Westy Photography

MyMonth May

2011-06-02T21:33:00.001+01:00

May 2011

After such a busy month, thank goodness I only had to find three images, although it is fair to say they are probably the three most relevant images I have posted for a month in this project so far.

So, here is a quick explanation:

M - The Golden Arches, or, more specifically, the Golden Arches on the front of one of our Lecturns.

This month has seen me get back (a little bit) to where I am most at home - Presenting to groups. May bought us our first All Hands meeting of 2011, along with Degree Assessment Days, and a number of other courses. Bliss.

A - Half term means the girls are at home, which could be symbolised by the toy you see here (although our girls are way too techy for yo-yos!)

But no, the yo-yo is to symbolise my trips this months... London and back on a daily basis, Kent, Nottingham, Coventry, Essex, Suffolk - I am glad I collect Shell points. Up and down the country like a yo-yo this month.

Y - Really pleased with how this one turned out... It is fair to say it is the first shot that I truly planned out.

Check out my additional post for more information on how I set-up and got this shot (along with a couple that I didn't quite get right!)

Why a cocktail?

A couple of reasons:

All Hands = Nights out with free Cocktails - I think the phrase was "Hmmm, this is far from unpleasent" was mentioned a few times. Exactly!
Celebration! - A wonderful wedding shoot with the lovely Ruth & Mark - An absolute pleasure to spend time with...
Celebration! - A welcome to the world drink to wet the head of the super cool Charlie Westlake... Nice to meet you little man!

So a busy month - and now we are in to full-on Wedding Season, so another few busy months ahead.

As usual, I have put together a short slideshow of the images, which you can view here on Vimeo

Until next month... All the best,

April Slideshow

2011-04-30T09:51:00.001+01:00

MyMonth - April’s Slideshow

April’s slideshow movie is now up on Vimeo.

April Slideshow

As usual, it was produced in Motion (thanks for timing advice from David Morris!) - and for the first time it should scale depending on the device you view it from (from full HD to iPhone).

Music this month was an obvious choice for me: April Skies by Jesus and Mary Chain

Have a great month,

Paul

MyMonth April

2011-04-30T09:50:00.001+01:00

April MyMonth

So here we are with the fourth month of 2011’s MyMonth project.

This month’s selection of images cover a very busy month;

A spring ‘heatwave’ led to plenty of visits to the park for the girls (‘A’)

Playing with backgrounds and composites with the girls (‘P’)

A 3-shot HDR image of the architecture during a brilliant weekend in Edinburgh with Clare (‘R’)

Caitlin has been to so many parties this month, so we had to reflect that somehow - This one was her idea (‘I’)

And finally for this month, four bank holidays over the Easter celebrations, and enough chocolate to open our own store, yet I still managed to shoot some before it all went!

The individual images are available to view on my Flickr Page

This, and all previous months are viewable on my Website

Have a good month.

Paul

Worldometers - real time world statistics

2011-04-26T09:31:00.000+01:00

Worldometers - real time world statistics

Great real-time stats... The perfect source for 'did you know' stuff!

MyMonth March

2011-04-01T19:40:00.001+01:00

A really busy month this month…

Three countries, a wedding, and trips out with the family meant that (for the first time) I had more images that I needed!

‘M’ from the Geneva motorshow (specifically the gorgeous BMW 1 M Coupe)
‘A’ from my trip to Disneyland Paris with Megan (thanks to the iPad for in-flight entertainment)
‘R’ from the wonderful Colchester Zoo
‘C’ my favourite this month - Taken during out picnic at the Zoo
‘H’ puzzled…

The individual images are available to view on my Flickr Site

This, and all previous months are viewable on my Website

Geneva Motorshow Gallery

2011-03-10T22:03:00.002Z

The amazing Alfa Romeo 4C a photo by Westy Photography on Flickr.

My full gallery of Geneva images are now available to view on Flickr.

Follow this link to view all images: Geneva 2011

Enjoy!

February MyMonth

2011-02-25T08:27:00.000Z

February (MyMonth)

2011-02-24T22:05:00.001Z

February MyMonth

So here we are with the second month of 2011’s MyMonth project.

This month’s selection of images cover a very busy month;

My Birthday (a cracking ‘R’ in Caitlin’s card)
Valentine’s Day (‘E’)
A work meeting at United Coffee (‘U’)
A product shoot for work (‘B’) - You may well see this image if you order at a booth at your local McDonald’s!

The individual images are available to view on my Flickr Site

This, and all previous months are viewable on my Website

Have a good month.

