Constellation big band part two

 

 Heres the rest of the big band pics.

 

Found load of old camera filters

  This evening I went looking for some books to read in the spare room, as well as the books I was looking for a found a tons of camera filters (along with a few film cameras and lens) This isn't my main "stash" of film stuff, thats all in a big metal safe thingy, no idea why it's worth bugger all these days but I can't be arsed to dig it out.

 The filters, four boxes of then cover a huge range of stuff from colour correction, black and white to some special effects, now admittedly most of what they do you can now do in photoshop, but it's nice to find them.  Mind theres a holdall full of filters there as well (no I'm being serious here) a full holdall, just about every graduated filter made and a ton of other stuff.   

 Might have a play with some of it when I get time.

Bit of a trip down memory lane today. constelation big band

 

  My father was a musician, he played drums (as did I for a while, although nowhere near as good) during the 1970's he played with the big band Constellation based in Swansea.  I found out yesterday they are still going, 49 years after they started.  We took my mother down to the National Botanical Gardens of Wales where they were playing.

 Trip down memory lane, watching a big "glen miller" type band my dad played in.  Even better two of the original band were still going and we were lucky to have a nice chat with them.

 It was weird, the music and seeing them took my mother and I back to the 1970s for a few hours, there were a few tears and a lot of laughs.  I'm so glad I stumbled across an advert for them playing there yesterday.

 A few pics. All shot on the old camera, mosting at high iso.

Garden birds affected by recent storms

 

 I have a few bird feeders in my garden, the recent storms Franklin and the previous ones have played havoc with the numbers. I estimate about 60% of birds maybe more are missing now. I don't know if they've been blown to a new location or killed (I hope the former) but if thats across the whole of Wales then a huge number of wild birds are affected.

 Fingers crossed they'll turn up over time.

Poltergeist olds tricks

 My poltergeist is up to his old tricks again, a few days ago a pouch of camera memory cards vanished from my camera bag.  

I'l explain, my cameras use a few different types of memory card, to make life easier I have different pouches for each, one pouch holds two high capacity cards, another holds three, the third holds a few different cards.  Anyway one pouch with the two cards vanished.  Now these pouches are not loose in my bag, their inside a pocket with a flap so they cant just fall out, not possible, anyway they were gone.

 Now it's not the end of the world because I have the other cards anyway, and I do sometimes take those cards out to use in another camera bag with a different camera if I'm traveling light for a wander, so I figured they were in the other bag. Anyway sorting the bag last weekend (after the food pics) I checked the other bag and they were not there either.

 Bummer, I've lost them I figured, so sorting the bag ready for the next shoot I find the cards... in the pocket where they were supposed to be all along.  Now I'm confused!.. Theres no way I could have missed a pouch the size of a box of Swan matches in a small pocket thet the three pouches fill tightly, I'd emptied the bag totally to take out the stuff I didn't need, and I'd double checked the pocket looking for the cards first time around as well, taking out the other two pouches.

 Now nobody else goes in my bag, and taking them out and then putting them back a few days later makes no sense, pinching them I could understand, but borrowing them?  No I'm not buying that, beside nobody really has access to my bag in the first place.  My family don't have anything that uses the cards that went missing either, and if they'd taken a camera they'd be a card in it so they wouldn't need another.  Besides nobody else knows where I keep the cards... well you do now, but you didn't before...

Bigfoot videos... WTF?

 

 The other day I watched a bigfoot documentary, not one of these "finding bigfoot" shit programs, a proper documentaries with actual scientists.  They showed all the best bigfoot videos.... and thats where the problem is.

 You see many of these videos were recent, but my God the quality!  I honestly would have trouble finding a camera that bad, no, seriously!  Bad doesn't come close.  Think 1970's cheap video camera and your getting close. I'd have to search old second hand shops just to find one that old.

 The trouble is we live in 2022, even a cheap phone has a camera better than a 1970's bloody TV camera now. How on Gods earth can you get such bad footage from gear made in say the last 10 years.  This makes me wonder.

Coloured lights out of focus.

 

 Last week I was playing around taking pictures of coloured disco lights, mostly out of focus for effect.  This is what I came up with.

Reacher tv series (Amazon) review

 

 The new Amazon series Reacher was released recently, this is my review.

 Reacher is based on the Jack Reacher book series written by Lee Child, the series also features a lot of input by Child (and he appears briefly in the last episode)   Jack Reacher is an ex military police special unit major, and a tough guy.  The books pick up after Reacher leaves the army and more or less becomes a drifer, in his travels around America comes into contact with various bad guy, this ends badly for the bad guys... Reacher doesn't mess around.

 The series follows the first book by Child, Killing Floor, Reacher on his travels stumbles into the scene of his brothers murder, and sets out to get even.

 As sometimg of a Jack Reacher fan I wasn't hopefull, the movies staring Tom Cruse were terrible, Reacher is supposed to be 6 foot 5 inch tall and something like 250 pounds, Tom Cruise on the other hand is about 6 inches tall and 2 pounds soaking wet in diving boots, hardly the right actor for the job. Luckly for the series they fixed that.  

 The series stars Alan Ritchson... and he looks like Jack Reacher, hell he is Jack Reacher!  From the first episode this man mountain kicks, punches, and shoots his way through the bad guys to the point they become an endangered species.  Just like the books, in fact the series follows the book very well, almost word for word and thats great for fans of the books.

