Tag Archives: photo101

Photo 101: Bliss, in Boots!

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One thing I’ve noticed about this great course, Photo 101, is that it certainly gets you thinking!

For example take today’s assignment, Bliss.

Over my breakfast I pondered how I could capture this in one photograph.

First off I dragged out my copy of The Oxford English Dictionary, just to make sure I was understanding the question, so to speak! O.E.D. defines the word like this:

“Bliss”- Reach a state of perfect happiness, oblivious of everything else.

Hmm. Now I must be a very lucky chap, no let’s re-phrase that, I AM a very lucky chap! You see I often reach that state of perfect happiness doing lots of different things and no, I never take that for granted.

I guess the most obvious, to most Blogonaughts is when I’m riding motorbikes, but there’s loads more to me than that! Mountains do it for me too, when I’m on the beach, walking in the country, horse riding, gardening. . . you get the drift?

So how do I show this in one photograph? Well sure I could raid the Dookes archive and maybe drag out a shot of one of my bikes in the mountains, or the country, or by the beach, but that would be cheating; this course is about taking photographs for the assignment!

I got the old brain into gear and over another cup of tea, it always helps us Brits, I got it. There is a common thread to the activities and things that take me to that state of bliss: boots!

Yes, I know it’s totally off the wall, but it’s true; I often find my greatest happiness when I’m doing things that require me to wear boots! So here it is my personal pile of bliss!

Boots of Bliss, all size 11!

Boots of Bliss, all size 11!


There’s a lot of memories, miles, happiness and bliss tied up in that pile of footwear!

“These boots were made for walking (and riding, hiking, gardening etc. . .) ”

Dookes

Photo101: Water

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When I saw today’s assignment I had a great idea, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans.

Last night a severe gale blew in from the Atlantic with winds gusting to over 80 miles per hour, my gentle stroll along a North Cornwall beach turned into a trial of endurance and for the first time in my life I was blown off my feet, several times!

Now please, before the “Laughter Police” are called, I wasn’t ever putting myself in danger or in need of rescue by others, I stayed well back from the sea and checked the tides before I ventured out. This also meant that I didn’t get as close to the surf as I planned for the original idea, but I got a few reasonable shots that I hope you enjoy.

As an aside, the lens got so thoroughly coated with salt in the strong north wind, that I was reduced to licking it to keep it clear, yeck!

Anyway here are the photos!
P1050191

P1050223

P1050238This last shot looks so benign and peaceful, it wasn’t, I just wish it had sound so you could hear the wind howling!

I hope that these are watery enough for everyone!

All taken today on the beach at Crackington Haven in North Cornwall; 50.7445N, 4.6377W.

Catch you all soon.

Dookes

Street

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Blogging University Photo101, Day Two.

Here we go then, today’s assignment is just one word again, this time “Street.”
I hope you enjoy my interpretation.

I currently trapped at Dookes H.Q. waiting for the boiler engineer to arrive to service our central heating, so no time to pop out and find something exotic! I’ve made do with the lane outside our cottage, which this morning is lightly bathed in gentle Cornish drizzle, though the daffodils certainly lift the scene.

P1050190
As you can see, this street is quite bucolic and in a few weeks time when the trees will be covered in leaves it’s almost a green tunnel.

Catch you soon.

Dookes

Home.

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Hello everyone.
I’ve signed up to another Blogging University course, similar to the ones I did last year. This one is all about Photography, so climb on board, this ride could get interesting and I really do not know where we will be going!

Today’s assignment: Home.

P1050164

Let me explain what is going on.

There’s a Welsh rugby shirt and a small Ddraig Goch/Red Dragon (the symbol of Wales) lit by a lamp whose base is made from a piece of Aberllefenni slate from the heart of Mid Wales.

These are things that are dear to me and link me to Wales, the Land of My Fathers, where my heart is and which will be forever “home.”

Each night as I turn out the light my hand touches that piece of rock and I am in contact with home, I makes me happy and at the same time a little sad; we call it “Hiraeth” in the old language.

Catch you soon.

Dookes

“Hiraeth” is a Welsh word with no direct translation in English. It represents a longing for the homeland, but not mere homesickness, it is an expression of the bond with the old country when one is away from it…

Triumph and Contrast

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Photography 101. Final Assignment: Triumph and Contrast.

