1/8/10: Day 213

Today I had organised a photoshoot with the lads from This is Turin. After doing a couple of gig shoots for them, I really wanted to try my hand at promo shoots and with knowing these lads it made it easier for me to have a dabble.

We headed towards Tarvin first off, to an abandoned garden centre. It has been derelict for a good 6 years, maybe more. We arrived and I started off with some group shots, before going onto to solo shots of all the members of the band. There were a few points of interest in and around the place, so all in all it was pretty good.

After this we headed back to Winnington and went to one of the car parks at the old Brunner Mond site. Here is where I finally got the shot I picked for today. Some uber squinting from the lads, but I am pretty chuffed with this shot.

31/7/10: Day 212

Up nice and early this morning, straight out for a 3 and 1/2 mile run down the river. It was bloody fantastic, felt I could carry on as well, wish I had done. I would love to break that 4 mile mark.

As I was running down the river, I remembered that there is a section where they look as if they do restoration on some of the boats and there was a load of them sat rusting. It was a fantastic section for photographing.

So after the run I had a walk down to the river, It wasn't a particularly nice day, overcast and dull. As I approached the section of river with the workshop, I noticed a heron stood on some of the wall. Perfect photo opportunity!

30/7/10: Day 211

So I was back in Northwich once again. I didn't think i could get another photo of Milly just yet. I went out in the garden to see if there was anything of interest. I found a snail... At least it's a new subject matter although not an impressive photo at all.

29/7/10: Day 210

I was seriously stuck for an idea this evening. I resorted to the bottle in more ways than one. I really need to pull my finger out for these 'late nights' but with working so much at the minute, it's not really possible.

28/7/10: Day 209

Tonight i was once again stuck for some inspiration. I decided to have a go at light painting, but I only have one pen light available.

The following image was done without a tripod, using the 'bulb' setting on the camera so that the shutter would remain open for as long as I held the button down. It's worked out pretty well, I need to follow Myk's direction and get a selection of objects that can be used to paint.

27/7/10: Day 208

I sat in the car after work, waiting for Kat. As I did, I saw loads of birds going in and out of the roof of our flat, I decided to take advantage. I think I took about 30 photos trying to capture the birds with their wings extended. It is a bloody challenge, I tell thee!

26/7/10: Day 207

I had a nigh on fifa with the lads from work tonight. I hadn't take a photo for the day and it was getting on for 10:30. I looked at what was available to take a photo of and saw the sculpture of the head that was in our flat when we moved in. Quite handy!

25/7/10: Day 206

Once again, I walked into the back garden to see if there was anything of interest out and about today. No such luck so I resorted to the pond.

24/7/10: Day 205

We drove through Mobberley today and I wanted to see the Church Inn. On the website they had a picture of the pumps on the bar, and there it was in all it's glory... 'Tribute'!!

Unfortunatly, they don't have it at present, so that was pretty gutting. But the road down when the pub was was quite interesting. There was a tree on the entrance to a house that had a face sculpted into it. I stopped and got a photo of it for today.

23/7/10: Day 204

As I said yesterday, I collected my wedding ring from the Trafford Centre last night, so I decided to do a photo of our wedding rings. It is difficult to get these photos right without having a decent flash. The integrated one just seems to flood the picture.

22/7/10: Day 203

I was heading up to Yorkshire after work this evening. I had been to the Trafford Centre to take my wedding ring back to change it for a size up and so I travelled back there to collect it before carrying on up the 62.

I had planned to be back for Team17's last football game, the numbers had dwindled and the team decided to call it a day. It just happened that the last game of the season was a late kick off and it would give me enough time to get up to Leeds.

I arrived up on Kirkstall Road a little early, so I decided to head out to have a look for a photo opportunity. Down the lane from the football pitches was a gate to a nature reserve. The decoration on the gate had been created by school children and although it was quite cool, even though most of it was just painted over in black. It was quite strange to find it out of the way at the bottom of this lane.

