Egobox Photography Blog

We have moved...

2012-08-07T21:38:00.002+01:00

Your Page Title I've decided to move the blog to somewhere that's a little easier to work with, to view the new blog follow this link.

Sport

2012-08-07T19:53:00.000+01:00

I've been crazy busy recently, so despite entering the photo challenge last week I didn't get chance to blog about it.

Last weeks theme was 'Sport', due to the Olympics. As I was so busy I didn't have time to go around to any kind of sporting event, so I had to try to think a little out of the box. This is the photo that I decided to enter.

The new challenge is still milking the Olympics, and it's called 'Go For Gold'. Open to a lot of interpretation, which is a good thing because I'm still really busy!

I promise to blog more over the coming weeks. I've got my first real time off work since February 2010 coming up so plan on doing quite a few things!

In other news I plan on ordering a new telephoto lens soon too!

1st place!

2012-07-29T10:15:00.002+01:00

As you know I occasionally take part in the PhotoSunday challenges. Last weeks theme was 'Abnormal', so I decided to submit the following photograph...

The photograph was voted to first place! The current theme is 'Stranger' which in my opinion could be interpreted in quite a few ways. I'm really struggling to find time to blog and take photographs at the moment so I don't know if I'll be able to enter this week.

It's been a while...

2012-07-24T22:27:00.000+01:00

So... lots has been happening recently, I'm not going to go in to it as it's very long winded and boring. Anyway, you may (or may not), have noticed that I missed last weeks photo challenge for the first time in ages! It looked like I was going to miss this weeks but I found some time last night to get a few photos in the garden.

This weeks challenge was called 'Cycles' due to the Tour De France. I wasn't content with just going out and taking a photo of a bike, so I decided to try and think in to a bit more... I started thinking about different types of cycles and decided to submit the following photo...

Death

I figured that 'death', was the end of the cycle. However, it's also the beginning of the cycle too in some respects... That's enough deep thinking for now!

There were quite a few entries this week, and more newbies! Here are my favourites from this week...

The first is from Cedric, simply because of the huge amount of bikes!!

The second is from Jessica Anderson, for two reasons. The first being I know how irritating it is trying to photograph insects. And secondly, because she approached the challenge from a similar angle to me.

And last but not least, is from Lisa. I really like the colours and composition of the photo. My eyes kept getting drawn to it when browsing the results.

You can view the rest of the entries here. This weeks challenge is called 'Inside', quite a lot of room for interpretation so I should be able to think of something to photograph!

I am defeated...

2012-07-16T20:09:00.004+01:00

It's just dawned on me that it's Monday night, and I've not taken a photo for the photo challenge. EVERYTHING seems to have gone wrong this weekend so it's been right at the bottom of my priorities.

It looks like this week I'll be watching from the sidelines for the first time in ages!

Drink

2012-07-10T18:54:00.000+01:00

Another photo challenge has come and gone, last weeks theme was 'Inanimate'. The idea being that you take a picture of an inanimate object that you can see a face in, or take a photo in such a way that the item looks alive! There are some really good examples of these on Flickr.

Anyway, this is the picture I decided to enter...

There were loads of great entries this week, which can be seen here. However, here are some of my favourites...

This weeks new challenge is a rather vague 'Drink'. Got an idea in mind, which is completely weather dependent, so wish me luck!

PhotoSunday - Sharp

2012-07-08T10:38:00.003+01:00

Last weeks PhotoSunday theme was 'sharp'. For several reasons I decided to enter the following photo, one of my old favourites...

It seems that some other people liked it too as I came first again!

The current theme is 'Hard'. No photos that I have spring to mind, however, if I take any this week that fit the theme I'll submit them and see how I get on.

Black & White, or Colour?

2012-07-06T15:10:00.002+01:00

These are the shots I'm thinking about entering for the 'Inanimate' photo challenge. I really can't decide between the two... although I am leaning towards the colour shot.

What do you think?

Inanimate

2012-07-03T19:09:00.002+01:00

Some really good entries this week for the 'work the edges' challenge. Mine was another last minute entry, so nothing spectacular! The basic idea of the challenge was to break the main rules of composition, and have the main subject on the edge of the frame.

