Day #60

Title: Take Two
Location: At a friend's house
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: Today is Leap Day, so I wanted to take a picture which related to time. I spent a while this afternoon fiddling with a macro shot of the inner workings of my cheap Swatch. It came out well, I thought I'd use it for today's shot. But then I was visiting friends this evening, and they showed me this beautiful Half Hunter with a Golden Sovereign, which I couldn't resist photographing with my macro lens. It seemed a travesty to show you a twenty quid plastic timepiece instead of this wonderful old pocket watch. So I've excercised my perogative and changed my mind. Here's Day #60 Take Two.

Day #59

Title: With A Minty Stripe
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Been working all day, then it got to gone 7pm and I realised I'd not taken my picture! Not wishing to fail, I quickly thought up a bit of still life. Perhaps a bit of a cop-out, but inspiration is a bit thin today.

Day #58

Title: Signs Of Spring
Location: Longstomps Avenue, Chelmsford
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: OK, the Orton Effect has been done by lots of people before, but not by me! Found a good tutorial on how to get the desired effect this morning, so decided I would try and find a suitable shot today to test it out. I'm quite pleased with the result. You may be seeing more in the future!

Day #57

Title: Keep It, With Kodak
Location: Antiques Centre, Battlesbridge
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Cloudy when I woke up, but by the time I'd dressed and had breakfast, the sun was breaking through. So I decided to take myself off to Battlesbridge for a look around. It's a renowed centre for arts, crafts and antiques, as well has having pleasant scenery along the River Crouch. I took plenty of "chocolate box" type pictures, but also had fun around the antiques centre photographing rusty garden ornaments, old traction engines and the like. There were a couple of interesting items inside too, but I thought this picture of an old Kodak Medium Format folding Bellows Camera best embodied the spirit of 366.

Day #56

Title: Nature's Telephone Cables
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: Sunny when I woke up, so I went into the garden and played for a few minutes before breakfast. These are two tendrils of the Passion Flower which grows around my garden gate. It looks a bit sad at this time of year, but some of last season's growth made some interesting patterns in the morning sunlight. I like the way the top spiral has grown one way, then back on itself; it reminds me of how curly telephone handset cables used to get in such a mess!

Day #55

Title: Ring My Bell
Location: Great Baddow, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Went for a 6.5 mile walk this morning, with a local Flickr friend. The sun was shining, which was a bonus neither of us were expecting. We did a big loop via Sandon, Grace's Cross, and the Canal at Sandon Mill, finishing back in Great Baddow. This was towards the end of the hike, when I spotted some attractive old cottages from across the road. The shadows of the bell pull were rather nice. And in the end, this was the one I liked best from all of today's shots.

Day #54

Title: Blowing In The Wind
Location: Galleywood, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Before vegging out in front of the telly to watch 3 games of Six Nations rugby, I went out for a walk this morning to stretch the legs and try to take a shot for the day. The weather was grey and miserable again, but at least it wasn't raining. I was surprised to find this Dandelion Clock sitting under a hedge. When first picked, it had it's full head and I was hoping to bring it home to photograph with my macro lens. But the rest of the walk was quite windy, and I noticed the seeds were beginning to fly. I found a suitably dark background and held up the clock in front, watching the seeds blow away. By the time I got home, the rest were gone.

Day #53

Title: Urban Camouflage
Location: Martens Grove, Bexleyheath
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: I had to go to Bexleyheath for a client meeting this morning. I wasn't sure how the traffic was going to be, so I left 1.5hours for the trip, which actually took 45 minutes. That meant I could have at least half an hour mooching round a nearby park with my camera. Unfortunately, the light was rubbish, so no chance of any landscape shots. This graffitti on a park bench caught my eye, and reminded me of animal camouflage when I looked at it on the big screen at home.

Day #52

Title: Moonface, 00:52 GMT
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / Canon 100-400mm EF f/4.5-5.6 L IS
Notes: Forced myself to stay up for the lunar eclipse this morning, which began at 01:43, with totality starting at 03:00GMT. Since I'm a bit of a night owl, staying up late wasn't too much of a problem - the good old British Weather was. The was a test shot I took to see how my 400mm lens would perform. Looked fine. But five minutes before the action was due to start, the clouds rolled in and I never saw a thing! Kept checking the skies every 15 minutes until about 03:30, then gave up and went to bed. Curses.

Day #51

Title: Shiny Shiny
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Rather grey outside again today, so not much incentive to go out for pictures. Instead, I thought I'd show you some of my kitchen utensils which fit nicely with this week's 366 theme, "Reflecting".

Day #50

Title: Thinly Sliced
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: This is a lovely piece of Agate which I have as part of a small collection of rocks and minerals. Being a bit pushed for time today, I opted for a quick pic indoors, and used some sun to backlight the patterns of the rock. Nice to get to the 50th photograph milestone today too!