Paul

The Wonders of Photoshop

2011-02-22T22:16:00.001Z

The Wonders of Photoshop

We took a trip to Mead Open Farm at the weekend with the girls. The Weather was the usual late winter fare - Cold, dry with dull grey skies.

Hardly ideal photo weather - But as usual I had the Canon G11 with me just in-case.

I really liked the leading lines the rope bridge made on this climbing frame - But the lifeless grey/white is hardly ideal - Still, I grabbed the shot, and decided to ‘have a play’ later:

First things first - That sky just wouldn’t do, so I went through my archives to find one more suitable:

…and took both files into Photoshop.

I layered the sky over the original image (just to make sure it roughly lined up), then took both layers into the awesome Maskpro

It was then a simple task to mask out all the grey/white and reveal my lovely sky behind it showing through.

Some final tweeks in Phototools ,specifically to boost the contrast on the ropes (to give a bit of an HDR feel), and finally bringing the attention back to the bridge and Caitlin with a subtle use of FocalPoint.

The finished product?

Odd iTunes Genius Behaviour

2011-01-30T19:12:00.001Z

Not sure what is happening with the App Store today...

On both iPhone and iPad I get this:

Then seconds later I get this:

All a little strange... Wonder if some update to the genius side of things is in progress

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4

Frankfurt here we come

2011-01-30T10:33:00.001Z

Really can't wait to visit the Frankfurt Motorshow with Dave (@mcleanfamily88) in September now...

It’s official that BMW “officially” gave the green light to the new BMW Z2 Roadster which will launch in the second half of 2012.

Along with the Roadster version that we have been hearing about for a while now, a Coupe model will be available as well.

BMW Z2 is based on next generation 1 Series platform and it is build under the Project i umbrella and the BMW EfficientDynamics program.

The Z2 will be a rear drive vehicle, still with a front-engine approach offered with different options:

all-electric engine
Hybrid with range extender petrol engine
1.6 l 4-cylinder petrol direct injection engine developing 204 horsepower

The BMW Z2 concept will be unveiled at Frankfurt Auto Show in September

Tickets are really cheap (€20), and it is a cracking day out (Fly out and back with BA same day)...

Oh, and not forgetting the new M5

Looks like Matt paintwork could be all the range at both Geneva and Frankfurt this year.

MyMonth in HD

2011-01-29T22:23:00.001Z

HD Video too

As the 2011 project requires a number of images each month to build the ‘combo’ overview, I thought it a good idea to produce a slideshow each month as an easy way to browse the shots.

Each clip will only be a minute or so long, and can be played it either HD or SD.

The images are hosted of my Vimeo Site ,and are formatted in HTML5 so will play fine on iPad and iPhone in addition to PCs and Macs.

January is available to view now - Let me know what you think.

I hope you enjoy them.

MyMonth - The 2011 Project

2011-01-29T21:54:00.001Z

The time has finally arrived to announce my Photography Project for 2011.

But first a bit of an update on what I have done in the past;

Westy52 (2009)

I started a project two years ago Westy52 which was my first challenge to myself - The idea being that I chose just one image each week to post to my website.

The idea of the project was two-fold:

To actually get me out taking photos - and having to think about what I was shooting
To see how my photography improved (or didn't!) over the space of a year

If you haven't seen the results before, the full gallery of 52 images is still available on both Flickr and on my WestyPhotography.com website.

12 from 2010 (2010)

After the challenge (and really positive feedback) of Westy52, I decided to do something different for last year, 12 from 2010.

As the name suggests, this project required me to select just a single 'best of the month' image.

Although initially this may sound like a bit of a cop out after the scale of Westy52 it was actually more of a challenge - It made me go for the best of the best - I was also trying to be realistic with the amount of time I had.

Again, the full album of 12 images is available for viewing on Flickr

and so to 2011...

I guess the obvious thing to do would be to attempt a 365 project - I didn't go down this route for primarily two reasons:

I didn't want the photography to become a chore, which I think can have a detrimental effect on the quality of the images you post
I wanted something that I can build month on month, so that I can build the project into Calendars at the end of the year

So, with two days of January left, I am pleased to announce my idea for 2011:

MyMonth

I came up with the idea when I noticed how many 'letters' there are around us, be it roadsigns, logos, advertising etc.

And, as I said, as I wanted to build the project into Calendars for printing in December, it made sense to combine the two ideas.

So each month, I will be shooting images that represent the letters that make up the name of the current month:

For example,

In January, I need to take images that either look like a J A N U A R or Y, or in some way represent the letter (for example a person pointing directing at the camera could be used as a 'U' (you!).

