Sea Fog

The Dragon at Corris, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

We're chronologically mixed up today, I'm afraid, with the later photo first in the blog. This little dragon and wall were taken at the Corris Craft Centre, which we passed on our way home.

The dragons are incense burners, made by a local potter, and there's a few in the centre around his shop. I chose this dark coloured specimen against the light wall for my picture, and although not the sharpest pic I've ever taken, I quite like the whimsy of it.

Sea Fog, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Here we have a view in black and white (specifically Adox CHS25) of the sea fog pictured in yesterday's Velvia pic. Again, the Adox film, R09 developer and Vivitar lens have combined to produce this fabulous vintage look - this is a combination I really like.

Shirley

Shirley, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This shot is one I'd meant to take all that week, and represents the 19th of July in the DVD Forums Photo a Day for July Challenge. The person in it is my friend Shirley, who finished work with us in that week, moving on to what I hope will be better things for her.

This is the frame I like best out of the five I took, as I think it shows her character better than any.

Lunacy, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

You have no idea how much I wish I'd spotted this on the 18th, instead of the 20th. Still, even though I have no EXIF, I'm not about to cheat, and that probity places this image of the Cornerhouse's sign as the photo for 20th July. I've no doubt a degree of lunacy was beginning to set in for all of us at this point, with pictures being seen wherever we looked...

Flower, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, here's my image for the 21st. As has become par for this PaD, it belted down all day, so I put the close up filter on the 50mm, and wandered the garden looking for likely subjects.

This flower was the one I liked best from the frames I took.

In terms of shooting for today, rain and an office move kept me from accumulating too much, although I'm hopeful of a good shot from the two(!) I managed to take, both on the FE, leaving my frame counters at 18 a piece.

I'm away from my computer for a couple of weeks now, so I won't post anything else for a while. Those of you participating in the PaD, keep going - I will be, and flickrites, I hope to catch up on my commenting &c in a couple of weeks.

Qualities

Qualities, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Reasoning, Causality, Planning, Humour, Mirthfulness and Wit. I guess at this point in the Photo a Day for July Challenge we might feel at the end of our reserves of each, although I have fairly positive memories of this day (18th July) so far as I recall.

The choice today was between a number of "Around the Home" style macros, and a couple of shots of my beautiful wife's fantastic legs. Given that, going for this detail of a phrenology head might seem a somewhat odd choice, indeed, looking at the words written, I'm tempted to agree.

However - there is a better composition of the legs shot though, and a number of weak points in the one I took on the 18th, so I'm leaving it for now, with the hope of retaking it later in the month.

PAD shooting so far today has been entirely done on the FE, with the frame counter now reading 16. I'm reasonably confident of some good stuff in those frames, so not overly worried about shooting anything on the F3 at this point.

The Mystery of Floor H

The Mystery of Floor H, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Tuesday 17th's shot from the Photo a Day for July Challenge is this, one of only 5 taken this day, mostly of the same location, and on the FE only because of a shutter problem with the F3 (resolved, touchwood, with the replacement of the batteries).

I'm not entirely happy with any of the pictures from this day, and I think my experiment with placing all my eggs in one basket can be accounted a failure on that basis. My usual approach is to shoot 2 or 3 ideas each day, and that, over the course of the challenge, seems to have been the better approach to take.

In terms of PaD progress today, we are at 18 frames on the F3, and 11 on the FE.

The Seaside, Again

Traeth Borth Beach, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This shot is the familiar (by now) one of my kids messing about on the beach. I guess one difference here is that behind you, as the viewer, and me, as the photographer, is the seating area of a rather nice pub, which is very civilised, I'm sure you'll agree.

I rather liked Borth, although the missus was unimpressed. It has a the air of a place that's seen better days, like a lot of British seaside towns, sadly. Despite that, it retains a certain charm, and the people we met there were lovely.

Aberystwyth, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Last of today's digital shots is this one, of the Aberystwyth sea front.

Beautiful, isn't it? I really like this part of Aberystwyth, although the town itself has something of a split personality in many ways, with the feel of the place changing entirely once you cross the bridge going away from the seafront. You can get some sense of just how nice the weather was from this picture, I hope, it really was beautiful.

