I am really looking forward to my trip with djn and family in Bulgaria, i cant wait to see what images we come up with. I'll b happy with 1, but more happy with some.

Its a break, and a break is a break.... Now lets see if I can stay under luggage weight.... anyone fancy a tripod!

I saw this wedding photographer, she was trying very hard to stay dry, as her very willing, and slightly exuberant couple thought they'd take their full wedding attire for a plop in the ocean (in October)... I know its fashionable, I know the photos will look great, I just couldn't help feeling that it was one frame too far. I saw her (the photographer) wiping her lens and body with her top, and later pouring salt / sand / water out of her tripod. I don't know how much she was getting paid, I hope it was worth it.

On an aside I'm off to Bulgaria at the end of this week to see my good friend and fellow photographer DJN from Chromasia. The last time I was at his place in BG was over a year and half ago, it will be good to see how the old place has changed, and to see his family, spend some time out shooting, and blogging, and doing a little bit I hope to help out.

Looking forward to it very much.

It rained today. So in true Brit grit style we went to the beach, with buckets and spades. It looks like others had the same idea.... I plucked my trusty 50mm from the bottom of the bag today, and stuck with it for the duration. I like to test myself without a zoom from time to time. I call it 'prime time'.

As an aside to this blog, I realized something else that frustrated me yesterday, was being told by a Eastern European snack bar owner that she could not accept 2p's as payment for a packet of M&M's... luckily both I and the person in the queue behind me piped up that this statement was not only immoral but illegal, just because she couldn't be bothered to bag up 2p's.... BUT what really got my goat was that it was being handed over by my 4 yr old son at the time..... had to blog it, its of no consequence to anyone else, but it just made both Mel and I's blood boil......

04/10/10: OOops update, just read that in fact handing over more that 20p in 2p's is not legal tender. Ouch now I feel bad. :-(

I was hoping for a quietish weekend, but have ended up working right the way through for a client. Mentally challenging work, calculating network segments, and other particularly technical things like that. So other than reference shots of cabling, and badly laid out legacy networking kit, my weekend involved 0 , yes thats 0 photographs..... Grrrrr. Never mind, theres always next weekend. And it was quite rewarding to have completed the job......and working with a good friend. So it wasnt all that bad. This shot was something I saw on the way back to the car, from a few shots back when I went to Shell bay with the kids.

I have burnt my mouth with fresh chillis, its no laughing matter folks.... honestly what an idiot, I cut three up and chopped them finely put them in the curry, and then when I went to taste it WHAM..... jeez it nearly blew my socks off. 3yo laughed as I went for a glass of water...... So to get him back, here he is wearing a silly hat!....

Decided to take a weekend off from pressing a shutter. Spent some of today with family having lunch and drinks. This image is a pretty straight shot, with a few curve layers to tweak some tone, and to create a mood.....

Have one of those will it wont it turn into a full headcold, headaches..... hope not.....

Oh and whilst I have the opportunity to add a quick line or two, I've had a few tweets about method on this image, and all I'm going to say is that whilst this isnt HDR, I did use two tricks in DJN's latest tutorial to get the effect, and they are in the later paragraphs of this HDR tutorial, I also comment on these in his comments on the tutorial site....cheers csj

Something quiet today, again. I am so tired after the 2.30am rude awakening from my 3yr old that I decided I needed to post something peaceful. Not my greatest image, but hey!.....

So many interesting things occuring out there in the blogosphere this week, I've been following the TOS issue with FACEBOOK with interest, and also the advent of Twitter and all of its associated sites, and applications. Its going to be an interesting year. I also signed ID7 upto the Photoblog Awards 2009, and you can vote for the site by clicking the icon top right of main page..... I know there are a lot of sites out there to peruse. And any time spent looking at ID7 is most appreciated ...... csj

The day the sea froze. I was at work, and absolutely everyone came into the office that morning, and said... "Oh your a photographer, have you photographed the frozen sea at Sandbanks. After about the twentieth person, I'd had enough, and grabbed my keys and shot down there. It looks nothing if you had never seen it before but it was truely strange the waves had literally frozen, and the whole foreshore was iced over. Another freak of nature.

