And Now For Something Entirely Different

I have been working on many new projects as of late.  When I say that, I really just mean I've been spending more of my "photography time" trying to make money off of my work versus creating more of it.  Though monetary profit is never my end-goal, it sure is a great perk to something that is nothing more than a hobby.  So yeah, I've been doing a bunch of craft fairs (the summer is great for that) and more galleries (both on and offline) trying to get my work out there and noticed.

But I have also been trying some other photographic ventures.  I have been doing more with videography and the stitching of individual photos into one video (time-lapse photography/videography).  It allows me to create a photographic timeline of sorts and is almost more journalistic in its final format.

So I guess what I'm really saying is...go check out my new photographic ventures on youtube.  Both of them...

one of them

and the other

Kayaks, Treeffiti and the Obligatory Birds

An early morning walk along the River Lagan took us past this guy...

He looks like he's about to kayak into nothingness.

...and then past a few obligatory (since it's national bird-feeding month) birds...

A Moorhen.  These birds are nearly impossible to get a good picture of.  Not only because they hate people, but more so because at any given second, their heads are bobbing in a new direction.

A Bullfinch.  Both male and female in the first picture.  None of these shots are exceptional.  My remedy...multiple shots.

The last place our morning stroll took us to was this...

...A fallen tree that had many a political and social message carved into it.  I (may have) coined the term Treeffiti a while back..I feel this is an appropriate place to use it.  The carving on this side reads "Even the business men don't do business anymore"

This part of the trunk mentioned something about a guillotine.

and this part: "Too long not enough blood n' bones".

Through The Viewfinder And Into The Greenhouse

Yesterday's greenhouse made it into today's photography as well.  This time with the addition of a Kodak Duaflex, allowing me to get a nice TTV shot.  The greenhouse can be found in Belfast's Botanic Garden.

I appear to not only be on a black and white kick, but also a greenhouse kick.  Worry not, I'm sure I'll beat at least one of those habits tomorrow.

Windows to the Soul and Whatnot

I said it fairly recently, I try not to limit myself to certain photographic subjects or styles... I will shoot pretty much anything and will at least give other styles a chance.  So even though this style isn't my favorite style, nor is it a style I would ever do too much with, it's nice to know I am able to create something within the confines of it and get a result that I am fairly pleased with...

Deconstructing A Bicycle: Rims and Spokes

I spent a good portion of today ripping a tire off of my dying bike's wheel.  It was much more difficult than it should have been.  The exposed rim and loosely hanging spokes had a lot of character as a whole, stopping me from doing some close up/macro shots (which was my initial intention). 

Like an Eye

...staring you down from the edge of a table. 

 Relaxing In The Corner

As a child, I would have had just as much fun with this piece of a bicycle as I would have had with the full thing.

And Finally...Today's Photo

I have a broken bicycle in my shed.  It is beyond repair.  Instead of tossing it, I decided to harvest certain parts for a new photo project.  The project is called "Deconstructing a Bicycle." It is basically what it sounds like...I will be taking photos of pieces of the bicycle as I take it apart.

Bicycle Chain

The first part I removed was the chain.  I don't know if I will use the isolation style for all the photos, but it worked well for this one...so we shall see.

After the Rain (and an addition)

[EDIT] My wife and I went on a rather nice walk this evening.  We were walking past a little river, when we were attacked by a flock (or whatever you'd call a large amount of..) dragonflies.  I have never seen dragonflies like this...the color and body looked normal, but they flew in the strangest way.  Basically, they would beat their wings once or twice, which would cause them to rise just a little, then they would start to drop, and only after they dropped a few inches would they beat their wings again.  Now mind you, they were beating their wings every second, its not like it was at a 10 second interval or something, but normally they are beating their wings a bunch of times in a second.  Not just once.  Anyone know what kind of dragonfly this is?

When Dragons Fly

These are probably the most lethargic bugs I've ever seen.  Someone, anyone, please tell me what kind it is.  

It rained this morning.  Not too heavily, but it definitely rained.  When I walked out this morning, I was bombarded with buds and petals covered in the aftermath of the rain.  Droplets.  Even though I'm not too huge on flower photography, I have a hard time not shooting the little pearls of water that end up resting on their petals.

The Stamen and the Petal

The stamen, as well as the petal's edge remind me of some sea creature.  The way the droplets are lined up on the edge make it look like a tentacle of sorts.

 

Black Hole

This flower, surrounded by darkness, reminds me of a black hole.  The reflecting rain drops make for decent stars, trapped within the event horizon.

