030 Red sky at night

030 Red sky at night, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Hurridly took this this evening, first of all I had the plants silhouetted and then I had a go with the flash. Prefered this so this is what you've got. Never had the proper flash on - no time to look it out. Would like to try this again though with the 580 and bouncing it off the wall that is behind me.

All in all, crap day and crap shot, but hey at least it's a shot ;)

029 The Vain One

029, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Well, this weeks food theme has gone by the board a bit, far too busy, feeding, playing smooching and mopping to bake the cake I had planned for today

So, I ordered the girly out in the garden to take advantage of the lovely sunshine and lack of wind Natural light and a reflector.

I wasn't allowed to take a full body shot as she had her slippers on -  flipping kids.

028 The Reject

028 The Reject, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.


So, I decided that this week was going to be food related and in preparation made this for lunch, truly delicious and made a nice colouful picture.

But, on the way to pick the girls up from the school bus, I spied a puppy at the side of the road. So, on the way back I told the girlies. Natalie didn't even wait for the car to stop, she was out the door and picking him up.

He's currently asleep on an old beach towel in the kitchen. If his paws are anything to go by he's going to be a big one and I'd put his age at about 6 weeks. He was Leo, but now they seem to have settled on calling him Simba.

027 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

027 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Popped up to the market this morning with the girlies, nothing like an easy lunch :) I meant to do a bit of street photography, but we were in too much of a rush.

I think that food might just be my subject for this week, what with the eggs from yesterday and now the chicken.

026 Couldn't Resist ;)

026 Couldn't Resist ;), a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

I know it's probably a bit early, but as I couldn't resist buying these whilst I was in the UK over Christmas. Stereo nagging to open them has meant they were photo'd a lot quicker than I intended.

025 What more blossom

025 What more blossom, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Right, here's my effort for today, couldn't resist the lure of the blossom again. It's just so pretty and I'm very surprised that it survived the recent high winds.

I'm sure this won't be the last you see of the almond trees either.

024 Trying for soft

024 edited, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

So, subject is a little suspect, but I was trying to acheive a soft sort of processing. Don't think I'm quite there yet, so will keep at it.

First attempt was far worse, so I remove the blur layer and got the above.

23 Sausage and Pasta Bake

23, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Not the best photo ever taken, but it was very tasty. Uses one hell of a lot of pans though, thankfully I made two, one for today and one for the freezer.  I think if I do it again for the girls I'll leave the red wine out, as they weren't overly keen.

Recipe here

022 Almond Pink

022 Almond Pink, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Finally caught up and here is today's offering. Yes, the sky really is that blue, there have been no colour enhancements whatsoever.

Almond blossom in my garden this morning, it is blowing a hooley, so I was very pleased to get it in focus.

Cropped, convert to jpeg and sharpened for screen.

021 Elevenses

021 Elevenses, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

This week, I've decided to keep just my 50 mm lens on my camera and indeed both Saturday's and Sunday's shots were taken with it.

This was today's mid morning snack. I think I should've lined the broken apart biscuit up more in line with the other ones to keep it more in focus. But, by the time I'd viewed the photo on the PC, it was too late, the props had strangely disappeared.

This was taken with light from the window to the right, slightly reflected back to the left with the toaster :D Nothing if not innovative me ;)

20 Mountaineering

20 Mountaineering, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Today's plans to go to the zoo at Terra Natura were scuppered by the weather, very high and cold winds.

So, we decided on a quick yomp in the mountains in the afternoon. I was surprised to see so many wild flowers in bloom, and I thought a quick SP of the three of us would set it off nicely.

19 The Girlies

19, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Hmm, not sure what happened that I forgot to blog the past few ays efforts. Stand by for a huge catch up - sorry.

I was struggling to come up with another abstract idea, so decided to have the weekend off.

Here I was playing with the light from the window and a reflector, trying to catch the two girlies. Unfortunately one is in better focus thatn the other. Still, I'm very pleased with the results.

18 Just sprung up

18 Just sprung up, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Just about managed another one today, went into one of the girlies' bedrooms looking for a specific something to photograph and found this instead.

Nattie is a great Justine Beaver fan and this is the casing from a bottle of "his" perfume. She has tickets to see him in Barcelona soon, fortunately her daddy will be at home and has the joy of accompanying her :D

017 Diagonal

017 Diagonal, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Well, today's effort is a bit of a rush job. Not too happy with this - but it's just going to have to do.

What is it I hear you ask - well, I cannot possibly admit to that ;)

016 Round

016 Round, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

I've managed to continue with the Abstract theme again today.

Today's offering a block of post-it notes and a drawing pin :) Taken on my desk, I bounced my flash of the almost white wall and reflected it back with a piece of silver foil - no expense spared here :)

I'm now contemplating what I can do for tomorrow.

