Royal Ascot

Yes, I am back, but don't expect to get any regular posts until I get over this hump at work. Have not even been taking any pictures, let http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifalone posting anything. I am a very disappointed with the 5mega pixel camera on the nokia. Very jealous that Beth Ellen has got a Nikon d50. I would love a new toy to play with when I have some time.

Anyway, here are some shot of Royal Ascot. I felt a bit worse for wear the next day

G

What do you think of the picture taken on the Nokia N95

I'll get the excuses out the way first.
1. Been very busy at work, so no time to take photo's or to post
2. My camera has been taking a battering carrying it everywhere with me.
3. Did I mention is was busy at work.

Anyway, I thought I would get a small camera to take around with me, so the N95 by nokia caught my eye. I now have it but even though it has a five megapixel the picture quality is not great.

The shot tonight is of the building site near work and was taken on my mobile n95.

Any comments on the quality?

G

What a view!

Took this one on one of my last days on holiday. It is the Blyde River canyon. An absolutely beautiful part of South Africa.

Hope you like it.

G

Nothing exciting

Just cooking my dinner, and have a few minutes to kill. Thought I would post. Not great, but you are lucky to get anything.

Maybe tomorrow?

G

The Lads Painting....

...... and of course Dave took his top off.

Thanks to all for helping with the refurb this weekend. I must say we got a lot done but it will be too soon when I next see a paintbrush.

I think the gym is looking quite good. Hopefully it will function better in this layout.

Actually managed to take a fw shots this weekend, so I will have something to post for the next few days.

See you soon.

G

My work is being used!!!!

Long Time no post, but I have been very busy. Same old, same old, I'm sorry.

One of my clients has a print and design business and has just purchased a printer that can print onto pretty much anything. It is so big, you can put an entire door on the printer bed and print directly onto it. Pretty cool!!!

Anyway, I was walking past their office today, their printroom is next door to my gym. I popped in to have a closer look at the printer and they were doing their first run on it, printing one of their jobs. To my surprise, one of my photo's was being used on the promotional poster being printed. After my holiday I gave a cd to my client with all my shots on it, in return for some free prints of my work, but I did not think they would actually get used.

Well, I am chuffed. The shot I am posting tonight was the shot used. I will have to find out which company is using the image.

Maybe some more this weekend?!

G

Neighbours Cat

A picture says a thousand words.

Enjoy

G

Before and After....

That is all for today!

Enjoy

G

I wish I could say I won't miss again.....

...but life at the minute is just against me. All I can say is that I am focused way more on work at the minute and not on photography. I have to be, as we are massively busy and about to do a refurb and have some major projects to work on.

Maybe come june I will have some more time to go out and shoot.

In the mean time I will try to post most days, but don't hold your breath.

Here is a black and white that I really like.

Enjoy

G

I did another one just for you...

The same hornbill, but I think this one is a bit better.

The sun is out and want to take some pics. If only I had a subject right outside the back door so I don't have to put shoes on.

BTW, the D80 is now officially on my wish list.

One can live in hope.

G

I did post a picture....

.......it was just on vazaar. Check it out, it is in selctive saturation...

Enjoy

G

I'm sorry and I feel really bad!!!!

I keep pulling this up as an excuse, but I really have been really, really busy. I have been too busy to shoot and too busy to post. Everything has been against me posting. I feel bad as I saw this website. This guy has taken a shot a day since 1989 and is still going strong. How he does it I don't know.

Anyway, you have to love spring in London. It stays light until late and there are lots of lovely flowers about. Took these ones with the macro. They are very small flowers and I am quite happy with the result.

Hope you do too

G

Still no time for taking shots!!!

Life is very hectic and I can't seem to find any time to do my photography. I pulling another of my holiday shots out.

Hope you like it!

G

Another of my Favorites

Very busy at the minute. No time for new pics.
Did get a chance to pop in to Jessops and have a look at the D40x and the D80 from Nikon.

What great cameras. The picture viewers are fantastic. The d40x has a bit of a plastic feel, but still looks good. I do love the D80, nice feel, great picture quality and nice sound too. Will have to have a closer look at the d200. I think the d40x has fallen out of the running when I plan on getting a new camera.

Oh well, we can always wish. Maybe I should rather invest in a great lens. There was a nice 50-500 from sigma at £799. That should cover all eventualities.

Will have to see.

