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I know about pimping sheds – but not canon camera lenses so tried @lenspimp

I have the week off work for shedweek (next week!) so thought I would take the chance if the weather holds to go out and take some photos of Garden Sheds on allotments and the like.

One of my things to do before Iam 45 ( 6 years time) is to create a shed photo book (what you say it’s been done before! 😉 which gets published (even If I have to do it myself), yea it’s not going to happen is it.

But to get my creative juices flowing (what the hell does that mean really), I have rented a half decent wide angle lens after using robs Sigma the other week at the Beer festival.

I have got it from Lens pimp only just heard about them and never used them before but they delivered it very quickly and well packed, so happy to start with.

It’s a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

With its effective focal length range of approximately 16-35mm in 35mm format, the EF-S 10-22mm f/3
5-4 5 USM is a remarkable lens with outstanding image quality that will take your photography into new dimensions and areas of dramatic expression
The super-wide zoom not only gives you the freedom to get exactly what you want in the shot, it dramatically alters perspective to allow for dynamic expression
The lens allows you to get extremely close to subjects, exaggerating the difference in size between a near object and its background
Creative photographers can use this phenomenon to create excellent separation between subject and background for a strong sense of presence, or for a pan-focus effect with everything from foreground to background sharply in focus

Normally they retail for about £600 which is totally out of my league but i have rented it for 6 days for £29.00 plus insurance & delivery.

This wont be a review of the lens (you can find that elsewhere) just showing some photos I took with it

I will test it out more as these are just some quick shots hand held but they do have some great lenses on the site so I think the next few months will try out a few wide lens before I decide which one to save for.

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Misc

UK Gardeners : Have you tried growing your own Saffron?

Had an email from dobies saying they are selling Saffron Crocus bulbs, I use a bit of saffron, do you think its worth getting as there will nice flowers during the late summer.

Harvest your own ‘Red Gold’ !!!!

Saffron is one of the most rare and expensive spices and is an incredible way to colour and flavour exotic meals, one gram can flavour 10 plates of food !

Suttons ‘Saffron Crocus’ bulbs not only enable you to grow your own ‘Red Gold’, but are also unusual in the fact that you can plant bulbs in August and you will have beautiful blooms in only 4 – 6 weeks !! You do not need a lot of space, as they will thrive in a well drained border, but can easily be grown in pots on the patio as well. This species of crocus is also super tolerant to summer heat and winter cold as it originates from the Himalayas.

So now to the fun bit …. harvesting your own saffron. Once your blooms have grown, look out for the red saffron ribbons dangling from the throats of the crocuses. Just snip them off and then once cut and dried they can be stored in an air tight container for several years!

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Misc

Caerphilly castle – A great castle and it’s being cleaned

AS it was a nice day yesterday me and mrsunclwilco & my son took Sprout dog for a walk up to Caerphilly mountain.

caerphilly mountain view

It was a little bit windy and cold up there, but some great views of Caerphilly and you can see Cardiff and the stadium from the top of the mountain as well.

caerphilly

They seem to be cleaning Caerphilly Castle which is great news I bet it looked great when it was built, but I assume the conditions of the builders and the serfs (smurfs) living within the castle area did not think it was great.

Anyway some shots of the great castle, with one of the best moats in Europe

caerphilly castle

caerphilly

Sprout Dog at caerphilly Castle

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Misc

Wales or England? You decide!

Boo Welcome to England ;)


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severn bridge on the way home


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Welcome To Wales : Yip


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Misc

Thing a week : closeup or macro

I have been adding a couple of photos to the Thing a week pool on Flickr for the last few weeks, hopefully the aim is to try and get me to concentrate every week on taking some photos.

This week was the first time I did them with my DSLR as I have been using my camera on my android phone for the last few..

Its a great community group as people do comment on your photos which helps you develop

This weeks “Thing” was Close up..

I fixed a reverse ring (i bought from that ebay ages ago and never used it) to an old lens.. the downside is that your lens loses any automatic focusing, so its all down to good old manual – so its hit and miss getting them in focus.

[flickr]set:72157622230806315[/flickr]

the only problem is that I decide which photo to send to the groups (as it’s only one a week)

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Misc

What sort of photos should I be taking – 5 tips?

I have been a (very) amateur snapper for a few years now but a lot of my shots are the same old thing and I am in a rut, typical snaps I take.

[flickr]photo:3772304096[/flickr]
Pubs
[flickr]photo:3825955175[/flickr]
My Dog

And my most view shots on Flickr range from this

Up Kilt shot: St David's Day Cardiff 2008

to this

Fresh Fish

I need to up my game(or some other awful management bolloxs) but I will be trying to follow these basic things

1) Take my Digital SLR with me all times – my new phone camera is just not up to the job 🙁
2) Just Shot anything that catches my eye – not the obvious mind you.
3) Don’t edit on the go, that shot may be saved when I get home.
4) Save some cash for that faster lens (how much!)
5) Enjoy it and relax

Any better tips?

The reason I am writing about my photo fails is that looking at great photoblogs like http://beerlens.com/ http://www.fineartphotoblog.com/ http://www.dphotojournal.com/ my old school friend El-Branden has given me terrible photo envy 🙁

And seeing all the other great entries in this years Cardiff photo marathon (disclosure I wrote the system to show them at my day job) but my entry is not what I had hoped for (first time using a film camera in 8 years, bad workman etc)

So reader can you help me improve!

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Misc

Some things you should never see

Some things you should never see

Some things you should never see

Normally when you use a vending machine you don’t expect to see it inner workings..

The vending machine at work showing no shame

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Misc

Black dragon on a summerdays

unclewilco posted a photo:

Black dragon on a summerdays

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Misc

Scary sky

unclewilco posted a photo:

Scary sky

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Misc

They ripen

unclewilco posted a photo:

They ripen

Wild Strawberries in pots not bought as the price may display!