On another note, I am still busy filing my images on the Drobo and would love to hear from people as to how they file theirs, and what storage devices you use. I often feel I am missing something when it comes to filing images, but the latest method appears to be working quite well.... long may it last. Next comes importing into Lightroom, a new Catalogue.....

Oh and I know its not nice to beg, but if you do find a spare moment to VOTE for ID7 in the 2009 Photoblog Awards, then I would very much appreciate it. Thanks again for stopping by..... csj

Sea, Birds, Simple, Peaceful, Calm, all words that popped into my head as I clicked the shutter.

No HDR on this, no major crop, just a little layer adjustment curve for the contrast, and a curve to give the split tone. Felt like keeping it simple tonight. csj

Words and whispers are rumor spreaders, but the printed word is set in stone, until it becomes kindling or a chip wrapper. But with the modern age there comes a new way to communicate, and proliferate truths and un-truths.

I spent most of my spare time at the weekend, chatting to friends, and relaxing with the family, interspersed with 'Twitters' from the blogosphere; small snippets of information from multiple sources, feeding in through my chosen method of receiving them (twitterific). I am now in touch with a whole host of interesting people, and the snippets range from the dire to the down right interesting (mine are mostly dire), but that said it seems to be a whole new communication concept. A very powerful, mis-understood method, that can be broadcast to millions instantly, and has the power to notify, those that are interested immediately (followers) and those that you are interested in what you say (following) and if your lucky, they will pick up this news, and if it meets with their area of interest, they'll move it on (RT - ReTweet) to their own list of followers, and so the word spreads. Now in the light that this is so powerful, you can fall into the mind set that anything that is Twittered is indeed fact, and we need to be wary as I Twittered something that I'd read this morning (from a valid source); and that was, 'PENTAX are no longer being stocked by JESSOPS in the retail sector'. Surely the demise of a giant of the photographic industry. But to be honest I don't know that this is indeed a fact or a whisper of half truth. I am sure that in time we will know the truth but we need to careful of rapid fire communication, and apply the same rules to our basic surfing, prove prove prove that what we are reading is indeed fact, because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We are truly standing on the shoulder of a giant, and I believe that 'micro-blogging' is the future of communication, as we know it. It's an extension to our armory, and is quicker, easier and more readily cross-platform available than any other form of communication / social networking that is currently out there. So for those of you still completely mystified, pop over to www.twitter.com and register, then download twitterific or tweetdeck, or indeed FRING on a mobile, or CHIRP for PC (google it), go to your friends search, add @ID7, and use me to test your new found communication method. Its quite addictive......honest......

This shot is a 3 frame HDR, the EXIF is from the middle exposure. It was shot at ShellBay on the carpark side, and just a short walk from the Chain Ferry. It looks lovely, its not too bad up-close, but put it this way, I wouldn't want to swim in it! ;-). And my daughter asked if there were crocodiles in England... She has a fair point!..... csj

Something a little closer to home this evening, caught before the recent snow, and the lunacy that came after, in a moment of sheer sunshine, that lasted an afternoon.

I actually got lucky on both of the weekends immediately after my trip North, and to be honest loved every moment of it. It was such a nice feeling just being out and about with the camera, I really enjoyed the moment. It was like I was breathing through my camera, if that makes sense.

I saw this image and was hoping he would move a little to his left, in fact I was hoping for a couple of bollards to the left, but it never happened so rather than miss the frame I shot it anyway. The original un-edited frame is here...............

.......archives/0902041900a-main.php

The frame looked ok, but as I studied it there were elements that p*st me off, and just of curiosity I flipped it and found this image in there.

It is a little heavier on the crop than I'd normally go, but felt helped along by getting a second opinion from DJN. I like the image now, and didn't feel the need to edit it too far tonally. As always looking forward to your thoughts. csj..... go flip one of your own and see what you end up with!!!

Feel kind sea sick tonight, can't describe the feeling any better than that really. Just want to shift this feeling and get better, its keeping me awake at night.

Its the eve of my little boys b-day, and he's a big 2.0 tommorow.... he's been a little bit of a test tonight, little scamp, I think he ate one to many crispy cakes.... a day at the zoo is required me thinks. Hopefully the fresh air will sort me and him out....

Just a little thankyou to my long suffering wife, for getting all his b-day organised (mental note: must do more towards them next year!!!).

