Rock Pool...

Canon 400D,10-20mm, f22,1/5',ISO100

Taken whilst on a trip to weston-super-mare at about 0500. The idea  was to capture the movement of the sea, but without a ND filter I had to resort to an early morning and hoping for the best. The lens was borrowed from a friend so I kept my distance from splashing sea water and focused on a small rock pool with  the tide running in either sides. I tried my best to capture the contrast between the sea and rocks. The longer exposure help in that respect. I also manage to retain the horizon line without it being blown out.

So over all, a ND filter would have been ideal, however I happy with the result. A blue tint was added in post processing to add a feel of the location.

Asking Hands...

Canon 400D,28-135mm,f8,1/5',ISO100

After being inspired by some low light photography images, I thought I'd try some myself. The idea was to bring out the texture in the hands (mine actually) and a begging style would work best as I actually wanted to add some grain to the image and I thought that this pose as apposed to a praying pose would benefit best.

It was taken on self timer with my hands on a dark blanket and then lit by a single light (an LED bike light with a toilet roll snout). I like the way that it's really brought out the detail in the hands and adds to the feeling of "need" to the image with a nice balance of highlighted and hidden details. It's definitely a technique I'd use again.

A River Runs...

Canon 400D,10-20mm,f22,5',ISO100

I found this stream by accident, after looking at a small pond that I saw on "Google Earth", I heard running water and followed the river down until I came across this bridge. Thinking that the bridge would make a nice frame around the running water, added to that the rocks which break up the flow nicely. I set my tripod as close to the river as possible. I used the river bank as a leading line up towards the bridge and left enough head room above the bridge to add some interest as to the destination. 

All that and I only ended up with one wet foot, when getting as close to the river as possible ended up as getting as close with one foot in the river (maybe I should buy some wellies).

Broken Jetty...

Canon 400D,10-20mm,f22,1/60,ISO100

Taken earlier this evening at a local lake, I've been to this location before but only at dawn. However as this was a evening shot the light lit up the jetties with some great soft light. As you can see the jetty has seen better days, but it was the broken sign that really drew my attention and serves as a interesting foreground subject. The colour version was quite nice with some nice warm tones on the decking, however I prefer the mono version as it adds more drama (if you can call it that).

#52

Canon 400D,28-135mm,f8,1/200,ISO400

I decided to take some advice from a book and find a single subject matter of which to base you pictures around whilst out and about. Well I took an easy one and decided on "wood". After the obvious fence lines and wooden sheds were taken care of, I came across some old railway sleepers. This one had a "52" nail in it. It's amazing what you find when you take a closer look.

The Beast...

Canon 400D,28-135mm,f11,1',ISO100

Tried my luck with car photography, and I must say that working with such a reflective subject does cause quite a lot of problems. This was taken at dawn, the original idea was to use the reflection of the sunrise in the panel work as contrast betwen the black car and the dawn sky. However the sunrise never came and thus a mono version seemed the best alternative.

Now I know it's not an Aston Martin but if you can make a Twingo look half decent then the techniques must be working.

Swan Lake...

Canon 400D,28-135mm,f5.6,1/10,ISO100

It was the reflection that first drew me to take this image. Again the straight vertical lines with the contrasting smooth shape of the swan really make the image more appealing. Composition wise the water line and the swan both sit on a 3rd line, with  makes for a good image (however I don't always like to follow the rules of thirds).

Taken at a local lake just before midday, the light was good and the water was calm, couldn't really ask for more.