A little walk

I havent been taking many photos recently..i started a new job last week which has kept me busy and the weather has changed here..winter has well and truely arrived. The nights are dark and it gets dark now around 5 which means by the time i get home from work i dont get the chance to go out and about and take photos of anything..especially as i hate flash photography and even if i didnt,i only had the built in flash on my camera right now which doesnt make for good results.
I got a quick chance last week while out with Holly to snap a few shots..before the light faded and my battery died.

I started writing this post over a week ago,but it wouldnt let me upload my pics at the time and then i got excited about buying new stuff for my camera only for my camera to break..so i completely forgot about it til now!

Wentnor Part 2

I thought i'd split this into 2 seperate posts...more random photos were taken.
The sun was setting beautifully while we were there but just as i was getting into the car the sky seemed very dark and moody..like rain was coming..but it never did!

Lastly..Nan & Grandad..i love you and miss you!!

Wentnor

A couple of days ago we took alittle trip upto Wentnor in Shropshire to visit the grave of my grandparents. I havent been up there since May i think so it was nice to visit although im really not a fan of graveyards in anyway. I took a few photos while we were there..the first couple of shots are off my dad and my dog Holly..im determined to get more photos of my dad..and my mum..although she is alittle unwilling.

The rest of the photos are just random shots that i took more for me practicing manual focus and pure curiosity i guess.

RAW

Ive done it,ive taken the leap,a milestone in my photography journey. Ive moved over to shooting in raw format. To some people..thats nothing to shout home about,but to me it feels like a big step.
Recently ive been having problems with some of my shots..pixels showing through and over sharpening..it turns out the problem was down to the jpeg compression settings on my camera so the best way to solve the problem was to change over from shooting in jpeg. Ive been practicing for the last couple of days..got some good shots so far. I cant believe how different it is processing in raw. I think the most obvious difference for me is the color. Even though i shot in jpeg before i editted in ACR using mostly presets with minor adjustments and although the results were good..its a whole different ball game when it comes to editting raw shots. Im having so much fun. My only problem is that im gonna need a much bigger memory card..my card is only 1gb so whereas it gave me nearly 400 shots in jpeg..it only gives me 50 in raw.
These are just a few shots i have taken over the last few days practicing.


I took these on a nice long walk with my dog...enjoying the signs of autumn..i love the colors of autumn..so warm!
And a couple of shots of my lovely Hollydog..miserable because its been raining all the time and she cant play outside.

I took a trip

Last friday i decided to go to redditch for a few days and stay at my birthfathers house..its always good to see him,his wife Debs and my brother and sisters. I had a really good time there,as i always do when i see them. On saturday we went to a 'roller disco' that the kids wanted to go to..i havent been rollerblading for years but i went round a couple of times with my bro PJ and a couple with my sister MJ but after that i gave up and took off the unbelievably uncomfortable rented skates. It was fun all the same and PJ & MJ got really good at it,they are both going again this weekend with their own new skates. I came back yesterday after a really good week with them. Sadly,PJ came down with a cold on monday having caught what his mum had...on monday though all of them,PJ.DJ & MJ had the day off school coz they were 'ill',i think DJ & MJ were skiving though..by the end of the day they were both perfectly fine..just didnt want to go to school obviously..I played far too much xbox with my brother while i was there..borrowed too many psp games to play either on PJ or MJ's and watched all of Lee Evans shows which PJ has on dvd...oh and made great friends with Jake the dog and Charlie the cat (who is apparently quite mean)..not to me though!!

I took my camera with me,as it goes everywhere with me,but i didnt take a single picture! Im abit disappointed that i didnt take any pictures although it was great to have a break from it..seeing as i dont have much imagination at the moment,and not have to worry about editting a bunch of shots..but i dont have many pictures of my brothers and sisters so every chance i have to spend time with them i really should record.
I spent time with them in August and we went to the safari park which was great..i got a couple of pictures of them then..so those will have to do for now.

PJ -13yrs old

DJ -11yrs old

MJ -8yrs old

Spent sometime with my niece Lola on friday and saturday..thought it would be fun to try and get some photos of her somewhere other than sat in her bouncy chair and a good excuse to continue that manual practice of mine.
I got a couple of good shots of her on the floor playing with her toys and attempting to crawl...(she didnt get far..she hasnt figured it out yet) but the shot i like the most came out rubbish. I was using my shitty kit lens and i swear to god it takes for ever to focus that one and even longer to change focus. Because she was moving around alot and im shit at manual focus my focus is off on what would of been the best shot..the focus is more on her top than her face and so it is not really usable. It sucks but i still like the shot so i went ahead and processed it anyway..im so disappointed though,i wish id nailed it because i didnt get a second chance.

I hate shooting in my livingroom because the light is so poor..despite having a big floor to celling window the same width as the room..there seems to be no light in there at all and the main light always gives that reddish glow.I was really suprised how well these came out today but i sat with my back to the window so Lola was facing the light and basically hoped for the best..the catch lights..if you can even call them that were rubbish but nevermind.