No. 121: Box brownie

Chocolate brownies are today's cake choice, and they look fab. Ruth has been working her magic in the kitchen again, and that's despite being eight months pregnant. The boy is well and truly engaged according to the midwife and, at a guess, he'll be here sooner rather than later. Not sure what delights Ruth has planned for tomorrow, we'll have to wait and see....

'til then....

No.120: It's Scone quick!

Day number three and the baked goods just keep coming. I think Ruth got a little carried away with the amount of scones she was making, there must of been a thousand of these little sweet lovely's. Truly a baking triumph on Ruth's behalf, especially when smothered in clotted cream and jam; well nice. I can't wait for Thursdays treat.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 119: Nice muffins!

Hmmmm, here they are, the wife's muffins (ooooo-er)! Freshly baked today and probably will not last five minutes. I think Ruth is getting as much enjoyment out of this baking lark as I do taking pic's. It looks like Wednesday's fare will be that English classic of scone with clotted cream and jam, (with a nice brew of course).

'til tomorrow.....

No. 118: What a star!

This weeks theme; baking, in particular cakes and biscuits. Ruth has kindly volunteered to bake something everyday this week (yum), and to start with home-made shortbread with Smarties. With promise of cupcakes tomorrow I see my waste line will be rising with the cakes!

'til tomorrow.....

No. 117: Fly by.

Lovely weather again today and so warm, thought it might be nice to visit Otterspool prom to cool down by the Mersey, but it was rammed. So after trying to find a parking space and deciding not to wait in the queue for somewhere to park, it was decided a change a venue was in order. As Sefton park was not too far we decided to go there. I love this park as it has a great atmosphere and after a time walking around Ruth wanted to sit for a bit, as we were enjoying the sun, watching life go by and soak up the buzz in the air, Sophie remarked about, "The blue fly's", which brought my attention to the damsel fly's that were everywhere. The pesky little blighter's wouldn't let you close so a little patience was needed. I'm quite pleased with the result in the end.

'til tomorrow....

No. 116: Fountain fun

A nice trip into town on this scorcher of a day and into Liverpool One. As soon as the girls saw the fountains and pool they were off with their socks and shoes and straight in. I had to teach Sophie the etiquette of general "wishing well/pool" usage, as after she had spent some time paddling in the pool she came over with handfuls of money saying, "Dad, look at all the coins I got out of the pool". She soon put them back. Off fishing later, not decided if I'm take my camera or not as I might get a nice sun set if I do.

'til tomorrow

No. 115: A lake-ly story!

At last the end of the week and as usual on a Friday work is extra demanding, still it keeps the old mind active. It has been more than made up for by, not just the lovely weather, but by the fact that Sophie's story she wrote in school is to be published. An author at seven, I'm so proud. Oh the pic by the way was took around the lake at Stad Moers when I took Henry for a walk, it was so tranquil, with the suns light illuminating everything and the still water. It looks like it's much of the same tomorrow...

'til then....

No. 114: Lupin-de-loop

It was soooo warm today, wished that I could of bunked of work and gone for a pint. As you can imagine the park was bathed in sunshine and all the blooms are out; there is a corner of the park where a load of Lupins  gather and all of them violet and purple. It was a nice contrast between the cool colour of the petals and the warmth of the afternoon sun. It wasn't long before we had to come home as Sophie start screaming at the bumble bee's that were also attracted to these flowers.

'til tomorrow

No. 113: Park fern-iture

With another sunny day (of which I missed most of with work getting in the way), I took the chance to take Henry for a walk around Stad Moers park and escape for a bit. With so much in the way of wild things to photograph, it was hard to pick I would have been out all evening, but I was under orders to bath the kids. I love the way that fern leaves unfurl, they're almost fetal like. Thursday also promises to be a fine day so as always...

'til tomorrow.

No. 112: Daisy do.

Back over to the Park, where the girls hunted down the daisy's to make as bigger chain as possible. Emily was more interested in putting flowers in my camera bag as I discovered when I went to put my camera away, all of that delicate kit covered in Daisy's, Buttercups and grass!

