Ferrari Engine
I took this picture last year when travelling back through Rome airport. In the Ferrari shop they had a Formula 1 engine on display and I started zooming in to create some unusual shots. This was taken at f/5.6 but I was close enough to the subject that it created the isolation of the component that I was looking for.
EXIF: Canon 1000D, ISO100, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60
Life’s a Beach
So, I was walking along Manly Beach with camera at the ready and watching out for people surfing that might make an interesting shot.
When I came across this surf rescue board carefully resting on it’s side with the waves in the background I felt this encapsulated all that was great about this place – safe and relaxing.
Manly Beach is a beautiful place and one where all your cares and worries melt away as soon as you step off the ferry. I thoroughly recommend it if you are visiting Sydney and if the choice is between Bondi or Manly then in my opinion there simply is no choice to be made.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 300mm, 0ev, f/10, 1/125
Sydney Harbour Bridge in Monochrome
I walked over the Sydney Harbour bridge at dusk and whilst I was primarily taking the normal tourist snaps I was also determined to get something a bit more interesting that showed the amazing engineering of this structure. I think the light has worked well on this shot but the sweeping arch converging to a point in the distance gives the picture an interesting perspective. The bridge is not an easy place to shoot as the constant vibration from the traffic needs to be managed, tripods won’t work so a deep breath whilst waiting for the moment of quiet is the way to go – especially at 1/30th.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 75mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/30
Sydney Opera House in Monochrome
I took so many pictures of the opera house and there are many that I like, but this close crop worked well and then I suddenly took it to monochrome and the detail in the surface came to life. I should use monochrome more often, note to self.
EXIF: Canon Powershot sx220 HS, ISO 1600, 5mm, 0ev, f/3.1, 1/25
Reflections in a Building
I saw this building catching the light and reflecting an adjacent building. I like the way the reflected image as distorted on the blue shaded glass. This was taken on my recent trip to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 75mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/125
Lloyds of London from Leadenhall Pl.
This shot was taken from the rear of the building, Leadenhall Place. Out of all the shots I took in the “Square Mile” of London the Lloyds Building is still the one fascinating me in terms of photographic impact.
At the moment the building is undergoing some refurbishment so much of it has scaffolding – although some would say it would be hard to notice.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 17mm, ev0, f/8, 1/500
Tower 42
The original name for Tower 42 was the National Westminster Tower, having been built to house the National Westminster Bank’s International Division.
The Tower is located at 25 Old Broad Street in the City of London. Opened in 1981 it was the tallest building in the United Kingdom until replaced by One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, in 1990. The title of tallest building will soon be taken by the Shard.
Today the building is home to multiple tenants and comprises office space and restaurants. Notably, Gary Rhodes has his Michelin starred Rhodes Twenty Four restaurant located not surprisingly on the 24th Floor.
I took this shot from what I thought was an interesting and unusual angle from directly below the building, this leaves off the the very distinctive top of the building but gives a different perspective to the iconic tower.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 53mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/640
Lloyds of London
I went into the City of London today to take pictures of some of the iconic architecture, specifically the newer office buildings. Lloyds Insurance building has a reputation as not being the prettiest of buildings but it sure is interesting.
The building was built between 1978 and 1986. It was considered innovative because the architect provided its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside. This left an uncluttered space inside but the impact of the building was not to everyone’s taste with Prince Charles famously referring to it as a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of an old friend”.
The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the UK.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 17mm, ev0, f/8, 1/100
Burnt Wood
This tree stump had been burnt and this emphasised the character of what was once the bark. I love how vivid the colours have worked on this, having tried a few black and white variants I am really pleased with the colour version.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 85mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/50
Tree Trunk
Long dead but an interesting tree trunk from my visit to the New Forest today. I try to avoid portrait orientation usually, no particular reason, but the shape said I had to go there on this one.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 85mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/60
Tree Roots, Part 2
This is a part of the tree root system shown earlier, roots grow in all sorts of interesting directions and are not often visible unless uprooted – as this tree was suddenly in a storm in the late eighties.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 75mm, 0ev, f/5.6,1/250
Tree Roots
These are the dried out roots of a fallen tree in the New Forest, Southern England. Many trees fell in storms twenty or more years back and I guess this was but one of them.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 73mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/40
Two Swans
It was as if I asked these two to pose for the camera, love the way they both look straight at me for this one.