015 Squares

015 Squares, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Getting an early one in this morning as I'm working again tonight and really must get on and do some "stuff" around the house. My inner domestic goddess is being completely squashed by doing this 365 Project. But, it's far more fun than housework and I'm learning all the time.

Continuing with the Abstract theme and still with the 100 macro lens, although I'm not sure that it really counts as a macro shot. This is the casing of a coffee cup, that was actually on the to be sent to a charity shop pile - looks like it's just earned itself a reprieve.

014 Universal

014, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Thought I'd have a go at some abstracts this week. My macro lens is now dusted off and attached to my camera. Just got to switch the tripod plate over and I should be good to go.

This is just oil on water - quite pretty no?

013 Jasmin

013, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

I'm lucky enough to have some sort of flower in the garden, everyday of the year - this has the advantage of smelling lovely too.

Spent most of the day doing a bit of a tidy up with the girlies. You can notice a difference, but still didn't seem to get as much done as I would have liked. Oh well, there is always next weekend :)

012 Flash

012, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Right today's offering is the other girlie

As the object of this 365 is to help me overcome the fear of the flash, I charged it's batteries and used it. So, here she is, back lit by the sun and flash on camera. I had to stop the lens down to 5.6, but it was still a bit over expsed. Sorted it out in Light room and removed some pylons and wires in Lightroom.

I now some of the sky is blown, but I'd rather that than U/E too much the greenery. How could I have got around that please?

What do you think, am I getting there?

011 TFIF

011, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Because that means is wine time.

I was sat at work watching lovely wispy clouds dissapear over the building opposite, just knowing that it was going to be a spectacular sunset for a change.

I sort of forgot about doing my 365 earlier in the day, so this is really just a last minute snap with. Trying to polish a turd really. But I did use my flash, which I managed to bounce off the ceiling. A bit tricky when you're shooting portrait style, but I worked it out ;)

010 Herbs

010, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Herbs

While I was getting the lunch ready, I suddenly realised that it might be too dark this evening to do some street photos in Orihuela, when I take the girls to their ballet lessons.

So, here you have todays offering

009 Eyes

009b, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Well, got one of the girlies to model for me and was quite pleased with how this one came out.

But then, I converted it to Black and White, reduced the exposure a touch and ended up with this. Which I think I prefer

So, which do you prefer?

008 Orange Juice

008, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

So, yesterday was the first day back to school and today was the first day off sick. A sore throat, so plenty of Orange Juice was the order of the day.

007 Farmacia

007, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

My High Street, the Pharamacy clock/thermometer on the left reading 19°. I only took this to see how it would turn out from my phone and to experiment uploading it to Flickr. This is very zoomed in and doesn't it show.

Have had to use this one today as suddenly things have gone tits up and I've no time to do the shot I was planning. Managed to remember to take my camera out with me first thing this morning, but the sunrise was just pants. Hopefully we will have a bit of cloud one morning soon ;)

006 Self Portrait

006, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

As today has been just like Christmas Day all over again, I had to resort to that old standby favourite - the Arms Length Selfie :D Taken outside just before the sun went down - phew!!!

Quick B&W conversion through Lightroom, really wish I knew what I was doing :lol:

Spent the Day with Mum and the Girlies and everyone was pleased with their Gifts from the Reyes. Makes up for not seeing them all at Christmas and New Year.

005 Epiphany

005, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

So tonight, the 3 Kings Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar come from the Orient bearing gifts. Traditionally Spanish children left their shoes out to be filled with gifts, but slowly the Christmas Tree and Papá Noel are taking over.

In most towns and cities across Spain tonight, the Kings arrive, sometimes on horse back, occasionaly by camel but more often than not on the back of a tractor and trailer! Always bearing gifts, sometimes just sweets and in the bigger cities actual toys.

It is traditional to have a big dinner and eat "Roscón de Reyes" a cake that has "Prizes" inside. But you need to make sure you don't get the "haba" or dried broad bean or it's your turn to pay for the Roscón.

004 Cat

004, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Gata Blanca - what else would she be called, her sister is/was the same as she, but in reverse Gata Negra :shrugs:

003 Dog

003, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Can you see a bit of a theme developing here on my 365. Back home today and back to ISO 100 woohoo.

This is Maxi, who although has been fed whilst I was away looks rather in need of a good wash and brush up. I wonder if I can do a whole week of animals...

002 Diesel

002, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

This is Diesel - I fed him baby chicks :D

001 Whipsnade Cheetahs

001, a photo by Sonriendo on Flickr.

Cheetah Cubs At Whipsnade

So, I've decided to go ahead with another 365 project. I really need to get to grips with my photography once more and especially to overcome my "fear" of the flash.

This year started with waking in a strange bed in a strange country. Completely unhungover, but a little tired.

Spent a pleasant but chilly afternoon at Whipsnade, drooling after the Cheetah Cubs and Lynx Kitts. Unfortunately I was unable to convince one to come home with me.