Dave Frost Photography

Not sure why, but seem to have become slightly obsessive about reflections recently. Haven’t touched the camera for over a week and cabin fever has not irreversibly set in. Been meaning to hve a crack at these things since the storm in a teacup shot (see my Flickr stream) to try and capture some clouds etc. reflected in the water. for the last two weeks the skies have been a monotonous grey, so as the sun attempted to shine this afternoon I felt obliged to have a go at this.
Regrettably, my cd tray only had this knackered old thing in (it’s got more scratches than a cat’s scratching post) and I didn’t get the tripod out, but went OK from a test perspective.

For those that care, this was taken hand-held, with the Canon 50mm f1.8 plus 36mm kenko extension tube.

Something different to end the month with. Different in that it’s kind of a self portrait (well, it’s me in the picture at least). Been reading up on Flash, and after owning the 480EX for over 6 months, I still haven’t fiured out how to use it properly.

So, with a view to practicing, I got hold of some black foamy stuff, and wrapped it round the end of the flash to focus the light in a narrow field rather than having it spill all over the room.
The flash was then attached to the wireless trigger set to 1/16th power and placed on the floor so it pointed upwards to the space where I wanted to be. I took a couple of test shots to make sure my position and the flash position worked OK (f32 was too dark, f8 let too much ambient light in for the exposurte time I wanted).

Once I was happy with the effect, I then stuck the camera on the tripod, locked the focus just in front of a black tv screen and set the timer. I had a few duff attempts where I hadn’t managed to get myself in the shot, but finally got myself in the right place. The Flash was set to first curtain sync, so as soon as it fired, I slipped out of the shot and then used a keyring torch (one of the cheapy single LED ones) to paint in some swirly light.

Post processing was just a bit of sharpening and a conversion to black and white.
Aperture – F11
Shutter Speed – 10 Seconds
ISO – 100

Things are getting desperate here on Canvey – The things you do to get out of wrapping presents ! – Found this novelty beaker from our cruise and couldn’t resist a few frames. (To see larger versions, click the Image)

Topical – Especially after the events up in Cumbria this weekend. Was on the M25 this morning on my wayu round to the office, enjoying the views at a sedate 20 mph for most of the 63 miles. Bored witless with only Wogan on the radio to keep me company, I thought it might be an idea to try and capture the essence of the moment.
Actually, that’s crap. I was just bored so I got the camera out. I cannot stress enough how dangerous (and illegal) it is to use an SLR whilst driving, and can assure you that I was perfectly stationary at the time.

Quite liked the effect of the lights in the rain for this one. But remember kids, clunk click every trip.

Another couple from our afternoon jolly on Saturday, all again from Southend, Adventure Island.

. This is the Rage – A vertical climp leads to a terrifying vertical drop before being thrown through a loop the loop and some very tight bends. You may just be able to make out the Cars coming down the drop – They moved so fast that the 1/4 Second shutter speed wasn’t enough to really capture anything other than a smudge as it sped past.

This one is Pharoe’s Revenge – This time a 1.6 second exposure with a narrow F22 captured the movement nicely. Somewhere on there are Tommy and Alfie.