Pittville Park

It's been bloomin' busy recently with lots of hand-ins and deadlines and oh so much. But today I've had my second hand in, tomorrow is my third and final one. It's gunna be nice then to have a break and relax.

Anyhow, today has been very foggy in Cheltenham but Pittville park looked beautiful in the fog - all mysterious. Even at 3pm.

It took me ages to get this shot of the man walking across the grass between the trees in the fog.

The grass looked so pretty with all the frost on today.

These two lads were having great fun playing in the icy puddle.

This shot was taken much later on in the evening.

I really enjoyed shooting in the fog today, it's not something I've done before properly to this extent so I found it really interesting to see what my camera took in a different speeds.

Playtime

So now that I've finished my Photojournalist project I've been shooting more lightheartedly. I've been out tonight, armed with a torch and a flash gun, just playing around with whatever I had in Pittville Park and James.

Flash first..

This bandstand is beautiful, and it looks even prettier at night when the white is so clearly standing out against the black. 

The depth of field on this shot is what I like the most as the branch fades out and in to the blackness. 

At first I was disappointed with this shot because only the foreground is sharp, it gets blurrier toward the back due to movement. But I've grown to love it (in the space of an hour).

Everybody loves a waterfall. 

Moving on, to the torch!

This shot is very dark but I like the halloweeny, spooky effect it has and the slight blueness of the sky sneaking through. I was actually trying to photograph an old man walking past.

Time for a quick stop for a portrait. I bet you've tried the holding a torch under your chin? I really like this though, even if it is cliché. 

These two I think only work if they are together in a set. Walking up from the tunnel on a long exposure with a torch. 

I know it's not in focus but that's just because it's hard to keep a camera still for 4 seconds. But I like the sky, fading darker and the effect on the trees. 

I don't like this shot, but it certainly makes the difference clear between using flash if no other shot does. 

I know that a lot of these shots are a bit on the rubbish side but tonight I've had fun experimenting, even if it was extreeeeemely cold. Unfortunately, now I must continue with my essay.

A Cheeky Edit

Photoshop is not my strong point and nor has it ever been. Today though I spent some time playing around on CS6. I spent most of the time stressing out because I couldn't get the image how I want it. It still isn't how I want it. However, I am still liking what I have managed to get.

As you can see, contrast has been whacked up to emphasise the shadows on the stones and some of the saturation has been taken out as well. Ideally, I'd like to be able to pump some of the yellow back in to the photo. 

I'm not usually a fan of hugely edited images (although, this isn't thaaaat huge), what are your thoughts?

To be able to get my head round this newer version of photoshop, I'm going to have to play around a lot more, so expect more posts like this one. Maybe. 

Pittville - Test Shots

A project I've recently started involves exposing Cheltenhams grotty side. Everybody thinks it's such a posh place and all lahh de dahh but I don't. I'm not sure if it's because of where I'm living in Pittville halls or if I'm just so used to the cute little village of Davenham it all seems so big and I've become aware of everything.

Anyway, to start my project off and help me to determine the style of images I want to use I headed out, round my campus to start taking photos. These are some of what I got.

This is my favourite shot from the shoot yesterday, I love the slight vignette around it. It took me ages to get and I probably looked like a bit of a fool sat on the floor by the smoking shelter/bike rack taking photos of the bottom of the bin. 

Look at this great dirty stain, this is what I can see out my window, just below the pigeon spikes. It looks even worse here on a close up photograph. 

How did that chair get up there? I would love to know. 

I'd prefer this image if I cropped the top a little, it's a bit too overexposed for me, that or a black line to mark where the image starts and ends if it was being printed. 

Spare scaffolding? I think that's what this is. I think this image is quite peaceful somehow, all the smooth lines with only a few rougher textures. 

This shoot went much better than I expected and I got a whole range of images from it. I don't think there is going to be a specific something I look for in my shoots, I'm just going to see what I find and shoot. Lots. 

Bedroom View

My view out of my window isn't dreadful but it could be a lot better. I think it's made worse by the spikes that are on all the windowsills to stop pigeons landing there. They aren't pretty. Although I much prefer them to pigeons (I hate pigeons). I just can't get used to looking out the window and seeing big metal spikes. 

This photo doesn't really show them to the full extent but it does a good enough job. 

On another note, I went to the archives at the university today looking for some books on the history of Cheltenham, or Gloucestershire as a whole. It could be a place I spend a lot of time.