SOOC Version of Sodium On Ice, Rickmansworth

Snow White (Apple & Bokeh In Naschmarkt), Vienna

Snow White (Apple & Bokeh In Naschmarkt), Vienna, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

Another pair I had trouble choosing between. Seen large on black the main image wins through, I think - the main apple is much sharper and better isolated in its own little plane of focus (I moved several apples between shots). In the shot below there's an extra stalk and an in focus base of an apple which kind of distract. The bokeh are twice the size too in the main one, thanks to the harder zoom.

It's a night shot - f/4.5 and ISO 400 giving a nice exposure thanks to the market lights. It's a handheld shot, with the IS doing a super job, in my opinion, of keeping the apple sharp; it was taken handheld at 1/15. I only have a handful of (working) lens, and this (24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM) is the only one with IS. As I understand it the version on that lens is a little behind the curve, so new releases will offer an extra one or two stops of "handholdability" - which is remarkable.

If you have the time to see it in lightbox, I'd recommend it, and also a quick look at the one below which offers a nicer blue sky and a little extra detail in the chalk and a girl shopping.

As to the title, I hope it's not too obscure. The apple just had a landmine look to it, hiding sharp amongst the blur, waiting to do someone a mischief, and the bokeh and painterly feel of the bokeh set a kind of fairy tale mood.

I do enjoy the contrast with www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/5217086663/in/photos... taken a few minutes earlier. Hope everyone is having a super week so far.

See Snow White (Apple & Bokeh In Naschmarkt), Vienna on Flickr.

London Night Bus, Whitehall

London Night Bus, Whitehall, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

First shot from a night series in and around Trafalgar Square. I nearly lost a hand to frostbite taking this; autumn has turned to winter. This is actually a composite - like www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/5121844152/ - of my favourite takes from the left and right hand sides of the road.

There's a traffic island at the head of Whitehall where you can set up looking down towards Big Ben. As the traffic is often stopped at the lights, there are awkward moments when 10-20 cars are all parked glaring at you, thinking the camera is pointed at them alone. I was worried some MP would leap out of his mistress's Saab to threaten arrest on Terror charges. I spent most of my time therefore avoiding eye-contact, looking over my left shoulder for the buses to come.

Hope everyone is very well and enjoying the end of the week.

See London Night Bus, Whitehall on Flickr.

Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice

Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

You say "bokeh", I say "water damage". This was shot in rain using our hotel bathmat as a tripod and makeshift camera cover. Bathmats make better tripods than you'd imagine, as it turns out.

Although shot with a weatherproof lens (always worried about the fact Canon commit to nothing numerical by way of definition in this regard), my six year old 300D definitely isn't. Half-covered in the bathmat, half-sheltered by my leaning hooded form, it survived. I'm delighted by it's longevity - probably 100,000+ shutter actuations and lots of knocks along the way.

What it doesn't do so well is noise control, however. This shot was a wretched thing to clean, and this posted version remains a bit ropey even after an hour or so in LR3 and PS7.0 tidying it up. The white balance was a nightmare too, with no result I was ever entirely happy with. I settled on this one, married with a not insignificant desaturation. Otherwise, I used PS to lessen the distortion of the buildings (exacerbated by the lean-inducing bathmat) and LR to bring that church tower back (somewhat) from the shadows of the sky.

Just for pedants - you're right - it's not a gondola. Sadly I couldn't think of a punning film title with "vaporetto" in the title. It is 60 seconds though.

See Gondola in 60 Seconds on Flickr.