September is always full of surprises and this year it has been no exception. But we now reach the last days of the month and autumn is around the corner. I am training for the Great Birmingham Run half marathon and I use the canal towpaths for my training runs. The bridge on Kixley Lane is a picturesque place and I noticed that the trees has started to turn colour. I decided to go back in the evening when there was enough light shinning on the trees. I packed all my lenses and I had a window of 30 to 40 minutes. I got some good pictures. The people on the long boat passing through asked if there was a photographic competition as they had noticed many people taking photos. I asked if I could show their picture on my photographic site and the man said jokingly yes I could if I cleaned his boat!!!!
The Super Moon or the Super Blue Blood Moon was visible on 31st January. I missed the early stages of the moon when you do see the magnification.
I took my photographs with the moon outside Knowle Parish Church and then in the morning on top of one of the car parks in Birmingham. There were dozens of good photographs taken by many people.
Let me take the opportunity of describing my photographic week in January
SUNDAYThe End of a Perfect Day
On SUNDAY, I went out to take pictures of wildlife as I have access to a 400mm lens. My runs along the canal nearby had revealed that a heron had made its home there. So I set off with certain pictures in my mind. I went up the canal bridge near to where I knew I had seen the heron. The day was cold and bright. The time was right as well, as it was coming up to around 4pm and the golden hour was almost upon me. Then I discovered that several walkers passed me on the bridge and went into an adjoining field. I went to investigate and the view was idyllic. Path, farm house, setting sun and lovely colours. I switched lenses to my 24-70mm and set up the aperture to see if I could get a sunstar. I used my camera view and upped the ISO. A couple of shots and I got a result that I was happy with. Some minor editing followed in LR and PS. The heron? I managed a few shots but none of the shots were as good as this scene of winter’s setting sun. (postscript – as a bonus it was selected for publication in the Birmingham Post and Mail)
Camera settings – f-14, s-1/60, FL-24mm, ISO-250
MONDAYThe IKON gallery in Birmingham
MONDAY and I was at a reception hosted by the University of Birmingham at the IKON Gallery. I have a camera with me at all times and the Sony RX100 is an ideal camera to have for pictures on the move. It is very versatile and packs a lot of features into a small camera. The evening was busy and there were few opportunities during the reception and the meal with presentations. I was patient and at the end of the evening there was the opportunity to take an outside picture of the ICON gallery. This place is photographed many times especially in Spring when the cherry blossom arrives. This picture is processed in black and white. The channel leads the viewer to the central building. I did notice that it was odd to see umbrellas/parasols set out in January but they make the picture look good with them set neatly in front of the lit windows.
Camera settings – f-1.8, s-1/30, FL-8.8mm, ISO-2000.
TUESDAYTelephone Box
TUESDAY morning and I was working at the University campus. I have some time to take a detour around Brum before I jump on the train to the University Station. I take photographs of what I like and I had some good ones of the Cathedral in the light. This telephone box does nothing really and just stands near to the Cathedral. It does feature in many pictures around Birmingham and the light from the street lamp makes it stand out from the dark morning. In the days of mobile phones it is a remnant from a different era. It was this photograph that I selected over the others.
Camera settings – f-2.8, s-1/40, FL-10.6mm, ISO-2500.
WEDNESDAY A meeting in London always opens up new possibilities for taking photographs. I had a few ideas and when I got to Baker St, I used the underpass that goes under Marylebone Rd. You have to love the red stripes and the surreal angle that they are set at. It just cries out to be photographed. I was also pleased to see that I had caught the people on the different coloured stripes which is a bonus. I also took lots of other photographs but I discarded them in favour of this one.
Camera settings – f-4, s-1/160, FL-8.8mm, ISO-2500.
THURSDAY A cube view
THURSDAY was a day of teaching and meetings. I was taking it slow making my way to a meeting at the Mailbox only to learn on the way that it was cancelled. I went slower and decided to take the towpath back into the City Centre. I am glad I did as the little bit of sun we had lit up the Cube and its reflection in the canal. I had inadvertently left the ISO at 2500 but this did allow a good capture of the cyclists on the left. A bright moment in an otherwise dull day.
Camera settings – f-4, s-1/320, FL-11.3mm, ISO-2500.
FRIDAY
Thank God its FRIDAY. I was not having a great deal of luck with taking a photograph today. It was a dull day and many of my pictures looked dull and boring. This was taken going home from Platform 1 of Moor St station. You can see the dull sky in the centre against the relatively warm lights of the station. Taken with my iPhone and it constantly amazes me how it takes a reasonably good picture under different lighting conditions. A bit of touching up done in Google Snapspeed.
Camera settings – ƒ-1.8, s-1/6, FL-4.0 mm, ISO 100
SATURDAY
It is SATURDAY and at long last I get to use the Telephoto lens. I went to Brueton Park, Solihull, where the Warwickshire Wildlife Centre is based. There was some wildlife around and for about 10 minutes there were two Goosanders in the large pond at the nature centre. It is not easy to compose pictures and this is one of the better attempts of many I took during the morning. I need to tweak the settings a bit. This particular picture caught my eye due to the ripples. Wildlife photography is not straightforward and requires a lot of patience. I will have a few more attempts over the coming months.
Camera settings – f-5.6, s-1/100, FL-400 mm, ISO 500
I have always used my photography as a diary and looking back at family pictures is always fun. However, when I learnt about 365 projects in 2011 then I thought I would have a go at it. The family said it would not last and it would be a passing fad. Certainly the first year was often a challenge and I thought I may miss a few pictures. Fast forward to 2018 and here I am entering my eighth 365. It has become a diary of my life. Even today I used it as a record for my professional CPD for 2017 as I sought to remember where I had been for research conferences and examining duties connected with work. As a family dossier, each year is loved by the family and we regularly check what was happening. WE even use it to remember which plant was flowering and whether it is early or not. Tasha, one of my daughters, delights in making a year book featuring her favourite pictures. A calendar is made for the family as well. Not content with a 365, I also do it adhoc on Instagram, a 52 week project on Flickr and a monthly themed competition for the British Tech Network. It does require a little bit of discipline in the evening and it is now a routine. So to start this year’s 365 off, I include all the 1st January pictures since 2011 🙂 BTW if you want to keep up with my 365 then follow my Flickr account.
It snowed. Also it was very considerate that it snowed on a Sunday morning as well. It was a heavy downpour and I donned many layers before I set off for a journey through Knowle Village. There were many people in the park and activities ranged from sledging to snowball fights. There were very few cars around and several had been left on the side of the roads. Even with my polariser lens filter, snow is very difficult to photograph. My favourite picture was of the red letterbox and mailbox. They have been in Knowle High Street for a very long time and were there when I arrived. Hope you like the pictures and it is starting to look a lot like Christmas now.
The iPhone is so versatile and useful to have on you. So I always bring it with me when running as you can often capture interesting pictures. This series shows a few I did on a recent run. I did see a couple of Herons but the iPhone was not the right camera especially when they flew away. However there will be other opportunities with another camera. I remember someone saying the best camera is the one you have with you. Never so true a statement.
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