CaptainD's Photos

Encounter at Richmond Park

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:38:00 +0000

After this I decided not to get any closer, just in case... those antlers looked like they could do some serious damage!

A few more Scottish pics...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:59:00 +0000

... including the rather oddly shaped home known as Crathis Castle.

Photos from Aberdeenshire

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Just a few shots from my recent trip to Scotland, unfortunately very few came out well. Have come to the conclusion that I really must by a good digital camera (with a decent optical zoom!) and not just rely on my phone as I have been doing...

Camouflage Cat...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Methinks our cat has some way to go before she qualifies from Stealth School...

Just a couple of slightly unusual photos I took today...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Iron Bridge Photos 4 - Tile Museum

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:36:00 +0000

Whoever would have thought a tile museum would be so interesting? Well if it had just been lots of single tiles, it probably wouldn't have been. But some of the collections of tiles are works of art, as you can see below (though not very well... unfortunately my photographic skills weren't up to the job).

Iron Bridge Photos 3 - Victorian Living Museum

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:39:00 +0000

This advert on the wall of the dressmaker's shop made me smile...

That's good to know! Could be painful otherwise...

Iron Bridge Photos 2 - Tar Tunnel

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Photos of the "Tar Tunnel" at Iron Bridge

The Tar Tunnel is located on the north bank of the River Severn in Coalbrookdale near the village of Coalport, England, and now forms part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

Miners struck a gushing spring of natural bitumen, a black treacle like substance, when digging the tunnel in 1787, probably in connection with the nearby coal mine workings. It was a great curiosity in the 18th century and bitumen still oozes from the wall today. Its chief commercial use at the time was to treat and weatherproof ropes and caulk wooden ships, but small amounts were processed and bottled as a remedy for rheumatism.

Description taken from Wikipedia

In the second photo, you can see the bitumen seeping out of the walls. Why I go into this sort of place when I suffer from claustrophobia, I'll never fathom!!

Iron Bridge Photos - 1

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:11:00 +0000

I visited Iron Bridge Gorge recently - will post the photos according to subject matter. These first one is of the famous bridge itself, and the other was taken from the bridge.

Swans

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:09:00 +0000

More Cats...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:06:00 +0000

... a cat in bath... and a suspicious cat... nothing more to be said.

More cat photos...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Flaked out cat...

Still flaked out...

Sleepy but slightly curious about what I'm doing...

But not enough to keep awake...

It's all over... zzzzzzzz..

Looking more alert, with a few digital effects thrown in...

Paws for thought?

Two more from America

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:27:00 +0000

This one was from Seaworld in Orlando:

And here we have the lowest point on land in America - possibly the world, I can't remember! Even in Death Valley though we saw a UPS van!!!

Though in a way it detracts from the photo, I kind of like the very indistinct figures in the distance and the shadow falling behind the sign - to me they add to the starkness of the environment.

Grand Canyon Photos

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:54:00 +0000

One thing that really struck me about my photos of the grand canyon was that the colours looked absolutlely nothing like the pictures I'd seen of it - well, until I enhanced the photos digitally of course! :-D I think the first photo above was takne from the cessna, I love the contrast with the shadowed foreground in the second. Neither photo looked like much until I'd edited them though...

CaptainD - Photo Blog

More Photos from America

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:48:00 +0000

I love this shot... I just wish I could remember if it was the result of painstaking effort, or simply a fluke! I think this was taken in Miami.

I'm not quite sure but I think I took this one in Las Vegas - didn't like the place much but there were definitely some sights to see. Strange things with light happening here... not quite sure how the tree / bush was so lit up... I like the backdrop colours anyway!

I love sunsets and after editing various aspects of this photo, I got a result almost as dramatic as the real thing. (Of course no photo can ever match seeing it for real, but I'm pleased with this one.)

CaptainD - Photo Blog

Flying with the Eagles

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:21:00 +0000

I've finally got round to putting my photos from my trip to America some years ago on the computer... because some of the pictures were quite grainy or the colour saturation wasn't good, this necessitated finding a good (and free) photo-editing program (can't get GIMP to run on Vista... grr...), and I'm now using Photofiltre, a very nice, easy to use package that gives good results quickly.

This is one of my favourite shots of the set - taken out of the window of a Cessna while flying over the Grand Canyon. Didn't do much to this - reduced nose, blended a couple of smudges (possibly on the window of the aircraft), and slightly modified the colour saturation.

The result is quite pleasing, though I would have prefered a slightly sharper image (tried sharpening it digitally, not much effect). However the cloud formations look great, so I'm not going to complain...

I have to say though, I almost prefer it as a greyscale image!

The images aren't particualrly high resolution for two reasons - I still need to play with them to try and make them look better, and I don't want to use up too much space on Blogger all at once! Still, I'm quite pleased with how this photo looks. More coming soon...

CaptainD - Photo Blog

Photos from Clun, Shropshire - 3

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Journey and Abstract

This is definitely my favourite shot of all - I love the interplay of light and shadow of forest walks.

For some reason there was something about the starkness of this solitary tree sitting a the top of a mound that caught my eye.

And this one just looked so much better as a sepia print!

Photos from Clun, Shropshire - 2

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:46:00 +0000

Landscape shots - they always look so much better when the sun is shining!!!

Photos from Clun in Shropshire - 1

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:41:00 +0000

Clun Castle - just a ruin nowadays.

Clun castle at night - different image modes.

Photos of Ludlow Castle

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Street Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:52:00 +0000

I was just trying to capture an amazing sunset across a busy road (took a while to get a clear shot and then I had to be very quick to take it!)... it really looks like nothing much, but in real life it looked spectacular.

Remember those frosted car windows?

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:49:00 +0000

I mean these ones - well this is what it looks like when it's night and a streetlight is nearby!

Photo from Old Masters Tennis Tournament

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:45:00 +0000

Not a great photo (I don't remember them saying you couldn't take photos though they probably didn't want flash photography!) - still it captures a little of the atmosphere.

Another one of our cat...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:15:00 +0000

... forgot to add this to the photos in the previous post... the timing for this snap was perfect! (I don't think she liked my sister picking her up...)

Our cat... in the middle of our mat (well, couch)...

noreply@blogger.com (CaptainD) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:41:00 +0000

Isn't she just the sweetest thing ever? (When she's not asking for food, that is...)

She can have a slighlty evil look to her at times though...

If you ask me, guv... she's been framed!!!

Well, my bad joke quota for the week has been filled, so in a few days I'll be back with photos from Ludlow Castle - and, perhaps, no awful puns. But I can't promise...

CaptainD - Photos Blog