My new toy

I got a graphics tablet for Christmas and I love it ;o)

Saves me drawing with my mouse YAY!

Merry Christmas

Christmas day antics in the Franks house LOL

Catch a falling star

I was listening to a song earlier and had some inspiration. Unfortunately the photo didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. The lyrics to the song were...

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket.....never let it fade away....

Planning

I know you wouldn't believe it when you see my photos but I do actually plan them. When I'm sat about I have a book near me and I write my ideas in this book. Hover over the picture and you might see some interesting notes :)

Reach for the stars

I've been playing about with some graphics again LOL.

I was feeling quite motivational today and one thing I always feel quite strongly about is to have ago at whatever you believe would be good for you. When I was at school was told I was to dumb to go to college. I ended up in a job I hated. But then as I got older I came to realise that nobody has the right to say what somebody else is capable of. I fought for a place at university and got a dyslexia diagnosis in my first year. With the right help I finished with a first in mechanical engineering. That teacher really underestimated me that's for sure. So my advice to you? Reach for the stars.....

Sharing some pics

Nothing blogworthy going on here so I thought I'd just share a couple of pics. I'm doing a 365 days series on self portraits and its kind of challenging due to lack of photography skills and equipment. Anyway here are 2 recent pictures - both taken with an integral flash and just a small bedside lamp.

Skin smoothing

I found some instructions on smoothing skin in paint shop pro. Ok so technically its a cheat but I really don't care if people don't feel comfortable in there own skin and want to do a little post-processing. Here's how to do it:

Merry Christmas to all

Layer merging

I was tinkering about trying to merge some layers at the weekend. I really loved this effect and especially how it contrasted very well with the eyes. I'm not very impressed with the effect around the mouth and chin area but I am quite sure this is due to insufficient light in this area and should be easily solved. I am pretty smitten by the eyes though.

In the second picture I deliberately placed the subject in front of the light as I wanted to get a thin strip of light running down the profile of the face. The weather was really quite miserable that day and when I viewed the photos it looked as though somebody was looking longingly out of a window. Maybe hoping for better weather? So I photographed the rain on the window and then merged the 2 images together.

Christmas is nearly upon us and I have sooooo much to do before the family turn up on Christmas Day. Not much can be prepared beforehand really so I did the one thing I could do in advance - putting up the tree. Hope you enjoy the pics.

The tree - ok fake some surprise - you didn't know it was a tree did you

My tin foil star - couldn't afford a new star. Blue Peter would be proud.

I love these glitzy baubles

And I love these birds nest ones as well :)

I really struggled to get these photos. If I used flash then the colours (even adjusting the white balance) looked terrible but if I didn't use flash they were blurred. I didn't know how to get round that although I've since found something that explains how to photograph Christmas trees and lights. Check out the links below.

Webshots blog
Strobist - how to photograph Christmas lights
How to photography Christmas lights and other holiday events

Shoot the moon

I've often thought it would be great to get a nice photo of the moon. But every time I try all I end up with is a white blob dominating the frame. I've just never managed to find the right settings. But fear not people because I have tracked down a blog which explains how to take good shots of the moon. Check out Pioneer Woman Photography.