Photo Shop Experiment - 1

Here's a wee experiment I did, following a tutorial on this site here. It was a lot of fun and I learned an awful lot. I gotta say, if you're into PS but don't quite get it, spend a day doing some tutorials. well worth it.

SmidgeShots - 19 - Limerick City

Long time, no photos. Terribly sorry. Today, I went out with my friend's Nikon D40. Took a bit of getting used to, but here are the results.

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Tree Limb

Something nice about the way the branches diverge that way, almost like veins.

City with a View

Another look at those wonderful, wintry trees. You can see the Clarion in the background, too. Some nice cloud movements happening up top.

Knock, knock.

Love how this looks. The slightly bowed head, the imposing stature and size of the thick wooden doors. It's just so easy to see how a cathedral like thought would have inspired awe and fear in equal measure.

Get a Grip

This is the handle to the church door above. Beautiful metal-working, it looks like it's giving a wry smile.

Cracks in the Tomb

The rain striking an old tomb. This one is a couple hundred years old, now. And yet it keeps going, keeps lasting, rain, cracks and all.

Seagulls, Unite!

What a shot. Seagulls are so much fun to photograph. They always look like they're scheming.

Blackbird|Whitebird

Perfect moment in time. This little blackbird is watching his cousin, a seagull. I wonder what he's thinking.

Smidgshots - 18 - The Bouncy Ball

Three hours past midnight, two packets of Aero Bubbles and one glass of 7-Up. No, this isn't how best to make your Furbie turn full monster, this is the setting behind my new short, "The Bouncy Ball."

You see, something strange happens to us after midnight. Like the Furbies, we lose our inhibitions, we act in ways we wouldn't during daylight - Just ask the five lads who were arrested outside my door for jumping on cars, drinking vodka and smoking weed.

Whatever it is that possesses us during the small hours it makes art thrive. At least for me. Maybe you're a morning person. I like to call them The Insane.

Anyway, filmed at three, edited at four, uploaded by five. Here's my short short, "The Bouncy Ball."

Enjoy.

P.S. Why am I putting this on my Smidgeshots? One - To remember where it is. Two - Because my camera is about more than just photos, it's about taking lots of photos and stringing them together, bundling it with audio and calling it a movie.

Smidgeshots - 17 - The Cloud Experience part ii

A few more nice shots of clouds this time taken as the sun set. Enjoy.

Sunset One

Sunset Two

Sunset Three

Smidgeshots - 16 - The Cloud Experience

So, just before the rain hit again, I managed to catch some cool cloud formation as the sun peeped out. I then manipulated the colours, bringing out those brilliant blue skies and, in others, changing it all to a greeny teel. Let me know what you think! Enjoy.

Blue Skies

Green Formation

Blue Linings

Green Patch

Little Bird

Smidgeshots - 15 - Shadow and Red

Building on my work playing with greaseproof paper, a lamp and my housemates, I came up with these interesting things. Some are taken using the paper and the lamp, but some, as you'll quickly spot, are swathed in red light. To get this effect I popped up the in-built flash, then blocked it off. The camera uses a small red light to help dilate the eyes and reduce Red-Eye in photos, but in a totally dark room it gave these terrifying, but beautiful images.

Enjoy.

Colman - Side Profile

Grace - Front Profile

Colman - Red

Grace - Looking Side

Grace - Red

 Grace - Inquisitive

Grace - Red Frontal

Grace - Hand Thought

Shane - Glasses

Smidgeshots - 14 - Rainy Night

First things first, you may notice a fancy little logo at the bottom right of my pictures. That is the new addition I will putting on all photos online. Just one little security measure I guess. And it was fun to paint light ^^ Now then, onto the photos themselves. There's nothing nicer than raindrops in a photo and bevlieve me there's no shortage to rain drops here.

Come Sit on My Bench

Blurred rain is one of my all time favourite things to photograph. Those little yellow dots remind me of magic, as though they're sprinklings of fairy dust.

Or In My Car?

It's always good to have something to focus on, whether it's in the foreground or the background. Here, the car is blurred, so we see it, but we don't take too much notice of it. This is good as our eyes are then naturally drawn to the droplets on the glass. Had there been no car there may not have been such a good contrast and the photo may not have been quite as gripping.

Or On My Bike?

Here I am working on the concept of lines. The first seat is out starting point and then it beams in towards our last. If you drew connecting lines they would converge at the end of the page like railway tracks, naturally edging our eyes up the photo.

Fancy A Spin?

I stood for quite a long time in the rain to get this shot. I love how the light plays and intertwines with itself, the whites dissecting the reds, turning to yellows.

Time for a Photo?

Aside from the blurred face and hands this is a pretty good shot. Andy looks very professional and the hexagonal dot on my lens adds a sort of artistic valor to the piece.