Works kept me flat out aswell this week, back to the day to day demands on Monday!!!.... csj

On a day that revealed no pictures, but some good ideas about pictures, I thought I'd pull back from shooting anything new, but plan some images instead. I am keen this year to showcase as many ID7 images as possible via competitions and publications to spread the good word, and to encourage more people to pick up a camera.

I'm off out tommorow, lat e morning to a place called Lepe, I'm not sure that the light will be right in the middle of the day, but I'll settle for whatever is available. I believe there are a few subjects there I'd like to photograph, so tomtom on and away I go....

There is going to be an interview with djn1 (David Nightingale) from Chromasia in MP3 on the site, hopefully within the next few weeks, we are just sorting a time to meet up, and we may have a couple of other joint ventures planned, including a portrait shoot for the second quarter of 08, which will be submitted alongside another image into the portrait awards for 08.

As a role model and inspiration Dave needs recording for posterity, and to earn his place in WEB history, in my eyes anyway. Everyone else is an immitator of his art (me included) and to be honest, you just have to read his accolades to realise the man and his images are genius. Other people are lucky, Dave is consistently brilliant. He has agreed to both of the above so its just about timing now..... wish me luck...... 'mental note' - remember to polish the lenses......csj

this ones for djn1 and Craig

This was from a batch that I had in Lightroom and which I shot during the middle of Jan, when I was just testing the DoF of the 50mm f1.8 on the camera. Whilst this was shot at 1.8, it was one of the more successful images. Not one of my most favourite images, but it has a little cliche something going on that I quite lik. I find the detail to the top right distracting, but it just doesnt work as a square and I figured thats a lot of picture to chop about, without it showing.

To be honest I'm still getting used to this quirky little lens, but I like it a lot. I just want it mounted on a body alongside the 17-40 or 70-200 so that I can quickly flick between the two to be honest (a poor excuse for a new body). I just found out that my best photographer buddy from way back when, has gone to Nikon finally, having had an order signed off on a D3, I wish him and his new camera well...... Traitor ;-)..... only joking Al, you know I used to be a Nikon man for all those years and wouldn't shut up about how good they are, so I'm not starting now.

So today I had some great news, four of my images were selected by Andy Earl (photographer to the stars), to go through to the finalists show of HiddenGems, in a show of pictures at the Enterprise Pavilion at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. To be honest although my images are chosen I am not sure what happens now, I think If I'd actually won something then I would have been told. But to have them in an exhibition is still good coverage and might reach ID7 out to a few more people. So I spent the whole of today in the LAB getting the prints finished, and they just cost me hundred and sixty quiderooos....gulp... there goes some of the savings for my next camera. Ho Hum......

The image tonight is a composite of the 4 images chosen to go through. If you want to read more, then click here for the Hidden Dorset webpage about the competition. Enjoy....csj

Update 20:31: Just found out from the organisers of the event that there are Three winners being announced Monday 4th Feb at the Private View in Bournemouth, so I don't know if I've achieved anything yet..... wish me luck! - csj

Sorry about the title, anyone with kids will know the story book the 'Gruffalo', and the title of tonights picture was taken from another book from the same author, called the 'Snail and the Whale'. It Finlays' absolute favourite (at the moment_, but after the 101st time of reading it, and the third time today.... it can .... lets say become .... not 'my favourite' ;-).... kids eh! you got to love em.... !..... csj

I liked this image for the sheer fact the sea was alight, and the swell was rolling in.... the dark sky just helped it along. Thats about all tho really.... enjoy

Just recieved a voip call from a mate in Paraguay on his way through Argentina, and catching some carnival action on the way!..... uhm slightly green with envy, I wonder what the colours of Poole will bring this weekend.

This has just been Channel mixed to black and white, and to be honest I haven't done anything else apart from just dropping a little vignette on it. This actually happened and I don't read papers in general, it wasn't mine, I didn't put it on the rock. HONEST..... I can say that hand on heart its not contrived. It might be a horrible cliche, it might be a rubbish photo, but it was TOO ironic not to post.... ;-)

Apologies again, this week has been a bit busier than normal with work, a colleague is off sick and work soon lands, also went for a curry last night, and simply didn't have time to post, so apologies for no image yesterday.

