Day #91

Title: Exploring Green
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: Some more table top work today, for the my rainbow week theme. This is a pencil case I've had for years - it shimmers wth irridescence in the right light. And it had the perfect combination of textures and different greens to give it a bit of interest.

Day #90

Title: Exploring Yellow
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: Before heading out for the rugby this afternoon (Saracens beat Leeds 66-7!!) I had a play with some props for today's colour.

Day #89

Title: Exploring Orange
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: I've been playing with some stationery today, and thought this group of bits and pieces worked well for today's colour, Orange.

Day #88

Title: Exploring Red
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8
Notes: Inspired by some single-colour portrait shots on Flickr, I decided I'd spend the next few days exploring the colour spectrum. And it's dark and rainy outside again, so some table top photography will cheer me up. The first colour is Red, and this little chair fitted the bill perfectly.

Day #87

Title: I See Spots Before My Eyes...
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: I'm planning a colourful week (see the next 7 posts!) so decided to look around for something monochrome today. I've also been busy at work, stopping only to make a cuppa from time to time. And what did I spy when I opened the cupboard for a fresh mug? Drinking too much tea can make your eyes go funny...

Day #86

Title: Tools Of The Trade
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: This week's 366 theme is 9 to 5, showing something which represents what you do for work or study. So here's me WeavingDreams - I snuck up on my laptop screen with the Ixus and it's done quite a nice job. Wonder if it will build the rest of the site for me too... ?

Day #85

Title: Cloudscape, Grace's Walk
Location: Little Baddow
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: A quick trip out this morning around Boreham and Little Baddow provided me with today's picture. I was amazed at the detail I was able to bring out in the clouds - it looked very much paler before I had a play around with Photoshop.

Day #84

Title: Last Rays, Wid Valley
Location: Galleywood
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: It had been a fairly miserable day up until about 5:45pm, when I could see the sun had come out. So I grabbed the camera, jumped into the car (in a hailstorm!) and drove a mile up the road to catch the sunset. I was rewarded with this lovely cloud formation, and thankfully no more hail. This shot is from Goat Hall Lane, looking west towards Highlands Park.

Day #83

Title: A Stroll On Easter Sunday
Location: Galleywood
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I know Easter is early this year, but snow on Easter Sunday is virtually unheard of! I donned my thermals, padded coat and gore-text gloves and went for a 3 mile walkwith my camera.

Day #82

Title: Snowy Sarries Semi-Final
Location: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 75-300mm EF f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: A strange day for weather. Our bus set off from North London in heavy sleet. By the time we got to Cardiff the sun was out. So much so, that sitting in the East Stand of the Millennium Stadium (where they had foolishly left the roof open) I was blinded by the sun for the first half of the first Semi-Final, Leicester vs Wasps. As soon as the second Semi started, Sarries vs Ospreys, it started to snow! This was an early lineout, won by Saracen Hugh Vyvyan against Osprey Ryan Jones. Unfortunately, the Ospreys were rather too good for Saracens. It was a long drive home...

Day #81

Title: A Million Daffodils
Location: Miss Wilmott's, Warley Place, Great Warley
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: It was extremely cold and windy today, but at least it was sunny and the clouds passed by quickly. I decided to visit Miss Wilmott's garden at Warley Place, and was rewarded with daffodils as far as the eye could see - there must have been hundreds of thousands of them in the East and West Meadows. This was a shot of another swathe on the Daffodil Bank in the North section of the garden. Despite it being Good Friday, I think the weather had put off a lot of visitors, so I only saw a few folks during my time there - which meant the path was largely deserted.

Day #80

Title: Ealing Broadway, 2 Mins
Location: Liverpool Street
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: I had to visit the Big Smoke again today, this was a quick shot on the way across town from Liverpool Street to Shepherd's Bush, a journey I know well from my years of commuting.

Day #79

Title: Janez Puhar, 1814-1864
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Another day when inspiration didn't come easily. I decided to go for a macro shot of my Janez Puhar gold medal, as I liked the textures revealed in the closeup. I won the gong in 2004 in the Fotografsko Društvo Janez Puhar Kranj (Solvenian) 2nd International Miniatures Competition, for my shot from the British Museum, And Let Thy Feet...