Anyway, the football started well. I started the scoring off and Grant put us 2-0 up, but from that point it went downhill. I think we got beat 5-2 in the end. It did seem fitting that the 2 of us who had been there for nearly every game managed to get on the scoresheet. It is a shame as I would've happily travelled up to Leeds for late kick off as a means of getting to see the lads again!

21/7/10: Day 202

I stopped near work again tonight. The power station in the distance was the idea behind the photo, but I found something else. The contrast between the industrial background and the rural foreground made for an interesting photo.

20/7/10: Day 201

With the weather being crap for most part of this month, I wanted to explore water drops on photos. The water on the skylights allowed for photographing water drops alone, but the glass around the shower allowed me to put my head on the other side. It works quite well in greyscale.

19/7/10: Day 200 - Double TON!

Well, there we have it, 200 up. Not a bad innings so far!!! Well it seemed easy enough to follow on from yesterday. I also got Katie a necklace for our anniversary, it was in order for her to replace the one she had lost a while back.

The light from the skylight framed this once nicely.

18/7/10: Day 199

I had got Katie some flowers for our 7 year anniversary. Unfortunatly she'd been away for it and only got back today, so we had a nice meal, a glass of wine or 3 and chilled out.

It made sense to take a photo of the flowers!

17/7/10: Day 198

I took a walk into the garden again tonight. Right at the bottom of the garden is a pond, I am yet to see a fish in there yet, but there is plenty going on. The water lily's were of particular interest tonight.

16/7/10: Day 197

Back to Northwich again tonight to view a house. Kat has been given her notice and we now need to find her a new job and a new place to live before the wedding. Great timing eh?

I stopped off at my folks on the way back to Mobberley to pick up a parcel that had arrived. My pocket watch had arrived for the wedding, it looks ace! Anyway, Milly was being a little bugger again, I couldn't help but get another photo of her for the blog.

Rather cute!

15/7/10: Day 196

I stopped on the way home from work as I have found a field nearby that has some horses in it. I had worked late, so I wanted to get a photo before getting home otherwise I'd end up with more photos like 194!

14/7/10: Day 195

I headed to my parents after work, they had bought a new puppy! I should give me some photo opportunities when I am back in Northwich.

This is Milly, she is a pain in the neck, but bloody cute! She was hiding under the 2 seater sofa in the dining room at the time.

13/7/10: Day 194

Bah, it was a crap day outside and I was struggling for a photo. Not at all impressed with this one.

12/7/10: Day 193

I went for a walk in the garden again today. I was hoping for som inspiration, but once again, there was hardly anything of interest and I couldn't really use the same subject matter again in terms of a landscape shot. So I used the same subject matter in terms of a chicken.

11/7/10: Day 192

Todays photo just hasn't worked as well as I had hoped. I wanted to take an action photo while kat was drying her hair. From where I was sitting, it seemed like a good idea, but the outcome isn't really as good as I'd hoped for. The lighting is a bit dull also. Ah well, some you win, some you lose.

10/7/10: Day 191

I decided to follow on from my candle photos from yesterday and experimented with the smoke left behind after blowing out a candle. I think this would work really well with a black background rather than in front of a window like I did. Maybe it's something I'll explore further into the project.

9/7/10: Day 190

I was taking some photos of candles this evening and then I started taking some daft ones of kat. I dunno why, but I really like this photo.

8/7/10: Day 189

It's a bit mental at the minute with work, I'm putting in some overtime at the minute, so the chances of getting out with my camera are limited.

I headed into Wilmslow after work to do a spot of shopping. Just near Sainsbury's there is a gypsy caravan, so I took a walk over to take a photo. The fencing around it really limits what angle you can take a photo of it which is a big shame.

7/7/10: Day 188

I stopped on the way home from work to take a photo tonight. The sky was amazing around 7:30. The sun had started to set and the clouds were typically northern. The contrast made for a dramatic sky.

