25th photo
Exp 1/125
Aperture 5.6
Nothing much to say besides these are my favourite pair of earrings. I love the blue/green glass. I can't make up my mind which colour it is. Its a mix between dark turquoise and petrol blue. Its definitely my favourite colour.
24th photo
Exp 1/125
Aperture 5.6
After taking a few shots of some inanimate objects I turned my attention to my cat. She has a strange habit where she doesn't like to drink the water out of her bowl, but water from the sink, be it from the dripping tap or some dishes left to soak. Anything but from her cat bowl, unless its really fresh water just poured from the tap. This is a shot of her having just had a drink from the tap with the water droplets left around her mouth.
23rd photo
Exp 1/400
Aperture 5.6
More flowers today. We have about 3 vases of flowers in the house at the moment. I thought I'd shoot this little beauty before it began to wither as we've had the heating on in the house for the first time this year so I'm not sure how long they'll survive. I really want a new macro lens which will let me go below 5.6. You can see the effect I was going for with just the centre in focus, but the surrounding petals are too defined for my liking. Perhaps it would have been better with a higher aperture to get the whole flower sharp. I'm still experimenting with the capability of the lens.
22nd photo
Exp 1/100
Aperture 5.6
I was feeling pretty unspired this evening when I got home. I'd been out to the cinema with my Mum. We'd originally wanted to watch The Devil Wears Prads, but my Mum got the dates mixed up as she'd looked on the internet, and its not actually out until this Friday (Mum and technology don't mix). We had to settle for a different film instead so we watch The Queen. Helen Mirran gave a good portrayal, but the film wasn't up to my expectations. It focused too much on the Diana saga and how that affected the publics view of the Royals. When we got home I looked around for a few things to photograph. I finally settled on these flowers. I haven't got any idea what they are as like I said before I'm useless with anything horticultural. I love the two tone of the closed petals and the richness of the purple.
21st photo
Exp 1/640
Aperture 5.6
This past week if I get to work early enough I get to watch the sun rise in the morning while I drive along the motorway, and on the way home I got to watch the sun set. Its a beautiful sight, yet I always happen to be driving. Once home, the views of the sun setting are obscured by our lower position, trees, and other houses. I plan to get up really early one morning, climb to the top of the Wrekin (a hill where I live) and watch the sun rise and take photos, or climb up there in the evening to photograph the sun going down. I'll have to make sure I do this while its still mild as I'm not so keen on photography in the cold as gloves prove impossible to operate the camera while wearing them. For today's picture this is the sky while the sun was setting tonight after I arrived back about 8.30. Its taken from the window upstairs at the front of my house.
20th photo
Exp 1/160
Aperture 5.6
I didn't end up going out today, I stayed in as I went out last night for an Indian and a drink with some friends. I spent this morning studying, and this afternoon discussing travel plans with my friend in Australia. It looks like I'll be heading down under in February to spend time travelling around New Zeland and Australia. That is if I can save enough money. I started saving yesterday so I have a few months. It will mean cutting back completely on all unnecessary spending, and I do a hell of a lot of that! Unfortunately we have Christmas between now and then which will be costly as usual so I'm starting to buy odd Christmas presents whenever I'm at the shops just to spread the spending out a little.
As for the photograph I went outside into my garden and saw this sad little plant outside my back door. Unfortunately its looking the worse for wear, and I don't think it can be resurrected. I was quite impressed how it tried to camouflage itself against the wall with its complementary tones. Autumn is well and truely underway, and I'm sure a few more of our plants will soon look like this as the frosts set in. Although as this is the warmest Septemeber on record I don't think the frosts will set in for a while.
19th Photo
Exp 1/160
Apperture 5.6
I love the richness of the blues in this shot. It turned out better than I'd originally expected, with the lower aperture giving depth to the bubbles. I think the bubbles would have turned out a lot sharper with a better lens and using a tripod as even at above 1/150 I tend to get camera shake which shouldn't be expected above 1/60 without a tripod.
Todays shot has no story behind it, its just an inanimate object from around the house. I had planned to go out and do something today but besides going out to town to put money in my savings account (it was pay day yesterday) I couldn't really motivate myself to go anywhere else. I've still got the rest of the day to do something as its just before 3pm. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be out and about so my photograph for tomorrow should be of something more interesting. Maybe something seasonal, as the leaves on the trees are turning farily quickly.
18th photo
Exp 1/100
Apperture 5.7
Back in junior school when I was about 8 or 9 I used to have pen pals. Over the years I've had on in Jamaica, one in America and one in Lithuania. We would write every so often and send little items to each other. On a few occassions they would send me some examples of their money in note form. This photo is of the Jamaican $2. The saying 'Out of many, one people' is Jamaica's nataional motto. Its quite an interesting motto to include on a bank note. The one thing I love about the note is because its watermark is a pineapple. Its quite refreshing, as the watermark on all our bank notes in the UK is the Queens head. Imagine if it was a pineapple, or a British Bulldog even! It also has a picture of the hummingbird on the back which is Jamaicas national bird. The note it is resting on is a US $1 note. I also have money from Lithuania too.
17th photo
Exp 1/2
Aperture 5.7
My friend Esther recently got back from a three month charity expedition with Raleigh International in Nambia, Africa. I went to visit her this evening. I'm envious of her deep tan (12 weeks in the desert what can you expect), svelte figure (hard labour and a 250km trek must work wonders), and the amazing experience she had. She also got me a present which I hadn't expected. She got me a traditional African bracelet and pendant. The bracelet is shown below. Its made of wood, but I switched it to black and white. The pattern reminds me of zebras, which I'm sure she must have seen in Africa.
16th photo
Exp 1/50
Aperture 4.5
I absolutely love sushi. When I was younger I couldn't understand how people could like it. The idea of raw fish and seaweed repulsed me. Now I have come complete circle and can't get enough of the stuff. My first experience of sushi was at the revolving sushi bar in the basement of Selfridges in Birmingham. From then on I have been addicted. I buy it ready made, in a restaraunt, home made. This time last week I was at college after work. At 5pm on out break I nipped out to the shops and bought a pack of pre made sushi to take back with me. One of the ladies at college noticed it and said she'd give me her daughters sushi kit she'd bought a while ago as she had no use for it as her daughter was going back to India. So I jumped at the chance. True to her word she brought it to college this week. I have made sushi before at home, but only with the basic ingredients. This pack includes all kinds of sauces including the extremely hot wasabi. It also comes with some ready cooked sushi rice, which for me is great as I am the worlds worse rice cooker. I never get it quite right. Its always too much water, or too little. This photo is the 'before' picture of all the ingredients. Once I crack it open and make some sushi I will take an 'after' picture for you to marvel at my wonderful sushi making skills!
