• Archive of "Photography" Category

    North of the Boarder

    9 May 2009 // Comments Off

    The National Trust held the first of it’s Boarder series at Crantock Beach, Newquay. I arrived with about ten minutes of the competition left to run and managed to fire off a few shots. I quickly realised that 400mm was going to be a little short for photographing surfers with 600mm or 800mm being more suitable. So, standing in the sea up to me knees whilst still wearing my work boots, I managed to grab a couple of keepers:

    Surfer

    Surfer
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    Location: Multimap

    Posted in Photography

    Studio Shoot

    8 February 2009 // Comments Off

    It’s been a long time since I did any studio portraiture or used studio lighting. So I went along on an event at ISL Studio in Leeds organised through the Talk Photography forum. I was a little nervous at first but everyone was welcoming and friendly. After the first session I had a chat with Gemma, one of the models, as she needed a little reassurance too and I think it did us both good and we relaxed. The day was very enjoyable and we had a good laugh, I don’t think it’s the best way to learn studio lighting because there was very little individual control over the setup in the studio. This improved when we worked out of the studio with just one light.

    Gemma
    Gemma
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

    Zillah
    Zillah
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

    Posted in Photography

    Cannock Chase

    4 February 2009 // Comments Off

    I attended a meet with a group from the Talk Photography forum at Cannock Chase. A wonderful heathland in Staffordshire with plenty of wildlife. We tried to shoot the Fallow deer but I think the number of us worked against that. I did get one shot of a buck:

    Fallow Buck

    We turned to photographing birds with a little more success but the elusive Hawfinch didn’t show. A few days later I had a spare afternoon at college and returned to the Chase in the snow to try again for Fallow deer, this time with a little more success:

    Fallow Buck
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    Location: Multimap

    Posted in Photography

    2008 – My Year in Pictures

    1 January 2009 // Comments Off

    January:

    February:

    March:

    April:

    May:

    June:

    July:

    August:

    September:

    October:

    November:

    December:

    Posted in Photography

    Brownsea Island

    21 September 2008 // Comments Off

    Yesterday a group of us from the Amateur Photographer forum met on Brownsea Island for a day photographing whatever wildlife we encountered. The weather was amazing, early fog and mist cleared to a beautiful sunny autumn day. Food was plentiful for the Red Squirrels so they were well fed and showed no interest in the hazelnuts we had brought. Instead I took the opportunity to photograph dragonflies for the first time.

    Southern Hawker
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    Ruddy Darter
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

    Location: Multimap

    Posted in Locations, Photography, Wildlife

    Photoshoppery

    2 September 2008 // Comments Off

    I keep wanting to improve my ‘limited’ Photoshop skills, so I set out to take a photograph that I could use the dodge and burn tools on. This one from Mouth Mill seemed to fit the bill quite well:

    Mouth Mill Original
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 20mm f/2.8 USM

    Black Church Rock

    The result is a bit over the top, but it was fun to do and I learnt a lot. I quite like the final image…which is nice!

    Location: Multimap

    Posted in Photography

    The Big Smoke

    18 August 2008 // Comments Off

    Last weekend was spent in London. I met some of the guys from the Amateur Photographer forum on Saturday and spent Sunday wandering around on my own.

    Street Performer
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

    London Eye
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 20mm f/2.8 USM

    Posted in Photography

    Dawlish Air Show

    15 August 2008 // Comments Off

    Another meet with guys from the Amateur Photographer forums, this time in Dawlish to photograph the Air Show, a first for me. I rented an EF 400mm f/5.6L lens from Lenses For Hire, great service from them and wow, what a lens!

    Red Arrows

    Red Arrows

    Red Arrows

    Sea King

    Typhoon
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    Posted in Photography

    First Prize!

    5 May 2008 // Comments Off

    Each month I enter the Amateur Photographer forum competition and I’m usually delighted if I make the shortlist. It turns out I’ve only won last month’s Close Up competition with my butterfly shot, I’m well chuffed. Many thanks to AP editor Damien Demolder for choosing my image, especially when the standard was so high. Link

    Posted in Photography

    AP in Oxford

    20 April 2008 // Comments Off

    A few of us from the Amateur Photographer forum met in Oxford for the day for a bit of photography and a bit of a pub crawl. Here’s one from the White Horse on Broad Street:

    Man in Beret
    Canon EOS 40D, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

    Posted in Photography

© 2007-2010 Richard Hardwick Photography All Rights Reserved