Dragonfly

I discovered this little fellow keeping obligingly still on the edge of a pond in Hong Kong park. Easily one of the best macro shots I've ever taken. The remainder of the Hong Kong photos (all 1,941 of them) are currently undergoing audit and whittling before I select which ones to upload but there was no hesitation with this one. No tripod either, this was taken resting on the scenery.

Comparison piece

The portraits I've been taking at work have also been a good platform to try a bit more post-processing. Portraits tend to call out for it a bit more than, say, architecture photography. I've tried not to be too heavy-handed with it, especially where the raw image (above left) is nice and sharp to begin with. Let me know what you think of the post-processed image (above right); is it an improvement or no?

Co-operative Models

My boss at work asked if I could take some portrait shots of our managers and new starters for an end-of-year newsletter. I was delighted; I've never had models I could boss about before and I got what are easily some of the best photos I've ever taken. Including the one of Leah, shown here. I actually forgot to deploy the diffuser for this shot but I love it the result. Beautifully sharp.

Another one from the march

Anti-government cuts march

There was an anti-government cuts protest in Manchester yesterday (the ruling party are holding their annual conference in the city at the moment) with some 35,000 in attendance. They went up my street so obviously I went out to join in and take photos. Sadly, this was the only half-decent photo I got and it's not much; the composition is out and it's blurry. Overall, I think the Pride march spoiled me a bit in terms of photogenic parades. Also it was a typical grey Manchester day so the light could have been better and the sky could have been a nice backdrop. Still, at least it was right outside my door.

Also my remote has croaked again. Seemingly permanently this time so I've ordered another since it's probably my most-used bit of extra kit (I use it much more than my flash, for example) and I will want it for my holiday. Given that the dead one was an official model and didn't last long, I didn't see any point in doing that again so got a 3rd party one for a whole £5.