Wednesday 7 August 2013

Smidgshots - 18 - The Bouncy Ball

Three hours past midnight, two packets of Aero Bubbles and one glass of 7-Up. No, this isn't how best to make your Furbie turn full monster, this is the setting behind my new short, "The Bouncy Ball."

You see, something strange happens to us after midnight. Like the Furbies, we lose our inhibitions, we act in ways we wouldn't during daylight - Just ask the five lads who were arrested outside my door for jumping on cars, drinking vodka and smoking weed.

Whatever it is that possesses us during the small hours it makes art thrive. At least for me. Maybe you're a morning person. I like to call them The Insane.

Anyway, filmed at three, edited at four, uploaded by five. Here's my short short, "The Bouncy Ball."

Enjoy.

P.S. Why am I putting this on my Smidgeshots? One - To remember where it is. Two - Because my camera is about more than just photos, it's about taking lots of photos and stringing them together, bundling it with audio and calling it a movie.




Friday 26 July 2013

Smidgeshots - 17 - The Cloud Experience part ii

A few more nice shots of clouds this time taken as the sun set. Enjoy.


Sunset One



Sunset Two



Sunset Three



Thursday 25 July 2013

Smidgeshots - 16 - The Cloud Experience

So, just before the rain hit again, I managed to catch some cool cloud formation as the sun peeped out. I then manipulated the colours, bringing out those brilliant blue skies and, in others, changing it all to a greeny teel. Let me know what you think! Enjoy.


Blue Skies



Green Formation



Blue Linings



Green Patch



Little Bird






Wednesday 17 July 2013

Smidgeshots - 15 - Shadow and Red

Building on my work playing with greaseproof paper, a lamp and my housemates, I came up with these interesting things. Some are taken using the paper and the lamp, but some, as you'll quickly spot, are swathed in red light. To get this effect I popped up the in-built flash, then blocked it off. The camera uses a small red light to help dilate the eyes and reduce Red-Eye in photos, but in a totally dark room it gave these terrifying, but beautiful images.

Enjoy.



Colman - Side Profile



Grace - Front Profile


Colman - Red


Grace - Looking Side


Grace - Red


 Grace - Inquisitive



Grace - Red Frontal


Grace - Hand Thought


Shane - Glasses


Wednesday 12 June 2013

Smidgeshots - 14 - Rainy Night

First things first, you may notice a fancy little logo at the bottom right of my pictures. That is the new addition I will putting on all photos online. Just one little security measure I guess. And it was fun to paint light ^^ Now then, onto the photos themselves. There's nothing nicer than raindrops in a photo and bevlieve me there's no shortage to rain drops here.

Come Sit on My Bench



Blurred rain is one of my all time favourite things to photograph. Those little yellow dots remind me of magic, as though they're sprinklings of fairy dust.

Or In My Car?



It's always good to have something to focus on, whether it's in the foreground or the background. Here, the car is blurred, so we see it, but we don't take too much notice of it. This is good as our eyes are then naturally drawn to the droplets on the glass. Had there been no car there may not have been such a good contrast and the photo may not have been quite as gripping.

Or On My Bike?



Here I am working on the concept of lines. The first seat is out starting point and then it beams in towards our last. If you drew connecting lines they would converge at the end of the page like railway tracks, naturally edging our eyes up the photo.

Fancy A Spin?


I stood for quite a long time in the rain to get this shot. I love how the light plays and intertwines with itself, the whites dissecting the reds, turning to yellows.

Time for a Photo?



Aside from the blurred face and hands this is a pretty good shot. Andy looks very professional and the hexagonal dot on my lens adds a sort of artistic valor to the piece.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Smidgeshots - 13 - Shadow Play Excerpt One

I recently came into possession of a lamp. One of those ones with the long, movable neck and the large bulb; like the Pixar mascot. Anyway, these bulbs give off a very yellow tungsten glow which is normally not what you want in a photo. However, slap up a bit of grease proof paper and you have yourself a shadow art frame. Here are some excerpts from my upcoming artsy attempt: Shadow Play.

Microphone


My housemate Stephen is looking suave with the mic beside him. No, he doesn't croon, but he will speak in a devilish manner if you ask him nicely.

Bird 


Remember being a kid and making shadows on the wall? Well, I used to do that a lot and now I have the capacity to capture these little imaginations like never before.

Roses


 This one really tickled my fancy. The trick is - well, I can't give it away as I'm not sure how Stephen did it! But the effect is pretty cool!

Face


Scrunch up a sheet of paper, poke a few holes in it and what do you get? Some kind of tribal man with his head on fire! Now that's what I call art.

Hello


 I have a few ideas expanding on the "Person behind the Paper" idea and this was a trial run. Expect more like this over the next few weeks.

Saturday 8 June 2013

Smidgeshots - 12 - Grain

Often I take a photo which is nice but boring. Sometimes I edit these photos and they become boring and bad. Every once in awhile I edit them and the boring part goes away, though as to the good and the bad I cannot say. Photoshop has a great grain effect which, when played around with for a while, helped to create these shots. Now I'm not saying they're good or bad, that is for you to decide. But they sure as hell aren't boring.

Pole



Andy described the pole with the sun at the top as Gandalf's staff. Now though it's lost that quality, instead imbued with an old timey feel to it.

Corner



Between the yellow lines and the ivy on the walls I feel like this is the opening shot to a haunted house.

Wire



This is like something you'd pull out of your grandfathers old suitcase he keeps in the attic and when you ask about it he flips out, throws a vase at you and mutters about camps and numbers and hell.

