Saturday Photography

The light today was so good that I could have quite happily spent the entire day taking photographs.

I’ve finally found a camera/lens combination that does justice to the windows in Hull Holy Trinity Church.

Hull Fair 2010

We went to Hull Fair tonight. I only ever go on the Big Wheel, and that is to take photographs. I’ve no head for heights, but if I view everything through the camera viewfinder I seem to do OK.  This new little lens seems to be pin sharp too, which is nice.

If you are a student at Hull and you haven’t been to Hull Fair you are missing out. It is huge, well managed and pretty good value if you get there for happy hour.

Helicopter

This is the one helicopter I’ve not broken yet. I daren’t fly it any more…

Breakfast of Heroes

At least the breakfast at the Renton Clarion is colourful….

A Walk Round Bellevue

Balloons in the park.

It was a beautiful day today. Flight didn’t leave until late afternoon, so I had time for a wander around and breakfast in Bellevue old town. Anything in the US can be called old if it was built before 1975 apparently.  But it did look nice.

On the way  back to the hotel.

Whitby Photos

Today was a Bank Holiday. Which means that we get the day off. We went to Whitby. The weather forecast was a good one, although the day did have a rather cloudy start. I took the big camera and a collection of lenses which was amply sufficient to really annoy number one wife as I kept changing them over every ten minutes.

I think this will do for the desktop.

I’ve been trying to get a decent picture of these beach huts for ages.

This is the walkway out to the harbour entrance. I quite like the colours.

Click on the images for bigger versions on Flickr.

Hull Classic Car Show

Went off this afternoon to a Classic Car show in Hull East Park. The park is a fantastic place. Beautifully landscaped gardens, wide open spaces and, today only, a lot of very shiny cars.

A nice shade of purple

I used to drive a Mini. But it was never as shiny as this.

Now, that’s what I call an engine.

Ring Light Fun and Games

The ring light does give your pictures a strange set of shadows I quite like.

A ring flash is a flash gun that fits around the lens of your camera. It is noted for taking photographs that contain no shadows (since the light source is around the lens) and being very expensive.

A ring light on the other hand is a ring of LED lights which fit around the lens and is much cheaper than a flash. It is a steady light, which means you can use it for movies as well as stills. The major disadvantage is that it is not as bright as a flash. As far as I’m concerned this is not a huge problem, since I really want to use the light for close ups.

If you want something for your SLR that will give your pictures a bit of extra pop, and is great for portraits (no shadows means no wrinkles) then I’d recommend that you take a look.

Saying Au-Revior to Concorde

Now, that’s what I call a flight deck.

We went to see Concorde at Filton today. I always feel a bit sad when we go over there. The plane is amazing but it doesn’t deserve to be stuck on the ground. It really should be out there doing what it does best, and what nothing on earth can do any more.

This time the affair was even more poignant because as of later this year the plane will not be open for visitors at all, which is really sad.

Anyway, I took the big camera and a selection of lenses and tried to get a few shots.

Not surprisingly the team at Bristol is very busy at the moment as people take their last chance to see the plane for a while, but if you can get yourself down there you won’t regret the trip.

Little Weighton Steam Rally

I think this is my favourite picture of the day.

Took the camera, and a bunch of lenses, down to the Little Weighton Steam Rally today. I went last year and really enjoyed myself taking pictures. So this year I did it again. By way of an experiment I put the telephone lens on the camera just to see what difference it makes to the results you get. Great fun. I could do close ups from a great distance and get some lovely out of focus effects like the one above.

The event is on tomorrow too, so if you like the smell of hot oil, burning coal and the sound of steam, you should go along there.

Gloves

Tractors in Line

Foden.

Radio Humberside Paper Review

One of the nice things about getting up early to review the newspapers for the local radio station is that you do get to see the city looking rather nice.

Saturday in York

One way to fly the flag I suppose…

We had a nice trip to York today. The place was full of folks all dressed up for the races. Fortunately I was wearing my “wherewouldyouthink” T-shirt and so I was also looking ultra-stylish. I like York, you can point your camera in pretty much any direction and get a nice photograph out of it.

Boat and bridge

Bridge Side.

XNA Materials

Before I went to give my talk yesterday we dropped in at the Microsoft offices in Schipol. Very plush.

They have these amazing lamp shades in the restaurant.

Time around the world, Microsoft style.

The presentation was great fun and the audience was lovely. I really like these trips out. Thanks to all the folks at Microsoft Netherlands for looking after me

You can find the presentation and all the XNA content that I used during the talk here.

XNA Netherlands

What a great audience looks like

Got up bright and early this morning to fly to Amsterdam and give a session on XNA. I also got to take a look around the splendid Microsoft HQ in Schipol. More pictures and the presentation slides and program content tomorrow. I’m off to bed now.

Hot Weather

My, but it was hot today. I took this picture first thing in the morning looking across the river from St. Andrew’s Quay. This is the colour that it really was, no retouching. Around 10 minutes later the mist had lifted and it looked nothing like as nice.

London Town

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

Went to London today. Early start on the train and then a good walk round. The rest of the family acquired some culture at Wicked while myself and number one son took in the gadgets on Tottenham Court road.

Horse guard

Kerbside political comment

Not sure where the other hand went….

Christian Aid Humber Bridge Cross

Today we walked across the Humber Bridge for money. The money wasn’t for us, it was for the Christian Aid appeal that has organised these sponsored crossings for several years. We’ve done the walk many times. The first time, with very young kids and a pushchair we managed to cross the bridge four times. Since then the weather has been nowhere near as good, but today it was bright and just a bit blustery so we managed to get over the bridge and back again.  Of course I took the big camera and the wide lens.

That windmill used to be used to grind chalk.

Obligatory tower shot.

York Pictures

Went to York today. The weather was great for photographs, although it did change very rapidly.

We parked in the engine sheds near the station. I found this wall very interesting for some reason.

Blossom near York walls

York Treasure House gardens.

Steam tubes in York Railway Museum.

More Steam, and new Heroes

 
Ada Lovelace, a woman ahead of her time, from the wonderful  http://2dgoggles.com/

If you have not yet discovered The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage then you are in for a treat. Fantastic drawing and actual historical quotes thrown together with outrageous plots to make something quite unique. Kudos to number one son for the link.

..now I really want a steam powered computer..

All My Own Work

I’ve printed out a bunch of my pictures and stuck the on the wall, in place of the TechDays logo I used last week. I must say I’m quite pleased with the results.