Also the comment code in the site, is trapping every comment as spam and I'm having to release them all as they come in, so I'll look into making that a bit better over the next few days if I can. csj

Sploosh, snap!, thats how this image happened, in that order - ;-)

There are huge bits of this image I have problems with, there are bits I like, there are moments of desperation in trying to keep up a one image a day blog!, but you have to keep on trying.

A shot taken whilst out looking for images, and to be honest it was a rotten afternoon, and the light was rubbish, and as much as I hate pointing the camera at a seagull, other than jumping in that water myself I had no choice on this day. I promise to refrain in the future!, honest

News Years Day Sunset.... something awe inspiring. This day was fantastic, bracing cold, but fresh, definately time to get rid of the tree, and move on into the New Year. A lovely refreshing walk and some more shots to work on.

Finlay looked on as I chopped the tree into pieces ready for recycling, and I felt a little guilty, but it was time, he knew it really, face squished against the kitchen window.... The trusty 50mm still on the camera at the moment, I might venture back to the 17-40 next week tho for a change.

Just a very quick huge Thankyou to all of you who stopped by in 07, and I would like to wish you all a happy new year for 08. Thanks again all for all your support, it means more than you know - csj

Also in the name of encouraging others to take up photography, I have recently encouraged an old old friend of mine, who I used to spend time photographing with some 25 years ago to dust off his camera and set up a blog. So here are his images Craigs' Blog and yes we share the same name, good luck to him in this New Year.

Went out today with the 'nifty fifty' as its lovingly known and thought I'd test it out on the front of the 20D, it went really well, its wierd after spending time with a zoom going back to prime lenses, but it made for some interesting battles with composition. I also used manual focus as its commonly known not to trust this lens near wide open with the auto focus, as I found out to my peril on the first bunch of shots off this lens.

Anyway live and learn.

Today though I am very pleased with its resolving power at smaller apertures, and it has definately earnt its place in the camera bag as a manual focus prime. An absolute bargain at around 50 UK pounds.

I got a few frames off, and I hoping if the light is good tommorow to do the same, but will have to wait and see.

Finlay said OI OI OI today and thought it was hilarious.....uhmmmm

Thanks for popping along.... csj

Well I'm just about back in the land of the living. I think walking the 2 miles back to the car this morning along the crisp and frosty Baiter footpath towards Whitecliff, having stumbled back that way at about 2am last night, helped to clear my head, I was able to inhale several lungs full of fresh air, and this really helped.

You will be pleased to know that even then at that time of the morning I still didn't drive, and my rather much more sober friend took to the wheel.

It was on this way back that in the morning half light I realised that I had nearly trodden on a body. Mores the point it was a homeless guy who sleeps rough under a blanket, and to be honest I felt terribly guilty at having been able to go out, have food and drinks, and make it home to a warm bed. He was fast asleep under his blanket, which had frozen at the edges, and glistened with frost. Its quite a sobering context to put yourself in, especially at this festive time of the year.... food for thought eh!. csj

Dave's shot on Chromasia inspired tonights entry. I spend a lot of time looking out to sea. For all those of you that know where I live its a regular thing to catch people in waders out Baiting (I assume thats what its called), and up to their knees in mud and other stuff. Turning over the sand and seabed to find what ever it is they are looking for. Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but it seems that as photographers, we are expected to have knowledge of everything we point our camera at or every subject we find interesting, in the eyes of our viewers and onlookers. Sadly this is not the case, and quite often we see an image in something that we simply don't understand or have any attachment to....

In the case of the Wyre Wrecks I've quite often asked if anyone had any knowledge on them, well yes, someone did. Dave Carrington from Redshift had some information. Apparently whilst up there shooting at the weekend he bumped into an "old chap" who said - "He knew them all by name & even one of the owners, one 'Russian Dick'! It seems the wrecks were dumped around 25 years ago. The Government of the time were offering some sort of grant to decommission these trawlers, so the owners took the money & then abandoned the vessels on the banks of the Wyre!"

So there you have it some info at last on those fantastic old wrecks.....oh to have a quick way of popping up there.... its only 8 hours in the car... CJ

Thinking of you Mark...your a good man.

