Paris

A little darkroom manipulation and you can make a shot appear older than it is. I never expected to pull it of as the light was really bad during the shot, and to top it all I managed to get dust on the negative as I was placing it in the enlarger. But it turned out OK.
If you look closely you can see two specks of dust to the left of the tower, unfortunately they show up white so if you live or work in a dust environment then expect disaster.

Paris street 02

Another Parisian street shot, not a million miles from the Moulin Rouge actually.
The rows of pillars and lonely bicycle, start you on your journey down the narrow winding street.

Paris streets

Another great location to visit for the weekend. I love Paris, from its smokey cafes to its renaissance architecture. I must of used 20 rolls of film, walked 50 miles and ate my body weight in cheese and biscuits. It was well worth it, the shots I have are priceless.
This shot was taken near the province of Abbesses, a random alleyway with great solitude.

Windermere 03

One of those moments when your glad you brought your camera....
Windermere is a great place to visit for many reasons. It has unlimited resources for photographers of all levels.

Windermere 02

Another lake shot. I was a little disappointed not to capture the whole tree, next time I'll take a pair of steps.
Again the good thing about B&W is that it makes it more interesting than colour, your eye is drawn to the reflection on the water. If it were in colour there would be to much distraction and confusion.

Windermere

These B&W shots were taken in Windermere. I met an interesting chap who just so happened to be a freelance photographer, he had a good piece of advice for me and that was to just shoot everything. Shapes, form, shadow and sunlight, man made and natural subjects. Getting to grips with the environment and what it has to offer.
In this shot I was interested in the reflection in the water. Actually when you hold the real thing, its difficult to work out which is the right way up.

These next few shots are from the good old days of film. Some of the detail has been lost in the transfer, but you can see how the shot composes itself in black and white. This is an excellent format and my all time favorite, if anyone wants wedding photos done, be sure I'll only do them in B&W. The benefits are simple, if the whole wedding party are wearing blank,mid or dark tones but aunt Bess is wearing bright red. Believe me it doesn't matter where she stands your eyes will be drawn into that part of the photo. With B&W you eliminate that problem and produce some great shots.

Telephone box

There comes a point when the experimentation gets out of hand. Trust me, get yourself photoshop and get it out of your system. If you cant see the edit, the only colour is the red phone box. The rest is in mono.

Acorn

This one was a little bizarre, Its amazing what you find whilst walking in the Devonshire woodlands. The Acorn must of fallen 20ft and landed perfectly in the branch. The picture itself has some incredible shades of green.

Another of Devon's landmarks. This was taken at an old mine which has since been converted into a tourist attraction. Nothing spectacular about the venue, until you slow down time and play around with the shutter speed. Two things stand out for me and that is the flow angle of the water and the ambient green moss. Remember its all about experimenting.