Sometimes...

wood 2, originally uploaded by Bexley98.

Sometimes things work out. Sometimes…

The weather this weekend was rubbish with constant rain on Sunday, making photography somewhat difficult, but the gods smiled on Nairn and the sun finally bothered to put in an appearance at about 6pm. By 8 I was out with the camera for some ‘magic hour’ sunset shots. I’m really pleased with the output from this, I went to the ‘main’ bit of Nairn beach which doesn’t have the rocky drama of further up the beach or the wildness of Culbin sands. It’s just a wide expanse of beach, the sunset and the departing rain clouds made for an amazing scene that I tried to do justice with the camera.

Lighting was really tricky, I was down to about -1 EV which meant that all my shots were unexposed. In order to recover them I went down the HDR route. Not that I mind too much, but I’ve kinda done over-cooked HDRs to death and I’m trying to get a more ‘lifelike’ look to my shots. So I was doing some gentle tone mapping rather than aggressively processing them Photomatix. I’m quite pleased with the results and would love your feedback. I gave into temptation with this one and did something a bit more abstract. The lure of the sliders on Photomatix just gets too strong sometimes!

A couple of other things in photo-world, I’ve discovered that Facebook might be merrily using YOUR photos if you are a member. You know those ads in the sidebar of your Facebook site? Well apparently Facebook have a clause in their terms and conditions that enable them to use YOUR photos in those advertisements. You can opt out (and I would strongly recommend you do) by going into your settings/privacy/and clicking Facebook ads.

I’m doing another photo book this year for Christmas; I used photobox last year and was quite pleased with it. Last years book was a bit of a last minute affair so this time round I’m starting now with a plan to have the book done by October/November. This year I’m going to be using Blurb, based on lots of peoples recommendations. I believe they have the capacity for people to view the completed book online. I’ll post links as soon as it is done.

Finally, I’m going to be using local photographic printing company Iolaire for some printing (duh), I’ll let you know how I get on. I like the idea of someone actually looking at my photos and helping me find the best way of getting them onto paper, they have a really comprehensive set of services on thier website and might be worth a shout if you're looking for an alternative to major printing services. Yeah, they're slightly more expensive but you get what you pay for.

Have a good week