ScarySquirrel's Photo A Day

ScarySquirrel

ScarySquirrel

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On 23rd September 2009, after much deliberation and activity on eBay, my new Canon 5D Mk I arrived. I say new, it was actually 4 years old, but to me it was new! Naturally I took some photos on my first day of owning it. The next morning, I decided to take it to work, and before I jumped in my car I took some photos of the morning dew on the front lawn.

After some inspiration from a forum member over at Overclockers UK I have decided to take a photograph every day for as long as I can. There is no theme, no goal, no end date, just a photo a day. These photos don't necessarily document my life, or my day, some will be good, some will be bad, but this is something I want to do. It might end at day 10, day 100, day 1000, I have no idea!! We shall see!

Enjoy!

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

So it begins. I have no idea how long this will last. I really really hope I can carry it through for at least a month. But who knows, a week, a month, a year, we'll see.




Thursday 24th September 2009

Well, a good start! I have a 'Day 2'. At least I didn't fall at the first hurdle.

When I left for work this morning I loved how the sun was shining on the wet grass on the front garden. I am fortunate enough to live in a love little town in the middle of East Sussex. The sunrises in the morning and the views are incredible!




Friday 25th September 2009

As I left work on Friday I noticed a hot air balloon flying very low over head. I took off in persuit of it and was lucky enough to catch it landing in a nearby field.

Unfortunately I took a wrong turn so I missed it actually landing, but I was very happy to get this shot.

Already this project is a good thing, I wouldn't normally have my camera with me at work, but I did because of this project.




Saturday 26th September 2009

After waking up down in Pevensey Bay, I rushed back home, and then into Tunbridge Wells as I had a hair appointment at 9.45am. It wasn't until I arrived that I suddenly realised it wasn't until next Saturday....Doh!!

I thought I may as well get something out of the trip, and luckily I had brought my camera with me so I got a shot inside the car park. I love car park photography but I had never actually taken a photo inside one, now, thanks to this project, I have!





I will likely update this thread once or twice a week. So keep an eye out and see how long I can last :)
 
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A very high standard so far. I really like 'em all. :-)
 
Another 365, good luck sir.

There's obviously a few of doing 365s on here, so should have a bit of support.

So far you pics are ace, day 2 & 3 are the picks for me. Oh and ain't full frame just great? ;)
 
Thanks for the comments so far everyone :)

ShrubMonkey said:
Another 365, good luck sir.

There's obviously a few of doing 365s on here, so should have a bit of support.

So far you pics are ace, day 2 & 3 are the picks for me. Oh and ain't full frame just great? ;)
Click to expand...

It isn't technically a 365, I have no planned end date. It might only last a couple of weeks, it might last a couple of years. This way, when I stop, whenever that might be, I haven't failed. If I last to 365 and want to carry on, I can, without feeling like I am starting again :)

Last couple of days.

Sunday 27th September 2009

Yes...I know....another car park....but this car park is AWESOME!

Helen (girlfriend) and I had a spontaneous trip to Brighton today. There was a lot of traffic and a lot of full car parks due to the extra security this week because of the Labour Party Conference going on down there. We eventually made it into the car park by the Lanes, which seems to have had an overhaul since I last went there.

I think Helen thought I was a bit weird because I kept saying how much I loved the car park. It was so awesome! The spaces were makred out by big black painted shapes, the floor was a really smooth grey all over, and the overhead lighting was brilliant as well.

I would have loved to have taken some more photos, or even better, busted out my lighting kit to do some portrait shots, but the sunshine and inevitable dissapointment from the rip off stalls on the pier were calling. I would have taken my camera out with me but I have lost my lens cap so thought I had better leave it in the car to avoid any damage.

I literally fired off two shots and I really liked this one.



Monday 28th September 2009

I have a pretty hectic start to the week at work, tomorrow in particular is going to suck monkey balls. So I figured that before I go to bed I may as well try some off camera flash stuff with a honeycomb grid, and get Day 6 in the bag before it has really started. It is technically Monday 28th September though, so it counts.

 
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Love the carpark shot, great lighting.

Need to be careful though, I got escorted out of my local car park by the law, becasue I was taking pics
 
Great photos, all of them. But please would you conform to the forum rule that pictures should not be more than 800px on the long side -- my monitor is just too small to view them without scrolling, which rather spoils the image.
 