It is a nice day today for taking pic's, I hope that it lasts and finally summer is here. 

'til tomorrow...

No. 111: Park life.

The first one for this week, and as the weather promises to good for the next few days I thought that it be nice to get some photo's of the park. It also means I can get the dog walked and amuse the kids at the same time. As the park is also a winner with them, (especially when it means swings, slides and round-about's), it seems like a good idea to mix the two together when getting through a busy week.

'til tomorrow......

No. 110: Me

Sorry everyone, I couldn't get away with not taking my own pic, but after pestering the rest of my family into getting their pictures done I was forced into doing it. Fair enough I suppose. As you can imagine it took a while just to get the camera in the correct position, I used my wireless trigger to work the shutter so I was able to take the picture from distance. Ruth was my helpful assistant as she held the flash away, she also laughed her head off every time I took a shot that was wrong.

Start of a new theme tomorrow, not too sure yet what to do but you'll find out then......

No.109: Smiles at last.

At last, I managed to get a better pic' of Emily. She seemed to be a bit more enthusiastic about getting her photo taken this time around. We had a nice afternoon in the park, where we were joined by our friends Gary and Louise, and their kids; Amber and Archie-Bruce, which put Emily in a better mood. That's all she needed; Park, Friends and promise of ice cream.

No. 108: A rare shot!

At last, a photo of the wife. Ruth hates having her picture taken, but as this week was all about portraits then it was inevitable she would have to cave in. I love it, I think that she looks as lovely as ever and takes a great photo. I just need to persuade her to have more done! ("I won't though", is Ruth's reply).

'til tomorrow........

No. 107: Photo frustration!

It was Emily's turn to get her photo taken tonight, but she wasn't in the mood, again! She still isn't feeling too well, so I didn't want to push her too much. Eventually I got  a few shots of her.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 106: You lookin' at me!

Here's the other member of the family who is rarely in these day's. This is Meg, and since the weather has turned milder she's out all the time, only to return with a mouse or bird in her mouth as a gift. Also, being a cat meant that she had to be awkward when it can to getting her photo taken, even with Sophie's helping she did not look happy. Eventually letting her settle on one of my socks (cats are weird sometimes) she allowed me to get a shot that made her look a little more comfortable.

'til tomorrow....

No. 105: Portrait Pooch

Today's portrait done, with a little help from Henry. I was intending to get Emily but she was way too tired to pose; maybe tomorrow.

'til then......

No. 104: Serene Sophie

This week I'll be concentrating on portraits, and to start with here's Sophie. I had chance to use my flash off the camera, which enables me to have more control over light direction. I used a diffuser on the flash to soften the light a little. I'm pleased with this shot as she is a little more relaxed, once she'd got passed the silly faces stage and the over smiling I managed to get a shot that was a little calmer.

'Til tomorrow.....

No. 103: Jump around!

Here's the last pic of the week. Sophie was feeling energetic as always deciding to jump around and dance about in the garden, well, all the better for me as I needed some good photos to take.

I'm getting used to speed flash, so time to take the plunge with portrait's next week.

'Til tomoorw.....

No. 102: Make a big splash

Here's the penultimate photo of this weeks theme, and it has taken me all morning to take. You would think it was a simple enough task to through a tiny bead into a glass container wouldn't you? Well there were beads pinging everywhere, and my patience was wearing thin, but I got there in the end.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 101: All in a spin.

A quick trip to the park with Emily, as Sophie was at Brownies. I got quite a few shots of her on lots of different play equipment, and even got some shots of her jumping off a log, but these didn't come off as well as I'd hoped. I like this pic' though as it makes your eye's go funny when you look at it.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 100: Spot the pea!

Well, I made it to a century of photo's; how time is flying by. I had help from my lovely assistant Ruth, who patiently poured the peas into the water countless time's. There were peas flying every where, we'll be finding pea's in all sorts of places for weeks. With the timings between pea's falling and the shutter speed were dubious at times, instead of a steady stream of pea's we got one big lump of a pea cluster hitting the water. I'll never use pea's again!

'til tomorrow.......

