Moving through midweek

Greetings, its midweek

I sincerely hope you are having a great week?!

If communication is about sending out a message and someone receiving it...

...then surely a photograph is a great way to communicate. I find that I spend more time immersed in photographs than my other family members and that’s understandable as photography is my passion. When I ask them about this image or that one I don’t see as much interest as I hope for. So I have taken to dabbling in ‘High Dynamic Range’ (HDR), which demonstrates the dynamic range of light between light and dark. The finished photograph definitely then takes on a more dynamic and vibrant feel at times which seems to garner a little more attention.

Adding a description or comment to an image often provides greater context to the photographic message. On many occasions it’s also fine to simply put the picture out there and let folk observe the image, let them construct their own story and derive their own personal message from it.

Here is one that depicts life and dynamic movement for me.

I hope you like some of my new stills on the HDR page and trust you are constructing great mental stories for the rest of your week.

Cheers Dave

Saturday salutations!

I’d like to say THANK YOU to all those visitors who have stopped in at my site.

In 2 short weeks the site has passed 1000 views.

I name some of the countries from where you have visited from:

UK, USA, China, Russia, France, Austria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan,  Australia, Netherlands, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Japan, Germany, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Kenya, Poland, Argentina, Switzerland and sunny South Africa...

...and so to mark the 1000 visitor milestone, I set a challenge and dare you to send me a picture of someone or something you consider to be beautiful and explain why (email on contact page). I’ll post the top image or image with your words.

To start off, I took this picture of a dear friend of mine’s (Stacey) pets.  It reminds me that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. These two feel and look beautiful. I for one found them both adorable.

Happy Saturday

Dave

Making hay while the sun shines!

Greetings from sunny Berkshire in the UK,
Today has been a wonderfully warm and generous day.
Hell... there's a saying as we all know, 'make hay while the sunshines'.
That's precisely what I did and combined all of my passions, cycling, outdoors, photography and time with my boys.
We set off for a late afternoon cycle and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the countryside.

I trust you are taking advantage of opportunities as they arise?!
Here's to making hay while the sun shines.
Best regards
Dave

Summer arrived with a bang!

Greetings readers

Firstly I like to thank those following my blog and especially those that have taken the time out to leave a comment. And then I am delighted to know that folk from as far as the US, SA, Russia, Australia, Thailand, UAE, Canada, Paraguay and various Europe countries are visiting the site to view my images.  

Well the last few weeks have been exceptionally hot in the UK. They say be careful what you wish for. After a dreadfully cold winter we were looking to the heavens for some warmth. That arrived with some record breaking temperatures. I didn’t have to look further than my own street to witness the rising temperatures melting the tar on the road surface. On another day I saw a dog give up chase on his feline bounty to lie down and take some respite. In my garden I had cracks appearing in the clay earth which were almost wide enough to hide unwanted birthday gifts.  But mostly the searing heat brought a complete stillness at times. I begin to appreciate why the Spanish enjoy their ‘siesta’ in the summer afternoons.

On a Spanish mid-afternoon walkabout I took this picture. 

People and dogs aside I couldn’t even detect a fly moving in the August heat.  Not far off from what we were experiencing back in UK.

Well needless to say we have been enjoying some home cooked BBQ’s in the garden. I can also add the most popular and used consumable in our household has been good old fashioned ice lollies. My family has been devouring these refreshing beauties right up to bedtime to choke out the unbearable heat.

And then like all good things, they have to end soon enough. That’s when the unusual lightening arrived followed by spectacular thunderstorms bringing torrential rain and flooding in places.

In two weeks we have experienced extreme weather from all of the continents arriving simultaneously, which makes the UK an interesting and definitely unpredictable place to enjoy summer.

Wishing you a great day and lots of sunshine ahead!

Dave

Passionate Tuesday

Hey it’s Tuesday and life is great!

So I came across a great reading piece on LinkedIn and wanted to share it with you.

Finding your passion in work

It’s all about passion in the work place & living your dream, since life is no dress rehearsal.

Well, what does that have to do with photography you may ask?

To which I reply, “It has everything to do with photography”.

As photographers we are always looking for new angles, new ways of seeing the world around us.

it's about identifying messages through visual cues or linking natures beauty to our every working day.

And so I have a great picture I took a year or so ago.

Mushrooms grow quickly, almost appearing like a fever over –night, not unlike passion unleashed, with focus and immense power to burst forth, hence the common expression ‘to mushroom’.

Today’s message: “Review your place in the business environment, adapt your position if need be and then unleash your passion like a mushroom bursting out of the ground”.

