http://surreal.istic.org/gallery Daniel Hulme's photography and art en-gb copyright 2006 Daniel Hulme Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:56:30 GMT st@istic.org Winterstorm I have caught sight of a few squirrels already, darting around looking for nuts, but this weekend I found one on the roof of a nearby house, and I present it here as evidence that if you blinked, you missed the Summer. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/89 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:08:19 +0100 While we were in France we were fortunate enough to be in St. Martin de Landelles the day of the Polynormande bike race. Although I do a lot of cycling, I don't follow the sport because to be honest I don't find it very interesting. But at St. Martin there was a party atmosphere despite the threatened rain (which materialised on the last lap). I had my wide-angle lens with me, which turned out to be for the best, and of course there was a strong turnout from the pro photographers, who had longer lenses. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/88 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:57:35 +0100 This year we went slightly further East, into Normandy. I didn't take as many photos as in previous years, but I still got some good ones. Thanks also to Sally for getting one or two nice pictures of us karting: skip to the end of page four for these. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/87 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:57:32 +0100 No, I haven't been going around photographing monarchs from behind. Queens' backs is the area of grass between the back of Queens' College and Queen's Road, West of the river. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/86 Thu, 15 May 2008 22:15:43 +0100 After the rains and hails of late March, April has so far been quite seasonable, and the skies are overcast much less often. The birds are very active at the moment, though they are a bit nervous as the local cats are similarly active. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/85 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:39:31 +0100 Spring is here again, and sunlight illuminates all. (On some days, anyway. The rest of the time it is still overcast.) March blows and April showers bring forth May flowers, they say, but never mind the flowers: the squirrels and birds are increasingly bolshy. I caught one of the local cats out of my window a few days ago, and this squirrel was sitting in the car park as I was on my way out today. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/84 Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:40:35 +0000 http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/81 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:34:16 +0100 The weather has been patchy recently, to say the least. This has led to some rather striking skies, but also to some clear spells that brought the birds out. I'm actually quite impressed with some of these: the simplicity of the bird compositions is much more effective than I would have thought possible. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/80 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:01:01 +0100 I took this on a warm weekend that threatened rain the whole time; all of them out of my living room window. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/79 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:47:40 +0100 Today I took my camera out for the first time in yonks. I got lots of pictures of damselflies, but most of them were out of focus: the things are hard to focus on, especially when they're flying over water and they don't stay in frame long enough to focus. Be careful while browsing the thumbnails: many of them aren't large enough to show the insects therein. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/78 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:58:29 +0100 For the first time since Christmas the light was sufficient today. I still haven't got the hang of getting the exposure correct with this long lens, but I'm getting there. I have often heard it said that birds are much easier to photograph than one might expect, because they are willing to sit there and pose for you — more willing than humans, anyway. Milton Country Park (which is currently <a href="http://savemiltoncountrypark.com/">threatened with closure</a>) was full of families today, so all the swans were being very friendly, expecting to be thrown bits of stale bread. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/76 Sun, 14 Jan 2007 19:57:56 +0000 These are the photos from our New Year's Eve party, which was relatively subdued until about 0100, when the singing started. Happy new year, everyone. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/75 Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:35:07 +0000 While at my parents' in Liverpool, I took the opportunity to try out my new lens at Calderstones Park. Again, it was very cloudy, and it even started raining on the way back. I've doctored a few of these photos into greyscale pictures, with realistic noise like old-fashioned b/w film. In each case, the original appears just as it came out of the camera, <b>after</b> my 'improved' image. Do let me know if you have any comments on my changes. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/74 Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:07:25 +0000 In what is becoming our traditional post-Christmas outing, my family met up in <a href="http://www.forestry.gov.uk/delamerehome">Delamere forest</a> on Boxing Day for a walk and/or cycle round. It was my first opportunity to use my new 75-300mm lens, but it was far too cloudy to get any good pictures. At least the weather held. http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/73 Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:18:07 +0000 http://surreal.istic.org/gallery/71 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:01:30 +0100