No. 99: Flow-tograph

A little more abstract tonight; I was hoping to take my girls to the park again but the weather wouldn't allow it, so I had to think of something else. Water is always a good subject, and as it generally likes to move and flow (usually down from the sky in this part of the world) I thought that capturing its movement would make a great picture. I like how the bubbles that are rushing passed look fluffy, I also added a couple of plastic balls into the mix, and as they were caught in an eddy, they seemed to danced around each other.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 98: Dog gone!

The second photo for this weeks movement theme. A quick trip to the park, where my two daughters chased Henry around the field, I think he was a bit confused as to why the girls were trying to get him, but he looked like he was having a great time anyway and despite their hard endeavour the girls couldn't catch him.
I did, however, manage to get this shot of Henry as he went zooming passed.

'til tomorrow.....

No. 97: Spin me right round, baby.

So today being a bank holiday would mean that the weather was, well dull. Even if the weather is "bad" at least you can get interesting and dramatic sky's, but when it's drizzly like today you have nothing to use as good backdrop when you're out and about. It's just as well that with this weeks theme dedicated to movement the sky is not that much of an issue. I took the girls to the park on Stadt Moers and got quite a few shots, and the round-about was great for contrasting the blurry back ground, but keeping Sophie in focus, although it was tricky trying not to send my kit flying and I was well dizzy by the time I had finished.

'til tomorrow.........   

No. 96: Leaf it to the light.

Here's the final photo of this weeks abstract theme, the sun was out this morning as a I walked the dog and I was lucky enough to catch this image of these Horse Chestnut leaves bathed in dappled sunlight, before my cameras battery died; just three shots in!

Next week I'm looking at movement and I'm sure the kids can help big time with this one,

'til tomorrow.....

No. 95: Yellow mellow

I took a quick trip around Stand Moers Park to see what I could find; more specifically, I walked along the brook embankment. I was finding it hard to find a subject other than dead brambles, nettles and old pram wheels, but eventually I found this solitary wild flower standing out amongst the shade provided by the tree's. With the brown background of the brooks water, this little gem stood out a mile. I think it's a Welsh Poppy. I also got a chance to try out my new flash gun, which helped enormously in creating a soft light amongst the shade.

As I journeyed further down the brook a came across a tree that was covered in some sort of furry moss; it looked as if the tree had been given some furry green pyjamas for Christmas. As I was taking a few more shots of the well dressed Ash, I heard a snap behind me. As I turned around to see what was behind me I saw what I thought was a dog, at a second glance I was surprised to find it was a fox, and in its mouth a freshly caught rabbit. I couldn't turn my camera around fast enough, however, I was too slow and the little orange feller disappeared into the undergrowth.

'til tomorrow.......

No. 94: Barking up the right tree

Thank God it's Friday, end of another working week and into a long bank holiday weekend. I was hoping that the field around the corner was still flooded as there where lots of submerged dandelions with there heads poking out of the water, however, the water had gone down and all that was left was mushy ground. After walking around for a bit, I soon had plenty of good shots to take as a good deal of the trees and foliage had been cut back and thinned by the Council. Eventually I stumbled across an old, gnarled tree that had been cut right back exposing the old bark to daylight. The patterns and texture reminded of old wrinkly skin.

'til tomorrow......

No. 93: First impression!

Here's tonight's photo, a landscape of sorts. Using a longish shutter speed, I panned across this field of oil seed rape to achieved an impressionistic image; two blocks of colour the golden yellow below a blueish dusky sky creating a both sense of movement and a dream like, opaque image.....that's enough of the art stuff, I like the yellow!

'til tomorrow.....

No. 92: Eclipsed

Could it be some planetary object passing a gas giant or strange sun?......er no just the volume control on our home theatre kit. The blue LED hue given off has a nice back lit effect around the dial, and seemed a good choice tonight. My new speed light arrived today and can't wait to start using.....

'til tomorrow....

No. 91: Wick-ed photo!

Here's tonight's abstract photo. Quite a simple set up to do using a clean glass tumbler and a lit candle positioned behind. I like how the candle light refracts through the glass and looks like a halo.

'til tomorrow.....