Living on a Prayer

Living on a Prayer, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

I have been playing around with more off camera flash. This is taken using ebay triggers and two full power flashes from behind with snoots.

This is very worrying.

Yacht

Yacht, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

This was taken as part of the People’s Republic of Teesside flickrmeet at Hartlepool Historic Quay.

If you would like to buy this as a print it is available here without the watermark.

Rievaulx Abbey Panorama

Rievaulx Abbey Panorama, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

I have been admiring the photostream of Zenith9 for many a month now. I keep being inspired to try some of the things they have done. One of them is interactive panoramas.

Using the SPi-V website it is possible to view a 360° panorama as though you were actually standing in the place where it was taken. I decided to give it a go on a recent day out to Rievaulx Abbey. I placed the camera on the tripod and took a series of overlapping shots that I later stitched together on the computer.

The clever part is that SPi-V will look up the photo on flickr and then make the magic happen all by itself.

To see the results, click here.

Fruity

Fruity, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

I went to the greengrocers earlier today and the strawberries looks delicious. I decided that it was time to get the light tent out and see if I could capture their juicyness…

In Memory of John Stott

In Memory of John Stott, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

I’ve still been playing with the vivitar ultra wide and slim. When I got the roll of film processed that provided the last shot, there were some photos I took of Whitby. This shot is from the graveyard in which Mina Harker watched the sun set in Dracula. Obviously the original image was cross processed slide film. I have converted the shot to sepia to give it the olde worlde feel of Dracula. You can still see the trademark vivitar lens flare across the grave stone.

The Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim

Greenbelt, originally uploaded by The Muffin Man.

As a way of keeping myself interested in taking photos I have been playing with film and toy cameras. The vivitar ultra wide and slim cost me £3.99 from ebay. It is a no nonsense no frills camera. There is no focus, shutter speed or aperture to worry about. The only problem with this is that when the sun is not out your pics are too dark.

The great thing about the vivitar ultra wide and slim is its plastic lens. When you get the sun in the shot (yes you heard me right, point it at the sun!) you get fantastic lens flare through the plastic.

I highly recommend getting on ebay, spending a couple of quid and shooting a roll of film!

Life Before death.

There is a really powerful article in the Guardian newspaper about the photography of German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta. He has interviewed people and taken their portraits before and after death. It is a really powerful article that also makes you feel uncomfortable. I recommend making it through all 22 paragraphs and photographs!

Good Friday

I had a bit of a play in what is rapidly becoming my home studio.

Scott Kelby

In my quest to become a better and more all round photographer I have been reading some stuff by Scott Kelby.  I’ve found his style much less annoying than when I picked up his Digital Photography Book which starts with some of the worst jokes ever.  I guess I kept reading it because I was staying at a relatives and found a copy on the coffee table. 

 I recently discovered his blog and it seems to have some good stuff.  He covers many different styles of photography so he doesn’t go into huge detail like at strobist but he does give tips in areas I don’t regularly shoot.