Very nice. I really like the deflated shot.
 


Tuesday 29th September 2009

My dreaded start to the week is over! I was up in London today with Janice from work for a pitch which I have spent the last week preparing for. I only managed to fire off a few shots in the underground, but I really liked this one.

Once my new lens arrives I definitely need a day in London on my own, I could spend all day happily doing candid street photography!

First week over, and I have some shots I am reasonably happy with which I would otherwise never have taken. So even if I stop tomorrow, this has definitely been a worthwhile exercise!

No plans to stop just yet though :)
 


Wednesday 30th September 2009

My new Canon 24-70L arrived today. My first L lens! Needless to say I was extremely excited.

So far I am incredibly impressed with the sharpness, and build quality of the lens. It is a seriously heavy lens, and it looks AWESOME when the lens hood is on, it really looks the business!

I fired off plenty of the usual snaps around the house that you do when you get a new lens. I was really chuffed with this one of an old telephone (not mine I hasten to add!).

The 24-70L is going to live on my camera for a looooong time, at least until I can afford a 135L.....anyone got a spare £800 I could borrow?






Thursday 1st October 2009

Another photo taken whilst leaving for work. For some reason I always notice the dandelions on the grass out the front of the house. I remember being younger and using them to try and tell the time. I can't remember whether I believed I could tell the correct time or not, but I used to love blowing all the seeds off them.

So, a pleasant start to the morning was soon turned to crap as my car broke down, and some other events which I won't mention put me in an extremely bad mood for the rest of the day.

The day has ended well though, I watched The Shawshank Redemption for the first time, and it was AWESOME!

Bring on Day 10 and double figures!!






Friday 2nd October 2009

Yet another photo taken in the morning as I left for work. The light was really nice so I had a look around and a few small Marguerites outside the front of the house caught my attention.






Saturday 3rd October 2009

I'm afraid this was a little bit of a last minute shot. My only reason, I got FIFA 10 yesterday and so I thought this controller photo would be fitting, as it will be firmly in my hand for many, many months!






Sunday 4th October 2009

Helen and I went to Eastbourne today which was very nice! Before we left I got this quick shot of her in her living room with some nice ambient light from camera left.

I need to start putting more thought into these shots or I will very quickly be running out of ideas!
 
There are some pretty good shots in here so far. Are you going to manage to keep it going to 365 :)
 
Right, a rather big update from the last 8 days or so...



Monday 5th October 2009

Today started with me not being able to get to work because I had to take my car in to be fixed. During lunch I thought I'd make the most of the garden so I went outside and saw this little metal watering can. "That'll do" went through my head, and this was the result!

I love the 24-70L!!




Tuesday 6th October

Well the weather was crap today, there was however an awesome mist and fog over the countryside as I drove to work, but I really couldn't be bothered to get out of the car to take any photos!

I had football tonight, after I came home and was all settled it suddenly dawned upon me that I hadn't taken a photo. With that thought, my Mum gets home, and with her are two cute little kittens belonging to my sister, here to stay for a few days.

I couldn't resist including them in my Photo A Day :)




Wednesday 7th October 2009

Today I finally received my new Yongnuo RF-602 trigger and receivers, which meant I could finally do some off camera flash shots with more than one flash. So I fired up the 430EX and 430EZ and tried a series of shots with various softbox and honeycomb grid combinations. This is one of my favourites!

I can't wait to do some people photos with the help of an additional light source!

Canon 5D Mk I
Canon 24-70L

Strobist Info: 24" Softbox with Canon 430EZ @ 1/32 high left above subject about 2.5 feet away. Canon 430EX with small honeycomb grid (part of Speedlight ProKit) fired at the background @ 1/16 from top right. Both triggered with Yongnuo RF-602b radio triggers.





Thursday 8th October 2009

I left this shot quite late so I ended up doing another 'product shot', this time with some rather colourful pegs.




Friday 9th October 2009

Another day in which I forgot to take my camera to work with me. I also had to rush out soon after getting home so I had to resort to a shot in the mirror to get a close up of the lens. Despite being a last minute photo for the day I actually really like this shot.





Saturday 10th October 2009

Before leaving for football today I had a big clear up of my room as a load of crap had gathered and it was a bit of a tip. Watching me tidy up was all too much for Sylvie though, she felt she needed a lie down by the window!
 