I really had to scratch my head with this one.

I thought of getting back to the motorcycle theme and grabbing a shot of a Triumph Bonneville, but that would have been too corny!

Until today all of my photos for the course have been fresh and newly shot just for Photography 101. I had hoped to go for a full house, but today something kept drawing me back to a couple of shots from previous road trips and on a purely personal level both scream out “Triumph” to me.

The first is the summit marker on Col du Galibier, in the French Alps.

When I was young, my friends and I avidly followed the great cycle race that is the Tour de France. There was no television coverage of Le Tour in the UK back then. We had to get our race updates from the sports pages of daily newspapers, which didn’t always carry much up to date information at that! Our idols were the great Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk and many other too.

Amongst the magical places on Le Tour that we learnt about were the great Cols of the Pyrenees and the Alps; it certainly did our school geography no harm at all! Greatest, most famous and certainly legendary above the rest was the magical Col du Galibier.

I dreamed of cresting that climb on two wheels, emulating my heroes and just standing where they had passed.

Many years later I was able to do just that, OK I did cheat a bit because my two wheels by then had acquired a great big Harley Davidson engine between them… but I did go there on two wheels!

I’ve been back many times since, each time is special, each time my eyes fill with emotion and each time I give thanks that I’ve been able to return to my special spiritual place; it’s my enduring “Triumph!”

Col du Galibier

Col du Galibier, colourful contrasts.


My second “Triumph” is a shot of my beloved Softail sitting by the beach at Carantec in Brittany, France. Again this is another special spot. It’s the place that I go to at the end of every big Continental Europe road trip, somewhere just to collect my thoughts and memories before getting onto the ship back to the UK and home.

So here is Harley loaded with my travel bags and carrying an honest patina of road grime accrued over a few thousand miles of riding.

I can hear in my own mind the gentle metallic music of her engine ticking as she cools down contentedly, knowing that she has Triumphed in bringing us both back safely again.

Carentec beach.

Carantec Beach.


Oh did I tell you before that I love that bike?

Thank you sincerely to everyone who has been riding with me on the Photography 101 course. I really appreciate your feedback and honest comments and would love you to ride some more with me.

“The river flows, it flows to the sea.
Wherever it goes that’s where I want to be.”

Dookes

Double Take

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Photography 101. Todays assignment: Double

In the cosy corner of an English pub, is the small room known as “The Snug.”

Here a log fire fills the room with warmth and the homely smokey aroma of burning oak.

Old men gather around the ancient table and play dominoes as they sip their pints of local ale.

How many games has this weathered table witnessed, how many devious blocking moves, how many triumphant calls of “Domino!” have bounced off its warm patina? The men care not, but focus on their game scoring the points with each successive draw.
The game pauses and the tiles rest a moment…

The photographer captures the doubles at rest. It’s a double take!

Double Take!

Double Take!

Cheers!

Dookes

Glass

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Photography 101. Todays assignment: Glass

Half full, or half empty….the glass that is!

It’s been a bit of a fraught day in my world and making time for much creative photography has, I’m afraid gone out of the window.

Yes wine glasses came to mind after my day of grappling with uncooperative machines; then beer glasses!

Then I remembered my friends and neighbours, Alan and Julie. Literally a few minutes walk to their studio and I was transported to a world of mellow blues, vibrant greens and deep warm crimsons. You see, these two incredibly talented artists who live very close to Dookes H.Q. work in glass, beautiful, beautiful, coloured glass.

Julie’s work is best described as Contemporary Mosaic, whilst Alan is a specialist in architectural stained glass and leaded lights.

The quick visit to their studio, apart from causing chaos whilst I generally got in the way, proved a fantastic source of inspiration. I really am very pleased to share with you some examples of their work. Please remember that they are the talented ones, I just took the photographs!

The original pieces were shot exactly where I found them, hanging in the daylight against the studio windows.
So first up, one of Julie’s, can you spot the Green Man?

The Green Man, backlit by the evening sun.

The Green Man, backlit by the evening sun.



And now a couple from Alan. How about an Angel, in traditional Victorian style.
Angel Stained Glass

Angel Stained Glass

This piece is quite iconic and one that Alan is known for, he trades as “Angel Stained Glass.”