Bridge



I actually didn't add any grain to this as I feel like it would have detracted from the idea. David and Andy walking away here is so... I don't know... emotional, almost. I left a little bit of blue in Andy's shirt and I feel like it adds this weight to the image. They walk, david slightly ahead as though annoyed or too caught in his own head to talk, towards the end of the bridge. And what awaits them? We cannot see if this bridge goes to a happy place, if it leads to their end, if it ends at all. And, based on this shot alone, we may never know.

Smidgeshots 11 - Perception

As I wandered around the back alleys and side roads yesterday I began to toy with the idea that our perception marks our understanding. What I mean by this is what we see creates an identity which mould how we react. Take the simple case of a wasp or a garden variety spider. Tiny creatures with almost no affect on us bar a bit of a sting or tickle on our arm hairs. Yet people freeze in horror when they see these things. Why? Because they perceive them to be dangerous, therefore they understand that when they see a spider or a wasp they must run away or kill it quick. The same can be true of homophobia, communism, even strangers. Our perception; this is weird, that is wrong, he is odd, affects our understanding; I will beat him, I will go to war, I will walk on the other side of the street.
With that in mind I found a couple of photos which, I hope, do my theory some justice. These are things which test our perception to skew our understanding. Enjoy.

*None of these photos have been edited, touched up or added to in any way. They are purely the work of the camera.

Lines



Let's start with an easy one. A footpath, no? One which seems to go on an on, leading to some bright place in the distance. In reality this path is about two meters long and leads to a green patch.

Dots



It might take you a second to realise that this is a manhole grill. A simple circular covering for our sewage system. Yet here it has some other quality, some Aztec feel to the shape, to the holes and the contours.

Lines Two



This one is peculiar. The lines seem to distort and bend away from the lens. How long do they go on for? Where do they lead? In fact, this is a garage door. Nothing more than that. Yet our mind runs riot wondering what it could be, what it could mean.

Stairway



A stairs etched into a mountain? Perhaps the path up to our Aztec grill. No, this is merely a close up of some tree bark. But it's always nice to imagine.

The Beach



Look at that shimmering light in the background, those footsteps in the sand. But would you believe me if I told you this is a wall? A bland, boring concrete wall with lots of circles imprinted as the concrete was setting. Just goes to show that what we see and what is reality are often not combined.

Friday 31 May 2013

Smidgeshots - 10 - Evening Sun

Is there any time of day more pleasant than the hour leading up to, and the hour of, the sunset? Especially for photography. It gives everything a nice glow to it. If taken right you can backlight your subjects, making them  pop out from the photo and, of course, look marvelous. A simple walk to Mardyke House in the City of Cork produced these beauties. Hope you enjoy.


Tree Veins:

It might be a bit early for Autumn Leaves but this tree looks amazing intersected with the dark branches.

Flower, Pretty Flower.

Pity this bugger was in the shade, if it had been lit by the setting sun it could have been brilliant, instead it is refined to the not-so-great "decent" status. Just goes to remind how important light is...

Macro Flower, Pretty Macro Flower.

 This one's a bit better, though I don't have a proper Macro lens... Still, this is a decent job of it!

Mossy 

 I just love the contrast here. Finding these little details make the hayfever worth it.

Enter the Wind Tunnel:

I think this shot has a striking look about it. It's like the center is enticing me in... "Leading lines" are used in the profession to draw you in, I suppose here the outlines of the leaves has a similar effect.

Excelsior!

"I climbed a tree, to see the world..." so go the lyrics to a great song Home by the Cinematic Orchestra. Here, however, the world is dwarfed the the majesty of this trunk! Lead the way, tree!

On Trees...

While we're discussing trees... the outline of the tree here is brilliant, if I do say so myself. More of those Leading Lines created by the water and the riverbank to the right bringing up in towards the photo. If only the sun had been nestled by the far trees...

Shine Forth!


 And speaking of nestled suns... What a great shot! Ok, so I fiddled with photoshop to really bring out those colours a bit more but I mean come on, how worth it is it?









Tuesday 21 May 2013

Smidgeshots - 9 - Instrumental

Mandolin

A beautiful instrument  about the size of a ukulele but with eight strings and a unique sound. Often found on Mumford and Sons tracks.

Hammer Dulcimer

 An ancient instrument, the prototype piano, played since the days of the Sumerians. Mentioned in the Bible and now housed in an apartment in Cork.

Guitar

Nothing like a good old guitar, especially in the hands of the McClintocks.

A McClintock

For reference: this is a McClintock. After all, what goods a musical instrument without a musician?

Saturday 11 May 2013

Smidgeshots - 8 - A Night-time Adventure

Cork's Landscape


Quite a nice shot of Cork from above. It was quite the trek up Blarney Street to find this view. The long shutter speed gives the night sky that deep blue but it did make Finbar's church look a bit swamped in yellow... still, it's all about the learning curve.

Flower, Pretty Flower


It's amazing what happens to simple, everyday things, when the night falls. These leaves look great with just a few drops of rain and some streetlamp yellow bathing them.

City Hall


What a view! The home of the Mayor, the centre of municipal Cork, looks fantastic here, with a nice red car line to boot!

Rain Tracks


Another everyday object, this time a car, transformed by a few key changes. The lines of rain glisten while the DoF helps to focus the shot. Gotta say, I'm mighty proud of this one!

Follow the Rail


If you didn't know this was a bridge you almost wouldn't be able to figure it out! There's something about a straight line which really helps to make a good photo great!