Day #78

Title: Pickled
Location: At home
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: Another grotty day, I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. It got to past 9 o'clock in the evening and I realised I hadn't taken anything, so I turned to my reserve ideas list. It suggested these two bottles on a shelf in the kitchen, and I discovered the spotlights were casting nice shadows of their contents on the wall behind. I think they are meant to be edible, but I just keep them for show - they have interesting lines and shapes, and give the kitchen a spot of colour.

Day #77

Title: Verdant Shades
Location: Botolphs, Adur Valley
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: The weather was a little disappointing again today, but I enjoyed a pleasant 4-mile walk with another Flickr-366 friend, touchingthelight. We started off in Bramber and followed the river to the lovely little church at Botolphs. This was taken on the return leg, with the pub beckoning! A few shafts of sun kept coming and going, but the sky in this shot was particularly pale, so I cropped it out altogether. And the myriad greens are appropriate for St. Patrick's Day today.

Day #76

Title: Enigma V
Location: Devil's Dyke, Sussex
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: It had been raining for much of the day, and I was stuck inside at my conference, so I hadn't had much of a chance to take my picture for today. In the evening, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a fellow Flickr-366er Erasmus T, at the pub above Devil's Dyke. We had hoped there might be a good sunset, but it was just grey, wet and windy! However, this caught my eye on the road outside, so I took this quick snap with my compact camera. Here's Erasmus' take on it.

Day #75

Title: Faded Grandeur
Location: Saltdean Lido
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I was staying in Seaford last night and drove along the coast road to the University of Sussex's Falmer Campus for BarCampBrighton2. The road passes through Saltdean which has an Art Deco Lido, now looking a little bit the worse for wear. I had seen it on the BBC's "Coast" programme some time ago, so thought it might make a decent picture for today. The light was pretty flat and ovcercast, so a bit of Photoshop fiddling was required to bring out a bit of contrast.

Day #74

Title: A Fallen Star
Location: Birling Gap, East Sussex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I headed down to the south coast this morning for my weekend in Brighton, leaving Essex in bright sun. By the time I got to Dartford, the clouds had started rolling in and when I hit Uckfield, the rain began. It eased for a while and I visited the remains of Michelham Priory for a few pictures. Then on to Birling Gap - where it was very misty. The view of the Seven Sisters wasn't up to much, so I concentrated on things I found on the pebbly beach. This starfish was one of quite a few on the foreshore. An unusual number of dead starfish have been washing up recently, and no-one knows precisely why. I liked its bright orange colour against the very monochrome rocks on the beach.

Day #73

Title: Big Bass Bokeh
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: I had a noodle on my bass for the first time in ages this evening. I was a bit rusty! Then I thought I would make a few pictures of its anatomy and choose one for today's photo, so this is it.

Day #72

Title: In Step
Location: High Chelmer Shopping Centre, Chelmsford
Camera: Canon Ixus 850IS compact
Notes: A quick shot taken while I was out in town this morning after another meeting. The shopping centre has had some new floor tiles put down and I liked the pattern they made. I waited for some shoppers to stroll by. I liked the red bag one was carrying, and these two also happened to be wearing the right colours!

Day #71

Title: Open Wide
Location: Thaxted, essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I had a meeting in Saffron Waldon this morning, and stopped off in Thaxted on the way home for a few pictures. Initially the light was dull and overcast, but once I'd been in the church and wandered around for a bit, the sun came out. I also got some great shots of the Tudor Guildhall and Thaxted Windmill. But this was my shot of the day for catching the cat's spontaneous yawn as I passed. It was sitting in a window along with a notice in French, proclaiming something along the lines of "Extremely malicious cat and little nourished"!

Day #70

Title: Rainy Days
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: What happened to Spring? Today we woke to high winds and lashing rain. Not much incentive to go out!

Day #69

Title: Lost In Contact
Location: Vicarage Road, Watford
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 75-300mm EF f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: After losing three games on the trot, Saracens really needed a win at home to keep their league position healthy. Sale Sharks came visiting this week. Sarries were leading 21-7 at half time, the Sharks pulled back during the second half, but the final score stood at 24-20, finally breaking Saracens' losing streak. It was an entertaining game, on the whole. Here, former French international Sebastien "Seabass" Chabal loses the ball after a hit from Glen Jackson. Sarries team mate Dan Scarborough is on hand to mop up the loose ball.

