September 30 ~ Waves

Another beautiful morning here. It was crisp and fresh, with a brisk breeze. Even so, I found it tough to get up and get out there with the camera for dawn. Once I arrived at the beach, it was another struggle still to make myself get out of the warmth of the car and set up, since the sky was looking doubtful. In the end, I made myself get out - if nothing else, the walk would do me good! I'm glad I did; I was rewarded with another lovely sunrise. I spent some time using slower shutter speeds; it was high tide and I wanted to soften the crashing waves. Here are another couple of my favourites from today.

September 29 ~ Boo!

Went for a walk at the nature reserve nearby today. It was one of those beautiful crisp autumn days where the sun peeps out from behind fluffy clouds and a brisk breeze freshens the air. I love days like this - and it was made even better by managing to photograph one of these little critters for the first time. If he could speak, I imagine he would have yelled "Boo" at me. He appeared so inquisitive.

September 28 ~ An Eye For a Shot

We had a practical evening at camera club tonight; another chance to play with studio ligthing and take some portraits. They're not my forte, but I had fun.

September 27 ~ Greenery

They beat the blues! LOL

September 26 ~ Where Be the Sea?

"Yaaaar! I be seeing seashells, but where be the sea?" Captain Quackbeard bellowed. Methinks he's a bit confused. Shiver me timbers!

September 25 ~ The Tweets

You've heard of the Ronettes and the Supremes. Now enter the Tweets, birdland's newest singing sensation!

September 24 ~ At Rest

As hard as it may be to believe, this little one does have his quiet moments!

September 23 ~ Rockpools

Another beautiful September morning. I just had to head down to the beach again. Instead of my normal location near the lighthouse, I walked to the opposite side of the pier to hunt out some rockpools as it was low tide. I was rewarded with this.

I did take a couple of shots of the lighthouse, as I felt it would be rude not to LOL

September 22 ~ Dawn

I love this time of year - it's full of cool, crisp mornings where sunrise is early enough to be incredibly peaceful yet late enough to be civilized. This shot and the one below are from this morning at Roker Beach in Sunderland. Sunrise was a lovely 6:50am so I made the most of the beautiful morning.

September 21 ~ Strung

Yes, it's that violin again. I just love how worn it is; it makes for such interesting images.

September 20 ~ Mr Egg Meets Superduck

"Mr Egg, your days of terrorising the young of Duckville are at an end," proclaimed Superduck.

Mr Egg looked on malevolently as the citizens of Duckville cheered. "You have not seen the last of me, silly ducks," he snarled. "I shall beat all your eggs, and the ducks will perish!"

What will happen to the inhabitants of Duckville? Will Mr Egg succeed in his devilish plan? Stay tuned....

Excited!

I am so excited this morning; I have a 5 page User Spotlight in the October issue of Digital SLR User magazine! I've got my copy, and it's such a thrill to see my words and photos in print. I'm on Cloud Nine today and don't think I'll be down in a while!

September 19 ~ Watch Your Step!

Bananas can cause accidents, you know.

September 18 ~ Musical Interlude

Mini-Me has found a lovely little place to sit and daydream. I didn't have the heart to disturb him, so I photographed him instead.

September 17 ~ Ready to Play

I am so enjoying photographing this violin; the lines and curves enthrall me.

September 16 ~ Underneath the Lisianthus

I love the swirls of the unfurling petals; there's just something about them that I find so appealing.

September 15 ~ Too Close!

This is one of 3 images I'm working on for a set subject competition at my camera club. I haven't entered any photographs of my little wooden family in club competitions as yet, so I figure this is as good a time as any to start.

Mini-Me is far too curious for his own good; his inquisitive nature gets him into all sorts of sticky situations!

September 14 ~ Tune-Up

I've wanted to take photographs of a violin for ages. My friend S from camera club kindly asked his wife to lend me hers for a week. Thank you!

September 13 ~ Beach Debris

More from last weekend's stroll on the beach. I've got loads of pebbles, sea glass and driftwood, and I love the textures and colours of them. Thought this made for an interesting image.

September 12 ~ Striped

Some bits and pieces that Chris and I picked up while walking on the beach this past weekend. I love pebbles and the like; they make for fascinating photos.

September 11 ~ Cyclamen

Today is a day of rememberance and reflection. Today marks the 6th anniversary of one of the worst terrorist atrocities of our time. Today, like all days, is a day to be thankful that there is still some beauty in our world.

September 10 ~ Don't Make Me Hurt You!

