It’s been a busy old weekend full of previously avoided household chores and beer making. Alex has been playing on Google Earth with his Google Earth book and his explorations have centred mainly around Paris, due to his continuing fascination with the Eiffel Tower. Since I have very little time, impetus or energy to write reams on any particular subject, herewith a quota photo from the day he and I spent in Paris earlier this year.
There are, as ever, more here.
I’ve said before that taking good photos in Cape Town really isn’t difficult. And I also mentioned that the standards are therefore raised; that to be exceptional, your pictures have to be… well… exceptional. For me, Stanage Edge near Sheffield also falls into that category. The place is so picturesque, the views so outstanding, that you could just point and shoot and get something decent.
Like I did in November 2010:
Nice. But not exceptional. (In my defence, it was too cold to hold my camera and there was about 120kg of Rottweiler pulling me precariously close to the cliff edge while I was trying to paint with light). But it seems that Mat Robinson didn’t have ice or dog issues and thus, the photos on his blog should be appreciated. They’ve gone beyond “good”, beyond “nice” – they’re exceptional:
There’s lots more where that came from – just click the link above. Or visit his Flickr, for fewer words.
Another Other People’s Photos post.
It was a few (ten) days ago when I spotted some twitpics by Sheffielder @arepeejee taken while he was at the top of Sheffield University’s Arts Tower. (You may remember him from such blog posts as Better by tomorrow and What were the skies like when you were young?.)
Anyway, at the time, he promised that there would more to come from his “big camera”; and he wasn’t lying.
I love the architectural congestion in the foreground of this panorama, especially when it’s juxtaposed with the freedom of the blue sky beyond. And there are loads of other great photos to enjoy including two great panoramas here & here, some tiny trams here and what’s left of the hospital I was born in here.
All in all a bit of a tear-jerking reminder of my hometown.
Do take the time to go an persue the rest of his flickr stream.
Credit: Thanks to arepeegee for permission to use this photos.
You know I like long exposure photographs. Well, I am going to try this.
I am going to try this. I am going to try this. I am going to try this.
Seriously, I am going to try this. That’s because I’ve been meaning to try this for ages (like I did with the ginger beer and that worked out ok) and now that summer is on the way, I am going to try this. Really.
I can only hope that my results are even half as good as CJ Wormwell‘s though.
Nice on white, maybe, but MUCH, MUCH BETTER ON BLACK (and then click fullscreen for the full effect).
I’m pretty sure that’s the beach in Ramsey in the Isle of Man, not that it really matters. You can see his other wire wool photos here.
And should you feel the need to have a go too, here’s a decent tutorial on how to go about it.
Photo credit: Many thanks to Chris for his permission to use his photo.
A day dominated by buying a car (a really awesome car that cost way too much money) and saying goodbye to my runabout of the last 8 years. I shall miss him. That said, the new car is bigger, better and has (amongst other features) a camera on the back to assist with reversing. The image from the camera pops up on the rear view mirror which is a little bit unnecessary, but is also ridiculously cool and the kids want to see it all the time. Sadly, they don’t realise that I have to put the car into reverse for it to activate and that this is not an option at 100kph (forwards) on the M3.
A day also dominated by football. I only managed to catch one match (well, so far anyway, he said, eagerly eyeing the La Liga fixtures of the evening ahead), but what a match: Man City 3-2 Southampton. Oh, how I missed the beautiful game over the winter. And oh, how my wife’s TV watching is going to be sharply curtailed during the upcoming months.
Finally, as promised yesterday, getting the photos from our trip up Table Mountain up onto Flickr.
Yes, lots of touristy photos, but I seem to have some unwritten duty to promote Cape Town. Not that it needs my help on days like yesterday. It was absolutely stunning up on top of the big flat rock…