Also the water droplets have been caught in the light nicely.
EXIF: ISO100|135mm|0ev|f7.1|1/500
Pesky Seagulls.
I saw these two seagulls sitting on a car park roof top. As I approached they stood up and started to cautiously look around. I took a number of shots but i like this one because of the shape they make and that each one is looking 180 degrees to the other, as if they are organised in their defensive posture.
EXIF:ISO100|135mm|0ev|f5.6|1/2000
Is This Love?
I feel fortunate to have captured this, I saw the two swans nuzzling each other and it started to look like a heart shape in the gap between them. I had the shutter on auto and took four or five frames with this one getting the picture I wanted.
Exif: ISO 100/135mm/0ev/f7.1/1250
Red Dinghy – Mudeford Quay
This Red Dinghy was moored close to the walkway at Mudeford Quay. It was early January so quite unusual for any boats to be on the water.
The Red, Blue and Green colours worked well here to give some impact and I used an ND8 filter which also helped with the contrast of the colours.
EXIF: 135mm, f36, 1/13, ISO 800
Red Arrows at Goodwood
I took this photo at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed. So I’ve had it a while but it suddenly caught my eye as I was browsing my picture library.
The Red Arrows are great to watch and have been photographed millions and millions of times and some great images captured. This may not be my best Red Arrow photograph but something about the smoke and the air burst made me want to share it tonight.
EXIF: ISO 100, 300mm, f/9, 1/640
St Paul’s Cathedral – iPhoneography
I took this photo from my favourite location for shooting St Pauls. The mirrored surfaces of the building are perfectly placed and on this day the clouds were helping me too.
This shot came from my iPhone 4, one day I must take my DSLR along to this location.
Golden Brown….
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining on her blonde hair, the tan was natural as was her smile.
I took this photograph in Rome, near to the Trevi Fountain.
By using a 300mm Focal Length on an APS sensor I was able to obtain sharp focus on the subject whilst isolating her from the background.
EXIF: ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/125
Improving Anglo Italian Relations
I saw these two pull up on their scooter whilst I was walking through Rome, I had my camera ready and took this shot as soon as I saw this intimate moment. It’s the crash helmets that make it for me, one with the English emblem and the other with the Italian emblem.
The shot was on ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/320 and aperture f5.6. The 300mm lens on a Canon APS camera allowed me to get a bit paparazzi in capturing the moment without being noticed. The long focal length also helped with the subject isolation by dropping the background well out of focus so that attention is firmly on the two subjects.
Lewis Thanking the Fans, British Grand Prix, 2011
How lucky was I to be invited to both qualifying and race day for the British Grand Prix in July? On Saturday Michael Schumacher came to speak to us and to top that Lewis Hamilton came and spent time with us on Sunday, before the race.
It was a fantastic day and I took some pictures that I really enjoy. Here are a few I want to share.
Lewis and the Doughnut. At the end of the race and on the wind down lap, Lewis pulled off the circuit at Stowe corner and executed a doughnut for the fans. Smoke from the tyres was much appreciated by the fans who recognised this as Lewis thanking them for their support. I was on continuous shooting both leading up to and through this move so I picked this one out as representing the height of the action.
Michael Schumacher, British Grand Prix 2011
Michael Schumacher – seven times world champion. I was always a Damon Hill fan so my feelings towards Michael have had to mellow with time. Really appreciated the time he spent talking with us and he really is a very nice guy.
Michael doing a "Personal Appearance" at the British Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton Sharing a Laugh at the British Grand Prix, 2011
This one is Lewis Hamilton speaking to us before the race. He was so relaxed, cracking jokes and making us all feel like this was not “just another contractual Personal Appearance”. Really topped the day off nicely for me.
Water, water, everywhere….
Slow Shutter image of a Waterfall
When I took this image i wasn’t expecting too much from it. I took a number of pictures with different shutter speeds and looking to capture differing flows of the water. I framed the picture very deliberately to get the angles working with the differing water cascades.
