The Fallen Leaf

Alrighty There People!

I love this picture, taken in the grounds of Harmony Gardens in Scotland.

The leaf's gorgeous greenery contrasts fantastically with the pebbled ground.

I just had to whip out the N95 to snap it up.


Image Details:

Name: 03.027.jpg
Date: 10/08/2007 14:38
Dimensions: 2592 x 1944
Size: 1.57mb

Comments, as always, much appreciated!

NEWS FLASH: LOGO REMOVAL

Alrighty There People!

Due to feedback received, I have decided to remove the copyright logo on my photos henceforth.

If anyone decides to steal my content, then I pity that person for not having the guts to ask for permission to use it.

If anyone would like to use the images, please contact me.

Thanks!

Chandelirious.

Out of Focus Iguana

Alrighty There People!

Another Tenerife shot coming up - this one taken in Loro Parque, the parrot sanctuary. I spotted this Iguana, sunning itself right against the glass.

I couldn't get a very good angle on it, then I forget to adjust the settings, and then there is the glare of the glass - all in all, I thought it would make for a rubbish picture. But when I got back, I was mildly surprised with the outcome. True, the Iguana is out of focus - but I think that that enhcances the image. I love it.

What do you think?


Image Details: Name: Tenerife 56.jpg
Date: 25/09/2008 13:39
Dimensions: 2592x1944
Size: 816kb

Comments, as always, more than welcome.

Mount Teide

Alrighty There People!

No doubt you are now well aware that I was in sunny Tenerife in September (but why oh why did I come back to Rainy Britain??!)

One of the trips that I took whilst there was a visit to Mount Teide, the active though dormant volcano in the Teide National Park (more info on the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teide)

It was a beautiful day, but we had been warned to wrap up warm, and we dutifully complied. When we stepped off of the coach, the coolness of the mountain air hit us. Compared to the warmth of the beach, it was cold! We paid the 25 Euros each - yes, each - for the cable car ride, and took the 8 minute journey to the top (although technically it wasn't the top, you need a permit to get there.) We were warned that the temperature at the top was a Brit-like 6 degrees, with a -15 wind chill. Ouch. The air is also a lot thinner at 12,000 feet - and I suffered from this.

But the views were absolutely spectacular. Looking out across the ridge, we could clearly make out the rim of the crater that we had just driven across (a bizarre feeling), and the clouds hung low in the horizon.

Turning to look at the peak of the volcano was fascinating. The harsh, bleak, sandy colour contrasted greatly with the light blue hue of the sky. Of course, I instantly whipped out the N95, and snapped this image:



Image Details:
Date Taken: 29/09/2008 11:18
Dimensions: 2592x1944
Size: 1.50mb

What do you think?

Interestingly, the surrounding areas were used to film Planet of the Apes and some Star Wars scenes. I'll post a view from Teide later, but meantime, your thoughts on this are much appreciated.

Hadrian's Wall: North and South

For our anniversary, my wife and I went into Northumberland. We went to a few places - the grounds of Slaley Hall, a De Vere hotel with two 18 hole golf courses and it's own Japanese garden - it was beautiful, despite the fact that it was chucking it down with rain.

We also went to Allen Banks and Staward's Gorge, photo's from which I have posted earlier in this blog. From there, we headed North to Hadrian's Wall and Housesteads Fort. It was a bit of a disappointment really - and the weather was naff to say the least.

But we paid the money, and walked into the little museum/information centre to learn all about why the wall was built, and then moseyed on out to the ruins of the fort. There was just little low walls running everywhere, which had been marked as sleeping quarters, dining area, galley, etc etc.

Then this little scene caught my eye - it's the view North and the view South running along one of the boundaries of the Fort, and, crouching down, I pulled out the N95, and snapped these two shots.


This image is looking North

Image Details:
Name: 11072008188.jpg
Date: 11/07/2008 16:21
Dimensions: 2592 x 1944
Size: 0.98mb


This image is facing South

Image Details
Name: 11072008189.jpg
Date: 11/07/2008 16:21
Dimensions: 2592 x 1944
Size: 978kb

So what do you think?