G

If you want people to read your blog, mention a Macbook in your title.

I saw this building when walking to the bank on my way to work this morning. I had to pull out the D70 and take a shot.

It really does not do the scene justice, but hey ho, it was the only shot I had time to take today. Work is a bit hectic. Think I will post one of my favourite shots tomorrow. It is currently my desktop picture.

See you tomorrow.

PS for any bloggers out there, I had more than triple the normal amount of people visit my blog yesterday all because I wrote about a problem with my macbook. Thanks to Dan from Macworld for the solution.

Feel free tom email me if you are interested in what it is.

G

Any of you have the new Macbook??

I don't know what to do.

The edge of my macbook is driving me mad. There is a double edge right near the trackpad. The bottom of the double edge is hard and sharp. When I use my trackpad, I rest my palm on the edge of the laptop, so it is easier to keep my fingers on the pad. After five minutes it really starts digging in to my hand and is very uncomfortable.

I have sent a complaint to the apple feedback link. I checked the forums and the only suggestion that I came across was to file or sand down the edge. Not ideal in my book and you will probably find it will invalidate my warrenty with apple.

Have any of you had the same problem??

See you tomorrow

G

Water

I took this one on my trip to the aquarium and just like it. I am going to post it on vazaar in the water topic and see how it gets on.

Still having a massive lack of inspiration to take photo's. Will really have to pull my finger out and take some shots.

Enjoy

G

One of my Favourites from my Trip

Finding it very hard to motivate myself after my holiday. Work is very busy and I am not overly motivated to carry my camera around. Will have to give myself a good kick up the butt.

Here is a picture I took on a game drive in a private game reserve called Tshukudu. It is a great place, so if you are inline for a holiday in South Africa, really think about going there.

Enjoy.

G

Not much this weekend..

A dandelion growing in my garden before I pulled them all out.

Not even a shot of the london marathon. Pathetic!!!

12 Days Late.....

Happy Birthday baby!!!!

Here is a picture of my Beautiful girlfriend on her Birthday.

Also a picture of the dolphins from the show at the uShaka Marine World in Durban. Worth the visit.

Just to let you all know I have uploaded a few slide shows to my wordpress blog from my flickr account. Please check them out as they show a lot of the pictures I took on my Kruger Trip. Hopefully a few shots you will enjoy. You can see them at www.gregcsmith.wordpress.com.

A bit busy to give you news.....

So only a picture today.

Back at Work

Back at work now, but I must say I am finding it very difficult to get the work head back on. I guess I will get there eventually.

Definitely can't dedicate any time to go and take any shots, luckily I have about 1000 to chose from so will be using those for the next week or so.

Here is one of a candle fro the dinner table from the parents house and another flower from their fantastic garden.

Enjoy

G

I nearly didn't make it on holiday.

On monday night before I left, I got home and decided to put my holiday cash in my passport. To my dismay, my passport did not expire in October, but infact expired on the 14th of April, the day I was supposed to fly home.

A sleepless night followed, but after many telephone calls later to SAA, my parents in South Africa, The home office in Durban, Immigration at JHB Airport and a few others I was at least told I would be allowed on the flight to South Africa but would not be allowed back.

It was up to me to apply for and get a new passport in under two weeks in south africa, with the Easter weekend in the middle. A bit of a tall order.

Anyway, more of the trip to follow. Here are two shots I took in my parents garden. I would like to thank Beth Ellen for giving me some advice on macro photography. Check out her website by clicking her name.

See you tomorrow

G

I'm Back

Hi all,

Thats right, I am back. No picture today just a quick hello. You all be happy to know I took nearly 6gb of shots while I was away, so have lots to show you. I will ore than likely be showcasing a lot of them on my flikr account and my other blog.

I will give you all a brief outline of what I have been up to over the last two and a half weeks and the trials and tribulations I have been through as well as the fantastic time I had.

Well, it is not all that great to be back, but hey ho, we can't spend all our time on holiday.

See you tomorrow with some pictures.

Greg

My last post for a while

Ok all. I am jetting off on Wednesday evening to South Africa. I will be gone for 2 and a half weeks. I know for a fact when I am in Durban I will not be able to post. I may be able to get a few in whilst in Johannesburg, but to be fair, I am on holiday so will not be going out of my way to post. I am also a bit under the cosh in the next few days with home and work to organise before I go, so this will be the last post I make before I go.