This is the photo I entered...

My favourites this week are...

Colin

Paul Seward

Quite similar images really! You can see the rest of the results here.

Anyway, this weeks theme is 'Inanimate'. The idea is to take a picture of an inanimate object, and make it look lifelike. I'm expecting some very interesting entries next week.

Nikon 50mm f/1.8

2012-07-01T11:04:00.000+01:00

I finally got chance to try out my new lens yesterday, it's a Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G. I nearly purchased one of these when I first got my DSLR, and it's only now that I regret not doing so!

I've only taken a handful of photos with the lens but it's clear that it really is an exceptional piece of equipment. Focusing is super fast and quiet, and images are razor sharp. I'm not used to such a wide aperture, the depth of field it creates is stunning.

Anyway, I have't had much time to use it properly, but here are a few photos that I've taken with it recently...

Work the edges...

2012-06-26T18:14:00.004+01:00

Another Tuesday, another challenge! Last weeks challenge was 'Squares', something I didn't really take the time to complete... I ended up submitting a really lazy photo which is below...

Like I said, really, really lazy!! My favourites from this week are below...

Lukasz Plotecki

Paul Allen

This weeks challenge actually requires some effort, and it's all about breaking rules. It's called 'work the edges', and is explained as follows...

What To Do:

Take several photos where the subject isn’t in the middle, and doesn’t obey the rule of thirds. Take it to an extreme and make sure there is nothing of importance in the centre of the photo. Push the subject right to the edge of the frame, or into a corner – keep it well away from a thirds line.

Once you’ve taken several photos like that, go back through them and look at them carefully. Notice how your eye moves around the frame when there’s nothing in the middle for it to be drawn to immediately?

Pick one photo from the set which you think has the most interesting effect on you as a viewer, and then send it in.

Some ideas in my head already which is good news!

Instrument Results

2012-06-24T11:05:00.000+01:00

Last week I entered the PhotoSunday challenge again. Something that I do on and off... last weeks theme was 'Instrument'. I entered the following photo...

I'm pleased to announce that the photo got voted into third place! The new theme this week is 'Innovation', something quite hard to photograph... I don't think I'll have time to enter this week but who knows!

Squares

2012-06-19T19:19:00.003+01:00

Last weeks photo challenge was '20 feet below', some cracking entries as usual! I submitted the following photo, which was taken from the bottom of the stairs in my partners flat communal area.

As I said above, all of the entries are great this week. However, I have to pick my favourites...

Carole

Jonathan Gazeley

Paul Seward

The new challenge this week is entitled 'Squares', quite a lot of room for interpretation with this one. I normally have an idea in my head almost straight away, however, this ones so far eluding me! Watch this space!

Instrument

2012-06-17T09:39:00.002+01:00

Happy Fathers Day! Yes, I should be spending time with my father rather than playing with my camera... However, he's spending the day exactly how he wants, fishing, which means he gets complete peace and quiet and doesn't have to listen to us lot all day long!

Anyway, I haven't participated in PhotoSunday for a short while now, but when I saw this mornings theme 'Instrument' I didn't really have any excuse... You may recall that I obtained a baby grand piano a few months ago, the perfect subject! Seeing as I was clearly not getting back to sleep I decided to get up and take a few photos. Here are the shots I decided to keep, the first one being the photo that I submitted to the challenge.

Macro Mystery

2012-06-12T19:14:00.005+01:00

Last weeks photo challenge was 'Macro Mystery', a repeat of a challenge from some time ago. It's kind of a two tier challenge, which is different! The challenge was to take an extreme close up of something, so close that it would be difficult to tell what it was. We had to submit this photo via email, along with a zoomed out version!

Now that the photos have been released, which can be seen here, people are to guess what the photograph is of. When the next challenge is announced in seven days time the zoomed out photos will be published and we can all figure out who was right! I think I got some pretty good guesses in there why not leave a comment on the results page and see if you can get some right?

Here's the photo I submitted... What do you think it is?

No favourites this week as it's not really what the challenge is about.

