http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/ en-us 2008-08-12T18:40:47+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000293.html
I had an opportunity to take some shots of the kids last week, but again I'm not overly impressed with what I ended up with; however, I do like this one. I'm not entirely sure what my niece is looking at, but it's most likely someone trying to get her to smile for the camera. Captured: 06/08/08 20:37 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 50mm f1.8 II Focal Length: 50mm Aperture: f3.5 Shutter Speed: 1/50 ISO: 320 Flash: 420EX Cropped: No]]> People Andy 2008-08-12T18:40:47+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000292.html
This is the final shot of my recent archive raiding and is from a fine summer's evening way back in May, taken in a little churchyard in Worcester that I pass quite often. I really like the detail of the leaves and the sunlight that shines right through them. Well, that's it for now... at least until I dust off the 30D and get back out there! Captured: 01/05/08 18:37 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f4 Shutter Speed: 1/100 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: No]]> Flowers Andy 2008-08-07T16:43:24+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000291.html
Here's the second and final of the St Ives shots, however I'll be honest as I can't quite put my finger on what it is about this one that I like. Yes, it was a horrible day weather wise and this (I feel) captures the bleakness of it, but I think it's more than that. I like how from the sea-facing side the houses extend down low, way past anything you would imagine from the front on the road, but again that doesn't seem to be it. I also tried processing this in black and white, yet it seemed to take something away from the shot - so maybe it's something to do with the colours. Whatever it is though, I do like it and think it goes well with the previous shot. Captured: 04/07/08 10:18 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 29mm Aperture: f7.1 Shutter Speed: 1/200 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: No]]> Costal Andy 2008-08-05T21:55:28+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000290.html
Unfortunately I can't say I've been out shooting some new material, but I do have a few recentish shots that I've only just got around to processing, which I'll be posting during the week. I had a short break in St Ives last month and I'd hoped to take a bucket load of shots, but in complete contrast to when I was there last year, the weather was awful. This is where this shot comes in as I wanted to post it as a comparison to this one from last year - even the boats are moored in the same place. It was ironic really, that last year while the country was flooding, we had fantastic weather in Cornwall - however, this time it was us with the crappy weather warning! I have one more from St Ives to post and then finally something completely different, well different to this anyway! Captured: 04/07/08 10:12 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 17mm Aperture: f7.1 Shutter Speed: 1/400 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: No]]> Costal Andy 2008-08-03T21:58:48+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000289.html
On Saturday I went to Hay-on-Wye, also known as 'the town of books.' Everywhere you go books are sold, mainly in shops, but also in an old castle, a converted church looking building, an old cinema and even from these bookshelves out in the open where the customers honesty is relied upon to pay the small change for the books. I wanted to find a shot that summed up the town and this is what I came up with. Captured: 14/06/08 11:28 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 25mm Aperture: f5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/640 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: Minor]]> Colour Andy 2008-06-15T17:04:21+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000288.html
It seemed that a bit of a 'challenge' had emerged concerning the shooting of flowers between Mart and Rich, one that I had hoped to join in on a little earlier. Anyway, this is my effort from the garden at home, which is surprisingly lacking floral content at the moment. Captured: 04/06/08 14:34 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 50mm f1.8 II Focal Length: 50mm Aperture: f2.0 Shutter Speed: 1/6400 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: No]]> Flowers Andy 2008-06-04T23:21:03+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000287.html
This is Bliss Mill in Chipping Norton, an old textile factory that has now been converted into luxury apartments. I've passed this place a few times on my travels and thought one day I'll stop and take some shots. A view more towards the front of this (i.e. from the left as you look at this) does offer a better angle to appreciate the size of the mill, but I didn't get chance this time around. Maybe another time... Oh, and this is the 100th entry on Phoenix Tales! Captured: 14/05/08 16:50 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f6.3 Shutter Speed: 1/400 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired Cropped: Minor]]> Scenery Andy 2008-05-25T10:17:43+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000286.html
