tall trees

tall trees, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Taken in the Temple Water Garden at Cholmondeley Castle, England.
Thanks for viewing :)

cholmondeley castle

cholmondeley castle, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Finally, after what feels like months of illness I am able to post again! Here is Cholmondeley Castle in England. It's actually still lived in by the family and (if they're out?) you're able to go inside.

Unfortunately not this day! But, I've got a run of outside shots coming… :^)

Good to be back !

dazzle

dazzle, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

This pic was taken with my 50mm lens and a couple of magnifier filters stacked. It's just some daft gizzmo thingy in a plant pot but I thought it'd make a nice pic! ;o)

BTW, a mega HUGE thank you to you all for my last upload. Wow I've got thousands of views and dozen of group invites.. Amazing response and it sure has inspired me in so many ways. So thank you ALL :-)

devoid

devoid, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

One I made in photoshop on my Mac. Taken during a rather foggy day and layered into something rather special.

Seems to be a big hit on Flickr. Had the Explore pages too :-)

a proud history

a proud history, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

I pushed my camera into ISO1600 for all the indoor shots at Dunham Massey ... Topaz DeNoise helped greatly !

remains

remains, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Some of the fortress remains of Beeston Castle, England.

The sky is totally fake of course, as the real thing was so dull & grey! Thanks for viewing :)

daydreams

daydreams, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Made in photoshop on my iMac using a couple of layers for extra light and a little gaussian blur ;-)

red

red, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

A simple flower pic to end the week :-)

the moat

the moat, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Gone for an old time feel here... I felt the pov along with that old victorian stonework was perfect for this.

Processed completely in Apple Aperture.

Taken at Dunham Massey in Cheshire, England.

bloom

bloom, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

One from the garden at Dunham Massey in Cheshire, England.

happy

happy, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

It might be raining outside but at least it's sunny here in this picture today ;^)

clock tower

clock tower, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
For some insane reason, yesterdays upload has gotten me 1500 views and also became my most popular image on flickr - something that's never happened before. Well, within **one** day, I mean come on!! Wow.

Normally, I'm lucky to get a couple of hundred views but 1500? Darn!!!! Ok….so a huge thank you from me to you all. Everyone that seemed to have loved that picture and I cannot thank you all enough! :-)

Guess it was a good'un? lol

Kinda hard to top that ….. but ….. here's the entrance to Dunham Massey in Cheshire, England. It's a beautiful clock tower entrance for the entire state.

I love flickr !
Thanks for viewing - really appreciated!! :-)

another life

another life, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Yesterday we visited Dunham Massey, somewhere that's been on our 'to do' list for far too long. And it's not really all that far from us too, typical! The weather was cloudy to start (as you can see) but really did change later with lots of blue up there along with lovely sunshine! Still, it's raining and cold again today so we definitely picked the right day to go!

Dunham Massey was such a great day out with period costumed actors and lots to see and nice walks. Wanna go back again with the 200mm lens to shoot the squirrels and deers… they kept running away from me! Next time. . . ;)

Ok, here's the first pic walking up alongside the gardens towards the clock tower entrance. Hope you like - thanks for viewing! (go on, press L or just view BIG)

England

England, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Happy St George's Day everyone !!

flower power

flower power, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Multiple (duplicate) layers applied using photoshop with the first blurred and the second applied using the soft layer style. Then I applied a light source texture and blurred that (again this as a soft layer).

Played around with each layers opacity and then re-imported back into Apple Aperture.

Finally, applied a light Dodge & Burn here and there ... hey presto !

Hope you like !

Whalley Abbey

Whalley Abbey, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Taken from the grounds of Whalley Abbey in Lancashire, England on a rather lovely spring day!

Yes, that's right - England surely does get some days with blue skies! lol

St John's Church

St John's Church, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Today, I've uploaded 5 pictures to my flickr account and they're all in black and white. I guess I'm just in that mood!

All processed in Apple Aperture 3.

sooc

in-car, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Shot from the car at Pennington Flash Country Park in Leigh, Lancashire. I used an ND8 filter and set the aperture to f8 and then clicked a few shots to see what would happen...

Funky colour and I really like it - hope you do to!

daze

daze, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

I layered a duplicate image of the main picture here with a slap of gaussian blur too... applied a texture as a soft layer and blurred this also.

Kinda turned out nice!

All done in PSE9 on my iMac.

early

early, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Totally fake light created in photoshop by layering a texture or two on top of the main image.

Then a little dodge & burn here and there and hey presto - a fake morning sunrise! ;o)

dizzy heights

dizzy heights, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Marking my return to Flickr, here is an image I made in photoshop by just having a play with layers and filters.

Nothing intended - just having a play - although I do like the end result! :-)

Happy Easter †

Luke 23:34

Luke 23:34, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

I loved this particular shot and always wondered how a film based camera might have taken it.

So I went to work in Apple Aperture and I hoped to recreate that retro feel..

Have a blessed Easter everyone †

rest area

rest area, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Although I'm on a break from flickr ... due to needing one as much as having lots of other things to do .. here is a pic from a recent trip into norther England.

A landscape shot using a 20mm prime at Orrest Head, Windermere. Filtered in photoshop and layered a little to give the ground a little more colour and variation.

Plus the seat here is quite apt as I'm on a flickr break! ;-)

Springfield

Springfield, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Here is a landscape shot I made using my 24mm prime lens (from a film camera). Now, for some reason beyond my understanding, it will work on a digital SLR but only at f2.8

Hardly ideal for landscape photography but, being a prime lens, meant the quality is super cool. My zoom lens at f2.8 would never have looked this good!

After a little dodging and burning in Apple Aperture and I ended up with rather a nice picture from the top of Helsby Hill, in Cheshire, England.

twilight

twilight, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

I was never really that impressed with the metering used in this shot. I kinda felt like I'd bummed this one...

So, I went to play in Apple Aperture 3 and Photoshop. With a little layering / masking I was able to improve upon this somewhat.

I hope you agree?
Best viewing on black. So, in flickr, press that L key :-)

cozy

cozy, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

Trying my hands at a little macro photography today as I "found" my magnifier lenses after months of searching!

It's a simple pack that I bought of ebay from a good friend of mine. Inside it has 4 lenses: x1, x2, x4 and a might x10

I don't know the technology behind all this but you cannot use wide apertures when you start to macro in on your subject. The depth of field becomes massive compared to usual and very foggy too..

So my pics where taken today using f5.6 - f8. If somebody wants to explain why then I'd love to know!

Ok, this pic wasn't cropped, it's basically sooc except for an increase in brightness and I added one click of contrast too.

Pretty cool, even if I say so myself! :-)

nippy walks

nippy walks, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

My latest image on Flickr.

Taken on a cold & foggy day… messed with a few basic settings to achieve a rather vintage feel in the mist of rural England.

Hope you like? Comments welcome!

ladybird

ladybird, a photo by Steve_Gregory on Flickr.

We spied this little critter during our walk in Helsby Woods. I got as close as I possibly could due to the nettles and a drop of about 20ft....

Ironic really, as my lens could have easily managed a closer shot but my legs where spread too much already for my liking!! ;o)

All processing done in Apple Aperture with a little contrast and a hefty crop. Added a frame and nothing more....

Steve_Gregory's flickr photostream

Steve_Gregory's photostream on Flickr.

I'm still working my way through some oldies here and today I've compiled together half a dozen pictures that I made a while back.

Various images - I hope you like!