Shooting with an extremely wide-angle lens really does help to add drama to a scene, without it I wouldn't have been able to get so much of the cloud into the scene and the reflection it produced.
For this picture I had a perfect reflection lined up and was just waiting to shoot at the right moment and then along came a boat. I decided to use the ripples it created to my advantage, the distortion in the reflection added some life to the picture that I think it needed.

Just to show the variety of conditions near sunset and why such low light is ideal for photography, here is another photo taken the same day as the photo below. I just loved the light shimmering down the beach, and hoped that when the tide came in that the light would hit the water. Patience was required but also, because I had forgotten my wellies, being able to put up with wet cold feet for an hour and a half! This should add well to my coastal library.

Coastal Sunset

The sunset last night was something special to witness, although the colours in this photograph I managed to capture didn't stay around for too long. As ever with a sunset there is usually only a couple of minutes (sometimes seconds) to capture the moment, after waiting around for a good hour or so and thinking about taking a long walk back to the car this happened. As I was on a beach with very little other than miles of sand it was very hard to create a bit of foreground interest, I resisted the urge for the cheesy foreground driftwood, and concentrated on making the reflection and wave movement enough to make up for the lack of foreground, and I'm satisfied with the result. The sunset was glorious and goes to show that you just never know. In the background is lindisfarne castle and although it was the intended subject of the picture I had to change my mind quickly as the position of the sun demanded a wider angle. This kind of picture will work really well as a larger canvas print to bring out the castle in the background.

The thing I love about digital photography is the creativity it allows you. This photo came about as a result of me thinking about trying something different for sports photography. Inspired by a photo I saw of a motorbike jumping the length of a football pitch, I decided to go about trying to photograph the flight of the ball. The tough part of this picture was stitching it together afterwards as it had to be done manually. Overall I'm pleased with the result and will be looking to improve on this for future sports photography - maybe I will and try and blend in the movement of the bowler.

Being injured has its advantages. Being able to watch a match instead of play meant I was able to get behind the camera and take some photos for Tynedale cricket club's website. With light not great, I had to use high ISO just to maintain a fast shutter speed, but this has allowed me to catch the ball spinning with the seam in the perfect position. Sports photography can have its frustrations though, I missed the next ball which happened to be a wicket!

Hot Summer's Day

Being one of the hottest days of the year yesterday I decided it was best to be out and about. Eventhough these conditions aren't ideal for landscape photography I'm pleased with the overall result of this, the primary colours really contrast sharply against each other. This should come out well as a decorative piece of landscape photography on canvas.

Just a quick one to say welcome to my blog where you'll be able to see all the latest photo's and any news events involving myself and Roger.