Science World

The day after our soggy walk I was in the warm and dry surroundings of Haydock Park photographing the Science World 2009 Exhibition for Thermo Fisher Scientific http://www.fisher.co.uk/

One of the highlights for me was chatting with the original enthusiatic but slightly mad scientist Professor Heinz Wolff. A regular on TV when I was in my teens, the Professor was the popular presenter of programmes such as Young Scientist of the Year and The Great Egg Race.

He told me that he did three different looks when he was being photographed - normal, academic....and this one...the mad Professor!

Judith Haan, the long time presenter of Tomorrow's World , is now an award winning journalist and key note speaker. I caught her in contemplative mood as she showed a clip of herself presenting the original TV programme........

The most entertaining part of the day had to Dr Hal Sosabowski's elemental spectacle 'the Bigger Bang' ('as seen on TV'). This took me back to my school and University days, the last time I encountered test tubes and bunsen burners. This was schoolboy chemistry at it's funniest - loud bangs, lots of smoke and flames and exploding ostrich eggs! I can't remember any of the chemicals involved (though I'm sure there was some phosphorous in there somewhere) but I do know that the last shot shows a 'flame in a test tube reaction' that sounded like a barking dog and lasted a fraction of a second. I had my D200 set on on fast motordrive and managed to capture it at it's peak.

Nice Weather for Waterfalls

...and ducks! Last Wednesday I had my monthly outing with my walking friends. We successfully managed to arrange it for the wettest day of the month, if not the year! The walk was on the borders of the Yorkshire Dales and the Lakes, east of Sedbergh - normally very scenic but today, very wet! My camera stayed nice and dry in my rucksack for most of the day, but fortunately the rain eased when we arrived at Uldale Force on the River Rawthey.

This was my favourite image, hand held at a 1/15th second. I converted it to black and white to emphasise the graphic effect of the rushing water. Here's hoping for a drier walk next month!

Smile for St. Ann's

A huge THANK YOU to the families that contributed to our Smile for St Ann's campaign over the past eighteen months. Together we raised well over two and a half thousand pounds for the Heald Green based hospice. Like many worthy causes the hospice relies totally on charitable donations and their running costs are colossal. Every little helps! St Ann's do a fantastic job for the community and most people know someone who has been touched by the amazing care and support they provide. Their web site is http://www.sah.org.uk/

Each participating family received a family lifestyle photoshoot that they'd "been meaning to get around to for ages"!. A tiny selection of the images :

And finally....pull the other one!

BUMP - Mother and Baby Show

Today we've confirmed that we'll be exhibiting our baby photography at the BUMP - Mother and Baby Show. It's taking place at the Hallmark Hotel (formerly the Belfry) in Handforth, near Wilmslow, on Sunday 5th July.

If you're coming along then please do call at our stand and say hello. If you haven't registered yet you can register at http://imaginefm.net/bump/ The good news is it's free! There's lots of interest for new mums and mums-to-be. Hope to see you there.

Misty morning in the Forest of Dean

I was pleased to find out today that I've picked up a Gold Award in the May judging of the SWPP monthly on-line print competition. I captured this shot early one autumn morning in the Wye Valley, between Monmouth and Symond's Yat (one of our favourite areas for short breaks).

Travelling light, I shot this on my Canon G9 compact, an ideal camera for slipping in my pocket on an early morning dog walk. Misty effects like this don't last long - between the sun peeping over the edge of the valley and the mist vanishing was literally a matter of minutes. Proof, as if it was needed, that it's worth getting up early if you want to capture landscape photographs with a difference. Just don't forget the camera!