The End, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Here's another shot from Aberystwyth, this time a detail of a walkway that extends out into the sea from the prom. My kids loved swimming from and to this, and spent a fair amount of time doing so, when they weren't in the paddling pool up on the prom. This particular shot is another taken on Fujichrome Velvia RVP - bit blue, isn't it?

Pier, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, at least for today's Welsh shots, is this view of Aberystwyth's pier. This is such an imposing, dominating structure that I thought it would be interesting to place it in the very side of the frame.

Boxed

Boxed, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Kicking off last week's shots from the Photo a Day for July Challenge is this bit of architectural detail from Manchester's Northern Quarter. This represents Day 16, and was vying for it's spot with a more straightforwardly attractive architectural picture. This one won out in the end, largely on the strength of my gut feeling about it being the stronger (albeit less obvious in its appeal) of the two.

This particular week of shots will be all Ilford, as the FE was loaded with FP4+, and the F3 with HP5+. Both films were developed last night in 1+4 Ilfotec DD-X, and scanned this evening, hence the late post, and lack of anything else, as I'm a bit tired.

In terms of today's PaD shooting, the FE is on 6, and the F3 16. The F3 has a roll of HP5+ that I loaded on Sunday, and the FE a roll of Efke KB100, a film I've never shot before, and will be interested to see once it's been developed.

The FE is mostly city fragments, and the F3 some portraits of the staff of a fruit stall in town, who were kind enough to allow me to take their pictures. I'm beginning to get the hang (although the developed film may tell its own tale) of focusing the manual focus Nikkors on the move, and was able to shoot as the guys moved around serving customers - I'm hopeful for some good stuff from those frames.

Lastly, you might have noticed some additional links on my PaD pictures - there are links to the relevant day's tags, so that this year and last year's pictures can be compared. Overall I'm pretty pleased, myself, and don't think the comparison is too unflattering to my photographic progress so far.

Rose

Flesh, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This photo represents 14th July in the photo a day for July challenge. I've complained before about the photographic blight that is Saturday and Sunday most weeks, so I'm afraid this post consists of two items from the genre we might term "World of my Garden".

That said, I'm quite pleased with this one, taken with the FE, Nikkor 50mm and a Jessops +4 dioptre close up filter. The close up filter is an odd beast, imparting a sort of dreamy soft focus feel to almost everything, which I thought suited this gently decaying fuschia flower.

This may well be one picture that's better in black and white, as I think the intense colours of the flower might have overpowered everything else in the frame.

The title was originally "Sins of the Flesh", but got cut down at the point of uploading.

Rose, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I'd not intended this to be a double post (or even a post at all), but I was knackered on Saturday night, and developing on Sunday, so here it is.

Sunday the 15th saw another day of being stuck inside, so the close up filter went on again and I worked 3 or four frames of this rose, from some flowers I'd got for the missus on our anniversary ( on the 13th). I liked this best of the bunch (arf!) because of the dark space around it, although I have a number where the flower fills the frame that are quite appealing too.

This Sunday (22nd) was spent at the Manchester Flickr Group meet - I managed to finish the roll of HP5+ I had on the go at the time, and to take a further ten frames after that, so hopefully Sunday 22nd's pic is somewhere in there.

Both rolls from last week were finished yesterday, developed at about 11:30pm, and cut ready for scanning this morning.

My hands still smell of fixer too - the stink of creativity, as I believe it's known in some circles :)

Pancake Cook

Pancake Cook, Manchester, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

We reach Friday the 13th of July in the Photo a Day for July Challenge today, and this is my choice from the pictures taken that day, a portrait of a beautiful young lady who was working in Albert Square on a very rainy lunchtime. This portrait will also form part of my White Suit Project.

I was determined to use the 100mm f/2.8 lens to take this shot, because a 50mm would have been a bit too short (that sort of focal length distorts the face slightly if one is too close). The result is a slightly cramped composition, that includes less of the pancake stall than I'd have liked. Whilst I was trying to keep the lens under cover, I succeeded in positioning my neck directly under a dripping edge of the stall's roof, but it was the best position for the shot to be taken from. Whilst I'm complaining about my technical ability, I'll also mention the film, which I'd have liked to be less grainy, but I couldn't have shot slower film than 400ISO in the prevailing light.

Despite my shortcomings, I really like this portrait - she has a relaxed, confident air that really leaps from the frame, and I must express my thanks for her time and patience while I took her picture, and for her permission to do so. I'll be dropping off prints of the two pictures I took to her next week, hopefully.

In terms of shooting today, the FE is at 26, and the F3 at 23. An opportunity I thought might have arisen today didn't, hence the low count on the F3. I also have a horrible feeling that a lot of my stuff on the FE is rather dull urban space type fillers, but still, hope srpings eternal. I did leave moo cards with someone whose portrait I'd love to take, so hopefully I may have something good for at least one day next week.

Interiors

Interior with Table and Chairs, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Another four shots from Wales today, beginning with this interior shot, taken with the DVD Forums Monthly project for June ("Legs") in mind. I tried to have the chair legs echo the lines of the tiles here, which took a lot of moving around of chairs whilst squinting through the viewfinder. I'm not entirely sure it was worth it, but still. I guess fannying around with furniture reaches a point of critical mass - a shot has to be taken, so that the effort doesn't, at least, feel wasted.

Oh Buoy, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This photograph, and dreadful pun, comes from the beach at New Quay, Ceredigion. The vivid green of the seaweed and algae is pretty true to life, believe it or not.

Interior with Three Pictures, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Another interior shot rounds off the trio of digital Welsh pictures today. The light, and arrangement of the pictures caught my eye here (notice how the window light falls in a swathe on the diagonal of the frame). It's simple, but quite satisfying, I think.

Post and Chain, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

We finish again with a film shot, taken using Adox CHS 25 and developed in APH09. This post is on the same part of the beach as the buoy featured earlier, and its texture and detail would catch anyone's eye.

I'm going to print and frame this particular picture, after which it will be offered as a prize (I suspect a fairly low placed prize, but still) in a charity auction. I really like it, and I hope its eventual owner feels it has some appeal.

It's Funny How they Follow You Around the Room

They Follow You Around the Room, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Today's Photo a Day for July picture was taken on my way back from the Blank Canvas exhibition.

This is a detail of the large piece that replaced the Stevenson Square Robot - essentially, it's a giant blue monster. I took a number of straight on, documentary type pictures of it, but nothing really clicked until I started to look for detail. This isn't my finest moment in this year's PaD, but I don't think it too shabby. Irritatingly, I could probably have come up with something better, had I thought quicker on my feet, as I got chatting to a fellow film shooter about cameras, and I daresay I'd have gotten a portrait if I'd thought to ask.

I'm hopeful for better things from today's shooting - counters are at 20 on the FE, and 21 on the F3. The F3 is largely portraits of one of my friends and co-workers, who is moving on to better things at the end of the week - I'm hopeful that I can mark the occasion with a decent portrait.

Hold Fast

More than you Can Chew, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

My photo a day shots are now up to date (squarely one week behind), so you get four shots from Wales today, you lucky people.

First among them is this, a bit of debris from the beach at New Quay. I wondered about this broken net, positioned as it is near the rock. Do people try to catch rocks? Is that a good idea with such a flimsy net?

Planks, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Here's another shot of the door featured in my last set from Wales. This is a D70 shot, and whilst it lacks the punch of the Velvia, in some ways, I wonder whether a more muted look is better suited to the gentle decay of the paint and the rust of the hinges.

Beach, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This piece of beach is slightly further along from the the broken net featured earlier. I liked the colours, and the way the lines in the rocks curve around into the fence restraining the rocks behind the beach.

Hold Fast, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, here's some lovely Adox CHS 25. I took a few shots of this seaweed encrusted post, but this version on Adox' film is the one I really like, even though it amounts largely to a silhouette.

Virtue is its Own Reward

Virtue is its Own Reward, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This photo is 10th July in the photo a day for July challenge. I walked down to the Manchester International Festival on this Monday, and took a few shots of the "Chilled Summer Treats" beach huts. I really liked the way this was set up, with specially painted benches, beach huts, and sounds from the sea (gulls, waves etc) piped out over the PA. It all seemed a bit incongruous in the Manchester rain, but pleasant nonetheless.

My only gripe with the festival would be how unfriendly it seemed to be to photographers. I was challenged at the Heston Blumenthal thing (although by a very pleasant chap who did let me snap some shots of the beach huts), and turned down flat at one of the musical events - the latter being a shame, as there was some great material there. Which isn't to say that anyone was unpleasant, it was just slightly disappointing that so many great opportunities went begging (neither event had an accredited photographer working them so far as I could tell).

In the same week, I was shooting at the "Wild in Art" event on Albert Square, who could not have been more welcoming and co-operative, and I found the comparison quite telling.

The shots from this day were all ok, but would have worked far better in colour. With that in mind, I decided to go for something of a "street" shot, with the arrangement of recycling bins and advertisement making for a message of sorts, I thought.

Ropes, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The shot for the 11th is this one - I had no chance of grabbing my lunchtime shot on this day, and so had a mooch around the house looking for stuff to photograph. Those of you who follow my stream will recognise this as a fairly lazy shot, as I've done it before, twice in fact. I have, however, until now, not shot it on home developed black and white (or slide film, or C41, for that matter), so here it is.

My progress today means that the frame counter on the F3 stands at 17, and the FE at 16. I took absolutely nothing in Manchester today, but I did wander about the house and, mirabile dictu, managed to come up with some original shots too.

Locked

Locks, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Three different takes (and hopefully sufficiently different takes) on one subject today, shot with three different cameras.

The first is above, a detail of the locks holding this shed door secure against malefactors. The film in use here (for it is a film shot) is Fujichrome Velvia RVP, and as you might notice, it's quite a contrasty, saturated film.

Door, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Next up is a digital shot of the door as a whole - I took similar detail views to the others in this post with the D70 too, but have to be honest and say that both the Velvia and Adox blew them away in terms of the texture and contrast rendered. I thought it might be interesting to show the difference, and the larger whole from which the details are taken though.

Hinge and Shadows, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Bookending this post is another detail shot, this time of one of the door's hinges. I think I have this shot on Velvia and digital too. I chose this Adox CHS25 shot over them because of the shadows, and because it's just lovely, lovely film, and I offer thanks yet again to The Wishy for introducing me to it.

In both film shots, I have to add that in this case they're pretty much as they came off the scanner (resizing for the web being the only post processing) even the fabulously bonkers saturation of the Velvia shot is all there in the original slide.

In't film brilliant?

I Hate Sundays

I Hate Sundays, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is the photo for 8th July in the photo a day for July challenge. Sundays (and Saturdays, for that matter), are always tricky for me photographically, as I tend not to do much that's terribly photogenic. I did do the ironing, though, and thought I might attempt to show some of my distaste[1] for that chore in this still life.

Showing household objects that we're (most of us) at least passingly familiar with in a way that makes one slightly uneasy is a tricky thing to do, so I've gone for an off angle, and an exposure that emphasises the harshness of the lines (hopefully).

[1] Although the time flies with a Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD on, so it's not all bad

The Penguins Know, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

On Monday the 9th, I was back at the "Wild in Art" exhibition on Albert Square, hoping to see the finished Hippo (I didn't know it had already been sold at that time). I did potter 'round with the Nikon EM and some Fuji Superia (still not finished that roll yet), and rattled off some black and white too (works well on penguins).

I should offer a large amount of thanks to the gentleman running the exhibition stand both times I arrived, who was kind enough to let me snap away, and take some pictures from inside the enclosure.

I had two possibles for this day, both from the Nikon F3, but in the end plumped for this view of an artist decorated penguin and a "regular" penguin.

Beside the Seaside

Beside the Seaside, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Another favourite from New Quay, this time taken by the F90x on Fujichrome Velvia RVP.

This set of inflatable boats, and the Union Jack dinghy in particular caught my eye. They're set up outside a gift shop near the Mariner restaurant and takeaway. There's something about the optimistic, bright colours of the boats against that foreboding sky that brings back many summer holidays in Britain from my youth :)

Rust, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Colour and texture are the keys in this digital image, which is the base of one of the harbour arm markers in New Quay. The concrete, its discolouration by rust, and the sea all seemed to combine to make an interesting picture.

The Queen of New Quay, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, we have another Velvia image, this time from the racks of kayaks (I think that's the correct name) stored just by the lifeboat station. The bright, primary coloured plastic cries out for a highly saturated film, and Velvia is more than happy to step up. It's quite a nice showcase for the capability of the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-N, which can be a really nice lens at times.

Late Developer

Late Developer, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Today's Photo a Day for July effort was taken shortly after developing (or possibly between inversions, I forget) the test roll of Arista Pro 50 I ran off last Saturday, and finished the roll of Agfa APX 400 that I'd shot in the first week of the challenge.

It seems a fitting picture to end this first batch with, to me. In the frame you can see the shadows from my drainer, my winchester bottle of fixer, the Bertolli jar I use for stop bath, my G-Shock watch (the countdown timer being handy for development timing) and the jug I put my fixer in when I'm testing it on the film leader.

The shots on the roll of Arista from this day are what I'd describe as "The World of My Garden". I tend to start weekends with grandiose plans for getting to places and photographing interesting things, and end up stuck inside because of the sodding rain. Still, maybe tomorrow...

Speaking of which, no development tonight, as the F3 is on 32, and the FE on 35. I found my close up filter today, and have been experimenting with it a little on the 135/2.8 Series E, and 100/2.8 Series E. Stuff certainly looked ok through the viewfinder, so I'm hopeful that finished rolls tomorrow may reveal some nice shots.

The Artist and the Hippo

The Artist and the Hippo, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is today's Photo a Day for July effort (actually taken on the 6th of July - shooting film means I'm posting a week behind).

This is a picture from an event in Albert Square, Manchester, that Wild in Art were running. As part of it they'd invited some local urban artists to decorate some of the larger animals, and one of them invited me along to have a look at the hippopotamus he'd been tasked with decorating.

As I only had the lunch hour to see it in, I never got to see the finished article, sadly - it sold before the end of the day, and should be on its way to its new owner in France even now. I've been nipped back a couple of times, and shot some frames of colour too (if I'm honest, probably more suitable for this). They won't form part of the photo a day challenge because the turnaround time of lab developed film isn't really fast enough unless I shoot a roll in two or three days.

In terms of current progress on the PaD, the F3 is at 29 frames, and the FE at 30. I should have a good portrait on the F3, hopefully, that can also be used in my White Suit project, and some nice detail of another work from Wild in Art (an elephant painted with a cityscape - a really amazing piece).

A Figure on the Quay

A Figure on the Quay, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

That figure being my daughter, as it goes...

This part of New Quay is just along the beach, by the Lifeboat Station - I have several frames of chains and texture filled concrete, at least partly because I had an inkling of just how good it would look on this Adox film.

I think this is my favourite, because of the happenstance of my daughter straying into shot (again).

Moorings, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Another view of the mooring chains at New Quay, this time at the end where they're sunk into the sand. Again, the textural riches of Adox film in R09 really work for this, I think, and it's probably my favourite of today's Welsh photographs.

The Sea Was Angry That Day My Friends..., originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

We finish today with two digital shots - they're very similar, I'm afraid, but both show off what an odd day this was in terms of light. These were taken prior to the ones by the quay, and as you can see, it's pretty overcast; yet down by the quay I was getting usable shutter speeds with a 25ISO film. Odd.

This is my favourite of these two shots, my wife and son looking out over the harbour. The Tokina wide angle has given the cloud more drama (as if it needed it) and I think the two figures anchor the whole composition nicely.

...Like an Old Man in a Deli Trying to Send Back Soup., originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Incidentally, there will be no prizes for spotting the Seinfeld reference in the titles, I'm afraid.

A Dream of Summer

A Dream of Summer, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Today's posted shot for the July photo a day challenge is this, an advertisement for Salsa classes in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. It seems a bit incongruous in the grime of the Northern Quarter, particularly in the current weather, hence the title.

I seem to have taken a number of detail shots of larger things this day, although this was the one I liked best of all of them from 5th July. This is one of two versions of this shot, the second being a slightly different angle - I really like the figures being along the diagonal though, and so went with this.

Today, my film counters stand at 26 on the FE, and 27 on the F3. I'm reasonably confident that I have something good, but I feel much of the month is going to proceed in the shadow of my favourite shots so far, the portraits I took on the 4th.

Lastly, I wanted to mention something of interest to Mancunians - Blank Canvas is an exhibition of work set up on the ground floor of a building in Edge Street, Manchester. Their own description of it is;

an exhibition involving both students and practicing artists, named due to its lack of restrictions placed upon the artists involved, the only restriction being the limits of their imaginations! Each artist has chosen and created their own pieces and the result is an exciting and eclectic collection of works. The exhibition includes a broad range of painting styles, photography and installation.

They're only there for a few more days (tomorrow (13th July) and Saturday (14th), so get down there if you're able to.

In Praise of Happy Accidents

Cenarth, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I've often thought of the whole experience of shooting film as being one comprised of a series of accidents. This can, of course, be tailored to your own preference; reduce the random factor by only using gear you know inside out, in conditions you've worked in frequently. Many people choose to go to the other extreme, even if only occasionally, shooting with "toy" cameras, or using processing you're not supposed to on a particular type of film.

One of the more pleasant random events to happen shooting with manually wound cameras is the phenomenon of the first and last shot. These won't usually line up exactly with the frames the camera is expecting, and on my FG and FE produce these pleasant square(ish) compositions. This particular one was taken in Cenarth, Ceredigion, and is another of my long exposure spree.

I like these on black and white, it must be said, and I'll probably subject you to more, if I get chance to shoot some again.

Cenarth, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is a far more conventional view of Cenarth (it is, after all, taken on a sensible, digital camera) shot from more or less the same location. My viewpoint for the first shot is over the river on the other bank, and slightly further upstream than this.

I think my son is examining the shallows for minnows here.

Aberporth, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Our first view of Aberporth here is digital, shot using the Tokina 12-24 f/4 to make as much as I could of the seaweed covered rocks stretching into the distance, and the rather wonderful clouds.

Stream, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is my second view of Aberporth for today. It shows one of the many streams running down the beach to the sea, and I'd hoped to capture some of the sparkling clarity of the water in this shot.

I find myself alternately loving this, and then wishing I'd never uploaded it. It's probably best to allow you to make your own mind up on it.

Chef, Font Bar, Manchester

Chef, Font Bar, Manchester, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

My photo a day entry for today is also a part of my white suit project, as is the portrait below.

I have to thank both these guys for their time, as they were on their break when I asked for their portraits. I really like the resulting pictures - bags of character has come through in the finished article.

Assistant, Font Bar, Manchester, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I hope the scans don't come through too dark - I wanted to keep the slightly moody feel of the light from that day in the pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing the prints too, which should hopefully arrive towards the end of the week.

In terms of progress this week, I got no time at all today to shoot, so I've wandered around the garden a bit, and took some close ups of my bike. My frame counters have moved on (to 22 on each camera), but I'm slightly disappointed that the shots above were what I had in the cans at this point last week - I'm certain I've nothing that good from this week so far.

Cenarth

Cenarth, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The first of tonight's Wales uploads is this, which might provoke groans among those of you who've seen one too many long exposure, milky water shots.

Ah well. I figure whilst you're shooting at ISO50, you may as well give the technique a go. I took three of these in total (each a different part of the falls or river) moving at speed, as the missus and nippers had given me a deadline to get my pics.

Cliché aside, I love what longer exposures do to colour.

Dewi James a'i Gwmni, Cygidd, Castell Newydd Emlyn, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

These next two pictures are part of my ongoing "White Suit" project. Once again, I owe a huge debt of thanks to the two gentlemen featured in these, who were kind enough to let me take the two shots you see here.

I also owe them an apology, as it's taken me way longer to process these films than I'd anticipated.

Dewi James a'i Gwmni, Cygidd, Castell Newydd Emlyn, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.