Sunday 11th October 2009

I took a nice walk up to the windmill near my house and we found a fair few horses and a weird little Pony thing (I like to call them small horses). This one seemed to answer to the name of Jasper, or something similar. He was massive!

I am not a huge fan of animals that are bigger than me. It just isn't right.

Then we had a nice family lunch followed by a not so nice evening. Bring on Monday!




Monday 12th October 2009

I had a busy day at work today, but I got lots done. I had football in the evening which meant I was a little short on time for today's photo. However I wanted to carry on experimenting with off camera flash now that I had two flashes. I love how much more you can do having an extra light source to control!

Now all I need is some creativity!!
 
Fantastic set of pics, love your angles and processing, day 15,16,29,20 are really great
 
Thank you very much. I'm really enjoying this so far. I'll be happy to make 30 days, but to carry on for a year+ would be fantastic :)
 


Tuesday 13th October 2009

I can see a pattern forming, especially now that it is getting darker earlier. I am left with b****r all time in the evenings to get any photos outside, so I have to resort to taking photos of stuff inside, and of course that means photos of my cats.

Now, for some reason this photo looks like it has been over processed! All I have done is adjust the white balance, up the contrast and add some sharpening! So God knows why it looks like it does, but hey ho!

Sergie rarely enters my room (Sylvie practically lives in here) so I thought I would make the most of this rare appearance.





Wednesday 14th October 2009

Today was a fairly decent day. Some good stuff happened, and I played football which is always enjoyable. I have so much to do it's ridiculous, I have a real tendancy of not getting little things done. For example, I still haven't changed my address with a number of companies despite moving nearly 3 months ago.

Anyway, I tried something different tonight. I'm not 100% sure if I actually like this photo, but I ran out of time so I had to use it. Another entry done in the last few hours of the day. I have lots of ideas for future days, I just need to get out there and do them!





Thursday 15th October 2009

I am really happy with my photo for today. Despite a ridiculously busy day at work, which resulted in having to cancel some evening plans to see a friend (which sucked as I was looking forward to it), I put aside 30 minutes this evening to make sure I got a photo sorted.

I haven't tried something like this before, but have seen it done many times. One thing I did learn was that the 24-70L is useless at focussing with anything but the centre focus point in relatively low light. No big issue as I use the centre focus point, lock focus, recompose and then shoot for 99.9% of my shots, but I was surprised at how much it was hunting when trying to focus.

I had another shot to choose from tonigth which I really liked, but I think this one was just that little bit more different to my usual stuff to warrant being Day 23!
 
really fantastic photos, every single one. Wish I could keep up the image quality quite like that for my 365.

Vi x
 
Thanks for all the comments so far. It really does encourage me to keep this going :)

I forgot to mention, you can click all images to go through to my Flickr, where you can view larger versions of each image.



Friday 16th October 2009

Today was due to be extremely busy, stressful, and not particularly fun. However, everything went really well at work today. This week has been so quick that it didn't really feel like a Friday. I grabbed a couple of beers on the way home so I could chill out in front of a film.

The film was crap (Paul Blart: Mall Cop) so I fell asleep halfway through and then felt awful when I woke up. It took a few hours to feel myself again, and then it dawned on me that I only had 45 minutes to get a photo.

I set this up, nailed the settings first time (flash position, direction, settings, camera settings, focus, EVERYTHING) and got this photo with my 5th shot. I could easily have used the 2nd, 3rd or 4th one as well.

I love it when a bad plan comes together :)
 
Apologies for the lack of updates.



Saturday 17th October 2009

Today was spent taking part in the worst football game I have ever been involved in. We lost 5-1, the pitch was horrible and we all played terribly.

I literally had a gap of about 5 minutes to get a photo today, so I grabbed a shot of this Chanel box in the bathroom.




Sunday 18th October 2009

I had all the time in the world to get a photo sorted today. Yet I left it until the dying hours of the day....again!

This is an idea I have wanted to try out for a while, I've seen it done before but fancied a go myself. I Actually have a much more thought out plan to do with Helen, but I thought I would give it a crack tonight. It took bloody ages to get right, I had a 24" softbox camera left and a honeycombed flash camera right to light up the cards and make sure the reflection came out right in the sunglasses.

