It's Easter.......

I doubt the Faberge family will be worried at my efforts to create a hand crafted Easter egg.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@60mm; ISO 100; f4; 2s. Ambient light.Published on

Star Trail

Star trails have been part of my quest to produce astronomical images. This is an early attempt spanning only about ten minutes - twenty images of thirty seconds duration each, then combined into this single image using a piece of freeware called "StarStaX". To save me having to stand out in the cold for the duration of the image sequence being shot, I used a Pixel-252 intervalometer. For the uninitiated, this is basically a remote release with a timer function which facilitates unattended shooting.

Individual images were shot as follows:-

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@12mm; ISO 400; F4, 30s.

The Plough

I've been trying to do a bit of astro photography lately. This was done from my back garden. The moon was full, hence the lack of visible stars. Some post shoot work in PS to darken the sky and bring out the stars.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@12mm; ISO 400; f4; 30s.

Night Car

This image was taken during a recent visit to the Galloway Dark Skies area in Ayrshire. Despite it having been a beautifully clear night when leaving home, forty-five minutes and thirty miles later it had become a night shrouded in mist and low cloud. Trying shots like this and doing a bit of experimental light painting filled the time between clear patches of sky.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm @ 26mm; ISO 800; f4; 58s. Minimal light painting (number plate and light clusters)  using a 2 x AA Maglite torch.

Thanks to Les Johnstone for the inspiration on this one.

Bertie Bassett

I really don't like liquorice or Aniseed so it seemed to me the best thing to do with these (inedible to me) confections was to try to recreate the little character used to advertise them - Bertie Bassett. I couldn't find a blue aniseed one for his hat so had to make do with pink!

Olympuse E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO 100; f3.5; 1/125s. FL-50R flash camera mounted.

Spice Islands

Paprika; ground coriander; black pepper; ground cumin; generic "curry powder".

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO 100; f8; 1/250s. FL-50R flash set off camera low to left of shot.

Triangular Numbers

Who remembers triangular numbers from maths classes at school? 1; 3; 6; 10; 15; 21....... and so on.

I thought these Liquorice Allsorts were an ideal way to illustrate the concept of triangular numbers. I don't really know what function they perform in the real world but as a number sequence (or should that be a series - can't remember the mathematical difference) triangular numbers are one of my favourite.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO 400; f3.5; 1/60s. FL-50R on camera.

Black Watch

This is one of my black watches. I particularly like the contrasting yellow second hand and highlighted digits.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO100; f4; 1/125s; LED ring light.

Shell

I liked the pattern on this and the surface textures.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO 100; f4; 1/60s; LED ring light.

Tea?

Anyone for a quick cup of tea?

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 35mm; ISO 400; f8; 1/60s; LED ring light.

Oriental Garden

This was taken in Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens at their oriental garden section.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@12mm; ISO 100; f22; 1s; ambient light.

Utensils

Every kitchen has them and every kitchen stores/displays them differently.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@33mm; ISO 100; f8; 1/250s; FL-50R, left of subject.

What lurks within........

Just a wee experiment really. Not a massively successful shot but OK for creating a bit of chat! The flash needs turned away down and/or diffused in some way.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@12mm; ISO 100; 1/250s; FL-50R placed in the cupboard.

Any guesses?

Does anyone want to hazard a guess at what this is? I think it's fairly obvious, but maybe that's becasue I took the shot!

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@60mm; ISO 100; f5.6; 1/250s; FL-50R flash above subject.

Bananas

A trio of bananas!

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@52mm; ISO 100; f5.6; 1/250s; FL-50R set to right of subject.

Bass Rock

The bass Rock. Home to thousands of gannets. Low tide reveals a narrow crevice running through entire width of the rock, but I really don't much fancy going in there! Don't know if it's big enough to take a kayak through?

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 70-300mm@202mm; ISO 100; f5.6; 1/1000s.

Quadcopter - Practice Craft

Having recently launched my self into the world of radio controlled quadcopters by taking on a build project, I thought I'd better get some practice in something smaller and less expensive to repair before taking to the controls of the BIG BOY. Behold, the Hubsan X4, which, as you can see, is tiny, but ideal for getting the basics of quadcopter control learned.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@42mm; ISO 100; f11; 1/250s; FL-50R off camera flash.

The Milton Mill

This derelict building outside Kilmarnock was once a working mill. It became a dwelling house and pub for a while but when that ceased the building began to fall into disrepair. As you can see, it has become 'roofless' and heavily overgrown.

Olympus E-3; Zuiko 12-60mm@14mm; ISO 100; f5.6; 1/250s.

Glasgow 10k 2012

The timing car at last year's Glasgow 10k ushers in the first runners across the finishing line.

Olympus E-500; Zuiko 70-300mm@169mm; ISO 400; f.6; 1/250s.