After my first month, I can tell you it is NOT as easy as it may sound!

There were also a couple of other reasons for changing direction slightly with this project too:

I wanted something that meant that I had to make better use of Photoshop, especially with regards to adding textures and applying frames
I have just taught myself InDesign, so I wanted a project that would require my to layout a number of images on a page to produce one overall combined image each month

I guess the easiest way to explain what I mean is by getting you to have a look at my first months' work.

I have set-up a new Gallery on Smugmug MyMonth Gallery where I will post the 'combined' images each month, along with full sized versions of the images that go to make it up.

I would love some feedback on the images, and project idea on a whole - You can follow me on Twitter (@paulwestlake) or on my Facebook Fan page

Absolute 80s - The UK's Only 80s Music Radio Station

2011-01-20T11:18:00.000Z

Absolute 80s - The UK's Only 80s Music Radio Station

A great online, DAB and iPhone radio station...

Meg 'n' Mac

2011-01-10T23:04:00.001Z

Meg 'n' Mac
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

My favourite shot for a LONG while - Not posed, not set-up, just a snap... But I love it!

What is out there?

2011-01-03T08:10:00.001Z

US Shuts Down New York City Airspace Over UFO ‘Threat’

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers

A bizarre report prepared by the Federal Aviation Authority of the Russian Federation (FAA) on the “unexpected” closure by the United States of all the airspace over New York City yesterday says it was due to a “UFO flap” and was the cause of Air Berlin flight AB 8357 from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport being delayed for nearly 2 hours from its landing at its expected arrival time of 1700 UTC (1:00PM Local EDT) at John F. Kennedy Airport, that cities largest International airport.

According to American propaganda media reports of this most strange incident occurring in the skies over Chelsea, New York (a neighborhood of Manhattan)“callers began phoning the NYPD and Federal Aviation Administration at 1:30 p.m. with reports of the strange, silver objects high in the sky.”

Video posted on the Internet of this incident further describes a “group of mysterious shiny objects floating high over Manhattan's West Side”, which coincidentally occurred at the same exact time the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) closed all the airspace over New York City, and as we can, in part, read as reported by the CBS News Service:

“The FAA website reported earlier that all three New York airports have halted takoffs and landings due to fumes, smoke and odors at the regional air traffic control center. New York TRACON controls the airspace above John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Reported departure delays are about one hour, while arrivals are delayed about 30 to 45 minutes.”

Interesting to note is that New York City joins China in having a major airport closed due to UFO’s this week when two luminous objects appeared in the skies over northwestern Taiyuan in Shanxi Province on October 11th, the second such incident to occur since earlier this month when another airport was closed in Inner Mongolia after also being said to have been interfered with by a UFO.

Even more interesting to note was the prediction made last month by a former North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) officer about yesterday’s mass New York City UFO sighting, and as we can, in part, read:

“A newly-published 352-page book by a retired Air Force officer, Stanley A. Fulham, tentatively predicts October 13, 2010 as the date for a massive UFO display over the world's principal cities. According to the author, the aliens will neither land nor communicate on that date; they are aware from eons of experience with other planets in similar conditions their sudden intervention would cause fear and panic.”

Bringing this incident into even further examination is a Russian Space Forces (VKS) addendum to this FAA report noting that yesterday’s New York City UFO sighting follows by nearly an exact year the mass UFO sighting that occurred in Pelham, New York [photo 2nd left] on October 25, 2009, a distance from Chelsea of barely 67 kilometers (42 miles) of exactly the same type of extraterrestrial crafts.

Even more important to note is this VKS addendum’s pointing out Chelsea’s and Pelham’s closeness to the New York village of Shoreham on Long Island (the former being 135 kilometers (84 miles), the latter being 102 (64 miles) that was home to the mysterious Wardenclyffe Tower built over a century ago by, perhaps, the greatest mind of the 20th Century, Nikola Tesla.

The importance of Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower to the UFO events occurring over New York City this past year lays it its being the first apparatus to produce an electrical discharge of sufficient energy to leave our Planets atmosphere, and which to any alien civilization monitoring our Earth 100 years ago would surely have been noted as a significant event worthy of further notice, if not outright examination by exploration to its exact New York Long Island site.

Though the American propaganda media apparatus has, and as always, gone into overdrive in their attempt to convince their citizens not to believe what they have actually seen with their own eyes, one of China’s top scientists has taken a more scientific and honest approach to the growing UFO phenomenon now occurring on an almost daily basis.

