New Self Portrait

Newcastle in her glory

So I've been living in Newcastle upon Tyne for over a month now, and I just felt I haven't talked about or shown you the beauty of this city enough. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go, enjoy pictures of Newcastle

The Baltic

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Tyne Bridge

The Sage, Gateshead

Vibrant Colours!

Approaching the Bridge

Grey Street, going downhill

Church of St. Thomas the Martyr

Newcastle University Student Union Building

Framed shot of Church of St. Thomas the Martyr

Entrance to the Quadrangle

The Armstrong Building, Newcastle University

With Friends Like These

Today was an absolutely beautiful day, headed down to the beach with Marta, William, and Ashmawy, these were some results:

(Click images for larger results)

Signs of Spring

With my dissertation done, I can indulge in my hobbies with a clear conscience. Since spring has arrived, I decided to take Natasha (my camera) to Sunderland's very own Mowbray Park and capture the beautiful scenery. In terms of daylight, today was a good day, but what the camera does not capture is the temperature, boy was it freezing; my fingers were going numb.
Anyway, enjoy my pictures

Extreme Close Up

Profile

I don't want you to get the impression that I'm simply blogging pictures of myself instead of my words, well that is partially true, but I promise something verbose soon. Till then, enjoy:

Newcastle

As any amateur photographer knows, one has to always seek out opportunities for amazing picture. I headed to Newcastle yesterday for an interview for a potential work placement. After the interview was done I decided to stick around for a while and take pictures in Newcastle city centre. I was colder than I expected so I didn't want to stick around for too long.
Anyway, without further ado, here's a few shots I took, and later edited to give off various effects.
Enjoy

My Silhouette

In Vivid Colour

After attending our first race and identity lecture, Marta and I decided to spend the day taking pictures at the beach.
Here's a few from the shoot.

By Sunderland Riverside

Please enjoy my latest set of pictures, taken along the River Wear in Sunderland.

L'Etude de Poisson

I decided to buy some fish (specifically Sprats, from the genus Sprattus) and I decided to get Natasha out (Natasha being my camera) and take some really close up pictures of the fish.
I thought fish were the perfect subject to test the macro capabilities of my camera. I set up the fish in nice compositions and shot them using many calibrations. It was fun. Although at the end of the exercise the flat smelled like fish, I decided to eat the subjects later but I had just had chicken earlier, and frankly the smell repulsed me, not particularly bad, but very...fishy, I know what you are thinking "How else is fish supposed to smell?" well, the fish I usually eat a.k.a sardines and tuna have a nice smell to them, Sprats have a very common bad fish smell.
Anyway, enjoy my fish

Julian The Photographer

Today was a very icy day, as you may know, the walk from my flat to my campus is quite steep, which is the source of much discontent on a normal day. However today was worse, a sheet of ice had covered Sunderland through the night, and I had to hold on the side-railings in order to walk safely to uni.
Anyway, came back from uni and decided to go camera accessory shopping. I am going to be the photographer for a couple's wedding, a couple from my church. I wouldn't have accepted it if I knew that the Fujifilm S100fs was not up to the challenge. The problem was, what 'real' photographer walks about with no accessories? Not just superflous accessories, but a tripod, and an external flash. A tripod, because the human (and more importantly- Me) is very shaky, and it's especially useful when taking pictures in low-light situations (the moon, sunrise, sunset etc) In a wedding, a tripod is particularly useful, no one wants to see blurs in their wedding album. An external flash because the in-built flash is not the best for 'semi-professional' settings, I want to deliver the best pictures they could get.
So, I went over to Charles Eagles and Son in Sunderland. I had seen a Vivitar 680AF flashgun going for £19, now that's a bargain. I did some research into the flashgun, I needed to know it's voltage, because it's an old flashgun (made before the digital era) and if the voltage is too high it can in essence mess up the electrical system of my camera. So, did the research and it was suitable to use, my only concern was that it was a fixed head flash, meaning it doesn't tilt, so I can't bounce the light off white ceilings or do other cool bouncy things, but hey, my budget was low, and I'm not exactly in a position to start considering efficiency, I want value first. So, where was I? Walked into Charles Eagles and Son, and inquired about the flash, the shop assistant duly retrieved the flash, loaded it with batteries, tested it and I bought it. I was very pleased, buying a flashgun for £19, the newest Nikon flashguns are pushing £350, so you can understand my elation.
After purchasing the flashgun, I looked around the store and spotted a sturdy tripod, going for..guess how much? £19!
I asked to see how high it went, I was satisfied, and duly purchased it as well. The shop guys were very nice and one of them said that there was the same tripod going for £15 somewhere else in the store! "Even better!" I said, "give me that one then".
So yes, I had got myself a Vivitar flashgun, and a tripod for a total of £34. Great day! (and the shop assistant sold me the flashgun loaded with batteries)
So yes, I'm all accessorized out, I've got my eyes on the Raynox DCR-250 Macro Lens, but I'll wait till another day.
But I'm still thinking of perhaps getting a tilting flashgun, I don't want to spend over £20, I'm not stingy,I'm just a student! I would do more research into how important bounce is, and if I'll need it during the wedding.
Anyway, pictures below of my new gear
click the pictures for a larger version


Yes I need to clean my mirror


The tripod and flashgun


Obligatory macro shot