Is this thing on?

Off to Prague tomorrow for a long weekend with Kel & Callum.

We’ve wanted to go for ages and having a fairly significant birthday this month seemed like the perfect excuse to get off our butts and book it!

We’re staying in a hotel about 10 mins from the centre, just over by Charles Bridge which should be great for some old-town sightseeing.

Fingers crossed for some snow this weekend! I love all that Bavarian architecture and it would be awesome to see the place looking properly festive

Data roaming Off : Check.

Free WIFI in Hotel: Check.

Hotspots marked on the map: Check.

Right, we’re good to go. Expect much nerdy bloggage from the phone and about a million pics online sometime next week!

written by RiK \\ tags: family, geek, happy, iphone, kelly, Photo, Travel

Down in Somerset today for a day of photo nerdery in the form of a days training with landscape photographer Tony Howell.

I went down with my friend Stu and we visited several spots including Burnham, Priddy (near Cheddar) and Weston and though we didn’t actually take a huge number of photos, I picked up some really useful info, and inspiration from Tony which I’m sure are going to benefit my photography a lot.

Side note: I’m still using Flickr as a general dumping ground for pics but thought I should to do something a bit more creative with some of my faves so I’m building a bit of a gallery site at www.richardolpin.co.uk

Oh yeah, side note the second! I’ve added the Lightbox script to my blog site now so clicking on any thumbnail pics should pop up a decent version.

written by RiK \\ tags: Photo, Pictures

All 30 seconds of it…

Listening to: The Interworld And The New Innocence by Buckethead from Praxis - Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

written by RiK \\ tags: Photo, Pictures

One of Emma’s latest arrivals. Cute little feller ain’t he (or she as the case may be).
Mad to think she’s probably worth more than my car!

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, cat, Photo, Projects

Experimenting with Photoshop’s surprisingly excellent photomerge thing. I went to the top of Cam Peak with my tripod and took a set of 8 shots, approximately 45º apart. This was the result..

If you click through you’ll get the medium sized version, or if you’re feeling really brave, click here for the full sized version which weighs in at some 22,000 pixels wide and about 5mb.

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, Photo, Pictures

Tuesday 3rd June

Playing around with a very narrow depth of field on the nifty fifty.

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, Photo, Projects

Sunday 1st June

You know that cereal advert where the guy slowly evolves over breakfast?



Strangely reminiscent of Huw in the mornings…

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, Photo, Random Rants

Saturday 30th May

A few more musical ones from Wychwood last night then.

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Bit of a shame that the guys were playing in a small tent a little bit out on a limb, and scheduled to play at the same time as Dreadzone were on the main stage too! Unfortunately that meant a distinct lack of people until about the last 15 minutes of the set (presumably just after Dreadzone finished). Not the best night for the band but I enjoyed myself all the same.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a festival, and to be honest I’m not really into the camping and crappy loos any more (tbh I never really was even when I used to go to them) but Wychwood was cool. Firstly it’s only just up the road in Cheltenham and it’s still small enough to have that nice chilled atmosphere without the crap that accompanies the huge commercialised festivals these days.
Top tip - if you’re ever at a festival and you come across a little stall called Kookaburra Coffee go see Grant and get a cup because it was genuinely the nicest coffee I’ve ever had. in fact it turned out to be a top day for scoff all round. I had a cracking Nasi Goreng from a little Indonesian stall too. All in all quite a pleasant way to spend a Friday evening

written by RiK \\ tags: Photo

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, family, Photo, Pictures

Friday 23rd May

More pics of my mate Stu’s band Which Way Up, this time playing at the 2 Pigs in Cheltenham.

As my standard lens isn’t really quick enough for this kind of lighting, and I’ve not got the spare dosh to invest in posh new lenses yet I though I’d just take a punt and get the really cheapie little ‘nifty fifty’ - the Canon EF 50mm F1.8. Yes, it’s plastic, it’s cheap as chips at just £60, and it’s really a bit long when you take into consideration the 1.6x multiplier but I was well happy with the results for a first attempt.

written by RiK \\ tags: A pic a day, Photo, Projects