Day #49

Title: Enigma IV
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: You see things quite differently with a macro lens. Any guesses?

Day #48

Title: Reflecting Orange
Location: easyHotel, South Kensington
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Spending the weekend in London for a conference, I booked up a cheap hotel - one of the easyChain with the inevitable ubiquitous orange branding everywhere. The room was barely bigger than the bed; there was a plastic pod in the corner which contained a loo, washbasin and shower. And a lot of orange. At least it was cheap...

Day #47

Title: Frost Patterns
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Left home early to go to London for a weekend conference. These are some frost patterns on a neighbour's car.

Day #46

Title: The Up Fast Races Past
Location: Ingatestone, Essex
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: A reminder of how the countryside used to flash past on my way to and from London every day. Nice to see the other viewpoint now I'm freelance.

Day #45

Title: Love Is... Never Black & White
Location: Studio, Shoreditch
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Spent the afternoon in the studio playing with various still life shots. This was inspired by the 366 Group's "Love Is..." weekly theme.

Day #44

Title: Cottage Through The Fog
Location: Histon, Cambridgeshire
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: I was visitng clients in Cambridgeshire this morning and spent some time with friends in Histon for lunch afterwards. Although I left home in bright sunshine with blue skies, I was greeted with heavy fog as I crossed the border into Cambridgeshire. This is a view across the village pond in Histon, with a lovely thatched cottage lurking in the trees.

Day #43

Title: Sunset Over Buttsbury
Location: Galleywood Common
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 75-300mm EF f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: I was busy for most of the day, and was waiting in for a delivery, but by 4:30pm I'd finished my jobs and the delivery had come. I grabbed the camera bag, jumped in the car and headed for Galleywood Common where I managed to snatch some pictures of the sun sinking while getting a little 1.2 mile walk.

Day #42

Title: Pea-Souper
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: What a contrast from yesterday! I woke up this morning to find a pea soup fog outside the bedroom window, and could barely see across the green to the houses opposite. An hour later, it had all burned off. Bit of a lazy shot today, admittedly, but I had lots to do and not much time to go out and take pictures.

Day #41

Title: All Saints By The Canal
Location: Ulting
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: I enjoyed another walk this morning, along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation around the village of Ulting. The weather was superb, and there were pictures to be had every few yards along the towpath. I had seen there was a church by the water when looking at the map, and I wasn't disappointed by the scene I was presented with, as I rounded a bend in the river.

Day #40

Title: Making A Splash
Location: College Wood, Fryerning
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Another happy accident for today's picture. I had stopped for a cuppa from my flask during my 4 mile walk, and just started off again when I came across two chaps with horses and gigs, picking their way gingerly through the mud and puddles. When they saw my camera, they said they would be back again in a minute, going hell-for-leather, and did I want to take some good pictures?

Day #39

Title: An Apple A Day...
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: I was sitting on the sofa, snacking on an apple mid-morning, when I noticed how nice the light was on the skin and stalk. So I fitted my 12mm extension tube to the 50mm f/1.8 lens and snuck in close.

Day #38

Title: Spot The Difference
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Inspired by Erasmus T's picture from Tuesday, I dug out my old clarinet and some sheet music with a colourful cover, and played around with some shots while the sun was out.

Day #37

Title: 12 O'Clock Shadow
Location: Tile Kiln, Chelmsford
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Went for a walk to get some air and buy some food, now I feel like eating again. Wasn't terribly inspired, despite the sun shining. But this caught my eye as I wandered past someone's front garden. I thought it suited a mono treatment.

Day #36

Title: Grammatical Horrors
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Feeling a little better today. Sat and read some more of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves - I'm a bit of a grammar pedant - it's nice to know I'm in good company :-)

Day #35

Title: All I Can Eat Buffet
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Had a nasty bout of Norovirus overnight. Not pleasant. By 3pm, this was about all I could face eating. Just managed a photo and then went back to bed.

Day #34

Title: Lazy Sunday Afternoon
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Feet up, beer in hand, Six Nations rugby on the telly. Perfect.

Day #33

Title: England vs Wales, RBS Six Nations 2008
Location: Twickenham, London
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 75-300mm EF f/4.5-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Disappointing day to be an England supporter, especially after the second half collapse to Wales who managed to win at Twickenham for the first time in 20 years. Why does it have to be the game I go to?! I was up in the gods this time, so my other match photos weren't great, but it's always a brilliant atmosphere in the stadium.

Day #32

Title: The Original & Genuine...
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Busy working today, so not much time for pictures, despite the nice blue sky outside! A bit of a lazy shot to tie in with this week's "Food" theme. I've always liked the L&P label - it's detailing reminds me of banknotes.