Red Dress

Had a great time in Milton Keynes today working with some fab people ... MANY thanks to Legge for inviting me along.

Have posted a few images on FB ... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150458071148798.383580.750413797&type=3

And here are a few more ...

Setting myself a challenge - Christmas lights

We now have the Christmas lights on in the town centre and I've notice LOTS of private households have started putting up theirs. So, in the next few days, I'm going out to do a bit of night photography and see if I can capture them in all their glory - Watch this space ...

Collecting stamps for charity.

Since it's now the 1st of December I think it safe to start talking about Christmas! ;-)

Mail services the world over carry millions of extra items at this time of year and that means millions of extra stamps - There are MANY charities that take old used stamps and turn them into CASH to help their fundraising efforts.

It only takes a few seconds to remove the stamps from the envelopes and if enough of us take that time, we can help to make a difference.

Our 'personal' choice of charity is Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) (link below), but there are many more that will happily accept your stamps; a quick 'Google' will help you find a charity near you.

Hope YOU can help. Thank-you

FSID http://fsid.org.uk/page.aspx?pid=474 will accept any quantity of used stamps, (it helps if they are sorted into UK and foreign). They can be sent to :-
FSID (stamps)
11 Belgrave Road
London
SW1V 1RB

SWPP Page

Some of my work is now available to view on my SWPP page  ...

Feel free to check it out.

http://www.swpp.co.uk/members/Woolf104521.htm

Direct link to Photos ...

http://www.swpp.co.uk/image_exhibition/Woolf104521/

A steady hand needed - Jupiter shot hand-held

Had a really nice clear sky earlier, (just before the fog and cloud rolled in). Noticed Jupiter was looking nice and bright in the sky so tried a hand-held shot using a Canon EOS 7D with a 100-300 lens attached. Put the lense on manual focus and set it to infinity, whacked the zoom up to 300mm, set the camera at f5.6 and 1/60th sec at ISO 6400. Got this result, (heavily cropped) ... Will try same shot another night on a tripod and compare the results!

Updated website ...

Have been updating my website all week ... Not finished yet, but this is the latest.

http://www.malcolmwoolfphotography.co.uk/

Three Photos, Three seasons ... One day = Crazy Climate

I went to get into the car this morning and noticed that next spring's crocuses have started to show, (very early). It struck me that my garden is now showing THREE seasons all at the same time. I still have SUMMER tomatoes ripening on the vine, quite happy in the garden with no protection. I also have some of the trees showing their AUTUMN colours and now next years SPRING bulbs have started to show!

We are well into November now and still not had a frost here - In fact, it was mild enough for me to sit out in the garden, (in shirt-sleeves/no jumper or coat) with a coffee and read the newspaper.

Pictures below ...

Follow-up visit to one of our local youth clubs ...

Arranged to go back to the youth club I took pics at last week, just to re-take a couple I wasn't entirely happy with ... Got there to find them in the middle of a pyjama and face painting party! Oh well - Didn't quite get the pics I wanted, but these were OK :-)

Pick a subject for a new photograph.

Why don't I get any traffic on my blog unless I post a link?

I'm still new to blogging and am wondering why I don't get that much traffic. Saw an interesting post from someone I follow on Twitter who suddenly got loads of 'hits' because it contained the word 'NUDE'! Is that really how it works? All I'm trying to do is share a few thoughts and photographs, (none of them are nude or nudes), neither do they contain anything about sex - Sorry to disappoint.

All/most of my posts are simply about what I have done 'today'

Will not advertise this blog (for an hour) and see how it goes!!! ;-)

Yeah - It's an experiment.

Corby Fireworks 2011 - Spectacular

While most of Corby's residents had to trek across to the Lakes to watch the annual Corby fireworks, all I had to do was open my front door! Very lucky here, being in an elevated position overlooking the town and about a mile away from where they were being launched. I just set up the camera on the front path and snapped away ... Most of the pictures were taken at f11 with a 10 second exposure, (a couple were f11 at 15 seconds). During one of the exposures, I accidentally kicked the bottom of the tripod - Can you see which one? Is taking pictures of fireworks the ONLY long exposure photography where kicking the tripod brings out a decent result? :-)


Anyway ... Here are some of the shots, (more can be found on my facebook profile).

Networking at one of our local youth clubs

I popped along to one of our local youth clubs yesterday to take a few pictures of the kids. The club has only been going for 5 weeks and is held twice a week, (Tuesday & Thursday) and is aimed at 5-15 year olds. Firstly, it's good to get involved with the local community and especially with groups who are looking to raise their profile on a limited budget, (I didn't charge for my time). Secondly, it gets me, as a business, more widely known and hopefully increases my chances of getting new commissions in the future.

Anyway ... A couple of the photographs ...

