Eschew perfection

Unlike the opinion of many photographers (and photographic judges or commentators) it is not always necessary to just capture images of perfect specimens.  Imperfect can be just as valid as an ideal if handled correctly.   The above two images (taken within minutes of each other on a sunny/cloudy day) illustrate how a mood can be set in post production to amplify the characteristics of the photo. 
The top image of the "past its best" honeysuckle taken under clouds has been subjected to a colour balance in the blue side of the colour wheel.  Along with a slight desaturation this has produced a "cold" image which highlights the state of the flower. 
The lower picture taken in full sun has had the red / yellow enhanced an the saturation boosted to give a mood of cheer and warmth.
By simple manipulation mood can be set. 
Always remember that emotion plays a large part in how an image is seen and assesed.  Always aim your post production to enhance the mood you want to present.

The unexpected

Sometimes you end up with something totally unexpected. 
I was visiting Filey Brigg with my brother in law who was looking at the rocks.  It was a wild day with a strong nithering northerly blowing.  There was lots of foam blown onto the Brigg which I tried to photograph with little success. 
On the way back from the point I noticed Scarborough Castle in the misty distance with heavy surf breaking on the rocks.  With a bit of positioning on the slippery rocks, I got to a spot with an interesting foreground and waited for the biggest waves. I took an exposure reading of the whitest part of the first wave using spot exposure and locked it.  This prevented over exposure and "whiteout" of the wave.  Detail here was a necessity.
I was then free to take a number of shots of various waves as they burst upon the rocks.  This was the best image for position and size of wave relative to the castle and overall composition. 
It is always thrilling to get an unexpected image which has excellent potential to develop into a competition class photograph. 

We had an evening at Sherburn airfield last week.  They very kindly let us have free run of the place.  But what to take?  Aircraft are useful to get about but lack inherent beauty so you have to get into your photographic mindspace and work on the image.  You have to pre-see the end image and try to work out how to get there from where you are now.  Some of it is using the camera and light available to get the bare bones and then use photoshop (other image manipulation software is available) to build the flesh to come up with the final product. 
Here are three different finished photos I got from the 200 I shot.

Light and dark

Light and dark, a photo by howarew on Flickr.

This was taken from the Humber Bridge on a Driffield Photographic Society trip to the Hessle foreshore. I can never usually take good photos in a group as I have to "put my photo head on" and go off on my own and be really antisocial to find or see an photo and then work on it to get the real photo out of the sight.
Here I walked back and forth taking photos whilst thinking about what I really wanted to take and where the best photo was and how the lead lines worked on the composition.
With others to talk to or take into consideration I never would have got this image.

Pajama Game

Pajama Game 1, a photo by howarew on Flickr.

Newer tried my hand at theatre photography until yesterday when I was invited to the dress rehearsal of the local Driffield Musical Theatre's production of The Pajama Game. Well it was worth a try so along I went, was given free rein to take what I want from wherever I fancied.
The advantage of theatre over a rock gig (which I have tried before) is the quantity and consistency of the light. Also unlike portraiture, the actors are in charge of the pose and expression and you only capture and record what is there. I thought burst shooting at 6 frames a second would capture "the moment" but in practice the poses are held for quite a long time and you can capture them quite easily. If you miss one there will be another along in a moment!!
I would encourage you to have a go, it is fun and you can easily obtain super pictures.

Dog walking

Dog walking , a photo by howarew on Flickr.

I thought that I had a produced the best possible from this shot. I partially cloned in ripples on the burnt out circle bottom left, removed all annoying rocks, seaweed etc, gradient colour burnt the edges and put it in a competition. The judge whom I respected gave it 19 saying that it would have got a 20 apart from the dark sand patch below and left of the walkers as this was much too dark and heavy and took the eye away. It has now been cloned out and the picture does look better.
Moral: sometimes you need someone else's eyes to see your picture to see it for the best!

finishing the derby

finishing the derby, a photo by howarew on Flickr.

Unfortunately I missed a good shot on the winner so the second placed had to do! I have subsequently removed the base of the monopod hanging down from the armpit by use of photoshop cloning.