So just when I thought this week couldn't get any worse....... blimey....Read on

The week from hell, followed by a long wind down, its taken me until this morning to leave work in my mind if you know what I mean. Last night we had a boys poker night, great fun, not for big money stakes, just chips, and we had boys food (pizza) and beer, it was a great relax to be honest, and amongst friends, really went a long way to helping me through.

So this morning I got up with Finlay and we had breakfast, Mum had a small lie in, and I jumped in the hot bath, and soaked my aches and pains.... we marched into town ,and managed to get a seat in the coffee shop, fantastic.... Fully relaxed. Then on the way home the clouds came over, and to be honest it had been threatening and had rained during the morning. I was looking forward to going out with my camera when Finlay was having his afternoon kip, then the phone rang, its my Father in Law to say Mother in Law had had a possible minor stroke..... JEEEZ, so Mel my wife has gone up the hospital and I'm on child minding duties. I hope shes ok.... the mother in law that is. Get well Joy.

So you'll understand if this week I'm short on content.

The real estate at Sandbanks near Poole, caught in the early morning ...... I'm not normally one for sunsets and sunrises, but this was epic... not sure that I caught it, but hey I hadn't had a coffee yet.... ;-)

Now this is dedication to the cause, fish baiting, and collecting lugworms, and the like, knee deep in mud. But on the upside, the suns out, lots of fresh air, and I guess it keeps you going, coz this old boy was out for ages, digging, turning, moving on, then digging and turning.

Was quite relaxing to watch actually. On another note, yesterdays post is still open for comments, and as yet no-one has guessed what it is.

Shot this a week or so ago, at the time it was visually interesting, I questioned it before I took the shot. So the question is what do you think it is?.... csj

The reponse to my question was quite in depth, and I feel it important to include the dialogue as part of tonights' entry. But before I do that I want to say that I must individually have a different feeling towards my shots and a different requirement in terms of fullfilment from the individual images. Anyway this is all a bit serious, and maybe this isnt the ideal forum for a debate.... or maybe it is. Here is Daves' response to last nights question which answers the question 100% for me.....

"I'll answer that in a roundabout way ...

Tomorrow, John is coming over and I'm taking my 15mm fisheye for a stroll around our local multi-storey carpark, particularly the stairwells. I'm choosing the venue, the equipment, the subject matter, the company, and so on … and if I get anything decent, I'll post it here. And I will feel "free of spirit", as Craig put it, not least because there's no pressure, and the only needs to be met are my own.

When you shoot for a client, things can be quite different; i.e. the main priority is to satisfy their brief or expectations rather than your own. While I was in Germany I was extremely fortunate in that I had a lot of say over what got photographed, at what time of day, under what lighting conditions, and so on. Sure, I didn't have an entirely free hand – there were some things that definitely needed to be photographed – but I had a lot of input into the creative process. I should also add that had I been on holiday in the area I would probably have taken many of the shots I've posted anyway, so I guess that's a good sign that I didn't feel too constrained.

When I was in the Bahamas, on the other hand, I didn't have quite the same freedom, as the majority of the shots were art-directed; i.e. the agency knew exactly what the shot should look like. My job the was to realise their vision, not my own. And if you remember, the majority of the shots I posted from that trip were of the models I was working with, shot on my own time. If you're interested though, eight of the set shots are reproduced in this gallery.

So, what's the answer to Craig's question? I don't think there is a simple one, not least because I enjoy all three of the scenarios I outlined above, as much as anything else because their requirements vary. When you're working towards an art-directed shot, for example, it's your job to make the best of the scene, the lighting at the time, the props, and so on: and I really enjoy the technical aspects of that sort of work.

When you're working to a less specific brief, as I was in Germany, you have more freedom to ponder how to take a shot, when to take it, the best vantage point, and so on. And with this sort of job the challenge is both technical and aesthetic, and again, I really enjoy the challenge of having to find the shots to meet a brief.

Personal work, on the other hand, is more to do with aesthetics than any technical concerns. For example, I'll often go 'beachcombing' on overcast days as I much prefer diffuse light for those sort of shots; i.e. if the shot is available, I'll take it: if not, I won't. Likewise, I photograph my children at times when they don't mind being photographed, rather than attempting to get them to pose. And I guess that my best work, in my opinion at least, is done under these sorts of conditions.