The good news is I am expecting to use some of my time whilst not working to take lots of pictures, not only of the wildlife in the Kruger Park, but to play with my macro lenses and my extension tubes. I will post a shoy on my return of something I did each day I was away.

I will be posting my best shots on my new photo only blog. I have posted a few shots there already, but I am not completely happy with it. Please check it out and leave me your comments - at gregcsmith.wordpress.com.

I sign off with a picture of my favourite fish Casper.

Will see you all soon.

Enjoy

G

My first forray into Macro Photography!!

My new lenses arrived yesterday and this in one of the first shots that I took.

Hopefully they will improve. More to come.

Enjoy!

Greg

Not mine and definitely worth a view!!

I love Vazaar. If you have not already looked, check it out. Feel free to ask me for an invite to join if you would like to contribute.

Oliver Petite, posted a great shot on the site and you can view it here, or check out his website here.

No picture here, but check the second link to see a great shot.

Enjoy

G

Yes, I know, no post, but I have an excuse.

Sorry all. I know how disappointed you all are that I did not post since Tuesday, from all the comments from you asking where my post are ..... ;-0

Wednesday I was out at a lecture at the Royal Geographic Society called "Who Owns Low Back Pain?". I got home late and went straight to bed. Last night I went home and left my power cable for the Macbook at work. Of course I had no power left so could not post. I will probably post twice today to make up for it.

So, the picture is from the lecture. It was quite interesting. We had a 10 miute talk form Robin Kirk, the head of London School of Osteopathy, Dianne Lee, a well known Canadian Physio Therapist, Paul Chek, an Corrective exercise specialist and holistic practitioner, Lynne Taggart, a Author and journalist, a Chripractor, whose name elludes me and a back Surgeon. It was an interesting evening, slightly ruined for me by this guy sitting next to me. Not only was he rather obnoxiously annoying, he also had extreme body odour, probably from always being dressed (probably for work, social life and sleeping) in his "Exercise.... the drug of choice" t-shirt.

Enough of a rant from me.

I have also got my new macro lens attachments, so will be posting some of my macro practice work soon.

Enjoy!!

G

Your thoughts Please

I have been playing around with the different skins on wordpress, yes my new blog is on wordpress, not blogger. I think wordpress has more options to personalise your blog.

I have attached a picture/screenshot of the possible new look. Your comments would be appreciated.

Not feeling great today and the weather is crap, so no other picture from me today. I have pretty much been couped up indoors all day so nothing interesting to shoot.

Probably won't post tomorrow. I have a really busy day and am going to a lecture tomorrow night at The Royal Geographical Society. May have soemthing interesting for thursday night.

Comments to come??? Please!!

G

No limits!!!!

Long time readers of my blog will recognize this picture. I have posted it two times before this.

Just where Bishopsgate turns into Shoreditch High Street, there was a sign with big letters saying city limits. I posted my first picture of it with a shot taken on my phone. About a month later I took another shot with the Nikon of the sign falling over.

I am disappointed to see that they have removed the sign.It was nothing special, but it was something that gave the area a bit of character. Maybe they will replace it at some point. I won't hold my breath. A loss I think.

You can see the old posts hereand here.

Quite busy tomorrow, so not sure what I am going to post. The new blog is coming along, will let you know the address soon.

See you soon.

G

Not the best weekend for English sport!!

You can see the boys here enjoying the rugby. The enjoyment was short lived as England lost to Wales with a fairly disappointing display. England also lost to New Zealand in the World Cup Cricket this weekend, but are still on course to make it through to the next Round.

South African sport, however, is looking a bit better. The Sharks won their sixth game in a row and are top of the super 14 table. South Africa had a good start in the world cup, beating the Netherlands by 210 runs. Herschelle Gibbs became the first player to hit 6 sixes in one over in an international game.

Not long till I go on holiday. Roll on the 28th.

See you tomorrow.

G

Changes are afoot!

To all my readers/viewers, I am going to be reverting back to the old brief for this blog. There are two reasons for this. I find it very difficult to post a good and interesting picture every day. I am still going to post everyday, but it will be something to do with my life, so mainly work, but anything that I do.

To all the people that are more interested in my actual photography, I am going to start a new blog that is dedicated to my photography. I am going to put no pressure on myself to post every day, I am just going to post when I have a decent shot. This will give me more time to process my shots on photoshop and try out some new techniques. I will post the new blog address when it is ready. It will be nearly completely picture based, so none of my boring thoughts.....a good reason to check it out.