Gett all that right, and the focus when I am not able to look through the viewfinder, whilst pressing the shutter with my left hand was extremely difficult. I'm quite chuffed with the result though :)


Setup:

Canon 5D Classic (triggered with my right hand)
Canon 24-70L (AF)
Canon 430EX fired into 24" softbox camera left at 1/16 power
Canon 430EZ fired through honeycomb grid camera back right, aimed at cards for reflection at power 1/32




Monday 19th October 2009

I haven't had passport photos taken for a while. I think the new machines are bloody stupid. What happened to fun of trying to get a decent photo in 4 attempts, and being able to get 4 DIFFERENT photos, so that you can at least do a couple of silly ones?

Now you're forced to print four of the same images. Bloody ridiculous service for £4 if you ask me!




Tuesday 20th October 2009

Today was extremely tiring, for reasons I can't really go into. I was up at 4am and back home by about 4pm, but my God was it a busy and stressful day.

Yet another photo of something around the house, I'm beginning to struggle to look at household objects as more than just household objects. However they do represent an 'easy way out' on days when I have little time or energy to get anything more interesting.

Don't like it? Tough :)




Wednesday 21st October 2009

Back at work today, feeling extremely tired and run down. So, another quick shot done as midnight was fast approaching. I told you there would be some bland shots in this project!

On a side note, these headphones (Sennheiser HD555) are incredible. I've had them for about 9 months now, they only cost about £50 but they are awesome! Buy some!




Thursday 22nd October 2009

After leaving work I headed to the car park at the RVP in Tunbridge Wells, knowing that I could get a shot somewhere to use today. Turned out the shot I used was actually right next to where I parked. I got out the 430EX and fired it at this sign from camera right in order to give it some 'pop' and to help remove any ambient light from the background.

Hurrah for wet paint!
 


Friday 23rd October 2009

I got home late, and so we have yet another photo from around the house I'm afraid.

I'm going to start making more of an effort to get out and get some more interesting photos. If I have to resort to many more photos like this then I'll be giving up!

Despite that, I actually really like the contrast in this shot!




Saturday 24th October 2009

Crap day. Crap photo!

I really dislike this shot for so many reasons, but I had to use it as I only had 2 other shots to choose from and they were worse!

I need to up my game!




Sunday 25th October 2009

I went to the Brighton Sealife Centre today with Helen. What an awesome place! My first visit to an aquarium and hopefully not the last. Much better than just viewing little fishies at the likes of London Zoo. Loads of the displays were open at the top so you could actually see the fish and other sealife swimming about at the top of the water.

The title of this is a tribute to the 'I love turtles kid'. For those that don't know, just search for him on YouTube :)




Monday 26th October

Today was ok considering it was Monday. In a bid to take less pictures in my house I decided to go somewhere with artificial light after work, I always seemed to be attracted to car parks. I think I am homeless person at heart. I just love them, they always look so awesome. I could probably write about car parks for quite a long time but I doubt any cares, feel free to message me if you wish to continue this conversation in private.

After work I will now be heading to places for photos rather than getting home and then realising I need one. So the theme for the forseeable future on week days will likely be dark places, lit up!

Setup:
Canon 5D
Canon 24-70L
Canon 430EX fired bare, camera right to light up trolley
 
I can honestly say, there isn't one I don't like. They are all fantastic!!
 
Thank you very much :)

Some more from the past few week



Tuesday 27th October 2009

I got home after a few drinks after work and I was so tired I was in bed and asleep by 10pm. I was desperate to get into bed but knew I needed a photo, luckily Sylvie was sitting on my desk so I fired off a few shots before slumping into bed.

Apologies for the cat picture!




Wednesday 28th October 2009

Similar story to yesterday, only this time it was fast approaching midnight and my usual lack of inspiration was back, worse than ever!

I got this shot as it reminded me of playing Guitar Hero :)





Thursday 29th October

Today was ok. I had some fun playing with some liquid latex when I got home, doing some nasty wounds on my face and hands in practice for my zombie outfit on Saturday night.

I got this on the way home from work.




Friday 30th October 2009

Today was a busy and tiring day, but also very productive. I got the final bits I needed for my zombie Halloween costume. I bought an old suit from a charity shop which I ripped to shreds and covered in blood when I got home.

