Category: Photography

Well as you can see I managed to get the photo of the month.  The Snow Drops are coming out now and I have to admit it is hardly an original idea.

Equipment used was a Nikon D200 SLR, 105mm f/2.8 macro lens together with my Manfrotto Tripod and Arca Swiss head.

Snow Drops are not the easiest subject to capture.  The problem is getting low enough.  To get stunning photos of flowers you either need to shoot from the same level or for added impact shoot from below.

As Snow Drops are so small I scouted around trying to find a bunch on a slope.

So setting the tripod as low as it would go, with the help of the small slope I managed to get on the same level as the flowers.

The next problem was the wind.  I had my assistant holding my coat as a wind break and also with her free hand hold the base of the stem of the key flower I was trying to photograph.

If I was shoot this again, I would also take with me my Macro Flash equipment, I would then be able to use flash to freeze movement.

Well the first attempt to get some decent shots came close, but I felt I still needed to get some more material.  There was one idea in particular that I thought would work, but where to go.

How about a trip to our local National Trust Stately Home?

So we packed the car with the Medium Format Camera gear, tripod and once again the Nikon D200 with the Macro 105mm f/2.8 Lens, which is what I was intending to use to get ‘The Shot’ I had in my head.

The weather had potential, light rain, but very dark black skies.  There was a hint of potential sunshine breaking through later.

We arrived at Belton House near Grantham at lunch time, shortly after they had opened.  The hint of sunshine vanished so I left the Medium Format Gear in the boot of the car, but still took the D200.

Around the Italian garden I got a number of lovely shots as the sun once again appeared.

I also attempted the shot I had in my head as the ‘Photo of the Month’.  Did I succeed well as you can see above I did manage some excellent atmospheric photographs.

Tomorrow I’ll publish my Photo of the Month and you can judge for yourself.

Well with hospital and general ill health, no real photography had been done at all this month.

This simply would not do, so two quick photo trips were planned to try and get that ‘Photo of the Month’.

The first was a quick 30 minute excursion at lunch time on Friday, a quick walk around the Brayford Wharf area of Lincoln with my trusty Nikon D200 and a 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, trying to get that elusive ‘Photo of the Month’.

A few macro shots of flowers, some ants and the odd snap of the building work currently being undertaken were all I managed at first, but then I attempted to sneak up to some black headed gulls that were sat on the edge of the Brayford Pool.  I managed a few quick shots before they took off, and I nearly got my ‘Photo of the Month’ as it flew off, it was just slightly out of focus.

I also popped into one of the offices there and shot a few portraits of some of the more interesting characters.

The second, trip well, I’ll tell you all tomorrow.

TF, used to be called TFP now often TFCD.

It means Time For Print or Time For CD.

Basically the photographer and the model both work for free unpaid, each covering their own costs. Both work hard to get some great images that would benefit both their portfolios.

At the end both get copies of the final edited images for their own use.

Most weeks I get approached by models asking for TF, generally I turn them down. This is not cheap photography, my time, the studio and the editing afterwards, all costs me money. The model must either be something special or I want to test out something in the studio, and this saves me from having to book and pay for a models time.

So models, feel free to contact me for TF shoots, but please do not be disappointed if I turn you down, I only have time for one TF shoot every month or so, but please do contact me again in the future sometimes I might just need a model and you could save the day.