Twenty Eight

Oh dear, over 6 months since the last post. I've not taken many pictures lately, a combination of less time on my hands and lack of inspiration.
This one was rather hastily set-up. I'm reasonably happy with it - it conveys the message well enough - but it's hardly ground-breaking.

C+, must try harder.

Twenty Seven

I haven't taken many pictures lately; hopefully that'll change soon.

In the meanwhile, have this little thing: Into The Darkness. And yes, it would have been better with some glowing eyes up there, but I didn't have time to set those up...

Twenty Six

Long overdue, both here and in general, but it seems at the moment, I finally have a kid who's happy to pose for me.

Twenty Five

More from "Song Titles".
Had to quickly change my plan on this one. I thought the song was called "Fade Out" but then discovered it was "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". Thankfully, the new idea worked out better than the original one.

Twenty Four

I'm learning to love Black & White when done properly. It's good for setting a certain mood, I feel.
The challenge: "Song Title".
Title (in case you can't work it out): "Paperback Writer"

Twenty Three

For a change, I'm going to talk first.

I've been doing this photography thing "properly" for a little over 2 years. In that time, it's remarkable (to me) just how much I've improved.

I've been enterting an informal challenge for most of this time. There are no prizes - just the reward of deciding the next topic - but it's a good opportunity to get some reasonably honest critique. These are all "strangers" so it's easy to explain what's wrong with a picture. Of course, it's also nice to get positive feedback.

When I look back at some of my earlier efforts, quite frankly they are appalling, and I'm a little ashamed of myself for submitting them. But then, I guess, I wouldn't have had the negative feedback which has helped me grow.

In 56 challenges, I've been placed in the top 10 just 4 times - and 3 of those have been in the last 8. So, in the previous 48 challenges, I only achieved a top 10 (actually a 6th place - for reference, the image is here) once.

Not good really. But something has changed. I've said before that I think my creativity is on a high, but more importantly, I'm no longer prepared to submit an image just for the sake of having something there. In other words, I'm applying quality control to my own pictures.

And about time too, you might think.

I'm also taking more risks. Exploring subject matter that might be uncomfortable - "Hostage" was a good example. It didn't place, but it got lots of positive feedback. Most notably, it made people uncomfortable, and that's just about the perfect reaction.

"Unidentified Male" placed 5th in the same challenge as "Hostage". I then placed 7th for "View from"

Finally, in the most recent challenge, I placed 2nd, missing out on the top spot by 0.2 points.

The reason for all this waffle? Because I'm not posting the image here. As I said above, I'm taking risks. Some of you might find the image uncomfortable to view - especially those of you who object to seeing me on screen without a shirt...

I should add that the image is perfectly worksafe, before you worry too much. However, I must caution that anyone who glances across at you when you're looking at it might assume it's not worksafe, so be careful.

So, for those of you wishing to be brave, the image is "Missing Pieces". Enjoy.

Twenty Two

Been meaning to do this for a while. Quite fun, but space was a little limited.
"The Gathering".
It's all about attention to detail. No, I didn't grow a "beard" especially for this, but yes, I did shave mid-way through to change my appearance.