Blogger photo uploader...

... is giving me a headache. And I've been on the help pages which have shown that loads of people are having problems with the new updated photo uploader (it's taking up to 20 mins to upload one photo) I've changed my settings to use the old uploader, but it's gone back to the old, old uploader which was difficult to use and I've had enough !

So I shall try again tomorrow

Uh - oh

I've just received my "Congratulations, you are in next year's London Marathon" magazine !  I actually knew that I had a place, as I'd deferred my place from this year's race, but I'm still excited :-)

Training, training and more training now I guess.......

Plan B

I have decided that I am going to leap to the next section, "Colour", in order that I can get my next assignment off to the tutor nearly on time.  I have made a note of the projects I need to return to once the assignment is sent off, and in fairness, I have already shot some of the images and I have ideas written down for many of the others.  I just feel, as well, that I am going a bit "stale" by keep coming back to the same section and if I can start something new it should hold my interest a bit more.

So I'm putting the kettle on and curling up on the couch to read all about Colour :-)

Ok.....

.....that's a bit better.  I have had a look ahead and I have to shoot for real and implied triangles (need a few props and some co-operation from one of my sons), circles (will take some thought for the implied circles), and then rhythms and patterns and finally applying the elements of design for which I have some idea what I am doing (i think).

And then I can give my full concentration to Colour (that's the one I'm looking forward to) in order to try and get Assignment 2 off to my tutor.

I had a look at one of my first blog posts which listed my aims for this course.  The first aim was to enjoy it and the last aim was to push myself.  Hmmmmmmmmm

Project 25 - Rectangles

For this project I had to produce three images that contained rectangles. 

This is of my back doors which are quite obviously rectangular glass within rectangular frames.  I particularly like the repetition of the rectangles in the bricks below the doors.

This is from a pile of breeze blocks from a building site near me.  I like that the stacking means that the rectangles are both horizontal and vertical.

                                       

This is the end of a stack of wooden planks in our garden.  I like the circles enclosed within the rectangular shape of the cut wood.

I liked this project and am enjoying looking at shapes within my images. 

Project 24 - Shapes

For this project I had to produce two images of objects with simple outlines,that stress the shape.

Initially I decided to photograph an egg against a plain background.  The egg is smooth and the oval shape is clearly defined.  I like the idea, but the lighting is uneven and I wasn't able to correct this with a reflector.

                                      

So I took a photo of one of my son's footballs which shows the round shape perfectly well.  The oval shape I was trying to capture with the egg is a sub-division of the circle.

                                        

This is a simple picture of my son's hobby shed.  The simple outline is clearly a rectangle, as is the roof from this plane, just angled.

Project 22 - Curves

For this project I had to produce 4 images which show curves.

 This is an image of the field next to us.  The farmer has just cut the hay and it is lying on the field.  This is the corner of the field and the hay shows the curve of the bend that the cutter took.  The sweep of the curve leads the eye across the photo.

This is my son doing son messing around.  As he leans backwards into his walkover, his body is making a curve.  There is a real sense of movement in this image, and I have left enough space at the side for him to continue his action.

This is detail from two spider webs in my garden.  Because of the low sunlight it was proving difficult to get a good shot of a complete web, so I decided to concentrate on the part of the web that was in good light, and managed to find these two webs next to each other.  These curves are made up from straight lines, but the overall effect is of a curve.  Again the eye is led around the web by the curve.

This is a Michaelmas daisy in my garden.  I have cropped the image to accentuate the curve made by the shape of the flower.  I like that the curve is made by the petals which in turn are curved at their tips.  I also like the depth of this image created by the shallow depth of field and the plain dark background.

Note for self

return to.....


project 18 - relationship between points
project 19 - multiple points
project 23 - implied lines
project 26 - real and implied triangles (real triangle already shot)
project 27 - real and implied circles
project 28 - rhythms and patterns
project 29 - applying the elements of design (detailed notes of ideas in folder)

Problems.....

Things are all going a bit pear shaped at the mo, and I am beginning to have a little panic about this course which was NOT the idea when I began it.  But this morning I found myself waking up early and having a little stressy moment about it.  The final straw was last weekend when I took my camera out specifically to get a picture of all the bales in a large field near us.  Beautiful day, lovely fluffy clouds in the sky, and my camera died after one shot.  I couldn't set the aperture at all.  I changed the shooting mode,  turned it off, took out the battery and even swore, but all my attempts failed.  I got it home and fiddled some more with it, and now I am the proud owner of a camera with an intermittent and unpredictable fault.  I am also the proud owner of a car with an intermittent and unpredictable fault. 

Not the end of the world, I know.  But it's annoying and a bit unsettling when I'm planning to shoot something or somewhere and I'm not sure if it'll work.  So I'm saving up my pennies for a new camera, but I don't think I'll have the money til next year.  Patience is not one of my strong points.......

Oh my .......

.... I daren't even look and see when my last post was !

However, we have had a lovely summer holiday-time, with a week at Center Parcs and a week at my parents' house.  I also took the charity fund-raiser photos at the stables where my son rides.  The idea is that I take photos at the rehearsal and dress rehearsal of their panto and get them printed up, and then they are sold at £1 each at the charity day at the end of the summer. 

And now I have the builders in again - replacing the fascias on the house - which means that it's difficult to get out to take photos, or even to get organised enough to work on them.  But my second assignment has to be in this month, so I'll have to get down to it.

But first, a cup of coffee I think.....