I set up one speedlight behind the fence on manual full power, and a second one on a stand camera left also set to manual but at 1/128 power. Shot on my 5D with a 70-200mm lens attached set to manual, ISO1250, shutter speed 1/125 sec, aperture at f8, the flashes were fired using an STE-2.