Silhouettes of Four

I was amazed by my brother's girlfriend the other day.  We were driving around, and she kept going on and on about how beautiful the countryside is.  I live in a beautiful area, so that reaction on its own doesn't warrant my amazement.  What does warrant it is the fact that she is from an area that I find ridiculously beautiful.  I wouldn't have thought she could be so taken by the countryside...but she was...so I decided to look around today and realize just how much I'm taking for granted. 

Country Roads...

It's not like I disregard the beauty of where I live...not at all...I'm always out photographing it (I must find something about it tolerable).  She just helped me see that even if you are from a gorgeous area, that doesn't stop other places from being awe-inspiring, nor should you let it.

The Elusive Letter

Here is the next letter for my Urban Alphabet.  The K.  You'd think the K would be an easy one...or at least I did.  Bars and pipes and wires are always going at each other in angles...that should make it awfully easy to find a K.  Apparently those angles are never the degrees I want them to be.  I have been hunting down a K for weeks now.  I finally found it today in a lumber yard roof.  Not the best K, but I don't think I can continue to look for Ks...it would drive me insane.  Now that I found it, though, I'm sure they will start popping up everywhere.

K is for Killing me slowly with a game of hide and seek that takes a few weeks to play

"I found you!...but I must say, best hiding place ever!" 

 Urban Alphabet

It's coming along nicely...anyone have a name that is comprised of the first eleven letters of the alphabet?

From The Inside Looking Out

I found myself behind a bolted and locked gate today.  What was strange was that if I wanted to be on the other side, I could walk thirty feet around a corner and I'd be there.  It seemed kind of useless.

Locked In

There's no way you are getting out/in...unless you are mobile.

A Camera At Night

My wife and I were walking home through town at a late hour.  Things always look so different at night.  I decided to capture those differences.

Stairs at Night

The shadows are creeping up these old steps.

Alleys at Night

The graininess adds something to the photo.  Profound statement right there...it's late.

Pepper Grayscale Study

Three delicious sweet peppers.  A yellow, an orange, and a red.
Once these three peppers were converted to the grayscale, where they fall on the scale becomes visible.  The red, the one all the way to the left is much farther from the orange (middle) then the orange is from the yellow (right).  Also, I would have thought that yellow would have been closer to absolute white than orange is.  Unless my photograph didn't convert properly, or the lighting ruined something, I was wrong, and orange is actually closer.

Pepper Grayscale Study
I wonder if we would be as inclined to eat fruits and vegetables if they were just shades of gray.  

Meandering

I've been spending my free time preparing for my upcoming art show.  It is drawing nearer and nearer and I keep thinking of things I need to do for it.  This meant that it was awhile before I picked up my camera to consider today's photo.  It was dark by the time I finally did, but thought that maybe some night shots might turn out decently.  And so I went outside and meandered.

Follow the Stars

I didn't use a star filter on this shot.  Apparently a long exposure will result in starry lights.  I like the path that the three lights create.

Stoplight Shingles

A nearby stoplight caused a wall of shingles to light up.  I didn't really like this photo too much but my wife seemed to.  It reminds me of a peacock's tail.

Commisioning a Symphony of Mandolins

I was commissioned to create a canvas print of a mandolin.  I don't have the beautiful mandolin that will be used for the final photo, but I do own one.  I used mine as a stand-in, hoping that I could get a good understanding of the curves and lines and how best to work with them.  Here is the first attempt.  Hopefully the purchaser finds it suitable for just that - a first attempt.

The Lines and Contours of a Mandolin

The way the curving accented sides of the mandolin end in darkness makes it appear that the darkness and the mandolin are one and the same.

For Friday, the 8th of April

I was horrified on Friday.  We went camping and I didn't have much time to take my daily picture what with getting there late in the evening and getting everything set up.  When I finally had a minute to put towards it, I took an easy route.  We weren't really camping...my family had all got a trailer in the middle of the woods...and there was a basket of fake flowers in one of the rooms.  I decided that I'd try a simple isolation shot of some of the flowers.  I aimed, focused, and clicked.  The camera fired away, and then a big "NO CARD" message showed up!  Argh! I forgot my memory card at home.  I got pretty annoyed because I knew there would be many good photo opportunities on Saturday, and now I'd have to run back home in the morning to get my cards.  Next morning I woke up and laughed at myself.  Even though the memory card was at home, I had my whole camera bag with me and had about another 30 gigs of cards in the bag.  ugh.  So I grabbed one, loaded it and shot Friday's photo just as I would have on Friday.

Isolated Flowers

I wanted a very minimalist approach to this isolated shot.  The black and white definitely helps with that, it also makes these fake flowers look a little better.  A little.