The new challenge is '20 feet below', entailing taking a photo from a vantage point of at least 20ft above your subject. This poses a particular challenge to me... I can't for the life of me think of anywhere local where I could do this?! Oh well... Hopefully I'll be able to think of something.

Shadows Results

2012-06-05T20:55:00.001+01:00

So, Tuesday again and yet another challenge has come and gone. The results were posted a little later than normal this week due to 'technical issues'... Personally, I think John and Paul were sat watching the Jubilee and got carried away!

You may recall that I mentioned in my last blog entry about the photo challenge that I had a pretty cool idea for the shadows challenge. However, the picture that was in my head, and the one that came out of my camera were two different things, as usual! Therefore, I had to abandon that idea!

After trying to get the picture that was in my head, I decided to play around with my flash gun off camera, and decided to submit the following photo after it received some positive feedback on 500px...

As I expected there were some great entries this week, and another newbie! My favourites from the shadows challenge are below, and you can view the rest of the results here.

Lucasz Plotecki

Jonathan Gazeley

Annie Makenzie

The new challenge is a repeat from some time ago, and one that I'm looking forward to! It's called 'Macro Mystery'. I particularly enjoy Macro photography so I'm hoping I find the time to photograph an interesting subject! The idea is that you take an extreme close up of your subject, and that other participants have to try and guess what it is! You can view the entries from 2010 by clicking here.

Playing around with off camera flash...

2012-05-31T09:47:00.003+01:00

Just a quick blog entry to post some pictures I took yesterday whilst playing around with my flash off camera.

This isn't cheap...

2012-05-30T08:00:00.000+01:00

So, since getting in to photography I've been happy with my gear. However, I've always wanted to get closer to my subjects which means more mm's! If you're in to your photography, you'll know that the higher the focal length, the more expensive the lens.

Over the last few months I've bought several 'cheap' accessories/lenses to try and get closer to my subjects but I've finally admitted defeat. I've slowly been realising that you simply can't compromise when it comes to optics.

For example, I purchased a cheap 500mm pre-set lens from eBay for £30.00, however, the images were extremely soft, and I had to set the ISO to at least 800 to get a decent shot during the day. If the photo was of a moving subject I was having to crank it up to at least 1600 to get a shot without too much blur. After some failed shots of the moon last week this lens now has a permanent home on my shelf, and it will likely never be used again!

Long story short... I took some more photos of the moon on Monday night, this time, without a teleconverter using my Tamron 70-300mm. I have to say, some of the best results yet! I shouldn't be so surprised really... It's the first time I've taken shots without a teleconverter since learning how to properly photograph the moon. I should definitely have tried it sooner!

The Moon - 300mm ISO 100 f9 1/25

The photo is still no where near as good as some I've seen, but it's a huge improvement! A side effect of this realisation is that I now have an extremely expensive 'wish list'. What's on your wishlist?

Letters & Numbers results

2012-05-29T21:11:00.004+01:00

The latest photo challenge results are out! Last weeks challenge was 'Letters & Numbers' and to be honest I did struggle with this one! So much so that I ended up being ultra lazy and just submitting a photo of the numpad on my keyboard!

Numbers - 90mm ISO 1600 1/60

I wanted something relatively noisy, so I cranked up the ISO and had a bit of a play around in Elements afterwards. There were some really good entries this week, every ones standards really do seem to be improving! Marcs was definitely my favourite this week! Here are my top three...

Marc Van Leusen

Paul Allen

Paul Hurley

You can view the rest of the entries here. This weeks challenge is 'Shadows'. I have a pretty cool idea in my head, but whether I can actually pull it off is another thing!

Trees Results

2012-05-22T19:13:00.004+01:00

Tuesday again, which means it's time for a new challenge over at the photo challenge! There were some great photos this week! The one I've decided to enter is...

It's a picture of the plum tree in my garden. I took three shots with 2 stops different between them, and then merged them using Photomerge Exposure in Elements 9. There's some loss of detail on the leaves, but I still really like it!

My favourite two from this week were from Jonathan, Lisa, and Marc. You can see the rest of the results here.

