6

They'd get on here sooner or later so I thought I may as well make it sooner. Today I chased the cats around the garden trying to get them in frame before they scarpered. I'm glad the neighbours weren't around because I probably looked incredibly silly.

Luna is a far more photogenic cat than Charlie so it's no surprise today's picture is of her. Sandra just berated me for saying that but it's true. No doubt he'll get his own photo on here sometime in this next year though.

Selecting a photo of Luna was difficult. She spent a good couple of minutes sitting so close to a small tree that she wasn't sure if it was attacking her or if she was eating it. I'll put those up on my Flickr account tomorrow if you want to see just how funny she looked.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon 50mm f1.8
Aperture: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 200

5

Today was a good day. The bank okayed my overdraft so I went to Carlisle to transfer some of the money (a branch of HSBC is one of the many things that Dumfries lacks). With my new funds i'm now in possession of a brand new laptop, and have a Nikon SB900 speedlight and a Tamron 28-75mm lens on their way. I can't wait to try those out!

Anyway, after my dealings with the bank I wandered around Carlisle a little and found this interesting church. I took quite a few photos of the colourful flower beds but since we've already had a flower close-up this week I decided on this photo for variety's sake. Just be glad it's not the one I took of the rusty chairs in the bandstand.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon 18-105mm f3.5-5.6 VR @18mm
Aperture: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 400

4

Today we went to the Garden Centre because Sandra wanted some flowers for the baskets outside. Instead of pretending to be interested while she wandered round looking for suitable candidates, I spent my time taking some macro shots of whatever colourful plants I could see. This is apparently a Geranium. I think it's some kind of flower. As you can tell, my knowledge of the plant world isn't that great, despite growing up with my step-day who is the head-gardener at a large National Trust property in Wales.

I learned one important lesson on this trip: Never give anything to Sandra for safekeeping. No sooner had I passed her my 24mm macro lens in order that I could reach a bird feeder (expect some shots of birds in our back garden at some point) than she dropped it onto the floor with a sickening 'thud'. I suppose 'thud' was better than 'crack' though because it still appears to work thankfully!

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
ISO: 100

3

Day 3 - I had quite a lot of choice for today's photo. Sandra and I went to Moffat and had a wander round the town and shops, stumbling across a toy museum in the process. Actually it was more of a display of sci-fi action figures and robots which to be honest I thought was incredibly cool! They even had a set of Robotech figures on the ceiling. More to the point it allowed me to photograph various monsters, robots and Chinese funeral procession figures and I was very close to choosing a portrait of Yoda to put up here instead.

After Moffat we went to The Grey Mare's Tail a few miles down the road where Sandra and I both discovered how unfit we are as we huffed and puffed our way up the side of the waterfall, gaining a few disapproving glances from more suitably attired outdoor types along the way.

It was all worth it though because the view was spectacular. This was taken from about half way up in a spot which gave the best view along the valley.

On the way home we saw some deer, but unfortunately they ran off before we were able to take any photos. I'll get some eventually though!

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon 18-105mm f3.5-5.6 VR @18mm
Aperture: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 200
Notes: -1 EV

2

After the previous day's freezing cold photo antics I decided to stay indoors in the warm. This is the Momiji doll that Sandra gave me for Christmas. She lives by the stereo next to the lucky Japanese cat that I gave to Sandra for her birthday last year. He may get a photo too at some point later in the project.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Sigma f2.8 105mm Macro
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 400
Notes: -1 EV

1

So the project is up and running! Here is my first photo, taken last night at Whitesands Fair in Dumfries. I'd been planning to come out all week to get a long exposure shot of the rides in the dark with some nice light trails and their reflections in the river, but unfortunately it's been raining every night. Typical Dumfries weather.

Sandra and I finally went last night and suffered the freezing cold while I waited what seemed like ages for any rides to move. The planned shot kinda worked but was rather less impressive than I'd hoped for. The fair looked rather pitiful from the other side of the river unfortunately. I felt sorry for the carny folk hanging around in the cold as all sane people had clearly decided to go to bed early with a mug of hot chocolate instead of go to the fair.

We crossed the bridge and had a quick stroll through the middle and I took this along the way. Carousel horses always looked vaguely sinister to me. Kinda like an old lady who wears too much make-up.

We crossed the bridge at the other end hoping to get a good meal at Hulabaloo only to be told the kitchen was closed. It was only 8.30! So we returned home frozen to the bone and with empty stomachs. At least we were in the car by the time the hail storm struck.

I think i'm going to take a photograph of a radiator for today's shot...

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikon 18-105mm f3.5-5.6 VR @45mm
Aperture: f4.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 3200