6/7/10: Day 187

I nipped back home tonight to see my mum and dad. While I was there I wanted to see what I could take a photo of in the garden. At the minute the hanging baskets are blooming, so it was easy to get a photo.

5/7/10: Day 186

So, first day at Evolution Studios. It was quite a frustrating as I wanted to get my teeth into the work as soon as possible, but I had to do the usual things on a first day and then upon getting up to my desk - my PC hadn't been set-up. Bah!

After work I stopped near our house and I saw this locked gate, it's not the greatest subject matter, but I quite liked the difference in materials.

4/7/10: Day 185

Our journey down to Oxford was not only to see Will and Emma, but to also do a bump shoot for them. We headed out for the day and I have now got a nice selection of bump photos for my portfolio.

I had the difficult choice to make for the photo 365. It has been one of the few times where I have given full direction with the photos and it is something that I struggle to do at present, although I think with some more experience and guidance it is something that I can pick up and enjoy. With that in mind, I wanted to choose a photo that was natural even though posed. The photo I have picked captures that perfectly.

3/7/10: Day 184

And so, a trip down to Oxford to see Will and Emma (+ bump) was the order of the weekend. We drove down after work on Friday and arrived around 9:30pm, not a bad run at all. We went into Witney for a spot of shopping and then for tea we did a BBQ. I took a few shots while we were outside and I have chosen this one as it's something that I have touched on slightly, but not really explored a lot.

This is a silhouette of Kat while she is toasting marshmellows on the BBQ... With a fork, classy!

2/7/10: Day 183

So here it is, leaving day at Team17. Just 12 days short of being there for 3 years and countless memories! It has been a very tough week and I can't see it being any easier today.

At lunch we headed out for a leaving drink at The Mews, Grant was good to travel in on his day off and I really appreciate him coming over. I have to thank everyone for the whip around, it was incredible and a complete suprise. The money will go towards a new lens!

My only sadness from today is that Rick couldn't be there, although saying that - I think I would've been that little bit worse had that been the case. I was upset enough saying bye to Myk.

Oh, yes - I took my camera to the pub, I wanted to snap some of the faces and so it seems fitting to have one of them for todays photo. I took this one of Grant on the sly. It works quite well with the motion blur of Aten in the background.

Thank you all at Team17, I'll miss working there greatly.

1/7/10: Day 182

Myk and I headed out at lunch for one last time. We decided to go for a bit of a drive to see if we could find anything of interest. Eventually we found a farm that had low walls so we'd be able to snap over without much issue. I really like the outcome of this one, it took a while waiting until it lifted his head up, but it was well worth it.

30/6/10: Day 181

It's been a pretty emotional week. I'm really excited to start at Evolution next Monday, but I'm not looking forward to saying bye to everyone on Friday.

I wanted to take a photo of the sign above the front doors at Teamsters and with having other things planned for the remainder of the week, I thought that today would be a good opportunity.

29/6/10: Day 180

I took a walk into the back garden after getting back from work. It was about 8pm and all the insects were staying put when I approached them. It was quite amazing, I need to invest in a macro lens and do this sort of thing again as the possibilities are amazing.

28/6/10: Day 179

Today was a hard day. I waited until Paul Kilburn got into the office before arranging to see him and handing my notice in. He took the news very well and was supportive of my move. I can already tell it's going to be an emotional week.

I had to break the news to most of my mates at work and this in itself was devestating. Most people have been great but some people have been a bit unfair due to the timing of it since the recent redundancies.

This lunch, Myk and I headed down to Healey Mills Depot, we went down towards the trackside where there were loads of insects. This one, I have never seen before:

27/6/10: Day 178

I did my usual mooch around Kathy and Daves garden. It is just full of knick-knacks that are great to photograph.

Along the fence they have some fishing net and some old lanterns, they look really nice, so I decided to take a shot of them for today.

