There is some happiness

Despite the tragedy in our lives at the moment..there is at least something to look forward to. The beautiful face of my niece Lola. Im so grateful that my grandad got to meet him and she brought some new joy into his life for the short time she has been alive. She loved to sit with him and be around him. The weekend before he died we took Lola to visit him and got the last pictures ever taken of him. Im so thankful for that!
Lola is so much like her dad,my brother..its amazing to look back at pictures of my brother when he was a baby and see such similarities between the 2 of them.
Quite often Lola and Ty come to stay at my parents house for the night at the weekend and i get to spend hours with them. Ty loves watching his films and last weekend we all watched Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was a good film..i never saw the first one though but still enjoyed it and Ty explain things about the film to me : )
I got to take a couple of photos of Lola,which is always fun. Especially with Lola..her expressions crack me up all the time and she is always happy and willing to give you a smile.

I editted in ACR using Marina's awesome underground settings again...i just cant get enough of her work and her settings are just out of this world..they really make you think outside the box when it comes to editting.

Happy Birthday

It was my dad's birthday yesterday..September 15th..hes reached the grand age of 57 :)
We tried to make the day at least a little happy but it is hard to be excited about it when my dads dad just passed away on Tuesday,he wasnt really in the mood for celebrating. I did however get a couple of minutes of his time to take some photographs. He was sat out in the back garden in lovely sunshine..but he was sat right in the sun and wouldnt move into the shade for me..coz he was warm in the sun..

Despite the fact that he was sat directly in the sun and therefore squinting alittle bit..i still like the shots,its rare for me to get my dad in front of the camera so i was pretty happy that he was willing to sit there and let me take a couple of photos.
And..hes wearing the shirt i bought him for i think fathers day..which im happy about coz i was pretty sure he wouldnt like it..its dark brown with pink stripes..i think it looks cool and is more modern than most of his clothes..but he liked it..and he wears it..yay!

Please help if you can

My grandad was diagnosed with lung cancer just a couple of months ago and sadly lost his battle on September 11th 07. He was looked after for the last few weeks of his life by the wonderful Doctors,Nurses and Volunteers at St Michael's Hospice in Herefordshire. It was a beautiful place and despite its nature was a place of pure love and joy. The Nurses who looked after my grandad were angels who were never too busy to even make him a cup of tea or sit with him for a short while so he wasnt alone.

St Michael's Hospice is a 16-bed inpatient centre and day hospice. They rely on donations to stay open,costing £6,680 ADAY!! 85% of this money is raised through funding alone.
As a result of loosing my Grandad,my sister in law..Lucy Rumsey has decided to take part in a fundraising event for the hospice called The Venus Challenge. The Venus Challenge is a 10k walk at midnight through Hereford town.
Please help if you can..give as little or as much as you can afford and help raise money for a wonderful place..in the name of Francis George Benjamin Morris 22.1.1930 - 11.9.2007

The Swans

While im still around i thought i would post a couple of photos from my last trip to the river. As i was walking along i saw 2 swans across the river and decided to climb down the bank to the waters edge to get in line with them and get a couple of shots. As soon as i got down to the waters edge the swans sensed me and started to swim over from the other side...towards me. The closers they got the more noise they started to make and i decided to snap a couple of shots before i ran back up the bank...a swan can break a mans..or womans...arm you know : )
I felt abit guilty because i figure they must have signets around and thats why they reacted the way they did..in order to protect their babies...but i just had to try and get a couple of shots. I think they turned out pretty well!

I love the first shot the most,im so pleased i managed to get that. The 2nd one is not as good but the only one i managed to get with both of them in. Edited in ACR.

Abit more manual practice

Ive been in a funk for the last couple of weeks really...with my grandad being so ill ive done nothing but focus on him and finding a job. Im still in a funk and i havent really felt like going out and photographing anything but i thought considering ive been trying to make the effort to get my manual focusing in check..i need to make sure i keep that up and get it perfect.
I spent alittle bit of time in the back garden today and just took a couple of snaps..nothing special and nothing exciting but just alittle bit of practice to keep my skills.

I had abit of fun processing these..just trying something abit different. The flower is actually pink not white but i played around in ACR and applied Marina Millers awesome Code blu setting from her Undergroud Raw Settings and just brought down the expose and brightness to achieve this. The last photo i applied another of Marina's awesome settings..this time Mellow Maitai and just did the same..adjusted brightness,exposure and added abit of black..im not sure whether i like the more bright color version or the mellow maitai..i think i favour mellow maitai abit more though.

Grandad

I got some bad news today..sadly my grandad passed away at 2.35am this morning.He was diagnosed with lung cancer a couple of months ago and has spent the last 2-3wks in St Michael's Hospice being cared for 24/7..the nurses and volunteer staff there were fantastic people..truely wonderful human beings and im so grateful for what they did for him.
I took the top picture on Friday..the last picture ever taken of him..when me,my bro & his family went to visit him.Lola sat with him for awhile,being quiet and just taking him all in.He loved Lola..his great grandaughter..so much,she was the first great grandchild to be born..although he has a step-grandson aswell and he loved him dearly aswell.Sadly Lola will never remember him..she is too young..but luckily we have some great pictures so show her when she is older.

Francis George Benjamin Morris
22.1.1930 - 11.9.2007

A couple more

Im slowly editting the photos from the wedding..i want to get them done as soon as i can but its not easy with visiting all the time.
Ive decided that although i'll keep a color version of each photo...my black and white passion cant be ignore. Im in love with childish davids bw actions and have editted my first 2 using his bws.



The first shot is James & Lynda with their parents and the 2nd is the same group shot from the storyboard in the black and white version. I like them but im not sure yet..ive got the rest to do yet but i'll update as i go along!