This is an image I'd forgotten that I'd shot with djn whilst up in Blackpool a few weeks back. I think we both marveled at the chance of drinking a cup of Bovril, it warmed me up just reading it. Hence the photo.

A beach to my right, dunes to my left, clouds and a seascape to the right, searing sunlight and contrast to the left. Which way would you shoot?

So we "finished" the game of Conkers tonight. Fin won of course ;-). My puny effort of a conker split under the power of a 4 year olds swing (with a little help from Dad)....

This Image was an intentional attempt at shooting in the opposite direction to djn on our beach wander a few weeks back. I seem to get some mileage out of shooting with him, for some reason I end up with quite a few images I am happy with. Strange really, because I often go out alone and never release the shutter.

I guess that the images I create aren't really most peoples "cup of tea" but there is always a single element that caused me to shoot the image, some obvious, some not so. In this instance, in my head at least, It was an ironic statement that our usual coffee stop was neither to the left nor to the right, from my standpoint at least, but was simply over the brow of the dunes, and was literally 200yds from where I was stood. Nothing especially amazing, but for some reason I felt the need to record it. Don't ask me why..... I really can't articulate why......

Oh but to bring this image to the fore, I did however use the video of Black and White conversion Part 2 from Chromasia's Tutorials for Photographers, take the link to the right to see it, or click here. I followed djn's video through the method of Black and White conversion that involved using the Black and White adjustment layer and biasing the image towards the red channel, but I also pulled the Blue channel back to around -148 to bring out the sky. If you play with this method, it really can help you properly master B&W conversion, something I regularly bust my head over when I get it wrong (which is quite often!!!).

The other afternoon, my little lad presented me with a "top find" of two conkers that he'd found on the way to his school, and I figured that as a young lad myself I used to do the same thing. On my way to school I'd rustle the trees and see what booty I could glean before making it to the school playground, where with our penknives we'd gouge a hole through a conker then set about trying to win the opponents top prize of their hardened conker! If we got really into it, we'd bake them in the oven the night before ourselves, or leave them to soak in vinegar, or polish them!....

I took my little lad into the kitchen tonight and showed him how to bake them and put a hole through them, and then how to play conkers. Of course he'll never enjoy the same treat in the playground, its not allowed these days, health and safety or some other rubbish.

We had a go at playing, he got a bit bored, wacked me with it, and then cried......you cant say I didn't try. I guess there's no room for sentimentality in this day and age.

This image is from Fleetwood in the NW, when I was there shooting with DJN. Not an especially amazing image, but I like it.

When I go shooting with Dave (@chromasia) from Chromasia, I have a sense of freedom that I don't really experience in any other walk of my life. I switch off from anything and everything around me, something I think only my wife Mel knows helps me to relax.... I am very lucky to have that understanding in her to be honest.

I'm in Blackpool, helping DJN out tomorrow, we are photographing a wedding in Kendall in Cumbria. Ironically Blackpool is my fresh air, culturally and spiritually, I love being here, and just shooting whatever I see. A kind of freedom if you will.

I haven't blogged in months, I guess its just been one of those years, and I figure that whilst I enjoy doing it, I'm not sure if its a legacy that anyone appreciates. Seeing Dave is always inspiring, seeing him twice in a month will be great, time will tell if I start blogging again. I wish it was just that easy. Anybody who has tried to sustain a blog will know exactly what I mean. You know who you are.

A double headed entry tonight to celebrate the end of a brilliant run of traffic that I've had off of the back of Chromasia.com and a photographic friendship that I hope will go on into the future.

Tonights' post is an image that I KNOW Dave didn't get to shoot, I chose this angle to include the old telegraph (if you look amongst the undergrowth!) and to scoop up the perspective, and depth of field into the distance. To make a point of interest in the light in the tunnel. In hindsight the end result (well at least in the RAW previews), was weakened by a lack of focal point. So whilst I like both of tonight's versions for different reasons, I have chosen to post the less edited version and link to the heavier edit here;

......... archives/0902021900a-main.php

(the train was Daves' idea, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts?!@)

I also thought that I'd put it to some text. Recently I have been reading a blog by Poet; Paul Bradbury, a spiritual man, and christian leader in Poole. And found the text in this particular poem to link in my mind to the image (albeit that Paul saw something totally different!) and in his words, " ....... I guess that is the wonderful subjectivity of art.", I couldn't agree more and I often see different things in my work, than other people.