According to Wang Sichao, a planetary astronomer at the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as he told the Beijing Review, “First, I'd like to say something about the conception of great events about UFOs, it does not mean large numbers of UFOs but refers to events of credible facts backed by observation. But these facts cannot yet be explained by existing scientific knowledge or natural phenomena.”

For the American people, however, there appears to be no need to seek such knowledge and as evidenced by the New York Daily News photograph in their lead article on yesterday’s mass UFO sighting where they deliberately posted a photograph of ballons [top photo left] seeming to depict what witnesses saw, but captioned in very small print with the words, “Mysterious shiny objects like this one sparked wild speculation of UFOs floating over Manhattan's West Side.”

To what the full importance of these mass UFO events occurring the United States and China may be it is not to our knowing, other than to point out the obvious need for those in authority to tell whatever they know, even fearful ones, so that all may know truth they so rightfully deserve.

© October 14, 2010 EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.com

[Ed. Note: Western governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against the information found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about the many catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagrees with in believing that it is every human beings right to know the truth. Due to our missions conflicts with that of those governments, the responses of their ‘agents’ against us has been a longstanding misinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit and which is addressed in the report “Who Is Sorcha Faal?”.]

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thanks Drobo

2010-12-31T12:38:00.001Z

I woke up this morning to a coloured light show coming from my **Drobo** (rather than the usual bank of Green lights

For those that have not used (or heard) of a Drobo before, you can check them out here: www.drobo.com/

I personally have 4 500GB drives in my Drobo, which shares my data (Photos, Movies, Music and Personal files in my case) across the 4 drives.

And here is the thing - When one of the drives 'die' (which drives do far more frequently that you may think), you simply pop one out and put a new one in.

I have had the Drobo for about 3 years now (populated with 2 Seagate Barracuda drives and 2 WD Green Power drives) - Today was the first time it has really come into it's own...

One of the Barracuda drives failed - No drama, no lost photos (which is pretty critical for a pro photographer!). The Drobo flashes to tell me which drive to pop out (if you can use a toaster, you can use a Drobo!)

The new drive goes in and all is good again - No shut down, no loss data, just seamless...

Does the £250 I paid for the Drobo seem worth it now?! What do YOU think?

Wonderful piece of mind - *I love technology*.

Latest 12 Days EP

2010-12-31T08:12:00.001Z

Today, iTunes offers you the free download of an EP with 4 songs 'A Holiday Gift For You' by Michael Bublé

You can get this at the following address

http://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/a-holiday-gift-for-you/id402637733

Think I'll give this one a miss...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4

Get Reading

2010-12-30T08:01:00.001Z

Today's free download from iTunes 12 days app is 'The Life of Pi' book for iBooks.

Looks like I will pick this one up on the iPad rather than the phone, as iBooks is a far better experience on the larger device.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4

Fujifilm X100 - Want one!

2010-12-29T22:30:00.001Z

If you see a better looking Pro Compact in 2011, give me a shout... I would REALLY like one of these.

UPDATED: Let the games begin

2010-12-29T16:19:00.001Z

Today's free iTunes 12 days of Christmas download is Gameloft's 'Fishing Kings'.

Not something that I would have bought myself, but Gamesloft stuff is usually really well done, so well worth a look.

The 3D graphics look good on the iPhone, and, well it is Free!

Go get it via the 12 days app now.

I have just picked this up on my iPad too, and found that it is the full HD iPad specific version - Nice touch.

December - All Wrapped Up

2010-12-27T08:41:00.001Z

All Wrapped Up
Originally uploaded by Westy Photography

My final pick for the 12 from 2010 project was taken just 10 minutes walk from home, on the Embankment in Bedford.

The shot was taken with the Canon G11, following a heavy snow shower the previous day.

I was lucky to catch the sun peaking thorough the stormy sky as it reflected on the frozen River Ouse.

I think adding Clare and the Girls at the edge of the frame has added a nice touch of colour to the scene.

The shot is a 3 shot HDR, which was combined in the excellent Nik HDR Efex Pro - This gave me the bright snow and girls' colours in the foreground, whilst also keeping the detail I was after in the sky.

THE DIGITAL STORY OF NATIVITY - ( or Christmas 2.0 )

2010-12-22T23:27:00.000Z

Think Again

2010-12-01T13:53:00.000Z

On Reflection - November 2010

2010-11-28T16:45:00.001Z

November's image was taken at the US Military Cemetery in Cambridge, UK.

The shot was taken with the D300 + 35 1.8 combination - I exposed three shots, and then combined in CS5 to give me the depth of range I was after.

Other than a little tidying of the water (removing some stray autumn leaves), the shot is straight from camera.