Who's crying now !

Who's crying now !, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Never any point in crying over spilt milk.

Using flash photography can be fun at times.... but messy.

• Position the flash/strobe close to the subject - this makes sure the subject is well lit, but the background remains in darkness. 
• Use a high f-stop in order to get a deep depth of field so that the front and back of the milk splash both in focus
• Use the highest shutter speed available that syncs with your strobe, although no great issue if this is only 1/60th second
• The milk will appear frozen in place as the actual flash duration is typically about 1/1000th of a second.
• You will probably have to repeat multiple times to get the timing coordinated between the splash happening and operating your camera.

Enjoy

Under the nose of Cow #18

Under the nose of Cow #18, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Ever feel you are being watched? I guess that is the problem with doing face-down Tuesdays. (Take a picture lying face down on the ground.... why?..... Why not?)

Took my car into Reading to get it MOT'd, and this was on the wall of the meat market (auction yards) across the road from the garage.

Hopefully I livened up the day for the cows.

Stranger #6: Cathy, Rowing Mother

Stranger #6: Cathy, Rowing Mother, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Just to be clear, Cathy is a mother of a rower.... not a mother who rows.

I met her at the Head Race I attended today that my son competed in. Cathy's son Ed also participated & we got to have a pleasant time chatting on the bank.

As parents of rowers we end up spending unreasonable amounts of time on riverbanks, waiting for a few seconds of excitement as our offspring row past, shouting ourselves hoarse in the meantime...... plus doing a taxi service to take them to training sessions 5 or 6 times a week.

When I asked her to pose she was happy to do so.... I chose the classic head & shoulders pose rather than the 3/4 length pose so she could proudly display the bulging bag containing a souvenir from her dog.

I am sure we will see each other again on the riverbank sometime.

p.s. A "Head Race" is a race where the entire field of competitors start at approx 30 second intervals over course usually 2km-5km. Each boat is individually timed.

This picture is #5 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com

Jim Shields Photography

Angel shining bright

Angel shining bright, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Had some fun with my son Sebe a couple of days ago. Practised some "Light Painting" techniques.

Light Painting is where the photo is taken in darkness, and one uses a flashlight or equivalent to paint streams of light in the air. For me the most difficult part was remembering where I had painted - so important to have the whole act of painting clear in one's mind first

I also used strobes from each side to light up his body. Strobes were set off at the start of the 30 second exposure before I started "painting"

Sebe seemed to enoy it too..... Luckily quite happy to pose half-nekkid at night in October in the UK (the young are hardy & foolish).

Stranger #5, Julio, Art Student

Stranger #5, Julio, Art Student, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....

Came across Julio at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. He and 3 other students were sitting there sketching each other.

He was quite relaxed about posing for me - I guess he is used to the concept of being a subject, plus he mentioned that he had done a similar project himself in the past.

I asked him to carry on with his sketching as the thing that had attracted me to him as a subject was his intense concentration on his task.

This picture is #5 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com