A-Z 2011- #G is for grater

I didn't really get around to photographing much for the letter 'g', so at the last minute I got out my macro lens and my cheese grater. Here are the results:

Project 52 #10 String Quartet

Assignment 10 of Project 52 was to make a photograph for a CD cover and inside spread, for a string quartet playing Ravel. My major problem with this assignment was not having access to a string quartet, so  requiring me to think outside of the box somewhat. The first thing I did was listen to the piece of music which was somewhat sombre and melancholy. I then had to find a way to represent the mood and the idea of a string quartet. This is what I came up with:
The cover:

The inside

This was taken on my kitchen table. I just pulled the curtain across the table for the backdrop, and lit the candles with a couple of table lamps.
I was quite happy with the results.

2011 A-Z Challenge #F

F is for flowers:

Project #52 recipe ingredients

Another topic for the Project #52 course was to set up and shoot the ingredients for a salad- a shot that could be used in a cookbook. I really enjoyed this assignment. I'm loving the tabletop work. I think I enjoy the arrangements-the making of the still life, as much as the photography.

Here is  my short list:

These were taken in my lounge room. In the last one the sun was coming through the window, and I really like the effect. It was difficult to get the exposure right in these shots-exposing for the white background would have meant the cheese and the onions were overexposed-well they are slightly anyway, but if I had exposed for them, then the white background would have been dull and grey. I know there is a solution, probably to do with using flash in some way..
But I think the ingredients look tasty and inviting, and I guess that's what it is all about!

Project #52

One of the topics for project 52 was CHOCOLATE- a shot with a square crop that could be used on a restaurant menu. This involved me cooking as well as taking photos. Here's the result:

E is for Earth

Well, E proved to be a very hard letter, and in fact I only ended up with one photo for E -freshly plougher EartH!

D is for Discovery

Today I went for a walk, a walk I have done many times before down to the Dell near my house. For those of you on the other side of the world the Dell is a small wooded valley. Our dell has a river-The Water of Leith, and I have walked along the water time and time again. It is so peaceful, and changes with the seasons, so there's always something new to see. Herons, magpies... I'm always attracted to the water. But today I decided to take a path that I've not walked before, and I'm so glad I did, as I made lots of discoveries.

The path I took was at the top of the dell, so it was interesting to look down into the dell, down to the path that I usually walk, seeing things from a different perspective. That's one of my favourite thing about photography too, seeing things from a different point of view, finding the small detail within the big picture.

Among my discoveries today was a complex of abandonded and derelict buildings:

I've actually been inside this building, Graysmill House, when it belonged to the council and they used to use it for inservice training. However it was sold to a developer who very strangely built a housing estate around it. Seems bizarre that very expensive new houses look out onto this. Maybe there are plans to develop it into apartments, but in the meantime, it's abandoned and no doubt falling into disrepair.

This little building may have been a workers cottage to support the big house:

 

And this was probably the stable block:

 Peering through the hole in the door allowed me to get this shot:

 The lock:

And  my favourite photo of the day-I love the way the light is falling here:

The path took me through this disused tunnel-I think it was a railway tunnel perhaps:

Click on images to see larger.

C is for Cathedral

St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh to be precise..

2011 A-Z Challenge #C

so for letter C I decided to use the theme of Curves. I met up with some fellow photographers at the Old Calton Burial ground in Edinburgh. I used my 50mm lens and concentrated on the small details, rather than the big picture.
Here are a few of the photos:

Project 52 #3 Still Life magazine cover

The assignment for week 3 of Project 52 was to shoot a stillife to fit a predesigned 8x8 magazine cover. Still life isn't something I've done before, so I thought I would give it a go. I gathered up some bits and pieces from Emily's room, and set them up on the kitchen table, which I covered with some white stretch fabric.

And here's the result:

I did struggle with light-it's still gloomy here in Scotland, so this is shot with the halogen lights of the kitchen on, and then I draped a silver emergency blanket over a chair and shone a head torch onto it to bounce some light onto the objects. Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and I think I could get to enjoy still life photography!

Project 52 #2 Street Portrait

#2 Street Portrait
Originally uploaded by pampossum

So for Project 52, assignment 2 we were to ask a stranger to pose for a photo. I have taken photos of strangers before, usually street performers during the Festival. I wasn't looking forward to this assignment, because I feel uncomfortable about this type of photography. I think it is intrusive to ask a stranger to pose for a photo. I know they can say no, but still it makes me uncomfortable. Also I find the idea of having portraits of people I don't know on my computer a bit disconcerting. I'm ok about street scenes with people going about their business-it's the portrait stuff I don't like.
Anyway, I came across a large group of young people all dressed up in costumes in the city centre. I thought they were performers of some kind, When I chatted to them they turned out just to enjoy dressing up and descending en masse at different locations. So I figured this was a bunch of people who didn't mind being the centre of attention, so I was happy to ask some of them to pose for me. The photo you see is Lauren.

2011 A-Z Challenge #B

So we are onto the next letter 'B'. I was going to do BOKEH-and set up some shots, but I didn't have time. So yesterday I met up with some other Edinburgh photographers to do the BURNS walk-a walk looking at places in Edinburgh associated with Robbie Burns, Scotland's most famous poet. (Auld Lang Syne, for one).It is Burn's night on the 25th January. So these photos are from that walk:
1, The Writer's Museum

 2. Beer barrels in Ladystairs Close

 3. The Burns Window in St Giles Cathedral

 4. Deacon Brodie-Burns was thought to have lived where the Deacon Brodie Tavern now stands. This photo also has some nice Bokeh!

Project 52- #1

In addition to my A-Z 2011 challenge I have joined Project 52 at Lighting Essentials. I am hoping this project will help me to develop my lighting skills. For the first assignment we had to write a mission statement, and take a photo from around our home to illustrate it.

 Here is mine:

2011 A New Challenge

Well, I finished the 52 walks in 2010 challenge-although my blogging did get behind!
So this year I have started a new challenge A-Z 2011. This is a fortnightly challenge-a letter every two weeks. So for A I decided on Angles. I 'm looking around when I'm out and about for things with interesting angles, as well as maybe taking photos from unusual angles.
Here are some: