Same jug, different backgrounds...which do you prefer?

Scary isn't it - this was going to be my entry into CJs Snapsfactor3 Competition

Was I afraid - what do you think?

It seems that it's a case of right place right time or third time lucky because this time I won! Thanks to those bloggers who voted for my snap. Thanks also to CJ for organising it - I now claim my prize of a picture of you in your tuxedo!!!!

Also converted to sepia , but witht an old photograp effect, wwhich puts cracks on the picture.

More from the Veterans day, converted to sepia for effect

I don't know what it is but i do like this, it may be the colour it just appeals to me.

Morning all!
Seeing as I am up and have time to post on here I am posting my favourite "thinking" place. Covered with the most wonderful wisteria it is just such a lovely place to be and think.

Good Morning Bloggers!

It looks like it might be yet another lovely day here today

 wish I had this view from my window !

Wish my garden was as nice.

Hardwicke Hall Derbyshire earlier today.
I spent a very happy few hours there with a friend Ive made from blogland. Despite a heavy shower we enjoyed a walk round the gardens.

In the Grande Place, Brussels, taken from the window of the Roy D'Espagne cafe, 15th June 2008

Between the showers at The Barrhead Dams.

Fishing boats travelling from the West to East Coast and image captured in Muirtown Marina. See more images by clicking here.

If, as I suppose, this small boat crossed the North Sea from Sweden to the Moray Firth [then Beauly Firth entering the Caledonian Canal and into Muirtown Marina] I consider the crew to be very brave.

More images are to be seen by clicking here.

 And another trophy for the shelf.

Here is a picture of my lovely dog Holly. This was taken last December
I'm sure that pet lovers among you will appreciate why I like this photo.

My lovely wife Michelle.

To Vote for your Favourite

CLICK HERE NOW!!!

Scottish Wild Cat: I just love this picture, the composition focus are good but I like to think I have captured the very essence of this cat, its viciousness and ferocity are there for all to see its face.

Lake Windermere – Misty Morning: Ths was taken early on a crisp autumn morning in October, I love the soft tones and the peace and quiet the picture instils, this is my number 2 and whats exciting for me, is that its actually been published in a book.

Joe posted his best pictures and then asked us to post ours, well for me it was a difficult choice but here we go.

Tiger – Number 3 in my list, I have loads of pictures of tigers some probably better than this, but I like the composition on this one, for me it also captures the power, efficiency and effectiveness of this magnificent animal.

Despite reaching Kessock Bridge at 8 30am this morning, I missed the restart of the race. Nevertheless this graphic image of a 'record holder' taken the night before is more than I would have seen as the boats left Inverness on the outgoing current rather than under power. Apparently, because of the boats being a threat to native dolphins, full power was not allowed until they were 12 miles out!

More images can be seen by clicking here.

This image shows the unashamed luxury of one of the boats taking part in the race. More images may be seen by clicking here.

These house martins were nesting in sluice underground, at minsere, i jsut saw the parents flying out looking for food, if it wasn'r for them I would have known thet were there.

These weren't taken at Minsmere but at a local reservoir, the Red Crested Pochard according to the RSPB website there are only 29 breeding pairs in the UK.

.......... for people with weak hearts or dodgy ankles

You were warned!

That includes you Rampage - hop it!!!!

I notice that many bloggers on this site enjoy photographing wildlife and birds in particular,
having just returned from the North East and a visit to the Farne Islands I must recommend a visit to this astonishing place, you may have seen it on "Spring Watch" last year.
I never thought it would be possible to see these birds at such close range.

For joebangles!

Why? - because it's different!

For many years I have been making "peace pipes" for people.

Some small 18ins personal.

Some ceremonial pipes with stand as long as three feet.
I always decide on the design and the finish. No two pipes are ever the same as I use whatever materials are to hand when they are being made.

Give the track 5 seconds to start

I think that this is the best pic that I have ever taken. It was taken at "The Dams", Barrhead, Glasgow, at the end of December 2006. I had been given the digital camera as a christmas present.

How about posting your best picture?

This however is a Reed Bunting

I shot this at Minsmere and am sure not sure what type of bird it is, it could be a Reed Warbler or a Wheateater or mabe none of the above, so if anybody can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Captured at Minsmere

I discovered participants in the Round Britain Power Boat Race were arriving today in Inverness some via Loch Ness and some strangely by road [ those too fast for the Caledonian Canal ; 4 or 5 mph ].

More images should appear shortly by clicking here.

Well yes and no; a boat called Loch Ness doubles as a restaurant berthed at Muirtown Marina . I saw a for sale sign and snapped it to catch this unusual headline news ! More related images can be seen by clicking here.

More like Rescue Rangers!

It was reassuring to see the beach patrol out in force today. They worked in pairs patrolling the area on foot. Each one had a personal radio set. This was their emergency vehicle on standby.

I just spent fifteen minutes on my knees feeding our robin.

He has quite a healthy appetite for a little one

But he never talks with his mouthfull

It actually has stopped raining for more than five minutes, but, my God, it certainly makes the garden grow.

there's nice souq (market) here, near Omayad Mosque in Damascus.

This squirrel got fed up with eating the seeds on the ground, so he went after the source

The local residents of Minsmere enjoying a picnic

A bud of a flower I posted yesterday, this is the Rose of Sharon

Click to enlarge.

Tom.

My wife said this was called a Dog Daisy, I know it looks like a daisy but the actual name I not sure of, but of course I trust her, like all my pictures it gets bigger if you double click on it.

Shot this in my local park on Sunday

We had come out for a fortnight's enjoyment on the river, and a fortnight's enjoyment on the river we meant to have. If it killed us! well, that would be a sad thing for our friends and relations, but it could not be helped.

Quote from Jerome K Jerome's story, "Three men in a boat".

Several more can be found at, http://workinghumor.com/quotes/boat.shtml

In a Scottish country garden, unfortunately, not mine.

All taken at Minsmere last Friday, never seen so many rabbits in one place.

This is not a new type of duck or unusual markings on this young female mallard, this is an elastic band stuck round her head, I wasn’t able to get hold of the duck, although I didn’t think I would have it I could. But I did contact the local RSPB member and he got the RSPA involved but we still could get hold of her. Fortunately the band came off as she was grooming herself so all was ok, but it does goes to show the dangers wildlife faces when we discard rubbish the way we do.

A member of the band entertaining Liberal Democrats at Tulloch Castle, Dingwall last Friday night. The celebration was for Charles Kennedys 25 years as a Member of Parliament. More images can be seen on my web site by clicking here.

OUCH!

This the path through the dunes, it goes on for about 1200m quite difficult walking with all my equipment in the heat of the day

I didn't realise until I got to Minsmere it was next to the nuclear power station Sizewell B, was there a Sizewell A?

Taken from the car park, I just liked the cloud formations

These are the roots of "The interesting tree" gives a better impression of how big that tree really is!

Here is another view of the tree.

I took this picture of a tree at Brodsworth Hall when I visited there on my birthday.

No not expenses this time. The image was captured at a dinner dance arranged to celebrate 25 years in Parliament by the Rt Hon Charles Kennedy. Not only our local MP but a national figure being the only leader of a major party to oppose the invasion of Iraq which has been a disastrous episode in terms of lost lives and economic cost.

More images will be posted on my web site seen by clicking here.

Here is the image of a band member playing the accordian at Tulloch Castle Hotel on Friday 20th June 2008.

More images of Charles Kennedy's 25th Anniversary of his entry as a member of Parliament may be seen tomorrow by clicking here.

In my back garden

I'm pretty sure this is a poppy,but i could be wrong

I do know this is Fox Glove, all the shots were taken at Minsmere on Friday, I have loads to come hope you all enjoy them.

Again I not sure what this is, I beleive it is a Iris Pseudacorus - Yellow Flag, but if we have a expert out there any help would be appreciated. I didn't notice the fly on the rear petal until I down loaded it.

I think this plant is a Southern Marsh Orchid, but am not an expert so if anybody knows I would be greatly appreciated.

The competition is over for entries. Pop over to find out how you can vote for your favourite

I have just come across an excellent tutorial on how to make great-looking HDR (High Dynamic Range photography) images from your photographs and just had to share it with you straight away.

The tutorial is called 'Beginners Guide to HDR' and it shows you how to make HDR images from your photos using a piece of software called 'PhotoMatix'.

Now that I have read this fantastic tutorial and downloaded the 'PhotoMatix' software - which can be downloaded as a fully-functional trial version - I'm just waiting for the optimal moment to take some shots that I think will look great when I apply what I've just learnt to them.

If all goes well, I'll be uploading the HDR photographic images that I make, here for you all to see. And if you follow the tutorial, download the software and make your own HDR images, I'd like to see you post them here too.

Till later, my fellow shutterbugs...

I took this yesterday at Minsmere, it was a fantastic day out, will post lots more tomorrow when I get the chance

Took this picture at a local Gala, it reminded me of childhood, days at the seaside.

This isn't a particularly high quality picture: I was shooting straight into mixed light and dark areas, the lamp-post is in the shot, and because I was in a hurry I didn't have the chance to resize it, so I had to crop this bit that I wanted out of a larger picture. But still, I think it evokes the moment I saw from my balcony rather well.

What do you think?

Cheers, Tom.

It was my son Oscar's very first sports day last Friday, so I went along armed with my camera and camcorder to capture these precious moments. Oscar actually won most of the races he took part in, which made me very proud.

Anyway, here's a great photo of my boy in action, followed by a photo slideshow that I put together with some of the other photos that I took.

Enjoy...

And here is the photo slideshow for you to enjoy... just click on the 'Play' button.

I also edited the video footage that I took on the day and put together a rather nice music video that you can see here:

http://thefurnace.blog.co.uk/2008/06/19/my-son-s-first-sports-day-photos-and-vid-4337848

My boy made me feel so proud on that day...

If you are interested in entering this competition, you only have one more day to get your entry in. Check it out here

Copyright-Dean Christopher,2008.

www.dcphotoart.blog.co.uk

In the gravel garden, OK, I'm strange, I collect bits of wood.

Acer and Silver Birch.

I know that it's mucky, but I love this wee part of my garden, thinking about taking it to the RHS Flower Show next year.

They are simply gorgeous!

To find out what these are look at my next posting.

Just to prove I do know the difference between hollyhocks and foxgloves!!

I copied Esspee's idea and got up at 4AM this morning. Had a two hour walk with the dog and took over 800 pictures. Some of them are OK, and here are the first two. I'll post a couple more later.

They get bigger if you click on them!

Cheers, Tom.

I knew it was a full moon, but wasn't expecting this:

Looking through a window

Such shameful filth!

lol, not the one you are thinking of

Good Morning Bloggers!

05.45 CET

Anyone for coffee?

This was taken from my terrace 15 minutes ago.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Only child's play?

Obviously not!

SeasideMan's recent post "Making Pretty Patterns with Stones"
reminded me of the fun and creative time children can have
at the beach. This time with shells and feathers.

A young fledging Corn Bunting, there were a few around eating the seeds i9n the hedge row

And then she ponders some more...

Darling little Penny-poppet ponders the source of her next tit-bit

This pic taken from a bridge 60 foot above the River Avon in Hamilton, Scotland, note the reddy/brown colour at the bottom middle of the shot.

Enlargement of that area, What do you see? What is it?

ENOUGH TO GIVE A MAN ANOTHER HEART ATTACK. BUT I'D RISK IT.

SHOUT FIRE

NO HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THOSE DAYS. WOULDN'T DO FOR TODAYS DUSTMEN.

CHECK THE NAME

JUST FOR USKY

STOURPORT BRIDGE

Another one

Not a macro shot, it was taken with my long lens (sigma 50-500mm zoom) but its come out ok

Pretty colour, I thought.

I took this photo this morning.

More images of the International Horse trial may be viewed by clicking here

Image of a Bold Dog Display team member at Burgie on Saturday. More images of horses and riders and spectators are now to be seen by clicking here.

Click it to make it bigger.

Cheers, Tom.

x

Cadzow Castle is a ruined castle, constructed between 1500 and 1550 on the site of an earlier royal castle, 1 mile south-east of the centre of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The town of Hamilton was formerly known as Cadzow, until renamed in 1455 in honour of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton.

It sits above a gorge overlooking the Avon Water in what is now Chatelherault Country Park, but was previously the hunting and pleasure grounds of the Duke of Hamilton's estate of Hamilton Palace.

Castle from The Dukes Bridge that crosses The Avon Gorge.

This is my favourite shot of the weasel I took,

Gone Fishing

must be complicated trying to figure what rope does what

My cat relaxing.

More images of the horses and riders and spectators should be available by clicking here on or after Monday.

You know what it's like... you're attending a local charity event somewhere, when across the room you spot a celebrity - like Noel Edmunds, perhaps - and you'd really like to have your photo taken with him.

Trouble is, the kind of staged and uninteresting pose that normally results, leave your photos looking quite bland.

This guy has the right idea on how to liven up the rather stilted compositions that often result. He gets the celebrity to stage a fist fight with him - awesome.

...and wave em around like you just don't care!

Copyright-Dean Christopher,2008.

CAN YOU SEE La-Spice?

Is havin an sleep, iz hot. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

It was a good day actually.

HUTZ

Ahem.

Here's a picture taken looking down the mouth of a native tiger.

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
~~William Blake~~

Snail's pace up a VERY steep slope...

"But home is this way, NotBob..."

Valladolid, Spain

Tonight

Looks like candy floss and meant to be shared

This is the gorgeous blonde I met on holiday. She was with her mom and dad. She's foriegn as well as blonde so how could I not fall in love with her. Her mom and dad quite understand, that's why they sent me the picture.

EVERYTHING FLOWS ON AND ON LIKE THIS RIVER, WITHOUT PAUSE, DAY AND NIGHT.
CONFUCIOUS

"TIME IS BUT THE STREAM I GO FISHING IN".
H.D. THOREAU

or bursting at the seams!

GIANT POPPIES

Does anybody what this flower is, I took if on Saturday at Rainham Marshes

I've tried this before, but this one worked better than any previous effort. The red line is the tail-light of a car going past my house. It looks better bigger, so please click on it.

Cheers, Tom.

The tree lined street is Nether edge in Sheffield where I lived for a while. I still have friends there now.

The large tree was taken in The New forest a few years ago.

"Large detached country residence in leafy suburbs"

Perhaps a high rise residence might be safer!

This is the tail of the monster that had been stranded on the shore.

I'm telling lies.

Not all is Cruise liners and sunshine here on the south coast. Look what I found on a lampost on 'The Common'

Dennypoos............damned nearly a public service.

Be very afraid! (It's competition time again!)

This is Gaston and he may just turn nasty if you don't get your entries in for CJ's Snapsfactor Challenge #3.

GO ON - GET SNAPPING BEFORE GASTON GETS CROSS!

But it's at the side of the canal

My Mum used to say "blue and green must never be seen".
Good job Mother Nature knows best!

 My grandaughters enjoyed a day out at Dovedale.
 Actually so did I

A view over the Clyde Valley towards Glasgow taken from the entrance to Chatlerault House, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

More images of Inverness, the Highlands and some portraits may be viewed by clicking here.

Try flower power instead!

This is one of my fav pubs, and they do a mean hog roast.

This is at the end of our road.

Nor any drop to drink ?

For more of my images click here.

A Wood Turner contemplates the magic stick he is making. The shot was captured at Merkinch Nature Reserve open day last Saturday 7 th June 2008.

To view more of my images please click here.

THE EXHAUST SMELLS A BIT

IN MY DREAMS

Thank goodness he's behind bars!

Now that's an idea!

A portrait of a great clown at Merkinch Nature Reserve Open Day held on 7th June 2008.

More images of the Open Day, motocross, football and shots taken in and around Inverness, Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands can be seen by clicking here

No not your lady friend !
This image was captured at Merkinch Nature Reserve Open Day 0n 7th June 2008.
The Falcon flew courtesy of raptorworld.co.uk

Other images may be seen at lochness

I just pointed my camera overhead, and clicked.  It gets bigger if you click on iit :-)

Cheers, Tom.

Lovely dog sitting beside the wood turner at Merkinch Nature Reserve Celebrations today 7th June 2008.

More images will be posted at www.lochnessimages.com If you see anything you really like use the contact us button and I will e-mail an image free of charge.

John Farquhar Munro MSP who did the honours today 7th June 2008 at Merkinch is a member of the Scottish Parliament and a well known Liberal Democrat.

I mean the other more attractive kind.

A shot of a Harris Hawk, a native of America, courtesy of
www. raptorworld.co.uk. The bird flew at the Merkinch Nature Reserve Celebration today 7 th June 2008. More images taken at Merkinch today will be shown on www.lochnessimages.com

Took this a couple of years ago, but I thought i would share it.

Below is a photo of the brick stucture at the bottom of my garden that I will be transforming into a photographic studio over the summer. It's quite a large project, but once finished, it will provide me with a studio/workshop where I'll be able to continue with my model and product photography business working from home. Currently, I either work on-site ot have to hire studio space.

Once all of the structual work is completed, I will be kitting out the interior with all of the latest gear, including lighting, back-drops, cameras and a computer editing work-station.

I hope and I pray, though, that this summer is a good one that allows me to get the job done in the time-frame I have set myself... Wish me luck!!!

Please compare these two shots one in good bright light and one when it was dull ! I did the ' rust bucket ' shot with Usksider in mind as he said he was fascinated by rust !

A GRAND DAY OUT . STRATFORD-UPON-AVON THIS AFTERNOON

There's a snail in my bush!

This was new to me. I e-mailed this pic direct from "My Pictures" to Photobucket without loging in to the site, ( I am a member) it only takes a second and cuts out that loging in and waiting time when uploading.

I don't know why the new growth had started as no pruning had been carried out on the tree and there does not appear to be any damage to the top.

Some Town Hall eh?

I'm not sure about the windmills though!

FIRST TIME OUT OF THE NEST BOX THIS AFTERNOON

Copyright-Dean Christopher,2008.

I took this picture from the dam wall on Booth Wood Reservoir

This is Booth Wood Reservoir on the outskirts of Huddersfield

Yes boats leaving the Beauly Firth and entering the Caledonian Canal pass this point and subsequently travel the length of Loch Ness.

No Beauly Firth at sunset.

Click on it to make it bigger.

Tom.

If you need FREE and unlimited hosting and web space for your photos, then here are a couple of image hosting sites - with a twist - that you might want to check out. Click on the links below:

ibanter Photo Pimp

ibanter Comic Creator

What's different about the two sites above, is not only can you upload, store and share all of your photos, but you can also add some very nice filter effects to them with just a few clicks of your mouse. You can also add some fun photo elements to them too, if you wish, which is a nice touch.

Once your photos have been uploaded and saved, you can then easily add them to your blogs and websites using the code that they provide.

Here's one I made earlier using the ibanter Comic Creator website:

Pretty cool, eh!!!

This stone is standing in a corner of field, high on the moors in Yorkshire, no one knows why it was put there, it was apparently erected at the end of the 1800's. But by and what for is a mystery

I can't remember what this rdige is called put it runs along the Yorkshire/Lancashire border is high and very steep, scared where the water runs down into the valley

I have no idea what this flower is.Can anyone tell me?

Looking into the distance and trying to look intelligent,my dog Harvey, fails.

ANY GARDENERS RECOGNISE THIS PLANT PLEASE

This is also on the Pennine Way, the weekend we were in Yorkshire the weather was great, normally this moor is shrouded in mist and its wet and windy.

This is part of the Pennine Way as it passes on the hills above Todmorden in Yorkshire

A view from the end of my fathers street, looking down the valley into my home town, this is the Leeds to Rochdale canal as it passes through Todmorden (West York)

I took this pic a while ago but have only just finished retouching all of the power cables out,
it was a mammoth task.
As you can see the shot is lit from behind and most of the colours were weak as a result so I decided to shoot it using the "wrong" colour balance (tungsten) to give it a stronger graphic appeal and enhance the tonal perspective.

The shot was taken from about 2 miles away with a very long lens which compressed the perspective.

...look away now.

Planted in 2002 I have waited 6 years for this wisteria to flower.

Dalserf Parish Church
Church of Scotland

Built 1655, centre transept added 1892. Oblong building with pulpit on long side. Outside stairs to three galleries. Belfry. Two large memorial windows on either side of pulpit by Douglas Hogg. The graveyard contains a pre-Norman hogback stone and an outstanding Covenanting memorial 1753, to Rev John MacMillan, founder of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Off A72 between Garrion Bridge and Rosebank.

Two pictures of the same fly taken seconds apart.. In the upper one the focus is on the head, but  on the lower one it's the blue body. Click on them to make them bigger.

Cheers, Tom.

The Worlds first and only "Rotating boat lift" on the Clyde and Forth canal at Falkirk, Scotland.

This engineering feat, 115 feet high, transfers boats between the differing heights of the Forth and Clyde and Union canals.

Words below and photographs from, http://www.bennettmg.co.uk/Project_MS_Falkirk_Boatlift_1.aspx

British Waterways ‘Millennium Link’ canal project is the largest UK canal restoration ever. It reconnects the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals allowing unhindered passage of traffic between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The centrepiece to this project is the Falkirk Wheel - the world’s first rotating boatlift. The 35m high, 1500 tonne machine transports canal barges and other boats between the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canal, a vertical drop of 18 metres. Before the closure of the canals in the mid 20th century this transfer was achieved by a flight of eleven locks.

First structure of its kind in the world.
Design life of at least 120 years.
35 metres high.
35 metres wide.
30 metres long.
Each gondola contains at least 250,000 litres of water.
Capable of carrying eight boats at a time.
A single trip takes 15 minutes.

Alum Lily

He's there.... Click on him to make him bigger:

Cheers, Tom.