Loom bands. Definitely one of the crazes of 2014. Every child seems to have spent the summer making loom bands of all colours and designs. You know that loom bands are a craze when Gerry Adams was spotted wearing one that his television.
My daughter loves loom bands and has a container full of unmade loom bands and it gave me the idea to create a photo of a ‘sea of colourful loom bands.
It might be the middle of November but there’s still loads of ‘Autumn’ leaves with great red, orange, yellow colours.
The grass was dry so I asked Conor to lie down quickly for me and was happy with this photo.
Autumn Changes is a song by Donna Summer
Up until now I’ve thought that I didn’t have any preferred one style of photographs. People ask me what type of photographs I shoot and I’d always say an eclectic mix/anything and everything that catches my eye.
I enjoy photographing my kids, trying different sports (rugby- very enjoyable, soccer- much more difficult than I anticipated, boxing- difficult to position yourself in ideal location), urban, architecture, patterns, urban and many more.
But while looking through my favoured photographs on my computer I began to notice that there is a trend; a lot of abstract photos. I’ve found that I often try to take a ‘new’ photograph, meaning that most items have been photographed thousands of times and the vast majority look very similar. So by trying to capture something in a new/different way it makes my photograph somewhat unique and more memorable. And it’s also a challenge to me which I enjoy.
This is a photograph of bubbles in a pink plastic bowl. The initial result was mundane but by inverting the colours it changes it to a very different photograph; to me it looks like cells under a microscope.
Post title Green Day is the name of an American Rock band
A photograph of baking food ‘hundreds and thousands’.
Up until now I’ve always said that I don’t have a favourite style of photogrpahy. But more and more recently I’ve noticed that my favourite photographs seem to be abstract photographys. Which to me is beginning to make sense. I’ve also mentioned that I often try to take a photograph from a different perspective. Why? Most ‘common’ photographed items (landmarks etc.) are shot from the same spot and look very similar so none of them really stand out from the crowd. So, by photographing from a different perspective makes it more memorable and unique I think.
Or maybe it’s just that I don’t get out to photograph as often as I’d like to so I sometimes end up around my house with my camera looking for things to photograph and think what could make a good photo. Like this container of hundreds and thousands; I lay them out on a flat baking tray and like the result. I think it’d look even more impressive on a large acrylic print on my wall.
Colors and colors are lyrics from the catchy song ‘Colors’ by Hot Chip
A bunch of straws turned into an abstract photograph by inverting the colours of the photograph.
Cherry Coloured Funk is a song from the album Heaven Or Las Vegas by the magnificent Cocteau Twins. I think the colours in this photography vaguely match the abstrct colours on the album cover Heaven Or Las Vegas.
I was strolling down a side street in Brussles and several boxes of vinyl albums outside a store caught my eye. As a music lover I was curious as to what the albums were and as a photographer I saw a potentially nice photograph- great vibrant colours that would make a great abstract photograph.
The Vinyl Collection is the title of an album by Norah Jones.
My wife loves flowers (what woman doesn’t?) and I find roses a great subject for colourful, abstract macro photos. So when I bought her yellow roses recently we both were happy. This macro photograph of beautiful petals of a yellow rose is almost memorising I find. When I bought my macro lens I didn’t intend it use it for floral photography but I found it’s great for colourful photos of petals.
I like the simplicity in floral photos where the entire photos is engulfed with one colour, here the bright yellow rose is like a tunnel. Lilies are my wife’s favourite type of flowers but I’m going to start buying her roses as they’re my favourite type of flowers to photograph; pure red, white or yellow colours.
DISCOUNT OFFER: Simply apply the discount code ‘NSLDGB’ for a 20% discount at the checkout for this, or any other photo that you would like to buy. Click here to view this rose in my online store.
Post title ‘Yellow roses, the color of sunshine’ are lyrics taken from the song Yellow Roses by the one and only Dolly Parton.. Did you know that Dolly Parton even has her own theme park?
