Jake1.0’s blog

When photography isn't 'just for fun'

Nov 22, 2008
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If you are "lucky" enough ( heehee ) to be able to listen to my daily radio show at Kingdom FM you will no doubt have been disappointed with my recent absence from the airwaves.

sidenote: - you do know when I'm not being completely serious don't you!?

I am pleased to say that there was no illness involved in my recent disappearance. Nor did I make a lewd call to an elder statesman of the British comedy scene (one of the UK readers there!). Sadly it was all much more prosaic than that. I had to use up some of my bank of days holiday I had been allocated for the year, and I had to do it before the end of the year. Of course, being the 'company man' that I am, I offered to not take the days holiday in exchange for cash; that fell on deaf ears!

During my two (and a bit) weeks off work, I had planned to make a good start on the Christmas gift shopping. I even went so far as to write some lists. However, "...the best laid plans...." as they say....

I was distracted from my festive duties, albeit gladly, by a local dance school. They are putting on a festive show at a local theatre in a few weeks time, and they wanted some rehearsal photographs to go in the theatre foyer and the show programme. I was only too happy to get involved. Not only for the practice involved in taking photographs not purely for my own enjoyment i.e. with a clients wishes in mind and also, and being totally honest this is much less of a concern for me given that I have a 'day job', there is a possible opportunity to sell some of my work from the shoots to the dance school students and parents.

Shooting dancers in action on a fairly dimly lit stage, with only coloured lights on the theatre lighting rig was a challenge and in the end I probably ended up taking way too many shots. The photo shoot probably lasted 15 hours over the course of a few days...and due to the sheer volume of images, my post-shoot editing probably took just as long!

Lesson number 1 learned!

I've been asked back to take shots of the dress rehearsals too so it seems they are quite happy with my work. The more time I spent in a "professional" (...of course I'm not a professional but hopefully you know what I mean!) capacity with my camera, the more I think I would like to pursue it further.

Will I ever be able to give up the 'day job' and do just that? Who knows?! Am I good enough.... well that's a question for someone else to answer. All I know for sure is I enjoy working with my camera and I hope you enjoy seeing some of the fruits of my labour.

Beyond day 300

Oct 29, 2008
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In fact, at the time of writing, we're now at Day 303 of my Project 365+1 on Flickr.

Last time, I seemed to be having a crisis of faith, or perhaps more accurately, a crisis of ability as far as my photography is concerned. Of course, I'm far from a professional snapper, and while one day I'd be more than happy to make a living from my camera, at the moment, I merely dabble! The key thing for me is that it's fun!

It is a sign of my character that something which I do for "fun" could end up being so damn frustrating for me. It was that frustration that I wrote about in the last Blog; a frustration which was, I believed, justified and evident in the mediocrity of my recent images. I'm not saying that I have had an epiphany and found my muse, far from it, but when I was recently adding some images to my new Facebook account (feel free to add me as a friend if you're a Facebook user, by the way - drop me an email and I'll send you my username) something struck me. Some of the pictures I've taken since I started with this hobby some eighteen months ago aren't all that bad!

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that some of the shots are, even by my own ridiculous standards, are a little above average! High praise indeed!

Since I touched on Project 365+1 and the day 300 mark, here's the image that marked that last major milestone in my year long project. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

Project 365+1 Day 300 26/10/08

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First non-Project 365+1 shots in a while

Oct 19, 2008
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This year has been a little unbalanced on the photography front.

For many reasons I have found that as 2008 has gone on, the time I have been able to dedicate to taking pictures that aren't related to Flickr's Project 365+1 has dramatically diminished. You know how it is, work and real life gets in the way of the things that you enjoy but that are all too able to eat up hours and hours of your time.

That said, I managed to get a couple of new pics uploaded today.... this sort of thing...

Bottle Season 2

I'm going to try to be more diligent, but I think it doesn't help that I seem to be having a bit of a 'crisis of faith'! Whenever I look at other people's pictures on Flickr and the like, I can't help but think that they are all so much better at taking pictures than I am; they seem to have the "eye" for a superb shot as well as the superior technical ability and more often than not much better (and for that read 'more expensive') equipment than I have.

At the time of writing I feel like I have reached a plateau; that this is as good as I'm going to be. Those of you who know me well, know that on a personal note, that is not the type of person I am content to be. I want to be able to be the best there is... instantly!

That's not an unreasonable demand.... is it?

I've got a new toy...

Sep 14, 2008
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.... a ‘Big Boys Toy’ for want of a better description.I am now the proud owner of a Peter Lynn Pepper II!

Project 365+1 Day 245 1/9/08

Those of you in-the-know will realise that a Peter Lynn Pepper II is nothing to do with condiments, but rather a kite! Yep, the kids favourite has been reinvented and reworked and now has a new ‘x-treme’ sports name. No longer is it just a kite…these days it’s a power kite!!

Designed to pull the kite flier along in a buggy or landboard - or if you’re not careful, up into the sky! - these kites are far from toys. I had been looking for a kite online for a while and, true to the stereotype, I waited till I found a bargain priced kite in an online sale before I parted with my hard earned cash.

Again living up to the masculine stereotype and working on the ‘bigger is better’ theory, I opted to go for the 6 metre version. Being a child of the 70’s, and a stranger to the metric system, I may have misjudged just how big this is! Laying the kite out I now know that 6 metres is a massive area!