All that said though, I don't think that any of the above scenarios impact on my "freedom of spirit": I love taking photographs, irrespective of the circumstances under which they are taken, or who I'm taking them for. I suspect that my best work is produced when I'm left to my own devices, or have a high degree of control of the process, but I also enjoy the challenge of more prescriptive commercial work.

Does that answer the question? I'm not sure ...". Yes it does Dave, thanks mate.

The shot tonight is one from a week ago that I caught whilst out shooting in the style of, and here is the link to the shot I used for inspiration. As always I'd love to hear your comments.

Ok so I had the intention of posting something, artistic, and well considered but instead I posted this. A shot of a half eaten rotting stinky old eel, that for some insane reason my wife has become attached to.

Everytime I mention his name she laughs.

We even went for a special walk to see if he was still washed up on the shore, and sure enough, as reliable as 'eggs is eggs', there he was laying in the shoreline with waves lapping around his strange smiling face. Possibly the wierdest post that I've made, but the wife insists its a 'goldmine' of a shot.... I'm not so convinced.... enjoy anyway, if for nothing else other than a good laugh.

This was picked off from my local coast line and was in direct response to Daves' shot here on Chromasia. The weather today was a little off, no wind, a bit over cast, but just for a quick half hour there was a break in the clouds, I hope I caught that.

The shot is Westerly from Baiter, across to Brownsea Island in the haze, I have masked the sky and horizon and used a curve to adjust the contrast on both masks, then added blue in the curve to increase the yellow overall for a tone.... and there was a second layer of gaussian blur of about 8 pixels and 12% opacity to finish the ghostly type feel. As always enjoy...

Oh and Daves' sky is way better than mine, but I always say he has all my skies, thats the North / South divide for you....

I'll let you guess who I'm shooting in the style of today. Reminicent of this shot on Chromasia on a day when I was intentionally plaguerising images, I saw this.

One that had stuck in my mind. You'd think living by the coast that these telescopes would be everywhere, but this is the first one I have ever seen on the south coast and I've lived here 6 years. So it was wierd that it was in the position that it was on the day that it was, when I wanted to find one. Anyway heres the result, I hope its not too little to be of interest.

Here is the original unedited frame:-

http://www.id7.co.uk/portfolio/archives/telescope_clean.php........

Also this image looks good on the White CSS option from the large image page. Enjoy

I'll let you guess who I'm shooting in the style of today. So the sun was out, the mood was positive, and a trip to the beach was in order.

I went out with a sole focus and intention to contrive one or two shots. I figure I lack an imagination, and plaguerism is the only solution ;-)

Never mind I got some nice shots and some that I am pleased with, so should be able to post most days this next week.

This one reminded me of this one here. This shot involved sticking my camera in a 6 inch hole in the sand, not a pleasant experience by all accounts, but I had fun trying to get the shot. As always a little comment or two never goes un-welcome. C

Oh and this one looks nice on the white background option.

Ok so today, the day before my birthday may I add, has been a good one, altho your probably reading this on the 19th, anyway enough of that. I spoke to Alun tonight, he's kindly offered to put me up whilst I'm away soon, and I am very much looking forward to spending some time chatting to him and his lovely wife Ann.

Dave from Chromasia dropped me a comment on the site which to be honest is a huge compliment, and a boost, as its a challenge finding the time, and he knows this better than most with kids and work pressures, so it was much appreciated.

I love my photography, I just wish there was more time to toss around with it, and more cash to throw at it.

Anyway I am happy with what I have done this week. 37 the morrow

So we did it, the reccy was good, we came up with an idea, we've started thinking about the format, now all we need, are the t-shirts, and some cracking shots.

Northshore is born, and we will start in the next week or so.

We are I guess lucky to live in one of the best places in the country for watersports.

So I guess it makes sense to try and capitalise on that bonus... watch this space for more info as it happens. Good shout Paul.

OK so I was going to post a picture of My wife today, but that will have to be tommorow now, as I have been having some thoughts about my photography.

Went out for a beer with paul last night, and we span a few ideas about the options we had with regards to selling our work locally.

I think we will have a few more better ideas about how things are by the end of the weekend. We may be able to implement a few simple ideas and make some cash no worries.

I think I'll advertise the wedding photography soon, that could be another nice way to possibly earn some money.....always thinking....