The image is a 3 frame HDR and edited using Photomatix Pro and FDRTools (demo version) and CS3 on the MAC, the best use of which I learnt directly from Chromasia Tutorials which you can also learn by subscribing and following my same path. Take the link to the right if you are interested or click HERE. And whilst I think about it, please if this is the last time you stop by ID7, then follow me on Twitter and I can send you an update when I post an image, thanks again for being here, I really appreciate it...... csj

The poems' title is the same as tonights' image and I hope you like what you read;

Scent of Exile

Paul Bradbury

So another shot that pretty much leads directly on from the last. Dave and myself had, on the say so of FatPete, taken for a stroll off the beaten track , and spent the Friday of my visit up North; Reccying (if thats a word) the location of tonights post. Its an old (being dismantled by all accounts) solid fuel power station (geotag here later). The scene was very 'Chernobyl'esque' and reminded me of post cold war Russia. In fact if you search through FatPetes' Blog (see previous entry for link), you will probably see some rather dark (in subject matter ;-) ) self portraits where he's wearing a Gasmask, and its almost the perfect prop to this post-apocolyptic scene.

The image itself is a 3 frame HDR, and I've popped a few curves in there for good measure to adjust the sky, and the foreground contrast. The Sun was unblown by the HDR, but it lacked any colour or any perceptable colour, it was a very strange light that day anyway. So (please please excuse the overuse) or abuse of the LENSFLARE filter in PS but I couldn't resist it for this scene.

It also had the feel of a scene from a computer game.... Another few shots of this location will be posted over the coming days. Its a little OTT for my liking but what the hell, it kinda fitted the subject..... csj

UPDATE: OK I toned the sky down a tad, Dave was right it was too heavy, I think it still is, and it was one of those "if you stare at something for too long you can't see it" problems.... Thanks for the headsup

This again is a response image to the post on Daves' site: Chromasia.com, and whilst his of course is technically a better image, I think deep down he wishes he'd taken the opportunity to shove me out of the way (I was stood to his immediate left) and taken this angle himself.

But do you know what. I somehow feel justice was served. I know that he thinks his image is better, well it blummen should be, he did teach me the technique ;-)....lol

This was a 3 frame HDR processed in Photomatix, and the EXIF below is from the middle frame of the 3 shot sequence....more blog info later.

Oh and I can't leave any of these railway posts without thanking FatPete for his extremely detailed aerial view map of how to gain access. I'm sure he wont mind a public thankyou for that, and if you want to see his work click here.... I of course am not liable for the content on his site... ;-) csj

So it was a tricky 08 with regards to photography for me, and to be honest the start of 09 didn't yield much inspiration either. Except for a glimmer of light which was a Xmas card from my wife, that thoughtfully contained a few pounds and the promise of a weekend away to see a good friend of mine, someone who inspires my use of the camera, and has done so for several years now.

I was furnished with the opportunity to visit Dave from Chromasia, and whilst this was lovely I hadn't realised quite to what extent the "cloak and dagger" arranging had gone too. Mel (my wife) and Libby, Dave's wife, had concocted the whole plan, and this allowed for me to basically spend the entire weekend shooting with him on a new project, and to experiment in HDR whilst I was up there also.

What a brilliant present! and to be honest probably the best kick up the photographic backside that I needed to get my seeing eye going.

We had a brilliant time, and they welcomed me into their home, and to partake in fine wine and lovely food, for which I thank Libby and her many little helpers.

The photography was fun as well, and we visited a few old haunts (for Dave) and few new locations as well, and I am sure we have both gained some footage to see us through a few weeks blogging at least.

This shot aptly titled was one of my favourites from the bunch, and strictly was from day 2 of the trip. I will purposefully not chronologically order the shots taken, so that our Images don't overlap in subject matter TOO much.

This was a 9 Image HDR exposure, processed in Photomatix Pro. I am sure people that dislike HDR will voice themselves, but whilst I am on the fence regarding its overall merit, I can from first hand say that the technique requires a good sense of the subject matter to work well and to choose the right lighting to effect a good image, the same for taking any photo I guess. I think as a process it just sits there amongst other effects, and I personally don't find the results offensive I just realise that to do them well isn't as easy as it may first appear to those people who voice disapproval.

That said, its all about photography, and about getting out and about, pointing the camera in the direction of anything at -4 degrees in the wind in the early morning after a hike is a good effort in my book!

I know that publishing the EXIF for a multi image HDR is slightly misleading, publishing the metered exposure used as a my starting point 0EV is fair. I then used a combination of spot metering highlights and shadows to work out the bracket range required, and a few nudges in Daves ribs!. I chose a 9 shot image here with 1/2 stop increments. The histogram said everything was within bounds so I thought I'd give it a go.

We were shooting on an old disused Railway East of Fleetwood, and someway off the beaten track, we found the old trainstation, and amongst the undergrowth I spotted the old station steps, I couldn't resist.... ;-)

Did It work?