Marc

Jonathan Gazeley

Lisa Seaberg

This weeks challenge is 'Letters and Numbers' which is a bit different! I'm sure there will be some pretty interesting entries!

5 minutes with my camera

2012-05-21T19:13:00.002+01:00

The sun was shining when I got home, so I decided to have a wander around the garden with my camera with the 'Trees' photo challenge in mind. Out of the photos I took, these are the ones I decided to edit.

I took three photos of each scene using the auto bracketing feature on my camera. I then merged them using Photomerge Exposure in Elements 9 to get a slight HDR look. I think I know which one I'm going to enter in to the photo challenge, but you'll have to wait and see!

Fuzzy

2012-05-20T11:35:00.001+01:00

You may recall that last week I started to participate in 'Photo Sunday'. The theme that particular week was 'Detail', the photograph I entered was...

Unlike the Photo Challenge, each week other entrants vote for their favourite entry, and much to my surprise I ended up in the top 5! The other entries that came in the top five are below, along with a link to their website in the caption.

Day One

Gumnut

Tina's PicStory

Kelsey Daniels

This weeks theme is 'Fuzzy', I already have a couple of ideas. As always, I find it very hard to find time to see these ideas through so I'll just have to play it by ear!

It's not looking good...

2012-05-19T21:44:00.001+01:00

Today, after work, I decided to take a drive out to the fabled tree from my previous blog entry. You may recall me mentioning that I'd spotted a lay-by on Google Earth that seemed pretty close by so I thought I'd check it out! Especially as this weeks photo challenge is 'Trees'.

Much to my disappointment, the lay-by was definitely not close enough for me to quickly jump out, set up, and take a few photos. It would have meant parking much further away, and walking for the best part of 40 minutes to get anywhere near to where I'd need to be, and then walking all the way back! Sadly I didn't have time for this, also I didn't really fancy doing it in a suit!

If the weather holds up tomorrow I'll be going for a walk with Nicky, my partner. Either around Coombe Abbey, or Ryton Pools. If not, then I'm sad to say that this will probably be the first photo challenge I've missed since the start of this year!

The best I can do is show it to you on Google! (lol!) Obviously doing it no justice whatsoever! It's currently surrounded by a sea of blossoming rapeseed flowers, and the tree is the only thing that breaks the sea of yellow for what seems like miles! It really does look awesome.

Anyway, I've told Nicky that when we both get a day off we'll have to park up on a nearby housing estate and make the walk. I WILL photograph this tree!

Stormy Skies

2012-05-15T20:41:00.002+01:00

Last weeks photo challenge was 'Stormy Skies', I was looking forward to this one as it seemed there was going to be plenty of opportunity to get some dramatic photos.

I was wrong! Up until about Thursday last week, the cloud cover was a really flat, monotone colour with no definition whatsoever. I even tried some HDR which really didn't help at all. Seeing as Thursday had the most definition I'd seen so far, I took some photos in the garden when I got home. Quite a good idea really seeing as all we've had here since are blue skies!

This is the photo I've decided to enter...

My favourites from this week are...

HH Photography

Jonathan Gazeley

Paul Hurley

Now, although one of the guys responsible claims complete innocence when it comes to this next challenge that's been set... I'm not sure whether I believe him or not... The challenge is 'Trees'... now if you recall my blog entry 'Photographic Frustration' you'll recall that there's a particular tree that's been on my mind for weeks!!

Personally, I don't think this is any coincidence... however, the good news is that I think I've found a lay-by close enough to said tree that may allow me to photograph it! Watch this space!

You can view the rest of the Stormy Skies entries here.

Detail

2012-05-13T17:07:00.003+01:00

Seeing as I had quite a lot of time on my hands today, I decided to check out an additional 'photo challenge'. This one is called PhotoSunday, and I discovered it when reading the blog of one of the entrants over at the Photo Challenge.

As the Photo Challenge has had such a positive impact on my photography, I decided to make an entry to PhotoSunday, their current theme is 'Detail'. Unclear on the rules I've entered a photo that I took some time ago, but I do intend on taking specific pictures in the future.

Below is the photograph that I have decided to enter.

Also on 500px