By the way, when something grows so quickly from almost nothing, surely there is wonder at work?

Share my blog with your pals and then please leave a message.

Big hugs and welcoming Wednesday!

Dave

Broken the back of Monday

Well Monday is dead in the water and we all survived.

There were those this morning who probably thought they wouldn’t emerge from Blue Monday. Well as luck has it, Monday is almost closed and we are here to tell the tail.

As the kids school break beckons I was getting my camera ready for our mid-year summer vacation.

That normally includes intrepid climbs up to obscure places or clambering onto precarious ledges again in search of the elusive image.

The family and self will be journeying to one of my favourite places the Canary Islands.

It is such a beautiful group of small islands, but packs way above its size in beautiful coast line, breath-taking scenery and excellent light and colours for photographers.

I include 2 images taken from one of the islands:

My family are just off centre under the green awning

And then a view across Playa Blanca from the crater lip of the local volcano

Here's to seeing you on Tuesday in good health!
Dave

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Weekend complete!

I don’t know about you, but I experienced a stunning weekend.

It produced the UK’s warmest and fine day this year.

I saw my hero Chris win the most hellish stage of the ‘Tour de France’, just after the Aussies went down in the Ashes 1st test. My one twin son created and brought to market his first phone application. The other tested out some new thrill rides at the local theme park with his mates. My wife redesigned some novel book covers.

The point being, it was excellent weather, superb sport for the British and a flourish of small achievements for my family, all while I cooked up 2 BBQ’s and tendered to my small garden.

Isn’t that what life is meant to be?

About doing what’s important to you and then enjoying that to its fullest. 

Even my garden came up 'smelling roses', serving up the first strawberries.

Wishing you a great week ahead!

Dave

Woop woop it's Friday!

The great British Author H.G. Wells once said, “While there is a chance of the world getting through its troubles, I hold that a reasonable man has to behave as though he were sure of it. If at the end, your cheerfulness is not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful”.

Looking around your local region there may be much to be worried about. But let’s remember that the way we view and perceive our surroundings can alter our reality.

And so like the British dude said, let’s be cheerful & behave that it will all turn out fine!

The fact that it’s Friday today also helps.

Let’s behave this way today and then again tomorrow and each day after.

I enclose an image I recorded in Spain along the side of the road which elaborates the point.

Feel free to leave a comment and then where in the world your at.
TGIF & best wishes for a great weekend!

Dave

Crush the doubt!

Greetings on Thursday!

Life’s journey can be described in many ways. One example can be to define it by aspirations and accomplishments over self-doubt. 

And so I relate a little personal story on one of my visits to Tenerife.

There I was driving up a steep and windy narrow road to the top of this mountain, wanting to get a perch at the top to take that elusive photo on a day where the light was slightly mysterious. I quickly found out as I nervously edged our way up the gorge in first gear that my vertigo was worse that day. It got so bad that I nearly got out the car and asked the wife to drive the rest of the way while I walked up. 

The end result was I made it to the top with a little coaching from my family and much self-affirmation.

The moral of the story is to make sure our self-doubts are smaller than our goals so that we can still live and enjoy our reality.

Here’s the picture I took, still shaking but not yet paralysed!

Hey it's Midweek

Hello on Wednesday (mid-week) as the working day draws to an end.

That’s got to be a good thing, meaning the weekend is almost around the corner!

Well for some of us, it can be difficult at times.

I recently chatted with two friends who are both having a testing period as we all do from time to time.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Like this little critter who seeems permanently on the ground working through daily obstacles.

We just have to frame in our minds that any current challenges will be short lived and that this is a journey and not our final destination. Like this little critter we will experience up’s and down’s along the way. Finally we will arrive at our destination and we will be stronger for our experiences.

Let’s keep it in our minds that we will emerge the other side!!

Enjoy your day and have fun.

Dave

Greetings...

8/7/2013 
It's a sweltering day here in the SW corner of the UK (approx 25 miles due west of the capital London).
To be precise it's 28c today and it feels a whole lot warmer after exiting a mighty cold winter.

Today my first kiwi fruit flower burst into bloom. That is always a welcome sign that summer is here.
Hope you like the image and are enjoying the weather where you are?
Warm regards
Dave

Introduction

Welcome to my site.
It's still very infantile, very unlike the depth of my photographic image ability.

The aim of this space is to showcase my work and introduce you to my services.
Hopefully I will share my passion for photography through the images you view.
It would also be great if you happen to share your observations of my work and your views on photography in general.

Possibly you may refer my services and contact details to your friends and colleagues who are seeking a photographer to capture their personal experience or event moment.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards
Dave