I like to notice patterns and potential photographs in everyday situations, maybe it’s the photographer in my hunting for something to photograph. I was in Calpe, Spain on holidays earlier this summer and ‘played’ crazy golf with our kids. What struck me was the strong colours and unique shapes around each hole.
Post title is taken from the song title “Mis-shapes, Mistakes, Misfits” by Pulp
Post title is lyrics from the song ‘Mansion On The Hill’ by The Boss, Bruce Springston. I thought it was by one of my favourite band The National but they just covered the song.
You only have one life.
Smile.
Laugh.
Be a child again.
Enjoy it, don’t take everything so seriously all the time.
Stop and smell the flowers, appreciate what you have.
Here’s some random photographs that make me smile.
This is how Conor (2 years young) smiles. There’s nothing wrong with him, it’s just his funny smile…
Post title is the song title of that happy, happy song Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin.
I’d just like to post an example of a ‘before and after’ photo, aka editing.
I was wandering around lovely Westport early morning last weekend and strolled along the picturesque river and stopped at this mini-waterfall.
I thought there could be a nice photo in it somewhere to took a few photos, some with slow shutter speeds. This was taken at 1/20th of a second but the initial result was a bit plain/standard.
So I did some basic editing in Picasa 3. I know I should be using Lightroom or Photoshop but haven’t found the time to study either yet. And I find that Picasa 3 does a good job. I know there some features and presets in Lightroom that I’d like. Someday, I keep telling myself, I’ll buy and learn/study Lightroom. Someday. Another confession- I don’t shot in RAW. Ever.
Anyway all I did with this photo took less than 5 minutes and I ‘framed’ the finished result as I think it’d look nice on my wall. Steps were crop, apply 1960’s effect and add the frame.
Post title is taken from ‘She’s a Waterfall’ by THE Stone Roses.
A collage of a colourful purple flower, taken with my new macro lens. Macro photography is a lot harder than I thought, it’s a learning curve, especially with focus.
Post title is taken from the song ‘Flowers’ from the album ‘Today’ by the under-rated band ‘Galaxie 500’.
This is the second set of photographs from my wander around Pearse Stadium, Salthill home to Galway GAA hurling and football. In this set I’m posting patterns and strong colours seen in the empty stand which wouldn’t be seen on match day.
…and an ‘abstract’ one thrown in for good measure
My first set of photographs from Pearse Stadium can be found here
Title taken from the American Pop Rock band named ‘Maroon 5’. I know I have more than 5 maroon photographs in the post but couldn’t resist adding this title
This is my second set of photos from Páirc Ui Chaoimh, home to Cork GAA hurling and football.
These photos some an empty stadium and shows the patterns and colours on the stand and terrace, which is normally hidden/covered by fans.
The last photo isn’t staged, Conor saw the flag, ran over and started waving it.
Here’s the link to my first set of photos from ‘The Park’ (Páirc Úi Chaoimh).
You’re always so calm and so cool,
Donal Óg just knows what to do,
Mulchay, Muphy, The Rock,
Will just play each minute on the clock.
Sean Og, Ronan and John,
They will just sting you along,
They’re just sheer class on the grass,
Rebels, we watch as they pass.
Gerry O Conor will leave you for dead,
Tom Kenny, he’ll fix you then
The attack starts all over again,
McCarthy wheels at you,
And Neil Ronan he knows what to do,
All they have to do is keep hurling at you.
Oh to be, oh to be, oh to be a Rebel,
We love ye Rebels, you’re so slick and so sharp,
We love ye Rebels with every beat of our heart,
We’ll follow Rebels all the way to Croke Park.
Lyrics taken from here, thanks to cathalosull21. It’s a slightly outdated song now but is from when Cork hurling was at it’s pinnacle (in recent times).
It was a quiet, wet dull day in Galway and I was stuck indoors. With nowhere to go and nothing to do I was tidying up the kitchen and was struck by the contrast between the colourful straws (my 4 year old daughter LOVES straws, they make her face light up. Of course she wants the pink ones) and the grey sky outside. So I decided to much around and try to take some happy, colourful photos.