26/6/10: Day 177

More Evie shots. I couldn't help but have the same subject two days in a row. Although my alternatives were good, I couldnt not choose this one to upload for today.

25/6/10: Day 176

I had today off work as we were going down to Worcester for the weekend. On Tuesday, I got a phonecall from Evolution Studios saying that they wanted me in for an interview, and that was then scheduled for today. So the plan was to go to the interview and then travel to Worcester.

The interview was for a design role and while I was excited, I wasn't really expecting to get the job. So you can imagine my suprise when they offered it to me after the interview.

The news was amazing, I'm so excited to get the chance to work on Motorstorm, but I am gutted to be leaving Team17 and all the mates I have made up there.

When we arrived in Worcester, Sarah and Evie were over for the weekend, so my 2nd favourite model was available and I had to take advantage of this. I know Sarah wouldn't have been too happy to be in this image, but it works well cropped down to this.

24/6/10: Day 175

Myk decided he'd come out with me while I was doing some photos. He hadn't brought his camera, but tagged along all the same.

We headed down to Pugneys due to there being some windsurfers out. It wasn't the nicest days, but the windsurfers were having a good time. It gave me a great opportunity for a photo, even if it did make me a little sad for not shooting things like this down in Newquay. Ah well, we'll be there in September.

I was really pleased with the outcome of this photo, the action is captured pretty well.

23/6/10: Day 174

As I was walking from the car to our front door I noticed that the roses in the flower bed had opened up. They were looking really nice, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity of a photo.

22/6/10: Day 173

Myk is currently working on our models for a wedding topper for our wedding in September. He has been great about doing them and we can't thank him enough. Recently he has stopped the photography of a lunch to continue working on them.

This lunch I went to see the progress of the heads. They are looking fantastic, you can certainly tell the likeness easily.

I decided to make the most of the opportunity and photographed the man at work.

21/6/10: Day 172

I was waiting at the window with my camera today, the birds were all out and about. Every now and then, they would land outside the window and it'd give me a chance to take a photo.

The contrast between the bird and the stones isn't amazing, but it's a nice enough shot.

20/6/10: Day 171

Edward and Felix were out in the garden this evening. Felix was trying to fly his kite, all we could see from the skylight was a Thomas the Tank Engine kite, it made for a good photo opportunity while I was stuck indoors.

19/6/10: Day 170

Kat was playing around with her violin, while she was doing that, I took a few photos. It's handy having such a good model to take photos of :)

18/6/10: Day 169

Katie had bought some more flowers so I took advantage by taking a photo of them for today. This bad back is rubbish.

17/6/10: Day 168

Yesterday, I twisted to say hello to Kat when she came back from work and my back went. I have come home from work today in agony. I still want to do my photos so I have had to make the most of what is around me. This is the view that I had from the bed. I wish I could've been outside in it.

16/6/10: Day 167

This is where my photos took a bit of a downhill. I was stuck for ideas and decided to drive to Quarry Bank Mill. Without being able to get near the mill after hours I was stuck for a shot. This is probably one of my worst shots this year, just totally uninspiring and a bit crap.

15/6/10: Day 166

It has been a long time since I updated and a lot has happened in my life since then. It has been quite stressful, but the photo project is still going strong, although the editting has been on a back burner... Until NOW! Time to pull my finger out once more.

I took this shot of Jess while she was working away. I would really like to explore portraiture a bit more, maybe more candid than set up, but it's how to go about it without offending people.

14/6/10: Day 165

I needed to take a photo again today and Rick had left his alien model on my desk at work. So I took a few shots. The contrast has been changed to draw out the highlights and keeping the detail to a minimal.

13/6/10: Day 164

Katie kindly modelled for me once again. Well, I say modelled, she just took a walk with me into the field behind the house. I snapped away.

I really like the finished article, there is plenty in the foreground and background, but the focus is drawn to Kat.