The Carousel, originally uploaded by smileham.

The Carousel – Original.

I’ve been playing with Lightroom 3, some of the functionality it gives you is fantastic. This is a picture that I took out with Nicky on the beach a couple of weeks ago, putting it into Lightroom, I’ve highlighted the eyes, whitened the teeth and smoothed the skin a little, along with the usual saturation and contrast bumps.

The last of the poppies this year. Graham and I had wanted to find a fuller field, but it looks like we may have left it a little late. There were only a few clusters left by the time we got a chance to drive up Ditchling Beacon way.

Last weekend I attended a photography course hosted and run at the Garage Studios by Lou O’Bedlam.

We started with brief introductions round the group, why we were there, what we were hoping from the class. For myself I was looking for more experience with models, what to look for in a portrait shot, and how to get the best results from the camera

Lou then introduced himself and gave a brief overview of his style and why he takes photos. He had a selection of some of his Polaroid shots hanging from a clothes line at the back of the studio, most of which were stunning.

Rosy

Once the talking was done we split into two groups and headed outside the studio with a model each, Rosy and Sally. We had Rosy first and as my group stood around chatting, the other group swarmed their model. I was frustrated that we weren’t a whole lot more engaging. Whilst I felt a little awkward directing Sally to pose how and where I wanted I managed to get at least a couple of shots.

Back in the studio we each uploaded a selection of our shots to the computer to go through with Lou and critique. The feedback we were each given was constructive, looking at each of the elements of our pictures and what could have been done to improve them. Mostly we discovered that Lou’s least favourite colour just so happens to be the yellow of the doors to the studios!

Sally

After checking out the photos we got the opportunity to head out again with the models. I made a bee-line for Sally but was intercepted at the last moment. I hung around till she was free and whisked her away to a red door to use as a background and then a couple of other shots. Sally seemed a more engaging model than Rosy, we ended up having a quick chat and I feel I managed to get some more natural looking pictures.

All in all it was a fantastic course and I’m really looking forward to the next one that the Garage Studios guys organise!

Childrens Parade (19 of 30), originally uploaded by smileham.

An ecological theme to this years parade, The Planet. Each school was split into different sub themes, the Arctic, deserts, forests, seas and the jungle. As always, it was a fantastic event and I ended up taking hundreds of photo’s of other peoples’ children…

It sounds a little odd when you put it like that.

The Marathon – Brighton Marathon (2 of 9), originally uploaded by smileham.

The first (hopefully) annual Brighton Marathon seemed to go without a hitch. I took some time out in the morning to wander round and take some snaps of the participants.

Well done to everyone who took part in the event… I’m tempted to join you next year!

Had a snow day working from home today, so I popped out to play in the park at lunch. I’m pretty sure I was the only person wandering around in the snow with a tray of novelty ice cubes!

(and it’s a handy widescreen ratio for wallpapers!)

Just before heading out to Rome (pictures to come of that soon), the Brighton Walk of the Dead shambled it’s way down from Brighton station to the sea front. It was awesome to see so many people really pushing the boat out and making an effort.

Some truly terrifying outfits!

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness were out along the sea front in Brighton last weekend. It was great to see such a colourful display out on a steel grey day!

We followed along for a few minutes and enjoyed the dancing and the singing, and then carried on homeward bound.

Pride 2009 (66 of 82), originally uploaded by smileham.

Last weekend Brighton was taken over by drag queens, colour and a festival spirit. Despite the rain which threatened to wash the fun away, Preston Park was packed with thousands dressed in rainbows and crazy outfits.

Myself, I escaped the madness and ate fish and chips at home whilst watching the rain pour down, but not until I had enjoyed the atmosphere and fairground rides!