More from Lancaster

I didn't have more photos of St George's Quay to hand so I have moved to New Street Lancaster. You may recognise the bank on the left because it featured in a national television advert. I know this because I saw the advert while staying with friends in Wales.

The photo on the left is taken from New Street. I crossed the street to take the photo on the right. The rocking horse is quite famously locally because it advertised a toy shop. The shop has changed hands but as you can see, the horse remains.

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River Lune and traffic jam

I went to Lancaster yesterday. I had a look around the Maritime Museum which is on St George's Quay and is very close to where I took these photos. I took them because the water level was high. I know that there was some flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire yesterday and there was some margin of safety here but the amount of flowing water was quite dramatic. I'll show you some of the other photos that I took here tomorrow.

You may also notice the traffic jam in the background. This is nothing unusual for this road to Morecambe. It is not rush hour. There was a football match in the afternoon but we can't blame the match for this traffic as it is like this most of the time. Looking across the river doesn't really do justice to the size of the jam. We do need a link road in Morecambe but I won't be holding my breath in the present economic climate.

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More Pop Art

For my third attempt at pop art I will show you this photo. It is only my third attempt and looks more like a high contrast image which is really easy to achieve. I need to add colours and I have to add line drawings into the photo but this is something I want to develop. Now I have shown you this may be all the incentive I need to work on my pop art.

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We Will Rock You

I was in Manchester last week. As is often the case I just had my compact camera. No SLR, no tripod and no dozens of photos taken. In fact I just took these two. It is good to be able to take photos with a compact and with a flat surface. It is obviously better if you are not a tourist, have plenty of time and can compose the photo exactly as you wish by using a tripod, but these will do.

As for the subject, it happens to be the Palace Theatre where they were showing "We Will Rock You" As it happens this is what I went to see and very good it was too.

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Before and After

I was asked if I could do anything with this photo as it was a rare opportunity for five generations to get together. My first thoughts were that the flash reflected in the window could go. My method of choice would have been to use the clone tool and then blend if the transition was not completely smooth. As it happens a simple crop meant that I did not have to do anything. In general it is easier to close the curtain or take a photo at an angle to a reflective surface so you don't get the flash coming back to the camera. I also took out the red eyes. Not a bad change for thirty seconds on the computer.

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More than words

Sometimes a simple change in a photograph can make it look totally different. I have added some words to that rare sight, my photo for two reasons. Firstly it makes the photo stand out. You can do this with any photo and you instantly identify it. Words inside the photo or next to it as in this example both set aside the photo from most that are taken.

I particularly like the photo of a bride and groom looking at the person giving the reading. In the same photo is the reading itself. The problem with this is that it has to be a big enlargement in order to read all the words. My second reason for liking the words with my photo is that in relative terms it makes my photo smaller! You can see which side of the lens I prefer.

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Optical Zoom

I was telling someone a couple of days ago how I could take a photo of a poster and then zoom in so that I could read the fine print. When I first bought my compact with a x10 zoom I joked that I didn't need to buy another newspaper as I could just read someone else's. As a tourist I generally carry my compact, not an SLR and these two photos are no exception. Not only were they taken with a compact but they were also taken on a vehicle. It was a red bus tour and you can just see the rail on the left.

Alright I am not going to sell them to the Paris Opera but the outcome is not bad. I know it could have been better with a better camera and a tripod, and the tripod should be on the ground, not on a bus. The zoom makes up for a lot and the detail of the statue is not bad at all. When you are looking for a new camera make sure you consider the optical zoom because this means you are getting more detail on the sensor. Digital zoom just means you are enlarging the image without greater detail.

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