Hide and Seek

On this particular day she didn't want her photo taking, and tried to make life hard for me. Fortunately I am particularly stubborn and a lot more devious. She didn't stand a chance!

Friends

I have been 'told' to take more family portrait shots, so here goes!... A nice standard mum and daughter shot.

Those of you who are observant may notice that I have a nice new backdrop. I was fed up of trying to move the clutter!

Catch me...

All parents around the planet will recognise this stance.
The little girls face tells the other half of the story, she knows exactly what will happen when she reaches her target.

Flexible Friend

I wanted to show something about my friend that described her rather than just a standard portrait shot.
She has always been supple and energetic, so I wanted to capture the essence of her flexibility rather than just her beauty.
We tried a few different positions, but in this shot I like the way that her arms created the triangular frame.

To die for..

I know many women who would love to have eyes like this...
I am sure that her mum will be beating the boys off with sticks in a few years time!

far far away...

Is she dreaming of kissing a prince... or singing with Robbie?

Happiness

The inevitable result of mixing a small boy with a warm day on a sandy beach. The excitement and exhilaration in his face is a joy to watch.
Shot from the safety (and warmth) of dry land with my 70-200mm lens.

Its hard work being this pretty

More from the shoot on Sunday.

Tiring work

I wanted to find a natural frame for her face during the shoot. As soon as she put her head on the table I got her to use her arms as the frame, creating this quite moody image. I then removed the colour to help compliment the overall image.

Go ahead punk...

There isnt a lot to say about creating this image. I didnt even know she had this hat until I saw it in the cupboard. This is the result of ten seconds with the camera and half an hour with PhotoShop...

A.L.F.

This is another photo of my gorgeous godson.

The unusual angle was deliberately used to emphasise his eyes. Plus, because he has an X and Y chromosome his tongue is on display!

He is at that fabulous stage where, if you put him in one place, he is still there when you get back.
Post processed to remove the colouring apart from the eyes. Plus a small amount of vignetting and noise around the edges.

Maid Marion

Now that we are back in business again, I couldn't resist uploading a couple of pics of my daughter.

This pic shows her dressed up as Maid Marion trying to adjust the hair band.

Blue eyes is back

This pic was taken using my new lens when I was wondering what the depth of field would look like.

She was watching Scooby Doo at the time, so being picky about the pose wasn't an option!

Post processed into a Duotone, the depth of field was as it came out of the camera, plus I deliberately left the image contrasty.

Prisoner X

Its actually my other half that should take the credit for this photo. I was taking my son around a go-kart track and it was my daughters turn next Hence the jump suit and pensive expression.

Of course the photo had to be heavily 'shopped' to get it to a level that could be published, but I managed in the end. (With a considerable amount of back seat PhotoShop driving!)

Number 5

This building was on one of my randomised walking routes while on holiday. I loved the panel lines of the various patches that had been applied over the years.
The sun was setting in the background but was still far too bright to be captured by a single exposure. So I set the camera to auto bracket +-2 stops and fired away hand holding!

The image was then brought into PhotoShop and combined.

The Storyteller

This chap was both a brilliant storyteller and fantastic archer, and was entertaining the crowd using both his natural talents. I had great difficulty deciding which of the two I wanted to capture.
I decided in the end to show his ability to tell tales and caught one of his facial expressions as he told one of his gory stories. I used the long lens again (currently my favorite) to isolate him from the Major Oak tree behind him.

Little Squirt

Taken during a barbeque at a friends house, this little chap was very active with his water pistol. The "gun smoke" was actually from the BBQ that he was doing his best to extinguish!It was a very bright sunny day, so I used the garden flooring to provide the fill in lighting, and I used the 70-200mm to take this from a safe distance (i.e. out of the pistols range).

Pleading...?

Actually no... She had just had her nails painted pink for the first time and wanted to show them off!

I used my 70-200mm @ F2.8 from a fair distance away to throw the rest of the garden out of focus.

Pottery Lesson

This was taken during the Robin Hood festival. It shows my son being helped to create an as-yet-undefined pottery artifact by the chap on the left.

Try as I might to get the right angle on the shot I was hindered by onlookers who were oblivious to my shooting. I tried to find an angle that would show the pot too, but when I did, I lost their facial expressions.

The Apocathary

Although it may look I went on holiday to somewhere exotic, this chap was actually in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham!

He was selling Frankincense and Myrrh from a stall at a Robin Hood festival.

Shot using my 70-200mm at F2.8 and 1/160th.

I love the beard and medieval glasses. This guy really takes his business seriously.