The photo today is of my business partner Graeme doing some exercises for a programme he wrote for one of his clients at work.

He does most of the writing for our work blog. He also authors his own blog,stronger and fitter. Check it out.

Till later.

G

Self portrait tonight

Pulled the nikon out at work today. I set it up on a tripod and used a timer to take the shot.

Now, I had 50 kg's on the bar and had to do about 30 reps of a hang clean to get this shot. I will probably ache a bit tomorrow.

What fun.

Hope you like.

G

A friend's website

Hi all,

A friend of mine has just launched his website with some pictures I took for him. He has asked me to help get some traffic going to it so please visit it here. He is one of the trainers that works for me at my gym. Good to see his is promoting his own busness. Good luck Glenn!! The picture is of him on a course recently.

G

As promised

Will have some time tomorrow to go out and take some pictures, but for tonight it will have to be another of the fantastic sunset on Saturday night.

Hope you like it!

G

I'm loving the weather!!!

It was a fantastic 18 degrees today and it was great on the weekend. Good enough to stoke up the barbie and cook some chicken.

After the rugby on Saturday afternoon, I went for a walk to meet up with Mandy on the Southbank. As the sun was setting, the sky turned an absolutely fantastic colour. This shot was take as is and I did no processing on it.

What a lovely evening. There will be a few more shots from this evening as quite a few shots need to be seen.

Hope you enjoy!

G

Making tracks

Hi all, apologies for no posts in the last two days. Fridays and Saturdays are not being massively condusive to posting.

Was in Beaconsfield for a meeting on Saturday and was walking over the bridge and saw this shot and really liked the way the sun was shining off the rails. Had to snap a few.

Hope you like it.

Enjoy

G

Tea Anyone!

The lovely weather continues! Nice!!!


Went out for a walk to take a few shots and it is becoming clear that my camera needs a service and a clean. I am hoping I don't have a problem with the sensors and it is just dust in the camera body. I am going to take it down to jessops tomorrow and see what can be done. It may mean no camera for a few days, so will be doing some serious recycling of photographs.

Well here is a picture of the top of the Tea building on Shoreditch High Street.

Enjoy

G

Summer is coming

It is a balmy 13 degrees today and the flowers are out, hence the picture.

I still think these early blooming flowers are going to be in for a shock. We are due at least one more cold snap before we get right into the wet summer.

Here's hoping that the cold snap will come while I am sunning myself in South Africa, taking some great pictures of wildlife etc. Can't wait!!

Three weeks till I go so that should be 21 pics posted before I leave. I will beleive that when I see it.

Enjoy!

G

Canary Wharf from Greenwich

Not much to say today. Really need to get some photo trips under the belt. Finding it quite hard to post at the minute.

Here is a shot of Canary Wharf taken from the Observatory in Greenwich Park.

Enjoy.

My Invisible Nephew!

Was trawling through the photo album and found this one of Kian taken a few years ago.


The reason I don't have any recent shots and I didn't post yesterday is that I managed to go out with no battery left on my camera. It doesn't help that last night was the Lunar eclipse.

Excuses, excuses!!!!

Akhater, who writes ADIDOP - All day I dream of Photography, took some and you can see them here.

Nosy Neighbour

Was minding my own business and this guy stuck his face up against the window. So took a few shots through the window. Then opend the door and was surprised when he did not run away. Very friendy little guy. When I saw the pictures I thought it would be another opportunity to play with Photoshop. I promise I won't be using this effect on every photo I take. I am just having some fun.

Have not had many chances to get out and take some more interesting shots, so am currently going through my pictures looking for old ones I can work on. Maybe some work in photoshop can improve some of my old shots. I must say I prefer not making many changes to my pictures. It feels like cheating and then you don't have to be a photographer, but a photoshop expert.

Comments?

G

I'm going on holiday soon!!

Just a pic to remind me where I am goign at the end of the month. Took this one on my last trip home and am hoping to take a lot more of these beautiful animals and others. I will be using my holiday pics for weeks after I get back. I guess that will help me to catch up with work without having to worry about taking shots.

Hope you like.

G

Some Photoshop Work

Just like to thank Sam for posting a link to a Photoshop Tutorial on his site. I followed the tut from the splash of colour posting and here are the results