Birnbeck Again

I haven't uploaded a photo for ages, which shows how busy I've been with my new job, I guess. But now it's half-term and I've got a little time to indulge. My friend Jane from work has a similar camera to mine, and we agreed to meet up, take photos and swap camera tips. We went to my favourite site for shooting, Birnbeck pier. When we arrived the light was poor and we were getting poor results, but as the sun set the cloud was just thin enough to allow some feature in the sky. Then the lights in Cardiff came on, across the water, and we started getting some very pleasing results. This one is a thirty second exposure taken in very low light. I like the glow in the sky from the Welsh lights, and the fact that there is a Wall's Ice Cream sign visible on the derelict pier. Also, the long exposure time has smoothed out the sea in a rather pleasing way. I can't wait to see Jane's results - from what I could see on the camera, they looked fabulous.

EDIT: Here's Jane's version. Fabulous indeed.

Owl

I took this one during a school trip to a park called Woodlands, in Totnes, Devon. I've been there a few times before, but I was too busy jumping down death slides and stuff to realise they had a falconry centre. I took well over a hundred photos, and got about four good ones. To get the birds in flight, I needed a fast shutter speed, but when they weren't in flight, I needed a slow shutter speed and a wide aperture - so I spent the whole time changing from one setting to the other. Perhaps that's why only got a few good shots!

Heron and Great Crested Grebes

This was taken at Blagdon Lake, which can be a frustrating place to shoot. On one side of the bridge there are always loads of aquatic birds and lots of action, but because of the position of the sun, the water always seems to look brown and muddy in photos. On the other side of the bridge these is less action, but the water looks lovely and blue. This one shows a heron and great crested grebes.

Wuthering Heights

My Mum bought me the mug for Christmas after I saw it in Borders Books. It cost £8.99. The book is a 1951 edition that I bought for a pound in a market in Wells. I didn't need another copy of Wuthering Heights to read as I had two already, but did need it for the photo.

Lonely Flip Flops

My son's flip-flops, taken next to the pool at a holiday villa in Denia, Spain. This photo was inspired by one that I saw in a photography magazine.

Obelisk Blue

This is the side of the theatre building at Bath Spa University. My daughter Sophie and I took a number of shots similar to this. I don't know which of us pressed the button for this one - but Soph claims it as hers!

Gazania

I walked into the garden one morning and saw this bright orange gazania in one of our planters. My wife must have planted it. I took a whole series of shots, but lost all the others when my hard drive crashed; this survived as I'd hosted it online.

Birnbeck in Morning Sunlight

I took this photo of Birnbeck Pier as a present for my mum. It was taken at 8.30 on a December morning, and I was really lucky that the sunlight picked out the main deck and left the causeway in shadow.

Hello!