"If you misbehave, I shall have to beat you," said Mr. Egg menacingly. Brown Egg quaked in its shell.

It's been a long day today - 6:30am I left home to pick up two work colleagues and drive us to Durham train station. We were on our way to Leeds for a day's conference which was due to begin at 9:45am. We managed to get as far as York on the train, and upon pulling into the station we were informed that the train would now terminate at York rather than continuing on to Leeds and then Manchester Airport as "the cables between York and Leeds have been stolen". That's a new one!

Buses were being put on to get all travellers around the problem area, but they were slow in arriving. We all then decided to get taxis to Leeds, about a £40 journey away. Needless to say, MANY of us attending the conference today were late! I think there were about 150 delegates from around the North of England, and most of us were affected by the disruption.

Better still, the taxi driver we ended up with first tried to drop us off at the Queen's Hotel in York rather than in Leeds, then proceeded to declare that he hated driving in Leeds when we told him we didn't want the York hotel but the Leeds one! Strange man LOL.

After an eventful morning, we finally arrived at our destination and I am happy to report that the remainder of the day went relatively smoothly. I'm tired now though!

Thank You!

I just wanted to post again today to thank my friend JoAnn for nominating me for her Inspiration and Excellence in Photography award. Thank you very much JoAnn - you made my day!

September 9 ~ Lindisfarne Dawn

Been up since 2:30am today, but it has sure been worth it. Met up with some friends on Holy Island just after 5am and we photographed the sunrise. Thanks folks for a great morning!

September 8 ~ Left Behind

It was a beautiful day here today, so we decided to go for a walk on the beach. This little feather was lying all by itself on the sand, away from all the pebbles and shells littering the beach. I just liked the contrasting textures and tones.

September 7 ~ Alien?

It does remind me of a many-legged alien, but in fact it is the centre of a balloon flower.

September 6 ~ Rays of Sunshine

Today's photo is yet another that I feel is suited to a sunny September day. I just love sunflowers and the way they seem to exude sunshine all their own.

September 5 ~ Crocosmia

Thank you to all those who have given me feedback on yesterday's image; I had a lot of fun experimenting, and it was very helpful to recieve such constructive critique. I really appreciate it. It confirmed my initial thoughts about the photograph - that it's definitely one to keep on playing and experimenting with.

Today's image is more conventional, and is from our very own garden. I just love the bright orange and how it seems to encapsulate a sunny Indian Summer's day. We've been enjoying some glorious weather recently!

September 4 ~ Experimental

I think the title says it all today, really. I wanted to give a dreamy look to this daisy close-up, so I used a shallow depth of field. Not entirely sure that I like it, but it's something for me to work on again.

September 3 ~ Harvest

Just a simple image from me today; feeling very autumnal.

September 2 ~ Home Cooking

One of my favourite ingredients to use when cooking. I just love the smell and the taste. As one of the basic ingredients to many recipies I enjoy, garlic's aroma is so evocative - it reminds me of helping my mother in the kitchen when I was younger. Some smells just bring a veritable avalance of memories; this is one of them.

I tried to impart a rustic feel to this image, and hope it was successful.

September 1 ~ Simplicity

The start of another month. September already; where's this year going? The time is just flying by. I thought the year would pass slowly due to the fact we have our big trip home to Canada to look forward to over Christmas and New Year's, but it's not the case this year. Last year seemed to drag almost interminably waiting for our trip, and this year I seem to blink and another month has gone by! Go figure.

I'm starting to detect an autumnal chill in the air; part of it may be psychological but I definitely feel it. I love this time of year.



I wanted to thank my friend JoAnn for this wonderful award; I'm really touched by her kindness in nominating me. Thank you for making my day JoAnn - you really made me smile.

August 31 ~ Sunshine

This shot sums up how I felt yesterday; the sun was shining and it was a wonderful day. Didn't do much, but enjoyed the day immensely nonetheless.

I really should do more shots with these reflections, I've not done any in a little while. Guess I'm just trying not to be too "samey" with my images and be a bit different from time to time. I'm finding it difficult to establish my own personal "style" without being boring. Hmmm... hope folks would tell me if I WAS getting dull photographically (or otherwise, for that matter! LOL).

August 30 ~ Let Me See!

Mini-Me sometimes gets fed up of being so tiny. All he wanted to do was smell the sunflower, but to do so he had to climb and climb and climb to get there. Fortunately those vases were lying around!

August 29 ~ Sunflower

Playing catch-up. Not been able to get my Blogger posts to show up here over the past few days. Looks like the problem, whatever it was, is now fixed though.