As promised this is a shot of Kian, taken a few days after his 3rd birthday. One of his presents was a big trampoline, which was great, except that he subsequently broke his leg while playing on it. So, not visible in this shot is a full length plaster cast on his leg, which doesn't appear to be bothering him at all. He was scooting around like he'd had it on for ages. Anyway, the plaster actually came off this week and all appears to have healed well. Captured: 05/04/08 17:42 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f4 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 200 Flash: 420EX Cropped: Minor]]> People Andy 2008-05-15T00:06:52+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000285.html
This is Kaysie and although you probably can't tell from this previous shot, she is actually getting bigger (as you'd expect I guess!). In fact, this was taken last month and I've attempted to process it a few times but never really came up with anything I liked. I've had to do some work on this to lighten it because as usual my indoor shots leave a lot to be desired! I have one more shot of Kian taken at the same time, which I'll post at some point soon but other than that I need to go out and get some new material. Captured: 05/04/08 17:34 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f4 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 200 Flash: 420EX Cropped: Minor]]> People Andy 2008-05-11T00:12:29+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000284.html
For those of you who still check PT in the hope (?) that a new post has appeared, you're in luck. I've been meaning to take a trip down to the river to get some night shots for a while now, but it's only tonight that I've got around to doing it. Anyway, this is Worcester Cathedral, where I'll be going for my graduation in the not too distant future. I wasn't sure that I was going to find a place along the river to get this shot, what with bushes, trees, bridges and buildings inconveniently blocking my view. This is about the clearest shot I could get. Captured: 01/05/08 20:18 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Sigma 24-135 Focal Length: 62mm Aperture: f13 Shutter Speed: 6" ISO: 200 Flash: Not fired]]> Night Andy 2008-05-01T22:52:57+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000282.html
This is my niece Kaysie, taken a couple of weeks ago but I've only just got around to processing it. The original image was very flat and dull, despite the flash... I really need to work on shooting with a flash. Anyway, I was playing around in PS and kind of came across this processing, which I really like. Let me know what you think. Captured: 04/11/07 17:15 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f4 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 200 Flash: 420EX]]> People Andy 2007-11-25T17:57:23+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000278.html
While in the garden last month I noticed a butterfly kept landing on this flower, so lying on the grass I kept edging my way closer. It was only once I pulled the camera away from my eye that I realised just how close I had managed to get - I was almost on top of it! Captured: 07/09/07 13:10 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f4 Shutter Speed: 1/1600 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired]]> Flowers Andy 2007-10-06T22:36:16+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000277.html
These are the tiny hands of my new niece Kaysie, born today weighing 10lbs 5oz. I only had the little A80 with me when I went to the hospital this evening, but I did have this kind of shot in mind. It's not exactly what I was after as the original image was noisy and not as sharp as I'd have liked, but I didn't have much time really. Anyway, a bit of PS tinkering and this is the result - I'd be interested to know what you think. Captured: 19/09/07 19:57 Camera: Canon A80 Focal Length: 7.81mm Aperture: f2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/60 Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority ISO: 200 Flash: Not fired Cropped: Yes]]> People Andy 2007-09-19T23:58:46+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000276.html
Al and Claire got married last month and I've finally got around to processing a shot from the day. This was taken after the first dance and is my favourite shot from the day. Captured: 18/08/07 21:05 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f5 Shutter Speed: 1/60 ISO: 320 Flash: 420EX]]> People Andy 2007-09-05T21:37:44+00:00 http://www.andyrussell.net/phoenixtales/archives/000275.html
Mart noticed these over the railing at the end of the harbour wall and gave me a heads up that these two boats were tied to the wall. I took several shots of these, waiting for the sun to come from behind the clouds and with the boats changing position all the time. This will be the last shot from the St. Ives trip and it's also my favourite. Captured: 20/07/07 12:29 Camera: Canon 30D Lens: Canon 17-40L Focal Length: 30mm Aperture: f7.1 Shutter Speed: 1/1000 ISO: 100 Flash: Not Fired]]> Water Andy 2007-07-31T19:00:33+00:00