From high above.

I absolutely love the work of Masao-Yamamoto. He prints his photographs onto specialised papers and uses dyes and inks to create the images as though they were paintings.

I aim to, eventually, experiment with papers and dyes but for now I am using Photoshop.

This bird was taken from the spare room window and I cropped the image to include only the very top of the tree and then manipulated it in Photoshop to give the following result.



(I am aware that my framing skills will have to improve dramatically!!!)

Pentland Hills!

After a lovely walk through Dalkeith Country Park we decided to stop by the Pentland Hills (Hillend) to have a look at the Juniper Trees for my project at college.

Although they look quite amazing while they are bare and wintry, I will go back in March to see how they look as it gets closer to spring. With any luck I will be there when there is a gorgeous sunset.

I didn't climb up to the top of the hill as it was starting to get dark and cold but I did take a photo of a sihouetted tree against the moody clouds that were setting in. I've squared off the image and added a texture ( courtesy of Visualogist - http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualogist/). I don't think the tree is a Juniper, unfortunately, but it looked lovely all the same.

Trying something new!

I thought I'd try my hand at the mini-planet effect tonight.

I used a photograph I took of Chloe-cat, sitting at the window in the living-room this afternoon. I love the repetitiveness of the vertical blinds and I thought this would look great in the 'round'.
The photo was taken on my Nokia N85 but the final result is still impressive (I think).

This second image is of Doune Castle (where part of Monty Python: The Holy Grail was filmed - yes, I did knock the coconuts whilst riding my pretend horse up the hill). I think the finished result of this image looks brilliant and it has inspired me to look for bizarre scenes that may fit this type of effect.

I think I could improve this image a lot even just by cropping inside the 'circle'. However, this was my first attempt so I can only get better....

Studio - Portraiture!

I'm not sure if I like working in the studio, yet, or not. Even if the lighting was mastered (I have only been shown two simple lighting set-ups) there is still the skill of getting your model to look natural. I guess it will come with practise for putting the model at ease and knowing which poses suit which type of person best.

One thing, for sure, is that I cannot afford to be shy if I want to get the image I want. I've only taken shots of a few people so I have a long way to go before I exude the confidence of a professional photographer!!

I wish I could have more time to try things out that are not for my assignment. Test out the scope of the flash lighting. Vary the intesity and all that malarky. It doesn't help that my Sony Alpha 100 DSLR does not have a synch connection or the correct hotshoe attachment for the wireless transmittors. I have to share the college's Nikon and the buttons are in all the wrong places!!!

Here is me at work, using fellow student Laura's Canon that she kindly let me borrow for my shots (photo taken by Laura Ledbetter)

and here are a few of my images.