The Maze of Glass - Kielder

Alrighty There People!

So one day in the summer I went up to Kielder in Northumberland. It's a fantastic area, with it's immense forest, humongous reservoir, and absolutely tiny castle...

A new feature to the grounds of the castle was a walk-through maze, which I was quite excited about, until I got there and saw it for myself. It, like the castle, was somewhat lacking in size. Constructed from local hewn stones, it was drab and grey.

Until you got to the middle, that is.

For in the centre of the maze, the surrounding walls were made of chunks of glass held in place by chicken wire. And in case that doesn't sound too cool, check out the picture that I took of it on the N95:


I must admit, I was quite taken with this shot. What do you think?

Image details:
Name: 26052008052.jpg
Date: 26/05/2008 14:26
Dimensions: 2592 x 1944
Size: 1.61mb

The Penguin

During my holiday in Tenerife, I had the pleasure of going to Loro Parque, initially a parrot sanctuary but now a full blown animal sanctuary/zoo, complete with Orca whales, dolphins, gorillas, tigers, and, of course, plenty of parrots. It also had a penguinarium, with many species of penguin.

I shot lots of pictures and video in the penguinarium, but the most striking, in my opinion, is this:


They way the penguin was coming straight towards me, the way you can see above and below the surface, the way the water is churned up in the background - for me, this is my favourite picture from Loro Parque. Your thoughts?

Image details:
Name: Tenerife 44.jpg
Date: 25/09/2008 12:16
Dimensions: 2592 x 1944
Size: 673kb

Water Droplet On A Flower

Alrighty There People!

Of all the pictures that I have taken so far, this is my ultimate fave. I was in a National Trust garden (again!), on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had been to Scotland for the weekend, and were heading back home when we spotted this Trust garden, and parked up and popped in. There were some lovely flowers around, which will be added to this blog in due course, but this one was a beauty.

I have no idea what it is called, but the way that the water was hanging on the flower, about to drop, really caught my eye. I waited as long as I dared, as I didn't want to the water to drop off.

I grabbed the N95, changed it to close up mode, and snapped it.

Everyone - yes, everyone - who sees this photo says that it is gorgeous.

What do you think?


Image details:
Name: 03.019.jpg
Date: 10/08/2008 15:33
Dimensions: 1944 x 2592
Size: 678kb

The Rocks, The Trees and The Sky

Alrighty There People!

I was on a coach trip in Tenerife, and I had just been up to Mount Teide - images of that coming soon - and on the way back down to civilisation, the coach guide informed us that we would be stopping at a photo hot spot back on the way down. We did indeed stop, and the view was very nice - I could see right across Tenerife, and out to sea. The clouds were swirling around, the fields were a blanket of multicoloured greens, and there was a distinct smokey smell in the air. However, it was the view behind me that really took my breath away. The red rocks, topped with a few green trees, against the blue sky with a few wisps of white clouds, was wonderful. Without a second's thought, out came the N95, and this was the result:


Name: Tenerife 207.jpg
Date: 29/09/2008 12:46
Dimensions: 1944 x 2592
Size: 1.30mb

As always, comments are most appreciated - if you've been to this spot, please post your pictures too!

Waterfall at Allen Banks & Staward Gorge, Northumberland

Alrighty There People!

In July, I was traipsing along a muddy track, when I came across this small stream. I followed it down a steep slippery slope, and looking back up, I saw a fantastic sight. I whipped out the N95, and the following two images were the result.

This was at a National Trust site in Northumberland, on a particularly drizzly day - so bad, in fact, that I was wearing my wellies. But this view up the tumbling water was so impressive that I just had to capture it - and I think that the images are pretty good, even if I do say so myself! Image details:


Name: 11072008163.jpg
Date: 11/07/2008 13:29
Dimensions: 1944 x 2592
Size: 758kb


Name: 1072008164.jpg
Date: 11/07/2008 13:32
Dimensions: 1944 x 2592
Size: 833kb

Please do feel free to comment on the images, link to your images or blog, or contribute in some other way! Thanks!

