2016 in full swing already…
WOW, well 2016 is already starting to shape up as planned. I’d said in a previous post that I wanted to do more outdoors things… Read More »2016 in full swing already…
Education
Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam
No, I’m not just muttering gibberish. Well, OK it may seem like that to some. Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig, I’m learning Gaelic. This summer I was able to spend two fabulous weeks on the Isle of Skye attending 2 back to back short courses at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO), the Gaelic College.
Read More »Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam
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1, 2, 3, say cheese
Ok, so this is a follow up to the previous posting where I’d mentioned about doing a Portrait Lighting Course run by Martyn Rayner from his studio The Works Studio in Croxton, St Neots. BTW, you don’t really say 1,2,3 say Cheese to a model 
It was a good day and with only 5 photographers in the studio it was easy to get Martyn’s attention and time with the model, Amber Tutton (Amber on Facebook). Amber was wonderful to work with, especially with a complete novice like myself. I think it was the idea of giving direction to a model that scared me the most about doing Studio work, but luckily, Amber helped a lot by giving some pose suggestions or simply using her experience to keep moving and providing interesting poses. I had a chance to chat with Amber while we were all having lunch, and for someone her young age, I got the distinct impression she is a very confident young lady that knows what she wants to do and more then anything, she really really enjoys what she does! Keep up the great work Amber, you’re going to go far and do very well!
I found using the lighting equipment to be easy and while I didn’t personally man handle the flash heads or softboxes, I can see it’s not rocket science in terms of assembling and and positioning, something else I’d not really known what to expect to be so simple. However, getting the best results will certainly take practice. While it’s easy to position a light, doing it correctly is another matter. We’d used a Beauty dish, a Ring flash, and a few different Softboxes. The ring flash was interesting but you don’t wanna do a lot of shooting with it, sure adds a heap of weight to the camera haha
Would I ever use a studio again? Absolutely!!! The cost of studio rentals has been one of the biggest surprises for me, the hourly cost really isn’t that high and the result could well be spectacular, certainly a hell of a lot better then you’ll likely trying to get those really nice photos at home. I will certainly hire a studio at some point for photos, even just some family photos to start with, then perhaps a model again.
I had a great time on the course and an even better time shooting in the studio.
Continue to the next page to see some pics from the day.
Read More »1, 2, 3, say cheese
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Take control of your inbox…
This posting has been inspired by a recent posting (Take control of your notifications) from @sciencebase on his website “sciencetext”. It does make sense to turn off unwanted notifications from websites, but if you do wish to receive them then you can take some simple steps to take control if your inbox. Pretty much every mail service and mail client have built in filtering rules that can be used. I’m going to show you how to configure mail filters in GMail since that’s where my email is hosted.
I’m always amazed at how many people NEVER use filters or have even heard of them. I see this all the time in the work place as well as with friends. People I have worked with that used Outlook never ever use rules to filter email out of the inbox and I’ve seen people with 80,000+ emails in their INBOX!!! That is, in a word, retarded!
Right, on to the important stuff …
Read More »Take control of your inbox…
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Photography – part 3 (final)
This is the final part to this ‘series’. The final day with Red Cloud Days Photography course was better then the first day. We were taken out to Wollaton Hall & Deer Park. The weather had cleared up a little, stopped raining and was even a little warmer then it was on Saturday, much the relief of everyone in the class. There would be no need for the waterproofs I’d bought the day before 
The intrepid explorers in the class and our fearless leader set out into the park
To carry on reading the rest of this post go ahead and click the link .. I’ve split this as it’s gonna be rather big for the front page of the blog. BTW, click on any photo to go to Flickr to see it in a bigger size. I’ve only kept the size down for faster load times.
Read More »Photography – part 3 (final)