I thought I would get a photo of me with it on in a 'survivor' style setting before I go the full hog tomorrow and turn into a zombie :)




Saturday 31st October 2009

I had a very relaxed morning after a nice lie in. Then I headed down to Pevensey Bay to see Helen. I just got a 10 Stop ND filter which I was eager to try out, however I forgot my remote shutter release, meaning I couldn't do any exposures longer than 30 seconds :(

So I ended up with a few shots of these blokes who were braving the harsh wind in search of worms. They look for the worms to use as bait for fishing I think. Not sure how much luck they were having but it looked like quite good fun.
 


Sunday 1st November 2009
A nice day out with Helen :)
Another shot taken at 5 minutes to midnight, as you can see from the clock!





Monday 2nd November 2009
Knackered! That pretty much sums up how I felt today. Hence the quick shot of my cup of tea before I slumped into bed!




Tuesday 3rd November 2009
Helen was over tonight. This was just a quick snap from a few shots I took when we were messing around with her headscarf! I would like to do another shot like this with a proper light setup! Her eyes are AWESOME!




Wednesday 4th November 2009
You can't go wrong with sausage, mash, peas and gravy! Yes, I did have FOUR sausages!!! I was starving! =)
 
haha, thanks very much, I think :p

I'm surprised though, many of these are last minute snap shots when I have had little time to put thought into a shot. I guess I am just too critical.
 
I think it is because you know the mood/atmosphere of when the phot was taken, whereas others only see the photo itself, so get an unbiased view of it, if that makes sense? :shrug:
 


Thursday 5th November 2009
Do you get it? The Last Straw! Because it's a straw hat, and there is only one of them, so it's.....THE LAST STRAW! My jokes are wasted on you lot :p

I would tell you how my day when, but it has taken me until now to process this and I can't actually remember what happened 3 hours ago, let alone 3 days ago!

It was probably a crap day though.





Friday 6th November 2009
Firstly, I am sorry! Yes, it is ANOTHER picture of my cat. This was again taken before going to bed because my lack of planning got the better of me again. So, seeing as you've all seen countless photos of her, let me give you her life story.

Sylvie was born in France, and my parents had her for 6 years (with her brother Serge) before moving back to England earlier this year. Now she spe.3
nds

...ok, no joke, she just ran over my keyboard and completely screwed up my Internet Explorer. I was about to say, she spends much of her time in my bedroom, asleep on my bed. Oh, to be a cat!




Saturday 7th November 2009
We headed off into Tunbridge Wells today with the aim of doing an Autumn themed portrait shoot before doing some photos for some friends. After the photos we headed off my a lovely lunch before heading down to the coast :)

More photos from the shoot here - <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarysquirrel/sets/72157622763048542/">www.flickr.com/photos/scarysquirrel/sets/72157622763048542/</a>




Sunday 8th November 2009
I felt this would be ruined by putting text over it, so I left it as is.

The weather was bloody awful this morning. I was a bit annoyed because I had all my kit with me down in Pevensey Bay but it was raining too much to get the shot I wanted! We headed out to grab some lunch, and when we got back the rain had cleared and I managed to get this on my first attempt. A 120 second exposure, and off we went :)
 


Monday 9th November 2009
I was really regretting today! It is so busy at work this week that any pleasure from the weekend was quickly forgotten (not literally, because it was a very very nice weekend) as soon as my alarm went off.

When I was driving into work there was an awesome fog pretty much everywhere all the way from Punnetts Town, through Heathfield, Mayfield, Mark Cross and finally Frant. Driving through Frant I saw some dude through the fog taking a photo.

He wasn't using a tripod, and he was using his flash......yeah, nice one mate! Perhaps I'm being a photography snob, but it does make me laugh when I see people using a flash for a landscape photo! (Unless of course you're lighting up some foreground stuff I suppose, but he wasn't!)

Anyway, I thought to myself "I'll show him how it's done". So I pulled over, got my tripod out and my wireless triggers and started snapping.

I am pretty chuffed with this shot, and it prooves to me I need to take more photos when out and about. If it wasn't for this project, I wouldn't have got this shot. Despite the blown highlights in the top left from the sun, I'm please with the result :)
 
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Like the idea, think I will get my 14 year old son and myself to have a go at this.

Great Photos:cool:
Can't work out how you did the mirror shot, should text on lens be reversed?
 
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