The straws photo was taken with a standard compact camera. Someday I’ll buy a dedicated macro lens for my Pentax dSLR but for now the compact seems to go a good job. I bought extermely cheap extension tubes a while back but had problems with them and never managed to get them to work. I should just throw them out (or beat them to a pulp)…
This is my last set from the Limerick Photowalk (I promise!). These aren’t the leftovers, I have loads of them, trust me. The theme of this set is colour. It was a dull, rainy day in Limerick so I sought to seek out colour amongst the drabness and dullness.
It was a very pleasurable walk and nice to see some first-timers join us. I’m looking forward to the next one already.
Also here’s a video of some of my photos from the photowalk- Limerick Photowalk video.
No Flowers
No smoking
Blue skies above?
Irish Gold
Photos, photos, photos (Elalgallery Photograpy gallery in the Milk Market)
Holy Cross
Water Drops
And finally just a ‘funny’ one
At work one of our current competition categories is ‘Abstract’.
These photos are two I took at home tonight, one a Rothko copy and one trying to convey a human soul.
The sunset through my back door reminds me of the Russian-born American abstract painter Rothko.
Human soul- This one was just messing around but I kind of like it. It’s my breath, taken standing outside my back door in the (very) cold. The photo on it’s own it very forgetful but when you associate it to a human soul escaping a dead body then breathes (no pun intended) a whole new life into the photo.
A beautiful orange/golden sunset near Claregalway in Galway. The foreground has flooded fields an electricity pylons and poles. Much of east Galway was flooded in the winger of 2010 and the sunset reflects of the water.
Another rich mans toy from my wander around Kensington, London, this time a racing red Ferrari
An iconic English landmark. I tried to take the photo from a different angle than the standard photo and feel that this stands out
I didn’t want to take the standard photo of Harrods (front of building) and am happy with this instead.
Originally this was a macro photo of an apple. But the result wasn’t very sharp. So I messed about with the photo and this is the result
A bee working away in my back garden. I zoomed into 250mm to try not to disturbe the bee (or get stung). It was hard to get a shot with a good position but here you can literally see him collecting the nectar. The bee collects nectar, while pollen collects on its body
I had an overload of potential titles for this picture:
Wouldn’t it Be Nice?
Money, money, money, it’s a rich mans’ world
Opportunities, let’s make lots of money
All I need
Easy Money
A swimmer getting ready to stop and change over for the cycling leg of the Galway Triathlon.
There’s something pleasant about a bright blue sky cut across by a simple straight airplane trail. Here’s a collection of some I’ve taken. For a few of them I’ve been driving so pulled over quickly (and safely, obviously), raced to get my camera and grab a shot.
Flying by
I can never calm you down
And I can never turn you around
And I could never bring you flowers
And I could never turn you around
Galway’s famous bustling market has been trading in Church lane by St Nicholas’ Church in the centre of the city for literally centuries. The market is open Saturdays and Bank Holidays from 8am to 6pm and Sundays 2pm to 6pm. It’s a small, tight market but still there’s a great variety of food available, Madras curry, Crepes, Japanese Sushi, handmade chocolates among many others .
Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon
Maximo Park Graffiti
“I’ll do graffiti if you sing to me in French, What are you doing here if romance isn’t dead”
Mind your mouth as you walk with me,Take care ooh as you cross the street”
I saw this park bench when walking through a park in Berlin and Maximo Park just popped into my head. I always wondered what’s correct grammatically; does one ‘do’ graffiti?
Post title is the name of a British Rock Band Maximo Park and a song title of theirs ‘Graffiti’.
I joined part of a nice Photowalk on Saturday from Montenotte hotel to Clarion hotel. It was orgainsed by Donncha O Caoimh and a pleasent stroll
Taken with my IPhone (all I had on me at the time), it came out surprisingly well. Nothing is in sharp focus but it’s still nice and colourful. The course is Carnmore Golf Club.
I love my car
I’ll admit today I’ve gone too far
To enamour myself of my little motor car
Some pictures from wandering around Galway Docks (sounds seedy, doesn’t it?). It’s a great place for photographing I think- lots of colour, boats old and new, water etc.