Or perhaps you’d prefer some spring flowers?

Bluebells and Primroses.

Bluebells and Primroses.



Oh, yes; please also note that Alan and Julie own the copyright to their work, but if you would like to see more just click here for Alan and here for Julie and thanks to both of them for letting me loose in their studio!

Catch you all soon.

Dookes

Treasure

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Photography 101. Todays assignment: Treasure

Hmmm, tricky!

Another one that got me really thinking, because my idea of treasure is quite off the wall.

My wife despairs of the collection of random things that I class as “treasure.” Things like pieces of rock from geological sites that I have visited, a sliver of wood from Mametz on the Somme, a pebble from a Cornish beach, a button from an old uniform, a feather from the first pheasant one of my gun dogs retrieved.

It’s all very random and apart from my emotional attachment, frankly worthless, but that’s the essence of it to me, emotional treasure is priceless!

So whilst pondering today’s task I discovered my latest treasure as we did the rounds of our animals this morning. The first goose egg and the first duck egg of the season, magic and something to really treasure!

Left Goose: Right Duck

Left Goose: Right Duck

They make quite a nice side lit photo as well.

Just for scale this is a shot of the goose egg next to a normal size pen, you’ll need big toast soldiers for this one!DSCF3785

I bet my friend Lili could use these in one of her wonderful cakes!

Catch you all soon.

Dookes

Landscape Eclipsed

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Photography 101. Todays assignment: Landscape

I am very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the world with delightful scenery all around me, so grabbing a landscape shot isn’t really difficult. I thought that today I would try a slightly different approach.

You see, today has been very special here in the UK as we lay in the line of a solar eclipse. Unfortunately not in the zone of totality, but 85% ain’t bad!

Anyway, we can’t complain as we had our “Total” in 1999.

Just to explain, an Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes across and obscures the face of the sun. It is a celestial fluke that the relative size of the Moon and Sun appear to be virtually the same, it’s a matter of scale and relative distances! So it is possible for the Moon to totally block the light of our local star for a couple of minutes every few years in different parts of the world.

If you want to see one, the next total Solar Eclipse will be on 9th March 2016 in the Pacific Region near Sumatra, or across the USA in August 2017. If you want to know more, visit the NASA eclipse website.

Now the thing about celestial observation of the sun is it’s dangerous! If you don’t know what you are doing it is easy to get your eyes permanently damaged, looking directly at the sun is a big no-no! Using optical devices such as telescopes, binoculars and cameras for observing the sun is definitely on the danger list…you have been warned!

So being very careful I set up my SLR at around 08:25GMT and set to work. View-finding was done using a screen that I was able to look at without putting my eyes in the firing line. The maximum eclipse was due at 09:23GMT and the whole event would take around two hours for the Moon to transit the Sun, which gave me time to play.

At first the sky was a tad cloudy and I got this shot, which is one of the best I think.

This is looking good!

This is looking good! ISO100 f7.1 1/800 -0.7EV

Then as darkness began to fall I grabbed this moody landscape shot. It really was very eerie.

Strange light.

Strange light. ISO160 f11 1/500 -1.3EV

The sky had now cleared and I managed this at nearly the maximum coverage.

The Moon passes across the sun.

The Moon passes across the sun. ISO160 f29 1/4000 -5EV

All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my efforts. It’s the first time I’ve tried to capture a Solar Eclipse on camera and I think it worked out OK.

For the technical, I used a Nikon D80 with a 135mm lens mounted on a Velbon SE5 tripod, exposure details in each photo caption.

“And everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.”
– Pink Floyd.

Catch you soon.

Dookes

Scale and Observation

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Photography 101. Todays assignment: Scale and Observation

Whilst working on the various tasks for Photo 101 I have looked for inspiration in the natural world. It hasn’t always worked, but occasionally I’ve got lucky and today is one of those days!

Take a look at this lovely narcissus flower.

Look closer...

Look closer…

Let me help… lets try it a bit closer!

Did you spot this little fella?

Did you spot this little fella?


Well, I observed and got the shot. I think the scale angle got covered as well!

All in all, a successful assignment and I’m much happier than with yesterday’s effort.

Thanks for following.

Dookes