Quick post to illustrate where/what Swiftcurrent is to friends asking about our daughter's name, and to explain absence to Flickr contacts. Colour version.
Born 29.5.11 (all prime numbers, you note) @ 22:10 GMT. Weighs in 8lb 10oz.
As with the Gondola In 60 Seconds shot below, I'm pleased and somewhat amazed that Love At First Light is doing a quick rotation on Flickr's homepage. All exciting stuff, however long or short lived the spotlight is for. It's pushed it over 25,000 views, which is crazy for an image shot on a whim with six year old gear just a few hundreds yards from home.
Thanks to everyone whose views/comments/favs/galleries helped get it there!
This is one of two images currently doing a spin on Flickr's new hompage - it surfaces a two or three times a day in the Explore thumbnail section. I'm not sure how long it will last, but thanks to everyone whose initial interest led to its inclusion.
One more of the old APS film scans from a decade back when we were living in China. Another one which could have done with a slightly better composition to take advantage of the mad chemical fish. I have no idea if they are natural. The same market was selling luminous green and pink chicks - so I am certain there's something unsettlingly fabricated about these chaps.
The colours are as shot, bar the print/scan element of the process. I looked at playing with vibrance/saturation, but it wasn't needed and the image was so degraded that the pixels wouldn't tolerate tweaks. Really strange beasts - if anyone knows what they are, please drop me a note. I'd be really interested to know.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
First off, it's been a long week and I've been catching up slowly - so apologies if you haven't seen much of me. Hopefully you've seen some of me; I've tried to get round everyone!
This is an old scan of one of my APS film shots. It's a lot messier in terms of composition and clutter than I'd normally accept, but I liked the character of it. It somehow fits Harbin though - all chaos and clutter and people staring bored at the mad as if it were the mundane. There's another one or two from this series I'd like to post too, and this is a neat scene setter.
We spent a year in Harbin in 2000-2001 as English teachers. An incredible place and an experience I'd recommend to anyone.
Hope everyone has had a wonderful week and is looking forward to a cracking weekend!
Very busy at work currently, so, without time to download and process recent shots I'm catching up with some "similars" from series shot over the last few months.
This is from my series last autumn in Venice, caught in heavy rain with a 300D and a 50mm f/1.8. There's plenty technically wrong with the images - soft focus, flare, etc. - but they came out so atmospherically in black and white that I'm keen to get back and shoot some more. Next time I'm in Venice, and I hope it is soon, I will be praying for rain.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!
This is the third shot posted from a series back at the start of the New Year. The most similar from that series is in the comments below, linking back to notes on the when and where.
Generally I wouldn't post two so similar, but a few months have passed and this one still appeals. It isn't so outrageous an image, but there's a natural class about it that I keep returning to. So here it is.
I've got this location in mind for some light painting soon, but it's a little scary at night even with an imaginary dog). Last time I was down here at night, my flashlight chanced upon a couple of flip flops perfectly placed on a rock, way out at sea. With the moaning of the wind it sent a pretty horrific chill up my spine.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
A quick imperfect posting to inject some colour into my photostream ahead of some winter images.
There are many nicer versions of this kind of picture already on Flickr, but this one is mine! Powder paint in a Venetian shop window, shot low light and handheld - so an enforced DOF choice. This version is pretty much as shot, though I did have a lot of fun playing with the white balance to create improbable palettes of colours, all undone before posting.
It seemed to be bought by weight from this pick and mix style display, which was rather fun.
Snow, freezing fog and huddled forms at Leeds Castle today. Not the classic view, but one I like nonetheless! Nice on black.
Hope everyone is very well and having a great countdown to Christmas.
Cropped shot from a visit to the zoo to continue a brief wildlife theme. They have a wonderful, walk-through lemur exhibit at Blackpool zoo, which allows you to get up close to these super characters.
Does anyone know why lemurs aren't widespread pets? Maybe too mischievous or clever or intrinsically wild? If someone knows for sure, I'd be very interested in finding out.
I do know how they're named, assuming my grandmother could be trusted, which is moot. In Madagascar people believed that Lemurs were the spirits of the dead. Lemures being latin for ancestral ghosts, Europeans named them thus. They also played a big role in the discovery of continental drift. Which you might not have suspected.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and look forward to catching up.
First picture to be processed on my return from Venice. Lots of these shots - mostly at a much higher tide with waves sweeping in at my feet. I'd imagine more will make it online in due course. This one got the nod for first posting as I liked the lighting and reflection best.
It's the view out from just along from St Marks towards Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, on which sits a church of the same name which is often mistaken for the main Campanile tower on St Mark's square itself.
This image is actually a composite of two - one lefthand, one righthand, manually blended in Photoshop 7.0 along the dividing line/pole noted above. The mix of spray and boat positions, combined with the lack of viewfinder, made it a little hard to ensure the gondolas' fantastic prows did not overlap with the poles. The "bulge" shown in the note above is unfortunate as it implies lax PS work - in fact it is forcola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B3rcola) used to hold the oar, so the gap is quite natural!
Hope everyone is fantastically well and enjoying the week.
If you are looking at this photo, thank you! I know the thumbnail, which clips the geese, looks about as banal and flat as a pebble dash conference in Scunthorpe. So thank you for clicking through regardless.
Please do view on black!
Quick shot from this morning's wander in the snow and ice. A very foggy morning, so it's taken with the old 18-200mm Sigma lens - fortunately the misty atmosphere meant nothing doesn't resent it's softness! All ice in this shot, with a thin sheen of water which, in the stillness of the fog, created some lovely reflections.
For those few interested, the boat house is indeed the same one as in www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/5184896770/, shown from the other side this time.
Hope you're all having a great weekend.
Close-up of one of Rodin's first cast Burghers of Calais, taken in front of Hotel de Ville in the town itself where they stand.
Full information about the sculpture and the grimly intriguing events they commemorate can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burghers_of_Calais.
