Life is what happens when you're trying to blog.

I haven't posted for a little bit because life is what happens when you're trying to blog. It's been busy but that is not all, there has been other 'stuff' too.

I've also been rethinking my whole strategy and approach to my photography. I want to to take photos of things I love taking photos of and so I am working on ways to do more of that. And redesigning my web site and looking at new products and packages. Lots of behind the scenes stuff.

I will try and post more later and thanks for the messages from my followers. I missed you too and hope to visit your blogs soon! I'll leave you with a recent photo of a lemur telling me exactly how he felt about having his photo taken. Everyone's a critic, right?

Meet Louis. Louis is a Cocker Spaniel with a gorgeous black coat, long black ears, dark eyes and a black nose too! He has paws the size of a bear and has a very vocal greeting accompanied by a madly wagging tail.

A completely black dog can be a challenge to photograph as it is important that the features are visible and don't get lost. It might seem a little counter intuitive then to photograph him on a black leather sofa with the light mostly behind him! However, the back light gave a gorgeous 'halo' effect which separated him from the back ground and as it was at a side angle to him it also picked out the fabulous curly fur on his ear and provided a catch light in his eye too. A little tweaking in PS5 allowed me to slightly exaggerate the highlights to pick out more detail and to add a little dodge and burning to the ear to give it more texture. I'm very happy with the result as was Louis' owner.

Dizzy

Meet Dizzy. Diz is an albino Leopard Gecko who seemed to enjoy posing for her portrait. I am happy to do portrait session of any pets, not just the conventional cute and fluffie's (though I love taking their photos). Leopard geckos are very docile and Diz is hand tame so taking her photograph was a breeze. The colours you see in the photo are true as albino Leopard geckos are yellow and pink. I think she is an extremely pretty little lady, with just a little bit of the Queen Victoria attitude about her as you can see from the way she is looking at the camera as if to say 'I am not amused'.

This photo was awarded Bronze last year in an International photo competition run by The Societies, a body of professional photographers that I am a member of. I was pretty pleased with that.

Dark and Light

Did I ever mention how much I like chocolate? Well, let's just say it's quite a bit as long as it's the good stuff. I like both light and dark chocolate as I think both types have their own unique taste, both are delicious in their own way. That's pretty much how I feel about these photographs I recently took in the Forest of Dean. There was a part of the woods I visited that were light and airy, and then there was another part that was dark, deep and secretive.

I tried to capture both of these feelings in the photographs, the open airy and bright fresh feel as well as the dark and mysterious. So, which do you prefer? (Chocolate and the photographs!).

Sun Burst

I took advantage of the recent sunny weather to indulge in some photography just for the sake of it. I headed over to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire as I heard that the bluebells were coming out early this year. Alas the pretty flowers had not yet bloomed but while I was there I was very much taken by the sun streaming through the trees. So I turned my camera into the sun and started shooting.

Sun Burst - You really have to click on this to see it in all it's glory.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I love to turn the camera into the sun and let it flare in the lens. I wanted to capture the dreamy, other-world feel of the woods that day, as if something from a fairy tale might be among the trees. Doing this helped capture the feel I was after. I like the effect of the golden glow and rainbow refraction of the light from the many layers in the camera lens. When the sun streams through something like branches it is also possible to get a great star-burst effect from the sun light. When I took this particular photo I knew I had captured a goodie. I have already had one enquiry for a print for a wall picture and so I am thinking of also adding this to my forthcoming fine art collection. I hope you like it too.

Purple Door

When I am taking a photograph I am always on the look out for interesting shapes and lines and of course, colour and tone. This purple door was screaming to be used as a photographic backdrop and the light in the small courtyard was perfect with a large building opposite the door cutting out the glaring top light of the sun. I really like how the red of the bricks and dog fur compliment each other and then the purple door acts as a darker contrast and frames the dog well. I've had some great feedback about this photo on Facebook too which is great, besides who can resist such a sweet face as Henry's?

Mist again.

I always have a camera of some sort on me. As a photographer I never switch off and I never know when I will see a great picture that I want to capture. So, when I took my dog for a walk this last weekend I took my Fujifilm X10 with me. It's lighter and more portable than my Canon 5D and lenses and so I often grab it when I go out.

The beach was thick with mist rolling in from the sea in a different sort of lazy wave. Though there seemed to be quite a few people around from the number of cars in the car park, the beach seemed empty as you could not see far into the distance. Every now and again some people and their dog would emerge from the mist like ghostly figures and disappear again as they passed by.  The mist did not deter my little retriever from his favourite game of fetch and I couldn't help but capture a few shots of him running around in the mist, an indistinct little shadow enjoying himself.

I'm very pleased with this particular photograph and gave it a vintage feel to exaggerate the mistiness. I'm currently working on a fine art collection and I am thinking of adding this one to it. What do you think?