"But these are days we dream about when the sunlight paints us gold" - Bright Eyes



Saturday 31 March 2012

Marion album playback party

DSCF7478 (959x1280) DSCF7484 DSCF7487 (959x1280) DSCF7490 (1280x961) DSCF7491 (1280x1280) DSCF7492 (1280x961) Yesterday I attended the playback party for Marion's third album - a live recording of their December 17th gig at Manchester's Club Academy. Having missed the gig itself, I was eager to get my Marion fix and the evening didn't disappoint - with a lovely live acoustic set and the album played back LOUD, free drinks flowing... taking pictures wasn't really top priority (and especially after seeing Natalie Curtis' rather superior photographs on display).

But wanting to at least have a small personal document of the occasion, I snapped a few on my little Finepix and then attempted to salvage something resembling a picture from them, through the wonders of photo editing!

Monday 26 March 2012

Riding bikes in Blackpool

IMG_4046 IMG_4052 IMG_4056 IMG_4075 IMG_4097 IMG_4099 IMG_4106 We made the most of the unseasonably (well, let's be honest, it always is in the North West) hot and sunny weather and hired bikes to explore Blackpool yesterday. With my Canon EOS 400D nestled in my bike basket, I stopped intermittently to try and capture the vivid colours, shadows and silhouettes revealed by the hazy sunshine. Ah... bliss.

Many more (I am bad at self-editing) on the flickr x

Monday 19 March 2012

Ladies (and gents) what rock

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Laura

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Laura

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Laura

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Spector (supporting Florence)

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The Horrors (supporting Florence)

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Florence

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Florence

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Florence

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Florence

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Florence

The last couple of weeks saw visits to Manc from two of my favourite ladies, Laura Marling and Florence and the Machine. Both rocked (Laura rocked quietly). Here's a couple of their finer moments (click through from the photos to flickr for more). Shot on Fujifilm FinePix F100fd.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Walking to work in Climate Week

IMAG0135 IMAG0142 IMAG0141 IMAG0145 I walk to work most days anyway, but as it's Climate Week I decided to make a bit more of a deal of it and take some photos too. Sadly the weather wasn't too keen on the idea and a foggy morning put a bit of a dampener on things, but I still managed to seek out some early signs of spring...

This has got me plotting a more in-depth photo project for forthcoming National Walking Month and Walk to Work Week in May (when hopefully the sun will join us too!)

Friday 2 March 2012

Impossible, Nicky? Really?

12_02_19 Bedroom Window View 12_03_02 Headless knitted dog 12_03_02 Orchid with cabinet
"If this is the Impossible Project film, it doesn't work." - Nicky Wire on Something for the Weekend last October (watch for yourself here).

Never being one to turn down a challenge, this bold exclamation was all I needed to get myself on Ebay and buy a pack to try and prove him wrong! Of course, I knew it could work, with a bit of effort and a lot of luck... but I was interested to see what I myself, and my old second hand Polaroid 600, could come up with.

As you can see, my first 3 attempts have been a little less than awe inspiring! But there's been a steady improvement in the spreading of the chemicals, thanks to a good squeeze of the mechanism when taking the picture. I've been using an old box to shield the picture as soon as it's taken, then sticking it in my jeans pocket for a while to help it on its way.

A little more research and a bit more trial and error and if I can get one picture from this film as good as some of the ones on the Impossible Project site, I'll be happy!