I went over to Donna Nook today…it was cold! I had about six layers on and still had a chill. The seals were plentiful, despite last week’s unexpected high tide which split many pups up from their mums. This one seemed happy enough snoozing on a patch of grass. It was raining and you can just see a few drops as blurred streaks in the background.

Taken with the Olympus Pen E-P2 and 40-150mm lens at the 150mm setting
ISO400 1/640sec at f/5.6.

Another passage of light from the sun. This time through one window onto a kitchen cupboard. The light is so contrasty at this time of the year.

A sheet of A 4 paper cut into five strips and placed on top of another and lit from above left. It’s a bit of an optical illusion. No paper was folded. Each of the five strips were taped at one end and placed on their edge so they were about 1.5in high. Some didn’t touch the base all the way along so let light through underneath. This created subtle tonal changes and the effect you see here.

I’ve been meaning to have a go with incense smoke this year but never got around to it. Yesterday I bought some sticks…tonight i had a play.
This is using very basic equipment to show you don’t need to spend a fortune.

Incense stick held up on a chair using tape.
Budget auto flash set at f/4 and positioned to the left or right of the rising smoke.
Camera on manual 1/90 sec at various settings between f/4 and f/6.7
Black cloth backdrop held up using clamps from Poundland
Camera on tripod but it could be resting on a chair/table/bench
Light the incense stick and fire away (manual focus – focused on the stick tip and reframed to exclude tip)

Shoot in draft free room and waddle finger or blow to create movement / shapes.

I coloured it while processing in Lightroom just by altering white balance sliding temperature towards blue end of scale.

I walk passed a large fenced off area most days and have been meaning to photograph this sign recently.
The fence went up when a huge Victorian property disappeared a few years ago. The large bricked building was demolished to make way for luxury homes. They never materialised and now all the fancy signs are looking a little less than luxurious…sign of the times.

I don’t think the company even exists any more…no doubt the land is being sat on until the economy improves, but the wooden fenced area is starting to look shabby. I imagine there are sites like this all over the country.

The title is a Roxy Music song – which is actually about a rubber doll, but i thought it suited this shot (with a different meaning)

I have one egg left in the carton. It got left and is well past the sell by date. I was about to throw it when I saw this photo. It reminds me of a man in one of those sporty car seats, so the title kind of has two meanings.
Another iPhone shot.

Today I also used a resampling to increase the size of an iPhone photo to 40in square and the result was very good. Compact cameras need to brace up for a rough ride ahead.

I was trying to get that view you see when you pass a car scrap yard where they stack the broken cars upright.

Three jelly bear sweets placed on my iPad on an ePHOTOzine page with white space, and photographed with the iPhone and new Hipstamatic lens/film combination.

I haven’t been bowling for ages, and it showed. Possibly my lowest score ever at just 102!

I thought this bowling ball look a bit like a face, so placed it on the rack at an angle to show of its best side.

Hipstamatic (trying out new lens and film I’ve downloads) on iPhone