What a difference a year makes …

So much going on in this new year already ~ My daughter has just this last weekend moved house and is still living from the boxes. Today my car will go in for its annual MOT, and my daughter and I will go and choose a new cooker for her new house.

My 365 project is nearing its end, and I have been venturing onto my bucket list of subjects to photograph, including water crowns, which until this month I had previously failed at. The secret? ~ lots of light ~ I bought a cool Nikon SB-910 speed light and it has made all the difference [now just to learn how to use it, other than just as a mounted flash!!]

Here are a few shots from my project this past month, I hope you enjoy them.

 

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Success after 11 months

Blue crown

Water drop

Water drops ~ The water Police’man

Water drops on a CD

Oil and water

Oil and water

Frozen water

Dew

I also played with fire

point of ignition

Green smoke

INVERTED SMOKE

Red smoke

And got some flower and daytime moon shots

Daytime moon

Valentines rose

Roadside Daffs

Roadside Daisy

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My full 365 project(to date)  can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

Project 365 … the last quarter

I have continued, sometimes in disbelief that I have come this far, with my photo a day project. I am now in the final quarter with only two and half months remaining.

A lot of my followers and those I follow have completed their project on December 31st, having started at the new year. I found it oddly sad to say goodbye to the people I ‘met’ and ‘shared’ in their daily life through photography and the project.. A new set of people are starting this year long (and sometimes longer, if they chose) project and so I will ‘meet’ new friends …

It has been a busy few months, Christmas has become a time for me to travel, and I go away ‘for a break’ … this year we went to Falmouth, Cornwall (again) ~ great Christmas indulgence grandchild free ~ although I do miss them for the 5 days I am away …

Here are some of the photos from my project for December ~ now the visiting / travels/ festive season is past for this/ last year ~ I will try and get back on track with my hometown project …

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Christmas Moose

Christmas Snowman

Bodmin Jail

Fairy at the bottom of the garden

Mousehole Cornwall

Geevor Tin Mine, Cornwall

Squirrel at Bodmin

Poinsettia

Boxing day moon at Falmouth

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My full 365 project(to date)  can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

My home town … #2 in the series

I have decided to try my hand at a mini series of photographs. My subject is to be my home town of Newport, South Wales UK. This, the second in the series is also two shots of the transporter bridge that featured in the first post.  I sent one of my original photos to the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge and they have now posted this on their web page ~ so excited

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The Newport Transporter Bridge crosses the River Usk in Newport, South Wales. It is a Grade I listed structure. Designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, it was built in 1906 and opened 12 September 1906. The span is an example of the very rare transporter bridge concept, of which only eight remain in use worldwide.

The bridge was shut down in 1985 because of wear and tear. Following a £3 million refurbishment, it reopened in 1995 and operated until late 2007. Service was suspended again at the end of 2007 in order to carry out a further £1.225 million refurbishment, re-opening on 30 July 2010.

The bridge was closed on 16 February 2011, because of operational problems, but re-opened again on 4 June. Today the bridge operates only during summer months and on a rota basis. It will re-open March 2013. There is an organisation Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge (FONTB) that are petitioning to get the bridge open all year round http://www.fontb.org.uk/index.htm

 

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

My home town … #1 in the series

I have decided to try my hand at a mini series of photographs. My subject is to be my home town of Newport, South Wales UK.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Newport Transporter Bridge crosses the River Usk in Newport, South Wales. It is a Grade I listed structure. Designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, it was built in 1906 and opened 12 September 1906. The span is an example of the very rare transporter bridge concept, of which only eight remain in use worldwide.

The bridge was shut down in 1985 because of wear and tear. Following a £3 million refurbishment, it reopened in 1995 and operated until late 2007. Service was suspended again at the end of 2007 in order to carry out a further £1.225 million refurbishment, re-opening on 30 July 2010.

The bridge was closed on 16 February 2011, because of operational problems, but re-opened again on 4 June. Today the bridge operates only during summer months and on a rota basis. It will re-open March 2013. There is an organisation Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge (FONTB) that are petitioning to get the bridge open all year round http://www.fontb.org.uk/index.htm

 

 

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mine / Extreme ironing

As much as I love the idea of extreme ironing and taking photos of my ironing at remote and the strangest of locations ~ this is as extreme as it gets for me ~ getting the iron out to use! ~ as it happens on this occasion the iron was out purely for a photo shoot and a challenge I was set for the theme my laundry; and whilst I use it as little as is humanly possible it is mine ~ so gets entered in this weeks photo challenge

For more info on extreme ironing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_ironing

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

Harvest Moon 2012

Taking place in September or October in the Northern Hemisphere, the Harvest Moon (the name for a full moon nearest the autumn equinox) rises early evening, usually at sunset.

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The first is a shot of the Harvest Moon above the town where I live. Taken with a 300mm lens and tripod

The second is using a telescope adapter, which automatically turns the image upside down. I have made this one black and white to enhance the details

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

Light swirls

I saw a technique on someone else’s 365 project today and decided to give it a go ~ light swirls.I still have a lot to learn, like how to create thicker light swirls and how to change the colours, but I am quite pleased with my first attempts ~ look out I am sure there will be more at a later date

These were created using photoshop following an online tutorial [not the most professional tutorial I have followed, but it gets the job done] … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UeXHN3DaNo

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I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

The Cloud Factory

I have been away on a canal narrow boat holiday for the past 2 weeks. I kept a journal and will be writing about our adventures soon, with lots of photos.

I just wanted to share one for now ~ we spent a few days, at 3-4 mph, with these cooling towers in view ~ we called them cloud factories because they looked just like they were producing the clouds above them

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

Piers

Something I found whilst out and about with the grandkids during the school holidays was how beautiful piers are. Here I have two shots of two lovely piers here in the UK. I hope to get many more in time.

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5 portrait shots stitched together. Only other edit was to add a layer in PS and chose multiply. The skies really were that dramatic and a thunderstorm soon followed. Cromer Pier Norfolk.

.This one had been HDR tonemapped in PS from a single jpeg. Weston Super Mare Pier, Near Bristol

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365

White on white Photos

I have been challenged for my 365 project to photograph white on white.

Something I had never thought of doing ~ but have had fun trying this new technique. Here are the first three I tried.

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SOOC candles in the light box

My lamps failed tonight, so this one I edited to remove some unwanted shadows and make the white whiter

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Some beads that really are whiter than they appear

I hope you enjoy looking at my photos and come back soon.

My 365 project can be viewed here http://365project.org/alisonp/365