Dawyck Botanical Gardens - Pillar

Alrighty There People!

I snapped this image on the N95 when I was in the fabulous Dawyck Botanical Gardens of Scotland in August.

I particularly loved the way the stone and the moss intertwined, and it looked fantastic against the backdrop of the home.

Image information:
Name: 01.012.jpg
Date taken: 08.08.2008
Time: 16:15
Dimensions: 1944 x 2592
Image size: 1.22mb




More images from Dawyck will be posted shortly!

Welcome to my Nokia N95 Photography Blog!

The Nokia N95 is a marvellous piece of technology, least of all for its amazing camera. According to the Zeiss.com site, "the Nokia N95 offers a powerful 5 mega pixel camera with a Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/5.6 mm lens, auto focus and flash which allow you to spontaneously take high-quality photos. Your pictures can be brilliantly shown on the impressive 6.6 cm (2.6 inch) display. You can then upload your photos directly from your camera phone to the Flickr online photo community and make your memories available to others. At 30 frames per second, you can easily capture moving objects." The camera on the Nokia N95 has a number of settings:

• Auto: Ideal for everyday photography - all camera settings are adjusted automatically
• User Defined: Create personalised settings for instant retrieval - adjust and keep your personalised settings
• Close-up Mode: Ideal for capturing intricate detail of small objects - use between 10 and 60cm
• Portrait: Ideal for shooting better portrait photos
• Landscape: Ideal for shooting distant scenery and skylines - enhances sharpness of distant objects and allows focusing through glass
• Sports: Ideal for fast moving subjects - use to capture moving objects in sharp detail
• Night: Ideal for taking pictures in low light without flash - enhances detail in dark conditions when flash cannot be used
• Night Portrait: Ideal for taking portraits in low light with flash - enhances detail in dark conditions

There are four flash options:

• Automatic
• On
• Red eye
• Off

The self timer can be set to Off, 2 seconds, 10 seconds or 20 seconds - ideal for the group shot that you want to be in! There is a sequence mode, which settings are:

• Burst: Capture 6 images or hold the key down to capture until the current selected memory runs out
• 10 Seconds: Capture an image every 10 seconds until the current selected memory runs out
• 30 Seconds: Capture an image every 30 seconds until the current selected memory runs out
• 1 Minute: Capture an image every 1 minute until the current selected memory runs out
• 5 Minutes: Capture an image every 5 minutes until the current selected memory runs out
• 10 Minutes: Capture an image every 10 minutes until the current selected memory runs out
• 30 Minutes: Capture an image every 30 minutes until the current selected memory runs out

The colour tone can be changed to normal, Sepia, Black and White, Vivid and Negative

The white balance can be changed to automatic, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent and Fluorescent

The exposure compensation settings are 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, 0.5, 0.0, -0.5, -1.0, -1.5, -2.0

The sharpness can be set to Hard, Normal and Soft

The contrast settings can be changed, as can the ISO settings.

In short, there are plenty of settings to fiddle around with to perfect the photos that you are taking!


In the photos that you will see posted on this blog, I generally use close up mode, landscape mode, portrait mode, or automatic. For night time shots, I invariably use the night mode.

I hope you will enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy snapping the images.

If you have any comments, please feel free to make them. If you would like to link to your blog, images or site, please do so.

One link that you may find interesting is this - a how to guide to build a simple tripod for your Nokia N95. I haven't got around to doing it yet, but it looks very easy and very effective.

There are loads of accessories available for the Nokia N95 - check out the links on this page.

If you would like to purchase prints of any of the images on this blog, or would like to use any of the images without the watermarks, please contact me to discuss this further.

So here's my first image that I would like to upload - me, in Tenerife in September 08, eating a fantastic ice cream:


And finally, if you haven't got yourself a Nokia N95 - now's the time to do so!