On the kite's maiden flight I was foolish enough to head out in what I would describe as 'windy' conditions. You may think 'windy' is perfect for kite flying. With a standard kite, you'd be right.

With an amateur at the controls and a kite with huge pulling power a 'windy' day was a mistake as the nearly dislocated shoulders and grazed knees prove!

Is it just me.....

Sep 14, 2008
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...or is there something in this picture that doesn't quite add up?

Odd heights

This is part of the 'facilities' at a well known venue in my home town. Of course it's good that this venue has made itself completely accessible for everyone. The low height of the sink and urinal must be a godsend to those people who need their restrooms to have lower access.

Maybe I'm missing something here.... but if you're making the urinal and sink low and accessible, shouldn't the mirror be at least as low?!!?

Avatars!

Sep 14, 2008
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The definition of which, as far as computers are concerned at least is : a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.

If you use MSN Messenger and the like you may have come across Avatar creation websites in the past. I remember a particular hysteria in the Kingdom FM office when the Simpsons Movie was being released and the official movie website allowed you to create yourself in the style of a Simpson’s character. It kept us all off our work for literally minutes!This past weekend one of my online contacts on one of these ’social networking’ sites posted a link to the latest Avatar creation site. If you want to kill 15 minutes just head here > www.faceyourmanga.com

This is how I think I look in a manga-esque cartoon style…. what do you think?

It's me.....

We 'Whacked It' on my radio show!

Aug 23, 2008
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This is the book that started an obsession on the show yesterday….

While I was on holiday I read a book which was recommended by Craig from the newsteam. It was comedian Dave Gorman’s third book called “Dave Gorman: America Unchained”. If you’re looking for an entertaining, light-hearted read I can thoroughly recommend it!

Once I had finished that book, I decided to get my hands on the author’s previous publication “Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure” for two reasons. 1. I had heard about the standup show related to the book and 2. You know me…I’m a bit of a geek so I wanted to know for sure what a ‘Googlewhack’ is!

I won’t go into detail of what a Googlewhack is just now….so here’s the brief version….. You type 2 words (they have to be real English words with definitions at Dictionary.com) into Google’s search engine and try to come up with a search result of just one webpage. Now, given there are around 3 billion web pages out there, that task is not as easy as it may seem. In fact….why not try it for yourself and see how you get on!

On my first attempt I managed a result of more than a million web pages….. not a great start! By the time I started the show yesterday I had managed to get the results down to just TWO webpages…but I was stumped! That of course is where you came to the rescue! Thanks so much to everyone who sent text suggestions and called in with words to put into the search box. I am very pleased to say that together we managed around FIVE googlewhacks before the end of the show at 7pm.

If you don’t believe me try typing the following words into Google yourself …. at the time of writing….it’s a Googlewhack! “scuzzbuckets nubbin”

Back from Holiday....

Aug 23, 2008
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…and it feels like I’ve been away for ages!

In fact, it was only two weeks that I was out of the country for, but it's been AGES since I was last able to find some time to let you know what has been happening with me. Sorry...but sometimes 'real life' gets in the way!

I had a great time in Fuertaventura. It was a fairly quiet-ish family holiday - you know me, I’m far too old for clubbing and the like. In fact, the holiday entertainment was pretty much limited to the nightly ‘cabaret show’. You know the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent”? Well, it wasn’t particularly evident that the Canaries does! Maybe I’m being too cruel. Perhaps the best way to describe the entertainment would be a sliding scale. Imagine, if you will, the pinnacle of the shows being a superb troop of acrobats from Beijing….somewhere in the middle of the scale you’d find some Flamenco dancers …and languishing at the bottom, and I can’t stress enough how far towards the bottom, you’d find the Abba Tribute band. Two words….. OH DEAR!

On a much more positive note, I did have the opportunity to do something I have never done before but would love to do again…though I’m not so sure the water at Leven beach would replicate the experience!

Have a look at the picture below….it says it all!

Jetski for Blog

A little bit of luck goes a long way

May 31, 2008
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When it comes to photography, and specifically my photography, I am a great believer that luck has as much to do with the shots I end up with as any photographic judgements I make.

The other night I was in the garden messing about with the Flickr project and trying to catch up. I was using the off-camera flash and was, completely unscientifically, playing about with flash strength and placement. I did pick up a second hand light meter on eBay a while ago and have used it now and again but to be honest, I'm not 100% sure what I am doing with it! lol That said, it's been a useful tool and I'm glad I have it....when I have plenty time on my hands (like that is likely to happen anytime soon!) I will have a proper experimental play with it and see if it improves the pictures I take. I digress though....back to the garden....of the 5 or so shots I took of one particular plant in the garden I was most happy with one of the shots...and when cropped tightly I really liked the outcome.

Let me know what you think....

Petal Abstract

I'm going to the Moon!!!!

May 17, 2008
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Well.....sort of!!! ;-)

I'm going to the moon

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marmitelover said:

[this is good]
Nice shot! read more
on A little bit of luck goes a long way
bobr512_41 said:
Hi, thank you for the article that you wrote article. A lot of time I was trying to find some... read more
on I closed the door
Monalisa said:
a beautiful picture! read more
on Project 365+1 Day 300 26/10/08
Empress Nasi Goreng said:

[this is good]
Cool! You should go to Malaysia some time - that is kite flying nirvana. read more
on I've got a new toy...
Radio Free Hollywood said:

[this is good]
I ceased my original blog late last year after over two years of doing it. I had another blog, a... read more
on I closed the door