Hopefully they'll make another series... and more after that, as of writing this theres I think 26 books, so with any luck Jack Reacher fans will get a good few more series.

Waynes rating  9.5/10  Really very good

 

 

Food pictures two

 

 The rest of the food pictures from a few days ago.  And yes I did taste the food... Yum Yum!!!

 

 

Movie future looking bleak!

 

 I was looking through the latest film releases today, my God they look bad!  

 One was about a terminally ill man who finds an injured migrant and takes him to stop the police finding him. Another was about the teenage angst of a young downs syndrom girl. Yet another was based around an 18th centure lesbian artist struggle to find recognition.... Yes gripping stuff!  

 I was so gripped it took me two hours talking to a counselor before I went off the idea of cutting my own wrists.  God help the Samaritians when the Cannes film festival is on, they'll have to bring in reinforcements to cope with the load.

 But being serious who really want's to watch crap like that?, yes I know it takes all sorts and theres always someone who will find it interesting, but  movie making is a business, it's bums on seats that matter, not catering for seven people with... lets be generous and say eccentric viewing tastes.  Thats not going to pay the rent.

 Yes it's woke and trendy to show your sympathy, with different cultures and minorities etc, and thats fair enough, live and let live I say.  But if your trying to make money you have to cater for the biggest audience.  That means  car chases, BIG explosions, space movies or good old fashioned love stories.  

 Look back at what made a ton of money in the past... I bet it wasn't a movie about a Bulgarian lorry drivers search for new shoes, or the relationship between a one legged man and a door frame...

Food pictures

 

 A few recent food pictures.

 

 

Wedding season starting

 

 Well it's Febuary and the 2022 wedding season is starting this week... and the weathers looking grim.

 Truth be told, I used to love doing weddings.  I was never nervous or worried before the wedding, I know my gear and what I can and cant do.  But now... well, I'm just not as bothered. 

 You see while the gear has got better, I'm getting older, and humping a heavy bag of kit around for 12 hours is knackering, add in the covid nonsence and bridzillas and I really not sure it's worth the trouble.

 Peoples expectations are getting higher, they see a shoot in Hello or Vouge magazine and then wonder why the pics from the local photographer who charged less than the baloon arch's pictures are not as stunning.  It's simple, Hello had a huge team of people with lights and cost about £15 grand, you cant expect the same results from a bloke who hasn't got a team of  8 and 200K worth of lighting and generators to produce the same results on his own, that why they have the big team.  

Plus Hello is working in a stunning 15th century manor house in the south of France, not a grotty pox ridden hotel that was last painted in 1963 next to a coaltip in a Welsh valley with all the appeal  of Jane Mansfield after the car crash (the top of her head was ripped off).

 Then theres the couple, do the bride and groom  actually look like Brad and Angelina?   Errr no! they look more like Noddy and Big ears.  Not helped by the brides orange fake tan and a dress 6 sizes too small, oh and Brad didn't have a black eye and a broken nose either in his wedding pics.

 Thats why I'm really not fussed or fired up about weddings any more, I've got one this week, now while the bride and groom dont look like the above mentioned the venue isn't the best and the weathers looking shite, wind and rain.  Theres nowhere at this venue to do the " nice" couple shots and worse times very tight, if it's wet outside it's really hard work.  While a pro can still do it and get good restults, it's never going to be the same and a lovely set of couple shots in the sunshine in the woods or an old castle ect etc.  Same as your clapped out Ford Cortina isn't a Ferrari.... it still goes but it's not the same.........

Different look to some pictures

 

 In the absence of time to go out shooting I've been a bit stuck for some new pics, so while having a play on Photoshop I came up with these variations on some steampuk portraits.

 

Underpass kaleidoscope effect

 

 This is the underpass photo I posted a few days ago, turned into a  kaleidoscope effect.

 Now some of you will know what a kaleidoscope is (not the fashion brand) A kaleidoscope was two or more reflecting mirror surfaces usually enclosed in a tube, often with coloured objects at the bottom on a translucent surface, by rotating the mirrors you got different patterns.  These were very popular in my younger days.

 The name was first used by a man called David Brewster around 1817. The name is claimed to originate from the Greek word Kalos meaning beauty (or something similar)  The original idea of many  reflecting surfaces goes back to the mid 1500's.  This image was done in Photoshop.

The Apprentice tv series

 

 Seriously I feel sorry for Lord Sugar, where do they find these candidates?  Do they shake a tree and they fall out and land on their heads?

 This week it was design a computer game.  One teams game consisted of the same level each time, the other team... 

 Well despite having three so-called "business" men and women they couldn't spell the word Arctic between them, spelling it Artic instead, also the entire team didn't seem to know that Penguins only live in Antarctic, not the Arctic.  Frankly I'm amazed, any child who grew up in my day would have known that. If I remember rightly theres about 18 different species of them as well.  

 There Lord Sugar... "Gis a job mate"  I do have a suit, I also have common sense, which if I'm honest is more than many of your hopefulls!

Hectic and underpass

 

 Well the last weeks been hectic, my car needed a mechanic (briefly) then it needed an MOT, that sorted I've been dashing about like a blue arse fly.  If it's not one thing it's another.  I've also managed to pull a neck muscle, (I suspect it's the Lavator Scapulae) Anyway it's bloody painfull when you twist your head.

 I've also had bugger all time to take any pictures, so this is yet another off my phone and a week or so old.