Day #68

Title: Crazy Straws
Location: At home
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I was camped in front of the telly watching the rugby for much of the afternoon, but found time between halves to have a play with these crazy straws. I picked them up in the supermarket a few days ago, thinking they would make a nice still life composition. The new lens right open at f/4 gave a shallow depth of field.

Day #67

Title: Spick & Span
Location: Margaretting Church, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: I was intending to take a walk centred around Mountnessing Church this morning, but got distracted on the way by St. Margaret's at Margaretting. It's not often open, and I happened to notice the Church Wardens and a few other parishioners were in there giving it a Spring clean before Easter. There were half a dozen of them (the youngest about 4, wearing a Batman costume and brandishing a feather duster!) polishing brass, plumping up kneelers and hoovering the aisles. This picture presented itself to me as I wandered around near the Font; the brass ends of the ropes were looking very shiny in the sun, and contrasted with the lovely polished pew end.

Day #66

Title: The Bell Tower Door
Location: Blackmore, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: A bit of a contrast from yesterday's architectural shot! Dull, flat light for most of the day. I took a detour into Blackmore on the way to the supermarket this morning. The Priory Church of St. Laurence has a Medieval bell tower and this is the door on the north side. I liked the details in the beams, and the slightly wonky look it had. But it's been standing since the 15th Century, so it's unlikely to fall down any time soon.

Day #65

Title: Covert Surveillance
Location: Chelmsford, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM
Notes: Led astray by one of my 366 friends, I've recently been thinking about lenses. Whilst my 17-85mm EF-S is better than the naff 18-55mm kit lens that I first had with my 300D, I took a close look at some of the recent pictures I'd taken with it, and realised that it's not particularly sharp at 17mm, especially round the edges, and suffers from chromatic abberations at times. Having looked at Canon's offerings, I decided on the 24-105mm EF f/4 L IS USM as my next purchase, which is why I found myself in Chelmsford this morning with a new toy! This is more or less as taken, with no tweaking apart from levels and a bit of perspective correction. I was surprised by the distortion of the reflections in what are essentially flat pieces of glass. And then there's the woman looking down at you from the sky...

Day #64

Title: Buttsbury Vista
Location: Buttsbury, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: The sun was in and out all morning, so you had to pick your moment for pictures today. I had planned to take a photo of Stock Windmill for today's image, but the light was wrong, the wind was wrong, and the mill was positioned wrong! Best laid plans and all that. So on the way home, I stopped at Buttsbury Church for a quick look around. The church is on top of a modest hill, and this is the view over the Wid valley looking due West towards Ingatestone Hall. I'm sure you'll see some more photos of that later in the year (it's not open much at the moment).

Day #63

Title: Protection
Location: Near Greensted, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 50mm EF f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube
Notes: Went for a lovely walk this morning - the sun was out, fluffy clouds in the sky. Forecast was for hail showers! So I thought I'd get out early. I visited the ancient Log Church at Greensted and then did a circular 4 mile walk around the locality. This rose branch was poking out of a hedge as I passed it - and the sun was in a perfect position. I loved the burgundy red stalk contrasting with the blue sky behind.

Day #62

Title: Seen Better Days
Location: Brightlingsea, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 75-300mm EF f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Walked a windswept couple of miles this morning around Brightlingsea with Mum - there were some lovely dilapidated old beach huts to photograph. But I thought this was the most appropriate for this week's 366 theme, Seen Better Days. It was rather unusual - such a posh Art Nouveau letterbox in the side of a peeling old door to a boatmaker's workshop seemed rather incongruous.

Day #61

Title: A Seaside Paddle
Location: Frinton, Essex
Camera: Canon EOS 30D / 17-85mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM
Notes: Visiting my Mum and Dad for the weekend, and the sun was out, so we decided to get some sea air at Frinton. The waves were crashing on the breakwaters, and these three were having fun paddling at the water's edge in their wellies.