A personal trip to Bedford

Yesterday, 31st October 2011, marked the 35th anniversary of the death of my mother. The 21st November will mark the 25th anniversary of my father's death. It's not often I go to the cemetery, probably only about my 3rd or 4th visit in all those years. Took flowers and a couple of photographs and finished off with a walk in the adjoining Bedford Park, a place I was often taken as a child.

For Mum & Dad x x

Uppingham job

Had a good day in Uppingham, (apparently Rick Stein went to school there). The Garage Deli have been open for a couple of years but have yet to get themselves a website, so down to me to take some pics so they can get one up and running ...

Hope you can have a look. Please feel free to add comments. TY

My job for the day

Off to the lovely market town of Uppingham today to do a photo-shoot for a new cafe/deli. They are wanting images for their new website. Might just go an hour earlier to see what shots I can get of the town.

Also - Don't forget I'm still looking for 'Thumbs-up' for my competition entry. ;-)

http://uk.news.yahoo.net/essentials-of-photography/view/23080

Weddings are not all about the bride & groom

Weddings are not all about the bride and groom. If you look around there are a lot of other photos worth adding to an album.

Starting all over again with my website ... A lesson

I've always been a VERY keen photographer, but until last year, I've not been in a position to even consider trying to make a career out of it. Lots of people have always liked the shots I took and even asked if I was a professional - I did make an amount of money a l-o-n-g time ago, doing ad-hoc jobs using my Canon AE1 and my Mamiya medium format TLR, but it was only last year that someone who believed in me, gave me the money to buy some equipment that would enable me to offer the physical quality that would be expected of me when photographing their 'life events' ... I already 'had' the 'eye' for a good picture.

I needed a website to get myself 'out there', this would be the very first website I have made and it needed to attract potential clients - I continued to take some shots that people liked and do little jobs by word of mouth work, but nothing was happening via the website. I just had a long hard look at my site and I wouldn't look at it twice if I were a potential customer, so it's time to be brutally honest with myself and redo the whole thing.

It's one thing having a good eye and a decent camera, with some good glass in the front of it, but if I want to attract more business, then I should have spent more effort on the sales and marketing!

The website - www.malcolmwoolfphotography.co.uk - WILL be ripped up and re-done, starting tomorrow.

More Boat pictures from my trip to Lydd-on-Sea

These two abandoned boats are on the beach, a few minutes walk away from where my daughter lives in Lydd-on-Sea, Kent. I can imagine each ones has a thousand stories to tell.

Lydd-onSea

A couple of photos from my trip to Lydd on Sea today .....

Lazy Sunday

Not a lot going on here on Sunday, (just shopping). ..... Monday will be a LOT more busy - 1st grand-daughter to photograph. Might have to have a wander down to the beach and take a few pics there too. Bookmark me here and come back. TY :-)

Just how happy could a bride be?

When I first saw this shot, I wasn't entirely happy with it. But it was the only one I got of my cousin as she was getting out of the car on her wedding day. Then I thought that the expression on her face was better in the reflection, so decided to concentrate on that and just used Picasa to make the rest of the picture B&W and slightly out out of focus. I think I've managed to rescue the picture and most importantly, the bride LOVED it.

One of my grandsons

35mm Film Canisters Salt/Pepper

I often wonder what photographs I took on the film that was once in these canisters - Probably nothing as good as the salt and pepper they now hold!!!

What I miss about film

My first 'serious' camera was a Canon AE1, (couldn't afford the A1). And the thing is ... (and this is what I miss about film) ... I used to accumulate hundreds of the little black film canisters; not always black, some were clear plastic and a couple of film makers used to do canisters in funky colours. Those canisters were so useful; had a toolbox full of them, with different sized nuts, bolts, screws, nails etc.
The VERY best use I found for those little canisters was when I took up camping. and climbing. they were a perfect size to hold about 4 spoons of coffee and/or 4 spoons of sugar, or you could cram 3 tea-bags into one, or put herbs into them -  the PERFECT little air-tight container. Two of those little 35mm canisters are still in use today whenever we go on holiday. I bought 2 LIDS from a camping shop ... salt and pepper lids that fitted on the canisters to make the perfect lightweight condiment set. What can you put into a plastic memory card holder? NOTHING - Well apart from a memory card!

Baby Pics

Cat and Bench

Hot late September sunshine has brought the roses out in bloom.

Old ways - New setting

I just glimpsed this lady and her daughter out of the corner of my eye, while sitting in the study. Just managed to shoot off this one picture from my front door before she disappeared from view!

Spider webs in the morning sun.

Mother and baby

http://malcolmwoolfphotography.co.uk/photo_8401017.html#photos_id=8401017


 ... Currently looking for more mother and baby work.

Getting more involved ...

Now that the blog is up and running and I'm beginning to get a sense of what I want to do, I'll start making more posts and photographs available for you to see.

Dandelion Seed Head

Old dog - New tricks

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Have set up a new business - Set up a new website - Started tweeting and now getting to grips with a blog ... All since turning 55!!!

Self Portrait - Taken at the East Carlton Park Transport Gala